TEMPLE OF THE SERPENT 6

In the days since his arrival Silvern’s guest quarters had become a den of debauchery, a place where innocence was torn away and unholy appetites were given free reign. Through the arched entrance into the guest quarters was a scene of horror. On a crude wooden alter a blond kitchen maid strained desperately against two of the Serpent’s female slaves who were holding her down while a third servant knelt between her thighs. From that servant’s inflamed vaginal lips a thick black snake had slid forth and was now plunging deep between her victim’s trembling thighs. The whimpering girl threw her head back and forth in useless denial, eyes going hazy with unwanted pleasure as one of her captors bent close to her ear and began whispering the first words of the dark incantation that would bind her forever to their master’s servitude. Dozens of thralls filled the chambers, worshipping their dark god as they acted upon the unholy desires burned into their corrupted souls. Each act of carnality further desecrated the room and added to the Serpent’s power within its walls.

Amusement danced in her eyes as Julie recognized Mary hanging from the walls of Silvern’s bedchamber, the unconscious servant girl secured by gauntlets and chains at her wrists and ankles, her body crisscrossed by raised red welts. In the glimmering torchlight it was clear that her inner thighs were stained by her own sweet juices, for their god’s slaves even the severest chastisement held some pleasures.

Even within the entrance chamber the serpent’s servants strained and writhed together in desperation, striving to satiate the endless lust that their enslavement to the dark god had awakened within their corrupt souls. They turned to watch with mild amusement as Julie’s chaperone shrieked in shock and revulsion, after only a moment their gazes became predatory as the enticing thought of spreading the serpent’s corruption which lingered within their bodies and souls brought soft snarls of hunger from their fanged mouths.

Julie rewarded their anticipation with a sharp push that sent the horrified woman tumbling into the writhing pile of naked flesh. “Take her! I never want to hear the wench’s lips spouting another self-righteous platitude for my ears to suffer.” A cruel smile curled the petite blond’s ruby lips, “I’m sure that far better uses can be found for her tongue.”

Silvern turned his head as Julie walked into his bedchamber, rising from where he sat at his desk to regard her with eyes darkened by rage. “Where have you been, slave?” Silvern demanded harshly. The priest examined the new slave carefully, his cock swelling as he looked forward to sampling the delights of her fresh young body.

“So very good to meet you, Lord Silvern.” Julie curtsied and lowered her gaze demurely, playing the role of a polite young woman of the nobility meeting a foreign lord, “I hope that you have enjoyed the hospitality Altara has offered you.”

Silvern’s eyes narrowed at the mocking tone behind her outwardly polite manner. “I know that the servant girls instructed you to come to me immediately.”

“I am terribly sorry, there were some pressing matters that I needed to attend to.” The petite blond smiled at the priest, “I never intended to give the impression that I treated your instructions with anything less than the gravity they deserve.”

“Mary told me that you ordered them to leave your step-mother untouched. She has been properly punished for her disobedience but I have looked forward to discussing why a new slave such as yourself would be so… bold as to defy my orders…” His tone grew dangerous as his words trailed off.

Showing no signs of intimidation Julie paused for a moment before answering, “The instant that I awoke I could taste it in the very air, such a sweet scent. I never knew, living so close to her. But why would I suspect?” The corrupted girl closed her eyes and smiled, a small shiver of delight racing up her spine. “I knew that taking her was not to be the impulsive act of a moment. No, that would not do. Cynthia will become our Master’s slave but not until the proper ritual can be arranged.”

“A ritual binding for the Chamberlain’s trollop? What drivel do you speak, girl?” Silvern sneered, left unswayed by her cryptic words.

“My step-mother’s mind may be wicked but she shares the blood of the Goddess. We cannot waste that. We will not waste that.” Julie stated firmly.

“You dare to tell me what “we” will do?” Silvern’s voice was incredulous and anger quickly darkened his features, “You forget your place wench! You are a mere thrall, I am a Priest of the Serpent. Your role is to obey my orders as if they were spoken by the Serpent itself! There shall be no waiting no matter the nonsense you spout girl. I shall see everything Rosen has ripped away from him! Nothing else shall satisfy me!”

