Copyright (c) 2006, Lensman. ALL Rights Reserved. lensman@mail.com This story is the sole property of the author. It may be downloaded for private use, but may not be distributed for profit or posted to newsgroups or other websites without the author's permission. Sorcerers Apprentice, part 6. Written by Lensman. This story is fictional, all characters and events depicted within are fictional and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. I have one unbreakable rule (to paraphrase Isaac Azimov): I may not harm a Little Girl, or through inaction allow a Little Girl to come to harm. Keep these fantasies where they belong; in your head. Story Codes: (Fantasy, M(16)g(8), Pedo, Rom, Beast) Story Intro: The concluding chapter of Olwyn and Jen, a 16 year-old sorcerer's apprentice and an 8 (sort of) year-old-girl. Chapter 6, In the dusky, dust filled hallways of the Willoughby mansion a large black rat was scurrying along the base of a wall, as if it was looking for something. It followed the scent of its prey along the hallway and into one of the rooms. It found a wall where the scent was very strong and recent but then it stopped abruptly. Then rat paused and sniffed around curiously searching for where the scent continued without understanding how the scent could be lost. Suddenly there was a thrum deep in its bones and the persistent irritating presence in its mind was gone. Alone and uncontrolled for the first time in what seemed to be an age, the rat felt vulnerable crouched out in the open. With all thoughts of the prey gone from its mind it fled for the relative safety of the darkness under the bed. Alone in her darkened tower, where she was stood staring intently into her crystal ball, the witch suddenly cursed angrily. "Damn it all," she shouted, "what happened now?" She knew her rat familiar was not dead; she had not felt its death throes or pain. Something had happened that had interrupted her link to it, but she didn't know what. She steadied herself and concentrated on re-forging her connection and began casting the spells to renew it. She laughed jubilantly as the link re-formed and she looked through the rat's eyes to see two pairs of feet run flashing past the rat's location. With a grin of anticipation she urged the rat up again and pushed it after her prey. * * * * * Olwyn scrambled to his knees and quickly cast a light spell. In the illumination provided he surveyed the wreckage left by the pulse of magical energy. Billowing clouds of dust were slowly settling everywhere and various sized lumps of stone lay scattered on the floor, obviously knocked loose from the ceiling and walls. Jen groaned and stirred slightly as Olwyn leant over her to check she not been harmed under her coating of dust and grime. "Is he gone?" Jen asked quietly and coughed violently, clearing her throat of the ever-present dust. When her paroxysms finally stopped, she groaned painfully as she sat up to look. "Yes," Olwyn replied softly as he gently helped her to sit up, and then chuckled lightly, "and so is most of his equipment." They both looked around the room in awe at the devastation; all of the glass bottles and alchemical equipment was shattered and spilling mixtures of powders and liquids out onto the shelves. Most of the sturdier equipment was also bent or damaged and the once full shelves were now empty with the books haphazardly heaped on the floor under them. Both Olwyn and Jen groaned almost in unison as they stood up due to the bruising that they had suffered from the magical buffeting. As they dusted themselves off, Olwyn looked around and noticed some of the powders and liquids were beginning to react together, to fizz and bubble giving off odd coloured smoke and foul smells. Olwyn hurriedly cast another light spell on his dagger and hustled Jen out of the door as fast as he could. "Hey, what's the rush?" Jen protested painfully at the haste. "I don't think it's safe in here any more," he said as he continued to hurry her up the stairs. When they reached the bedroom at the top they both ran out and along the hallway. As they were hastily descending the main staircase to the front hall they both heard a low crump sound and felt the stairs lurch under their feet. As dust rained down from the floor above them Olwyn shouted, "Come on, hurry up!" They both sprinted from the mansion as fast as they could and continued running out through the front gardens to the entrance gate before stopping. Bent double and panting for breath, Olwyn and Jen were startled when another louder boom sounded from the mansion and a cloud of dust, smoke and fumes came billowing out of the open doors as if chasing them. "Well I guess that's everything lost," Olwyn sighed wistfully when he was had caught his breath. Jen chuckled and reached into the pocket of her breeches. "Not everything," she smiled and brought out her hand clutching a small dark green vial. She opened the vial and tipped three small emeralds out into her palm; each one the size of the nail on Olwyn's little finger. "No, not a total loss then," he grinned back at her, then arm in arm the dusty and dirt smudged pair walked rapidly back to Aldergrove house, oblivious to the large black rat skulking behind them; following and watching their every move. * * * * * The witch was bent low over the glimmering image deep within the crystal ball. Sensing all that her rat familiar could see and hear. She urged it onward, briskly following the giant seeming pair walking away from it. The rat scrabbled along the corner between wall and floor trying to make sure it was not noticed by the prey it was following or the occasional predator it spotted. As the rat continued to follow the odd couple the witch began to recognise some of the buildings and streets they were traversing. The rat ran to the corner of a building