The Sorceress Apprentice (f/f, f/m (briefly), fantasy, adult)

Hello Everyone,

I was inspired to write one more story. For anyone who has read my previous two, this is similar in style, with an emphasis on very explicit, erotic, and almost entirely f/f tickling. I decided to go for a more fantasy/magic theme this time, though.

I realize I probably went overboard with the story-telling aspects of it, but I’ve found that a fun challenge to write. It is a little slow to get started, though. For those who want to skip ahead to the action, the major tickling scenes are basically the second half of chapter 2, most of chapters 3 and 4, the second half of chapter 5, and the second half of chapter 7.

This is probably the last thing I’ll have time to write for a while. I hope someone out there enjoys it.

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Chapter 1: Graduation


Liana beamed at herself in the mirror. This was to be her proudest day and one long in coming. Today she was to be officially welcomed into the Guild of Wizards as one of its newest young members. She was eager to make her entry into the wizarding world and finally become a full member of that elite group.

She smoothed the form-fitting green robe over her shapely body and brushed back her shimmering blond hair. It was not exactly her natural body, but it was expected that a wizard would take a few liberties. Almost all wizards would magically restore their vitality, a necessity given the decades of study the craft demanded. Male wizards tended to keep the appearance of old age, which was fashionable as an indication of wisdom and thus power. The women, though, tended to go for the appearance of youth and beauty. They understood that in a woman, sexiness was its own kind of magic. Liana had never been allowed to age naturally, first by her mentor and now by herself. She looked and felt perhaps a third of her true seventy five years of age. She had not really had to change much beyond that. She had always been pretty and aside from a little swelling here and tightening there, she pretty much looked like she should have looked as a young woman.

It had been a long and difficult road to get where she was. In theory, the wizarding world valued talent above all else and was open to anyone who demonstrated ability. Liana, from a young age, had shown an astonishing mental ability, one that should have destined her to be one of the great sorceresses of her age. In practice, though, it was rare these days for anyone to make it to the Guild if they did not come from one of the great wizarding families. No one else had access to the coaching, the practice, and the dozens of other special advantages the connected could secure for their children. It was unheard of for someone like Liana, an orphaned child of peasants with no family left in the world, who struggled through her adolescence just to feed herself and put a roof over her head. Instead of grinding her down, though, a difficult youth had made her determined. She knew what it was like to be a nobody --- stepped on, abused, and unable to fight back --- and she was determined that she was going to be somebody. By skill and hard effort, she had managed to teach herself in what spare bits of time she could manage, and beg or borrow just enough help to prove herself. She managed to astonish everyone when she showed up for the exams and bested all of the other young aspirants in competing for the right to become a wizard’s apprentice.

That turned out to be just the beginning of her struggles, though. An apprentice still needed a master, and few were interested in someone with no connections and uncertain prospects. One door after another was slammed in her face. She was close to giving up hope when finally an offer came from a reclusive old sorcerer named Denethor. Liana’s peers sniggered when they learned of the offer. Everyone knew the rumors about Denethor. He took only lost young women like Liana and they always eventually left in failure, sometimes decades later, never having mastered enough of the arts to qualify as full wizards. It was said he treated his apprentices as his own personal sex slaves. Liana knew the rumors, too, but it was either Denethor or returning to the streets. She decided the old sorcerer was the lesser evil.

The rumors proved to be more accurate than Liana had dared to fear. Denethor soon made it clear that she was expected not only to do the menial chores required of all apprentices, but also to be his own personal plaything whenever he demanded. And he could be very demanding and it was not a pleasant duty. He looked like he was a hundred and smelled like a corpse. She could have sworn the only bathing he ever got was from her tongue. But like many male wizards, he sported a magically enhanced schlong that could perform for hours when he chose. He could have easily made himself more physically appealing for her, but he got some amusement from knowing that she was disgusted by their frequent and lengthy encounters. As an apprentice, she had some protections; he could not have gotten away with forcing himself on her. But he could let her know that serving his needs was the price of continuing her education. Liana swallowed her pride (and various other things) and performed, knowing the sacrifice would be worth it when she was finally a wizard of her own.

Denethor was not a good teacher by any means. He dribbled out information, giving her just enough to keep her from walking but not so much that she could complete her studies and move on. Decades crawled on and Liana watched in sullen resentment as former peers with half her talent completed their studies and took their places as members of the Guild, while she was still demeaning herself as the old wizard's servant and sex toy. She did her best with what he taught her, but she knew there were huge gaps in her knowledge that he would not let her fill. As the years passed, Denethor kept her magically young, forever the slight eighteen-year-old blond waif she had been when she first joined him. Seeing the former classmates who had laughed at her going on to become powerful sorcerers while she was still a lowly apprentice trapped in the body of a girl only heightened her humiliation and perpetual sense that her chance was slipping away.

And then, almost overnight, everything changed. One night, she was woken with a start by furious crashes and booms coming from the wizard's bed chamber. She rushed to see what was happening, but could not get near the action. The air sizzled with magic as she got close and blinding lights and blazing heat erupted from the doorway to force her back. Suddenly, it stopped and it was as if everything in the chamber were sucked into a vortex that simply swallowed itself, leaving nothing behind. The Guild soon sent investigators by to sort out what had happened. Eventually, it came out that the old goat had actually died more than a century earlier but had made a deal with infernal powers from the Netherworld to prolong his time on earth just a bit more. It seemed that his debt had finally come due. Even seasoned wizards feared the things that inhabited the lower dimensions and shook their heads at Denethor's foolishness in dealing with them.

Liana took some small satisfaction in knowing that the vile wizard would be something else's bitch now, but it did complicate things for her. Ordinarily, an apprentice whose master had died could find a new master to complete her studies. In Liana’s case, though, decades slaving away without much progress had only hurt her prospects. She pleaded her case to the Guild. While many considered her a joke --- Denethor's last bit of fluff --- a few took pity on her and were persuaded to give her an opportunity to prove she was worthy of Guild membership. When the next trials came up for entry into the Guild, some six months later, she would be allowed to compete. As Denethor's only remaining protégé, she inherited his books, his tower, and all it contained. She poured herself into mastering all of the secrets he had long hidden from her. She was decades behind where she should have been, but her mind was as sharp as ever and that, combined with the lessons she had pried out of him over the years, gave her a chance.

In the end, even she was a bit surprised she could pull it off. There were still great gaps in her knowledge, but she had managed to fill many of them. That, on top of her talent and determination, proved decisive. Her performance was not stellar, but it was enough. The gruff old wizards of the Guild council had to agree that she was above the line. Finally, she was to be a wizard. Finally, she would be somebody.

*****

A glittering carriage carried Liana to the Guild hall and she stepped out majestically as a crowd gathered to see the spectacle. The carriage was a simple illusion on top of a wagon drawn by an old nag, but enough to impress the ordinary folk. She strode into the Guild hall on top of the world, reveling in the awed gazes of the common people, pointing and gasping at the site of an actual sorceress. She was ushered inside, through the radiant outer halls of the Guild and into the inner sanctum only true wizards were allowed to see. The elite of the magical world was there to welcome a new crowd of young wizards to their number. Liana stared in wonder at the dozens of wizened old men and a handful of radiant young-looking women, magical energies swirling around them. Drinks and exotic foods flew through the air propelled by unseen forces while globes of light hovered above the room and music without musicians filled the air. She floated through the sea of wizards as one after another nodded politely to her and wished her congratulations. She beamed with pride to be one of their number. Liana finally felt that she was where she belonged.

Soon, she found herself face-to-face with a stunning young redhead she recognized as Mersena DeFarge. Many years before, Mersena had been a classmate of Liana's and one of her main tormentors as a youth, a perfect princess from the most renowned of the wizarding families. Mersena had finished her own apprenticeship more than twenty years before and had gone on to carve out a reputation as a power to be reckoned with. Although once a plain girl, Mersena was now gorgeous, her unnaturally buxom form practically poured into a shimmering purple wizard's robe. She flashed Liana a tight-lipped smile while Liana forced one in return.

"It's so wonderful you'll finally be joining us as a real wizard," Mersena said haughtilly, making sure the stress on the "finally" was noticeable. Liana was too happy to let bad memories get her down, though.

"Yes," Liana said simply. "It takes a little longer when you have to earn it."

Mersena's smile darkened. She clasped Liana's hands in hers. Liana could swear just for a second she literally saw a gleam in Mersena's eyes. Mersena replied, "Indeed. Eventually, we all get what's coming to us." Then she released Liana's hands and walked away.

The next minutes passed in a blur as Liana continued enjoying being one of the crowd of eminent wizards. Eventually, the formal ceremony was called to order. Liana was summoned to the stage with the other initiates. Interminable speeches followed before, finally, each of the initiates was to be called up to be personally recognized by the Guild and congratulated by the Guild president. The ancient wizard called forth one after another of Liana's new colleagues and, with a dramatic flourish, pronounced each a wizard. At last, it was Liana's turn and she practically glided to the podium. She beamed with pride as the old wizard turned to her and welcomed her to the Guild. And as he grasped her hand in congratulations, she suddenly realized to her horror that her robe was coming undone.

As she stood on the podium facing the venerable wizard, she could feel her garment peeling away from her. She quickly raised a hand to hold it in place, but in seconds it simply crumpled to dust, leaving her buck naked on the stage. She gasped and tried to cover herself. She was puzzled to see that her gown had reformed as soon as it hit the floor. She reached for it but it once again crumbled to dust as she grasped it. Flailing around wildly, she grabbed at a banner on the podium to try to cover her nakedness, but it too turned to dust at her touch only to reform once it had slipped her grasp. The same happened when she tried to grab a rug off the floor and eventually to tear a tapestry from the wall by the stage. She realized she had been cursed and knew immediately that Mersena must have done it, but in her confusion and humiliation she was too flustered to even think of a counter-spell. She tried desperately to call forth the illusion of clothes or an invisibility spell, but the curse blocked any attempt to conceal herself.

This was a rare treat for the assembled wizards. There were rules protecting ordinary people from this sort of game, lest it go too far and burning wizards at the stake come back into fashion. Apprentices were protected by custom. But there was no real law among wizards except fear of reprisal. Normally, wizards kept their conflicts within the careful confines of well regulated duels out of fear of payback from a victim's family and friends in the wizarding world. Liana had neither family nor friends. Even the disgusting old pervert Denethor would have been a comfort right at that moment; it would have been an insult to him if someone had gone after his protégé and he would have been obliged to respond. As it was, though, Liana was alone in the world, still weak and inexperienced, and, she realized, fair game for any more powerful or connected sorcerer who wanted to take advantage of her.

Liana struggled to hold back tears as she shrieked and tried to cover herself with her hands. It seemed everyone around her was laughing at her plight. The old president and all of the venerable wizards who she had thought of as her new family were enjoying a hearty guffaw at her predicament, at least when they were not too distracted by ogling her form. Mersena stood with a crowd of her friends, smirking in amusement. Liana ran from the Guild hall, past shocked guards and out the front of the hall through the assembled crowd. Peasants gaped as she ran past, trying desperately to cover herself. As she reached her coach, she realized with horror that the curse would not even allow the illusion of the coach to cover her. It, too, crumbled away when she tried to mount it. In humiliation, she ran down the streets absolutely naked until she was exhausted, eventually beginning the long walk back to her tower.