Rather than submitting as the priest expected the young woman lifted her head defiantly, “Obey you? No priest, you will obey me!” Julie laughed, “Do you not recognize an Avatar of your God before you? I exist only to serve the Serpent’s corruption. His pure blood flows through my veins, it is his will alone that drives me.”

Silvern allowed his supernatural senses to reach out, he flinched as he felt the pure wellspring of black magic and corruption that seethed within the young woman’s body. “I never expected such when I sought my revenge.” A sly smile settled itself across his face, “When he realizes what I have made his daughter into… Perhaps I will take your step-mother in front of him, that will break that sniveling fool.”

“You will leave the Chamberlain and his wife alone, nothing must jeopardize this opportunity to corrupt one of the Goddess’s blood. Do you understand this, Priest?” Julie hissed.

“Rosen must pay! No man sets assassins upon me! I shall see him either enslaved or dead!” Silvern allowed the fury within him to explode as Julie’s impudent questions finally pushed him over the edge.

With a power far beyond any that should be contained within her slight frame Julie seized Silvern by his throat, slamming the Priest against the cold stone wall and holding him pinned there, helpless against the supernatural strength of her iron grip, “Forget your pitiful need for revenge. Do you serve the Serpent? For if you put your goals before the master’s then you are of no use! You know the fate and torment that meets traitors.” Julie said angrily.

Silvern nodded frantically, desperation etched on his normally composed features, “Of course, I am loyal! Loyal!”

“Your actions are selfish! Nothing matters more than the Serpent.” Julie’s eyes glimmered with an unholy green light and her voice resonated with a power far larger than her own, “My words are those of our lord and master, heed them well or you will meet the fate of traitors and heretics.” Releasing the priest she stepped back and watched him slide to the ground.

“I am your servant, Avatar of our God, your word is my order, I will obey you in all things. Please forgive me, I was perhaps overly enthusiastic and overstepped my bounds.” Silvern prostrated himself, the burn of shame mingled with fear in his belly as he humiliated himself before the slender girl.

Julie’s fangs gleamed in the chamber’s candlelight as she watched the priest demean himself, a speculative look in her eyes. “Do not test my patience again Silvern.” Julie called on her magic and in a flare of sickly green light a slim book appeared. “Make sure that one of the servant girls leaves this where Princess Isadora will find it”

“Is that?” Silvern asked as he reached out to accept the text, his hands holding with reverent gentleness.

“Yes, the Serpent’s gospel, it should be interesting what our young princess makes of our master’s lessons, should it not?” Julie smiled cruelly.

Silvern’s eyes glittered unkindly as he considered the affect of his god’s teachings on such a young and impressionable mind.

Julie’s dress slid to the floor and she stepped forward out of the pooled fabric, her nubile young flesh revealed, the cool air quickly hardening her nipples into crinkled points. With a sharp intake of breath she ran her hands over her flanks. It was clear that her attention was focused on Silvern’s bed.

A dozen servants covered the bed, basking in degenerate pleasure atop the twisted folds of its luxurious covers. Snakes swarmed over the writhing figures, plunging themselves into eager orifices, joining the slaves together in unholy supplication to their god and master.

Lady Veronica lay back against a pile of pillows, her raven hair luxuriously fanned out and her belly swollen heavily by her unholy pregnancy. One hand gently kneaded a swollen breast while the other worked slowly between her legs, rubbing and teasing her moist folds as she lay surrounded by straining bodies. Her lust hooded eyes met Julie’s and the noblewoman let out a soft but deliberate moan as her fingers began to work faster, a wanton invitation for young Lady Rosen to join their debauchery.

The sight of the heavily pregnant servant brought a predatory look to Julie’s eyes while the corners of her lips curved upwards smirk. She swayed across the room, her hips swaying with a sinuous grace which drew Silvern’s eye and made his cock swell while a low growl of lust emerged from deep in his throat.

As she reached the bed and crawled onto it the Avatar shed her glamour and her scaled skin gleamed white in the dancing candlelight that illuminated the chamber. Awed gasps echoed through the room as the tattoo marking her as the Serpent’s vessel was revealed. Lady Veronica wore a look of raw hunger as she welcomed the petite woman into her embrace. Julie pulled her into a deep kiss, their long forked tongues dancing and probing as they clutched each other passionately.