and watched as the prey it had diligently followed crossed the street and passed through a door in a high wall. It felt the frustration of the controlling presence for a brief moment and then felt the urgings change, directing it along the street. The rat scampered across the street and along the base of the high wall looking all around, while the witch shared its senses and looked for a way over the wall. The rat ran on and on being pushed by the presence riding in its mind. Suddenly it was pushed to cross the street to the base of another high wall, but this one belonged to a building. The rat ran on until it found a weathered gap in the bricks and squeezed in. It found itself in a pleasantly dark area redolent with the scents of food, but still the nagging presence pushed it onward. It scrambled out of the pantry and through another hole in an interior wooden wall and rapidly ran up the steep wooden stairs. Still hugging the base of the walls it ran round the room until it reached a section where the roof sloped to the floor, and then the unrelenting presence pushed it to start gnawing and digging its way out through the sloping roof. The rat eventually managed to force a hole through the wooden slats big enough for its body. It squeezed under the slate and out through to the roof outside and then rested for a moment on the smooth sloping surface. The rat cautiously climbed up to the peaked ridge, and still pushed by the harassing presence it briskly ran along the ridge and hurled itself out into the air. It twisted and squirmed in fear as it fell the long drop to land hard on the lawn beyond the wall. It felt the jubilation of the presence riding its mind almost force the pain of its broken body from its awareness. At the incessant urging of the presence the rat began to haul its broken and twisted form through the grass. The rat had no idea why it was doing what it was and it could feel its death fast approaching. It crawled for an interminable length of time. Until the riding presence was satisfied, and then the rat lay still, panting and in pain, until eventually welcome darkness overwhelmed it. * * * * * Jen awoke abruptly; she was lying in her bed frozen with fear. The image of Olwyn lying on the grass with his life blood freely flowing, staining his robes and the grass below him still clear and distinct in her mind's eye. She felt utterly helpless, unable to do anything for him. She fought down her fear; she would not let it happen, she would do whatever it might take to prevent that dream coming true. She quickly slipped out of bed and made her way to Olwyn's room. She dashed into his room and quickly clambered onto his bed. "Olwyn," she called to him, "wake up." Then she vigorously shook his shoulders and continued to call his name until he woke. "Ok...ok... I'm awake," he responded groggily as he shook his head to clear it of the fog of sleep, and then sat up. "Olwyn," Jen said solemnly, "I had another dream this morning." She swallowed trying to clear the lump that had somehow appeared in her throat. "I - I saw you dead and bleeding on the grass," she stammered and then impulsively she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight as she straddled his lap. "I don't want to lose you," she murmured, "I love you." Olwyn didn't know what to make of Jen's dreams. She certainly believed in their prophetic ability, so he decided to take them seriously for her benefit if not for his own. "Well I guess I'd better be prepared then... hadn't I?" he said chuckling as he hugged her back, "I promised Genevieve to look after you, and I can't do that if I'm dead... can I?" Impetuously Jen kissed Olwyn, lightly at first but with growing passion. She kissed him sensuously; she slid her lips softly over his and slowly inserted her tongue between them, forcing him to respond in turn. The ardour of their kiss increased rapidly as their tongues duelled and danced from one mouth to the other. They shared a deeply passionate and yet soulful kiss, expressing their love for one another. Jen broke off the kiss panting for breath and looking flushed. "Please," she panted, "please fuck me!" Olwyn looked at her flushed face, "Are you sure?" he asked seriously. Jen nodded, "I need to feel you close to me... as part of me... inside of me!" Olwyn picked her up and quickly rolled her over onto her back until she was lying under him. He lightly kissed her lips and then kissed and nibbled his way down her throat to the hollow of her shoulder. He slowly and sensuously kissed, licked and sucked all over her chest and around her tiny nipples. Jen moaned her pleasure as Olwyn captured her erect little nubbin between his lips and sucked hard. She held his head in place and groaned as he began to flick it with his tongue. After Olwyn had sucked and tongued each nipple repeatedly Jen nudged his head down her body. She opened her legs wide revealing her plump and flushed pussy to his gaze. Olwyn slowly kissed and licked along the sensitive crease between Jen's mons and thigh, before he slowly nibbled and lipped at her firm inner thigh, deliberately keeping away from her plump pussy. As he kissed and licked at her thighs, he could smell her arousal, like the world's finest aphrodisiac, it drove him to distraction. Unable to hold back any longer, he used his thumbs to gently pull open her very flushed and plump pussy lips, and was rewarded with an increase of her scent and a wash of her juice. Olwyn swiftly darted his head in to lap up from the base of her hole to her proudly erect clit in one slow firm motion. The exotic taste of her juices was highly erotic to Olwyn, and he lapped at her entire pussy with abandon. The loud gasps moans and groans that Jen made only served to drive him on to bring her to orgasm. He lapped from the base to the top of her slit and