MAGE 16
By "Heck"



Comments to heck@heckster.co.uk

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"BRENHYA! WAKE UP!"

"I'm not asleep". Brenhya opened a reddened eye and looked up at Lon.

It was ironic. So many times in the past, she had comforted him when he had
been hurt or scared. She had always been the dominant partner in their
relationship, and they had both simply accepted that as the norm. It was just
the way of things.

Now, when, albeit against her will, she had subjected him to the most
terrifying and savage violation imaginable, here he was holding her in his
skinny arms, providing her with the comfort she was used to giving him. The
boot was most definitely on the other foot.

"I'm not asleep", she repeated. Wearily, she climbed to her knees, and there
was something different in the way she looked him in the eyes. Guilt, shame,
self-doubt, and a number of other things Lon had never seen before, including
a touch of nervousness. "Are we OK?" She really needed to know.

Lon returned her look, gazing into eyes that were red and filled with remorse,
and a face that was dirt smeared and tear streaked but still very beautiful.
He felt old beyond his years, fatherly, even, as he gave a small smile and
touched his fingers to her cheek and nodded.

"Yeah". He had not known that a single syllable could remove a ton of worry
from a woman's face. "Yeah, we're OK". Twin furrows creased his brow as he
remembered the real reason they were here. "Chaithe. Brenhya, we have to do
something about Chaithe. Get your warrior head on".

"Mm. Just give me a minute".

Kneeling on hands and knees, Brenhya shook herself like a big dog. She sprang
to her feet, and went through a series of stretching and loosening exercises,
getting her blood pumping and clearing the cobwebs from her head. Lon watched
closely as she went through her paces, critically examining her form. Of all
people, Lon knew her almost as well as she knew herself, and as he watched he
compared her flexibility and athleticism against his vivid mental picture of
her. Her muscular but lithe and graceful body bent and twisted this way and
that, and he could not find any deficiencies. She would do.

It was a terrible thing that had passed between them, and the memory of the
fear lay like a cold weight in his heart. Yet for all that, as he watched her
movements, he could not help but admire her and, almost despite himself, could
not find it in his heart to let her go unforgiven. Such was the depth and
strength of their friendship that, even though he had been subjected to the
most detestable assault, he was able to see past it and retain his love and
admiration for her.

Exercises complete, Brenhya checked over her body and did not find it wanting.
She walked over to the remains of their clothes and sorted through the
tattered rags.

"Your pants are torn, but they're wearable", she told Lon, tossing the
trousers toward him. "Everything else is beyond use". Her face fell for a
second. "Another thing I have to say sorry for. If it's any consolation, it
looks like I'm going in the buff. My clothes are ruined. Oh, wait a minute".
She held up her skimpy underpants. "These might be OK".

Lon laughed aloud. The garment was little more than a leather thong, a tiny
hammock that barely covered her pubic hair and left her hard, round buttocks
bare.

"It's hardly worth the bother. It's hardly going to keep you warm, is it?"

It was good to hear him laugh, and it lifted her spirits to see a smile on his
face, the first real smile since what she preferred to think of as 'the
incident'. She tied the briefs in place and cocked a hip playfully.

"A lady has to preserve her modesty".

"I told you before", Lon said, out of the corner of his mouth in a gravelly
voice. "You don't got any, honey". He pulled on his pants. The waistband and
seat were more or less intact, but the legs hung in tatters. "Ah, well. At
least they cover my backside. What's next?" Action was coming, and he was more
than happy to leave the decision making in that regard, to Brenhya.

But for once, she was at a loss. She had no recollection of how they had come
to be in the cavern and, for the moment, no idea of how to get out.

"First things first". She leaned against the wall, her eyes roving around the
chamber. "Are we still on the island?"

"I think we must be. What you ...erm, what we did was part of the ceremony. It
would hardly be anywhere else".

"OK. Now, I have very little idea of the layout in here. Any ideas?"

Lon was a little taken aback. He was not used to Brenhya asking his advice on
matters of action. That was most definitely her domain. He let out his breath
in a snort.

"I don't know. Chaithe seemed to be standing in some sort of alcove over
there". He pointed across the floor. The opposite wall seemed miles away.
"Perhaps there's a door in there".

"Right, then". Brenhya pushed herself away from the wall. "Let's go check it
out".

She took three strides. On the fourth, she stumbled as her foot met nothing,
and flung herself backward to avoid falling. The flags of the vast floor
collapsed away from her, tumbling over and over like a deck of cards as they
fell into an endless void that opened up below.

"Goddess! What the hells has happened here?"

Lon stepped close to the edge, looking sideways into the chasm, trying not to
get too near. "I don't know", he said again. "The flagstones must have been
some sort of magical illusion".