Watching Julie arch her back as she pressed herself against her Sapphic lover Silvern questioned how had he had ever thought her a mere slave. The Avatar exuded waves of sensuality and corruption, a swelling of dark power that drove the servants filling the room to a frenzy of depravity and lust, their inhuman bodies straining together as her very presence aroused their tainted hungers. Even the priest was not immune to her allure. His tongue flicked out tasting the tangy musk of Julie’s aroused scent in the air, the knowledge that he could not approach without the Avatar’s permission making him bare his fangs and hiss in frustration.

Breaking from the passionate kiss Julie playfully nipped at Veronica’s swollen bottom lip before burying her face against the graceful curve of the older woman’s neck. Seductively she licked downwards until she reached her lover’s heaving breasts. The Avatar tormented the panting woman’s nipples with both tongue and fangs until the sensitive nubs were hard and angry. With obvious reluctance Julie abandoned the succulent globes and continued her journey towards the delights that awaited her.

When she reached the pregnant swell below Veronica’s heavy breasts Julie traced her forked tongue across the round dome. The Avatar shuddered as she rubbed her cheek against the woman’s belly, savoring the sensation of writhing spawn squirming within as her god’s unholy progeny ripened inside Lady Veronica’s fertile womb. She continued down over the hairless swell of Veronica’s pubis to her slick nether lips. With a soft moan she drew her tongue over the older woman’s swollen labia, her lashes drooping in satisfaction as her delicate fingers spread open the wet petals of flesh and lapped at Veronica’s sweet juices. The older woman moaned in ecstasy as Julie’s tongue flicked out again and again, skillfully manipulating her needy pussy with long deliberate strokes from top to bottom. Julie smiled, her eyes glittering wickedly for a moment before she slid her entire forked tongue deep into Lady Veronica’s vulnerable depths. Veronica bucked helplessly as its unnatural length stabbed inside her, writhing and licking every inch of her burning cunt.

When Julie swung herself across Veronica, straddling the voluptuous woman’s face and tantalizingly presenting her own sweet quim, the pregnant servant’s eyes flared with infernal lust and she viciously gripped the Avatar’s hips before hissing and driving her tongue deep into Julie’s tight slit. The Avatar rolled her hips against Veronica’s mouth as the corrupt women attacked each others sexes with bestial ferocity that had them both climaxing in moments.

Silvern snarled with frustration, rage burning in his blood at being forced to hold back. Any of the other slaves in the room were his for the taking but his lust was reserved for the one woman there he could not have. How he hated being subservient, forced to merely watch when his inner nature called on him to take and dominate, to use and abuse only according to his own whims.

Julie rolled off and knelt between her lover’s parted legs, licking her lips lasciviously as she savored the taste of the other woman’s sweet juices. She was far from done with the Queen’s Lady in Waiting. Julie held out one hand, holding it over Veronica’s pelvis and summoned the magic bound within her.

Her will called and Lady Veronica’s tainted body responded to her command. She trembled as her innards shifted in response to unseen forces and a cry was wrenched from her lips. The pregnant noblewoman’s wet labia swelled for a moment before they parted and a black scaled snout slid free of her vagina with a slick wet noise. Its thick body left Veronica’s pussy lips obscenely distended as it swam out, only stopping when two full hand-span’s of snake flesh extended from her body.

Standing up the Avatar placed a foot on either side of Lady Veronica’s hips and began to squat. Julie looked back over her shoulder, reptilian eyes seeking out Silvern’s gaze as she lowered her hips downwards. One delicate hand slipped downwards and sought out the obscene phallus, pumping it experimentally, her confident grasp making the slave beneath her moan with sensual pleasure. Julie spread her own lips and slowly dragged the snake across the sensitive pink flesh within, enjoying the delicious tingles as she positioned it against her entrance, her vagina dripping with silky expectation.

