Mirror Bound

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  I informed him: 'Paul told me about the risks, but once a person is suffering it is hard for me not to act. I feel their hurt.'

  Now I thought there had been enough talking, so I kissed him deeply, stirring his feelings again, and this time he didn't even try to school his face anymore, he just let his desire and lust show on his handsome face.

  Of course he couldn't keep quiet even then, and asked: 'Will you allow me to take up your training? I find your talent intriguing and I'd love to explore it with you.' Not a hint of lust in that, just serious interest.

  I replied: 'You may, if Paul agrees, I wouldn't hurt him for the world.'

  Curiosity, a new feeling, George was dying to know how far my bond with you went. I decided to tell him, but not then. I wanted my prey brought down, and brought down soon. I decided I had to take a firmer hand. As George wanted to speak again, I kissed him into silence, and I led him from the water into the nice warm air. I guessed that seeing my differences displayed before him would interest him in my body again, instead of my mind.

  And I was right, he now felt free to openly stare at my penis, still half-raised despite his chattering. Then of course he noticed the tail, and like every one of you poor, tail-less humans he wanted to touch it and asked if he might.

  I was not going to allow him the same liberties I gave you, so I took charge straight away and said: 'If you kneel beside me you may touch it, fondle it, I'll

  even flick it for you.' If anything, my bossy tone turned him on, and he went to his knees readily.

  He laid his cheek against the cheek of my butt, and first touched my tail, then fondled it. He kissed both cheeks, put his face between them and licked, I'll tell you that set my tail to flicking all by itself. He laid his head back against it, and ran his hands over my legs very firmly, enjoying the feel of the muscles developing there.

  I wanted to touch him too, his stomach still firm, his chest still much broader than his flanks, his firm legs and strong feet, so I got on my knees too, then laid down with him. We kissed, and touched each other, until we were both too hot to handle.

  But I managed to control myself, took him into the lake again where I floated him like you did me yesterday, and with my mouth I gave him the best high ever, I could feel it in his mind. Then I couldn't control myself anymore and I took him, carefully at fist, you know because of my size, but he could clearly handle it, and wanted more, so I gave him all I got, right there in the lake, him still floating with me holding on to him, my hoofs planted firmly in the mud.

  He still had something of lust left in him after that, so we got out again, and I allowed him to feel my hoofs, and my hocks, and we explored several other attributes all men have, and he loved mine and I his. Next time I'll tell him about the horns, he never thought of them. Good, I like to be normal.'

  I seriously couldn't see in his face if he meant that, but I do think he was sarcastic. He continued his tale:

  'Then we rested a little, and he asked how long I already had magic. And I told him about my life in my dimension of Greece, where I didn't have any at all, just the ability to hide well, but I couldn't control that.

  Then the captivity, where I hid in plain sight, nearly succeeding. I told him about my captors, and finding the hole in the rock right after they'd beaten and shaven me, and landing in a room.

  I must say I don't remember much of the first few days, just the fear, the cold, and sitting with you for the first time, you were sweet to me, gave me food, warmth and company. I remember your sudden anger, my fear at not knowing what I had done wrong.

  Of course you took pity on me and gave me the reason for your anger afterwards, and I remember loving you for the first time like it was yesterday.

  I told George what I think now: that since going through the portal I felt emotions of people I knew and that making love somehow gave me a lot of energy.

  Also, we understood one another without speaking each other's language. He told me straight away he didn't think I'd been abducted by enemies but by my own father, and you have seen yourself how that thought frightened me, still does.'

  He looked at us now, and asked us: 'I want to stay with you, please don't let anyone take me!'

  Now, Paul spoke the exact thought I'd had: 'Dearest Lukas, I'm not helpless in matters of magic, and I can innovate weapons as well as every day objects. If your dad does indeed find this dimension and offers you harm of any kind, he will find me on his path.'