"Quite a substantial one, them. You and I must have run all over them".

"Yes, we did. Or thought we did. But look there".

Brenhya's eyes followed his pointing finger. They stood on a kind of peninsula
of stone, and at the far side she could make out a similar promontory. Between
the two, a narrow bridge, one flag wide, spanned the space. It looked frail
and flimsy, but represented the only route to where there may have been a way
out.

"Will it be safe?", Brenhya wanted to know. She stood on the very brink,
staring down into the seemingly bottomless chasm.

"I, er ...I don't know". Lon looked decidedly worried. "Don't you think we
should, um, get some sleep first? We're both pretty bushed, and ..."

"I would think it'd be OK", Brenhya butted in. "It seems to be part of his
pattern, almost a trade mark, if you like, to always leave a way out if you're
clever enough or brave enough to take advantage of it". She looked at him and
smiled. "And there's no time to sleep. He could be bringing his daemon forth
as we speak".

"I know, but ...well, I don't suppose this is a good time to bring up my fear
of heights?"

"This isn't high", she said. "It's deep".

"I don't suppose this is a good time to bring up my fear of depths?"

For the first time since 'the incident', she turned on him a remnant of her
dazzling, radiant smile.

"Come on. You'll be fine. Just stay right behind me, and don't look down".

She stepped out onto the fragile bridge, carefully placing one foot in front
of the other, arms spread wide for balance and eyes fixed on the far side. She
walked steadily, and made good progress.

"See?", she called back. "This isn't so bad, is it?" There was no reply.
"Lon?"

A feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, Brenhya turned round. Lon was
still standing on the peninsula, half crouched, with a look of horror on his
face.

"Lon?"

"It's no good". His voice was shaky with fright. "I can't do it. I'm sorry,
Brenhya".

Brenhya placed her hands on her hips and regarded him with undisguised
sympathy.

"It's OK. I'm coming back. Hang on".

The relief on his features was almost palpable. He moved back from the edge as
Brenhya approached, his expression a mixture of fear and regret. She wrapped a
strong, comforting arm around his narrow shoulders.

"It's OK". The sound of her melodious contralto voice was reassuring in
itself. "This is not like you. You can normally overcome your timidity at
times like this. You must be suffering from an overdose of fear. My fault
again, I'm afraid".

"Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault. But I can't do it, Brenhya. I
can't force myself to step onto that bridge".

"Don't worry. We'll think of something". Her eye fell on the ragged leg of his
trousers. "In fact, I've got an idea already".

She bent quickly and ripped a strip from his pant leg. Before he realised what
she was doing, she enfolded his eyes in her makeshift blindfold and tied it
tightly at the back of his head.

"Brenhya?" Sudden panic was in his voice as his hand flew to the constricting
material. "What are you doing?"

"Shh". She pulled his hand away without effort. "It'll be OK. Trust me. What
you can't see won't frighten you, right?"

"If you say so. But ...whoa!"

His exclamation came as he felt her sinewy arm pass between his legs and he
was hoisted onto her broad shoulders. She took his wrist with the same hand,
holding him securely in place.

"Just keep perfectly still", she said. "We are just going for a walk across a
wide, flat meadow. There is no bridge, just flat, even ground all around".

While she was saying this, she had already stepped out onto the bridge, free
arm outflung in counterbalance, and was walking steadily but rapidly across
it, all the time talking to him and describing level fields and wide vistas.
It seemed to work, too, because Lon lay still and relaxed on her shoulders.
The reassuring feeling of her strength gave him security again, as it had so
often done before, and he let the sound of her voice carry him away to the
fields and woodlands of his childhood.

They were just about halfway across when her voice paused in mid- sentence.
Lon felt a sudden tension in her muscles and sensed that she had stopped
walking.

"Brenhya? What is it? Are we there already?"

"Hush a minute".

There was something on the very edge of hearing, something very odd, something
that made her warrior's instinct twitch and the tiny hairs on her arms stand
on end. She turned in place very slowly.

What she saw caused her mouth to dry up.

Starting from the peninsula, the bridge was collapsing in a deliberate,
organised way, curling down into the abyss like a piece of stiff rope, slow
enough to watch but fast enough so that the collapse would catch up with them
very soon.

"Brenhya, what's wrong?"

"No time! Hang on, Lon".

The time for careful, measure progress was past. Spinning on the ball of her
foot, Brenhya began to run. Her long legs covered the distance like a cheetah,
her burden no encumbrance to her, and broke into a sprint as the rumbling of
the falling bridge began to get closer.

