Darkniciad melted into the kiss, lost in the feeling of her soft lips. She pressed her body against his and he subconsciously followed her lead when her other hand slipped behind his back. Even as he marveled at the feeling of her tongue slipping into the kiss to tickle his lips, one of his hands curled around her back, and the other settled on the swell of her taut bottom.

Destiny moaned, pulling herself even tighter against him. Then, as suddenly as she’d moved in for the kiss, she pulled away. As she leaned back, her hands moved to his shirt and jerked the tail free of his pants. A tug on the shoulder strap of his satchel prompted him to shrug it off and it landed with an unceremonious plop at his feet.

“So many buttons. Help me,” she said while going to work on the lowest one.

He was caught, as surely as a fly in a spider’s web. No amount of his father’s wrath or his own misgivings could have stopped him from popping loose the top button of his shirt. They worked their way toward each other until Destiny loosed the final button.

She moaned as she stroked her fingers over his chest. While far from muscled, he was no stranger to hauling crates, blowing glass, and working wood. The work had given him hints of definition that she apparently found quite pleasing. One hand pushed on his shirt where it draped over his shoulders, and he quickly shrugged it off, letting it fall to the ground. She looked up, caught his eye, and flashed one of her brilliant smiles.

He was only beginning to fall into the emerald pools of her eyes when she deftly loosed the first button on his pants, causing him to stiffen.

“Be at ease,” she said, and then leaned in to kiss his chest, causing him to shiver. Meanwhile, her fingers continued their work, unhooking the two remaining buttons, and then pushing down on his pants.

She gasped and he groaned as her fingers curled around his hardness.

“Ohh my,” she said in a long, drawn out breath as she caressed him. “So very nice.”

Darkni breathed heavily, amazed at how soft her hand felt compared to his own. It was like silk stroking the turgid flesh. She moved in for another kiss, her hand continuing its ministrations.

When their lips parted, she said, “Lie down.”

He sank to his knees, and she followed him in perfect harmony, never releasing his manhood. It was only when his back came to rest on the forest floor that her fingers uncurled from around him. Some small part of his consciousness not reeling in awe and arousal was curious as to why he didn’t feel sticks, stones, and pine cones poking his back and behind, but those thoughts quickly sank deep down.

Destiny pulled off his shoes and stockings, placing them carefully off to the side, in sharp contrast to the way he’d neglected his shirt and satchel. Her smile took on a crooked, somewhat wanton cast when she grabbed his pants and pulled them the rest of the way down his legs. These she quickly folded – but not too haphazardly – and placed atop his shoes.

Darkniciad drew in a long, deep breath when she dropped down onto her hands and crawled over him. She lowered herself to his lips for a quick kiss, twitched her eyebrows, and then popped up to sit on his chest.

He was still absorbing the feeling of the hair on her mound tickling him – and the warm wetness – when she clasped his wrists. She pulled his hands to her breasts, and threw her head back with a moan when he instinctively squeezed them.

“I like that. You’re gentle,” she said when she looked back down at him.

The globes were firm, yet yielding to the pressure of his fingers as he explored them. Her nipples were stiff, poking into his palms, and every time he brushed them, a small sound of pleasure arose from her.

“Do you like them?” she asked after a few moments of him admiring and caressing them.

“They’re wonderful,” he answered in a soft, distracted voice.

He was far from ready to stop when she took his wrists again and gently pulled his hands away. He was even less prepared when she leaned over and her breasts filled his vision. She supported herself on one hand, and slid the other behind his head, lifting him toward her. There was little doubt what she wanted when she pressed the turgid point of her nipple against his lips. They parted and took the nipple in.

Destiny let out a warbling whimper as he suckled her. He could feel the little bumps on her areola, and the sounds she was making set his manhood to throbbing.

“Use your tongue, too,” she said.

He experimentally tickled the underside of the swollen bud with his tongue, and she rewarded him with a gasp. Emboldened, he swirled his tongue around her nipple and even flicked it.

She began to rock her hips, and the sensation of warmth and wetness on his chest increased.

Once again, he felt a flash of disappointment when she pulled her nipple from his lips. That was quickly remedied when she offered him her other breast a moment later. He didn’t hesitate to suck in the point at its peak.