flicked her clit vigorously with his tongue. Olwyn continued to lap and suck on Jen's wet pussy as she hunched her hips up, trying to get further stimulation but Olwyn had other ideas. Jen moaned in disappointment as Olwyn lifted himself up and away from her pulsing pussy. Her moans of displeasure turned to groans of pleasure as he supported himself over her and rubbed the head of his cock over and between her wet pussy lips. Jen thrust her hips up at Olwyn, trying to capture his throbbing erection in her immature cunt while moaning, "Don't tease me..." Olwyn continued to ignore her pleas and teased her until she commanded, "Fuck me!" With a single firm thrust Olwyn slid his cock deep into Jen's tight wet cunt, causing her to grunt and squeak in surprise. Olwyn slowly pulled out and then thrust firmly back in, dragging Jen's clit along his shaft as he did. "Oh gods," Jen groaned, "sooo good..." Olwyn felt Jen's cunt muscles squeeze his shaft every time he thrust into her. As his slow even rhythm began to speed up Jen panted and moaned in time to his thrusts. Olwyn could feel and hear Jen's pleasure getting higher and higher as he thrust into her. He leant his head close to hers, kissed her cheek and said, "I love you Jen." When she heard what Olwyn said, Jen's pleasure multiplied many-fold, her body stiffened and she began to scream in pleasure as she orgasmed. As Olwyn felt Jen's cunt muscles spasm and ripple with her orgasm he could hold his own back no longer. With a throaty yell he came hard, squirting jet after jet of hot cum into Jen's still spasming cunt. The two lovers lay entwined in each other's embrace, catching their collective breaths for a while. When they had recovered, Olwyn chuckled and gave Jen another comforting hug and said, "Come on, let's have some breakfast then we can prepare ourselves properly for the day." * * * * * "Remember," the witch cautioned her henchmen, "in and out fast. We only want the girl, nothing else matters. It is dawn, so there shouldn't be anyone around to stop you." The two guards huddled closer together as the witch raised her arms in a grand gesture and intoned the arcane words. The dark and damp cellar was abruptly lit by the iridescent bubble that formed around the three of them. The witch made another gesture and the swirling rainbow hued surface of the sphere firmed up and took on a silvery tone, and then rapidly shrank to nothing and vanished with a faint pop, leaving nothing but darkness behind. * * * * * After preparing and eating a good breakfast, Jen and Olwyn returned to the garden to meditate. They both sat comfortably on the lawn, facing the sunrise and meditating with their eyes closed. Suddenly the tranquillity of the garden was broken by a harsh pop as a small silver sphere formed a few paces behind Jen and Olwyn and rapidly expanded in size until it rested on the lawn. The sphere then lost its silver hue and became a swirling mass of rainbow colours. Jen and Olwyn jumped at the sound and turned in time to see the old witch and her two guards stride out of the rainbow sphere. "Get her!" the witch grated as she pointed at Jen. She then changed her aim and pointed at Olwyn and shouted, "and kill him!" Olwyn rapidly began the motions of casting a spell to web them all when Quinn grinned, swiftly drew his dagger then stepped up to Olwyn and plunged it deeply into his stomach. He felt the white hot pain lance into his guts as the guard thrust the knife into him, and again as he was roughly pushed off of the blade. Olwyn convulsively clutched at his stomach to try and staunch the flow of blood, but felt nothing except the wound as the ground seemed to leisurely rise up and slam into him as he fell. The short mute guard quickly caught Jen and held her with her arms to her sides, as she screamed piercingly seeing her nightmare come bloodily true. She twisted and squirmed in his arms, trying desperately to get free. The old witch strode up to Jen and backhanded her resoundingly, stunning Jen into shocked immobility and silence. She reached for Jen's chest and roughly ripped off her pendant again and threw it to the ground. "We don't want that interfering, now do we?" she laughingly mocked, and then gestured for the guard to follow her. Jen stared at Olwyn helplessly; he was lying on the grass mortally wounded exactly as she had seen it in her dream. "Noooo!" she screamed long and drawn out as she was dragged struggling back into the scintillating globe. The witch made a brief arcane gesture and the sphere hardened around them again, and then rapidly shrank and vanished with a sharp pop. The gloom of the cellar was again suddenly lit as a bright silver sphere popped into being and then rapidly expanded until it rested on the floor. The sphere lost its silver sheen to become a roiling swirl of rainbow colours before it abruptly popped like a soap bubble, revealing the witch, her two guards and Jen still struggling and yelling. Jen squirmed and struggled in the tight grip of the mute guard; no matter how much she kicked him he showed no sign of releasing his hold or that he even felt the blows at all. The witch slapped Jen again and while she was temporarily shocked silent the mute guard quickly carried her to the odd table and held her while Quinn began to strap her down. Jen struggled hard trying to prevent herself being trapped, but the guards were too strong for her to resist for long as they doggedly strapped her to the table, when finished they stepped back to the wall behind the table. "Why are you doing this?" Jen yelled defiantly, "I've done nothing to you!" "Ah but you have my dear," the witch smiled with fake companionship, "you have stolen my place." Then her face lost the smile and her voice hardened, "You have what is rightfully mine and I shall have it back!" The witch then visibly