*****

Many hours later, Liana was locked back in her tower, spell books and magical devices spread around her. The curse was ingenious and not easily defeated. She had finally recovered enough to think clearly, though. Though painstaking research, she believed she had worked out a solution. Humiliatingly, she was still buck naked. Even in her own tower, she was unable to find any way to cover herself while the curse was intact. At long last, she assembled the proper charms and incantations and, with relief, managed to break the curse. She quickly confirmed she was free by throwing on a robe.

The curse was broken and her tears had dried, but her anger and hurt was only beginning to fester. She realized her dream had been a fantasy. After years of struggle to become an apprentice and decades of degradation under Denethor, she was still nobody. She was still a victim. A voice within her cautioned her to be patient, that more sacrifice and struggle would bring her everything she wanted. But for the first time in her life, a louder voice shouted it down. She decided that she was tired of sacrifice and struggle. She wanted power and she wanted it fast.

Wizardry had few shortcuts. Mastering magic was an effort of a lifetime. But Liana knew of one shortcut and she knew that Denethor had the tools to make it happen: striking a deal with the dark powers of the Netherworld. It was incredibly dangerous even for the mightiest of wizards much less for someone who had barely completed an apprenticeship. But Liana was in no mood for caution. She had discovered the secret chamber where Denethor made a portal to the Netherworld and the forbidden books that explained how to pass through the portal and return alive. She laid out the spells she would need to make the journey and the magic charms that would allow her to survive it. She fastened around her neck a potent protective talisman Denethor had prepared to ensure his safety in the Netherworld, making sure to enchant it to protect her against every source of death, maiming, mutilation, pain, possession, and any other harm she could imagine; she had become reckless, but not totally stupid. She called forth magics darker and more dangerous than any she had previously attempted, thinning the barrier between the worlds. Finally, she enchanted an hourglass to pull her back to the real world one hour after she entered no matter what happened inside. She was trembling as she turned over the hourglass, triggering her transition into the Netherworld. She wondered too late if perhaps she should have listened to her inner voice of caution, as the real world around her faded and something strange and different took its place.


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Chapter 2: Let's Make a Deal


As the Netherworld materialized around her, Liana tried to get her bearings. She was not sure what she had expected it to be like, but probably would have guessed barren rocks, burning pits, and lakes of brimstone. Instead, what she saw was more like an impossibly dark, dense fog all around her. On closer inspection, the fog was alive with movement, as if it were simply chaos concentrated. It was hard to focus on anything. All around her, she heard strange noises of unimaginable things chittering, growling, and howling seemingly just past her view. The sounds grew closer and she could sense movement all around. Things started to grab, snap, and claw at her, seeming to test her defenses and see if she would be an easy prey. The magic of her protective amulet held, though, and nothing could harm her. It was still annoying, though, and eventually she muttered an incantation and with an easy wave of her hand sent a powerful blast of energy into the fog around her. Shrieks echoed all around and she could hear the multitude of unseen things back off.

She decided to wander and see if she could find anything more in a mood for a deal. She could not even see her own feet through the fog, but the ground felt like hard, pitted rock. She had to tread carefully to keep her footing. She wandered for long minutes, the little chattering things still all around but keeping their distance. Eventually, she sensed an eerie quiet in the air except for a deep and loud breathing. The fog in front of her seemed to coalesce into a massive looming form. It looked like a dragon that had been dead and rotting for a month. The thing must have been fifty feet long, its fanged face staring down at her. It reached down to her with a huge talon and swatted at her, but the amulet harmlessly deflected the massive blow.

Summoning her courage, Liana spoke, "My name is Liana. I've come to bargain. Are you interested?"

A deep, rumbling sound poured from the creature, which Liana realized was laughter. "I don't bargain with food," it said simply, in a bass so deep she could feel it in her bones.

It drew back its head and opened its mouth and in an instant Liana found herself bathed in hellfire. She could feel a hot wind and all she could see was flame completely surrounding her. Once again, though, the protective amulet held. She felt no pain or injury, just a kind of all-encompassing warmth. It was actually kind of pleasant. She let the demon exhaust itself.

Muttering a powerful incantation, she let fly a lightning bolt, striking the creature squarely on the snout. It snapped back in annoyance and momentary pain, but was obviously not really hurt. It grinned malevolently then started to rear up on its hind legs, squaring for a serious battle.

From behind her, Liana heard another voice call out. In contrast to the dragon thing's deep growl, this voice was soft, musical, and almost indescribably beautiful.

"Azteroskoletolix," the voice intoned, making the tongue-twisting name sound like a lullaby. "Our guest is here to deal. If you don't want to do business then I will."

The massive undead dragon creature seemed to consider for a moment and then, with a resigned shrug, dropped back down on all fours and walked away, melting back into the fog.

Liana turned around and saw another figure emerging from the fog. This one was about her own size and human-shaped. As it emerged from the fog and took on detail, Liana realized it was female. Indeed, a gorgeous female, impossibly perfect in every proportion. Her curvaceous form filled out a tight leather costume that left nothing to the imagination. She had a perfectly beautiful, angelic face framed by a flowing mane of raven hair. A playful malevolence flickered in her captivating emerald-green eyes. She positively oozed sex as she slinked forward. Liana had never been into women, but this creature looked like she could make a lesbian of any woman. The only hints that the beautiful creature was a demon were two small horns that protruded from her forehead and a thin, barbed tail that swished back and forth behind her.

"Hello, mortal," she cooed. "I understand you are looking to make a bargain."

Strange thoughts tugged at the back of Liana's mind: "bow down," "obey," "worship," "love." With her magical training, Liana could recognize these as a magical charm the demon projected to enslave the weak-minded. The amulet still protected her, though, allowing her to shrug off these thoughts. Still, the creature was so beautiful, she probably did not need any other magic to get most humans to fall at her feet.

"Yes," said Liana, realizing she was staring and shaking herself out of it. "I want power. I want respect."

"You want revenge," said the demon slyly. "I can feel the anger dripping off of you."

"I suppose," said Liana reluctantly, "but mostly I'm tired of being weak, always the victim. I'm willing to make a deal if you will make me stronger than the rest of the scum in the Wizard’s Guild. I’m not looking for more of the little parlor tricks of the wizarding world, but real power like you have here. Show me how to wield real power and I'll find a way to make it worth your while."

The demon's lips curled into a diabolical smile. "I think we can deal, Liana," she said simply. "My name is Valerialicarcinarata, but you can call me Val. But let's talk somewhere a little more private."

The fog all around them drew back and light seemed to come from nowhere as fog shaped itself into walls, furniture, and assorted decorations of what to all appearances was a large and very expensively furnished bedroom. Rich carpeting appeared below Liana's feet and a large plush, sofa materialized out of the last wisps of the fog behind her, another springing up below the demon just in time to catch her as she sat down.

"Please, have a seat," she gestured to Liana, who obliged. "Now, before we actually sign a contract, I will need to know that you are really in a position to bargain. So many mortals foolishly come down unprepared to deal with my kind. There's no point in signing a contract if I can just take whatever I want from you."

The demoness lifted a single finger and power crackled forth from it, a beam of red energy striking Liana in the chest. It sizzled around her, but thanks to the amulet, she felt nothing.

"Hmm," the demoness mused as the power continued to pour forth. "An unprepared mortal would have been incinerated in an instant by that."

The color of the beam shifted, blue then yellow then purple then green and through a whole spectrum of colors. For a moment, Liana felt a little tingle and shifted uncomfortably, but it passed.

"Cold, heat, pain, weakness, sickness," the demon ticked off. "You really seem to have thought of everything, haven't you? I guess I can't force anything on you after all. I do think we can make a deal."

A piece of parchment appeared in the demon's left hand in a puff of smoke and a quill pen in the other. She rose and walked over to Liana.

The demon started to hand the parchment and pen to Liana and spoke again. "I've put together a contract. I will teach you how to access real power and make you the mightiest of wizards. And all I will ask in return is that you show up here with no more protections than you have now and commit to following my lessons. But wait," she said, as if suddenly thinking of something. "Maybe there’s one last test I should do before you sign. Just to be sure you really are in a position to bargain with me."

Liana was suddenly worried. She felt the soft couch shift under her, its shape shifting as it hardened to stone. It rose up around her, taloned hands emerging from it and grasping at her limbs. In seconds, she was pulled to a standing position, her arms pulled above her head and her legs pulled apart while restraints formed all along her body pinning her to what was now a stone X-frame. She spat out a quick spell of attack but the demoness shrugged it off as if it were simply a harsh word.

"We’ve established that I can't hurt you," the demoness mused. "But this isn't really hurting you."

The hands and X-frame shifted around Liana as it forcibly undressed her, leaving her nude but still completely bound.

"Great," Liana spoke, feigning confidence. "So you can hold me and enjoy a nice peep show. This is nothing my whole town hasn't seen."

"This isn't hurting you either," the demoness said, as she reached down as she grasped each of Liana's nipples between thumb and index finger and lightly kneaded.

"A little harmless play isn't going to get me to agree to anything," said Liana again with exaggerated bravado. Inside, though, the violation was having an effect on her. The demoness just smiled and continued to roll and tweak the rapidly hardening nipples. Her touch was wonderfully tantalizing and as she leaned in close, Liana struggled to surpress a moan. The demoness even smelled perfect. She stroked and squeezed while Liana bit her lip to try to avoid giving a response. It continued for a long while, while Liana felt her pussy moistening. She involuntarily looked away from the piercing green eyes staring into her own, but two more hands emerged from the X-frame and moved her head back to face the demoness. Finally, Val released Liana’s nipples and she sagged into her bonds, an unwanted feeling of sexual need tugging at her.

"I guess not," the demoness said. "But maybe there are other ways to get you to cooperate."

She set down the parchment then took the quill, still in her right hand and ran the feathered end slowly down the length of Liana's body. She started at Liana's neck and continued down her chest and abdomen until the plume just grazed the edge of Liana's moist mound, forcing an involuntary moan out of her. Then she brought the quill back to Liana's tight stomach and began to slowly swish it back and forth over the muscles. It tickled terribly. Liana again bit her lip as she struggled now to suppress a giggle she could feel rising in her throat. The demoness continued for a long time while Liana screwed her eyes shut and choked back the laughter threatening to pour forth.

"This isn't really hurting you either," the demoness said with a smile. She then lifted the quill to her mouth and blew on it. Liana could see magical power sparkle forth and saturate the feather. "Maybe it just needs a little help, though."

She brought the feather back to Liana's belly and this time the touch was electric. There was no way the soft feather could possibly tickle as much as it did. Val stroked it back and forth over Liana's belly and this time she could not hold back the laughter. It burst forth in a stream of giggling that soon turned into loud guffaws until Liana was shaking uncontrollably in her bonds. She then brought the quill to Liana's left armpit and began to play it in the defenseless hollow. The tickling was twice as bad and Liana pulled madly in her bonds. For long minutes it continued there. The demoness licked the fingers of her other hand and placed them in the other armpit, again an unnaturally powerful tickling emanating from the fingers. Liana struggled madly but the bonds were unmovable. Soon she was reduced to silent laughter while Val continued to attack both pits without mercy.