Like a sack of wheat, Lon bounced up and down on his perch, every stride of
the powerful legs beneath him jolting his belly and driving a little grunt
from him.

"Bren..hya..what..is..go..ing..on?"

She did not waste a breath in explanation, but ran as she had never run
before, feet pounding on the miraculously stable flags below her,
concentrating furiously on keeping to the central line lest she miss her
footing and send both of them plummeting into the void.

It seemed that the far end, and safety, was coming no closer. She felt like
she had been running forever, and dragged the precious oxygen into her lungs
with every urgent breath. She risked a quick glance behind, and the collapsing
end of the bridge seemed to be almost on top of them. Willing energy into her
pumping limbs, she spurred herself to even greater efforts.

The rumbling of the crumbling span was just behind her, now, and she could
even feel the flags moving loosely under her feet. Somehow, the dread of
falling to her death galvanised her. Her feet flew over the stones and, at
last, the end of the bridge was getting close.

Even as the last flagstones disappeared out from under her, Brenhya threw
herself forward in a desperate, mighty leap, clearing ten feet of airspace to
land, still running, on solid ground at last.

Her momentum fetched her up against the wall, and she absorbed the impact on
her outstretched arms. She gently placed Lon on his feet and bent over, hands
on knees, sucking great gulps of restorative air into her tortured lungs.

Confused, Lon plucked the blindfold from his head, blinking against even the
subdues light in the cavern. He looked back across the vast space.

"Brenhya! Look at this!"

She uncurled her long body, and moved to his side, following his gaze across
the cave.

"The bastard!" She cursed with real feeling.

The flat, level floor of the cavern stretched away before her, smooth and
entirely intact.

"Your man has a perverse sense of humour", Brenhya commented.

"The whole thing was an illusion!" As an apprentice wizard, Lon found it
difficult to keep his admiration for such a magical feat from his voice.

Brenhya could not afford the time to be awestruck by Chaithe's thaumaturgical
prowess. She had more important things on her mind. She would be impressed
later.

The alcove, when she came to examine it, was only just big enough to admit
her, and even then she had to duck her head to get under the stone lintel.
Inside, it was like standing inside a wardrobe with rocky walls and ceiling.
Crouching slightly, she ran probing fingers over the surfaces, hoping to find
a secret mechanism.

"Looks pretty solid to me", Lon said, crowding into the small space with her.

"I'm not so sure", Brenhya said absently, absorbed with the problem of finding
a way out. "He had to get in and out somehow, and I'm betting he didn't
transfer himself here like he did with us. He wouldn't risk materialising
inside the rock".

"Makes sense. But if this is a way out, I can't see it".

Brenhya frowned as she completed her exploration of the walls. She stepped
back, gently pushing Lon out of the space. Hands on hips, she stared at the
alcove, trying to puzzle out the enigma. She knew there had to be a way.

"The ceiling! I didn't try the ceiling".

"There must be hundreds of tons of rock above it", Lon said sceptically.

"Or perhaps it slides back, and leads to a tunnel". Brenhya moved back into
the alcove, staring up at the stone roof. "Although I have to say it looks
solid". She tested it with a finger.

It passed straight through.

"The devious ... Lon, it's another illusion!" She pushed her whole arm through
and waved it around.

"That must be how he got in and out. The top must be inside the house, getting
up and down would be just a matter of simple levitation".

"Simple? Could you levitate us up there, then?"

"Well ...no. Not exactly. Simple for him, I meant".

With a wry smile, Brenhya stood on tiptoe and found she was able to see into
the space above the illusion. Lon was slightly disturbed by the sight of
Brenhya's head, apparently cut off cleanly just below the nose, her mouth
moving strangely as she described what she could see.

"It's like a chimney", she reported. "It's dark, and I can't see how far up it
goes. But there are no steps and not much in the way of hand and footholds".
She ducked back out of the alcove. "I think we can get up it, though".

"How?"

"Hands and feet braced against the sides".

"Heh!" Lon eyed at her with what she thought of as an 'old fashioned' look.
"You might be able to. I wouldn't get six feet". He glanced at his feet.
"Perhaps that's just as well, though. I would probably just get in your way.
You better go alone".

"Not acceptable" she said without hesitation. "Either we both get out, or
neither of us does. Come here".

She took his wrist and pulled him close. Her hands went under his buttocks,
and she lifted him clear of the floor. "Wrap your legs around my waist and
your arms about my neck. Hold on tight".

Lon did as he was instructed.

"Are you sure about this? I don't doubt that you're strong enough to do what
you're thinking of, but won't I put you off balance?"

"I'll manage".