calmed herself and continued, "You have something I need..." Jen vigorously shook her head in denial, "No... no I don't!" "You obviously don't know it," the witch smiled at Jen almost hungrily, "but I shall have it back from you." The witch delved into her pocket and pulled out a small silver dagger and a small glass bottle of a strange glittering silver powder. She placed the dagger and bottle beside Jen on the table. When Jen saw the dagger she began to struggle in earnest, thrashing against her bonds, doing her utmost to get free of the straps holding her tight to the table. "Stop struggling," the witch commanded, "you cannot escape." When Jen ignored her and continued to struggle the witch hissed exasperatedly and cast a quick spell. A grey ball of energy flew from her finger to hit Jen in the side. Jen tried her best to fight off the creeping insidious feeling as she rapidly lost control of her muscles and eventually succumbed to the creeping paralysis from the spell. The witch smiled in anticipation and picked up the silver dagger. "This will hurt somewhat," and then ripped opened Jen's blouse. Jen stared wide eyed with dread as the old witch held the dagger poised above her exposed chest. She watched helplessly as the old witch slowly drew the razor sharp dagger point over her skin; slowly cutting a strange pattern deep into her flesh. The pain Jen felt was excruciating, worse than any she had ever felt before. She tried to scream but all that managed to squeeze out of her paralysed throat was a strangled gurgling. Jen watched through the puddles of tears that had pooled in her eyes as the old witch finished carving the rune into her flesh and then calmly began carving a similar one into her own left palm. When she was done the witch calmly replaced the knife, took the stopper from the small bottle and then picked it up. She carefully sprinkled some of the sparkling powder first onto Jen's wounded chest, then onto her own outstretched palm. Where the powder touched the bloody wounds it ignited with a cold silver flame. Before the flames burnt themselves out the witch quickly chanted an arcane phrase and slapped her carved palm over the rune carved into Jen's chest. Jen felt the magic of the strange spell coursing through her, as though it was setting her blood on fire. Her whole body felt like it was glowing with heat and tingling with lightning as pulses of silver fire flared between the old witch's fingers. When the silver fire eventually subsided the witch smiled jubilantly. "I finally have it!" she crowed triumphantly, "After all these years of searching... I finally have it! Now to use this link to take back what is rightfully mine... to take back my rightful body." Jen was confused, she watched as well as she was able as the old witch crowed in triumph, and then began a series of complicated gestures and phrases of another spell. She watched the old witch's face, at first she glowed with anticipation as she carefully cast her spell, but her elation was short lived. The spell appeared to have been completed but nothing seemed to happen, it had failed for some reason. The witch scowled angrily at Jen and growled, "What have you done girl?" Jen could not answer, she was still paralysed but she also had no idea what should have happened, let alone what had gone wrong. "No, it can't have been you," the witch calmed a little, "you can't defend yourself and have no amulet to protect you." She then waved her hand in a brief dismissive gesture. Jen slowly felt her body tingling as her muscles twitched and spasmed as the paralysis spell slowly dissipated and the control of her body slowly returned. She blinked to clear her eyes and looked angrily at the old witch, not trusting her tongue yet she said nothing. "Where is your link to my body?" the witch asked harshly. Jen was not sure what the old witch was asking about so she remained quiet. "Don't tell me you don't know what's happening..." the witch said looking surprised when Jen said nothing, "then I guess I had better explain..." "I cast a spell to create a copy of myself," she continued appearing calm, "but something went wrong and I somehow swapped bodies with my copy," then she pointed down at her self, "and this one continued to age at an accelerated rate." Jen was surprised, could it be true? It was very similar to the story Genevieve had told her, but... "I have been searching for nearly seven years," the woman continued, "trying to find a way to get back my body, and keep this one alive until then." She suddenly grew more intense and her eyes bored into Jen, "You are another copy, obviously another failure, but there should be a link from you to my original body." Jen felt confused, she didn't know who to believe. She shook her head, trying to clear it so she could think. "What do you mean no!" the woman shouted angrily, "what do you know of it? Tell me girl or so help me I'll..." "I - I was a copy," Jen stammered in fear of the mercurial moods of the old witch, "but there aren't any links now. They were all broken years ago when 'She' started another copy." "What!" the old witch exploded with anger, "all this time wasted. All the effort to find you for nothing?" the witch stomped furiously around the cellar, ranting at the world about the waste. Suddenly she stopped and quickly turned to face Jen, "You said there was another copy, where is she? How can I find her?" Jen opened her mouth but nothing came out, she was unable to say anything no matter how she tried. "I can't say," she managed after a while. The old witch looked ready to kill. "Tell me, or you shall regret it!" Jen tried again to tell what she knew, but again nothing came out, for some reason she could not speak of it. She shook her head again, "I can't tell you." "If you won't tell me what I want to know," the witch