For a moment she froze, poised with only the tip of the snake nudging against her sopping opening, waiting until she had the priest’s full attention and the entire room seemed to pause with anticipation. With a sultry hiss of delight she sank down, her eyes never leaving Silvern’s as she forced inch after inch of the snake into her lithe body. Slowly her taut belly swelled as the massive serpent displaced her organs. A grunt of effort escaped her lips as pleasure and pain sang in delicious chorus through her nerves. Finally she closed her eyes, allowing a look of pure satisfaction to grace her beautiful features as she rested, her hairless lips pressed firmly against her lover’s, leaving the massive snake that connected them unseen as she savored the feeling of utter fullness.

Beneath her Veronica shuddered, stimulated beyond belief by the clenching sheath that held her shaft, her hands jumping as she struggled with the alien urge to thrust herself into Julie’s delicious feminine heat until she exploded. The pregnant noblewoman trembled ecstatically as her petite mistress impaled herself, the new appendage bombarding her with unfamiliar sensations. The delicious sensations became pure torture as the thrall found herself trapped between the instincts urged upon her by the serpentine shaft and the ingrained submissiveness she felt towards the Serpent’s Avatar.

Seeing the pleading look on Lady Veronica’s face as her self control was pushed to its ragged limits Julie smiled indulgently. “You may.”

Given permission Lady Veronica’s hands shot out like lightning, her fingertips digging viciously into the Avatar’s slender waist as she grasped the young temptress astride her hips. Julie only chuckled as the noblewoman’s nails drew rivulets of black blood from her porcelain skin. Looking down into Veronica’s reptilian eyes Julie saw trace of conscious thought, only burning feral lust as the voluptuous older woman proceeded to lift her lover’s body upwards with supernatural strength until only the very tip of the snake’s snout rested within her needy cunt. Baring her fangs the noblewoman hissed and pulled downwards, brutally plunging her shaft deep into Julie’s exquisite body, tearing a shriek of joy from the smaller woman’s throat.

For a time the young noblewoman was lost in the rut. Knowing only the ecstasy of the thick organ sliding in and out of her tight canal, each thrust sending exquisite jolts of mingled pleasure and pain racing along her nerves as one orgasm after another wracked her tireless body. Lady Veronica came again and again, overflowing her lover’s clenching womb until thick green venom dripped from their merged bodies, the vile fluid oozing down over their quivering thighs and soaking the bedding beneath their frantically coupling bodies.

Julie opened herself, allowing the black corruption which dwelt within her to extend invisible tendrils outwards, smiling as she felt one servant after another surrender to her ethereal demand, unable to deny the connection she demanded. Soon the magic linked the servants in a shared web of consciousness, their essences mingling in a communion that amplified the sinful sensations that raced through their bodies. Every sultry lick, every greedy caress, every desperate thrust, each brush of slick scaled flesh and each delicious penetration was felt by all, allowing the corrupted slaves to revel in their shared darkness. Only one was excluded, his senses filled by the siren call of the link but held outside it.

Silvern was held spellbound by what he could feel, desire that demanded to be satiated making his shaft burn painfully as a low tortured moan escaped his gritted fangs. Julie slowed her sinuous movements on the shaft that impaled her as she turned to regard the suffering priest.

Her lips and chin glistened with Lady Veronica’s juices. “Do you submit?” she hissed.

“I already told you, I obey you, Avatar.” Silvern bit out.

“Even now I can taste your arrogance and personal pride.” The rough whisper from Mary’s tortured throat was still unmistakably Julie’s voice. She shuddered as the waves of lust echoing through the room wracked her shackled body with the heavy internal tug of climax. “You serve the Serpent, but greedily cling to something of yourself.”

“I spread our god’s influence, I have brought His presence to this virgin land!” Silvern pleaded.

“You know that is not enough Silvern.” The Avatar spoke to him through the blond maid on the altar as he watched the girl’s blue eyes turn golden, her pupils stretching into vertical slits, marking her forever as a slave of chaos.

“What more could be asked? What more could I give?” The priest whispered desperately.

“Shed your desire for power and position!” Now a pageboy spoke, pausing as he rolled the pliant woman he had been shafting over onto her stomach before burying his thick shaft in her bowels. “Share our power, become one with us priest!”