  'And me,' I said, 'I may only be an apprentice now, but I will do my damnedest to learn quickly. We're not his worshipers, he might find us harder to crack than you'd expect.' And with that Lukas seemed to take a little heart, and he went back to work until it was time to prepare dinner.

  During dinner we tried to shape our plan to get the photographs from the factory. We decided to go in after the last shift had left, to prevent innocents from getting hurt, and also to have as few witnesses as possible.

  The factory always shut down at sundown, which was around ten at this time of the year. As the building held no real valuables, we did not expect it to be really well-protected. 'How do we know whether we have all the photographs?' I asked.

  Lukas replied: 'According to Frances, Jonas had sold six plates to the same buyer, and I've seen three of the ones she described in the factory. I hope the rest will be there too, you may find them with your sight, I suppose we should also bring any other objects that you recognize as containing a soul.'

  Paul said: 'I haven't used a lot of magic in your presence yet, but that will change tonight. I am planning to just force my way in with magic, follow Lukas to the office where the plates are, find the remaining three by using more magic, take all six of them, move out and free the faeries, check the wasteland for pollution with still more magic.

  If we want to be careful, Melissa can check every fence and every room for magic wards, which I will disable with magic. There is a ley-line near enough for me to reach, and if needed I have permission to use the Nomes' node. My

  magic energy has no limits tonight, I can set the sky alight with it.

  The only problem will be to avoid being identified. We want to set the law on the owner of the factory for poisoning the water, so we may not be recognized or we'll be arrested as criminals ourselves.' He looked really determined and quite fearsome, I was sure he'd blast that black mage right from existence if he met him.

  No sign of the boy there anymore, this was a guardian taking charge of his territory, ruthless and with force if necessary. Lukas eyed him curiously, and remarked: 'That's as good a plan as any, and I love fireworks, so let's wait until sundown and go get those photographs.

  And though I would have liked to plan some more, say for contingencies, I realized that guys my age worked just fine without a clear plan, so I acceded to Paul's leadership. He seemed very sure of himself, and I knew I tended to see too many sides of things. An engineer's trait, I guessed, but this was not construction, rather the opposite.

  After washing up we whiled away the few hours until sundown in the workshop, Lukas and Paul charging Lukas' eye-shaped focus. I was not going to wear gold to a raid and I said so to Paul, and he laughed and retorted that I no longer had any use for a focus, I could take as much energy as I needed from him, even in a fight he'd recognize my touch and not be distracted by it.

  And there was always the ley-line next to the plant. All his doubts seemed forgotten, he was almost overconfident by now.

  Chapter 33

  At sundown we left on foot, mostly dressed in black. I was wearing women's trousers, I was not going to be hindered by the excess fabric of a skirt or a dress.

  My hair was tamed in a tight braid then rolled up and pinned securely to my head, and covered with a black scarf.

  Paul had no weapons, he would rely totally on magic for his defence, but Lukas wore a nasty looking knife in his belt, and he went barefoot. He wanted to be able to use his hoofs to kick, I guess, so no shoes.

  Still, Lukas looked his nor
mal self even openly carrying a weapon, but Paul, he looked positively scary in his concentrated determination. He would not need protection in the run-down neighbourhood, anyone meeting his eyes would scurry for a hiding-place, although it would probably be pitch dark in the area since there was no street lighting there.

  'Will we need lamps to see where we are going?' I asked. Lukas shook his head and replied: 'It will draw attention to us, if you use your sight you will be able to use the glow of the living things to see by. That works better outside the city, but it was good enough for me yesterday.'

  We were in the middle of the slum when I felt something watching us, and I nudged Paul again, asking: 'Those friends of yours again?' He shook his head, said: 'Didn't contact them, better be on our guard.'

  His air didn't change, but of course he was totally set for action already. We walked on stoically, but I didn't see much and the feeling of being followed made me a little nervous.

  Suddenly I felt myself being grabbed from behind, I couldn't see a thing, and cried out in alarm. As my mind worked frantically to think of a way to free myself, I saw the street in front of me light up, not as bright as day, but brighter than street lighting.