Still grinding her sex against him, she said, “Ohhh, that feels so good.”

He moaned around her nipple.

She answered with a moaning chuckle and pulled away again. A shift of her hips allowed her to lie atop him. Her breasts pressed against him and she moved in for a lingering kiss. His tongue joined hers when it slipped into the kiss and after a few moments of awkward bumping together, the two slippery organs entwined in a dance.

Darkni opened his eyes slowly when her lips left his. She was breathing deeply, and her eyes were full of passion.

“I need you,” she said in a husky voice.

With no further preamble, she scooted back, and the hairs that had been tickling his chest and abdomen touched his cock instead. It caused a fleeting moment of relief before the aching throb returned twofold. She reached between their bodies and panic bubbled up within him.

She assured him, “It’s safe. Remember my spell.”

That was indeed one of the concerns that had pulled him out of the moment, but it certainly wasn’t the only one.

As if on cue, she said, “Don’t worry. I know it’s your first time.”

That didn’t do nearly as much to console him. The worry shot to the back of his thoughts when she deftly located his erection, lifted it, and pressed the tip against her remarkably soft curls. She smiled at him, and the barest of movements caused his cock to slide inside her.

Darkni moaned as her warm, slippery, velvety-smooth walls enfolded the head of his cock. She wiggled her hips, and he drew in his next breath as a broken gasp.

“Oh, Destiny,” he whispered, overwhelmed by the incredible pleasure.

She wasn’t done. A guttural cry burst from his lips as she slowly sank down on him. Her eyes rolled up in her head and her lips parted as she took him into her heavenly embrace.

“So big. So full,” she said in a soft, strained voice as her nether lips kissed the base of his shaft.

Like any man, that was a worry for him. Hearing her say those words caused him to swell and throb even harder than he already was. Her whimper in response to that was yet another ego boost.

Destiny caught him in her eyes and said, “Hold me.” She then lowered herself down to allow him to do exactly that. Darkni wrapped his arms around her, reveling in the feeling of her skin against his. She sought his lips again, and that’s when she set her hips in motion.

Darkni grunted into the kiss from the sweet friction of her canal sliding up his manhood and then engulfing it again. His hips lifted of their own accord when she hit bottom, and she let out a high-pitched moan of approval.

A light wind cooled them as their bodies undulated on the forest floor. Their kisses grew steadily more passionate as their pleasure mounted. Darkni had never known such exquisite bliss, even in his magic. The sounds she was making and the way her muscles randomly tensed seemed to indicate she was enjoying it as much as he was.

Then it hit him.

The tickle in his loins grew warm – more intense. Every stroke of her wet heat heightened the feeling. He knew he was well on the way to spilling his seed, and stopped moving in an effort to stave it off.

“It’s okay,” Destiny said, her lips still touching his. She gave him a soft kiss.

“But, I’m...” He had to clench his teeth when his pleasure surged.

“I know. Come for me,” she assured him.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she denied him the opportunity. Destiny gazed down into his eyes and began to buck her hips at a furious pace. The hot friction shattered what little control he had left, and he surrendered to the inevitable. In a matter of seconds, the tickle in his shaft turned to an itch, and then almost an electric discharge. Each breath emerged as a grunt, growl, or groan, the sounds arising unbidden from some deep, primal part of him. And then he was there.

Destiny cried out in surprise when his arms squeezed tight, pulling her down hard against his body. His hips thrust upward, slamming into her with a loud smack as his seed surged up. A long, growling sound escaped his lips as he flooded her depths with cream.

“Yes! Oh yes!” she exclaimed when she felt him pulsing inside her.

Again and again, his hips bucked, blasting hot jets of cum into her rhythmically clenching canal. Every time he thought it was over, another hot surge would rise up. Dimly, he knew he’d never come so much in his life as his orgasm went on and on. Even when he ceased to erupt, his muscles continued to contract, pumping every drop he had to offer into her willing embrace.

