Chapter Nine: The Isle of the Mages
By the time the mage and his three beautiful naked companions reached the fishing village, the journey had taken a great deal longer than a five mile walk should have done. They had stopped for further "breaks" on three more occasions, and each time Magnus spilt his seed - once more in Votya's arse, once in Danko's mouth, and on the final occasion - the boys being exhausted by now, and Votya walking with a noticeable limp - the two brothers took it in turns to wank off the potent mage, until he came for the fifth and final time that day.
The Cheskan boys, though buzzing with normal teenage testosterone, had never encountered such a fountain of spunk as the mage, who in the frequency and volume of his ejaculate was beyond anything they had ever experienced. Danko especially loved to put his hand inside Magnus's tunic and caress the mage's member, even as they walked along the road, and was awed by its gratifying size and texture. The mage was only a little bigger than average, but he was a fully grown male, and Danko's little pecker was rather small - though almost perpetually at attention throughout their journey. It confirmed everything the Cheskan brothers had suspected about the magical potency of the order of mages.
In reality Magnus's performance had been chemically enhanced by the herbal remedy he had taken that morning, which had also removed his hangover. This potion worked on the mage's natural virility, and was amplified still further by his many years indulgence in the sexual art, and of course by his frequent meditation on the inner forces of the universe, working themselves out in channels of magical and psycho-sexual energy. But today's performance was certainly one would he would not be able to undertake regularly in normal circumstances.
Magnus and Callixtus climbed aboard the fishing sloop as it untied from the little wooden jetty of the fishing village and set off for the Isle of Mages on the evening breeze. Votya and Danko waved them off, and as the sloop drew away the brothers ran off the jetty and out onto a spit of sand which curved round on their right and formed a breakwater for the small harbour. They stood on the extreme point of the sandspit and waved furiously after Magnus and Callixtus until they dwindled into the distance as the boat pulled further away. Magnus watched entranced as the sun, setting behind the Cheskan boys, seemed to paint their glorious golden bodies with red flames as it sank into the sea.
Callixtus's thoughts ran on more prosaic lines: he had noticed that the mage's seagreen cloak was still liberally streaked and spattered with spunk, and he knew it would be his task to clean it off.
The next morning, in a sunlit sky filled with the cry of gulls and urged on by a cool breeze from the north east, they arrived at the Isle of Mages. This was a green and hilly island of some thirty square miles which was a part of a collection of two dozen similar such islands which formed the Veskan Archipelago. It looked to Callixtus's eyes very much like the land of Cheska which they had left behind the previous evening. "Master, the island seems bigger than I expected. And that town we are approaching looks quite large. Are they all mages who live here?"
Magnus laughed. "No, my boy, they are mostly people very like the Cheskans. They are their close kin, and call themselves Veskans. Probably the word is from the same root, and simply a variant pronunciation of their word for "the people". Their speech is very similar to the Cheskan tongue and they look almost identical, though a higher proportion of Veskans are brown haired rather than blond. They consider themselves to be a distinct race, despite sharing many similar customs. You will find them a bit more insular and conservative than the Cheskans."
One of their conservative customs, noted Callixtus once they had were walking around the harbour town, was the universal nudity of male youth. No fashionable youngsters sported embroidered kilts in the manner of some young urban Cheskans. All male Veskans without exception went completely nude up to the age of twenty. Unmarried males over twenty wore breechcloths but kilts were the exclusive garment of married men and tunics reserved exclusively for the over thirties. Even so, clothing was often discarded when working in the fields, and men of all ages could be seen working naked in their farms or vineyards.
As in Cheskia, there was a general prejudice against any form of male decoration, so much so that it was considered strictly taboo in Veskan society. An exception was made for the carrying of weapons or tools, which were strapped to the back with a simple leather belt when not in use. Calllixtus discovered that apart from the usual stares at his circumcised organ he got some disapproving looks from older Veskans at his necklace. This was only two simple twists of black leather, one bearing the mage's lightning sigil on a silver disk, and the other a wolf-tooth charm; but as far as the Veskans were concerned this was little better than the arrangement of leather straps worn around the bodies of Imperial rent boys with a view to revealing what they had on offer. But then if they associated Callixtus with a boy who had been purchased for sex, they were at least partly correct.
As for the mages, they were also not what Callixtus expected.
A few miles inland from the port there grew an ancient oakwood, and at its heart a cool spring bubbled up from a mossy bed, filling a large pool fringed with moisture loving plants and flowers. Nearby, on the grass, was a long, low building which appeared to be made of intertwined trunks of living trees, gnarled and whorled in fantastic shapes and patterns. There were no straight lines anywhere to be seen. " Behold the Great Lodge, our Headquarters. As twisted as the minds of the mages, some say" remarked Magnus to Callixtus.
