The Academy Volume One

by Maxine Mansfield

  “Perhaps it would be best for everyone if I took Briar away from here, at least for a little while.”

  Mr. Chamman threw up his hands. “Do what you must, Mr. Stoutheart. But hear me on this: I will tolerate no more disturbances from the two of you in my classroom again. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

  Uthiel nodded and took Briar’s hand, and they walked out of the classroom.

  He didn’t say it out loud, but he was proud of what she’d done. Even though Olivia and Zasix most likely hadn’t deserved all they’d gotten, it still made him smile. And he didn’t even care that the stubs of eyebrows he’d finally begun to grow back were probably gone once more. It had been worth it just to see Zasix’s and Olivia’s faces when the force field had activated.

  They walked silently down one hallway, then another, with Uthiel leading the way. Briar didn’t look at him or question what they were doing or where they were going until they stopped in front of the portal stone.

  Even then, she merely raised an eyebrow.

  Uthiel set a destination and took hold of Briar’s hand once more. They stepped through the entry and into the abyss between one place and another.

  ****

  Beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Briar herself.

  A white sandy beach with a sun setting on an azure ocean. Palm trees swayed in a warm tropical breeze as colorful songbirds tweeted overhead.

  Paradise. This place was as close to paradise as Uthiel had ever seen, so he’d chosen it for their getaway.

  Briar smiled, “Where are we, and why are we here?”

  Uthiel held Briar’s hand in his and brought her fingers to his lips. He gazed deeply into her eyes and saw his own passion reflected there, mixed with hers.

  “You need to get away for awhile. To put what just happened in class behind you. Besides, I want you all to myself for a time, if you don’t mind.”

  Briar’s smile widened. “It’s perfect.”

  “We are on the shores of Tambia, my lady.” With a gleam in his eye, he added, “And all alone, it seems.”

  It had been days since he’d had the chance to touch her with any real depth of intimacy, and he’d missed it. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been craving it, needing it, until now.

  It frightened him. Could this be the beginnings of love? It certainly wasn’t the wild youthful lust he’d shared with Delaney, though there was more than enough lust with Briar to go around.

  She stroked his lips with a single finger, and her eyes misted over as she whispered, “Make love with me, Uthiel. Here, now, please.”

  He wouldn’t think about the ramifications of his actions today. He wouldn’t worry that Briar might be falling in love with him when he had nothing to offer her yet. And he certainly wouldn’t ponder the tug she had on his own heart. He wouldn’t spoil this moment. There would be plenty of tomorrows to worry about feelings―his and hers.

  In a single motion, Uthiel bent and gathered Briar into his arms. He carried her to a shaded grassy area and laid her gently down. “Someday, my lady, I will make love with you on a proper bed. For today, however, these humble surroundings must suffice.”

  Slowly he undressed himself, then her, savoring the texture of Briar’s skin beneath his touch. Protectiveness, and a feeling he wasn’t sure he was ready to name, surged through him as she quivered.

  “Easy, my lady. You’re safe within my arms. I’ll take care of you, always.”

  She answered him with a moan.

  His hands roamed the planes of her, reveling in the reactions he created: her sigh as she melted into his touch, the way her flesh pimpled as if chilled, and her shivers against his own heated skin. This beautiful woman was his, and he would take her.

  His lips sought hers and their tongues collided. Deeper and deeper he probed the hot wetness of her mouth. Coming up for air, he wondered at the shakiness of his own voice as it cracked, “God Draka, you are sweet, my lady. You taste of sunshine.” The last of his words were lost as he captured her lips once more.

  He needed to touch and taste all of her at the same time. Like an untrained schoolboy, Uthiel groped a breast. It had been a long time since he’d found himself so out of control over a situation, so urgent, so needful.

  Briar squirmed below him and he shifted his weight. “Am I too heavy, my lady?” He could see passion shining in her eyes, and she smiled when she shook her head and drew him back to her.

  “Just make love to me, please, Uthiel. Now.”

