The Red Cabal

[VagrantSong]

Thank you! There's quite a bit of editing needed for the next couple of chapters, and some rewriting - I've updated a lot of the story since my first go at it, and am having to keep track of changes to the early chapters so i can rewrite accordingly later on! But it's wonderful that you enjoy the story itself; I don't particularly like to read quickie hook-up stories, and I love fantasy, but have had such a difficult time finding smutty gay well written fantasy. So a little while back I decided to try and write my own. It's a little harlequin, but keeping an epic story on track while working in plenty of hot scenes is not a simple task. They become a little less frequent later on, I warn, but hopefully the story will make it worth the read to encounter them!

peace

 

[Craiger]

I think your writing has such an intriguing plot that there is no need for hot scenes in every chapter. You have built characters that can stand alone and the story holds a mystery that is constantly drawing one deeper into the fantasy. I will say, the erotic scenes, when they appear, are exceptionally hot, but life, even in a fantasy world, is not entirely about sex. You have certainly produced more than what you referred to as "smutty gay fantasy."

Craiger

 

[Autolycus]

Thanks for the new chapters. You certainly have skills a plenty when it comes to telling a story. There is a place here for erotic fiction as opposed to the more pornographic stuff that some readers enjoy and has to be catered for. Keep up the good work!

 

[VagrantSong]

Red Apprentice
Chapter 9

​

I saw Alexander again the following morning for breakfast. We ate in the same small dining hall as the Adepti who lived there in the Vanholme charter house, but at a smaller table well removed from them. I noted that each one of them sat beside a lightly armed man, and was somewhat relieved to see that not all of the Blades were as grim as Galen.

While we ate, I learned more about Alexander. He had been taken as an apprentice at only six, and while he had a vague memory of his life before his whole world has been that of the cabal for as long as mattered. He told me about the early training, which was mostly spent reading and writing. He was taught the sciences, both common and arcane. I realized as he told me these things just how wide the gap was between our levels of education. Oh, I could read and count and do the math related to my old world, and I understood the basic principles of commerce from going on trading trips. But I started to worry that I could never catch up fast enough.

“It’s not as hard as you think it will be,” Alexander was saying. “I’ll help you study, and with a little hard work you’ll know everything you need to know.”

I tried to look encouraged. “I know, but sometimes it seems like even the younger apprentices are just... smarter than I am.” He started in with the look of sympathy again. “Okay, okay. I learn quickly, I know I can figure it all out. With you to help me.” I smiled and touched his knee, trying to help him feel like he was improving my mood.

We weren’t even in Osland yet, and already Quentin had started pushing knowledge into my head. There were a series of landmarks that had to be achieved academically before I could really start trying to learn to use magic. However – and Quentin was deadly serious when he explained this – I was already far more developed, magically, than many students my age, and if I didn’t learn to control my power fairly soon complications could still arise. The pressure of it had made my nerves raw. Being with Alexander and not having to think about it alleviated the feeling somewhat, but he also seemed to be intent on pushing my education forward.

I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about me that Alexander seemed to like so much. When he’d come to find me for breakfast that morning he had been incredibly nice to me and had kept it up without fail. It was very... well, sweet, but somewhat uncomfortable as well.

Alexander took everything about his situation for granted. This was how life was for him. I did learn that he’d been very close to an older apprentice for a long time before Nathaniel was raised to adeptus. Nathaniel was back in Osland, but apprentices and Adepti were not allowed to socialize very much outside of any lessons that they assisted with, so as far as Alexander was concerned the relationship was over, at least for now.

“Do you know what time we’re leaving for Osland,” I asked, trying to change the subject.
Alexander shrugged, “Master Vanas doesn’t tell me those kinds of things. He just calls me when he wants me, or tells me to stay put until he gets back.”

That happened a few moments later, and I wondered irrationally if Vanas, or Quentin for that matter, were able to somehow magically eavesdrop on us whenever they wished. Alexander gave a little start, just barely noticeable, and then informed me that it was probably about time to go. When I asked, he looked at me with a bit of surprise.

“The Masters can call us through the rings. Hasn’t Master Quentin told you, or shown you?”

I shook my head.

“I’m sure he will soon. The range is pretty far, and when you feel it you just kind of follow it to them. Hard to explain, but for right now I need to go. I suppose you could come with me if Master Quentin hasn’t called you, but it might be better to head back to your quarters until he comes for you.” He stood up and left his dishes where they were.

I did the same, and immediately felt guilty about leaving them. However, I could see there were people moving about the room busily cleaning up dishes at other now vacant seats. I left the table, and only looked back once as I followed Alexander out.

Though I did want to stay near Alexander – his presence gave me a sense of comfort that I had been lacking lately – I very much did not want to be around Vanas in the near future. So instead I headed back to our quarters to await Quentin.

I passed several other people on the way there. While walking with Alexander, he had commented on the good looks of a few apprentices and Adepti, and about one Sorcerer who had seemed to hear and disapprove. It had made me uncomfortable but I couldn’t really say why. There was an openness to his attraction to other men that somehow still didn’t seem right to me. It seemed like it should be more private, or somehow secret.

The thought was ridiculous, of course. It was no secret how the vast majority of sorcerers would have to direct their interests in love and whatever else. I still had trouble just looking at some of the attractive men and acknowledging to myself that I found them so.