Then, at long last, his muscles relaxed. More than that, they seemed to lose all strength. His arms slipped from her back, falling with a thump into the leaves at his side. His heels kicked up a pile of loam, leaves, and pine needles as they straightened to lie equally lifeless. Destiny lay atop him, perfectly still, contentedly moaning and stroking his cheek with her fingertips.

It took quite some time before he regained enough of his senses to blush and stammer, “I’m sorry.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Don’t be. I love that feeling. You losing control and filling me full. It’s wonderful.”

Inexperienced as he was, he was certain she hadn’t reached her peak and it felt selfish. It made the whole experience – incredible as it was – feel incomplete. “But you didn’t... Did you?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “No, but there’s plenty of time for that. It was your first time. I didn’t expect you to last long enough for me to come the first time.” After a brief pause, she asked, “Are you ready?”

His brow furrowed, and he asked, “For what?”

“Well, you’ll never really be ready, so...”

He lurched and expelled every ounce of air in his lungs in a loud, uncontrolled burst when she slid off his sensitive organ.

When he could open his eyes again, he saw Destiny on her knees looking down at her sex, her expression undoubtedly amused. Drops and dollops of their mingled juices clung to the curls between her legs. A far larger one welled up from inside her and fell with a plop to the forest floor, trailing hair-thin strands that took a heartbeat longer to break.

She giggled and said, “I knew it was a lot.”

“I thought I would never stop,” he admitted.

“I wanted it. I know how to make you last long enough this time, though.”

“It will...” He cleared his throat. “Take a while.”

Her grin widened and she shook her head. Then she lifted her face to the canopy above, closed her eyes, and spread her hands wide at her side. A bird somewhere launched into a joyful song and the lilac-scented wind kissed them both. She opened her eyes and stretched out her hand toward his manhood.

He tensed, knowing what that touch would cause. Indeed, for a tiny fraction of a heartbeat, he felt the stinging discomfort, but then, something else happened. His heavy eyelids sprang open. The weariness of his limbs vanished. Most surprisingly, a fresh rush of blood reversed the course of his softening cock. By the time she’d slid her fingertip from the root to the head, and then back down, he’d risen to full hardness.

“This is my magic,” she declared.

Curiosity nearly caused him to slip into the second sight, but he knew that would obscure the vision of her kneeling in front of him, her finger tracing the length of his still slick cock. For once, his calling took a back seat to something else – her beauty and sensuality.

She gave a perfect demonstration of that by reaching up, cupping her breast, and rubbing a finger over the nipple. Then she moved first one knee and then the other forward, ever so slowly straddling him, until she hovered over his loins. Still looking into his eyes, she reached down and took his cock in hand to stand it up straight. With only the slightest manipulation, she wriggled it through the glistening, cream-dappled hair surrounding her sex.

Twin groans sounded as she sat down on it in a steady, fluid motion. They were both so enraptured that neither took note of the flatulent sound the penetration of her cum-filled canal made.

“Mmm, you feel so good,” she said as she gyrated her hips, stirring him inside her.

“So do you. Heavenly.”

Her eyes sparkled and she shivered. “I like the way you said that.”

“You are a vision of beauty beyond my wildest imagining,” he said while laying his hands on her knees, having felt the need to touch her.

An even stronger shiver rippled through her. “That too.”

She then began to undulate her body forward and back atop him. Her breasts jiggled in an eye-catching way from her movement. The feeling of his cock slipping against her velvety soft walls was wonderful, but didn’t cause the same sense of building urgency that stroking him had earlier.

She asked, “Is this okay? It’s not too much?”

“Perfection.”

“Good.”

Still rocking in sinuous motion, she let the hand cupping her breast slide down her body, between her legs. She centered two fingers at the apex of her folds and rubbed them back and forth. He had, of course, heard about a woman’s pleasure button, but had no real-life reference until that moment. While he could see little behind her fingers and the obscuring hair, he made note of the location, determined to learn much more when the opportunity presented itself.

She whimpered and as if that was a signal, the speed of both her hips and her fingers increased. Her voice still held much of the earlier sound when she said, “So good.”

Spurred by the evidence of her growing pleasure, he said, “I want you to reach your peak.”

“Yes,” she exclaimed.

“I want your bliss to equal my own.”