snarled, "I have another use for you... I shall drain your life essence to feed my own." The old witch left Jen struggling against her bonds again and walked slowly to the door of the cellar. She turned back to her guards for a moment and commanded, "Do not touch her!" then she turned and slowly climbed the stairs to her spell chamber to retrieve the necessary materials to drain the girl. Jen lay on the table panting lightly; she was winded by her efforts to escape while the old witch was gone, but to no avail. "Please let me go," she called plaintively to the guards stood behind her, "I know someone who will pay you well to free me." "Ha! Not bloody likely," Quinn said derisively, "you don't know what 'She' would do to us if we let you go." "Then come with me," Jen said enthusiastically, trying to coax them into helping her, "we could be gone before 'She' gets back. Then you'd have nothing to fear from her." The two guards stepped up near to the side of the table Jen was strapped to, so she could see them. "You think so?" Quinn asked her with an odd mixture of hope and derision. Then he turned to the mute guard and said, "But, if we got enough money we could get far away from her..." "Nowhere is far enough!" the witch shouted angrily from the doorway, and then she began casting another spell. Jen watched the two guards recoil in shock as the old witch spoke the last words of her spell, sending a smoky green bolt of magic hissing into them. They screamed in agony as the pallid green energy enveloped them both and rapidly consumed their bodies, leaving only a trace of fine powder slowly drifting to the ground. The silence left in the wake of the spell was deafening to Jen, and was only broken when the old witch shuffled up to stand beside the table. The witch carefully placed a small ornately etched and inlaid glass bottle on Jen just below the bloody rune and commanded, "Cohesum!" the bottle then attached itself to Jen's skin. Jen was frantic; she didn't want her life essence drained. She wriggled and squirmed, shook herself and tried again to escape, but no matter what she did she remained firmly strapped down and the bottle remained firmly attached to her skin. The witch took a small vial of white powder from her robe pocket and waited for Jen to exhaust herself before liberally sprinkled it all over her. She then began to chant a long and complicated spell. The powders sparkled and then coalesced to form a glowing nimbus surrounding Jen's prone body. The witch began to play with Jen's plump bald little slit; she gently stroked and rubbed her flushed pussy lips before slowly inserting her middle fingers into Jen's vagina. "No! Stop it!" Jen shouted desperately but weakly. The witch continued to play with Jen's wet pussy, pumping her middle two fingers in and out, while rubbing Jen's clit with her thumb and watching the glowing aura surrounding her. As Jen's pleasure increased so the aura would glow brighter. The witch, gauging Jen's level of excitement from her aura, brought her to the edge of orgasm then stepped back, not letting her have her release. * * * * * Olwyn watched helplessly as Jen was dragged struggling back into the scintillating globe by the guard. He felt the white hot pain in his guts cool as his life blood leaked onto the ground. He watched from his ground level perspective as the old witch made an arcane gesture and the sphere rapidly shrank and vanished with a sharp pop. He felt his wound growing numb and thought, "So this is death... I'm sorry Jen, I did my best..." as his vision faded to grey and then to black. Olwyn lay there on the ground for an unknown time, unmoving. Slowly he returned to consciousness and opened his eyes; he had expected something more, though he didn't know what. As he felt the blood covering his hands cooling and drying he realised he had been a fool. He fumbled at his stomach and felt nothing, no pain and no wound. His master's magic ring had healed him again. He didn't know how long it had taken or how long Jen would be ok. He needed to find her and soon. Olwyn quickly sat up and looked down at himself; his blood covered shirt was a mess, but he didn't really have time to change it. He quickly searched through the area until he found Jen's pendant and wrapped the broken chain around his palm to keep it safe. As he searched he also found the small vial that contained three small emeralds that Jen had shown him. With no further preparation Olwyn ran around the house to the front gate and away down the street. Olwyn was running along the back alleys and little used streets, trying to remain inconspicuous. He was making his way back to the mansion he had found Jen in before, hoping that Jen's captors would return there again, when he ran headlong into trouble. He was loping along an alleyway connecting two streets when suddenly the light of the exit was blocked by a large mountainous form. Olwyn skidded to a stop before reaching the man mountain Jen had called Bulk and stood panting lightly. "Hullo... what do we have here then?" a gravely voice said from the shadows beside Olwyn, startling him into turning to face the voice. "You owe us boy," Jack growled menacingly. "I don't have time for this!" Olwyn hissed exasperatedly, and then began casting a spell to put Jack and his gang to sleep. Jack almost casually pulled his knife and held the blade against Olwyn's throat. "Stop or die!" he commanded menacingly. Olwyn quickly continued his casting and took a short step backwards. As he did Jack, with a smirk on his face, complacently drew his blade across Olwyn's throat. Olwyn nearly hissed with the pain as his throat was cut, but worked through it and managed to complete the spell. Olwyn was satisfied at the shocked expression on Jack's face as the large form of Bulk dropped and the deep slash on Olwyn's throat