I waited in our rooms for perhaps an hour before Quentin arrived with Galen and informed me that we would be leaving shortly. It wasn’t yet midday, but the plan was to ride through until we reached Osland. For the ride there, he gave me a thick, heavy book. I had never held a thing like it before. I could read, of course, and had read books in the past, but they were normally small things bound together loosely. This had a hard leather cover and a full spine, and the front cover had an embossed title, “Introductory Lessons in the Decayed Sciences.”

I was to read as much as possible before reaching Osland, and ask questions when necessary. As we left the room, I asked Quentin about using the ring to call me.
“Ah, well, I haven’t had occasion to use the Call, so I suppose it slipped my mind. Here, I’ll show you.”

Though he made no overt gesture that I could see, I felt the ring vibrate and the feeling of it shocked me momentarily so that I stumbled. Quentin chuckled, and let me catch up to him.

“That... buzzing feeling, that was the Call?” I adjusted myself uncomfortably.

“It doesn’t have to be that feeling, but yes. It’s my preferred method. Some Masters are far harsher. Vanas prefers much nastier methods, but feels in encourages a prompt response.” Besides this he made no comment, but I wondered what it was that Alexander had felt when he was Called.

“When I feel it, how will I know where to find you?”

Quentin waved a hand vaguely, “You’ll know. There no sense explaining what it will feel like, just trust, for now, that all you need to know is that if it happens it means I would like you to come to me.”

Without any other choice, I accepted this wordlessly, and then followed Quentin out to the front steps where our coach, as well as Vanas, Alexander, Caerdwin, and Harth awaited us.

We boarded, and I dutifully opened my book to read for the duration.

* * * * * * * *

We rode well into the night, as promised, without stopping. I read chapter after chapter, trying to slowly make sense of the material while not showing my confusion openly. Not in front of Vanas, anyway, or Alexander though for different reasons.

On the course of the trip, Alexander and I played a kind of game of subtle flirtation. We were, of course, expected to keep quiet and still for the journey. So we disguised our small gestures behind shifting feet and adjusting clothing. We managed a brush here, a touch there. I was lucky to have been seated beside Alexander, with Quentin on my other side and across from Vanas so that they could talk easily if they chose and not have to talk over us. They did so, casually chatting about recently raised Adepti and who they thought would make sorcerer.

They also talked about the choices made by the council of Blades regarding what blade was bound to what Adeptus. I didn’t realize before then that the choice was made by them, but it made sense. I wondered about the criteria, but Vanas and Quentin didn’t so much discuss this as comment on choices they thought were well made, confusing, or poor in their own opinions.

The material in the book began with what I suppose was expected to be basic science about the world in general. I started by learning about basic forces at work around us, but had a hard time understanding how anything but gravity was actually doing anything around me. Then I read about how large things are made up of unthinkably small things; and that for that matter it was all mostly empty space. The land that we walked upon was simply the portion of huge plates covering the world which jutted up from the ocean, and when two of these plates moved, as they ever did with such slowness we could never notice in a single lifetime, this caused the ground the shake.

I understood most of it although it was difficult to accept, but some of the book was concerned with math and calculation that was beyond me. Little attention was given to magic, and mana, and how mana played any role in the working of the world. Everything there seemed exclusively concerned with the mechanics of entirely physical things. Still, it was fascinating to read even the parts that I didn’t understand at all, and I found my mind wandering at various points towards far off places where burning liquid rock was said to pour out of great mountains from the very heart of the world itself.

When it became too dark to read easily, Quentin summoned a tiny light that managed to illuminate the pages without, somehow, seeming to originate any light the way that a candle flame would. Nightfall, it seemed, was no escape.

I was perhaps halfway through the entire book when we arrived in Osland. It was late enough that we had perhaps a few hours before the first signs of dawn would begin to arrive. As we left the cabin of our coach I realized just how exhausted the trip had made me. This did not stop me from marveling at the home city of a cabal, however.

Osland had no walls like Vanholme or Porthaven. There was a clear limit to the city, where the buildings changed suddenly from cabins and cottages to beautiful works of stone and marble. The streets were illuminated with manalamps. Even at this late hour there were people in fantastic clothing - which nearly bordered on costumes in many cases - strolling the sidewalks and congregating in parks. The streets were some kind of smooth and flat surface, very much like a sort of black stone. The ride become smoother than I would have thought possible once we entered the main streets of Osland, with only the movement of the horses drawing the coach interrupting the sense of gliding forward.

All of the faces of the buildings were beautifully painted and decorated, and the trees along the sidewalks were carefully groomed. Flowers grew in every available break in the sidewalks, and in small gardens set into the middle of particular wide roads to divide the flow of traffic going to and from the center of the city.

There were mana driven carriages as well, more than I had seen in either Porthaven or Vanholme, and the watchmen that could be seen here and there had mana infused armor identifiable by the glowing manastones set into them to keep the magic in them active.
All of this was enough to make me feel as though I had left the real world and waked in some story book dream. I had never seen so much richness and technology in one place. Our village had had a single mana driven thresher that had taken years to save for. Such things were very expensive, and I had only seen a handful of such devices in cities before. Here it was so commonplace that it seemed almost silly.

It also made me feel entirely out of place. I tried very hard not to look around with so much of the wonder that I felt when we disembarked before the college, as I was afraid I must look like some backwoods hick with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open as it was – or as it seemed it must be, anyway.

