Micah The Wanderer - Book 2: Going Home First - Part 1

Part 1

The next morning the first thing I felt was a hand on my shoulder gently shaking me awake and I recognized Bethany's voice.

"Wake up sleepyhead. You have three quarters of an hour to dress, eat and meet Tolkus on the north road. He has already put in an appearance downstairs grumbling of the early hour."

I opened my eyes and sat up in the bed. The bedclothes were in disarray and I was naked as I was the night before. Bethany stood beside the bed fully clothed but the impact was still impressive. My flesh hardened instantly.

Bethany looked down at it and grinned. "Oh no you don't, you have places to go and people to meet." She looked up into my eyes and I could see a little sadness there. "I wish there was time but there isn't. Just please remember your promise. You must never tell..."

I had placed my hand over her mouth and when she looked up at me I smiled, grabbed her hand and tenderly kissed the back of it. When I looked up she had a tear forming in the corner of her right eye and I quickly looked away. I knew she was the kind of woman that would not want a man to see her cry.

I spoke quietly to her, pretending I didn't hear the slight sniffing noise she made. "I will never speak of our time together to anyone. You have my word upon it." I paused in thought a moment. "When I have trained as an Imperial and pass back through here I hope you will let me stay at your inn again. It suits me."

The businesslike tone I had adopted was just what she needed to regain her composure. "Yes. I would be pleased if you would stay with us again."

I looked back at her and the sadness was gone from her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed me tenderly on the lips then I felt her hand close around my erect member. She caressed it softly and rubbed along its length. I groaned into her mouth and she moved her head back.

She continued to caress me as she spoke. "I truly wish there was time for this. However," and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes as she spoke, "it will be more convincing that you spent the night alone if you come downstairs in such a state."

I grabbed her and kissed her hard then pushed her gently way. "Be gone witch. I don't have time for your infernal distractions."

She headed for the door grinning again. She stopped at the door to the stairs, turned and blew one kiss to me and then another in the obvious direction of my crotch before turning to descend the stairs. I dressed quickly or as quickly as I could with an erection flopping around in front of me. I gathered my things and checked that they were all there out of habit. I wasn't worried that Bethany would steal from me. She got what she wanted from me last night.

I headed downstairs and entered the common room. It was already crowded with other men even at this hour. Many turned as I entered and more than one grinned at the obvious bulge in my pants. I walked across the room to the counter which Bethany was standing behind.

"Good morning young sir. Did you rest well under my roof?"

The mischievous glint was still in her eye but I could not respond to it without compromising my promise.

"Yes. It was a comfortable if lonely bed."

Several nearby men snickered at this statement and I was sure they were locals who knew Bethany's reputation as a tease.

"Anyway, here is what I owe you and thank you."

I laid the required coins on the counter and they disappeared so quickly that no one could have seen how many or what they were. When I looked up at Bethany her hand was moving away from the coin pouch at her waist. She extended her hand towards me.

"Here is your change, young sir. Please come again if you travel this way again."

I placed the coins in my pouch without looking at them.

"I may, if I come this way again."

I sketched a slight bow towards Bethany and turned to leave the inn. As I reached the outside I turned and headed towards the north gate. I was reaching into my pouch as I walked. Something Bethany handed me had not felt right and I had paid my bill with exact change. I should not have had any change coming. I found a small piece of paper in my pouch. Unfolding it I saw the script of Samisand.

Micah,

I am returning to you the price of your bed for the night. I think you understand that I am not a whore but to have you give me the money made it feel so. I wish you a good journey my love. I hope it brings you back to me someday.

Love Bethany

I refolded the note and with a smile tucked it back in my money pouch. I understood Bethany's perspective and appreciated the money that I still had thanks to her. I passed through the north gate and spotted Tolkus standing in the road facing south with an impatient look on his face.

He burst out as I approached. "Finally! I wondered if you were going to lie abed all day."

