Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica: Volume 1 (Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica Series)

by Charlie Buxton

  "Something just feels... Somehow something feels right about this place," Celes mused.

  Experiencing the same sensation, Danica nodded her head in agreement. Andrea and Marlena were also smiling, drinking in the pristine beauty of nature surrounding them.

  "It feels like the grass under my feet is irritated at me. I don't think your valley likes me much," Devan grumbled.

  Danica looked at her friends and said, "I don't really want to, but let's go back for now and think about this."

  Marlena sighed, staring in wonder at the way the light of the sunset was playing on the thick clouds of mists hovering at the edge of the valley. "I don't want to leave either."

  A gust of wind whipped Devan's robes, leaving the other women completely undisturbed, even though they were only a couple of feet away. "Well, I'm ready to leave," Devan contradicted.

  "Oh, stop that, she's our friend," Andrea said to the breeze.

  The wind stopped and Devan looked at Andrea with a curious expression. "Uhm, thanks. It still feels like something doesn't want me here, but the sensation isn't as strong now."

  "Danica's right, let's go back for now," Celes suggested.

  Turning toward the center of the valley, Andrea said, "We'll be back."

  Danica nodded, "Yes, I think we will – and soon."

  {*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

  Sitting in the room they shared some hours later, the four friends came to a decision.

  Danica proceeded to sum things up for her sister, "We're all in danger because we escaped Zoraster, and we endanger anyone we're around because of it. We could probably be safe here or somewhere in Egoria, but that isn't going to stop the demons that will probably come after Celes and Andrea."

  "We also know Zoraster's operation from the inside out – as well as anyone not in his inner circle can – and where most of his outposts are. Once we've mastered our powers, and the spells in our mother's books, Andrea and I will be able to fight the demons. All the seers say they are a danger at least as great as Zoraster's schemes," Celes continued.

  "You could do all that from right here. Demons aren't going to get past Darkniciad's wards," Devan countered.

  "Maybe not, but your pressing need is countering Zoraster and the demon spawn the seers are talking about. All the attacks from the normal demons are going to distract you from that," Danica argued, "We can concentrate on weakening the hellspawn in general, and keeping an eye on the outposts we know about. Something tells me that any enemies we make will have a hard time finding us in that valley."

  "And we belong there," Andrea added.

  "Please tell me you're at least going to show some common sense, Marlena," Devan begged the red-haired illusionist.

  "I don't know what use I'll be, but I think they're right. We belong there, and we can do more to help from the valley than we could anywhere else."

  Devan let out an exasperated groan. "Okay, I give up. Honestly, I'm having a hard time arguing with you. That valley didn't want me there. I can just imagine how it would treat a demon or one of Zoraster's black robes. Now, have you figured out how you're going to keep the rain off your heads? I don't think any of you have home builder amongst your list of skills."

  Danica smiled. "I have an idea about that. I think between Darkniciad and I – with some help from the other wizards here – I can solve our problem of housing. I have some skill with enchanting magic items, and I'm sure they don't call him Darkni the Enchanter for nothing."

  Devan squinted one eye and tilted her head, looking at her sister. "Now you're really making me wonder. Yes, Darkni has more talent for enchantment than any wizard I've ever heard of. He doesn't come by that title lightly."

  Danica pulled something out of her bag of holding, showing it to Devan. "This is the spark for my idea."

  "Martin's Magnificent Tent," Devan said, recognizing the magic item, "You're thinking about an original creation, bigger and permanent once it has been activated, aren't you?"

  Danica nodded to indicate her sister was correct.

  Devan thought for a moment, and then advised, "That is going to require an immense amount of power, and money. The gemstones alone required for that type of enchantment are going to cost obscene amounts of coin, unless you want to take up mining."

  "Remember that bag of coin you were remarking about when I sent you to get clothes in town? I have a couple of sacks the same size full of gemstones."

  Devan looked at her sister with deep surprise evident in her expression. "I know you said Zoraster had immense amounts of money in his strongboxes, but bags of gems?"

  "It would have taken us hours to pack it all up. We just grabbed a couple of King's ransoms and got out of there," Celes explained.

  Devan shook her head in amazed surprise. "Okay, maybe you've got something workable here. I know Darkni will love the challenge. Let's go talk to him and see what he thinks."

  {*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

  Darkniciad expressed his deep interest in the idea, and grew more excited by the moment when he realized how much knowledge and talent Danica had in his favorite field of study. They went into a flurry of study and planning, using the enchantment process of the Magnificent Tent as the base from which to build their new item.

  Within three days, Danica and Darkni managed to hammer out the enchantment process. They knew it was going to require a tremendous amount of power, but both were confident that there were enough accomplished wizards on the island to manage the task through a joining.