Quentin watched me as I climbed the steps to him at the door to the great marble building we had stopped in front of. “The cities where the Cabals are based are all somewhat like this, though each in their own way. I think you’ll find life here very different from life in the country.”

I had no words, and only nodded my head. Quentin drew me into the building and I saw that the inside was as lavish as the outside. “You’ll be staying in the apprentice dormitory,” he explained as we walked through the main room. Reds, golds, and dark browns made the place feel sensual and deep. “I’ve arranged for you to share a room with Alexander.” I heard the note of suggestion in his voice, and blushed at it.

Quentin touched my shoulder gently. “Give yourself the chance to bond with him. It will go a long way towards helping you adjust here, and I have already told you that Alexander is a fine young man.”

“He has been very kind, Master. Thank you for placing me with him.” I tried to sound as grateful as I felt. I really was excited to have a room with him. At the same time...

“I won’t tell you not to be nervous, Simon,” Quentin said as though reading my mind, “because I think there is no way to avoid that. But, if you will try to let yourself go a little, try to imagine you’ve always been here and that this life is normal for you, I think that you will find it easier to feel at home. It’s no small task for anyone, I know.” He patted me on the shoulder, and pointed towards the stairs where Alexander was waiting for me. “Go on now, Alexander will show you to the room. It’s late yet, but there will be food still in the kitchen, so the two of you should eat something and then retire. You may have tomorrow to explore a little, and then we will begin your education in earnest. Find time tomorrow to study; I’m sure Alexander can help you.”

With that he pushed me gently towards the stairs, and left. Alexander met me half way, and took my hand to lead me up the great staircase and down a series of hallways that ultimately took us to his – that is, our – room.

“So,” Alexander asked when we entered, “what do you think?”

It was smaller and simpler than I had expected from the seeing the rest of the building. The walls were undecorated aside from their coloring, and the two beds were, while both wide enough to sleep two bodies, fairly plain. There were two desks adorned with two manalamps, and one of them – presumably mine – had a packet of paper, several quills, two inkwells and a small, plain wooden box set upon it.

I added the textbook to the collection, and wandered around room. There was plenty of space so that two people wouldn’t feel as though they were constantly on top of one another. As I tested the bed I found that while not as soft as the beds Quentin had slept in while at the charter houses, it was certainly finer than any I had slept on before.

“It’s fine,” I said, unable to think of a better word. “Better than any room I’ve lived in before. Which was only one, I suppose. I like it alright.”

Alexander looked concerned, and I tried to smile as though I meant what I had said – which I had, in truth, but I found it difficult to feel excited about it. He sat on the edge of my bed, and patted the spot beside him. I accepted his invitation and sat down as well, unconsciously clasping my hands as I did.

He placed one of his hands over mine. “It must be a lot. Tomorrow I’ll take you out into the city and you can see what this place can be like. It will be fun! You’ll see.” He leaned over to kiss me and in a moment of strange panic I turned away. I regretted it immediately, and tried to recapture the moment but it had passed, and Alexander looked embarrassed.

“Alexander, I’m sorry. It isn’t that I don’t want to, though. I promise, that isn’t how it is.” He nodded, but didn’t look at me. “This is really new for me. I do like you, the Gods know, you’ve been so kind to me and I’ve really needed that.” So what was the problem?

I didn’t have an answer, but the pause seemed to give Alexander some kind of answer I hadn’t spoken out loud and he stood up from the bed. “I keep forgetting that,” he said, and finally looked at me, “I don’t mean to pressure you. Why don’t we get a little sleep, and see how things go tomorrow. Sounds good?”

I nodded, and in the dim illumination of the manalamps I watched him undress for bed. He turned away from me to do so, and perhaps intended to give me some degree of privacy, but I forgot to undress myself as I watched.

Alexander had a magnificent body. He wasn’t large, but he was muscled as though he did hard work. He slid under the blanket on his bed before turning to look in my direction, and paused when he saw that I hadn’t taken any of my clothing off. He sat up on his elbows, concerned. “Are you not tired?”

I nodded absently, and then worked up the courage to reach up and loosen the laces at the collar of my tunic. Alexander looked away politely, and I completed the task. I very much wanted him to watch me, but didn’t say so. Instead, when I had taken everything off, and walked to the side of his bed and pulled down the corner of the blanket.

Alexander did turn to see me then, and smiled. “You are beautiful, you know. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, really. I won’t be offended, and I don’t think anything will make me like you any less.”

“I know,” I said, “but maybe tonight you can just keep me warm?”

He only nodded, and lifted the covers to let me in. I slid into them and felt his warm body against mine. He moved so that he was facing me, and I turned onto my side so that he could press against the back of my body. One of his arms slid underneath my neck, the other over my ribs and Alexander held me tight against him.

I lied there feeling Alexander’s breathing slow against the back of my neck; his body gently rocking mine as his chest and stomach pushed against me with each breath. Quentin’s words came back to me, and I imagined for a moment that being here – here at the Cabal, here in Osland, and here with Alexander around me – was where I had always been. Just for a moment, as I drifted off to the sound of his breathing, I did feel better.

 

[VagrantSong]

Red Apprentice
Chapter 10

​

I awoke to Alexander’s lips pressed to mine. For one very brief moment I was alarmed, but the feeling of him against me quickly overcame my panic and I melted into the sensation.

