Sorcerer Bait

Chapter 2
Time to Dance

"Sorcerer Bait"

by Dark Oni

Time to Dance

Selene trudged along the rocky mountain pass closely following behind her new partners. They had traveled an entire day after that night in the tavern and then risen at the crack of dawn to continue. She hated this part of questing. It was boring, it was hot and she was getting all dusty. She didn’t mind letting the others know how she felt either. "How much further is this cave? I’m tired and this damn dirt is getting into my armor."

Immediately Selene heard Alyna say "Great, she’s whining again."

"Hear me you little demon, I’m the one who needs to at my best for this so you don’t get your little ass toasted." Selene angrily shot back.

Before Alyna could return fire Raithe interrupted them. "She’s right Alyna. Leave her alone." Upon hearing that, Selene smirked at the girl who glared back at her.

Raithe could tell Alyna was upset at his response but he didn’t need the two of them fighting right now. Their lives would be at stake soon and he wanted them focused. The annoying thing was Selene was acting as bad as a girl who was ten years her junior. It was the only glaring weakness Raithe could find in an otherwise perfect magic-user and he was very good at finding weaknesses. Still, that immaturity had worked to his advantage already when she’d agreed to leave with them immediately.

Raithe continued. "To answer your question Selene, we are very close. Do not worry, you will have a chance to rest before we go in."

"Good." Selene replied. She was happy with the way Raithe had put the little brat in her place. She figured that by the end of this mission she and Raithe would be very close partners indeed and little Alyna would know where she stood. Looking at the thin girl Selene felt there would be no competition for the mage’s affection. She was a full head taller than Alyna which made her eye to eye with Raithe, and her body spoke for itself. "Yes, I’ll be happy with Raithe for quite some time." she thought. "Of course, until someone better comes along."

With that, Selene’s thoughts went to the quest. Tarek was a powerful mage who a few years back had laid waste to a kingdom and slaughtered it’s leaders. Very little was known about him. He had appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. One thing that was known was a neighboring kingdom had put quite a large bounty on his head. The gold was a good enough reason to hunt Tarek down but any magic-user would have a better one. A mage as powerful as Tarek had to have accumulated a good deal of magical knowledge and items. That was the real bounty.

When Raithe had revealed to her that he knew the location of Tarek’s sanctuary she’d almost squealed with joy. This was the big quest she had been waiting for. Finally, after two years of petty princess rescuing and bandit hunting she was going to show those fools at the academy she was ready for the big time.

She could still hear the admonishments her instructor had thrown at her. "You need to be more disciplined Selene. Watch your temper Selene. Don’t turn your roommate into a werecat Selene!" She had decided to heck with it all. She’d already had to wait longer than her friends to begin with. Being quarter elven she aged at roughly half the rate of normal humans and had taken more than thirty years to reach full adulthood. She just didn’t have the patience to wait any longer for glory to come to her. She knew she had the power to go spell to spell with any magic-user and now she was going to prove it.

"Besides," she thought, "Raithe’s plan is solid." Alyna would go in a few minutes ahead of them. With her null power the mage would take her for a lost girl and their magical essences would be blocked from him. Alyna was the bait and while she occupied Tarek they would attack him by surprise. She badly wanted to attack Tarek first to prove herself against a powerful mage. After much arguing with Raithe she had finally threatened not to help him if he attacked first. With that said the honor of first blood had gone to her. Selene was sure this would be an easy task.

After a few more minutes of walking Selene was taken with boredom again and decided to break it with a little small talk. "So, Raithe, what’s with the chainmail and sword. Seems like a pretty strange way for a mage to dress."

Raithe, who had been occupying himself by looking for traps answered her without looking back. "That is because I am not just a mage."

Selene became somewhat upset at the obvious answer. "I can see that. What exactly are you though?"

Again Raithe responded with his back to her. "To be precise you would have to call me a dark paladin." Selene could hear the humor in his voice as her eyes opened wide.