Lon clung tightly to her, burying his face in her neck, acutely conscious of
her naked breasts crushed against him and the close contact of her skin on
his. He felt his face flush as a hard swelling rose in his groin, pressing
against her belly. Brenhya gave a little laugh.

"And we'll just ignore that, shall we?"

"Let's"

Inside the alcove, Brenhya positioned herself as centrally as she could. There
would just be room for them both to pass into the chimney. She braced her
hands against the sides, the muscles on her arms as tense as steel hawsers.
One at a time, she braced her feet similarly, and in a display of fantastic
strength, lifted herself and Lon clear of the ground, inching up into the
void.

Lon automatically closed his eyes and ducked his head as it passed the margin
of the illusory ceiling. As they moved higher, what a weird feeling it was to
look down into the gloom and see his truncated body, bisected by what appeared
to be a sheet of solid rock.

Like a superbly engineered machine, Brenhya levered herself up the shaft. She
would set her feet, and move her hands up, pressing outwards with tremendous
strength until she was confident they would support the weight, and then
follow with her feet.

The power required to perform the feat, even had she been unencumbered by
Lon's weight, would have been mightily impressive in and of itself. The sheer
strength necessary to climb the shaft with Lon holding tightly to her body was
almost unbelievable.

Lon clung to her like a baby monkey. Her every movement caused the oak hard
muscles of her shoulders and back to coil and flex against his bare skin,
sending electric thrills along every fibre of his nerves. And the close
contact between his groin and the rolling muscles of her iron belly, every
ridge and valley of which he could feel even through the tough material of his
pants, set up an urgent throbbing in his loins and a pulsating need in his
erect phallus. He closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair, desperately
trying to think of something, anything else.

The progress was slow, and the chimney seemed to go on for ever. Precisely and
methodically, Brenhya placed her hands and feet with care, concentrating
totally on the task in hand. She was aware of Lon's difficulty, but put it
from her mind. It was the least of her worries at this time.

The climb went on and on. Brenhya climbed in silence, her breathing even and
easy. Lon was sweating, breathing deeply, concentrating just as hard on
controlling his bodily urges as on keeping his grip on the powerfully feminine
body. He screwed his eyes tight shut and chewed his lip, tiny moans escaping
him from time to time, desperate not to disgrace himself inside his own
trousers..

Brenhya reached up with her right arm, searching for another tenuous finger
hold. Her hand met empty air. She felt around, and encountered a flat surface.

"Lon, there seems to be some sort of ledge, here, or maybe another tunnel".
She climbed a few more inches up the vertical shaft and reached into the
space. "There's at least enough room for us to get in there and rest. We need
it". At least, you do, she thought. Or time to cool off a bit. She braced her
feet as securely as possible, and cupped a large, strong hand under his foot.
"See if you can climb in".

Using her hand as a step, Lon clambered into the space. Brenhya gave him a
boost to clear the edge, and climbed in beside him.

"Shift over a bit. Don't hog all the room".

Lon hitched over, pulling in long, slow breaths, allowing his tumescent
arousal to subside.

"Well, here we are", he said. "Lost, up a shaft, in the dark, battered and
bruised, and at least one of us is scared nearly witless. Are we having fun,
yet?"

Brenhya smiled quietly in the dark. That was more like the Lon she knew, and
showed that he had been able to put 'the incident' behind him. She got to her
knees, and fetched her head a nasty crack n the ceiling.

"Ow!" Her fingers tenderly explored a growing bump. "Not much headroom. But it
is a tunnel".

"You reckon?"

"Yes. There's a little breeze coming from back there. And, although it's dark,
there's just enough light for you and I to make out each other's shapes. That
must be coming from somewhere". She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I think we
should find out what's down there. I'll go and take a look. You can wait here,
if you like"

"No, no. That's OK. I'll come". The words 'please don't leave me here alone in
the dark' were unspoken but implicit.

"OK. Keep behind me, but stay close".

The tunnel was long and narrow, with many twisting, convoluted turns.
Sometimes it sloped up, sometimes it sloped down. Sometimes it leaned
drunkenly this way or that. At times, it narrowed so much that they had to
crawl on their bellies; at others it would funnel outward so that they were
able to walk upright for a time. It seemed to go on and on, but it gradually
became lighter and easier to see their way. Finally, Brenhya made out a thin
white line of light at floor level.

"Lon, look there".

"Is it a door?"

"Could be. Let's take a look".

The tunnel grew wider and higher, until they were able to walk erect and
abreast. It did prove to be a door, and by the dim light that shone around its
edges they were able to see clearly. It was constructed of heavy timber, with
eight small squares of wood arranged in a rectangle on it's surface, and held
shut by a common thumb catch.

Brenhya stretched out a hand to the latch.