His hands caressed my stomach, my hips, and my chest. Light fingers played small circles around my nipples, and with those strong hands he reached around me to my buttock and pulled me easily until we rolled sideways and I found myself laying down on him. He stroked my back, dragging his fingers down my back. Involuntarily I flexed my back and drew my hips up to meet him, and his hands gripped my firmly and pulled me forward.

We ground against one another, and in the back of my mind some small voice tried to remind me that I wasn’t ready to give myself over like this. The heat of this moment drowned it out, though, and Alexander’s lips and teeth found my neck. I lost all control and reflexively pulled away from the sensation that had lit the entire left side of my body up with pleasure, but his hand gripped a handful of my hair and held me in place. A deep, rumbling growl left him as he pulled me tighter in and bit me again, his hips and his thoroughly roused beast pressing into mine.

We were kissing again, and through some mysterious motion below me he slid his knees between mine and spread them, then directed them up so that I straddled his hips. He reached down and adjusted himself until I felt his cock slap firmly against my exposed opening. The feeling took me by surprise and I gasped. It was stifled as his tongue entered my mouth, warm and smooth and stronger than it seemed it should be. I suckled at him until he retrieved it and took my bottom lip between his again.

His hips rocked beneath me, rubbing the head of him up and down against my entrance and I could only think of how badly I wanted him to come into me. I reached back and felt for him. I hadn’t actually seen him hard before, though I had felt it through his pants just once, and seen the bulge of it there. With my fingers wrapped lightly around it now, I could tell that though not very long, perhaps not as long as mine, it was easily twice as thick, so that my middle finger just touched my thumb. I became suddenly worried.

I found the moisture slowly spilling from him and used it to lubricate his piston as it pumped against me, now between my hole and my hand, and let my pleasure rise through my chest and throat. As these sounds escaped me, they seemed to spurn him and he growled again, becoming more urgent in his thrusts, more intent and aggressive. He bit my neck, my shoulder, my nipple, and his fingers gripped and scratched my back and shoulders. I distantly worried there would be signs of our morning left on my skin, but couldn’t bring myself to care and certainly didn’t want him to stop.

He bit my earlobe, and his tongue tickled the ridge of my ear, and as he did he whispered to me, “Let me inside, kitten; I can make you feel so good if you’ll let me.” As he called me this, he dragged his fingers down my spine again and, like the namesake, I writhed and lifted my hips as the feeling curled me backwards.

I didn’t answer, but instead used some of the fluid from his now weeping member to slick myself, and pressed the thick head of him against me. He let go of me enough to allow me to sit upright, and in this position I found that I had less fear of his entry – I lifted myself a bit to readjust and then very slowly sat down, taking just a bit at a time as I relaxed to accommodate his girth. Alexander watched me with apparent fascination, one hand gripping me and stroking me slowly, the other caressing my stomach, chest, and legs.

I bit my lip and winced at the sudden sharp pain as the last bit of the crown of him popped into me, but his hand rolled over the head of my cock and the sudden almost unbearable sensation distracted me. I grabbed his wrist to stop him, but he struggled against me, smiling wickedly as my legs shook and I was unable to hold myself up. I fell by inches until he was fully inside me, and it was a vastly different sensation than what I had felt before.

Quentin had been slender, and I had certainly felt thoroughly penetrated by his length, but he required a certain angle to give me the best part of the experience. With Alexander this wasn’t so – he filled me so completely that he touched that part of me with no effort at all and I immediately felt my orgasm on the verge of gushing out of me and onto his stomach.

I took hold of his teasing hand with both of mind and forcibly removed it from me. “You have to stop... stop...” I lost my train of thought as his hips thrust and although I was certain I had him in me as far as was possible, he somehow thrust deeper still. My breath caught and then released with a sigh and a moan that felt as though it came from that deep down place and rolled out of me, rolling over my thoughts and distractions and bringing me to some place that was entirely in that present moment.

Impaled as I was upon him, I lacked the will to move anymore and so only held myself as steadily as I could as he withdrew from me slowly and then thrust again with some force. Again the sound of my ecstasy escaped me and I looked down when he growled again. The sound was fierce, and possessive, and put me in the mind of some hungry animal quickly closing on its prey.

Something about the sound, the sight of the sweat on his face, the smell of him, and the exertion together awakened in me an echo of his aggressive taking of me. I began to rise and fall in time with him but against his rhythm. As he rose up to me I sank forcefully down to meet him, until I rocked steadily on his hips, and our tempo began to pick up. I placed my hands on his chest to support myself and watched his face. He had closed his eyes, and a look of concentration had stolen over him and I felt that he must be thoroughly taken over by the single minded purpose that I had felt before when so close to my full.

His pace slowed, and his hands held my hips and settled me down against him. “Slow down, kitten, slow down. I don’t want to cum so quickly.”

Knowing that being within me had given him such pleasure I felt a certain kind of power over him. It’s a difficult feeling to describe, precisely, but I very much wanted to be responsible for his pleasure – for it to be, as it were, my decision that he should cum now, or later.

I decided: now.

As strong as his hands were, they couldn’t stop the gentle rocking of my hips; I simply had more leverage in my position. He tried to hold on to me though, and failed, and a nearly tortured look came to his face. I didn’t move quickly, as I wanted to see the moment build up on his face.