I stopped a few feet away from him. I looked up at the sky and then at the gate I had just came out. "Wizard, I told you I would meet you at the north gate at the second hour after sunrise. It is just now the second hour and that is the north gate. If you have some problem with punctuality or accurate directions you had best tell me now so we may part ways amicably. Otherwise let us go because I wish to get home to discuss some things with my father and the diversion to help you find the tree spirits will already eat more time than I wish."

The wizard stared at me a moment then burst out laughing. "My apologies Master Micah. I was only anxious to get on our way. I usually travel alone and am not used to depending on someone else to guide me where I am going."

I looked at him a moment. "Fair enough wizard, Shall we go? I am anxious to get home."

The wizard nodded and we both started walking north along the road. We picked up our conversation where we had left off the night before. Tolkus kept telling me stories of his wanderings and the people and creatures he had encountered. I spoke up when I could think of something to say but had little experience in the world so most of my stories concerned my home village.

The morning was progressing well and we were about two miles north of the way station just at the edge of the forest that progressed up the side of the mountains. Tolkus suddenly stopped dead in the road.

He grabbed my arm and turned to me. "Wait here. I won't be but a moment."

He turned off the road and into some of the surrounding trees. He moved off about a dozen paces and then stopped. I had thought he was going to answer the call of nature until I saw him remove his boots. He slid his boots aside and stood there with his hands together mumbling. He shouted a word I did not understand and started pulling his hands apart. It looked like it involved quite a bit of effort and I could feel a slight sucking sensation as if a very light wind was flowing towards the magician in front of me. Something began to appear between his outstretched hands.

From where I stood it looked like a stick. It was a gray color and was gnarled at one end. It continued to appear between his hands as he spread them further apart until he could stretch his arms no further. He then took his right hand from the end of what had to be a staff and grasped it in the middle as it hung in mid-air from the palm of his left hand. He pulled with his right hand and the base came free of his left hand. The sucking sensation ended as the staff lost contact with his left hand. Tolkus then spun the staff until it was straight up and down and placed the end on the ground. With it sitting like this I could see that there was what looked like a blue gem imbedded in the gnarled end. There was a brief pulse of light from the gem.

Tolkus spun to look at me. "You felt that?"

I wasn't sure if he was angry or upset or just sad so I just nodded my head.

"What did you feel? Describe it to me."

"Well it felt like something was drawing on me. You know, like it was pulling strength from me."

I looked at him a moment and then said. "I thought Bethany said that you had no staff."

"As far as she is concerned I don't. I always leave it outside the way station when I come here. The people here know me well enough not to bother with me and most strangers are leery of wizards, even wizards without staffs. You should also know that it pays to keep some secrets when you travel on your own a lot. You never know when you might need to give someone a nasty surprise."

He then looked at me and smiled. "You will keep my secret won't you? I know Bethany only chooses those she thinks are trustworthy."

I froze, willing myself not to react and then let a puzzled expression cross my face. "I don't know what you mean wizard. Is there something special about the room I slept in last night? It looked quite ordinary to me except for the bathtub. I've heard you don't see many of those on the frontier. Maybe she just thought I needed a good scrubbing."

He looked at me a moment and then chuckled under his breath. "Yes, I'm sure something got a thorough scrubbing last night. Don't worry lad I would never betray the lady. I consider her a friend and I don't have many of those. Before our little journey together ends I hope we will be friends."

I shrugged noncommittally as if I didn't understand what he was talking about. "I don't see why we could not become friend's wizard. I have no particular prejudice or aversion to magic. I have seen it used and abused so I know it's not the magic but the man that affects the way it's used. As to betraying the lady, perhaps when you consider me a friend you will explain further. Shall we continue?" I turned back north and began walking again.

I heard the wizard chuckle again then heard him mumble almost under his breath, "She certainly knows what she's doing when she pick these guys. Tightlipped as a virgin on her first date."

We walked along talking companionably. Tolkus explained that he had been surprised when I had felt him draw forth his staff because it didn't draw on a person in a physical way but only in a magic way. As he explained, anyone with magical ability that had been close enough would have felt it. A good natured argument ensued as I told him that I didn't have any magical ability and could barely turn water into tea much less lead to gold or anything like that. He countered that that was alchemy, not magic and just because I didn't know I had any magical ability didn't mean I didn't have any.