“Yes,” she said again, even louder and higher in pitch.

“Oh, you are stunning,” he said, letting the words flow from his lips as fast as they formed in his head. “I am mesmerized by your body and the sweet sound of your voice. Your eyes entrap me. Pull me in.”

Her fingers moved faster, and she rocked harder on his erection. “Yes. Tell me.”

“There is nothing I want more at this moment than to see you soar to the peak of pleasure. To lose yourself in ecstasy.”

“Don’t stop,” she said, her voice taking on an almost weepy quality.

He drew in a sharp breath through his nose when her increasing enthusiasm caused uncomfortable tugs at the root of his member, but continued as she’d asked, using her own word this time. “I want... No, I need you to come for me.”

She seemed to be trying to say something, but a gasp followed by a yelp took her breath.

“Come for me.”

“Yes!”

“Come for me,” he repeated.

He had to clench his teeth for a moment when she slammed her hips back. Her fingers were a blur over her clit, and her face was flushed. Her hips careened forward and back at a frantic pace.

“Come for me, Destiny.”

“Yes!” she screamed, the sound echoing back from the trees.

“Come for me, Destiny.”

“Oh yes, Darkni. Oh! I’m there. I’m there. I’m...”

She came with an earsplitting screech.

Darkni drew in a noisy breath when the already tight confines of her walls clamped down with shocking strength. He watched in amazement at her thrashing atop him, her long hair whipping as she screamed in release. Her fingers remained over the center of her pleasure, but were no more coordinated than the rest of her body. Every few moments, they would go into a flurry of activity, and then freeze as a fresh wave of sweet agony wracked her body.

Pride and awe filled him as her orgasm slowly played out. She fell forward, her fingers turning into claws and digging into the earth. The hair that had fallen in front of her face rippled from her labored breaths. He caressed her arms and felt the tight muscles there relax.

“Oh... Oh my,” she said in a weak voice.

“You are astounding,” he said while unsuccessfully trying to push the blonde curtain away from her face.

“And you are wonderful. I haven’t come that hard in so long.” A spasm rippled through her, and she whimpered from the aftershock. Once it passed, she took a deep breath and straightened her arms.

Darkni gasped when she let his erection slide from her and slap against his skin. With what appeared to be a great effort, she sat up over her knees and then lurched to the side. She sat down hard on her bottom and then fell onto her back. She had barely settled before she beckoned him with an impatiently waving hand.

He sat up, and she parted her legs wide in response. He scooted over to her, allowing her to use first her feet, and then her hands to guide him into the V of her legs. Once he was there, she took his hands and placed them on her thighs. She then grasped for his manhood, but couldn’t reach it. He edged forward, letting her curl her fingers around it, and she wasted no time settling it against the entrance of her canal.

Her feet hooking behind his buttocks and tugging him toward her revealed what she wanted. A sigh escaped him as his cock vanished into her recesses. She gasped, and then swallowed hard when his dangling orbs settled against her. The pressure of her feet holding him inside her vanished, to be replaced by her heels pushing against his hips. He pulled back, bumped into her feet snapping behind him again, and pushed inside her without further prompting.

Destiny nodded enthusiastically when he pulled back for another stroke and the fingers of her right hand settled between her legs.

Having control made the feeling of sinking into her and slipping back out all the more incredible. She’d placed his hands in the perfect position to hold on and assist his thrusts. He kept the same agonizing pace she’d set with her feet, fighting his body’s loud screams for more.

He found out he wasn’t the only one when she said, “Faster.”

His body responded almost before her voice had faded. He thrust into her harder and she cried out in response. His hips rocked back, sliding him along her clinging walls, and he thrust again. Twice more, his manhood vanished into her, but on the retreat, he slipped free and poked the crease of her thigh.

A desperate-sounding, “No,” burst from her lips and the hand between her legs quickly found new purpose to guide him back inside her.

He nearly slipped out again on the very next stroke, but prevented it at the last moment. He concentrated hard on giving her the speed and power they both desired while maintaining control. After a dozen strokes, he fell into a rhythm.