"I think maybe we need to reconsider the terms of our deal," said the demoness coyly. "I bet pretty soon you'll be willing to sign whatever I want."

Liana could not get a word of protest out but tried to shake her head no with the tiny bit of freedom the stone hands around her head offered.

"No?" the demoness asked, a disappointed look on her face as the feather and fingers continued to dance in Liana's underarms.

After another thirty seconds of tickling, she moved the feather and fingers inward to Liana's breasts. The quill danced over her left breast while the demon's fingers skittered with magically enhanced ticklishness on her right nipple. Liana had never been tickled on her breasts before and had no idea how ticklish they could be. She tried in vain to pull away or utter a word of protest but could not so much as catch a breath. More than tickling, the breast stimulation was reigniting her libido. She felt a building urge within her to cum and had to struggle to put it out of her mind. After several minutes of the breast stimulation, she was an absolute wreck. Her pussy was dripping and aching for stimulation while she was out of her mind with ticklishness. Finally, Val withdrew and Liana's chest heaved, trying to suck in air. Her long blond hair was matted to her head and her face was bright red.

"Sign the contract I've prepared for you and this can all stop," the demoness offered.

Liana struggled to compose herself. In the back of her mind, she knew the hourglass was slowly winding down back in the real world and would pull her back there when the last grain fell. She just needed to hold on. "N-n-no!" she managed to force out.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Val replied sweetly.

The stone frame shifted around Liana once again and she found herself tilted onto her back, her feet presented directly to the demon. Two more hands reached out of the stone and pulled back her toes. The fingers and feather now fell on her feet and it was the worst tickling Liana had ever experienced. She bucked wildly trying to pull free, but to no avail, as the demoness probed the surface of the feet. The horribly ticklish light strokes of the feather on her left foot combined with the sharp scratches and digs of Val's nails on her right to drive her insane. Liana tried to beg for relief but could not get the words out. Over and over, for what seemed an eternity, the fingers probed every ticklish spot on one foot while the feather dusted every inch of the other. In the back of her mind, Liana thought the hourglass must be nearly done and that she just needed to hold out a little longer. She also knew she was cracking, though, and was about ready to agree to anything to get even a temporary respite from the horrible tickling. At long last, Val withdrew from her feet.

"Ready to sign?" she asked again.

"I-I-I-I'm n-not g-g-going to sign anything," Liana managed to struggle out between stream of lingering giggles.

Again the frame shifted and Liana felt her legs being pulled apart into a full split. The demoness sashayed between the spread legs and sat down as a stool rose from the ground to support her. She blew again on the feather and licked her fingers again. Both positively sizzled with magical energy.

"It looks like it's time to pick up the intensity," she said with a sly grin before diving into Liana's privates.

From the moment the soft feather touched her mound, Liana knew she was done for. She had thought the feet were bad, but this was like nothing she could have imagined. She silently pleaded for the hourglass to pull her back but knew that she would agree to anything if she could get the words out. Val's horribly ticklish fingernails probed at the labia, tickling and separating them, while the feather caressed the soft flesh within. Liana was going crazy from the tickling, but also felt a powerful orgasm building. When one finger found the tip of her clit, she practically jumped out of her skin, the tickling was so intense. She felt ready to burst as the fingernail lightly tickled the tip of her clit and the feather dusted her up and down from clit to perinium and back, again and again. She felt a dam within her bursting as the insane tickling soon melted into an explosive orgasm. She was on fire with pleasure and tickling, giggling and screaming uncontrollably as the finger and feather prolonged the orgasmic peak for what seemed an eternity.

She really was not sure what happened next, but before she knew it she was back on the comfortable couch. The quill was in one of her hands and the parchment contract was in the other and she slowly realized that she had just signed it. She was still naked, trembling, covered in sweat, and giggling uncontrollably as her mind slowly pieced itself back together. As she realized with horror what she was holding, she had the distinct sense she had just signed her own doom. With a panic, she glanced over the contract and was puzzled to see that it laid out exactly the terms Val had first specified: Val would teach her to harness her magic and become the most powerful of wizards and all she had to do in return was report for her lessons and submit to whatever Val specified for one hour each day. There was no giving away of souls, no eternal torment, nor any of the other horrors she had feared. She looked across to Val smiling benignly at her.

"Wh-wh-what?" she asked, not able to articulate a more coherent thought.

"Oh, honey," Val said with a smirk. "This was just for fun. The truth is, I want to help you. I see great potential in you. I think it will be delightful to see what you can do with real power. Now you rest up and tomorrow we'll start your first lesson."

In that instant, Liana felt the tug as the hourglass dropped its last grain. If she had held out for another minute she would have made it, but it was all moot now. Val's bedroom dissolved around her and the hard stone walls of Liana’s tower materialized to take its place. She collapsed where she sat and wondered what she had gotten herself into as she drifted into a long and deep sleep.


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Chapter 3: Lesson One


Liana was tempted to simply let the day pass without reporting for her first lesson. The thought of the previous day's events still gave her goose bumps. She knew better than to try to break a contract with a demon, though. She had made her bed and there was simply no choice but to lie in it. Although she put it off as long as she could, by late evening she reluctantly made preparations for the journey, steeled herself for what was to come, and overturned the enchanted hourglass that would commit her to an hour in the Netherworld.

As the real world faded away, she found that Val had already made preparations for her arrival. Instead of the impenetrable fog of her first visit, she found herself in a wide room made of rough stone under a high vaulted ceiling. The walls were lined around with torches and large red rug covered the floor. There were no windows or doors. Its only remarkable feature was a life-size marble statue on a pedestal towards the far end of the room. Liana realized with a shock that it was a statue of herself, fully nude, with its legs spread to about shoulder width and its arms pointed out to the sides in a "T" shape. With a start, Liana realized that Val was standing right next to her, her perfect body clad only in high boots and a revealing bra and g-string, all in red leather. The demon put an arm around Liana possessively. Val unconsciously tensed up and fingered the protective amulet she still wore around her neck.

"I think it's a pretty good likeness, don't you?" the demoness asked cheerfully. "It's a little different from you in some important ways, but we'll get to that in time. For now, though, I think we might as well get right to your first lesson."

"I suppose it will save some time if I undress myself instead of having the furniture do it?" Liana asked bitterly.

"No need this time," the demoness said with a wink. "I can just look at our marble friend if I want to see what I'm missing."

"Okay," said Liana with trepidation. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

The demoness began: "This is all about helping you access true power. The fact is that you already have far more power than you know how to use. Today you're going to learn how to tap that power and unleash your full potential. The trouble with you wizards is that you think magic comes from the mind. All that studying, memorizing, and those complicated little rituals you do, well, I'm sure it's useful for focusing your weak mortal minds. But it's not really what magic is about. We demons know that magic comes from the soul, the emotional core if you will. If you want to use all the power you have, you need to learn to tap into your emotional core by tearing down all of those silly little mental barriers that get between you and your heart. That is the focus of today's lesson."

Liana was apprehensive, but so far it sort of made sense to her. She relaxed a bit as the demoness removed her arm from Liana's shoulders and moved across the room to stand next to the statue.

"You're probably wondering what your double here has to do with all of this,” Val continued. “You see, she’s here to help you break through the suffocating mental barriers you wizards learn to impose on yourself. As you can see, she is a lot like you."

The demoness now put her arm around the statue's shoulder. Liana was surprised to feel the weight of the demon's touch on her own shoulders and had to look around to see that no one was near her. The demoness planted a sensuous kiss on the statue's lips and Liana felt it on her own, involuntarily experiencing a rush of arousal at the slow kiss until the demoness finally broke it.

"She is a little different from you, though," added the demoness with a smile. She reached her hands under the outstretched arms of the statue, one hand in each pit, and scratched a fingernail in each. Liana shrieked and clamped her arms down to her sides, hit by a sudden incredible tickling in her pits.

"She is a lot more ticklish than you," the demoness added with a smile. She kept up the armpit tickling for another ten seconds while Liana, openly laughing, fell to her knees and tried futilely to protect her pits from the phantom fingers invading them. Finally, the demoness relented and walked back to Liana, sprawled on the ground and trying to catch her breath.

"Your task is pretty simple," the demoness said. "You need to use your magic to destroy the statue, which will free you from its influence. Of course, I can't make it too easy."

With a nod from the demoness, a shimmering transparent dome formed around the statue. Liana recognized it as a magical barrier.

"Go ahead," the demoness prodded as the sorceress got back to her feet. "Try your best to destroy it."

Liana was suddenly not looking forward to this "lesson" and decided to try her best to bring it to an end. She visualized the most powerful magical attack she knew, uttered the right incantations, and with a complicated wave of her wrist unleashed a powerful bolt of magical energy towards the statue. The air sizzled around the energy blast as it flew forward, but then it struck the barrier and dissipated harmlessly.

"Nice try," said Val encouragingly. "But not good enough. I think maybe you need a bit more incentive."

The demoness conjured a stiff feather in a puff of smoke. She released it into the air and the feather flew noiselessly across the room, passing unimpeded through the magical barrier. It dove towards the statue and immediately began feathering its abdomen. Liana at once doubled over in laughter. She tried to cast other spells, but was unable to get an incantation out without breaking into giggles. She could manage only a few feeble fireballs, which crashed ineffectually into the barrier. The feather dug into the statue's belly button, sending Liana into hysterics.

"You can do better than that," the demoness urged. "Don't think about it. Feel it."

The demoness conjured two more stiff feathers and sent them hurtling across the room. They too passed through the barrier and immediately found Liana's armpits. In an instant, her arms were again clasped uselessly at her sides. She tried digging her own hands into her pits to block the feathers, but no matter what she tried she could not dull the unbelievably powerful tickling sensation. She was reduced to silent laughter. Unable to speak or gesture, she could manage only the most pathetic of attacks, pitiful bursts of energy from her tear-streaked eyes that accomplished even less than the fireballs.

"No, no," the demoness scolded. "You're still thinking like a wizard. Getting rid of those silly chants and hand waves should make you stronger, not weaker. Try again."

Two more feathers were conjured, these shorter and stiffer. They flew to the statue and found its ears. The tickling sensation was maddening and forced Liana to screw her eyes shut. She rolled on the floor helplessly, trying to catch a breath.

"Oh, now you're not even trying," the demoness complained.

She called forth two more feathers, these large and fluffy. They soon found the statue's breasts and began dancing over the senstive skin. Liana immediately felt her nipples grow hard under their ministrations and her libido begin to swell. She frantically tried to concentrate on her magic, willing herself to do as the demoness suggested and just feel it. At the back of her mind, she could sense her own power but she couldn't figure out how to access it.

"St-st-stop it!" Liana managed to croak out.

"You're a mighty wizard, not some giggly little schoolgirl," the demoness challenged. "If you want it to stop then you make it stop."