We continued in this vein until I mentioned that my father was a smith.

"Aha, that explains it."

I must have looked quite puzzled because he continued.

"Working as a smith is as close as a common man can come to working magic. Think about it. A smith takes rocks from the ground, burns them in a fire, bends them to his will and makes what he wants from them. Magic works the same way except we use the magic to shape the other elements. We heat them with the magic and shape them the way we want to into what we want to make."

I nodded. "True, but there are limits to how far you can stretch or shape metal, you have to know their breaking points and how hot you have to get them just to bend and not come apart. Too hot and you have a puddle, not hot enough and you can break your hammer."

"Well that's like magic too except if you get something too hot in magic your liable to be the puddle. All I'm saying is that there is some magic in your blood. Maybe not much but enough to sense other magic which can help you."

We continued to discuss this through most of the day and made good time. Traveling down here with the merchant's caravan had taken nearly a month. At the rate we were traveling I would be home inside of two weeks.

We left the road as darkness began to fall and found a small clearing just inside the trees along the side of the road. Tolkus dug a fire pit as I scoured the area for wood to burn. I was new to this and did not consider that with just two of us in camp that we would be a more likely target than when I was traveling with the Imperials. When I returned with the wood Tolkus had the pit dug and had both our bedrolls out on either side of it. What I didn't understand was that he was using his staff to mark a circle around the edge of the clearing.

He looked up as I entered the clearing. "Since there are just the two of us we will need some protection from animals or brigands that might see the fire and come see what they can find."

I went to build the fire but watched him out of the corner of my eye. He finished the circle and stepped inside it. He took a pendant from around his neck and laid it on the ground next to the line he had drawn. Using the head of his staff he touched first the pendant and then the line on the ground. The gem in the staff, the pendant and the line all glowed briefly. I had got the fire going and by its growing light I saw him pick up the pendant and place it back around his neck. From what I could see by the firelight it was a stylized demon pendant in what looked like pewter. The eyes were two chips of either red glass or splinters of some precious stone.

Tolkus looked up at me for a moment. "Do not cross this line before I tell you that you can. If you have to answer the call of nature just stand at the edge and piss outside the circle. Don't let anything cross the line especially that part."

He then took the pendant up between his hands and began mumbling something in a tongue I didn't recognize. Nothing seemed to be happening at first and then I noticed a small stream of smoke issuing from the demon pendants mouth. The smoke didn't dissipate but began to coalesce in front of Tolkus.

It was building up like a pile of insubstantial clay. When it was as tall as I was there was a tiny snap and the smoke disappeared. In its place was a demon. It was facing Tolkus so I could only see its back. It was about my height except for the wings on its back, bat-like wings that added six inches to its height. I could see a set of somewhat petite horns rising above a magnificent mane of coal black hair. The skin I could see, which was quite a lot since it was naked, was a dusky red color. The wings were attached at the shoulders to a smooth back that continued down to a beautifully rounded bottom. The only thing that detracted from that bottom was the tail that started at the top of the crack of her butt and went all the way to the ground where it ended in a slight barb. Its legs did not end in cloven hooves as expected but appeared as normal human legs and feet.

Suddenly there was a snarl and it spoke. "Tolkus, that looks like a protective circle I don't like those and you know it."

"Patience my dear, we are not alone and my friend will be traveling with us so he is entitled to your protection as well as I."

When it heard this the demon spun around to face me. Now I could see that it was definitely female. Her breasts were large but not huge and bounced as she planted her feet apart facing me. I continued to look her over as she placed her hands on her hips. Hands that I now noticed ended in claws instead of fingernails. She was bare of hair between her legs and the lips of her labia extended beyond her mound opening like a flower even with her legs close together. She cleared her throat drawing my eyes back to her face. Her features were delicate, petite even, but with a cruel twist to them. Her eyes were slightly slanted and completely red with no hint of pupil.