“Yes. Right there,” she cooed, her fingers having returned to her button and matching the increased speed of his thrusts. Her other hand fervently stroked and squeezed her breasts.

It didn’t take long for Destiny’s fingers to reach the same hectic pace they’d attained just before her earlier climax. On one thrust, Darkni stayed buried inside her long enough to move his knees forward. The next time he drove his cock home and drew back, he knew he’d chosen wisely. The head of his cock remained firmly within her canal. He gave into his ardor with an even more powerful pump of the hips.

“Ah! Oh!” Destiny cried when he slammed into her. With each equally forceful thrust that followed, she called out encouragement. “Yes! Faster! Harder!”

Not having to worry about slipping free of her not only allowed him to fulfill those demands, but also reap the rewards. Her breasts bounced and quivered from the shockwaves of his assault. He could feel the muscles in her thighs tensing. In his peripheral vision, her toes curled. Her face grew redder and her features tighter with every passing moment.

There was a consequence, though.

Freed from the previous state of concentration, the itch in his glans quickly spread down the shaft and grew. Growls arose unbidden from his throat as he fought the steady march toward the point of no return. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and tightened his intimate muscles, trying to gain every second he could.

Little did he know it wasn’t necessary. His eyes popped back open at the sound of Destiny’s warbling wail of release. Her walls squeezed tight around him, and a roar pushed past his growls. The rush of wetness and contraction of her canal had pushed him over the edge. He pounded his cock into her three more times before he roared again and exploded in orgasm.

Destiny continued to scream and writhe as he pumped cum into her depths. The ejaculations weren’t nearly as strong or copious as the first, but they were all the sweeter because he wasn’t alone. She was coming with him, and it was pure euphoria.

His legs wavered as he ceased to spurt and began to dribble. Unable to remain upright, he fell forward and barely caught himself on one hand. In a flash, her legs locked around his hips and her hands jerked him down atop her heaving breasts. She held him inside her – still coming – and set him to twitching as his weakened muscles fought against the contractions of her walls around his ever more sensitive member.

When her own throes weakened her grip for a moment, he reacted before he could form the thought and heaved his hips upward. His slick and throbbing erection pulled free, only to be trapped between them when he collapsed again.

They lay together, quivering and panting for breath, with sweat slicking their skin where it touched despite the cooling breeze that washed over them. Destiny recovered first and contentedly moaned as she relaxed her legs. Her arms remained wrapped around him, but in an embrace rather than with the previous binding strength.

“Thank you,” she moaned, and then kissed the top of his head.

He could only mutter something unintelligible that was even more garbled because his lips were against the swell of her breast.

She chuckled, but then said, “Oh, it’s too hot.” One hand slid down to pat his butt, and she said, “Please?”

Darkni’s arms trembled as he tried to rise up above her. The first and second attempts to roll off of her failed. On the third, he found just enough strength and collapsed onto the ground next to her. She snuggled in near him, but not touching until the breeze cooled their flushed skin.

Once his wits returned, he looked over to see her smiling at him. He stretched out his hand, and she laid hers atop it.

“That was wonderful,” she said. “Thank you.”

“I find my vocabulary quite lacking when attempting to describe...” He trailed off, shook his head, and said, “Thank you as well.”

She moaned and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I’m so glad I felt the call to dance in the field today.”

“I’m glad as well.”

“And glad it was you, who could see through my magic, but give me something even more magical.”

His life’s passion reasserted itself, and he asked, “I wonder if I might see that spell you showed me, and the others you spoke of?”

Her lips pursed, her eyes widened, and then she exploded into laughter.

“I... I don’t understand,” he said, confused.

“I’m sorry,” she said. Another brief fit of laughter shook her, and then she continued. “It’s just that every other man I’ve been with has been falling asleep by this time. The magic is truly your calling if you can even think about it right now.”

“If it’s customary to sleep, I believe I might be quite capable of that as well.”

She rolled her eyes, gave him a playful slap, and then levered up on her elbow. “I’ll show you, but I think we should go wash up a little first.”

As soon as she mentioned it, he became keenly aware of the evidence of their coupling. The same breeze that had cooled them had also dried it, making it stiff and sticky.

“I cannot argue that wisdom.”

