The World of Alderest - III - To Kathaln and Back - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bradley looked up from the tracking weave, to face the Chancellor. "Still nothing sir, and it’s been a week. She might just be staying at the Citadel for a while."

"Is she in danger? You’re the expert on extra-planar activities," the Chancellor said.

"I doubt it. As we’re on good terms with Vorchrest. She’s probably just enjoying her stay."

"Very well." The Chancellor looked around the laboratory that was housing the tracking weave and portal. "Have you seen the Lady Taladron? Her instructors say that she’s been acting strangely. I thought she might be worried about Lecturer van Dolceis."

Bradley shook his head. "She hasn’t been here in over a week."

"I’d better check in on her. She’s the first elf to attend the College, if something happens..." The Chancellor shook his head meaningfully.

---

The Chancellor knocked on Penelope’s door. There was a long silence and finally a whispered response, "Theleos? Is that you?"

"Ah, no. Lady Taladron, it’s the Chancellor. I just wanted-" He was interrupted by a scream of rage.

"Get away from me! I’ll never let you touch me again! If you try anything I’ll kill myself, do you hear me!"

The Chancellor backed away, his normally composed face gaped in shock. "Lady Taladron, I-"

"Get away! I have a dagger!"

The Chancellor looked around the hallway. Other students were poking their heads out of their rooms, some already talking among themselves. He looked back to the door, Penelope had sealed it with some elementary weaves. He considered breaking them but decided against that course of action. There would be too much time for her to carry out her threat.

He rapped his staff on the floor and sent out a sent a summons to Bradley and Hector. Perhaps a more familiar voice would help, he thought.

Penelope paced back and forth in her bedroom, nervously chewing a lock of her hair. Lord Loradros had tried to get to her, she had to free Theleos and get away from here. She stopped and looked at the dagger she had been given as a present from the Captain of the Guard. It had a long, slender blade forged of the finest steel in Taladros. The Captain had told her that she’d probably only use it for opening letters and sharpening her quill pen. Quill pen? she thought, momentarily confused. Why would I need to sharpen a quill pen? To take notes? Penelope shook her head, wondering where such nonsensical thoughts had come from. The dagger looked like she could use it to lever up the stone covering the chest that Theleos wanted her to get.

Penelope slid the dagger back in its carefully crafted sheath and tucked it in her belt. She turned to the window and looked out. It was only about twelve feet to the ground below.

Working quickly, she slashed her sheets into strips and tied them together securely to form a long rope which she tied to her bed. Constantly looking back at the door, she lowered herself down the rope to the ground and quietly ran towards the library. No, she thought, the dungeon.

---

The bulk of the nunnery loomed above Tancred and Solyma, looking as formidable as any castle. Tancred looked nervously around the bridge leading to the nunnery’s massive wooden doors. If they were attacked here they would be trapped between sheer drops to either side and the doors of the nunnery.

Tancred jerked when Solyma pounded on the doors.

"Hello!" she yelled, "Nightwatch! It’s Solyma! I’ve come home!"

"Solyma?" a young sounding voice called down. "Solyma Myiala?"

"Yes, Thesa, is that you? Can you open the doors? I need to speak with the Headmistress. It’s urgent that I get her help."

A young woman, stuck her head out of an upper window, her head framed by a luxuriant mass of blond hair. "It is you!" she squeeked in delight. "I’ll be right down!"

A few seconds later a small doorway within the larger door opened, spilling bright light onto the bridge. The same young woman stood there, dressed in an extremely concealing robe. "Come in!" she said excitedly.

There was already a group gathering as Solyma and Tancred stepped through the doors. An older, taller woman with long straight black hair stepped forward. Even thought she was dressed in a heavy nightgown, she wore it with the confidence and authority of one long used to being in charge.

"Solyma," she said, a frown appearing on her face. "It’s been a long time."

Tancred watched as Solyma bowed to the woman. "I need your help," she said.

"Of course. Why else would you return here? Come, we’ll talk in my study. Your friend must go to a guest room and stay there."

Solyma nodded to Tancred as the young woman who had opened the door approached him. "I’ll show you to your room," she said shyly.

Tancred looked at her more closely. She was quite pretty, as were most of the women gathered. Turning on the charm, he took her hand and brought it to his lips. "It would be a pleasure, my lady," he whispered.