Her lips which were curled in a cruel smile were black as her hair and her white upper fangs extended about a half inch down from her upper lips. "Ooh he's cute." She began to move towards me, her arms open in invitation.

Before I could move I saw Tolkus reach up and grasp the chain around his neck. He pulled it like a leash on a dog and the demon stopped short with a snarl. She spun around to face Tolkus and froze. He had taken a small dagger from his belt and pierced the skin on the inside of his wrist. The blood had started to run down his arm and drip to the ground. The demons eyes were locked on his wrist and a delicate forked tongue appeared to lick her lips.

"Come Nyassa with this blood the pact is renewed."

The demon stepped over to him and settled to her knees. She took his arm in her hands and began to lick the blood from his arm working her way back to the wound where she began to suck.

This went on for several minutes when he spoke again. "Enough. I am not cattle to be drained to make you a meal."

She sat back on her haunches and her skin had a glow that hadn't been there before. Her eyes had a slightly glazed appearance to them.

I heard her mumbling almost to herself. "Too long, too long, I had to wait too long for that."

Tolkus spoke as he dabbed at the slight wound on his arm. "Now, now, I was only at the way station for a week. That's not too long."

Her gaze sharpened and she looked daggers at him. "I see you have forgotten the two weeks before that when you traveled with that priest. Not only could I not manifest, I was in pain the whole time you were with that sanctimonious ass. That pompous fool may have been a fraud but his staff of the waters was an authentic holy relic."

Tolkus took on a thoughtful look. "Really, that hunk of wood was authentic. He said the high priest had given it to him before he died but I didn't credit it much. As you said he was a fool and a fraud. I'm sorry my dear I had no idea. The aura of the relic must have blocked our link and then you were too weak to re-establish it once we left his company."

She snarled at him. "Never mind that now. I need my payment now. I hunger."

For the first time Tolkus' superior attitude slipped and he looked uncomfortable. "Ah yes...your payment...um, I was hoping we could forgo that for now until a more appropriate time."

"What!!!!! You keep me locked up for nigh on a month, trapped by holy relics, in pain and weak and when you finally let me out you don't want to give me my due!!"

"Now Nyassa it's not that I don't want to pay it's just that I don't know if I can with him here."

With that statement he pointed at me and Nyassa swiveled to look at me. "Well maybe he can give me my payment. He looks young and strong and probably not as shy as you."

She stepped up close to me. I could smell the musk of her skin with a slight hint of brimstone. Despite her demonic nature she was beautiful and naked. When she reached her hand to my crotch she discovered that I had my usual reaction to naked beautiful women. Her hands wrapped around my erect flesh and squeezed lightly.  I glanced over her shoulder in time to see Tolkus yank the chain as he had before only harder. Nyassa was physically dragged away from me and tumbled to the ground.

She shot back to her feet facing Tolkus her hands arched in claws ready to attack. "Do not push me Tolkus. We have a pact but I will take you. It will be painful for me but I will hold your living heart in my hand and crush it"

"Calm yourself Nyassa. I know you hunger but you should respect his feeling in this. He has no idea what is going on. Let me explain things to him then we will see."

"Talk quickly Tolkus. I hunger."

"I know my dear. Now Micah, please sit and I will try to explain what this is all about. Nyassa you sit as well."

Nyassa snorted and made a pass with her hand in the air. Out of nowhere a short stool appeared. Nyassa sat down on it and I could see that it kept her wings from touching the ground. I also noticed that as she sat on the stool she spread her legs apart. I had an unobstructed view of her pussy, the labia pulled back and glistening in the firelight. I was already hard and this didn't help relieve the tension.

Tolkus seemed imune and ignored her blatant display. "Now, where to begin? First off, Nyassa is a succubus. Do you know what that is?"

I nodded. He was hard to speak with so much femininty on display.