Her strength renewed, she popped to her feet and said, “There’s a place nearby where the stream is rocky. It’s a perfect place.”

Darkni rolled over and reached for his pants.

“Leave them. You’ll just get them messy.” She held out a hand to help him rise.

He swallowed hard, more than a little self-conscious about traipsing around naked through the woods – concealing magic or no. However, he couldn’t argue with her wisdom on that point either, so he took her hand.

****

Darkni looked out the window of Destiny’s quaint, one-room cottage at the waning daylight and sighed.

Lying nude next to him in her bed with her head resting on his chest, she echoed the sound and affected a pout.

It had been an unforgettable few days. As soon as he could escape his father’s clutches each day, he had made his way here. Destiny had proved to possess a remarkable collection of wizard spells, though most had to do either directly or indirectly with conceiving and raising children. Even if he never used most of them, they had a unique cadence and words he was unfamiliar with, so they could be useful for research.

It had taken the full duration of his stay in the area to copy them all due to interruptions. His education in her bed was far more varied and enticing than the magic she possessed.

“I have no desire to leave,” he said while caressing her back.

“And I don’t want you to go, but I know you have to.” She peeled back the covers, slipped out of the bed, and stretched.

Darkni admired her body, feeling his ardor stirring despite having coupled with her only an hour or so before. He winced from the soreness that the blood rushing into his manhood caused.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m not going to let you leave,” she teased.

“That’s hardly discouraging,” he commented as he too climbed out of the bed. “Unfortunately, my father will make my life difficult if I miss our evening chat.”

Destiny put on one of her thin shifts, hiding the nudity that she preferred, but which she knew would make it more difficult for him to leave. She had learned much about him during their chats in the afterglow of lovemaking, and there was something she knew that she needed to say before he left.

Darkni dressed, and as soon as he stood from putting on his shoes, she swept in for a kiss. With no further preamble, she said, “You need to tell your father about your magic.”

His arms wrapped around her, he said, “If only that were possible. My father made his position on my study of magic abundantly clear the day I showed him the first cantrip I learned as a child.”

“You’re going to regret it if you don’t stop leading this double life and follow your calling. The magic is in your blood. It’s the very heart of you,” she implored. “I hid my calling for far too long because I was afraid of my parents.”

He argued, “It’s also a frightfully costly endeavor. Without my father’s resources, I fear my advancement would be even slower, if not completely stymied.”

“You think he would disown you? Kick you out for being who you’re meant to be? You know I thought that my parents would, and I was wrong.”

He held her quietly, considering her words. Though his father had said that he would not support the study of magic under any circumstances, the rest was more his own assumption than any certainty.

She fixed him with her awe-inspiring gaze and suggested, “At least think about it?”

“That, I can promise,” he said, and then kissed her when she sought his lips.

“I’ll miss you,” she said when they broke from the kiss.

“I shall certainly miss you and seek any opportunity that might bring me this way.”

“I’d like that.”

He glanced over his shoulder, out the window, and sighed again.

“Go,” she said, releasing him from her embrace.

With the greatest reluctance, he turned toward the door.

****

“Your mother will, of course, wish to... Darkniciad!”

Darkni started when his father’s raised voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “My apologies, father.”

The older man sighed and rubbed his head. “You have been inattentive from the moment you returned this evening.”

“Again, my apologies, father. The hour is late and I have been considering something.” It was the truth. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Destiny’s admonition to tell his father his secret since the moment he left her.

“What is this conundrum that so distracts you?”

He could almost hear Destiny whispering in his ear, Tell him. The look on his father’s face let him know that he wasn’t going to escape the question by saying, It is of no matter, or something similar.

“I have been contemplating my future,” he answered.

“In what way?”

His father’s short tone raised his ire, and before he could think better of it, he said, “I’m not entirely sure I wish to take over the business.”

“You think to seek your own venture? I am not sufficiently convinced you have the necessary knowledge to merit a loan for such an endeavor.”

That stung even more. His father certainly considered him knowledgeable enough to frequently leave him saddled with the day-to-day business affairs and to take the lead on transactions.