“You have to stop, kitten, I’m very close,” he begged me and raised himself up enough to get a better hold on me. It was a futile attempt, of course, and I reached behind me and found the velvety pouch that had drawn mostly up into him. I took his stones in hand and tugged them and I lifted myself up, squeezing just enough to encourage him but not so much as to hurt him. I wasn’t sure he would enjoy this – I had done it to myself before and it always brought me quickly to climax.

It seemed the same was true for my hungry wolf. His brow drew in, and he chewed his lip, and I felt his balls tug against my grip as they tried to draw up to accommodate his release. He swelled within me enough that I felt it distinctly, and I slowed on my ascent until I was withdrawing him barely fast enough to notice. My descent was just as slow, but beneath me his stomach tensed, the muscles of his chest and arms bulged, and his hips began to vibrate with the effort to keep from thrusting into me again. I felt myself smiling as I watched his struggle, and then his eyes opened and looked into mine.

It was something I had never seen before, and the image of it will be forever upon my memory. When he could no longer resist the call of it, he burst into me – pulse after pulse of hot fluid that I could feel as it gushed into me. As he did, his eyes widened, and I saw his pupils nearly overtake the color in his eyes. His expression was one of sorrow, of gratitude, and of lust, all at once, and I nearly lost myself to him in it. There was a kind of innocence there, as though for a moment some part of him had become a child again and was looking out through his eyes.

It was such a brief expression, but I saw it, all of it, so clearly that my heart leapt and I could only laugh with joy at having seen something of such rare honesty. It passed, though, in a blink, and he was thrusting again, and practically howling as he came. He raised himself up and wrapped his arms around me, continuing to slowly drive into me again and again, but more slowly now.

I wrapped my own arms around his shoulders, and bent my neck to kiss him. It was full of need, and something else... the way he lifted his face to mine, hungry for my lips, seemed almost devotional. I felt the full force of his devotion, as well, and it made me feel like some deity on high, dipping down from the heavens to lay my blessing upon my dearest follower.

His hand slid between our stomachs and gripped me tightly. His hand was slick with something, and as he held me tightly to him, and kissed me, and fucked me, his fist tightened and worked me into a thrashing orgasm so quickly I was overtaken by it before I realized it was coming. My seed spilled into the wet space between us and he continued to stroke me. I squirmed and cried out, and struck him – though perhaps, not convincingly – about the shoulders as he tortured me mercilessly. He had taken back the power I had earned, I knew, and had all of the leverage now. His hammering of my ass hadn’t abated at all, and he was as hard as he had been at his peak, and something about the direction of his thrusting was striking me again and again in some deep and secret place.

I felt my heart would crack my ribs, could barely get a breath, and his hand twisted and rolled in the slippery mixture of cum and sweat and whatever he had used initially to make his hand so soft and slick, and as I gasped and tried to free myself I heard him laughing at me. He bit me, quite hard, on the nipple and I yelped and beat his shoulders in earnest now. But the whole of it brought me to laughter as well, and in moments we collapsed onto the bed in a heap.

Exhausted, sated, my nostrils full of the scent of sex, I let the laughter run its course, and then reached for Alexander’s hand. He found me first, and lifted my fingers to his mouth and kissed them. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The concern in his voice was genuine, and sobering, and I felt ashamed suddenly that I might have made him think that he would. “No, no! Not at all. I was... surprised,” I said, “but it was wonderful. It hasn’t felt like that for me. Not even Master Quentin’s... um, training, felt like that. I think because...” I hunted for the words. The experience was so singular, so unique, that I wasn’t sure how to express it.

“It’s okay,” Alexander said, and kissed me, “I understand. I’m glad. I’ve wanted you so much, from the time I saw you. And, you make me feel... just...” he only growled again and drew me close and held me.

We laid like this for some time, before finally he loosed me and rolled onto his back. I snuggled close and put my head on his chest, and listened to his heart beat.

“We have the day to ourselves. One of very few, I’m afraid. So, we should make use of it.”

“I thought we were,” I slid my hand down his stomach and took hold of his now softened cock.

“Mmmm...” it seemed he wouldn’t speak more, but he regained himself, “yes, well, that’s one use anyway. But you need to get out and see the city. It’s an amazing place, and if you look around a bit I think you’ll really like it. We’ve got a fair amount of freedom any time that we aren’t training or studying. I have some friends that I think you’d like as well.”

I hummed my assent, but remained preoccupied with the desire to play with him for as long as he would let me. Eventually, though, we did get out of bed. He took me to the lavatory where, to my utter amazement, the tub had not only knobs which, as in Porthaven, supplied water that was already hot; but also a tall pipe with a fixture on the end of it which by the lifting of a lever near the brass knobs emitted warm water like rain.

I had never even heard of a rain bath before. It was another unique experience, and with a sponge and some liquid soap Alexander washed me fastidiously. I did the same for him, and we lingered for a bit in the warm rain until it seemed we had simply been there long enough.

We dressed, and left the warm confines of our dorm. Somehow stepping out into the world again seemed to replace the weight that had momentarily been lifted off of me. I tried to recapture the sense of freedom and belonging that I had felt before, but it was a struggle. The soreness I felt from the morning’s experience was an awkward but strangely pleasant reminder that I tried to focus on, and it did help.