"Good, we won't have to go into that. Now, a few years ago I was looking for a certain amulet. I traveled over several countries and investigated many abandoned and spirit haunted castles. What I didn't know was that the amulet had already been found by a rival wizard. We didn't particularly know each other except by reputation so there was no animosity between us. He simply had the amulet and didn't want to give it up. When we encountered each other we had a ....uh, disagreement."

Nyassa snorted and said, "They had a magical duel and friend Tolkus here got his ass handed to him."

Tolkus glared at her a moment. "A crude but fairly accurate description of our encounter. He defeated me but didn't wish to destroy me. As I said we barely knew each other. As it was he confined me in an abandoned tower that was nearby. He sealed it to prevent me from using magic and then left me there. I think he assumed that I would work out a way to get out before I starved to death. What he didn't know was that Nyassa had been sealed in this tower by another wizard."

He continued, "She had been sealed in there for over two hundred years and she was weak from starvation and nearly insane with hunger. She is immortal but when she is manifested on this plane she must feed to exist here. She could barely become corporeal but she tried to attack me anyway. I had been defeated by the other wizard so I was truly no match for even the weakest of demons much less a succubus. The only thing I could think of was a binding. It's not really magic just a deal made with a demon. I didn't even have a knife at the time so I marked myself with the only thing I had at hand, this pendant."

He traced the surface of thependant with a finger. "It was just a cheap piece of costume jewelry but the teeth of the demon were sharp. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was binding Nyassa not only to me but to the pendant. Once she had drunk my blood the binding was complete and she had to serve me or whoever wears the pendant. I didn't know at the time but the binding was the only way she could be released from her imprisonment because the binding took precedence over the imprisoning spell. I had her transport us both away from the tower."

Nodding, he continued the tale, "Once away from the tower my magic returned and I was better equipped to deal with Nyassa. I extracted her story from her and despite her demonic nature I felt sorry for her. We hid out for two days in a nearby cave and I allowed her to... uh feed off me until I was a little weak myself. Since that day we have been constant companions. I still seek the amulet that other wizard had but now I also seek a way to sever the binding. I have grown fond of Nyassa and I think she is also fond of me though she would never admit it, but we should be free to go our separate ways. As it is I'm not as young as I used to be and cannot keep her fed as she should be and she can't travel far from the pendant."

He gestured toward the succubus. "You can see she gets somewhat irritable when she's hungry. If you do not wish to help me I understand. This is not something you could have been expecting when you agreed to let me accompany you. If you do not agree I only ask that you turn your back to me so that I may feed her in private."

I looked at Nyassa and could see what could only be a look of concern when Tolkus mentioned getting old. She obviously did care for him.

She noticed me looking and the look of concern vanished to be replaced by a look of pure lust when she looked at me. "No wizard, I did not agree to this." Nyassa had what looked like a look of sadness on her face for a moment. "I ask you the same courtesy you asked of me though, please turn your back." Her eyes actually glowed for a moment.

Tolkus smiled as he spoke to her. "Nyassa, he is a friend. You cannot harm him. He is doing us a service that he does not own."

She turned to him and smiled a smile that had no cruelty in it. "I know old friend. I will not hurt him. Get some rest." She kissed him on the forehead and he moved over to his bedroll.

He rolled over on his side facing away from us.

I looked back at Nyassa. "How does this need to be done. I know nothing of magic and its deals."

She moved close to me and I could feel the heat of her body, the unnatural heat of the hellfire that spawned her. She reached a hand to my face and caressed my cheek. The contact and her unearthly beauty caused a shiver to run down my spine. She smiled at me again and brought her other hand up to the other side of my face.

Holding my face between her hands she leaned forward and brushed my lips with hers. Even her lips had that unnatural heat to them. She kissed me more forcefully and I could feel her forked tongue force its way into my mouth. The separate forks of her tongue seemed to move independently of each other and the entire organ seemed like a living creature in my mouth. When she moved her head away from mine I could see that her tongue was not only forked but extraordinarily long. It whipped around before being drawn back into her mouth and extended well past her chin before it did.