Val produced one more feather, this one long and stiff. It flew toward the statue, through the barrier, and ducked between the statue's legs. In a moment, it found the statue's ass and went to work on the crack and butt hole. Liana, now prone on the ground, bucked wildly, uselessly clenching her butt cheeks to try to block the invading feather.

"Come on, Liana," Val encouraged. "I can feel the power in you struggling to get out. I know you can feel it, too. Now stop thinking about it and just do it."

Liana realized through the mental haze of tickling that she could indeed feel the power within her. It was like a storm surge pounding against a dam. She could feel the dam shudder and creak, but it would not break. Outwardly, she could simultaneously feel her self-control being torn away. She was humiliated to find that she was wetting herself. At the same time, her horniness was building into a desperate need for release. Still, though, she frantically clung to her remaining remnants of mental discipline as the tickling drove her mad.

"I think you're getting there," Val said sweetly. "You just need a little more encouragement."

The demoness produced one more feather, this one short and stiff, and let it fly. It flew through the barrier and found its way to the statue’s exposed sex. It did a little dance on the perinium that had Liana contorting herself like she was having a seizure then probed up and down the slit shaking furiously. Liana was going out of her mind with tickling and with lust. She could not think straight anymore as the tickling and sexual stimulation forced any conscious thoughts from her mind. In the back of her head, though, the magical power seemed to continue to swell, the dam holding it back weakening and cracking by the second. The final feather soon found the statue's exposed clitoris and started a complicated whirling dance around it. Combined with all of the other feathers, it left Liana utterly devoid of reason and simply desperate for the tickling to stop or the orgasm rapidly building within her to arrive. It built and built while Liana continued to writhe and contort herself, a mixture of helpless tittering, silent laughter, and guttural moans competing for use of her lungs.

At long last, the stimulation was too much. As her sex drive reached its climax every vestige of self-control left Liana. Her body exploded in pleasure as her mind went completely blank. With it, the dam in her mind broke and the magic burst forth like a bomb exploding. Magical energy flew in every direction, harmlessly cascading off Val but tearing through the magical barrier like a shotgun through tissue paper and ripping the cursed statue to pieces. In an instant, the tickling was gone. The magical feathers drifted silently to the ground. Liana collapsed in a heap, utterly spent and panting breathlessly in the afterglow.

"Yay, Liana!" the demoness cheered, clapping enthusiastically. "I knew you had it in you. You see, you can tap your true power if you just learn to let down your barriers."

Liana could not respond, only lie there, her chest heaving.

"Practice makes perfect, though," Val said cheerily. With a nod from her pretty head, the crumbled pieces of statue scattered across the room flew back together and reassembled themselves into Liana's visage. The feathers lifted off the ground and positioned themselves around the statue again as the magical barrier reformed even stronger than before. The demoness added with a wink: "Time for round two."


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Chapter 4: Lesson Two


As torturous as her first lesson had been, Liana had to admit that it had unleashed a power far beyond anything she had felt before. For some weeks afterword, the demoness brought her back every day to refine and practice the lesson with dozens of variations on the horrible tickling and mind-blowing sexual stimulation needed to strip away her self-control. She was relieved to learn that as she experienced the feeling over and over she could begin to tap it without having to be brought to the same state of total madness and ecstasy. The lessons had still indelibly linked strong magic with sex in her mind; unleashing her full power would leave her wet and horny, but she did at least learn how to do it without actually needing to climax. It would have been inconvenient, to say the least, if she had to frig herself to orgasm every time she got into a magical duel. In time, Val decided that Liana had mastered her first lesson well enough and was ready for another.

When Liana reported for her next lesson, she found herself in a musty old study. The room had a single wooden door, currently closed. Along one wall stood a chalk board. A shining suit of plate armor, clearly made for a woman roughly Liana’s size, was propped up along the opposite wall. Val was standing next to the chalk board grinning.

“Liana,” she began. “I’ve been so pleased with your progress. I knew you had so much more power within than you were actually using. Now you know how to access it. We’ll keep practicing, of course, but I think it’s time to move on to your second lesson.”

“Okay,” said Liana, deeply pleased by Val’s approval. She had had so many mind-blowing orgasms under Val’s ministrations that just seeing Val smile at her got her libido boiling. With some trepidation she asked, “What is my next lesson?”

“You’ve learned to tap power,” Val began. “Now you need to learn to control it. We need to rebuild your control the right way. Not with your ridiculous chants and gestures but effortlessly, from within. Before we can get to controlling your magic, though, you need to learn to control yourself.”

“I suppose the suit of armor has something to do with that?” Liana asked.

“It does,” Val replied. “Strip and put it on.”

Liana complied, shucking off her robe and putting on the suit. It was a complicated affair, requiring her to open up the chest assembly and step through the legs and arms like they were full-length boots and gloves. She realized it was not quite a standard suit of armor. In addition to some unusual locking mechanisms, it was lined internally with a series of padded struts that forced the metal suit itself away from her body, leaving a gap of about an inch between her flesh and metal everywhere from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. It took some doing, but soon she was inside and had the suit closed. All that was missing was the helmet, which she held in her hands. As she went to place it on her head, Val stopped her.

“Not the helmet just yet, Sweetie,” Val said.

Val put two fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. The door opened and a parade of a dozen demonesses marched into the room. The demonesses came in variety of races, hair colors, and body types but each looked like a very attractive naked woman aside from horns and a tail like Val’s and a pair of large bat-like wings. Liana recognized them as succubi, demonic temptresses famous for plying mortals with sex appeal and leading them to ruin. Liana noticed with puzzlement that each held in one hand a tiny tickling implement, no more than an inch long. Some held a little feather, others a soft brush, and others some stiff pointed wire contraption.

“These are my servants,” Val said, introducing the pretty things. “They’ll be helping us with your lesson today. Ladies, if you will.”

The creatures unfolded their bat wings and lifted off the ground. As they did, Liana was surprised to see them shrinking before her eyes. Soon each had shrunk to about two inches high. The tickling implements had retained their former sizes and each succubus now held one in both hands like she was wielding an axe. When they finished shrinking, the twelve demons flew through the air towards Liana. Three of them took seats on her head, one on each ear and one on the bridge of her nose. The rest dove through the neck hole in her armor. Liana squirmed as she felt them wiggling through the gaps between her flesh and the armor and taking up various positions around her body. At last, Val took the helmet from Liana.

“I hope you enjoy this as much as I will,” Val said sweetly. Then she kissed Liana lightly on the lips, igniting a fire in her loins, before placing the helmet on her head and locking it in place. Val shifted uncomfortably in the armor. The bulky limbs and torso made it impossible to completely close her legs or lower her arms, but aside from that, it allowed a high degree of movement. She could see through a narrow slit around the eyes, but was otherwise locked in. She could occasionally feel the touches of the miniature succubi at various points on her body, although they were mostly remaining still.

“Your task for today is pretty simple,” Val said to Liana. “Since you wizards seem to like chanting, I’ve prepared a little chant for you. You need to read it, flawlessly, from beginning to end. When you can make it through from beginning to end without stammers or mistakes, the lesson is concluded.”

With that, Val nodded at the chalk board and words wrote themselves on the board: “Liana loves being Val’s little tickle toy” repeated five times.

“Begin,” Val said as she stood back to watch with a smile on her face.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Liana thought to herself as she braced for the torment she knew was coming.

“Liana loves being Val’s little tickle toy,” she intoned. As she said the words, the chalk for those words lit up in a glowing blue on the board until the first of the five lines was glowing brightly.

“Liana loves be-hee-hee-hee,” she stammered. Two of the succubi in her armpits had started stroking the tender flesh with soft, fluffy feathers they held. As she stumbled on the words, the blue glow faded from all of the writing.

“Oh, too bad,” Val teased in mock sympathy. “Back to the beginning. Try again.”

Liana tried to clamp her arms down but even when she pressed them as far as the armor allowed, the succubi still had plenty of room to work. She shifted uncomfortably trying to block out the maddening sensation of the light stroking in her pits without much success but managed to force down her laughter.

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she slowly forced out, choking back the laughter that was threatening to pour forth at any moment. One by one, she managed to relight the first line.

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she forced out again with increasing effort. She could feel her insides spasming as she summoned all of her self-control to hold the laughter in check.

“Liana. Loves. Ha-ha-ha-ha,” she burst out laughing as she could feel two sets of stiff wires raking the soles of her feet. Again, the blue glow on the chalk board vanished. Liana instinctively stamped her feet madly to try to shut off the tickling sensation, but could not shake the succubi loose. Her efforts only seemed to encourage them and they dug into her soles harder and faster.

“Closer,” Val said to her, “but still so far. Keep trying.”

Liana stood in the suit shaking and laughing as her pits and feet were now assaulted. She twisted and writhed in the armor trying to find a position where the succubi had less access, but nothing she could do seemed to disrupt their efforts in the slightest. She bit her tongue and, with a tremendous force of will, choked back the laughter, steadied her breathing, and stood to attention. When she was confident she had control of her lungs again, she continued.

“Liana. Loves. Hee-ha-ha-ha-hee,” she broke out, as this time several succubi joined in simultaneously. One was now probing her belly button with a stiff brush, two more were dusting the insides of her ear canals with tiny fluffy plumes, and a fourth was using its feather to lightly tease the bridge of her nose.

“Just two words this time,” said Val disappointedly. “I know you can do better than that.”

Liana doubled over from the belly tickling and clutched at her stomach, but the thick gauntlets clanged against the armor plate without affecting the tickling. She banged the gauntlets against the plate armor repeatedly to try to dull the sensation, but there was no hint the succubus teasing her belly button even noticed. At the same time, Liana scrunched her nose and shook her head wildly, as much as the heavy helmet would allow, in an instinctive effort to dislodge the three assaulting her ears and nose. They all held firm, though, and the tickling continued unabated. It was too much for Liana and she toppled to the floor, landing in a loud, clanging heap and rolling onto her back. She tossed and turned like an infant having a tantrum as laughter poured out of her.

“Come on, girl,” Val pressed her. “Get yourself together!”

Liana reached into depths of willpower she never knew she had to try to force the maddening sensations out of her mind. She focused on taking just one controlled breath, then two, then three, until she had once again silenced the laughter and brought her breathing back under control. She could no longer even see the chalk board as the tickling on the bridge of her nose had forced her to clamp her tear-streaked eyes shut, but nonetheless she continued:

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she counted off the words one after another.

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Oooh!” she yelled as a new sensation assaulted her. The last four succubi had joined in. Two had taken up positions on her breasts and were now teasingly tickling her nipples with soft brushes, making them instantly rock-hard. Another had taken up position on her butt and was working her crack with a stiff feather. The last was in her crotch. It had spread her folds with its legs and was using a stiff brush to tickle inside her pussy while its other tiny hand spider-tickled her sensitive clit. Her concentration faltered completely and Liana broke down in laughter again.

“Oh, so close,” Val teased, smiling evilly at the armor clad wizard rolling helpless on the ground like an overturned turtle.