"Interesting" she thought. Paladins were basically warriors who could use white magic to enhance their combat skills. Raithe’s power level was much higher than that however and definitely not based in white magic. The term ’dark’ also caught her interest. Each paladin belonged to an order with strict codes of conduct. Dark paladins were those who violated the codes of conduct.

"So, what did you do that was so bad?" Selene asked with a grin. She was liking Raithe more and more.

Stopping in the path Raithe turned and met her gaze. Calmly he spoke. "Allow me to say, that is not your concern. One is either a paladin or a dark paladin, there is no compromise. Since you do have a right to know where I stand, let me just say that I had a disagreement with the dictates of my order. I will leave it at that." Without further comment the former paladin continued along the path.

Selene noticed that Alyna was again grinning at her but she ignored it. "A dark paladin with power." she thought. "This will be very interesting indeed."

Within the hour they reached the entrance to the cavern Raithe had been told about. He recalled how long it had taken the informant to talk. "Oh well." he reflected. "That’s what torture is for after all."

They rested for a short time and finally Alyna was ready to go in. Before she left Raithe hugged the girl. He really didn’t like putting her in danger but this was the best chance they had and Alyna understood. Bravely she walked into the cavern.

As Alyna walked through the cave she used her skills to blank the detection spells that had been placed throughout the entrance while allowing them to notice her. This would enable Raithe and Selene to enter undetected while Tarek would react to her as if she were a rabbit running through his garden.

She thought of how much she was beginning to hate Selene. She was arrogant, annoying and Alyna was sure she had her eyes on Raithe. What was worse was she knew that with that body Selene was definitely more desirable to a man than some slip of a girl like her. Alyna was just thankful that after this mission it would just be her and Raithe again.

Alyna’s thoughts were broken as she noticed the cave widening. About fifty yards in front of her she could now see ruins of some kind. In the middle of these ruins, it’s top covered by the low cavern ceiling, was the entrance to a temple. Alyna walked towards the temple. It was just as the informant had described. Large pillars were at it’s front and above them was engraved strange figures and creatures. There was no way of knowing how old these ruins were or what race had left them. Such was the way of the world. Civilizations rose and fell very quickly and much knowledge was lost as a result.

As Alyna stared at the engravings she heard a deep voice boom. "What do we have here?" Alyna started to run, playing her part to the hilt. She suddenly felt a tightness around her waist and was lifted into the air as Tarek used a levitation spell to pull her back to him.

Floating in front of him Alyna got a good look at the great wizard. He was tall, well over six feet and his dark skinned head was shaved bald while his beard was short and pointed at the chin. The robe he wore was black and purple with gold armor pointing up at the shoulders. The black boots he wore could be seen at the bottom of the robe. He was very imposing to Alyna and she sincerely hoped he would take the bait.

"It would seem I’ve caught a rabbit." the wizard sneered. "Tell me your name rabbit before I skin you."

"All according to plan." Alyna thought as she mentally prepared for her act. She allowed her face to take an expression of terror as she cried out "M-my name is Lanara good wizard. I-I was traveling to Vanderburg with my father when bandits attacked. I barely escaped and took cover here. P-please good sir, do not harm me."

Tarek stared at her for a few seconds as he contemplated her story. Finally he said "It would seem child that you have had two misfortunes in the same day. By coming into this cavern you may never have the chance to leave." Tarek continued to stare then said, "I do not feel comfortable with killing children however. I must think about this." Tarek suddenly turned and entered the temple with Alyna in tow behind him. He didn’t see the expression of relief on the girl’s face.

He also didn’t notice the two individuals watching him from the entry cave, their power signatures blocked from him by the field that now engulfed him. Raithe had watched the exchange closely, ready to intervene if Tarek had made a move to harm Alyna. He nodded to Selene and the sorceress smiled as she walked towards the temple.

As Alyna floated into the temple she could see the interior was well furnished. Beyond the entryway there was a large room with a table, an ornate rug, beautiful tapestries hanging from the wall and large shelves of books. Tarek floated her down onto a chair and released her.