started to rapidly heal. Olwyn also heard the thump of a body dropping behind him as he darted past Jack, jumped over the sleeping form of Bulk and ran on to rescue Jen. Olwyn ran hard, darting in and out between the various pedestrians wandering the street, until he reached the high wall guarding the mansion. He ran along beside the wall until he found the same tree he had climbed before. He was disappointed when he saw that the barrel he had left below the branch before was missing. After quickly searching the nearby alleyways, Olwyn was only able to find some small wooden crates and boxes. With a sudden flash of inspiration he collected together the few boxes he had found and returned to the wall under the tree. He plucked a small piece of web from one of the boxes and quickly cast the web spell to stretch between the ground and the tree branch above. As the magical strands formed Olwyn rapidly picked up the boxes he had collected and inserted them into the web in strategic locations, forming a ladder to climb. Once the web ladder had solidified Olwyn checked how firmly the boxes were stuck in the web. When he was satisfied he climbed the makeshift ladder, making sure he didn't touch any of the sticky strands of webbing holding the boxes together. He clambered up to and along the branch and then dropped to the ground at the foot of the tree. Sacrificing stealth for speed, Olwyn quickly ran to the barred window he had used before. He knelt near the wall and slowly inched his head into position to see inside the cellar. What he saw horrified him; Jen was strapped down to a strange torture table as before and he could see a bloody symbol carved into the flesh of her chest and a small bottle resting on her abdomen. Stood to the side of the table was a white haired old woman who was waving her arms in the arcane gestures of spell casting. Olwyn could clearly see the abject terror on Jen's face. He watched as the powders sparkled briefly and then combined to form a glowing aura surrounding Jen's prone body. The old witch then stepped closer to Jen's side and began to play with her slit. She rubbed Jen's pussy before inserting her middle fingers into Jen's vagina. Olwyn saw Jen shake her head, but could not hear whatever she said. The old witch ignored Jen's protest and continued to play with her pussy, pumping her middle two fingers in and out. As he saw the old witch step back from Jen Olwyn could wait no longer. He quickly willed the change to his dog-form and slipped through the bars of the window. As soon as he landed he willed himself back to human-form then quickly began casting his own spell. Jen spotted the movement as Olwyn appeared under the window and turned to look. "Olwyn," she called in shocked joyous surprise, "you're alive!" Olwyn finished casting his own spell and magical strands of webbing began to rapidly form wrapping around the body of the old witch. He then stepped over to stand beside Jen and began to undo the straps holding her down while she looked up at him grinning with happiness, overjoyed that he was alive. "You'll have to do better than that boy!" the old witch sneered disdainfully, startling Olwyn from his task, as she brushed off the remains of the dispelled webbing. Thinking of casting a more powerful spell, Olwyn reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the vial of emeralds, opened it and tipped one into his palm. While Olwyn was busy the witch quickly cast her own spell, when she finished a grey ball of energy flew from her finger to hit Olwyn in the chest. For a brief moment Olwyn felt an insidious feeling of paralysis from the spell, and then he felt Jen's pendant turn icy cold against his palm as the feeling of paralysis faded. Keeping still, trying to mimic the effect of the spell, Olwyn held the gem in his fist and quietly murmured the spell needed to activate it. "Hmmm..." the witch said, pondering to herself, "now what should I do with you?" Olwyn quietly finished his spell and felt the emerald warm in his fist and knew that it was active. "After draining her," the witch said nodding, "I think I'll drain you too..." "No you won't!" Olwyn interrupted as he held the glowing gem in his palm and again ran through the casting of the web spell. The old witch sneered in contempt as Olwyn completed the spell. The emerald flashed and green glowing strands of magical web rapidly formed around the old witch, and continued to form, cocooning her completely and extending up to the ceiling above. Olwyn quickly turned to free Jen from the table. As he grasped the small glass bottle Jen's pendant rattled briefly against its side. The bottle came away easily when he pulled it, and then he threw it to shatter in a corner. At the sound of the breaking glass the muffled curses coming from the old witch increased in volume slightly. As he worked to free her Olwyn could clearly see the bloody symbol carved into her chest. He quickly slid his master's ring from his finger and slipped it onto Jen's. "Your magic ring?" Jen asked in a whispery hoarse voice. "It will heal your wounds," he replied whispering in her ear. Then he added quietly to himself, "I hope!" After finally freeing all of the restraining straps Olwyn lifted Jen from the table. As she stood on shaky legs with Olwyn supporting her, the glowing aura surrounding her body faded and shrank back as if being drawn back into her skin. "Come on, let's go!" Olwyn called as he pulled Jen along past the cocoon of web. "Don't touch it!" he cautioned her as he saw her preparing to kick it, "you'll stick fast to the strands." He guided her to a door leading from the cellar, along a short corridor and then led her quickly up a stone spiral staircase. They ran up the stairs and reached a small landing with a closed wooden door. Olwyn reached for the door as Jen pulled