“I have been considering a life that doesn’t involve business at all,” he responded in a tone more sharp than he’d intended.

His father threw a hand up in the air and said, “And waste all that I have given you.”

Caught up in the tide of his frustration, Darkni snapped back, “You left me little choice. I’ve known that since I was a child.”

His father dropped his head into his hand and groaned.

Darkni stood and said, “I can see this line of conversation will come to no good ends. With your permission, I will seek my bed.” Without waiting for said permission, he turned on his heel.

“You think me a fool?” When his son continued toward the door without acknowledging the question, he said, “This is about magic.”

Darkni stopped and turned around. “Perhaps it is. To paraphrase your own words, I’m not sufficiently convinced you have any logical reason to forbid me to study magic or any knowledge in the area whatsoever.”

“You think not? Kiraak Illum.”

Darkniciad stood completely and utterly dumbfounded as his father spoke the words of magic that summoned up a ball of light to hover above his raised palm.

“If you think I don’t know how brightly the magic burns in your blood, you are sadly mistaken.” His father sighed, shuddered, and then closed his hand to dismiss the magic. “Please come and sit down.”

Reeling from the startling revelation, Darkni returned to his chair.

His father drew in a deep breath and said, “I haven’t cast that spell since before you were born. I’ve forgotten how it felt.”

Darkni shook his head and said, “I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve come to the conclusion that such was an error in judgement on my part. That is an error I shall rectify now. You know little of your grandfather. My father.”

“That is true. You rarely speak of him and I can’t bear the pain in grandmother’s eyes when the conversation turns to him.”

His father nodded and said, “He taught me that spell, and a handful of others before he died. I was nine when mother told me he was gone.”

“He practiced the Art?”

His father’s eyes grew distant as he slipped into memory and answered, “Your grandfather was a powerful wielder of the Art. Wonders arose at his beck and call. Those who walk in the darkness feared him more than the rising of the sun. They spoke his name, Amril the White, as a curse when he was years younger than you are now. And yet, it was his doom.”

Utterly engrossed in the telling, Darkni sat patiently as his father stared off into space for a second.

The older man turned his gaze back to his son and continued. “Others who knew him told me these things years later. Word reached your grandfather of a great evil – a vampire. The undead monster was terrorizing a village, stealing away people in the night, drinking their blood, and transforming them into vile mockeries of whom they once were – his vampiric brides and minions.

Your grandfather set out immediately. I remember the day he left. He promised to bring me back some trinket from his travels, as he always did. Little did he know that I overheard mother pleading with him not to go the night before, when they thought I was sleeping. She wanted him to give up the crusade and let others carry the torch so he could stay and be a father to me, but he would not be swayed.

I’m told that he found the monster’s lair on the very day he arrived. Though the sun was sinking on the horizon, he was confident in his power, and his cause. He entered the cave, his staff ablaze with holy light, and cut a swath through the shambling zombies and skeletons that awaited him there.

The creature’s vampiric minions fell next. One after the other, he destroyed them, freeing their souls to find their place in the afterlife. Then, at last, he faced the monster himself. It was then that he met his match.

The vampire must have been a student of the Art in life. In his unending death, he had grown even stronger. Time, which stalks us all, could not touch him, allowing him to learn all the magic that fell within his grasp. Your grandfather realized he could not defeat the monster, but refused to allow its evil to plague the world any longer. He took his staff, which was filled with great enchantments and blessed with holy power, brought it over his knee and broke it, releasing all that power in a cataclysm of retribution. He sacrificed his own life to ensure the vampire’s end.”

Darkniciad gasped, his heart racing from the tale and swelling with pride at the same time.

His father stared hard into his eyes and revealed, “He failed. His sacrifice was for nothing. Somehow, the vampire escaped. It was brought low by a paladin some six years later, but not before it had decimated the village and moved onto two more.”

Darkni’s shoulders slumped as he understood. “I had no idea. I didn’t understand the pain that...” He trailed off and hung his head.

“Unfortunately, the sad tale of our line doesn’t end there.”

“Father, you don’t have to. There’s no need to relive this.”