Taking a seat across from her he said "At the very least you’re going to have to stay here for a long time. I can’t have knowledge of my whereabouts getting out."

Alyna continued her act. "Please sir, my mother will be very worried about me. I’d like to go home." Glancing behind Tarek she could see a figure walk into the chamber. Knowing what was about to happen Alyna immediately jumped from the chair and out of the line of fire.

Tarek thought the girl was running for it again and was about to cast a levitation spell when he noticed movement out of the corner of his vision. Instinctively his shields rose just as the wall of fire hit him.

Selene hadn’t believed her luck when she saw the wizard’s back to her and focusing as much power as she could into an inferno spell she unleashed it on Tarek, hoping to incinerate him in one blow. At the last instant she saw his shields come up and silently swore as the fire she had unleashed swirled around the sphere of energy and attacked it’s barriers.

Alyna found a hiding place behind one of the bookshelves. Looking back on the battle she had to admit that Selene could be awfully impressive. Fire streaked from her hands as her cloak blew in the opposite direction, her armor and face brightly lit by the glare of her attack. Unfortunately, Tarek was awfully powerful in his own right. After a few seconds the sphere of fire began to spin rapidly, creating a vortex of flame. This vortex sucked all of the fire into the area around the shield, then promptly snuffed itself out.

Selene knew exactly what Tarek had done. Once all the fire was in one spot the wizard had created a second sphere of magic around the first, trapping the flame between them. Stuck in a vacuum the fire had burned itself out. As she prepared her next spell she could see Tarek kneeling on the floor and looking right at her. The area around him was still smoldering, as were some parts of his robe.

"Tell me your name so that I may know who it is I kill today." the wizard boomed.

"Not likely Tarek. I am Selene and I have come for your head." Selene boasted, feeling the rush of battle. She threw multiple strikes this time, fireball after fireball and watched as each exploded stunningly across Tarek’s shields. She also maneuvered herself away from the entrance so Raithe would be able to take Tarek from the side when he entered.

Deflecting the fireballs Tarek initiated his own attack as lines of flame streaked from his hands. When they impacted with Selene’s shield she could literally see the edges of her sphere shatter and reform themselves. "That was nasty." she thought, as she shored up her defenses. "But I can be nastier."

The ground beneath Tarek cracked and broke apart as great chunks of stone impacted with the wizard’s shield causing the same effect Selene’s had just suffered. She had little time to celebrate though as the table in the middle of the chamber flew straight at her and exploded against her barrier. Selene was shaken but otherwise okay. At any moment she knew Raithe would join in the attack and Tarek would be finished. Throwing a few more fireballs she sincerely hoped he’d stop taking his time.

For the next minute the two mages launched attack after attack at one another, each wearing the other’s energies down. Outwardly Selene was magnificent, inwardly she was getting frantic. "Where the hell is he?!" she thought. "I can’t hold out much longer and this guy’s resources seem limitless. I have to score a kill soon."

Unknown to Selene, Tarek was thinking much the same about her. He was surprised that one this young was so powerful. He hadn’t had a fight like this in ages and was actually worried. He noticed however that while her defenses were strong they were rather one dimensional. Her shields were set to stop only high energy attacks and she hadn’t bothered to manipulate their frequency. He was sure he could slip a low energy spell through them if the frequency was right. He had the perfect spell in mind too. The next fireball that flew at Selene had a carrier spell on it.

As the projectile impacted Selene noticed it was weaker than the others had been. She was suddenly hopeful that Tarek was vulnerable. That’s when she felt strange. There was a tingling all over her body and she felt very nauseous.

Alyna saw Selene falter and at first thought Tarek was going to finish her. Instead the sorcerer halted his attacks and walked slowly in her direction. That’s when Alyna noticed that Selene looked different. Her features were thinner and her armor looked too big. She could tell Selene was slowly shrinking.