Osland was a city like nothing I had ever imagined. Much of it was beyond what I ever could have imagined; I knew about devices powered by mana stones, but only on a small scale like the thresher from my home. My old home, I chided myself. But in Osland…

Coming into the place I had only seen what was obvious in the dark. Mana lamps lined the streets, and there were carriages driven by them. During the day I saw that there was a great vehicle Alexander called a rail car that carried people by the hundreds all around the city, suspended in the air over a metal rail. The metal I learned was arcanite – mined from the edge of the scar, it would transmit mana as a current, and the figures laid into it caused the rail car to be both suspended and held in place over it. Some other mechanism drove the car forward along its unalterable path.

A bridge that led from the inner city, where the Red Cabal was housed, crossed over a wide river that Alexander explained was artificial. Water from around the city was purified by pumps that pulled water in, removed everything from it with magic, and then pumped it back into the city, including waterways which crisscrossed the city. Barges floated on the waters, carried from one end of the city to another, and when they encountered the bridges they raised themselves up to allow them passage by means of quietly rumbling engines under the pavement.

Every building was supplied with light and heat, and in the hottest months with cooling. All of them had running water and rain baths as well.

Vanholme had been as populated by sorcerers so I wondered why it hadn’t had the same advancements. “Didn’t Master Quentin tell you what the Red does?” Alexander was shocked at my lack of knowledge.

I shrugged, “He mentioned that the means of opening my inner gates were particular to the Red Cabal, but not really more than that. We talked about the others a little as well but not extensively. We mostly discuss how mana works – I have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe he doesn’t think history lessons are as important as keeping me… well, teaching me control.”

“Well, that’s a product of it, I suppose.” We crossed through one of the many small parks towards a district where Alexander intended us to find breakfast as he explained. I noticed that just before this happened, his tone changed just so. “The Red Cabal specializes in what we call meta-magic. Our discipline is to study how the taming and control of mana, including the channel through which it flows in the sorcerer. The rings we wear, the interdictor, and the unique training methods we use to open the inner gates – all of them originated with the Red. Osland is the heart of the Red Cabal – so the advancements that are made are introduced here first. The rail cars were only installed a few years ago, but the metal is very expensive, so it will be some time before other cities can build them.”

It started to make sense, and his lesson also gave context to why Quentin focused so much of my education on the way that mana worked and acted. I imagined that if I had been taken by the white I might be learning what it does in the body instead; or the history of its use by the black.

I realized, though, that what was not present with all of the mana apparently surrounding us on every side was the sense that it was there. “Wait – when we were in Vanholme, I felt the mana laid into the stones of the keep. If the rail is enchanted, and there are pumps and engines all over the city, why can’t I sense those?”

We waited to cross the street towards a white building with a wide patio at one corner dotted with small round tables and simple metal chairs. Alexander nodded approvingly at me, “You’re observant. I like smart,” he smiled at me, and winked. I blushed; and wondered momentarily if that reflex would ever go away. “The mana at work here is tamed,” he explained, “The arcanite circuits and the glyphs give it a kind of fixed nature. There are places where you would feel the mana more strongly, but they’re kept very well protected. There can’t be any free mana, or people would get sick.”

I didn’t understand entirely, but I trusted that this was so. I knew that to be put to any use mana had to be tamed first, so it followed that this must also be true when it was used in these technologies. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that all of these people – and myself, now – were living on top of a powder keg, though.

The place Alexander led me to showed me a selection of fruits, breads, oats, meat and eggs as well as some sweets that I hadn’t seen before. I opted for a simple breakfast of eggs, sausage and some kind of ring shaped bread with seeds baked into the top of it. Alexander had a cup of dark, bitter tea that he claimed was practically the water of life which I almost spit out when I tasted it. I had never had the chance to try the bean-tea before; where I came from it was a needless expenditure though I knew the village chancellor had been fond of it.

We ate in relative quiet as I watched the new world around me. Everyone, it seemed, wore lavish clothing that was as decorative and artful as it was practical. In some cases, the practicality of it seemed to take a secondary role in the design of the clothing. Here and there were apprentices hurrying about the city that stood well out from the crowd by the simplicity of their garments - which were exactly the same as ours, of course.
After this we spent another several hours wandering around the city. Alexander showed me places to find entertainment, food, drink, and other delights that while rare in my old life were apparently commonplace here.

Eventually, we rested in one of the larger parks. Alexander wanted to know more about where I had come from and the night that August had come to retrieve me. Though I was sure that my old life would seem unimaginably boring compared to his, I told him about the farms, and my mama.

“What about your father,” he asked when I had left the subject of family for my few friends.

I shook my head. “I never knew him. Mama said he went to the borderlands to earn money and never came back. The same was true for a few of the boys I knew growing up. It happens, from time to time.” There was good pay on the borderlands, for very, very dangerous work. It attracted naïve men and women alike, and some years, when the crops were spare, a few people always left. Only a handful returned, and normally with grievous injuries. When they did, they normally started their own farm; most of the farm owners around my village were borderlands veterans.

It was during this conversation that someone else’s words caught my ear. Some distance from us, I heard the word ‘scar’ and ‘breached’ in the same sentence. I turned to Alexander and frowned. “Did you hear them? I think they said something about a breach at the Scar.”