His father pointed at him and said, “Yes, there is. You must know the truth. The whole truth.” He settled his hand on the table again. “Your grandfather took up his cause, the one that ended his life, as penance for the sins of our blood. You know of the Great Crater, and I’m sure you’ve heard of the tale of how it came to be.”

“Of course.”

“Your many times great grandfather was Dark Obsidian, the wizard whose wrath and disregard for life brought about that devastation and death. Death that continues to this very day as creatures from the lightless underworld find their way to the surface to spread it. Those are the sins of our blood that I sought to spare you from. Magic has brought us nothing but pain, death, and despair.”

Darkniciad sat back in his chair, trying to process the enormity of it all.

After a couple of minutes, where he appeared to be in his own state of contemplation, the older man said, “Now you know. Whether you agree with me or not, I believe I had more than sufficient reason to deter you from this path.”

“No, father, I cannot fault you for your decision.”

“Now, I will ask a question of you. Answer me truthfully. Have you pursued the study of magic despite my objections?”

Fear gripped him as Darkni considered whether to do as he had been told or to continue to keep his passion hidden. In the space of a single breath, he flipped back and forth multiple times between the two choices, backing them up with equally powerful rationale. Then he suddenly realized this was the moment he had to face his future – his destiny.

“Yes, father, I have.”

His father nodded. “I feared as much. I tried to convince myself your absences and curious behaviors were the result of seeking the company of women – a perfectly natural occurrence at your age, if an often foolish one.”

Darkni prayed the warmth he felt in his ears wasn’t visible, considering he had been doing exactly that for the last few days.

“However, I believe I knew the truth,” his father continued. “If you have continued your studies, I fear there is little that will deter you. The reason I have not used magic since before you were born is because every taste makes me hunger for more. Even now a part of me wants to demand your spellbooks that I may devour what is within.”

The older man took a moment to master his passion. He squared his shoulders, cleared his throat, and continued in a more familiar tone. “To those ends, I will make a bargain with you. I will reduce my dependence upon you in the business so you may have time to pursue this path. You will continue to receive your share of the profits, as usual. In exchange, I never want to hear or speak of magic again.”

“Of course,” Darkni quickly agreed. “Had I known the pain it causes you, I would have never broached the subject.”

His father waved a finger at him. “That is not all. It is your burden to find those who will take up the duties that were meant to be yours. It is your responsibility to see that the business does not suffer in your absence. There will come a time when I am too old to shoulder those burdens myself. If you have not prepared others, those burdens will be yours.”

“I understand, and agree,” he said. Though he knew it meant he would not be able to immediately seek a full-time tutor or mentor in the Art, it was a reasonable demand. As luck would have it, a few names sprang immediately to mind. There were men within the company whom he believed were underutilized in his favor. They respected their place and rarely complained, but given the opportunity to advance, he believed they could very well excel.

“Know this... Despite my misgivings, I wish you well. If this is your true path to satisfaction and success, then I hope what I have tried to teach you aids you along the way. My only desire has always been for you to have more than was provided to me.”

Darkni smiled at the unexpected show of affection. “Though I surely rankled under your instruction at times, I know that it will serve me in whatever path I choose. Thank you.”

The rare, faint hints of a smile touched his father’s face as the man lifted a hand, and extended it across the table. Darkni took it and shook as he would with a customer.

“The deal is done,” his father said as their hands unclasped. “Now, we have an early morning departure, so we should seek our beds.”

Darkni stood and said, “Of course. Goodnight, father.”

“Goodnight.”

Darkni stepped out the door and turned toward his own, his mind awhirl. He had to speak to Gerard and Willan to determine their willingness to take on the necessary duties. Provided they were amicable, there was the matter of providing proper training, experience, and compensation. The last of which would need to come from his own share of the profits.

As he laid a hand on the door to his room, it struck him that he was more engrossed in matters of the business now than at any time in his life. No doubt, his canny father had anticipated that. Perhaps he had even hoped it might awaken a different passion in his son.

At the very least, it probably amused him.

Darkni chuckled and shook his head as he unlocked the door. Well done, father, he thought. There was always an option – another path to achieve your goals.

It was one of the lessons that he knew would indeed serve him well as he took the first step into his new life.