  Gently he separated her legs and found her small sensitive nub. He rolled it between his fingers and gloried in the sharp intake of her breath. Her demands grew louder.

  “Uthiel, I need…oh my god, I need your cock inside me.”

  He whispered against her skin, “My cock will fill you soon, my lady, I promise. But first, I have a thirst only your juices can quench, and a hunger only the taste of your pussy upon my lips can sate. For now I shall feast.”

  He took his time. Like a man long denied sustenance, he had a need to partake of all that was set before him. First her lips, then her ears, then the skin of her neck tempted his tongue. He sampled each before moving on to her breasts.

  They were perfect. Milky white globes each topped with a succulent rosy treat he couldn’t wait another moment to taste. Her breast filled his mouth, soft and pliable, sweet and hot. Her pebble-hard nipple tickled his tongue. He took his time and relished them both.

  His cock soon took control of his brain, as every drop of blood in his body coursed though it. The veins running along its sides gorged and drummed to the rhythm of his erratic heartbeat. He would have to give into his cock’s demands, but not yet.

  She was breathing hard and squirming beneath him. “Uthiel, oh my God Draka, that feels so-o-o-o-o good.”

  He slid farther down her body, across her ribs, over her belly, then stopped at the junction between her legs. Briar parted them without a word, and Uthiel dined.

  Her juices flowed as he suckled her clit. Over and over, he lavished the length of her pussy with his tongue, not wanting to miss even a single drop. She tasted of the first snowflakes of winter, and the first raindrops of spring, fresh and tangy, wild and free.

  His cock throbbed with his own need to be inside her. He was just about to slide up her body and give her what she’d been pleading for when she screamed.

  “Fuck me, Uthiel. Fuck me now.”

  He stopped, shocked. He’d certainly never heard Briar talk like that before. He grinned. He liked it.

  “And here I thought you only knew one naughty word, Briar. You never cease to amaze me. I will fuck you, my lady, for I live only to serve!”

  He parted her legs wider, positioned himself at the junction and, with a single powerful thrust, slid in. All the way in.

  Briar moaned, then sighed.

  There was no energy left for words after that, because it was spent on the task. Thrust after thrust, long strokes, then short quick ones, fast then slow, deep then teasing. Briar’s tight, volcanic essence drove Uthiel to a state of lusty madness. There was no thought for today, no yesterday, no tomorrows, only now, only this place, this woman.

  It was music to his ears when she clenched her pussy about his cock and screamed his name.

  He could feel his own eruption on the verge of happening. Hot magma swirled uncontrollably at the base of his shaft. His testes tightened, readying themselves to release their precious cargo. This was the time. Finally he would have release once more.

  He could almost count the thrusts it would take to come, and in his mind he did exactly that.

  Ten. He slammed his cock forward and slid it back out.

  Nine. Briar moaned.

  Eight. He rammed against her pelvis.

  Seven. Briar nipped his shoulder.

  Six. He shuddered above her.

  Five. She locked her legs about his waist.

  Four. His magma rose.

  Three. She clenched him tightly.

  Two―

  �
�Uthiel Stoutheart and Briarlarn Tumbleweed! What the snot balls of an overweight ogre in a pink tutu dancing in the rain are the pair of ya doing here? I swear, ya two are like rabid rabbits. Everywhere I go, there ya are, joined together in a wrestling match. Can’t a gnome take his lady out for a stroll on the beach and a private picnic without scandalizing her with the likes of ya two?”

  Uthiel dropped his head to Briar’s chest, heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His erection, still deep within her body, shriveled.

  Close, he’d come so damn close.

  He didn’t even raise his head as he answered, “Would you mind giving us a moment, Mr. Shortz?”

  The gnome actually giggled. “Take all the time ya need, lad. My girl and I will just be over yonder,” he pointed toward the water, “waiting for ya ta clear out of our favorite spot.”

  Uthiel lifted his head to glare at the gnome. Favorite spot, my ass. He’d like to favorite spot one Mr. Leeky Shortz and his blow-up doll all the way across the beach and back through the portal.