Alexander’s expression mirrored mine, and he stood up and walked towards the people I had overheard. I followed him. They weren’t apprentices, but that’s all I could tell from looking at them. One of them was tall and yellow haired, the other a bit shorter than myself and dark featured. Both of them seemed alarmed, but there tone was more one of gossip than of the heart freezing panic that the subject raised in me.

“Yes,” the shorter one was saying to Alexander, “that’s what I heard, at any rate. There was a breach around Dun’s Hill. The entire fort overrun in a night. Can you imagine? There hasn’t been a breach for over a decade and nothing like that. Just a few clever animals here and there, but nothing like this. Ava here says she has a cousin who’s come in from Fenner, not ten leagues north and east of Dun’s Hill.” My heart skipped and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Dun’s Hill wasn’t two days west of my village – I had traded there two years before with Fen Azgood; his grain for their iron.

Ava, I realized suddenly, was a woman. Her features were ambiguous at best, and from her trousers and short hair I had assumed she was a man as well. When she spoke, her voice had a quality to it that, while certainly feminine, seemed out of place coming from her. “My cousin, Lan. He told me that soldiers and sorcerers came through the town and told everyone to go east and north. They mean to head it off. You can see it here – at the west road – there are some leaving to meet them. Not many, but enough to notice.” Her accent was one I hadn’t heard before, and making out her words was somewhat difficult.

When I had understood, though, I pulled Alexander towards the inner city. “I need to ask Quentin…”

“Master Quentin,” Alexander corrected.

“…yes, Master Quentin, about this. Dun’s Hill is close to where I lived. We’re not equipped for something like this, there are no soldiers, no magic, not even a fence much less a wall. If something like this could roll over Dun’s Hill fortress in a night…” I struggled not to run, not to let my imagination run wild, and Alexander gently reminded me that we couldn’t do anything from here regardless how fast we found anyone who could confirm the story. As we neared the bridge, I felt my ring vibrate sharply. I stumbled, cursed, and as the angle of my hips changed in the process I felt the ring grow warmer to a peak of gentle heat; as I corrected myself the heat waned. I grunted and took note of the direction that caused the ring to heat up, and we headed generally that way.

Before we reached Quentin, Alexander was called by Vanas, and was forced to leave. By the look on his face, Vanas preferred a different Calling signal than Quentin did. I spared a moment to privately be disgusted by the man, and then followed my own Call to where Quentin waited in what I assumed were his quarters.

Quentin was garbed differently than I had seen before. His robes were more extravagant, with gold embroidery and a squared collar that nearly came to his chin. When I entered the room, he set down a sheaf of paper and beckoned me to sit.

“Master,” I began without waiting for him to speak, “I heard there was a breach at Dun’s Hill. Is it true? Someone in the city said that people were leaving to meet them. Are you going? Are we going?”

Quentin showed no reaction to my questions, or to my speaking out of turn, but placed a hand on my knee and leaned forward a little. “Calm, apprentice.” There was a long moment in which I momentarily hung impatiently in the silence, waiting for his next words, until I realized that he literally meant for me to calm myself.

I sighed and did so; taking several deep breaths, closing my eyes and finding the little spot at the center of me that Quentin had taught me to rely on as the seed of my ‘true self’. Though the mind is in turmoil, this Seed which births the True Self is ever at peace, ever watchful, ever untouched by the impermanent.

“As far as I know,” Quentin was saying as I opened my eyes, “it is true. Dun’s Hill was overrun the night before last. News has chased us, it seems, up from Vanholme, where a message reached the keep by magic. All of the Cabals are bound to deal with a breach of this scope, so a number of our sorcerers and adepti are called to assist in recovering Dun’s Hill and cleaning up the rabble that escaped. They weren’t expecting something… like this.”

I stared at him, waiting for more. He tilted his head to one side and returned the look. “I am not among those leaving, Apprentice. And no apprentices will be going anywhere, either. The Adepti will be in supporting positions only. This is none of your concern, but everyone must be made aware.”

“Master, Dun’s hill is-”

“I’m well aware, Simon.” He looked at me then, his face both soft and hard at the same time. “You cannot be distracted by your old life. Not because of this, or anything else. Be here, now, Apprentice. Your life depends on it. Tomorrow, we will open another inner gate, and you will begin to learn how to put your magic to use.”

I nodded to him, but didn’t entirely mean it. How could I not worry about my ‘old life’? Old for me was not much more than a week before. The stock in Mama’s cupboard would have been much of the same food I had put there the day before I was taken. Perhaps she still hadn’t cleaned out my room, or given away – or perhaps burned – my things.

The kinds of things that lived in the Scar were nightmare creatures. I had seen one of them not two days into my journey here and the thought of so many of them – enough to overrun a fort full of soldiers who lived for nothing else than to keep them in – made me cold.

Quentin hugged me – a strange gesture despite everything – and told me again not to dwell on it, and sent me away. He reminded me that I had studying to do as well and that I would be expected to have learned something of value by tomorrow.

Before I left, I recalled that Alexander had been Called as well. “Are all of the masters telling there apprentices, then?”

Quentin shook his head. “I told you because you were bound to hear it eventually and it was pertinent to your… circumstances.”

“Why would Vanas have called Alexander at the same time then? We were both supposed to have the day off, I thought.” I immediately wished I could recall the words – it was no business of mine and I expected Quentin to let me know this.