Liana twisted in her armor, banged her arms and legs against the floor, and groped madly at her body, trying anything to get at the maddening little succubi tormenting her inside the suit. They were completely protected from her, however, and only tickled harder in response. Liana tried in desperation to regain her control. Aside from the terrible tickling, the sexual stimulation was arousing her to a fever pitch. She could feel the orgasm beginning to build in her clit as the tiny demoness continued to tease it. She struggled once again to measure out breaths, with laughter now fighting guttural moans of passion for control of her breathing. At long last, she once again managed to stifle the laughter and the moaning and regain control of herself.

Between tightly gritted teeth, she again began to hiss out the words: “Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy.”

Every word was a battle of will to fight the tickling. At the same time, she could feel the orgasm steadily building inside her. With each word, more of her willpower was needed to hold it at bay. She knew it was just a bit longer, though, and she summoned every ounce of strength she had to make it through.

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she continued, each word harder than the last as the tickling continued to eat at her and the need to orgasm became ever more insistent.

“Liana. Loves. Nnnggghhh!” she grunted as simultaneously the two succubi on her breasts and the one on her pussy joined their tickling with sharp pinches of her nipples and clit. At the same time, the one on her backside had kicked its legs deep into her rectum. The combined sensation pushed her over the edge and she climaxed explosively. With that, she dissolved into a screaming, giggling, trembling orgasm that stripped away all of the self-control she had painstakingly built up.

“Oh, baby,” Val taunted. “Was that as good for you as it was for me?” She could hear the thin voices of the succubi from within her armor taunting her as well, bringing helpless tears of anger and humiliation.

“Nooooo!” she wailed in pathetic frustration between uncontrollable giggles. As her body came down from the orgasm, it left her even more sensitive to the tickling and she once again shook madly, trying in vain to dislodge the vile succubi tormenting her.

After what seemed like an eternity of continuing teasing, taunting, and tickling, she dug within herself and found reserves of strength she never knew she had. She once again silenced the giggling and brought her breath under control. She clamped down on another orgasm that was starting to build up in her loins. And she forced herself to continue:

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she got out. “Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy.”

The succubi seemed to be taking it as a challenge to make her falter once again, varying their technique with random pokes and squeezes to try to disrupt her concentration. She had to refocus her mind before each word to make it through:

“Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy. Liana. Loves. Being. Val’s. Little. Tickle. Toy,” she continued.

“Come on, Liana,” Val urged her on. “You can do it.”

The succubi redoubled their efforts and nearly broke her, but Liana composed herself with an iron will.

“Liana,” she continued followed by a pause for breath. “Loves,” and then another.

“Being.”

“Val’s.”

“Little.”

“Tickle.”

“Toy.”

In that moment, Val cheered and Liana was once again overtaken by a mind-blowing orgasm, gushing in her armor as her body and spirit collapsed. The succubi stopped their tickling and sulked in disappointment. Liana was a complete wreck, but she had done it.

“Oh, Liana,” Val beamed at her as she focused on stifling her giggling and putting her mind back together. “Such a great start. With a performance like this, you’ll be a master sorceress in no time.”

Liana silently smiled in her armor and stared in satisfaction at the five lines of text glowing blue on the blackboard. She struggled to catch her breath and occasionally squirmed as an annoyed succubus stamped a tiny foot in anger.

“”Well,” Val continued. “We’ve got plenty of time left, so let’s move on from the beginner’s round to the intermediate.”

Val waved a dainty hand and the chalk board erased itself. New words then appeared: “Lusty Liana likes licking lovely ladies’ luscious labia by the lakeside” repeated ten times.

“Begin,” Val commanded.


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Chapter 5: Final Exam


Val continued to put Liana through her lessons for month after month. These lessons would always involve Liana tickled to distraction and either screaming in ecstasy or held at the edge of orgasm until she was begging for it, only to be denied release. As humiliating as the lessons were, though, Liana knew they were making her stronger than she could have ever dreamed. She had learned to unleash and control a power beyond that of even sorcerers with centuries of experience. Other lessons taught her speed, improvisation, guile, deception, and a dozen other skills her vile teacher Denethor had neglected. On her own, back in the tower, Liana worked to refine this demonic power with her own studies. Together with her innate talent and imagination, the time she spent with Val had made her vastly more powerful. She could not believe, after all the years of maddeningly slow progress with Denethor, that just a few months would make such a difference.

When she reported to Val once again for her lesson, she was brimming with confidence. As she made the familiar passage between worlds, she grew wet with anticipation wondering what torments Val would have in store for her. As the Netherworld took form, Liana found Val standing before her in a small unadorned room.

“Please disrobe,” said Val simply. Liana complied with resignation.

“So, what’s the lesson for today?” Liana asked with trepidation.

“No lesson today,” said Val.

“Then why did you ask me to get undressed?” Liana asked in confusion.

“I just like seeing your hot body,” said the demoness with a lusty wink.

Liana rolled her eyes and retrieved her discarded robe. She had grown used to the demon’s perverse sense of humor. “Okay,” she asked, cinching up her robe. “What’s up?”

“You’ve finished your last lesson,” said Val. “You’ve mastered all the skills I can teach you. Now it’s time for your final exam. Pass this and your training will be complete.”

“Okay,” said Liana. “What do I have to do?”

“You wanted to be able to fight back against the other wizards,” Val replied. “I say you’re ready. You just need to show me you can do it. You need to win a magical duel.”

“All right,” said Liana, confident in her abilities. “Who do I fight?”

“I think you know,” said Val.

“Mersena,” replied Liana with disgust. She had shared with Val the humiliation she had suffered at Mersena’s hands. And she realized there was no better way to test her new-found skills.

“Go to her, defeat her, and bring her back here,” Val commanded. “Give her what she deserves. Show me you can break her and your training will be complete.”

“What about her family?” Liana asked, troubled. “Even if I can take her out, I can’t handle all of them.”

“Don’t worry,” Val replied soothingly. “I’ll take care of them.”

Liana smiled, for the first time really looking forward to one of her lessons. With a snap of her fingers, Val sent Liana temporarily back into the real world. She realized as the Netherworld dematerialized and the real world took its place that she was not in her own tower but in an unfamiliar dining hall. The redheaded sorceress Mersena sat to supper, attended by team of spirits. She looked up with a start fixing her gaze on Liana.

“How did you get in here, you impudent peasant?” she shrieked.

“I let myself in,” Liana replied.

Mersena rose, sending her spirit servants scattering. “Some people have no class,” she sniffed haughtily. “I suppose you want revenge. A duel, perhaps?”

“Right,” Liana said evenly. “A nice wizard’s duel.”

Mersena replied: “You should have had enough sense to keep hiding in your tower. Last time we met, I was just having a little harmless fun. This time, I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t forget.”

The attack was sudden and fierce. Mersena let fly with a potent fireball directly at Liana. Liana felt the power well up within her and formed it into a shield that harmlessly turned the fireball aside. Mersena responded with stream of arcane chants and dramatic gestures, calling forth a rain of attacks: lightening, flying swords, poison clouds, and a dozen other standard attack spells. Liana felt the attacks strike her magical shield one after another but it was like being hit with puffs of air. Mersena’s attacks were utterly feeble compared to Liana’s defense. Tiring of the onslaught, Liana turned her power outwards, sending forth a burst of energy that knocked Mersena on her back. She followed up with a furious barrage of attacks. She could see Mersena throwing up one defense after another as Liana easily swept each aside. Mersena struggled to think of other spells and chants, defenses that could hold off Liana’s attack or offenses that could take her out. Liana did not need to think, though. The magic flowed easily, almost subconsciously, at her command. She had a defense for every offense and an offense for every defense faster than Mersena could get out the words to her chants. Liana wore away relentlessly at the pretty redhead’s strength until she was nearly exhausted. As Liana looked with a wizard’s eyes and Mersena, she could see Mersena’s magical core, the center of her power, like a flickering candle flame within her. And Liana felt her own mind reach out and snuff out that flame, leaving Mersena powerless. The battered redhead felt her power drain away and looked up pleadingly at her blond adversary towering above her. She saw no mercy in Liana’s cold blue eyes as, with a snap of her finger, she sent Mersena into unconsciousness.

*****

Mersena awoke on the cold stone floor of a featureless, windowless room. She was aware of two figures standing over her: Liana and the stunning form of her demon mentor, Val. Liana had brought both of them back to the Netherworld to show Val her prize. Mersena felt with terror that her magic was still gone, leaving her essentially defenseless.

Liana addressed Val: “I defeated her. Easily, I might add. She was so pitiful and weak.”

Mersena was ready to protest but thought the better of it and kept silent.

“So,” Liana continued. “Have I have passed your lessons?”

“Not so fast, missy,” Val scolded. “You’ve bested her, but you haven’t broken her. You might beat a pathetic opponent like this,” she said, stressing the word “pathetic,” “but against a serious foe you will need to show no mercy.”

“What do you mean?” Liana said.

“You need to show me that you won’t hold back,” Val replied. “Make her suffer. Make her sorry she ever messed with you. Show me and her that anyone who goes against you is making the worst mistake of her life.”

The thought seemed delicious to Liana, still angry and resentful over her humiliation at Mersena’s hands during her initiation into the Guild. She was also confused, though. She badly wanted revenge but was not at heart a cruel person. She realized she was not quite sure what to do. Seeing her hesitation, Val continued: “Haven’t I shown you how to make someone suffer?”

With a dramatic flourish, Val conjured a small table topped with an assortment of brushes and feathers. Liana took the hint, picked up a brush, and smiled evilly at the frightened redhead.

Mersena tried to get to her feet and run, but with a thought Liana drained her limbs of their strength and Mersena crumpled back to the floor. A wave of Liana’s hand caused Mersena’s garments to shred themselves into scrap, leaving the redhead completely naked.

“Please, Liana,” she pleaded, unable to move. “I’m sorry! Have mercy!”

“Be silent!” Liana shouted and Mersena felt her voice drain away. She tried to shout and plead but no sound came forth.

Liana knelt down next to the helpless redhead and smiled tenderly for a moment. She reached down and took hold of Mersena’s right wrist, then moved it gently above her head. She did the same for the other wrist then repositioned each of Mersena’s ankles to leave her legs spread and her sex exposed. The evil grin returned to Liana’s face as she took the brush to Mersena’s body.

Liana started on her belly, teasing slowly at first. She could see Mersena’s face tense up even while her body lay limp. Liana soon picked up the pace, probing harder. Liana’s other hand joined in, scratching lightly over the exposed belly then digging into the belly button. Mersena’s face was bright red, her silent mouth clearly trying to force out a laughter that could not escape.

Val looked on with approval then spoke to Liana: “That’s a good start, but it’s hardly what I’d call `no mercy.’ You’re a sorceress. Use it!”

Liana looked at Mersena with a wizard’s eyes. With Mersena’s magical defenses stripped away, she was easily manipulated by Liana’s power. She saw into Mersena’s body and amplified the sensitivity of her skin, raising her to an insane level of ticklishness. She decided to test it out by running a single fingernail along the helpless girl’s bikini line. Her head flailed wildly as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Her mouth erupted in a silent scream. Liana smiled with satisfaction.