The top of her armor was slipping as her large breasts deflated. As the seconds passed Alyna could see the pointed nipples on the teen’s firm beasts in the gap between the elf’s armor and chest. The nipples shrank and flattened as Selene’s breasts receded back into her body. Her legs were no longer full either as two thin appendages with knobby knees rose out of the suddenly drooping boots. As her legs thinned so did her arms and the bracers she’d been wearing clattered to the floor. The sash covering her crotch dipped as well, touching the floor along with her cloak as the belt holding it in place slipped downward on her thinning hips.

When Selene stopped shrinking Alyna guessed she was just under the barrier of womanhood and had lost about two feet of height. Alyna secretly rejoiced as she saw the elven child look up at Tarek.

As Selene shook away her nausea she was dimly aware that she’d lost some clothing and figured Tarek’s last fireball must have shaken her up worse than she thought. Returning her gaze to the sorcerer she noticed he looked much bigger than before. "Fine, waste power on a growth spell. Just makes you a better target." she thought as she prepared to launch another fireball. Raising her hands towards the smiling face of Tarek, Selene cast her spell and.....nothing happened.

Selene became very confused and looked at her hands. Her tiny, delicate, way too small hands. "What happened?" she squeaked and was taken aback at the high pitch of her voice. "My-my voice. It’s all funny. You shrank me? How did I not notice a shrink spell?! I should have felt it hit me!" Selene was so angry she didn’t seem to realize that she was yelling at a mage who was trying to kill her.

"I am so sorry you’re upset little one. But I did not just shrink you. Have you noticed that you cannot cast any spells? That is because children cannot hold much magical energy and your spells require quite a lot of energy." Tarek said.

"C-children?" Selene said in a weak voice. She then proceeded to look down at herself, grabbed the top of her so called breastplate and looked underneath. "Oh...my...gods!! They’re-they’re ... gonnnnnne." Selene’s whine deteriorated into crying as she mourned the loss of her favorite assets.

"Stop sniveling." Tarek boomed. "I need answers from you. And you." Tarek motioned at Alyna and grabbed her again with a levitation spell, pulling the kicking and screaming girl across the room and plopping her on her ass next to Selene. At first Selene could still look down upon the girl but as Alyna rose to rub her abused bottom it was easy to see things had changed. The young slip of a girl was now a full head taller than Selene and actually had breasts while the little elf merely had bumps with pink marks on them. Even given the situation Alyna couldn’t help smirking at Selene.

Selene didn’t care if she upset Tarek anymore, she had nothing to lose. With tears rolling down her cheeks she yelled "How did you make me younger? There’s no such thing as a youth spell. I read every book and I couldn’t find any."

Tarek seemed in an indulging mood as he smiled and laughed. "That is because the spell is as old as the ruins you see before you. It has been lost knowledge for centuries, only found in a handful of ancient items and a book I happened to uncover once. Now, time for my questions. Who are you and how did you find my sanctuary?"

Alyna cut in and spoke with fury. "I’m not going to tell you anything and neither will she. She can kick your sorry butt no matter what you’ve done to her. Isn’t that right mistress?"

"Is that so little one?" Tarek said to Selene.

"Uh, um ..." Selene was horrified at Alyna’s statements but before she could disagree Tarek raised his hand in front of her and spoke again.

"Can you defeat me if I do this?"

"Nooooooo!" Selene screamed as she felt the tingle again.

Alyna watched in glee as Selene shrank. Her face changed again, becoming chubbier as her large pointed ears became more prominent. Her tiny knees sank into her boots as her legs got even thinner and her armor seemed to engulf her as her torso dwindled further. If not for the straps on her minuscule shoulders the armor would have easily dropped to the floor. Her sash wasn’t so lucky. Before she stopped shrinking her belt slipped completely down her tiny hips and took the sash with it to the floor.

For an instant, her tiny bald privates hit the air before she could cover them up. The child’s face took on a crimson tinge an instant later.