Instead, and picked up the paper he had been reading before and looked over it again. “Vanas is among those called to assist. He’ll be leaving tonight.”

“What happens to Alexander?” I feared that Quentin would tell me he was leaving as well, but this wasn’t the case.

“I’ll be taking over his training in Vanas’ absence.”

I let out the breath I had been holding, and nodded. It didn’t offset my dread entirely, but it was a small comfort.

“Study hard and sleep well, Apprentice,” Quentin said as I turned to leave, “Tomorrow’s lessons will be very taxing indeed.” I couldn’t have said why but something in his tone made me very uncomfortable.

 

[VagrantSong]

I very much hope that everyone has enjoyed these ten chapters! This will be the last chapter posted here. There are several more written that I need to edit, and summary chapters run to about 38 but that could change later on. I'm hoping to have the book finished and published on Kindle by february or, perhaps a little earlier, and since I started this process I've rewritten much of the first couple of chapters so what I publish will be more polished and, hopefully, even more engaging!

Thank you all for your comments and support, it has been very encouraging and has given me the confidence to keep myself going on this project. It's a big dream of mine to be an author, and to bring together fantasy fiction and gay erotica, so with luck, hard work, and patience, I hope that I will make this come true in the near future!

I'll continue to post other short one-shot stories on the forum, as I write them on occasion to practice and to explore different themes and imagery. So, i'll be around!

peace

 

[Craiger]

All the chapters have been extremely interesting in seeing a somewhat naive boy blossom into an experienced man. In only a short week or so he has witnessed more than most will ever see in their lifetimes. There have been some very erotic chapters, but chapter 10 was exceptionally well written. The bonding between Simon and Alexander, hopefully the beginning of a lasting relationship, was extremely intense and arousing. You certainly have brought this story to life as I can visualize every scene as though I were a part of it.

VagrantSong, I feel both sadness and happiness about your decision. Sad because I have become very entrenched in this work and have looked forward to each new chapter. Happiness for you and your publishing the story on Kindle. I would ask that you keep us informed on when it will be published so we can continue to enjoy your writing on our Kindles. I will miss Simon, Alexander and even Quentin. Best of luck to you and I look forward to more of your stories here on the forum.

Craiger

 

[VagrantSong]

Thank you for your kind words! This has been exactly what I needed to get myself motivated to finish the book and really polish it to a shine. I have spaced out the sexy scenes a bit more with the additional chapters, and given Simon a more concrete personality and background. I had thought at first that cutting him off from his past so early, and then revealing it over time would reflect his initial numbness and desire not to face the true loss he had suffered, and sort of bring the reader with him on his slow acceptance and reflection on it. Instead, I decided that this just prevented the reader from empathizing with a loss that they couldn't really see. So the story now has a much better opening I feel, especially having written Simon enough now to have a better sense of who he is - I was able to go back and introduce him as a more stable character from page one instead of building up to it later on. And while I still don't give him a clear description, I think that the image of him is a bit clearer to the reader from the context of the first few chapters while still leaving plenty of room to sort of step into his skin. The original chapter 10 is now chapter 13; the original chapter 1 is now edited into the new chapter 3. I've also edited much of the dialogue and some of the descriptive text throughout to better reflect the changes and give each character a much clearer role. Quentin for instance I originally sort of envisioned as a fellow apprentice, but then wrote him as Simon's teacher, and had to go back and rewrite his introduction to be a bit more mature but still not as stuffy and rule-laden as Vanas. Simon also I think now maintains the more masculine, but sensitive, personality I originally wanted for him. I wrote much of my own fluctuating personality into him by virtue of writing first person, which always makes it a little difficult to maintain a consistent character rather than writing your own mood from day to day!

I will say that as of the current changes and summaries - Alexander will be an eye opening experience for Simon; Quentin may not have Simon's best interests at heart; Simon had a very real emotional attachment to his old friend Arnie (whose name may change) and was able to reveal this before he was taken - Arnie was more torn by the event and sort of stuck by Simon rather than turning away - and the two of them will meet again but probably not how you think; there is a much bigger plot developing than just Simon's personal journey as the Sins of the fathers are laid upon the children; and finally, August (who is a far more distinct character with just a little bit of rewriting) will be back in Simon's life in a big way...

I'm plugging away as fast as I can, but don't want to rush it too much. I have an excellent literary analyst assisting me with making it, I hope, a very good book and I'm unbelievably excited to be, now, over halfway done.

peace!

 

[VagrantSong]

I also found and fixed a multitude of hard to spot spelling and grammar errors. Oy! Perhaps no one caught them, but I found so many that I thought I must seem ignorant or entirely lacking an education in the english language to anyone reading the story!

 

[Craiger]

I really look forward to re-reading "The Red Cabal" with all the new and revised portions. As I said before, I will miss it from the forum, but will be one of the first to load it into my Kindle. Please do keep me advised as to when it is published.
You spoke of the multitude of errors, and I did see a few, but nothing that distracted me from the intensity of the story. You are hardly ignorant or lacking an education, in my opinion. Not with the excellent ability you have shown in writing this wonderfully romantic fantasy. Best of luck and remember us from time to time with more of your writing.

Craiger

 

[deanouk]

What a truly fantastic story, it is a great read, yes a few typos and errors but you can read past them.

I really hope your career as a successful author is a fulfilling and profitable one for you.. good luck