  His balls burned and ached with the need to finish. The sensation was even more painful now than it had been when he was a green teenager still learning the lessons of life. He’d almost forgotten this sensation, especially since he hadn’t felt it for over two years now. There no doubt about it, the red dragon needed to die soon.

  Uthiel stared at Leeky, who was still standing in front of them. “So just when were you going to go away so Briar and I can get dressed?”

  Tucking his blow-up doll firmly beneath his arm, Leeky Shortz snorted, “Come along, Miss Kitty. Nothing ta see here. I know, I know, young folks these days have no shame.”

  ****

  The day had been exhausting, but Briar wasn’t the least bit surprised when mist swirled about her ankles the moment she dozed off. She braced herself, ready this time for what she knew would be coming.

  “Our destinies are joined, young healer. Yours, mine, and the paladin’s.”

  Even in her sleep, Briar turned toward the voice. “Who are you, Carnelian? What are you? What is it you want?”

  The voice sounded soulful. “What I am does not matter. I am one of but a few left. Without your help, Healer, I may perhaps be one of the very last of our kind. Your task is a straightforward one, half-elf, half-human female. You have but to love the paladin. Love the paladin and embrace your destiny.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Did you hear what Briar did today?”

  “Hear about it? I was there and saw it!”

  What has Briar done now? Uthiel leaned closer to the two high-elf women chatting in the middle of the lunchroom, and strained to not miss a word.

  “I thought Ms. Leggs was gonna either stroke out or have a heart attack. She told us that the majority of potions we use today are thousands of years old. The newest one is well over a hundred years old. Before today, that is.”

  The female closest to Uthiel choked on her drink and sputtered, “The first completely new potion in over a hundred years?”

  The second female smiled and nodded. “Not just completely new, but its use is what is truly amazing. The greatest alchemists in the world have been trying for years to develop a potion that can stop bleeding immediately anywhere―even if the site of the injury is in the very middle of the body―without clotting too much and causing death.

  “And here, Briarlarn Tumbleweed, a woman from the forest, mixes a few ingredients together as if they were a poultice to cure warts or something and,” the woman leaned in closer to her friend, “voila!” She straightened and threw out her arms dramatically. “She has the potion of the century.”

  Picking up her half-eaten sandwich, the woman took a bite before continuing to talk around her mouthful. “Ms. Leggs said it has the potential to save countless lives in battle. I’d bet anything, when she handed out the homework assignment to concoct a potion that hadn’t yet been seen in class, she never for a single moment thought a completely new one would be found. And, get this, Briar told her she’d been using it for years, on wounded animals or some such.”

  Uthiel sat back, stunned. He knew Briar was good. Very good, as a matter of fact. After all, he’d observed her in Potions class and been quite impressed. In his wildest dreams, however, he’d never realized she was that good.

  ****

  The whole day had been like one huge whirlwind.

  Briar shook her head. Not just today, if she really thought about it. The entire last three weeks had been. Ever since the day she and Uthiel had made love on the white, sandy beach of Tambia, life had been spinning out of control. Even Alchemia’s calming words, “Hang in there, everything will work out as it should in the end. You’ll see,” hadn’t helped much.

  And then there had been the strange dreams that made less and less sense. She had hoped they would stop and not come back. Unfortunately, they hadn’t stopped. If anything, they’d grown more frequent.

  Finals were mere days away, and the private Dominatrix classes with Headmistress Seychelle were a never-ending nightmare. Day after day after day of dealing with Ray and his constant insistence to play cock fetch. The turns of the hourglass she’d spent trying to learn different bondage techniques she’d never be competent at, no matter how much practice she had.

  Even the paddle training, which she actually enjoyed and excelled at, had been tainted when Seychelle insisted she swat the ass of Zunnoab, the bahsheer, instead of Uthiel’s pink, sexy cheeks. Not to mention the whips and chains that had somehow inflicted more pain on herself than on Uthiel, as had been intended.