  Now I could clearly see Paul, for he was the centre of the light, he glowed with power even to normal sight, and six burly guys blocking our path stood blinking, eyes used to the dark trying to adjust to the brilliance, still holding

  clubs and pipes, clearly out for trouble.

  Lukas was not to be seen, I couldn't hear him either, until the guy holding me got struck with a thump, groaned in pain and released me. I immediately readied a fireball, not taking the time to find a ley-line but using my own energy.

  It made the street even brighter, and it seemed to put quite a scare into our assailants, who had seen their comrade fall, but had not seen an attacker.

  Another footpad got struck from the dark behind him, and doubled up in pain.

  The rest of the group was now looking for a way out of the circle, we were clearly not the easy prey they held us for, not worth the effort. I didn't want to throw the fireball at them, it might set them on fire and they didn't seem much of a threat anymore, so I merely pulled my arm back and aimed it at them.

  Paul brightened even further, until they couldn't look at him anymore. Then a sinister voice spoke from the dark: 'Be ye gone!'

  The men still standing turned as one and fled. I lobbed the fireball after them, heard them cry out in fear, and in its light I saw them pick up speed and disappear into the dark. Paul quickly dispelled the light, and I felt him and Lukas contact me in the dark.

  'You all right?' asked Paul, and Lukas said: 'Great fireball, very impressive!' I replied: 'I'm fine, and thank you.'

  Lukas asked Paul: 'You practising for godhood?' and Paul retorted: 'Just burning off some excess energy. You practising for demonhood?'

  I heard Lukas' voice laugh, and he said: 'Sorry, I seem to have mislaid my horns only recently.'

  We walked on in great spirits, we had countered an unexpected attack successfully and in total unity, a good preparation for an in-and-out raid on a factory owned by an evil mage. In the pitch dark, the wasteland was less depressing, though not a lot.

  I was getting used to walking on sight only, and in the wasteland it was easier than in the city, though in the dark that unhealthy phosphorescent pool seemed to give off a light of its own, adding to the eeriness of the deserted ground. There was no sign of larger life in the area, probably all fast asleep.

  Soon we were standing in front of the factory, and I checked it with sight openly, knowing the black mage owner had no sight of his own to discover me doing it, even if he were on the premises. There was a ward on the whole

  fence surrounding the factory, it actually seemed as if the huge building was wrapped in a large Christmas bow with a rather complicated knot.

  I alerted Paul to it, but of course he had already spotted it, it was so large and the colour was hideous, a sickly red. Paul looked at it in revulsion and told us: 'That hideous red hue is typical of stolen magic, I'm afraid the aura is tinged with blood magic, not just that of stolen souls.

  This black mage may be more dangerous than I'd thought, though his ward speaks of a singular lack of creativity. I'm going to unravel it, watch how I do it.'

  So Lukas and I watched with sight, and saw him slowly and very gently untangle the complicated knot, revulsion at the touch of the vile magic clearly visible in all his features. No alarm sounded, not in the real world nor in the magical sense.

  When the ward dissipated after the knot was untangled, he had his hand on the lock immediately. He let us watch again, and unlocking it was a matter of moving the mechanism with magic rather than a key.

  Of course one needed to be able to see inside the lock to do that, but both Lukas and me could do that. The lock also gave way to Paul's magic, he was still glowing with it, but only to sight now, and it seemed to me he was still using his own internal energy.

  I asked: 'Why don't you use ley-line power, won't this weaken you slowly?'

  He was surprised I'd checked, and replied: 'We know this mage is not sensitive to magic energy, but using power from outside my own stash gives off a clearly visible sign, so I'd rather not do that until my own reserves are emptied.'

  I hadn't known that, that would make having a focus handy after all, unless that would show up too. I asked, and Paul replied that energy from a focus was personal and not visible from the outside. I was thrilled to see him use so much magic, and show us how it worked as he did it. This raid was turning into a field-trip pretty quickly, and it was fun to see him use magic to remove every obstacle in our way.