him to continue up the spiral stairs. "There may be some goodies up there..." she said smiling greedily. "That web won't hold her forever," he replied grimly, "let's get out of here now." Olwyn opened the door and they stepped through into what looked like a deserted kitchen. Together he and Jen quickly trotted to the nearest doorway and through it into the entrance hall beyond. They made their way past the grand staircase that led up to the second floor, and headed toward the large double entrance doors. Suddenly Olwyn pulled up short of the doors. Jen looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "What's wrong?" Olwyn explained, "She put magical wards on her garden wall and gate, so she could have put a spell on the door as well." Both Olwyn and Jen cast the spell to see magical auras but were relieved to see no trace of magic from the big entrance door. As they heaved it open Olwyn heard a sound of movement coming from the kitchen behind them. "You cannot escape me!" the old witch shouted imperiously. Both Olwyn and Jen quickly darted through the entrance door and heaved it shut before running headlong down the path. There was a sudden loud hiss from the door behind them and Olwyn turned in time to see it rapidly disintegrating surrounded by a pallid green corona, leaving nothing but a trace of dust floating in the sunlight. Olwyn quickly fished in his pocket and took out another emerald. He cupped it in his palm and quickly began the spell to activate it. "Not so fast!" the old witch shouted and started to cast another spell. Just as he finished his own spell Olwyn saw the old witch finish hers. A smoky green bolt of magic hissed from her hand and flew rapidly in Jen's direction. "Nooo!" Olwyn bellowed as he jumped between the fast flying bolt and Jen's startled body. As the bolt of magic struck him, the emerald in his palm flashed bright and hot, and the pendant next to it froze. Unexpectedly the bolt of magic rebounded from Olwyn's chest and flew back along its previous path, back to the old witch. She screamed in absolute agony as the vibrant green energy enveloped her and rapidly devoured her body leaving nothing behind but the echo's of her dying scream. Jen and Olwyn were both stunned by what had happened. Olwyn looked at the pendant in his palm and saw that the metal was tarnished and had split in two. He showed it to Jen and said in awe, "Your pendant... it saved us..." Jen ignored the pendant and looked up at Olwyn stunned. "Y - You" she stammered in wonder, "You would have sacrificed yourself to save me!" Olwyn bashfully waved away her adulation, "I knew the pendant resisted magic when her paralysis spell didn't work, so I expected the spell to fail... but not rebound like that." He thought for a moment then added, "I guess the active gem boosted the pendant, but I'm afraid it broke it." "That's ok," Jen said dismissively, and then grinned ebulliently as she took his hand in both of hers, "I'm just glad you're ok." Then hand in hand they headed home... Epilogue, A strikingly beautiful young woman wandered through the forest, apparently searching for something. The woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, had lustrous raven black hair hanging straight down to her shoulders and finely chiselled cheekbones underlining intelligent dark brown almond shaped eyes. She was wearing a brown bolero-style leather jacket over a white cotton blouse and tan coloured supple leather leggings that held and displayed her pert buttocks beautifully. The woman lithely walked between the trunks of two tall trees and then abruptly stopped just as she was about to step into a clearing she had failed to notice before. The floor of the clearing was carpeted with a luxurious lawn and stood at the centre was a tall magnificent oak tree. As the afternoon sunlight illuminated the tree and the woman stared up at it in wonder, the bark of the tree took on a golden glow. The woman stared raptly at the tree for an unknown length of time until she was disturbed by the sound of a voice. "Why are you here?" the lilting musical voice asked. The young woman turned and saw a young girl of around eight years step out around the trunk of the tree. The girl was dressed in a light brown shift like dress, she had emerald green eyes in a petite elfin face and her waist length hair was the colour of honey. "Who are you?" the woman asked in a warm contralto voice. "I'm Delia," the girl replied defensively, "why are you staring at the tree?" "Ah, so you're Delia," the young woman said nodding her understanding and smiling, "and that means that this must be the Golden Oak." Delia tilted her head to one side and looked at the woman curiously, "What do you want?" The young woman did not reply, instead she reached into her blouse and pulled out a pendant that looked like a tarnished silver half-disk. She grasped the half-disk in her clenched fist, closed her eyes and said, "Olwyn, I'm here." Delia gasped in astonishment, "Olwyn is your master?" she asked, and then smiled wistfully. At that moment an eldritch wind blew through the clearing and a high pitched buzzing sound like thousands of angry wasps filled the air. Suddenly a bright jagged rent appeared in the air beside the woman and an old man calmly stepped out of it before it closed behind him with a snap. He had shoulder length silvery grey hair held back in a single ponytail, a neatly trimmed grey beard and his face was browned and weathered as if he had spent many years outside under the sun. He was wearing grey woollen robes and hanging from his neck was another tarnished half-disk pendant. "Hello Delia," he said in a gruff voice and smiled warmly, "it's good to see you again." Delia looked at Olwyn in stunned silence for a brief moment then launched herself at him. Olwyn bent to catch her as she jumped