  But, most important of all, she still hadn’t managed to heal the man who now had a firm hold on her heart. Not that she hadn’t tried on as many occasions as she could talk him into. She had, but to no avail.

  She’d been close that day on the beach. So close that, for a moment, time itself had almost stood still. An all-encompassing sensation of love so pure it took on a life of its own had filled her. It surged through her into him and then back into her, rocking Briar to her very core.

  Then, thanks to the interruption of one Mr. Leeky Shortz, as quickly as it had been there, it was gone.

  She hadn’t come anywhere near as close since. If she were truly honest with herself, the intensity of that feeling and level of energy it generated frightened her. She wasn’t so sure she’d be able to control it if she ever really let it have its way.

  Briar wondered if she should talk to Uthiel about the energy she’d felt coursing through her and about the strange dreams she’d been having lately. The message about destiny did affect both of them, after all.

  Would he understand, though? No, probably not. She didn’t understand it herself.

  What good did it do to go over and over it in her head? None. It wasn’t as if telling Uthiel could change anything. Why couldn’t healing the man or even simply talking to him be as easy as concocting a potion?

  And the potion. Who would’ve thought common, everyday Dak Forest mushrooms would cause such a stir?

  Briar smiled fondly at the thought of home. The Dak Forest was small and lay just beyond the Mountains of Landis. How many times as a child had she scurried about that forest floor, collecting those silly mushrooms?

  It had been a complete accident she’d discovered their use in the first place. If she hadn’t been an all-feet-and-legs child, she would’ve probably never figured it out. That thought made her smile as she remembered the little inquisitive girl with scrapes on her knees and dirt smudges on her cheeks.

  She’d been running through the woods with her hands full of the mushrooms, eager to get home and give Papa the gift. Midan Tumbleweed, like all the other rangers in the area, coveted the mushrooms for their use as a powerful poison to tip his arrows with.

  Her foot caught on a long, exposed root and, head over bare toes, she flew through the air, her precious mushrooms―now smashed, mashed, and ruined―still clutched in her hands.

  Briar’s knee had bled and she’d placed a hand over it, pressing d
own to staunch the flow. Papa would be angry. She’d forgotten once more to put up her protective barrier.

  Her knee tingled, and the whole of her insides were suddenly warm. She jerked her hand away and small flecks of mushroom fell to the ground.

  Briar watched in fascination as the blood stopped flowing as if by magic and turned into what looked like a red gel. The pain stopped, and after a while the small clot fell away. It was as if the injury had never happened.

  She didn’t tell her father about it, however. Briar didn’t want to explain how she’d discovered its use. Midan Tumbleweed was well known for his eon-long lectures on personal safety, so Briar kept it all to herself, and because her mother had been a Druid, no one had ever questioned her natural ability since then as they transported their animals to her to be healed. They’d all just been glad she could do it.

  Lines creased her forehead and sadness filled her eyes. Perfecting the potion hadn’t been without its mistakes. It was dumb, blind luck she didn’t kill herself with it. Through trial and error on herself and seriously injured animals, Briar discovered it took only minuscule amounts of the mushroom to stop the bleeding, whereas large amounts, even on the outside of the body, caused all blood to clot instantly. And even an accidental ingestion meant certain death.

  In the end, she dried the mushrooms and pulverized them into a fine powder. She mixed a very tiny pinch of dried mushroom with rose hips and white willow for fever, with lavender for infection, with queen-of-the-meadow for pain, with sphagnum moss for bandage, and with comfrey for bruising. At first, she also added other coagulation herbs, like agrimony, witch hazel, or yarrow, but had found that together, they canceled each other out.

  Now, no matter where she traveled, she always carried a small supply of her favorite herbs with her and kept them safely stashed in her room during class. Briar never knew when or where she would have need of them.

  Sighing, she thought it too bad she hadn’t found a miracle burn potion instead, since she had an affinity for causing damage in that particular way.

  Briar was startled when she looked up. She was at the door of the Healing the Soul classroom and didn’t remember her walk here. She shook her head. How could she be so absentminded?