Liana returned to the table and selected two soft feathers, then took a new place at Mersena’s feet. Mersena looked at her with pleading eyes, desperately mouthing pleas of mercy. Liana ignored her and brought the feathers to Mersena’s feet. At a single stroke on each foot, Mersena’s eyes rolled back in her head at the intensity of the sensation. She was near to passing out, but Liana mentally caught her consciousness slipping away and anchored it back in place. She continued dusting the soles up and down relentlessly as the red-faced Mersena silently pleaded for it to stop. For long minutes Liana continued, feathers dusting from soles to toes, then pulled back and forth between the toes, before returning to the long maddening strokes of the sole. Mersena was going out of her mind but could not protest.

“Much better,” Val said. “But still not good enough. You’re just toying with her.”

Liana dropped the feathers then repositioned herself further up Mersena’s body. The redhead’s chest was heaving in silent gasps and she was covered in sweat. Liana’s eyes sparkled as she once again as she used her magic to ramp up the helpless sorceress’s ticklishness to even greater heights. Mersena could feel it happening even without Liana touching her, as her skin began to crawl from the sensation. She looked at Liana with terror as Liana reached down and dug her fingernails into Mersena’s pits. If Mersena could have moved, she would have clamped her arms down with enough force to tear them out of her sockets. As it was, though, her limbs were completely inert and she could only lie there and take it. She was going out of her mind with the unbelievable intensity. Liana dug, probed, and scratched at the pits, Mersena acutely feeling every tiny hair Liana disturbed. The tortured girl helplessly wet herself as Liana continued without pause. Mersena was completely consumed, body and soul, by the incredible tickling.

“Even better,” Val shouted encouragingly. “But I think you’re capable of so much more. No mercy!”

Chastened, Liana got up and returned to the table. She retrieved a single stiff brush and took a seat between Mersena’s legs. She reached into Mersena’s body once more, pushing the ticklishness beyond anything imaginable, to the peak a human mind could experience and beyond. Mersena’s face was contorted in helpless laughter, her body so sensitive she was being tickled out of her mind even with nothing touching her. Liana looked on with satisfaction, Val’s encouragement still ringing in her ears. She brought the brush to Liana’s pussy and got to work. The redhead’s body lay completely limp, but the expressions that crossed her face were inhuman. One second, her eyes were bugging out of her head and the next they were clamped shut as tears poured out uncontrollably. Her mouth twisted in a mixture of scream, plea, and mad grimace. She shook her head back and forth in helpless insanity. Liana continued mercilessly, glorying in her revenge. She could feel the anger and humiliation draining away from her as she took her revenge on the immobile young woman’s glistening red mound. It felt absolutely delicious.

Finally, Liana realized, her thirst for revenge had been slaked. The desire to make her rival suffer drained away and she dropped the brush and stood up. With a thought, she released the tormented redhead from the paralysis, muteness, and heightened sensitivity. The pale, sweat-drenched body shook uncontrollably. Mersena’s face remained contorted in a mad smile from ear-to-ear, her eyes wide but focused on nothing. A constant stream of insane giggling erupted from her throat.

“Wonderful, Liana,” Val praised her, beaming at her protégé. “I knew you could do it!”

Liana looked down at her broken rival and realized that she felt no satisfaction. “Great,” she sighed. “So I passed? I’m done?”

“You’re done,” the demoness confirmed. “You’ve learned everything I can teach you.”

“That’s swell,” Liana replied unenthusiastically.

“Don’t look so glum,” Val chided. “You’re a mighty wizard now. You’ve proven you can take a rival and destroy her. This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“What about her?” Liana asked, gesturing to the wreck of a young woman still twitching and giggling uncontrollably on the floor. “What happens when she recovers?”

“Oh, honey,” Val replied dismissively. “She’s not going to recover.”

“What?!” Liana asked with a start. “What do you mean she’s not going to recover?”

Val replied matter-of-factly: “You can’t push a mortal that far and expect to have an intact human mind left when you’re done. More mild trauma, you might be able to heal by wiping the day’s memories from her. But something like this cuts past memory into the deepest recesses of the mind. She’ll be like this for the rest of her life.”

Liana stared at the mad, giggling creature on the floor in horror.

“Maybe you could wipe the whole mind and put in a new one,” Val offered. “It wouldn’t really be her anymore, but maybe it would be an improvement. Hell, we can put a cat’s mind into her and make a nice pet of her. With that hot little body of hers, I bet we’d both enjoy making her purr.”

Val laughed at the situation while Liana continued to stare in shock. Finally she turned on Val.

“I never wanted this!” she shouted.

“Of course you wanted it, dear,” Val shrugged. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have done it. You regret it. There’s a difference.”

“What’s her family going to do when they find out she’s missing or, worse, a mindless, giggling idiot?” Liana asked.

“I imagine they’ll kill you,” Val said simply. “Not quickly, either.”

“What?!” Liana shouted again. “You told me you’d take care of them! I trusted you!”

“Well, that was pretty stupid of you,” Val replied.

Liana was stunned, but Val just laughed it off. “Oh, don’t worry,” she replied, putting an arm on Liana’s shoulder. “I know what to do. I won’t take care of them, but we will.”


--------------------------------------


Chapter 6: Hatching a Plan


Liana was still in shock. Apart from the dawning horror of how she had destroyed her one-time rival, Mersena DeFarge, Liana was in terror over what the rest of the DeFarge clan would do to her once they found out. They were the most powerful of the wizarding families. For all her newfound power, Liana doubted she could hold her own against even one really ancient and learned wizard. The DeFarge family had dozens and every one of them would be after her when they inevitably got to the bottom of what happened to their young relative.

“I have a plan,” Val assured her confidently. “Just do as I say and everything will be all right.”

“Okay,” said Liana. “And what do you say to do?”

“First,” Val told her, “you have to have another duel. “You need to battle Malachai DeFarge just as you did Mersena and bring him here.”

Liana shivered at the name. Malachai DeFarge was the patriarch of the DeFarge family, an ancient wizard of incredible power. Even the president of the Wizard’s Guild with the whole Guild council behind him would not dare to pick a fight with Malachai.

“You said I would be the mightiest wizard in the world,” responded Liana. “Am I?”

“No,” said Val plainly. “Not yet. You’ve learned to use your power to its peak and that makes you far stronger than you were. But it takes centuries for a wizard to build up her power. Even with perfect mastery of what you have, there are others with much more power who could still defeat you easily.”

“Including Malachai DeFarge,” said Liana wryly.

“Yes,” Val replied. “Including Malachai DeFarge. But if you don’t fight him and win, the DeFarge clan will destroy you.”

“And how am I supposed to fight him and win?” Liana protested.

“There is a way,” said Val conspiratorially. “A shortcut, if you will. You see, it takes centuries to build up your power as a wizard, but I’ve got more power at my disposal than any wizard and I have a way to share it with you.”

“Go on,” Liana said warily.

“We can bond,” said Val. “It’s a kind of ritual for establishing a psychic link with a demon, a sort of demonic sex if you will. Our spirits will become entwined and I will become a part of you. You will have a permanent link to me and to the Netherworld and, with it, access to all of my power and more. It has to be consensual, though. You have to give yourself willingly.”

Liana was hesitant but sorely tempted. “And if I do this, then I will be the mightiest wizard in the world, like you promised? I’ll be able to defeat them?”

“Yes,” Val said. “You’ll be the mightiest. You’ll be able to defeat Malachai and with him out of the way, we’ll be able to defeat all of them.”

Liana thought long and hard. She was in over her head and scared about what this psychic link might involve, but she did not see another way out. Reluctantly, she concluded that she had no choice. “Okay,” she said to Val. “Let’s do this.”

Val embraced Liana and kissed her passionately. The kiss was incredible, wiping away Liana’s fears and doubts and igniting a fiery lust. As it continued, she felt the strange sensation of Val’s thoughts entering her own. With a momentary panic, she blocked it, keeping Val out of her mind. The deep kiss and Val’s wonderful embrace eased Liana’s fears, though, and she reminder herself that she had agreed to this. She allowed Val to penetrate her consciousness, her thoughts and feelings entangling themselves with Liana’s. As they did, Liana could feel a vast power connecting itself to her body. At last, Val broke the kiss and the embrace.

“Hello, sweetie,” Liana heard Val’s musical voice say to her, and she realized the voice was speaking from within her head.

*****

Liana stood back in her tower, savoring the feeling of Val’s presence. Val had explained that the bonding meant that they were linked wherever Liana went. Val was aware of everything Liana thought and experienced everything she saw, heard, or felt. The link also gave Liana the ability to tap Val’s formidable demonic power, even in the real world. It gave Val a limited ability to control Liana, as long as Liana wasn’t activity fighting her. Liana could feel the immense magical power accessible to her and it made her feel a strength and confidence she had never known. She was also aware of the great pleasure Val seemed to take from being in her body. Val delighted in groping Liana’s body with her own hands every time Liana’s attention wandered. As Liana stood in her tower lost in thought, she felt a sudden rush of pleasure in her nipples and realized her hands had moved up to pinch them teasingly and were now rolling them sensually between thumb and forefinger. “Damn it, Val,” she muttered under her breath, regaining control of her hands and releasing them.

“Sorry dear,” Val’s voice replied in her head. “It’s just so delicious being in a mortal body again and feeling all your wonderful sensations.”

“We’ve got work to do if I’m going to avoid getting killed,” Liana said sharply.

“Oh, you worry too much,” said Val, taking advantage of Liana’s distraction to give her butt a sharp goose.

*****

Getting to see Malachai had not been as easy as getting to Mersena. One could not simply teleport into such a fearsome wizard’s home. Liana knew, however, that she needed to get to him before anyone figured out Mersena was missing. Under Val’s advice, Liana tried the direct route: she sent Malachai a letter asking for an audience. Ordinarily, he would not have deigned to reply to someone so far beneath him in stature, but Liana’s request intrigued him. Every wizard knew of Liana’s humiliation at her induction ceremony. Malachai figured she was probably coming to him as head of the family to ask for his protection from future assaults by Mersena and her kin. He had no intention of granting it. He, too, despised upstarts like Liana who tried to enter the Guild from outside the established families. He saw them as low-class trash unworthy of being sorcerers. Still, he thought it would be amusing to see her grovel before him. And, he figured, he might enjoy some magical sport of his own at Liana’s expense. He responded to Liana’s letter with an invitation to appear before him.

Liana knew her time was limited and in short order had made the journey to Malachai’s fortress. She was soon shown in to see him. Anticipating some private fun, he had arranged to meet her in a secluded hall and instructed the servants to leave them alone. She entered the hall to find him lounging on an ornate throne on a dais raised above her. He was over five centuries old and looked it, a long grey beard trailing down over a skeletal body partially concealed by an ornate robe. His steely gaze, though, betrayed a sharp and malevolent intellect. As Liana entered the hall and the door was closed behind her, the venerable wizard spoke.

“Welcome to my hall,” he intoned. “It is nice to see you, even if I’m not getting to see as much as I did at your initiation. I suppose you’re here to ask for protection from my family.”

“Not exactly,” Liana said evenly.