He was surprised when she jerked back her hand, a mortified blush creeping across her face. Around him the other women muttered disapprovingly as Solyma covered her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"Behave," she hissed, before following the Headmistress down the echoing hallway.

Tancred watched as the other women dispersed, leaving him alone with the young woman. "My apologies, my lady," he said, "My manners seem to have fallen to a sad state." He bowed. "My name is Tancred Guiscard. May I have the honor of knowing yours?"

The woman relaxed a bit. "I’m Thesa," she said, her hands clasped behind her. "I’ll take you to your room now, if you like."

"Very much so," Tancred said, doing his best to visualize the shape of her body under the boxy robe as she led him out of the main hall.

"This is your room," she said, pointing into what looked like a monk’s cell. An uncomfortable cot was wedged in one corner with a small writing desk and basin in the other. "Is there anything you need?" Thesa asked, hovering in the doorway as Tancred sat on the cot.

"Yes, actually," he said, standing. "The bed seems to be broken, could you sit on it and check?"

"Broken?" Thesa said as she moved to sit on the bed. "Oh, no," she said with a smile, "it’s not broken, they all feel this way."

"Really?" Tancred said, smoothly shutting the door and sitting on the cot, between Thesa and the door.

"Yes," she said, a look of momentary nervousness passing over her face. "It’s to help purify our souls."

"Ah, I see. I was just wondering, how did you know Solyma?"

"Oh, she was here when I first entered the nunnery."

"How interesting, that must make you at least seventy years old."

"More, I’m only a hundred and two."

Tancred raised an eyebrow. "Amazing, you look so much younger."

Thesa huffed in annoyance. "Everyone says that! They treat me like a fifty-year old too! Just because I look like a child, they think they can treat me like one!"

"Are you an elf?" Tancred asked, trying to see beneath the thick curtain of her hair.

"Elf? You mean, from Alderest?" She smiled shyly. "No, I’m just a succubus."

Tancred grinned widely. "Are you really?"

"Oh, yes, we all are."

Tancred grinned even wider. "You mean everyone in the nunnery... is a succubus?"

"Yes," Thesa said, nodding.

Tancred paused, his grin faltering. "Then Solyma is one?"

"Yes? But you know that?"

"No, no I didn’t. That would explain-"

"What?"

"I’m a vampire. Whenever I drank Solyma’s blood, something strange happened."

Thesa’s eyes widened as she shrank against the far wall, staring at Tancred in horror. "You... you drank her blood?"

Tancred bowed his head. "Yes, I did. It is my curse to wander the world, drinking the blood of the living." He looked up sadly. "Solyma was kind enough to help me survive."

Thesa relaxed. "You poor man," she said. "What can we do to help? The nunnery has some very skilled healers. Maybe-"

"No, no," Tancred said, "blood is the only thing that can help me." He stopped and clutched at his stomach. "Ahhg," he hissed doubling over. "The hunger, it comes over me."

Thesa scooted closet to him on the cot. "What can I do?" she asked, her voice panicky.

"Nothing, only blood can-" he grimaced and shuddered, seemingly in agony.

"Can you have some of mine?"

"No, I couldn’t... You are to innocent to be defiled in such a-" he twisted again, falling back onto the cot.

"Please!" Thesa cried out taking Tancred’s head into her lap, "What will happen if you don’t?"

Tancred looked up at her sadly. "Then I die horribly. Please, leave me. I don’t want one such as you to see me die, it is horrible to see," he rasped.

Thesa was nearly in tears now. "Please, take mine! I can’t let you just die!"

Tancred hesitated. "Very well then," He slowly sat up on the bed. "Close your eyes," he said.

Thesa nodded and closed her eyes, her face etched with worry. Tancred leaned closer to her, a wide smile on his face as he brushed her hair away from her neck. He frowned when he saw that her robe had a wide collar that covered her neck up to her chin. She gasped when his hands began to undo the buttons securing the front of her robe.

Tancred carefully undid a few buttons, and with no resistance, several more. He gently pulled her robe open and down to reveal her shoulders. He noticed that she was trembling when he pushed her robe down to her waist. Underneath, she was wearing a thick cotton shift, easily modest enough to be worn by itself. Sighing, Tancred began to undo the ties holding the shift closed at the front.