Mingled anger and desire churned in his belly. Silvern admitted with acid self hatred that he wanted to join them. It was torture to be excluded from the glorious communion, the shared sensations tingling at the very edge of his perceptions, holding promise of unimaginable ecstasy tantalizingly beyond his reach.

“So? What will you give us?” Julie bent forward, pressing her mouth to Veronica’s in a passionate kiss while she reached back and spread her pert buttocks apart, wantonly exposing the puckered opening of her anus.

Silvern’s eyes were riveted on the inviting orifice, before he knew it he was across the room and on the bed behind her while every reptilian eyes in the room watched him with predatory anticipation. “Everything. You can have anything you want!” He moaned, maddened with need and lust. His trembling hands touched the glittering perfection of her finely scaled skin and the magic reached out and ensnared the desperate priest.

As the link drew him in a whimper of terror escaped the Priest’s throat. What filled Julie was far from human, a tainted well of churning otherness that irresistibly drew him in. Silvern had never truly comprehended the true nature of the Serpent’s existence, its impossible vastness. In his mind he had cast himself as subordinate, like a duke who owed tribute and loyalty to a king while entertaining ambitions while hoping that one day he would rule. Foolishly he had somehow thought to use the Serpent, drawing on his god’s power to fulfill his personal ambitions for power, never realizing his own insignificance compared to the vastness of the ancient existence which was the dark god.

Silvern thrust his hips forwards, sinking his serpentine member deep into young Lady Rosen’s clenching depths as he helplessly surrendered to the Avatar’s psychic embrace, losing his identity as irresistible power flayed open his consciousness and shattered his will.

“Yesssssssss.” Every mouth in the chambers spoke with Julie’s voice, her tone triumphant and her dominance complete. From behind Silvern’s eyes the Avatar thrust with bestial hunger into her own tight body. Never ceasing their endless copulation the Serpent’s servants began to plan, their shared knowledge of the kingdom at the disposal of an ancient intellect as far beyond human capacity as man was above ant.

From a shadowed alcove Julie Rosen and Silvern discreetly watched the room, taking an opportunity for a private conversation before each had to make their official appearances at the event.

“Even before you joined our communion I noticed something about you,” Julie regarded him levelly, “You have been around nobility but you are not yourself of noble blood.”

Silvern stiffened and his mouth drew into a tight line at her words. Shocked to regain his freedom after withdrawing from the link, he still remembered the joy of being utterly subsumed by his God’s Avatar and a soul deep craving to feel the ecstasy they had shared warred with his own desire for power and dominance. It still disturbed him how, especially when he dwelt on the thought that the link might have changed him on some deep level that he didn’t realize. His already irritable mood threatened to become truly stormy.

“Do not take offense Silvern,” Julie rebuked, “I am not denigrating you. I am educating you. You are far more valuable retaining your volition and if you listen and learn you might become an even more valuable servant in the future. For instance, take her.”

Silvern’s eyes briefly examined the brunette woman that Julie was indicating, “That is the woman you brought to my chambers as a chaperone.”

“Lady Samantha Burke, she is wedded to Sir William Burke, one of the King’s knights.” Julie smirked as she regarded the handsome knight seated beside her corrupted former chaperone. “I am sure that tonight she will initiate him into our master’s service.”

“So we gain a member of the King’s guard.” Silvern stated flatly, his expression clearly unimpressed.

“It is more than that. Lady Burke has always been faithful but sadly he has not been so true to her.” Julie grinned mischievously, “It seems that he is an adulterer, more than one Lady warms his bed, especially the neglected young wives of some of our older Lords. There is even a quiet rumor that he is seeing one of the acolytes of Her church. You must learn the twisted relations of nobility, see the consequences before acting, each move is like chess.”

Realization dawned in Silvern’s eyes, “It seemed like you were taking a pawn-”

“When really I was taking a rook.” Julie finished for him. “Even our pawn’s usefulness is greater than one might expect.” Julie smiled as her eyes shifted to a young man who was surreptitiously eying her for-mentioned pawn, “Last winter young Knight Probationer Drake took ill with a fever. Lady Burke is, was, a loyal adherent to the Goddess’s strictures and cared for the sick. During his recuperation he became quite infatuated with the Lady. I am sure that when she declares her true feelings he will be more than willing to accept her affections. In two days time he has been assigned to a patrol of the southern reaches of the kingdom.”