“Oh?” the old wizard asked. “You want compensation for Mersena’s little prank? An apology, perhaps? Whatever it is, I suggest you start by getting down on your knees and asking nicely.”

“I already took my compensation and my apology from Mersena,” Liana responded sharply.

Malachai laughed dismissively. “Really? If you’re telling the truth, I suggest you start begging for mercy now. And if you’re lying, well, I guess you can start begging for mercy anyway.”

Liana concentrated and summoned a barrier around the room, isolating the two of them and ensuring no one outside would hear a sound from within the room. Sensing the spell, Malachai laughed again.

“You dare to practice your pitiful magic in my domain? Perhaps Mersena was too lenient with you, but I will not be.” he asked. He rose from his throne, eyes gleaming evilly and advanced on Liana.

Liana felt Val’s power burning within her and focused it into a potent lightning bolt directed at the wizard. Somehow, it veered aside and struck the wall. Malachai countered with a hail of energy. Liana was able to call forth a protective shield and block most of the attack. She tried again with cascading beams of energy, but the wizard was simply elsewhere when the beam reached where he should have been. Again, he responded, this time with sharp needles that seemed to erupt from the space around Liana. She blocked most, but a few penetrated her defenses and left her smarting, although not seriously hurt. Again and again she tried to strike at Malachai, but he proved a far more difficult adversary than Mersena had been. Although the link to Val gave her far more raw power than even Malachai could handle, he was cunning and wise beyond her years. Fighting him was like trying to grasp a slippery eel, his deceptively agile mind and years of experience keeping him always one step ahead. She simply was not hurting him and he was very slowly wearing her down. For all the confidence Val’s power had given her, Liana knew she was losing the battle.

From within her mind, Val’s voice echoed: “Don’t worry, Sweetie. I’ve got this.”

Liana felt Val pushing to take control of her mind and body and Liana let go, allowing it to happen. She could feel her body moving under Val’s direction. At the same time, she could feel the magic being focused through her, Val’s mind twisting it in directions Liana could not have imagined. If Malachai had centuries of experience, Val had millennia at least. Under her direction, the raw power Liana commanded was suddenly matched to a cunning intellect at least as strong as Malachai’s. Liana watched through her own eyes as if it were a play going on around her as suddenly the attacks started scoring and Malachai’s started failing. The tide of the battle began to turn as Liana recovered and Malachai was gradually worn down. To Liana, the battle seemed epic, although in reality it was just a few minutes before Val had managed to dismantle Malachai’s defenses, wear down his strength, and send him sprawling to the floor.

The ancient wizard tried to struggle to his feet. He growled at her, for the first time sounding like the feeble old man he appeared to be: “It’s impossible. No wizard could master such power so quickly.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet, old man,” Liana said with a grin, and she realized it was Val speaking through her.

Malachai focused a penetrating gaze on Liana and his face seemed to fall in disbelief. “What have you done, you foolish girl?!” he roared.

At that moment, while Liana was momentarily distracted by the pained look in the old wizard’s eyes, Val summoned a blast of tremendous power from her hands. It struck the old wizard, causing him to gasp and finally fall unconscious. Liana, impelled by Val, moved to the motionless body and placed a hand on him. With her link to Val, Liana now had a direct route to the Netherworld and simply willed herself and Malachai into Val’s realm. The two of them found themselves in what appeared to be a torture chamber, the real Val standing at wait for them.

Val smiled sweetly at Liana and said, “Very nice work, Liana, very nice. I can take it from here. You’ve had a long day, so you go rest while I see to our guest. Come back in the morning and we can get started on phase two.”

Liana slipped away back into her own world, while Val looked down on the unconscious old wizard, a sinister smile on her face.

*****

Back in her tower, Liana was lost in thought. She was thrilled by the events of the day, but deeply troubled by how quickly things were spiraling out of her control. Val whispered soothing thoughts in her head, urging her to stop worrying so much and just enjoy her newfound powers. As Liana slipped into bed, she had to struggle to keep her hands from roaming her body under Val’s control. It annoyed her at first, but she could not deny that the little tickles and teases Val could sneak through felt wonderful. After so many months of subjecting Liana to daily tickling and sexual delight, Val knew exactly how to touch her to make Liana melt. Before long, Liana was no longer fighting Val. Liana could not tickle herself, but apparently someone else controlling her hands could, and between playful tickles and sensual strokes, she soon found herself in ecstasy. As Val used one hand to alternately tickle and tweak a nipple, the other was buried in her snatch. Liana was not even sure second-to-second whether she was masturbating or Val was masturbating her, but she lost count of how many explosive orgasms her hands teased out of her. Her worries were washed away and she drifted off into a haze of erotic dreams as Val continued to tease her in her sleep.


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Chapter 7: No Way Out


The next morning, at Val’s mental invitation, Liana returned to Val’s domain in the Netherworld. It was a simple matter now that she and Val were psychically bonded. She found herself back in the torture chamber in which she had left Val the night before. Val stood next to her. On a table in the center of the room was a man wrapped nearly head-to-toe in cloth bandages. All that was left exposed were his eyes and genitals. Mummified as he was, he could barely wiggle, much less move, although a few cords held him to the table. A pretty succubus stood by his side, huge bat wings draped like a cloak over an otherwise nude body. His eyes stared up at her pleadingly, but her attention was focused entirely on his crotch. In one hand she held a brush that she used to teasingly tickle his shaft and balls. The other hand grasped his engorged member while one fingernail tickled maddeningly at the tip of his glans. The man writhed horribly, as much as his bondage allowed, but it did not permit him any escape.

“I’m sure you remember Malachai DeFarge,” Val said, gesturing to the mummy. “Before I met you, I might have just flayed his skin off or something. I’ve got to admit, though, you’ve really given me a taste for this tickling thing.”

“Is this part of the plan?” Liana asked. “Or just some entertainment for you?”

“A bit of both,” Val replied with a smile. “We do need his agreement to get the next phase of the plan in order. You brought him here completely unprepared for the Netherworld, though, and that means we can pretty much do whatever we want to him to make him more compliant.”

“And what have you done to him?” Liana asked with morbid curiosity.

“Pretty much just what you’re seeing,” said Val, pointing to the succubus and the torturous attention she was giving the wizard’s cock. “I’ve played with his perception of time, though, so it seems to him that he’s been tickled out of his mind and held on the edge of orgasm for years instead of hours. At this point, he’ll do anything I ask.”

“So what happens now?” Liana prompted.

“Now,” Val replied, “I get one of my brothers to bond with him and put him under our control. It’s not as effective when they aren’t really willing, not like having a real partner like you, but he’ll be a useful puppet. Then he becomes the bait to lure in the rest of his clan while you and I become the trap we spring on them. One by one, we’ll draw them in, defeat them, and turn them into our playthings until there is no more DeFarge family to worry about.”

Liana had her doubts about the wisdom and the morality of this, but could not see any alternative. At any rate, with Val bonded to her, she had no private thoughts of her own. She could not even think about backing out without Val being aware of it. With some trepidation, she went along with Val’s plan.

*****

Val’s plan to take down the DeFarge family unfolded beautifully. None would dare refuse a summons from Malachai DeFarge, now a helpless puppet for one of Val’s demon brothers. Each time a new wizard arrived, he or she would find Liana instead, a practically unbeatable opponent now that she could draw on Val’s power and expertise. Liana took the basic precaution of hiding her appearance for these encounters, in case someone was to escape, but none ever did. One-by-one, they ended up defeated, rendered helpless, and shipped to Val’s realm in the Netherworld to be coerced into accepting a demonic possession. Finally, they were returned to the mortal world as Val’s servants. Val’s lair had become a ticklers paradise and ticklees hell, with every day a fresh supply of DeFarges on hand, tightly bound and mercilessly tickle-tortured by Val and her staff of succubi.

Liana was disturbed by the increasing scope of Val’s reign of terror, but she saw no choice other than to continue. At the same time, she felt a certain relief that Val’s plan seemed to be working. They might actually get away with it before the remaining DeFarges could figure out what was going on and band together to fight back. Liana also realized she herself was continuing to get stronger. The practice she got from the many duels was increasing her skill to the point that she rarely needed Val to actively take control of her body and magic, even to defeat wizards with centuries more experience than her own. All she needed was her own skills and access to the nearly limitless magical power source that bonding to Val had given her.

Liana’s off-time was also a mixture of blessing and curse. When Val did not have her fighting, she never seemed to grow tired of exploring the world of sensation being linked to a human body gave her. Liana could not let her attention wander for a second without finding her hand in her crotch or manipulating her in some other embarrassing way. Val constantly whispered dirty thoughts in Liana’s mind and she repeatedly had to remind herself that these were Val’s desires and not her own. Too often she would simply give in and let Val take over and subject her body to a torrent of tickling, teasing, and sexual stimulation until she was utterly spent. Val also delighted in every other sensual experience imaginable, whether fine food, wine, music, or whatever bizarre pleasures she might have just conjured up. For Liana, the experience of carrying Val around in her mind was both exhilarating and exhausting. Liana’s interactions with Val’s growing army of puppet wizards suggested that the other demons got similar enjoyment from riding in mortal bodies. Whenever a possessed puppet was not actively working for Val’s plan, it seemed to be absolutely devoted to experiencing all the pleasures a human body could feel.

*****

At long last, it was done. Liana defeated the last DeFarge, a fetching raven-haired sorceress named Raelia, and delivered her to Val’s realm. As Raelia’s limp body was handed off to a succubus to begin her torment, Liana greeted Val.

“I can’t believe it,” Liana said. “We actually did it. We actually beat the most powerful clan in the wizarding world.”

“You were the key,” said Val, embracing Liana and kissing her affectionately. “Without your help, I could never have gotten a foothold in the mortal world. And without so talented a host, I could never have channeled the magics needed to make this victory possible.”

Liana blushed. “You’ve taught me well,” she replied modestly.

“From here on,” Val continued, “it should get easier. With the DeFarges in our control, we’re prepared to move on the Guild. A few more strategically placed possessions and we’ll be able to turn the Guild itself into our recruiting arm. Then it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the wizards fall. And then the world is ours.”

“What do you mean?” Liana asked, puzzled. “Why would we go after the Guild? The whole point of this was to keep the DeFarges from taking revenge for Mersena. We don’t need anyone else.”

“Oh, honey,” Val said with a laugh. “Did you really think that’s all this was? My kind have been cooped up here for millennia. We’re not going to pass up a chance to get out of here and enjoy your delicious mortal bodies. With the wizards out of the way, the world will be our playground.”

“I thought you were trying to help me!” Liana cried. “This wasn’t part of our deal!”

“Sweetie,” Val said, an amused glimmer in her eye, “who did you think you were dealing with? I’m a demon queen. You know I love playing with you, but there’s a whole world out there to enjoy.”

“You can’t do this!” Liana shouted, angry and hurt. “I won’t let you!”

Val laughed dismissively before continuing: “What are you complaining about, Liana? You’re going to be empress of the whole human race. Or, at any rate, we are. And besides, you can hardly stop me.”

“Those possessed slaves can’t wield the kind of power I can,” Liana challenged her. “I can refuse to cooperate anymore. You can’t finish this without my cooperation.”