A number of subsidiary buildings lay about the central structure which functioned as lodgings for the mages. One of them was permanently reserved for Magnus, though his visits to it were few and far between. It was comfortably furnished, although the strange convoluted loops and whorls of the irregularly shaped furniture looked very strange to Callixtus's eyes. Even the bed seemed asymmetrically designed, but Callixtus soon found it was comfortable enough.
The first mage they encountered was a thickset bald man wearing russet silk robes with impossibly long sleeves. His robes rustled when he walked like autumn leaves rippled by the wind. He gave Magnus a curt nod and Callixtus a brief glance of distaste. "Here you are at last Magnus" he said. "Lord Shalmaneser awaits us in the Great Lodge."
"Nice to see you too, Joab. Is Gravillax still with you?"
"Gravillax has been with me for more than twenty years, as you well know. Unlike you, I value constancy in relationships." And the surly baldy swept ahead of them into the Great Lodge.
Magnus said to Callixtus, "I'm afraid you are not allowed in, dear boy. Amuse yourself out here for a while. Why not go for a dip in the pool."
A meeting of mages was being held in the strange central structure they called the Great Lodge, and they began to arrive in ones and twos. A very small old man clad entirely in green and wearing a cap with a long feather appeared with a similarly clad young man with long blond hair. "Goodness me what a lovely sight!" trilled the old man, looking at Callixtus with unconcealed delight. His companion, who looked to be in his mid twenties and was exceedingly handsome, turned and smiled at Callixtus, who then noticed with a start that he had the pointed ears of an elf sticking from his long blond hair- the first time he had seen a member of this fabled race. The elf walked over to him and shook his hand. "My name is Chereskar, an elf mage from the north. Welcome to the Isle of Mages." Callixtus looked up at the elf's almond-shaped and intensely blue eyes with the yellow hair flopping over his brow and felt a flutter in the pit of his stomach as his cock started to twitch immediately into life.
That was the annoying thing for poor Callixtus - like most teenage boys, his cock would spring erections at all kinds of inconvenient moments, but unlike most other teenage boys, he generally had no way of concealing it from all curious eyes when it happened.
Chereskar the elf noticed Callixtus's erection - which he could hardly avoid, as it was almost pronging the front of his green tunic - but he simply gave a musical laugh and made a quick circular motion with his right hand in the air in front of Callixtus's groin. Callixtus, to his relief, felt the blood drain from his organ as it immediately flopped back into its flaccid state. As the elf and his companion disappeared into the Lodge, Chereskar turned over his shoulder and called out - "I hope we meet again, Callixtus!"
It was only when the elf had gone inside that Callixtus realised he hadn't actually told him his name or indeed managed to speak at all, so tongue-tied had he been at the elf's presence.
He didn't dwell on the mystery of that as more mages now appeared. Although each one was differently attired, Callixtus knew they must all be mages because all of them entered the Great Lodge, which was strictly reserved to members of the Order of Mages.
One was a small barrel-chested dwarf with a fierce expression and a fiery red beard; his red hair stood out from his head in an exuberant arrangement of spikes. Another was a dark skinned man, very tall and handsome, clad in the long white robe of the Sassids, like the sailors of that nation that Callixtus had seen in Avenna.
Others of all shapes and sizes and colours and clothing appeared as if suddenly materialising from the trees and hurried into the open door of the Great Lodge. Then the door closed and Callixtus was left alone.
He wandered around the glade and admired the bright butterflies and profusion of scented flowers, but after an hour or so with still no sign that the meeting was at an end, he slipped into the pool and enjoyed its cool waters. After a while he became aware of someone watching him, and with a start he suddenly noticed a pair of yellow eyes staring at him from the undergrowth just a few feet away. A strange creature with dark green skin, a pot belly and pointed ears was gazing intently at him from the undergrowth. It was so still and well concealed that it was difficult to tell where the plants ended and the creature began. It was no more than three feet tall, and seemed to be clothed in leaves. It grimaced at him in a rather menacing way, revealing a mouth full of sharp yellow teeth.
Just then the door of the Great Lodge opened and the creature disappeared into the shadows. The mages began to spill out of the Lodge, including Magnus, who made his way towards the pool where Callixtus sat up to his neck in water. But the companion he was talking with took the boy's breath away - for it was a creature far stranger than the one he had just seen.
Magnus was talking to a unicorn.