  Darkni determined that the lingering effects of Zoraster's broken enchantments should have dissipated by this time, and so he awakened the clones. His estimation that they would behave much as children was very accurate. All of the copies acted much as a four-year-old girl might – save they had an enormous sex drive that was near insatiable. It was the only entertainment the childlike women had ever known, and until introduced to other amusements, they would continue to combat boredom with sexual play. Everyone took turns introducing the clones to games and learning as the days progressed.

  Darkniciad stepped back for the next part of the enchantment process, designing the place that would be the home of the four women and the dozen clones for the foreseeable future. Each woman would have a room of their own, with a large private bath, and closets that almost qualified as rooms due to their size. The baths would fill themselves magically, and the chamber pots would empty themselves the same way. The chamber pots would allow the women to sit rather than squat. Danica would have nothing less since she was planning the place from the ground up.The private rooms would open into an enormous common room, with an adjoining library and study room. A door in the study led to a tall tower, which had enough room in the round top for all four women to have their own individual area.

  A short distance down the hall was a kitchen large and well appointed enough to host a royal banquet, but having smaller stoves and ovens for the day-to-day cooking needs. The stoves, ovens, and kilns would all heat by magic, and the sinks would manifest water of any temperature required by magic as well.

  Farther down the hall and around the corner was the dining hall, also large enough to host a banquet, but having a smaller partitioned area at the front for normal mealtimes. Past the dining hall was the entrance foyer, with large closets to store coats and boots, and the laundry room – also enhanced by magic to make he women's lives easier.

  Another common room lay beyond the foyer, before the next corner in the hall. Around the corner, the rooms for the copies were located. Each girl, as Danica now thought of them, would have their own room, but they also had a large common bedroom that they would likely share for some time, until they developed more individuality. They also had a common room and a study, though these would probably both be playrooms for a long time to come.

  Turning again the final hall in the square led to the baths. Danica had enjoyed her time in the baths of Agreseus, and so she designed the Manor to have the full facilities – powered by magic, of course. The m
ain bathing pool would be large enough for twenty people to stretch out in comfortably.

  The center of the square provided more than enough room for a garden to grow food, herbs, and flowers. Windows were everywhere in the structure, to provide fantastic views of the enclosed garden and beautiful valley itself.

  Darkniciad looked over the incredible design, warning that crafting such detail in an item would probably require an object so large that it would not be easily portable. Danica was unconcerned, as she only planned to move it once – from here to where it would reside.

  Darkni and Danica concentrated their efforts on crafting the item, while everyone else turned to their studies, and teaching of the girls. In the end, it took the two accomplished crafters nearly three weeks to create the detailed model that would house the magic. It was approximately a foot and a half square, with the tower reaching a slightly greater distance above the roof of the manor.

  Danica took Darkniciad's advice and rested for a week before they attempted the enchantment. The detailed crafting had worn both wizards out, and they needed to be at their best if they wanted to succeed in the tremendous undertaking of the final enchantments.

  Two more days of exhaustive spell casting prepared the item for the final enchantment that would power it. Again, Darkniciad admonished a few days of rest before continuing, and as weak as Danica felt, she was in no position to argue.

  When the time came, the most powerful wizards on the island, and the most powerful of his pupils who resided elsewhere in the world, joined together in the common room for the final enchantment. They cleared the furniture away, leaving enough room for the wizards to join in a circle around the item. Wizards of less power, and others on the island, stood ready outside the circle to provide aid if any of those joining in the enchantment should weaken and lose consciousness.

  On Darkni's signal, he and Danica began the final incantation. All around them, the other wizards waited in silence until the appropriate moment, and then chanted the joining spell in unison.

  The light surrounding the item when the magic took effect was far too bright to look at, causing the wizards who had all wisely closed their eyes during the casting to squint them even tighter against the burning glow. Many dropped to their knees, and a pair collapsed completely. By the time the light started to settle in upon the model, even Danica and Darkniciad were on their knees.

  When the light dimmed to tolerable levels, Danica opened her eyes and smiled wide. The model hovered above the table where it had been placed, glowing with power.

  Darkniciad rose unsteadily to his feet, aided by his wife, and announced, "Truly we have created something incredible this day. Behold, Danica's Magnificent Manor!"

  Danica accepted Andrea's help to stand, her face flushing with color as Darkni dubbed the item with her name.

  Darkni continued, "The enchantment will now be available in the library for all to study. I have little doubt this will be a unique item for many years, though, considering the unbelievable cost in coin and power it required."

  Swaying a little on his feet, Darkni chuckled and said, "Now, I believe we would all do with some rest before Danica takes the item for its final testing. I have little doubt it will be all we have crafted it to be, but we will not know until it has been activated."