Selene was mortified. She’d rather Tarek killed her now than have to face further humiliation from him. "Stop helping me!" she screamed at Alyna, horrified at the tinny pitch of her voice.

It was all Alyna could do not to laugh as she towered over the tiny elf. Selene had lost another foot and was probably around five years old in human terms.

Tarek interrupted. "Do not blame her little one. She truly is too young to have known not to attack me. You on the other hand, need a lesson."

Selene felt herself being lifted into the air by another levitation spell. Her boots clattered to the floor as her bare feet and legs kicked freely in space. Her cloak fell to the ground as well as Tarek unclasped it with his spell.

"W-what are you doing?" Selene squeaked as she felt her body rotate in the air, her face pointed towards the ground, her ass in the other direction.

"Punishing you." the wizard replied simply as Selene felt a force smack into her tender buttocks.

"No! Stop! Please stop!" Selene screamed as she frantically kicked and twisted futilely in midair. She felt the blows rain down on her hard and sharp, the pain steadily increasing. The more she cried the more pathetic she felt as she lost track of the number of blows. Finally she lost control, bawling like the young child she now was and desperately seeking relief. "I’ll be go-ho-ho-od. Just sta-ha-ha-op." she cried.

The blows halted and Tarek turned Selene to face him. "Well elfie, ready to answer my questions?"

Selene nodded and sniffed loudly as she tried to compose herself. Eventually she said "I’m Selene and th-this is Alyna. She’s a null."

Tarek’s eyes squinted and he looked curiously at Alyna. "A null named Alyna? Wait. I know you!" he exclaimed, a glimmer of recognition entering his eyes.

From behind him a voice hissed loudly. "I am glad you did not forget wizard."

Before Tarek could fully turn around the lightning struck him and did not stop. Selene started to fall as the levitation spell canceled itself but was caught by Alyna before hitting the ground. Alyna carried the tiny sorceress away to a hiding spot in a routine that was becoming familiar.

As the lightning smashed against Tarek’s shields, Raithe poured on the power. "Did you think I would forget what you did to my comrades? To my Lord? To my love?! I have waited two decades to repay you."

Tarek’s shields barely held but he was still able to wedge loose a piece of the ceiling and drop it on Raithe. The chunk of stone exploded as it impacted against Raithe’s sphere but did little else. Raithe was fresh. Tarek was not.

"If you hadn’t wasted energy playing with your food before eating it you may have stood a chance. But I doubt it." Raithe sneered as he maintained the attack. Tarek’s sphere cracked, then shattered as Raithe’s relentless assault tore it apart. Raithe canceled the spell immediately and walked to Tarek’s prone form.

Speaking with a ragged breathe the defeated wizard said, "Raithe. You’re..cough..much more powerful than you once were."

"Revenge has a way of focusing one. Ready to die?" Raithe asked coldly, noticing that Tarek had coughed up blood. The wizard’s injuries were probably too severe for Raithe to save him with a healing spell even if he wanted to.

"You won’t kill me Raithe. You’re a paladin. You won’t kill in cold blood like me." Tarek spat.

Raithe responded with a deep and mirthless laugh. "You really should have kept track of me Tarek. You would have known to add ’dark’ to my title." As Tarek’s eyes widened in fear Raithe continued "I have no problem killing you, but first..."

Kneeling in front of the fallen wizard Raithe reached out his left hand and grabbed Tarek by the forehead. In an instant Raithe had forced himself into the wizard’s mind. Raithe tore through without regard for the damage he was doing. He needed something before Tarek died. Something very important. Just as he feared his search would be fruitless, that all his plans would be for naught, he found it...and tore it from Tarek’s screaming mind.

Raithe opened his eyes again just in time to hear Tarek’s dead form thump to the ground. Getting up he sighed heavily. Just because he was capable of killing didn’t mean he liked it. In this case however, he almost had.

Spotting movement Raithe smiled as he saw Alyna approach. She had little Selene by the hand. The small sorceress didn’t look happy.

"What took you so long?" she yelled. "He could have killed me!"