"Simply lie down as you normally would to go to sleep. My kind can draw the essence from a man in many ways but there is one that I prefer. Don't worry. It takes more than a single time to weaken a man to the point of danger. We usually come to a man in his sleep. He has a pleasant dream but there is no evidence of anything wrong in the morning because we have taken it with us. Many, many visits are needed to seriously drain a man."

As she was speaking I had lain down on my bedroll. When she finished speaking she moved down and stood at my feet. As she knelt down I moved my legs apart and she smiled down at me. She reached up and unfastened my trousers, gripping the top and pulling them down. As they moved down my erect member was released and it sprang up into the cool evening air.

A sound that could only be described as a purr began to come from Nyassa throat and her tongue whipped out to lick her lips. "I'm sorry. I have had to wait too long for this. I have no time for subtlety."

With that her head plunged forward and took my flesh all the way to the base. Her mouth was hotter than any I had felt before and the suction she started to apply caused my toes to curl. She was bobbing her head so fast I could barely see it moving. I was relatively inexperienced as far as sex went but I could tell that compared to Bethany and the tree spirit I had encountered this creature was on an entirely different level. I was quickly approaching the crisis and wanted to warn her.

She on the other hand could apparently tell and was working towards that goal. She plunged her head all the way to the base of my member and stopped. I then felt her tongue emerge from her mouth and lick past my dangling fruit. It kept extending until it reached my anus and plunged inside. The forked ends seemed to vibrate separately against the inside of my opening and that pushed me over the edge. The semen began pouring out of me and into her mouth. She continued to suck and her tongue still vibrated in my anus causing me to continue to empty myself into her.

When I felt the last of my semen empty into her mouth I released a breath I had been unaware I was holding. I looked down to watch as she drew my deflating flesh from her mouth. It glistened with spit from her mouth but there was no evidence of semen anywhere. As her head drew back I could feel her tongue slithering out of my anus and sliding over my loose flesh as it retracted. The forked tip appeared and wrapped around the base of my now totally limp flesh a fork on either side. She drew her tongue up my shaft as the strangely prehensile forks circled around it. When her tongue got to the head one fork plunged into the slit in the head and swirled around like it was swabbing the inside of a glass. The sensation was incredible and I felt my flesh stir and start to rise again.

Nyassa sat back quickly and her tongue withdrew back into her mouth. "I am sorry. The payment has been made. You do not owe me anything further."

My shaft had continued to rise and was now fully hard again. This was the second time a female had aroused me and then decided to leave me to my own devices. I sat up and reached for her. She looked startled as I pressed my mouth against hers. I reached with my left hand and caressed her breast. The nipple hardened under my fingertips and she began to purr once again. I continued to kiss her as I lay back down, drawing her down on top of me.

The silken skin of her thighs brushed against my erect shaft and I shuddered. "I may not owe you anything more but I think you owe me something for this."

I rubbed my member against her thigh again and this time it was her turn to shudder. "Oh yes. I think I do owe you something."

She shifted her legs and inserted my shaft into her wet folds. The feeling was exquisite. Like the rest of her, she was hotter inside than what I had experienced before. It almost felt like a second mouth and felt like it was sucking me in. She began to slowly ride up and down on my turbid staff.

"Oh yes, this is nice too. I have not done this in quite some time."

She began to increase her pace, sliding up and down on me much more quickly. Now that I was stretched out on my back again I used my hands and took a breast in either hand and began to caress the nipples.

Nyassa hissed between her teeth and continued riding me. "When you get close please tell me. I really do prefer to feel it erupt into my mouth, though this is very nice."

I groaned, "I will. I want to give you pleasure as you gave me."

She shuddered again at my words and increased her speed again. She was bouncing about so much I had to take my hands from her breast and grab her hips. As she rode up and down my hands slipped around to her ass and I felt the beginning of her tail. My fingers slid under the base of her tail and ran across a small bump that was there. When that happened Nyassa froze for a second and a groan came from her throat.

I may have been new to sex but I could see that this was a positive reaction of this small bump so when she started moving again I purposely slid my finger under her tail and across the small bump. Each time I touched it she twitched and shuddered but continued to ride up and down.