“You and I are already bonded, honey,” Val responded. “You can’t undo it unless I allow it. You may be the dominant partner now, but I never rest. I can wait until you’re asleep and put a spell of ticklishness on you so potent you’ll be begging to do anything I say.”

Liana felt utterly trapped and beaten. Enslaving a family to protect herself, especially one so wicked, was one thing. Selling out all of humanity was another. But she simply could not see any way to beat Val.

Sensing Liana’s acceptance of the inevitable, Val softened. “Cheer up, Liana,” she cooed. “Let’s not let this get in the way of our friendship. You know I love you. How about a little fun, for old time’s sake?”

With that, Val produced a feather and eyed Liana with a lusty grin. She snapped her fingers and Liana’s robe disappeared as an iron X-frame materialized out of thin air to grip Liana and hold her bound. As angry and frightened as Liana was, she felt her libido firing up as her mind flashed to the memory of all of the erotic tickling sessions Val had put her through.

And then, suddenly, she saw an answer. Liana yanked herself out of the Netherworld and quickly started making preparations.

*****

Back in her bedroom, Liana conjured a series of magical feathers and brushes, lay down on her bed, still nude, and summoned magical bonds to tie her in place. In her mind, Val was growing frantic:

“You can’t fight me, Liana,” Val’s enchanting voice commanded in her head. “I am eternal. You need to accept this.”

Liana could hear fear in Val’s voice for the first time and it gave Liana confidence. Liana knew that Val could read her thoughts and see what she was planning. If Val was scared, then Liana knew her plan might work. Liana focused her magic and the feathers and brushes rose in the air and flew towards her bound and naked body.

“You feel everything I feel,” Liana said to the voice in her head. “And it’s all new to you. I’ve been in a human body a lot longer than you have. I’m willing to bet I can take more than you can. So get out of my mind or I’ll force you out!”

“You can’t threaten me, Liana,” Val cautioned, but still Liana could hear the fear in her thoughts.

With a thought, Liana sent the tickling implements to work. Two fluffy ostrich feathers attacked her feet and two short stiff crow feathers worked her armpits, while a peacock feather lightly played over her stomach. Soft paint brushes attacked her nipples and inner thighs while a stiff narrow brush assaulted her ass-crack. She cringed at the powerful tickling she had inflicted on herself, but gritted her teeth and took it because she knew Val was feeling it too.

“Stop it!” Val shrieked in her head. “This isn’t going to work! Just cut it out now and we can forget this ever happened!”

Liana knew Val was in torment because she was herself. “Leave now or it’s going to get a lot worse,” Liana commanded.

“Never!” Val retorted. “With the whole world in my grasp, I’m not letting a little tickling stop me.”

In her mind, Liana could feel Val trying to get past her defenses and use Liana as a conduit for her own magic. Liana was determined, though, and carefully shot down every impulse Val tried to throw at her. With all the focus she could spare, Liana commanded more implements to join the tickling. Stiff brushes joined the feathers at her feet, the hard bristles digging in between her toes while the soft ostrich feathers lightly brushed her soles. Tickly little down feathers flew out to draw maddening patterns over her breasts while the brushes more rapidly attacked her nipples. The brush in her ass crack was joined by a stiff turkey feather in her rectum causing her eyes to water with the maddening tickling. The intense tickling was making it hard to hold her concentration and keep Val from using her own magic, but Liana fought furiously to hold out.

“Stop!” Val screamed in her mind. “Please stop! We’re friends, Liana! I love you! Just stop!”

With all the strength she could muster, Liana focused her magic on her own body, heightening her own sensitivity to tickling. The tickling sensation went from intense to nearly unbearable. Val continued shrieking in her mind, begging her to reconsider all while probing relentlessly for some break in Val’s concentration she could use to gain control. She had taught Liana too well, though, and her will did not faulter.

Liana had one last ace left to play: her most tickling spot. She summoned one last tiny brush and sent it hurtling towards her pussy. It found her clit and began a maddening dance over the exquisitely sensitive organ. With her magically heightened ticklishness, the sensation was driving her out of her mind. She knew she was cracking and could only pray that Val was cracking faster. Val, too, was too tormented to even think straight anymore. Liana felt her resolve weakening, though, and did not think she could hold out much longer.

And then, suddenly, she felt a change. She could feel Val disengaging from her mind, the tendrils of Val’s thoughts separating from her own. Her link to Val’s demonic power broke off and she could feel an emptiness inside herself as the power was lost to her. In seconds, every trace of Val was gone from her mind. In a massive wave of relief, Liana dispelled the tickling, released her magical bonds, and sagged breathlessly in her bed. Val had broken their bond and was now trapped back in the Netherworld. As Liana caught her breath, she felt incredible relief to be free of Val’s influence. She also felt a deep longing, and not just for the power she had lost.

*****

Liana knew she needed to move quickly. Catching her breath and throwing on a robe, she hurried to a magic mirror she could use to contact the authorities at the Wizard’s Guild. She warned them of the plot and the demonically controlled DeFarge family. While they were skeptical, she was able to provide enough details to convince them. She was not quite ready to come clean about her own role, but she was able to spin a convincing enough tale of a narrow escape from a demonically influenced Malachai DeFarge to make it all seem plausible. Although she was no longer the world’s mightiest wizard without Val’s magic behind her, Liana could still bullshit with the best of them.

The whole might of the wizarding world was quickly organized to stamp out the threat. Although numerous, the demonic puppets were no match for the combined forces of the Guild. Every demonically-possessed DeFarge was tracked down and defeated. Most were freed of their possession. A few were killed while others, including Malachai, were forced to the Netherworld never to return. The Guild investigators concluded that the power-hungry Malachai must have grown dissatisfied with even his own great influence and foolishly tried to bargain with the demon world for even more. Fortunately for Liana, no one but Malachai and Mersena could have identified her as the real source of the invasion and they were gone forever. The DeFarge family largely survived but was permanently disgraced by their role in the near-catastrophe. As for the mysterious sorceress who had captured most of them and delivered them to the Netherworld, the leading theory was that it must have been Mersena, whose disappearance was never explained.

*****

When it was finally done, Liana returned to her tower in relief. Her humiliation of so many months before was forgotten as she was celebrated as a hero. She should have been ecstatic to finally have the respect she had always craved, but now she just wanted to rest.

Passing by her laboratory on the way to her bedroom, she was shocked to hear Val’s familiar voice calling to her. She ducked in to see Val’s angelic face in her magic mirror looking at her forlornly. Val must have been using the last vestiges of the portal Liana had opened to the Netherworld in order to get through one last message.

“We were such a great team, Liana,” the image of Val said to her sadly.

“Yeah,” said Liana bitterly. “We were a great team. Until I found out you were using me.”

“I think you enjoyed it almost as much as I did,” Val said slyly.

“It wasn’t all bad,” Liana allowed.

“How about giving it one more go?” Val asked, brandishing a fluffy feather and waving it tantalizingly in the air while a devilish grin played on her lips. Liana felt her nipples harden and her pussy involuntarily moisten at the thought of what Val could do to her with that feather.

“Good bye, Val,” said Liana and she tapped the mirror, breaking off the connection and severing the last link to the Netherworld.


--------------------------------------


Chapter 8: Looking Back


The president of the Guild of Wizards reclined in the bedroom of her tower. Liana the Good, as she was known, was ready to unwind after a long day at work. Although many years had passed since she had become a wizard, she had still chosen to retain her youthful looks. Her celebration as the hero of the great demon scare had been only the beginning of a meteoric rise to the heights of the wizarding world. Ancient mages had marveled at the extraordinary skill showed by a wizard who had just barely managed to join the Guild only a few months before. Soon they were taking lessons from her. Her talents were joined by what all saw as a formidable strength of spirit and wisdom beyond her years. As she continued to grow in knowledge and renown, Liana gained a reputation as a great reformer. She helped bring about a new focus on recruiting and nurturing young talent to the Guild. At the same time, she called the wizards down from their isolated towers, bringing their magical powers to bear in service of society. Liana’s eventual ascension to the leadership of the Guild was regarded by many as the dawn of a Golden Age for wizards and common people alike.

This night, though, she just needed a little personal time. At a wave of her hand, the door to her bedroom opened. A busty brunette in a tight leather corset and miniskirt walked through the door carrying a large handbag. The woman stood at attention as Liana focused a powerful magical gaze on her, penetrating right through her, mind and body. Satisfied with what she saw, Liana bid the woman to make herself comfortable.

“I wouldn’t normally allow such liberties from a client,” the woman said. “But for someone of your stature, I can make allowances.”

“It’s for your protection as much as mine,” Liana told the woman. “Even I have enemies and I need to be absolutely certain you can be trusted so I can temporarily disable my magic. You wouldn’t want me accidentally incinerating you in a moment of passion.”

“It would make the whole domination thing a bit hard,” the woman allowed. She had opened her bag and was spreading various implements out on a nightstand: feathers, brushes, some little jars of powders and oils, leather restraints, and a few devices even Liana did not recognize.

“The Guild of Pleasurers trains you ladies so well,” Liana said to the woman, “sometimes I think you’re the real wizards. Anyway, I’ve placed a magical collar by the bedside. When you put it on me, it will leave me powerless until you remove it or I say the safeword.”

“Good to know. Are you ready to begin?” asked the dominatrix, brandishing the restraints as Liana shed her robe and climbed on her bed.

“Just one more request,” said Liana with a shy smile. She reached into a nightstand drawer and produced a couple of items. They looked like pieces from an actor’s costume: a pair of little horns with a head strap to hold them in place and a thin, barbed tail with a fastener to hook it to the back of a skirt. “Could you wear these?”

“Of course,” said the dominatrix, as she put on the horns and tail and began securing Liana to the bed.

Great work, went back and read your previous two stories. The fastasy scenarios and the use of tickling as a domination tool work really well. Hope you keep going.

Good work.

Thanks for the compliments. I thought a magic scenario would be a chance to be more creative about the tickling scenes. I'm glad to hear it was appreciated.

wow this was amazing ! hope to read more

Excellent story here indeed. The world and setting is interesting, writing very well done and the tickling id very erotic. Nice story to it all as well which makes it a really good read. Fantastic bit of work all round from this.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I've enjoyed writing these. It's nice to hear someone else appreciates the effort.

nice story.

It took me a while to get through this, but what an amazing story!

I loved this story
I loved the fantasy concept!
And i loved the narrative and the plot!!

But i think that could be more /f denial... just like in "ML Nanothec"
by example, the /m denial in this story was very apropiated...


But its just my taste...
I very like your stories... they bright in this forum...

(sorry for my bad english)

I loved the story. I loved the characters, the details and descriptions. The tickling scenes are wonderful as well but it's certainly a beautiful story eitherway. You really showed so many sides to both the protagonists, that it left me wondering just who won exactly in the end. Truly beautiful. ^^

Wow this was an amazing story, can't believe i missed it.

Nice!

Fantasic piece ^^

Sogood!

Thanks! It's been a long time since I've written any tickling fiction, but it's nice to see there are still people enjoying my stories.