Now unicorns are bipeds and not just a special kind of four legged horse, as some legends say. In fact, most of the unicorn's physical characteristics were entirely human: he stood on two feet (not hooves) and had human hands and human anatomy - save for his head, which was clearly the noble head of an equine, with a long golden mane which fell down his back. From his temple grew a horn spiralled in white and gold, and from the base of his rump a luxuriant golden tail which curled and twitched as far down as the back of his knees. He was very nearly seven feet tall (not including his horn).
The creature's skin was a milky white and the blue veins could be faintly discerned beneath the rippling muscles. The chest was twice the size of a normal human, and the huge biceps and enormous strapping thighs all spoke of power and strength. The unicorn wore no clothing of any kind, and between his legs hung a massive member - looking exactly like a human member, not an equine one - but of a size no human ever possessed, with a great girth in proportion to its huge length. Callixtus thought to himself, "That would never fit in my mouth, let alone my arse", but then immediately blushed that he had been having such thoughts about one of the rarest and most awe-inspiring creatures on the planet.
"Ah Callixtus, there you are. I hope the woodsprites didn't bother you - they can be disconcerting, though they are mostly harmless. Hop out, now, and meet my dear friend and colleague Lord Shalmaneser, who summoned the meeting we have just attended."
The unicorn bowed politely and in a rumbling voice lower than any human's said "Your master speaks highly of you. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with you myself."
Magnus noted the look of panic which struck the boy at those words, and said "Don't worry, my boy, you should always take a unicorn's words at face value. And besides, as you can see, some forms of intimate acquaintance between humans and unicorns are physically impossible."
Phew, thought Callixtus, thank the ancestors for that.
Magnus continued , "Callixtus, we have a mission to undertake. There is trouble brewing in the far west, where the Fire Giants have formed an alliance with the goblin tribes and the Raiders of the Rhenoussian coast. It is imperative that we assist the Empire to repel them. Much as I dislike some of the Empire's servants, the Empire is humanity's best defence against the woe that would ensue if this alliance succeeds in its aims."
The unicorn said, "I hope the Empire appreciates the efforts you intend to make on its behalf, Magnus. I gather a warrant has been issued for your arrest. Something about kidnapping a slave belonging to the Imperial navy and assaulting a crowd of marines by magical means. I hope that means your boy here is not in danger too."
Magnus said, "Actually, I bought him and have a Sale Parchment to prove it. Not that that will do me any good; if they catch me they will seize him as well. But at least he will keep his life."
The large bald mage Joab, who had spoken to Magnus in such an unfriendly manner before the meeting began, now rustled up in his autumn-hued gown. "You really should be more careful, Magnus" he said in a silky tone. "One of these days your fondness for slaves and other such low life will get you into serious trouble." And he glided away, daintily lifting the hems of his voluminous robes.
"His father was a shoemaker, you know" Magnus said, when Joab was out of earshot. "And yet the way he primps and preens around the place, demanding the finest luxuries for himself and that old powdered poof of a catamite he keeps, you'd think he was Chief Queen in the Sassid Shah's harem."
Shalmaneser said, "He likes the outward trappings of luxury and power because he had neither in his formative years. Many of us have a yearning for that which is different and unfamiliar. Perhaps this is the root of your sympathy, Magnus, for the downtrodden and oppressed. I know your father is a noble of the seventh grade, and that when he dies - though may the ancestors preserve him for many years yet! - you will inherit his title and estates."
Magnus said, "Don't invent virtues for me, Shalmaneser. I don't give a woodsprite's fart for the downtrodden and oppressed; after all I owe most of my wealth to their efforts. I just like pretty boys whatever their backgrounds." And so saying, he fondled Callixtus's pert buttocks, and planted a playful kiss on the top of his head. (Callixtus was digesting the surprising information that his master belonged to the nobility. There were twelve grades of Imperial noble, and the seventh grade was three notches above his late mistress the Lady Domitia).
The unicorn continued, "Nevertheless Magnus, I feel within me the call of a partner from the opposite side of the spectrum. Which is why you must help me to achieve my full potential before I can make proper use of the magical side of my nature in the task of defeating the fire giant threat. I need an elf."
Callixtus said to the unicorn, "My Lord, there is an elf here - I saw him going in to the meeting earlier and he spoke to me!"
"Not that kind of an elf" said Magnus. "That would have been Chereskar, who is a High Elf. There are also Mountain Elves like the King of the Mountain across the sea to the east, and Forest Elves in the Summer Islands to the south. It's a forest elf that we need to find for Shalmaneser here."
In a rumbling voice, Shalmaneser replied - "My brother mage is correct. You two will accompany me to the Summer Islands, and help me find and choose a Forest Elf for my companion."
"So you see how the great adventure will begin, Callixtus?" said Magnus.
"Yes, master" replied the boy. "First, catch your elf."