"What are you doing?" Thesa whispered as she watched his hands slowly opening her shift.

"I’m sorry, I don’t want to soil your clothes when I feed."

Thesa nodded again, biting her lower lip as she felt her shift fall to her waist.

Tancred’s eyes widened in amazement when he saw another, lighter shift beneath. "How many layers of clothing to you wear?" he asked.

"Three," Thesa answered, her voice shaking.

"Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all," Tancred said, slipping the straps of the thin inner shift off her pale shoulders. He grinned at the sight of her breasts, fuller than they appeared through the layers of clothing. Her pink nipples hardened in the cool air of the room as Tancred brushed his lips against her neck.

He could see a blush spreading over her as he kissed her neck. Gently holding her in his arms, he opened his mouth and bit gently into her neck. His cock, already turgid, grew even larger as he swallowed her blood.

She whimpered in pleasure as he drank, her hands tangling in her clothes. She didn’t resist as Tancred pushed her clothes down her legs and let them fall to the floor. She lay in his arms, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, as he lowered her to the cot.

Tancred’s mouth left her neck as he stood and began to remove his clothes. Thesa looked up at him in surprise, her eyes still glazed with pleasure as he moved back to the cot, naked.

"What-?" she began, only to be silenced by his finger on her lips.

"Shh," he whispered as he lapped a few stray drops of blood from her shoulder. His hand slid down to rub her quim as he lay atop her. He smiled at the gasp that escaped her lips when his fingers slid against her nether lips. Thesa moaned as he gently pushed a finger into her. He frowned when he met resistance. "Are you a virgin?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes," she nodded. "Are you going to take me?"

"Yes, but not there," he said, rolling her onto her stomach. Tancred lifted her onto her hands and knees, his hands reaching under her to cup her breasts and rub her nipples. Thesa sighed in pleasure as he touched her, her hair pooling under her head.

She moaned again as Tancred slid one hand over her sex, gathering her dripping moisture. Her eyes flew open and she turned her head as Tancred began to slather the moisture over her anus. She watched, eyes slitted as he gathered more and slid a single finger into her there.

Tancred slowly worked his finger in and out of her, gently loosening and relaxing her. Thesa was beginning to pant as he worked a second finger into her. She groaned when he pushed a third finger into her, working them back and forth within her. Letting his fingers slide from her, Tancred gathered more of her juices and began to coat his cock with them. Thesa watched as his cock grew slick from them and whimpered softly as he placed it at her anus.

"Relax," he said, his hands gently spreading her buttocks.

She began to moan as he pressed his cock against her and let out a loud cry when he first penetrated her. Tancred groaned at her tightness as he grabbed her waist and pulled her back onto him. She let out a strangled cry of pleasure as he worked into her, each thrust burying him deeper within her. Soon he was buried to the base of his cock. Grunting, he pulled himself almost free, then plunged back into her. She braced her hands on the wall as he bent over her and began to thrust at her, fucking her ass in earnest. Her back arched to meet his thrusts as he reached underneath with one hand to rub her clit.

Thesa moaned, her body on fire as Tancred continued to pound into her. She cried out deliriously as a surging current pleasure roared through her body, sending her back onto his impaling cock. Her fingers scrabbled at the rough stone of the wall as she was taken in the ass, her head tossing and her eyes wide with pleasure.

She squeeked in surprise as Tancred pulled her upright and sat her on his cock, her back pressed against his chest. One of his hands stroked her clit while the other caressed her breasts, squeezing them and kneading them in time to his upward thrusts. Thesa reached back and grabbed at his body as he pumped into her more rapidly, almost bouncing her up and down his cock. She screamed as she felt every muscle in her body stiffen and then relax as she fell forward onto the cot, panting desperately for breath, her hands tangling in the sheets.

Tancred leaned forward over her, his hands caressing her back. Then he gave a final thrust and felt his scrotum tighten as he emptied his seed deep into her.

Solyma walked down the familiar corridors of the nunnery towards the room where Tancred was supposed to be saying. She winced as she walked, rubbing her still sore bottom. The Headmistress could be a savage negotiator and had gotten everything she had wanted from Solyma before agreeing to open a portal back to Alderest.