This continued for several moments and I felt myself approaching the brink. I was about to say something when my finger caressed the bump one more time and Nyassa stiffened all over and a guttural scream came from her throat. At the same time as she screamed I heard a loud snap from the direction of Tolkus and a muttered oath from him. Nyassa hands which were on my shoulders for support clenched and her claws dug lightly in and drew blood. She started moving again but had a glazed look in her eyes. I couldn't hold back much longer and said so.

Between one stroke and the next she had spun around and replaced her wet sheath with her mouth and the change was enough to finish me off. As I shuddered and emptied my seed into her mouth I caressed her ass which was now facing me and ran my finger under her tail to the little bump I had found there. She shuddered again but didn't remove her mouth from my organ. When I was drained again she sat back on her haunches and very deliberately removed my hand from her ass.

She smiled down at me with an almost tender smile. "I am very sensitive back there right now. I've never felt anything so incredible in my existence."

"That's because I'm a complete idiot."

This came from Tolkus who was sitting up on the opposite side of the fire. We both looked at him with puzzled looks on our faces.

"All these years I've felt so noble keeping you fed and controlled, searching for an answer to break the binding, thinking of you as a creature and not a person. Well it's my own fault."

Nyassa looked as puzzled as I when she spoke. "What are you going on about Tolkus?"

"This is what I'm talking about."

He held out his hand and resting on the palm was the demon amulet. Right down the center was a crack. The amulet had been neatly divided in half. The eyes that had looked like ruby chips now looked like rather inferior glass.

Nyassa's voice had a sharp edge to it, "Wh...what does this mean wizard?" She glared at Tolkus like she wanted to pull his tongue from his head.

He explained, "It means, you silly creature, that you are free. The binding has been broken. Shattered by this young mans unselfishness."

He looked at our faces and saw our lack of comprehension. He added, "The binding that tied you to the amulet and me to you was created out of selfishness. It was the selfishness of survival but selfishness nonetheless. Micah's act of selflessness broke that binding. He wanted to give you pleasure. Something I'm sure no man has ever done for you."

Nyassa shook her head no and looked over at me as Tolkus continued.

"What you felt for the first time Nyassa was an orgasm. Your kind is not built for that. You were designed and created to give pleasure not receive it."

"But I do enjoy it. I've never felt anything like that before but I do enjoy it."

"Well of course you enjoy it. You couldn't be expected to continue doing it if you didn't feel something when you do. However you couldn't corrupt people with sex if you enjoyed it as much as humans do. You would be seeking mates to fulfill your own desires not baiting humans with the unattainable."

I needed some clarification on this myself. "You mean, that by wanting to give her pleasure I broke the spell?"

"Well not entirely. Part of it was that desire, part of it was the strength of her first orgasm and part was, I'm sure, that latent magic ability you have in that head of yours."

I looked over at Nyassa. She was staring at the broken amulet in Tolkus open palm as if the crack might be an illusion. She reached out with one hand and picked up half of the amulet. She held it in the palm of her hand for a moment and then threw her head back and laughed.

Tolkus who had a grin spread over his face. "She couldn't touch it before. Whenever she approached it she would turn to smoke and be drawn into it." He turned towards the laughing demon. "Alright you cackling fiend, what do you intend to do now?"

She looked over at him and there was a glimmer in her eyes that, if she weren't a demon, I would have thought were tears. "Do? What am I going to do now you old fart? I'm going out into the world. No bindings. No constraints. Oh don't look so worried. I have been around humans too long and too closely to kill them indiscriminately as I would have years ago. I wish to see how the world has changed since my imprisonment in the tower and my binding to you and that amulet. Then I will seek out that wizard that bound me to that tower, if he still lives. If he does I will make his last days... interesting."

She turned towards me with another grin, stepped over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a fierce hug. "And you my champion, what would you ask of me? You have fed me and then set me free. You deserve a reward."