"Not likely. Tarek was predictable. He tried to get information first and wasted energy trying to get it. Set himself up for the kill." Raithe responded.

"Oh no. He’s dead!?" Selene cried. "Now I’m stuck like this. He was the only one who knew the youth spell."

"Not anymore." Raithe corrected. "I just tore it from his mind."

Selene went from crying to jumping up and down with joy. "Yes. Change me back, change me back."

"Yes. It is time to set things right." Raithe remarked. With that he pointed his hand at Alyna. Immediately the girl started to grow. Her chest filled out, pushing hard against her tightening tunic as her breasts grew as large as Selene’s had been. The cuffs on her tunic rode up her arms as the bottom pulled out of her trousers. Her pants tightened as well as the curve of her ass pressed firmly against the material. Also, her features became more mature and her lips more full. Her height was now just under Raithe’s.

Selene’s neck craned up and up as she watched Alyna grow, not understanding why Raithe had chosen to do this. When the spell finished itself Alyna looked down at her new body slightly shocked. Raithe quickly kneeled in front of her and said "My Lady. My love. Are you all right?"

Alyna, still taken back by her transformation finally said "My goodness. Raithe. I-I remember. I remember it all. Being regressed. Cursed never to age past fourteen and never to remember who I was. My love, you have saved me."

With tears in his eyes, Raithe rose and embraced his love, kissing her.

Selene, predictably, interrupted. "Hey, what in the hell is going on here?"

Finally breaking their embrace, Raithe and Alyna both looked down on the diminutive elf and laughed at just how cute she now was. Selene’s sparkling green eyes were glaring through a chubby little face that had huge pointed ears at it’s side. Still holding her hands over her nakedness, she repeated her demand. "Well, what’s going on with you two?"

Raithe indulged her. In a gentle voice he said, "Let me tell you a story Selene. A long time ago there was a paladin who fell in love with a princess, who was also a sorceress as well as a null. Unfortunately for them, a ruthless sorcerer attacked her kingdom and slaughtered her family, along with a fair number of his comrades. Now, instead of simply killing the couple, this sorcerer decided it would be more entertaining to regress the princess to infancy so the paladin would have no choice but to raise his love. What was worse, was as the years passed the princess’ memory did not return and she eventually stopped growing. It was then that the palidin knew the only way his love would truly return to him was if he found that sorcerer and tore the cursed spell from his cold dark mind."

Raithe paused and took a moment to smile at Alyna again. He then returned his attention to Selene and bowed his head to her. "Thank you Selene for helping me get my love back."

Not surprisingly this touching moment went completely by the little elf. "Hey, good for you. Now it’s my turn. Change me back!"

Raithe grinned widely and said "I don’t think so Selene."

"What!?" she shrieked.

"While I am thankful, I’m still a practical man. Why share the wealth and knowledge when I don’t have to?" Raithe explained, witnessing the horrified expression on Selene’s face.

Becoming more serious he added, "Besides, I’m doing you a favor. You have power but no discipline. You WOULD have died if I hadn’t interfered and you probably will soon enough if I let you back out. On top of that, you are also the most arrogant, rude and petty individual I’ve ever had the misfortune to quest with. I hope you are raised better the next time."

With that, Raithe pointed at the sorceress and she started to shrink. Selene at first started to run but was quickly dragged down by the weight of her own armor. The little elf cried desperately as she became smaller and chubbier. At about age two she was able to crawl out from under the breastplate but found she was unable to stand again. When the spell finished the mighty sorceress Selene was a small infant with drooping pointed ears, sitting on the floor screaming her little lungs out.

Alyna picked the crying infant up and wrapped her in her fallen cloak. She tickled the baby on the chest which did nothing to silence the tiny thing. Mockingly she asked "Who is the child now little one?"

"Enjoying yourself?" Raithe asked.

"Of course." Alyna responded. "But I’d like to have a little more fun with her if you’ll oblige."

"Anything my sweet."

 

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