Solyma pulled open the door to Tancred’s room and immediately smelled sex. She looked hard at the pleasantly grinning Tancred and Thesa, both fully clothed.

"It’s time to go," she said, frowning.

Tancred stretched as he stood up, licking a last bit of blood from his lips. He kissed Thesa on the cheek as he walked out of the room, a satisfied look on his face.

Solyma watched as Thesa blushed and slowly stood, her body unsteady. She would have fallen as she walked out the door but Solyma managed to catch her.

"Your buttons are off," she said, pointing to Thesa’s robe where there was an empty buttonhole at the top of her robe and an extra button on the bottom.

---

Penelope crept through the dungeon, listening for any sign of Lady DeWin. There was no trace of her as she reached Theleos’ cell.

"Penelope!" he said, "Did you bring something to raise the stone?"

"Yes," she said, raising her dagger.

"Good! Now hurry, Lord Loradros is after you!"

Penelope gulped, her face paling as she knelt on the floor and jammed her dagger into the seam surrounding the marble tile. She huffed as she forced the dagger deeper into the crack, slowly wedging the stone up.

---

"Where could she have gone?" the Chancellor asked, looking at the sheet rope dangling out the window.

Bradley and Hector were looking around the room for any sign of what her intentions may have been. They looked up, startled when a voice spoke to them from the hallway.

"I believe I may know," a man’s voice said. He stepped into the room, revealing himself to be an elf, dressed as a civil servant. He bowed slightly and said, "I am Laros Tholdros of the Order, assigned protector of Penelope Taladron."

"Well dammit man, where is she and why aren’t you protecting her?" the Chancellor burst out.

"She is at the library. Something or someone has ensorcelled her and is influencing her, and my skills are too limited to determine how to end their magic."

The Chancellor motioned to Bradley and Hector. "Come on then, we’ll go get her and find out what’s causing her behavior."

The four of them began to walk quickly towards the library.

"Do you have any idea what may be the cause of her strange behavior?" the Chancellor asked Laros.

"I’ve been following her in secret since she nearly was killed by the Corthronos. It all started when she fell asleep in the library," Laros answered.

"I’ve always wondered why those signs were up there," Bradley said. "But nothing happened to me when I fell asleep and I knew plenty of others who’d fall asleep studying as well."

"It could be because she’s an elf, and more sensitive to magic," the Chancellor said as they brushed past a group of chatting students. "Go study!" he yelled at them as they passed. "It could also be because someone is specifically targeting her."

"Perhaps Lady DeWin might know something?"

"We’ll ask her," the Chancellor said as they left the main College building and walked across the gardens towards the library.

---

Penelope grunted as she slid the heavy tile up and to the side, revealing a shallow hole. She reached down and picked up the small chest. "Is this it?" she asked Theleos, who was now standing outside his cell.

"Yes, open it," he said.

Penelope nodded and opened the chest, coughing as a grey mist exploded from within it. "What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing," answered Theleos, a gleam in his eyes. "Now, just take that chest out of the dungeon and we’ll be free."

"But you’re already out of your cell, why do we-?"

*Slap*

Penelope gasped as Theleos slapped her.

"No questions!" he snapped. "Just do what I say!" His face softened. "It’ s very important that you do this," he said more reasonably.

Penelope hesitated. For a moment after he had slapped her she had seen the dungeon surrounding them change to a library.

"Penelope," Theleos said sweetly, "We can be together then, and Lord Loradros will never be able to touch you again. Now, just carry that chest out of the dungeon while I deal with DeWin."

Penelope nodded and stood up, holding the chest, as Theleos slipped away. Some trick of the light made him appear to be made out of grey mist.

---

The first thing they noticed as they entered the library was Lady DeWin. She was bent over the desk and her dress was pushed up over her hips, revealing her nakedness from the waist down. Her feet were spread and she was moaning happily as a form of grey mist seemed to be standing behind her, engaged in fornication.

"What in Aeleon’s name is going on here?" the Chancellor roared. "A damned incubus in my library!" He pointed his staff at the mist and was about to let loose a stream of magic on it when the misty form looked up and sped away.

The Chancellor stomped over to the panting librarian who was pushing herself up and getting her bearings.