  {*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

  They waited a week, recovering from the exhaustion of the spell casting, before Danica summoned the Hellgate to emerge near the center of the valley. Andrea, Celes, and Marlena walked at her side, while the others waited on the other side of the portal within the Hellgate, corralling the excited clones.

  Danica placed the item in the spot she had chosen, near the exact center of the valley, and then they all moved back a great distance to allow the item the necessary room to expand. Danica glanced at her friends with a smile, and then turned to the item and spoke the command word that would activate it.

  "Home."

  The four women hugged each other as the manor expanded, looking exactly as they had envisioned it. After a hurried inspection, they determined that every enchantment appeared to be working exactly as they had designed it to.

  Walking together back out of the front door, they returned to the nearby portal and stepped through into the Hellgate.

  Danica smiled and gestured to the clones. "Come, girls, let's go home."

  The copies ran through the portal unimpeded, confirming that they too belonged in this odd, beautiful valley. They frolicked in the flowers and grass, and Danica knew they would be in need of the bathing facilities by the time they grew tired of their play.

  "Congratulations," offered Darkniciad.

  "Thank you," Danica replied, and then turned to her sister, hugging her. "I promise I'll come to see you, but this is home – I can feel it. I love you."

  "You'd better, or I'll risk getting my skirt blown off to come here and paddle your behind for forgetting," Devan warned, and then added, "I love you too."

  Danica ushered the great wizard and her sister back through the portal to Darkni's isle, refocused the portal on the valley and stepped through to stand next to the other women, watching the girls at play.

  {*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

  The stone sang in exaltation once more, and Tam smiled so wide his face ached. At his side, Vellana had an odd look on her face, as if she were hearing something for the first time.

  "It's so beautiful. I think I understand now," Vellana whispered.

  The guardian nodded, "Yes, I can feel the stone connecting to you. The bonds between you will only grow now."

  "They are truly the ones the signs all speak of, aren't they?"

  Tam laughed and wiped a single tear from his eye. "Yes, Vellana, they are. At long last, the Sisters of the Mists have come, and in them rest the hope of all."

  The End

  The Question

  The comm screen flashed that there was an incoming message and Captain Julia Yamamoto tapped the accept code.

  "Hello, Admiral Christiansen" she said to the aging man on the screen.

  "Hello Julia, let's drop the formal crap. How are you doing?"

  "Well, Jake, a little shook up, but happy we're intact."

  "I've gotta tell you," said the Admiral, "when we heard you'd been attacked by Aquilans we were stuck somewhere between disbelief and excitement. We've been trying to establish contact with those bastards for years and we can't get 'em to pay the slightest attention. They just swim around in their pools, or pods, or energy shells, or whatever they're called and never spare us so much as a 'hello'."

  "I know," said Julia, "we can't get them to pay the slightest attention to us, and then wham, they swoop in and attack my ship."

  "Any casualties?" asked Jake.

  "None," said Julia. "They were more efficient than a team of SEALS - precision attack, disabling tactics, got in and got out, and gone - jetting straight back to NGC 6751. They worked like surgeons, even using some sort of plasma technique to cauterize their path, sealing up all of the leaks as they went so none of our chambers lost pressure."

  "Amazing. What did they get?" asked the Admiral.

  "That's the oddest thing," said Julia. "They grabbed the science lab and the backup medical suite. They cut the entire thing directly out of the ship. They took everything in the bio labs and the gene labs. From what we can tell, they also pulled the engineering data for every ship we've ever built. Other than that - nothing else was taken."

  "What the hell?" mused Jake. "I suppose I understand the engineering information -- but after the way they cut through your ship, it wouldn't seem like they need that sort of data to conduct further attacks."

  "I know," agreed Julia. "Speaking of attacks, how are we going to classify this, Jake? We've experienced no loss of life and no significant damage. Hell, except for the fact that we have to go the long way between two parts of the ship -- I could keep going without a single repair. It's hard to call this an act of war."

  "You're exactly right," agreed the a
dmiral. "I've already tangled with a couple of hotheads who are ready to mount a full on attack."

  "Full on attack on what?" asked Julia. "The Aquilans are energy-based beings that float in random pods across this entire nebula. Do these hotheads want to light up the entire cloud?"

  "If they had their way, yeah," said the Admiral. "You take care of your repairs, Julia. I'll take care of the idiots. We'll classify this as the Aquilan Encounter, and leave it at that."

  "Sounds good, Jake," said Julia.

  After signing off, the captain did have one thought lingering in her mind. What in the world were the Aquilans going to do with the genetic info and the labs.

  ***

  TWENTY YEARS AFTER THE AQUILAN ENCOUNTER

  He had once had a name. It was now unpronounceable, or perhaps unthinkable in ways this new brain could comprehend. The name had meant countless things. It had involved the places he'd gone and the ancestors who had led to his creation. However, the name had been in a language that was unfathomable to this form.