“To show the King’s authority they will stop in each town,” Silvern looked to Lady Rosen with a dawning realization of just how deep her machinations went. “Leaving behind a nest of the Serpent’s faithful each night to quietly spread the gospel.”

“Ah, so you begin to understand. Now, I have a task which requires your attentions, Silvern.” Julie gestured towards a table close to the King’s own.

His eyes flitted to the table she indicated and widened in shock as he took in the beautiful but forbidding features of the woman seated at the head of the table, “What? Even from here I can feel the power of the Priestess’s faith! To confront her alone, do you wish my death?” Silvern hissed at her.

“No, there, beside the Priestess, in the green dress.” The Avatar gestured impatiently.

“The mouse?” Bewilderment crossed his features as Silvern regarded the nondescript woman sitting there.

“She appears insignificant but the girl’s family history is very interesting. Listen well for you will soon be paying our shy little scholar a personal visit.” The two pulled back deeper into the shadows as Silvern intently listened to her every word.

“Ahem.” A voice politely cleared itself behind her.

Unexpectedly her accustomed solitude was broken and she jumped with a sudden start. The sudden shift upset her balance and Evelyn found herself on the ground atop a pile of books and scrolls, dust billowing through the air around her. “Oh my!” She sat up, blinking in shock, barely aware as she accepted a hand which gently pulled her to her feet. She stood swaying for a moment, rubbing her bruised posterior as she regarded the terribly scattered materials with a stricken expression.

“Are you quite all right?” a deep masculine voice asked.

Flustered, Evelyn tugged at her dress, trying to regain her dignity, eyes flicking momentarily to the well dressed nobleman who had violated her sanctuary. “Perfectly fine.” Evelyn’s eyes strayed back to the disastrous mess of books and scrolls resulting from her tumble. “Oh dear.”

“Are you Archivist Prior? The King referred me to you regarding access to the archives.”

“Oh yes, Baron Silver, I was told to expect you.” She said absently.

“Actually it is Duke Silvern.” He ground out.

“Oh, of course Baron, my apologies.”

The envoy appeared to benevolently ignore the spectacled woman’s mangling of his name and tile but behind his polite smile Silvern felt nothing but contempt for the librarian and her absent minded air, so lost in the quest for knowledge that she could barely function in polite society. Like all women she deserved nothing better than to be cowering at his feet, begging desperately for the favor of his touch. How he longed to show Evelyn exactly how she deserved to be treated, to take her for his pleasure right here amongst the volumes that were her life, to savor the sweet fear that would dance in her eyes as Silvern showed her just how little what she desired mattered, the serpent had other uses for her however.

“I was told to give you full access to whatever you wanted. What materials were you interested in Baron?”

“I am something of a scholar of the history of the great western deserts. The records of Galancia’s Imperial Archive indicate that just before the isolation began that a book was sent here containing the oral legends of the Sixteenth Great Sultanate.”

“Hmm. That would be in the new arrivals section then,” She bustled off without another word, leaving Silvern to follow, the pair walking deeper into the warren like library.

“Ah! Here we are.” The young librarian lifted the volume and placed it upon a reading lectern, holding her taper above to provide illumination for the foreign ambassador.

With reverence the priest brushed his fingers across the sigil etched into the tome’s leather cover. Opening the tome he carefully turned the yellowed pages until he came upon a page with a twisted black star, with interest his eyes sought out the facing page and the script written upon it. Silvern squinted at the text for a moment before he reached into his vest and checked his pocket. Apparently not finding what he was looking for Silvern allowed his brow to become furrowed. “I neglected to bring my reading glasses, might I trouble you to read a few short passages for me?”

“My apologies Baron, I do not know Hediran.” She demured.

“That does not matter, it is in the Delphian alphabet and the phonetic pronunciation is identical for both tongues, if you read it aloud I will understand.” He pressed.