and hugged him tightly about the neck and wrapped her legs about his waist. "How did you do it?" She asked excitedly, "How did you find me and get in here?" Olwyn embraced her firmly and then stood her beside him and held onto her waist. "You let me in," he said grinning down at her, "when you said my name." He thought for a moment looking serious and said, "Delia, I made a promise the last time we met." Delia nodded smiling, "I know, I heard you." "I promised that I would return," he continued solemnly, "but I also promised myself that I would try to free you from your servitude... if you wanted me to." Delia smiled warmly and shook her head. "There is no need," she said sincerely, "because of you I now enjoy this task. Over the years I have taught many to be as thoughtful and caring as you were." Olwyn thought about it for a moment, she appeared sincere and happy, he then nodded smiling. He turned away from her and slid his arm around her shoulder and gestured to the young woman. "Delia," he said smiling even wider, "let me introduce you to my wife, Jen." Delia looked at the woman, Jen, curiously and then smiled and nodded, "Hello Jen." Jen nodded to her and said, "Hello Delia, I'm sorry but we need to ask a favour from you..." Delia nodded and asked, "What do you need?" she then turned and smiled at Olwyn, "You want your youth back?" "In a way," he said gently, "I need your help to change my body." She looked up at him in amazement, "You need what?" "I have known Jen for nearly fifty years," Olwyn explained slowly, "She is a half-elf and can expect to live for many more decades but I am human and feel older with every year that passes." He sighed wearily and stepped away from her and made a complex gesture and quickly spoke an arcane phrase. Suddenly he changed, his hair darkened to its original raven black colour and his face and build became more youthful and oddly his ears became slightly pointed. "I can change my form to match Jen's," he continued, "but it is not permanent." He then willed himself into his dog form. The black Labrador he changed into looked old, there were patches of grey fur around his jaw and ears and he looked very tired. When he changed back he reappeared as his normal old human self. "What do you think I can do?" Delia asked. "Please," Jen appealed to Delia, "change him to be half-elven like me permanently." Then she turned and smiled at Olwyn, "I've grown accustomed to him in my life." Delia could clearly see the deep love they each had for the other. She nodded slowly and said, "I'll try." Jen and Olwyn turned to look at her as she continued seriously, "I shall ask the goddess for this gift, but she may not grant it..." "We understand that," Olwyn nodded, "is there anything we can do?" Delia shook her head, "The goddess will decide based upon your life to date and may have tasks for you in the future." She then held out her hand palm up and caught the acorns that fell into it, and then handed them to Olwyn. Olwyn looked at the two acorns in his hands; they were a golden honey colour the same as Delia's hair. "Are these mine?" he asked smiling at the memory. "Yes," Delia said smiling almost shyly at her memories of their last meeting. "Hold one in each hand," she continued, "and sit leaning against my tree." Olwyn carefully sat cross-legged at the base of the large oak and leant back. As Delia stood in front of Olwyn, Jen ducked between them and gave him a quick kiss, "For luck!" Delia placed her hands on Olwyn's head and began her prayer. "Mother goddess hear my plea," she whispered, "please grant this wish, grant him his heart's desire." As she whispered her request, Olwyn saw her eyes begin to glow with a leaf-green inner light. Suddenly the acorns in his hands began to glow with a soft amber light that pulsed in time to his heartbeat. As before a radiant nimbus of power grew around Delia as she continued her whispered chant and brightened until Olwyn had to close his eyes. Jen watched from a few paces away as the acorns began to glow and a faint aura formed around Delia. She saw Olwyn close his eyes and then the two acorns appeared to melt and were absorbed into his palms. The aura around Delia flashed before it swiftly flowed from her to cover Olwyn. Once he was covered he began to change, his hair and beard darkened to black and his face lost the wrinkles and smoothed. His build became more youthful and slender and his ears became slightly pointed. Suddenly Delia staggered back exhausted and Jen swiftly stepped in and caught her before she fell. Olwyn shook himself and lithely jumped up to his feet. "I feel great!" he exclaimed, "better than I have in years!" He then grabbed Delia about the waist and danced her quickly around the clearing. When he had danced full circle he stopped and bussed her. "I feel twenty again!" then he swiftly changed into his dog-form. He looked vibrant and healthy with no grey in his lustrous black coat. When he changed back to his man-form he remained his new, youthful, half-elven self. He bowed deeply to Delia and with his hand over his heart he said, "My lady, you have my heartfelt thanks, as does your goddess." He then reached into a pocket in his robe and pulled out a small hairclip. "This is for you," he said as he handed it to her. It was made of amber and was intricately carved to look like a pair of acorns and an oak leaf. "Should you ever have need of me," he continued, "simply hold it and say my name. I will hear you and I will return as soon as I am able." Delia clasped the gift in her hands and smiled at him, "It is beautiful, I shall treasure it always," then she kissed him. Author's Note: If you enjoyed this story, and or have a comment or suggestion to make, please email me at lensman@mail.com All emails are welcome and will be responded to if a return address is used.