"What... happened?" she said, quickly pushing down her dress.

"A damned incubus," the Chancellor said. He turned to Laros. "That must be what was influencing Penelope. I just wonder why it hasn’t tried anything before." 

Laros tensed and pulled a long dagger from his sleeve.

The Chancellor turned and saw Penelope, walking like a zombie, holding a heavy metal chest in both hands. "That’s an old prison container," he said, "they were made them to trap creatures."

"Like incubi?" Bradley said, raising his hands to summon a weave.

"Yes!"

They watched as the grey mist swirled and gathered behind Penelope. The Chancellor and Bradley had to hold Laros back when the incubus took its natural form.

"Don’t be a fool," the Chancellor hissed, "you can’t hurt it with that dagger."

Penelope paused when she saw them. "Theleo. Look, it’s Lord Loradros and DeWin," she said quietly, the fear in her eyes readily apparent.

"Don’t worry, Penelope," the incubus said, its claws hovering at her throat, "They won’t do anything to us. I’m here for you." The incubus followed her closely as she walked towards them. "Try anything and the her blood is all over the floor," it growled.

They backed away as Penelope walked past them.

"Don’t be a fool, incubus," the Chancellor said as the pair left the library, "Hurt her and we will make sure you spend the rest of time in one of those prisons. Let her go and you can fly out of here."

The incubus laughed. "I’m taking this one with me. She’s been a fine source of nourishment."

They had left the library and now stood in the gardens, the moon shining down on them. "Drop the chest now, Penelope. I am free," the incubus said. He smiled, wrapping his arms around the dazed elf’s waist and reaching up to squeeze a breast. "Now we’ll be leaving-" He turned in surprise at the hum and snap of a portal opening.

Laros took the opportunity to dash forward and tug Penelope from the incubus’ arms. The incubus snarled and stepped forward with its claws raised but was stopped by a binding weave flung by Bradley and the Chancellor. It twisted in place as Laros handed his dagger to Hector. Hector lifted the dagger deftly to plunge it into the incubus’ chest. He dragged the blade down, cutting the incubus open and letting a great plume of mist spurt from its chest.

"What?" the incubus snarled, "How did you-?" the question was cut off as Hector neatly sliced through the incubus' throat, and it exploded into a rapidly fading cloud of mist.

"How did you do that?" Bradley asked.

"Hector's a magical construct," the Chancellor answered, "He can affect other magical beings physically, while we couldn’t. Now be on your guard for whatever comes out of that portal."

Bradley and the Chancellor stood off to the side of the portal as guards ran towards them from the building. Out of the corner of his eye, Bradley could see Laros lifting the unconscious Penelope in his arms and carrying her towards the infirmary. His attention was drawn back to the portal as it finished forming. He could see a brightly lit chamber and two figures stepping through.

"A welcoming party? For us?" Solyma asked, smirking at the assembled mages and guards. Behind her Tancred pushed his rapier back into its sheath.

"Welcome back, Lecturer van Dolceis," the Chancellor said, unweaving the fireball he had started to create, and it dissipated into the cool night air.

---

Penelope sat propped up in the infirmary bed, a cup of water held in her hand.

"I’m terribly sorry for any trouble I caused," she said to the Chancellor.

"Don’t worry. This type of situation happens all the time. It keeps us on our toes," the Chancellor answered.

"Why did the incubus choose me?"

"As near as I can figure, from what Lady DeWin and what I know of incubi, it was because you’re an elf. You’re magically sensitive. I think that  was enough to let the incubus contact you in your dreams and start to influence you. At least now we can take down those ‘No Sleeping’ signs in the library. Turns out that the incubus had been there for close to two centuries. We had forgotten all about him."

"But why didn’t he just leave the library?"

"He was bound to the containment chest. The interior of the library was the limit of his distance to roam because of its wards. Once you opened the chest and brought it outside, he would have been free. You’ll learn more about binding something to an object when you take the Summoning 23 class." The Chancellor looked up and saw that Solyma and Tancred had returned from being checked out by the medical staff. "I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do, so I’ll leave you three be."

The Chancellor nodded goodbye and walked out of the infirmary. Behind him he could hear Penelope’s excited greeting and Solyma’s equally enthusiastic response.

Continued in The World of Alderest IV

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