The pretty librarian peered at the pages, a doubtful frown on her lips as she regarded the faded writing upon the aged parchment, barely visible in the pitiful flickering light of her taper, she opened her mouth to suggest taking it to one of the reading rooms high above where grand crystal windows admitted the sun’s rays when a sudden sound of self annoyance interrupted her.

“What ever was I thinking? Here Lady Archivist, hold this.” Silvern gently relieved the archivist of her candle and placed a small flat stone in her palm. White light sprang from it, bright but not glaring, providing near perfect illumination of the yellowed pages of the ancient tome.

“What is this?” Evelyn’s eyes filled with wonder at its pure light.

“An invention of the sultanates of the Great Desert, it is a lightstone.”

“Its light is so strong, yet it does not burn.” She stroked her fingers across its cool surface.

“The scholars of Galancia now use nothing else, it has saved many libraries from the fate of the Archota Liberium”

“So many tomes were lost, all from a single fallen taper.” Evelyn couldn’t help the note of sadness which filled her voice as she recalled the memory of the tale her father had told her many times.

“Take this lightstone, my gift for your assistance it is yours to keep in the hope that it may preserve your own impressive collection.” Silvern smiled, “Now Lady Archivist I am very interested in Silvern placed his finger at the top of the yellowed page, at the beginning of a column of ornate writing, “If you would be so kind as to read this passage here.”

With a strong clear voice she began to speak, carefully enunciating the unfamiliar words. “Audite verum illae oraculum. “

<Hear the truth of this prophecy.>

Evelyn turned her head to the side and frowned, for a moment she could have sworn that a wind had swept through the far corners of the room but all now seemed still. With a shake of her head she dismissed the notion, this windowless chamber was far from the castle’s outside walls, it was impossible for even the strongest gale to reach the library. Her attention quickly returned to the pages of the book as she continued to read.

“Beatus terra sedo quod unus. Precoa Pugnaculum , suus porta patefacio. Ego satraps , avarus fossor , fugo losta macto. Serpenti est complexo ut a frater.”

<Blessed land calm and alone. A Jeweled Fortress, its gates open. Selfish ruler, greedy fool, chasing lost glories. A snake is embraced as a brother.>

As she read the librarian couldn’t help but notice Silvern’s intent stare upon her. His expression was one of elation with an undertone of what appeared to be cruel lust. Despite this she couldn’t summon the effort to so much as glare at him, her full attention was riveting upon the page before her. It felt as if the words were somehow reading her, as if they were the ones in control, setting the pace with which her mouth spoke them. In her hand the stone grew hot sending tingles of power racing up her arm and through her body.

Damnatio mos adveho. Orbis terrarum mos palpito. Incredibilis mos cado. Obscurum mos complexo totus existen. Is universitas belon ut Serpenti Deus.

<Damnation will come. The world will tremble. Unbelievers will fall. Darkness will embrace all existence. This world belongs to the Snake God.>

Magical fire sprang to life from the page and began licking across Evelyn’s fingers before slowly creeping up her trembling arm. Somewhere deep inside she desperately wanted to stop reading, it was as if she were sliding down a hill, out of control, a mere passenger in her own body.

“Rota of infinitio quod viscus. Sulum cycle mus amoveo.”

<Wheels of eternity and entropy. Every cycle must shift.>

The flames crawled across the librarian’s body, consuming her dress but leaving her skin unmarked. The last remnants of her clothes became ashes, whipped up and away by a wind that leapt up, leaving her fully exposed.

“Bonus fio malum. Lux lucis fio atrum. Ordo fio chaos. Fides fio traditio.”

<Good becomes evil. Light becomes dark. Order becomes chaos. Trust becomes betrayal.>

Power poured from the ancient tome, springing forth in the form of a serpentine ribbon of glowing runes twisting ethereally through the air. Evelyn shuddered as the eldritch power laid itself across her, etching the twisted characters onto her naked body, marking her indelibly. The book fell to the floor, its now blank pages turning wildly in the wind, forgotten by the librarian as she continued the chant that had now imprinted itself on her mind and body.

“Is vas oro ut vox ut vigilo. Dedi ipsum usque ancienc consensio.”