  Lukas went in first, and we followed, closing the door behind us. Paul even set his own ward on it, not leaving anything to chance. His was blue, and quite beautiful, looking like a well-forged chain of interlocked human hands.

  Somehow, breaking in to the factory was exciting rather than scary, I followed Lukas and Paul was behind me, so I felt quite safe. The door to the

  factory itself was locked, but not for long. I thought Lukas would probably find some uses soon for this newly found skill.

  Within minutes we were crossing the hall with the machines, it was huge, though in the dark it was difficult to see exactly how high the roof was. I checked everything with sight, using Paul's energy to save my own and not give us away to spying eyes with sight, and so he'd be able to see what I saw through the connection of our minds.

  The machinery was normal, everything seemed normal until one door glowed in the sickly red colour of corrupted magic, it had a ward on it. I wanted to have a closer look with a bit of normal light, but Paul asked to first free the faeries, so we moved on for now.

  We were across the hall in a few minutes and Lukas opened the door to the office-area. Stepping inside, he took a turn to the right, he knew exactly where to go. We did not check out the other offices, apparently Lukas was convinced all the photographs would be in the owner's office. I continued to look about me with sight, but nothing weird showed up.

  Lukas now waited before a door, and asked me to double check it. I didn't see a ward either, so he opened the door and went in. Paul created a light, and soon the guys had collected four plates with photographs of trees off the walls.

  Checking in a general way with sight I found a fifth, and then we could do nothing but check all the closets and drawers for the sixth plate and any other objects that might contain souls.

  Paul soon came across the altar, and with the same revulsion as when he beheld the sickly red power signature, he told us he'd destroy it just before we left. The owner would certainly feel that and raise the alarm, so we needed to get out quickly after that.

  I was searching a closet when Lukas called for us, I turned around and saw him standing next to an open closet, looking in. He pointed at another plate, asking: 'Is that one of them, it seems magical, but I'm not sure?' It seemed part of a construction, another kind of altar, and I didn't d
are to touch it like that, it seemed warded as well as clearly holding a soul.

  Paul came over and told us that this was the soul currently in use to power the mage. The photograph could not be saved, the plate would have to be destroyed to set the soul free.

  So we continued our search, found two statues that might possibly contain

  souls as well. We didn't take a good look at any of them, just shoved them in the bags with the photographs, Lukas and me both carrying one bag with several objects. Paul now started with the photograph in the closet, reducing it to ashes with what seemed to be pure magic power.

  Then he went on quickly to the altar, but that didn't give in as easily. As he hit it with raw power, black tendrils came out of it and attacked him. It looked really dangerous, but Paul didn't even twitch and continued his destructive task. The tendrils latched on to him, but couldn't find a hold, they tried his face, his neck, but soon the altar was ashes as well, and the tendrils dropped to the ground, writhing, until they, too, were ashes.

  Job done, Paul wiped his forehead as if he had been casting a difficult ornament, then came towards us and signalled to leave. In the hall we met our first resistance, apparently there was a night-watch after all, because two men in uniforms tried to stop us.

  Lukas kicked the first, hard on the leg, and the guy dropped like a stone, leg no longer able to support him. The other stood frozen, and I saw Paul fire a ball of raw power at him, visible only in the magical range.

  The guy clearly didn't see it coming, and when it hit him he dropped like a stone, clutching his head. I made a mental note to ask Paul how to do that, it seemed much more appropriate to stun a person than to singe him with fireballs.

  We rushed on, but we still had that warded door to check, and as we drew closer to it, I started to feel the source of Paul's revulsion myself. This was an abject form of power, it felt of great suffering. Paul removed the ward from the door as carefully as the first ward and as quickly.

  Lukas opened the door first and nearly buckled, his face anguished as he moaned: 'I can't stand it, the feelings rush me, there is someone suffering down there.'