The close proximity of her naked body had worked a certain magic all its own on me. As she held me away at arms length looking into my face, I once again had an erection. She glanced down at my crotch and a mischievous look passed across her face. She pursed her lips like my member was between her lips again and extended her tongue until she could lick her own nipple without moving her head. This finished the process and I was once again as hard as I had been earlier.

I cleared my throat. "I would like to hear from you again, to know that you are safe and well."

Her eyes softened and she smiled a genuine smile at me. She turned to Tolkus and held out her hand. "Come Tolkus. Give me the rest of the amulet."

Tolkus placed the other half of the broken amulet in her outstretched palm. Nyassa closed her hands over both halves of the amulet and there was a faint smell of ozone in the air. When she opened her hands an exact replica of the whole amulet lay in each palm.

She gave one to each of us. "I have been tied to the metal of this amulet for so long that I feel it is now a part of me. If you wish to call me, hold the amulet before you and prick your finger with one of the fangs. It will not bind me as it used to but it will let me know you wish to see me."

She turned and stepped across the circle that Tolkus had made on the ground. When she had crossed it she looked back and grinned at us. "Until we meet again my friends."

And with that she disappeared in a cloud of grayish smoke. After she had gone I realized that I was still standing there with my private parts exposed to the night air. I quickly turned my back towards Tolkus and began fastening up my clothing.

Tolkus spoke. "I thought that I would die before I had found a way to break that binding. I too owe you a debt."

As I finished covering myself and turned back towards him, he continued. "If ever I can help you in anything you may call on me. Now I suggest we both get some sleep. I'm sure you wish to get started as soon as possible in the morning."

He bundled himself in his blanket and rolled over on his side facing away from me. I felt that the departure of his longtime companion had affected him more than he wished to admit. I decided to let any further discussion on the subject pass for now. If he wished to talk about it he could bring the subject up himself. I tucked the amulet in my money pouch and rolled myself into my blanket. I was tired and faded to sleep rather quickly.

---

It seemed only a moment before Tolkus was shaking me awake. "Up you get young man. The day is upon us and time is fleeing."

Tolkus seemed to have recovered from the loss of his friend and we set about preparing to get on the road. The rest of our journey towards my home village was practically a non-event. Tolkus' magic had a way of either hiding us or making us seem more formidable than we were because there were no encounters with any bandits.

We had one close brush with a young ogre but a flash from Tolkus' staff and he seemed to forget us and wandered off. After about a week and a half we came to the area that the caravan had camped in. From there I was able to locate the clearing of the tree spirits without much trouble. I wasn't sure of the kind of reception we would receive so I stood back as Tolkus entered the clearing and began speaking in what must have been the tongue of the tree spirits.

He must have gotten through to them because several of them appeared from their trees and came towards him. They were a couple of males and a female that I did not recognize along with Azell and Minos. Both of them only glanced my way briefly before concentrating on Tolkus. He continued to speak fluently in that language for several minutes until several of the spirits spoke up. They conversed briefly and then they all turned and began entering one tree at the far end of the clearing. They had all entered the tree except for Tolkus, Azell and Minos. These three stopped before the tree and turned to look my way.

Tolkus explained, "They wish me to ask if you would care to enter the tree. They apparently think highly of you."

"Tell them, I thank them but that I need to return home as soon as possible. This is where we part ways wizard. Good luck with your work. I hope that I will see you again."

"Thank you Micah. Good journey to you."

With that he turned and walked into the tree. Azell and Minos both waved briefly and then turned to follow Tolkus.

As I walked away from the clearing I realized that I was alone for the first time in nearly two months. The road ahead seemed lonely and full of peril. I increased my pace to get home as quickly as possible but continued to ponder the things that had happened to me since I had left home on this job. The thing that occupied most of my thoughts however was how I was going to get my father to let me go to Imperial house. He was not going to be happy that I wished to leave home for so long a time. I was depending on the fact that Jarl had seen something in me that merited nurturing and training. Hopefully when my father saw the gold emperor that he had given me he would be convinced.

I strode down the road to my home but hopefully not the end of my journey.

Continued in Part 2

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