<This vessel pleads to the powers that watch. Offers itself up to the ancient agreement.>

The librarian was at the heart of a maelstrom, her body shuddering and convulsing as pure power overwhelmed her merely human form, lifting up her slender body into the air and holding her suspended there, a helpless plaything of the chaotic forces she had unwittingly released.

“Is vas recipero redimio. Subsisto is ut vos mos.”

<This vessel accepts the binding. Remake it as you will.>

Blue fire crawled across her rune etched skin, leeching away any trace of color until it was a perfect alabaster plain. Evelyn could feel the power that inundated her being sweeping away her identity, hollowing her out and pouring itself into the empty husk left behind. She shuddered at the sensation of emptiness, it was with something very much like gratitude that the librarian accepted the power into herself, willing to do anything to fill the aching void where her soul had once been.

“Is vas mos presto fatum. Is vas recipero ancienc vox. Tak is vas!”

<This vessel will fulfill destiny. This vessel accepts the ancient power. Take this vessel!>

Waves of fire washed along the lengths of Evelyn’s hair, bleaching away all color until it was as white as her altered skin. Finally the magical fury began to abate and slowly her body sank towards the ground until she stood amidst a scattered mess of books and scrolls as a few lingering remnants of energy crackled from her fingertips.

For a moment she stood there motionless, her nude form like a pale marble statue, and utter silence returned to the library. Then Evelyn’s eyes sprang open, revealing orbs of rainbow fire, flickering and burning chaotically as she looked around her with a wondering gaze. Her attention turned to the scattered volumes and books that surrounded her, the things that had once been her world and now meant nothing. Only her new purpose mattered. Slowly her gaze turned to Silvern who watched the altered Archivist expectantly. The stone Silvern had given the archivist still rested in her palm, now dark and spent. She held it out to the priest and spoke. “What was this?” Her voice multi-tonal and inhuman

“A magestone, imbued at the font with the power to bring latent talent to the surface. Your family was perhaps the most powerful clan of mages in Altara, but this land lacks a font, without that,” Silvern shrugged, “Your family’s talent slept, until now when you offered yourself and became so much more than even the greatest of your ancestors.”

“This one did not know the agreement she was making.” Evelyn’s voice was detached.

“Understanding does not matter, only that the ritual words were spoken by one with the proper potential.” Silvern smiled, “You chose to say the words, you have become the embodiment of the prophecy. The power within you is far beyond human. With proper care we can make the prophecy come true.”

“With proper care? The prophecy is true!” she spat, pure power crackling threateningly from her eyes as an expression of pure rage twisted Evelyn’s ethereally beautiful features as a new wind swept through the library’s chambers, “It must be, it shall be!”

“Of course the prophecy shall pass!” Silvern cringed back from the suddenly volatile mage, cowed by the power held contained within her. “I believe! It is true!”

Placated Evelyn banished the growing magic, her attention was drawn back to the changes in her, both those of the flesh and the far deeper transformation of mind and soul. She shivered from head to toe as power and ancient knowledge flowed through her, shock filled her mind as her body reacted to the magic. Blood and power rushed into her loins, burning with an intensity that had the transformed woman panting as silky fluids wept from her suddenly needy sex.

“I want.” She breathed huskily, “I, ohh, I need.” Her fingertips brushed along her marble skin, a sharp gasp escaping her lips as her own touch sent waves of desire through her suddenly sensitized flesh. “Why are my appetites aroused so?”

“Magic is the most primal of the elements.” Silvern murmured, “It is inextricably bound to creation.”

For a moment the transformed woman’s brow furrowed as she considered his words. “You shall provide what my body craves.”

A wide smile spread across the priest’s features and his forked tongue darted out, tasting the musky scent of her feminine arousal in the air. “Very well.” The nobleman began tugging at his clothing, eager to shed his attire quickly but was halted by the librarian’s upraised hand.

“No.” Evelyn’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “You are tainted.”

“I don’t understand.” The thwarted priest frowned.

“I desire… A blank slate.” Her voice grew slightly husky with need. “Bring me…” Her face scrunched up in thought before clearing into a beatific smile while the fire dancing in her eyes flared with avaricious hunger, “Purity.”

THE END OF PART SIX