Altar of Power
Here is another upload! I tried to add a dash more plot/character interaction in this one. Normally I just focus most my energy into the Transformation or Bondage or whatever. Feel free to tell me how I did but it is Christmas so be kind! :)
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Baroness Olivia Gevensbirn sat behind a massive desk made of oak and topped with polished back stone. Various papers lay scattered across its surface mixed with a jumble of scrolls and note covered maps. Tall bookshelves lined the walls of the room. All of which were packed with works she found helpful or inspiring.
A day filled with paperwork and visiting dignitaries was finally coming to a close. It was a routine that had grown tiresome as she pushed into middle age but such was the price of her position. She had one more thing to do before she could retire for the evening. A last reread of the new import tax set to be implemented at the close of the month. She had promised the traders guild it would be done last week and while she appreciated their patience it would be in poor taste to make them wait any longer.
There was a knock on her door. An exasperated sigh before she snapped. "Enter!"
The door swept inwards and a guard stepped inside. "My apologies Lady Gevensbirn. Your guest is here."
"Guest?" She had no one else to see today. Of that she was certain. "Who?"
A new voice drifted through the door. Heavy with a southlands lands. "M'lady. How nice to meet you in person."
The creature who walked through the door was no man but an aberration parading as one. A coyote that walked on two legs and spoke like a person. Its body was covered in tan and brown fur with a scar that ran alongside its snout up to the left eye, which was milky white. The top half of its left ear was sliced in half. Stitched together by small silver piercings. It was hardly five feet tall and so slim it bordered on anemic. Over its thin frame hung colorfully dyed travelers clothing.
Her guard moved to intercept the creature's entrance but Olivia raised her hand. "Its alright. Please, give us some privacy."
The guard bowed. "Yes, M'lady." He shot the coyote a look of loathing as he pulled the door closed behind him.
The coyote smirked. "A pleasant fellow." He flopped into the chair in front of her desk. "The guard I mean."
"He does his duty." Olivia replied as she leaned back into her chair. She had no patience for the lesser races. They had no respect for anyone or anything. "Did you bring it?"
"Heard about you. Always do fair dealings." The coyote kicked his feet up on her desk. "But how do I kno-" His words turned into a gurgle as he was snared in Olivia's magic. His one good eye wide as an invisible grip squeezed him till the air was pressed from his lungs.
Olivia let him feel it for a few seconds before she spoke. "Feet down and answer my questions like a good dog. We both know I could just take this from you. Don't be stupid. Show it to me. Now."
With a dismissive gesture she released the coyote from her hold. He sucked in a breath then doubled over coughing. He did, at least, keep his feet on the floor as she had requested. As he recovered he fished a book out of his clothing. It was small and clad in unmarked leather. Olivia plucked the book from his hand with her magic and floated it into her own open palm. An old power radiated from the book and once opened she discovered its pages thick with forbidden knowledge. It was magically disguised so that any normal person would only see scribbles.
Her eyes remained on the book as she spoke. "How in the world did you come to possess this?"
The coyote coughed a few more times before he caught his breath. "I trade far and wide. An adventuring group sold this to me thinking it was nothing important. It was pure luck that I discovered its value."
Olivia closed the book and placed it on her desk. "Luck? Explain."
The coyote glanced at the book then cleared his throat. "Was using a magic lens to try and translate a scroll. The book was on the table and I noticed that, through the lens, I could see writing on the cover. So I tried looking through the pages with it and, well, found a lot of stuff I didn't understand. I figured it must be worth something. So here I am."
It was a perfectly reasonable story. Olivia made sure it was well known that she would pay fairly for magical artifacts and a Seeing Lens would certainly pick up what was hidden in the pages. What made it so delicious was the coyote had no idea what he had stumbled into. This was beyond any worth of gold. It was a key. A key that would unlock power beyond anything she could achieve in her lifetime.
"Yes, here you are." Olivia pulled a small pouch of coins from a desk drawer. "It is an excellent item. How does thirty gold coins sound?"
The coyote's eyes lit up at the sight of the pouch. "Yes. That sounds more than reasonable. Thank you. Umm, M'lady."
She tossed the pouch to him. "Now, begone."
The coyote left with its tail tucked between its legs. Olivia picked up the book, ran her fingers over the leather, turned it to see the glowing words hidden on the front. The Altar of Power. With this she could gain unimaginable strength. She could turn her city state into an empire. No one would stop her. Not even the dragons.
She forced herself to set it down. Unlocking the books secrets would take time and during that time all must appear normal so that her enemies wouldn't take notice. Which brought her back to the last of her paperwork. Where was she? Oh yes, the new import tax.
The Baroness began building the circle of power the very next day. The instructions within the book made it clear that, on her own, it would take decades to complete. So she sought out like minded mages willing to aid her in exchange for an honored place in her future empire. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months as the project progressed. Those she recruited, once prim and proper, now worked with a religious zeal. Their robes stained and fingers split. They only stopped for sleep and even then all they did was dream of the work ahead. Even Olivia found it hard to think of anything else. All the noise of her life as a Baroness seemed so meaningless. The only thing that mattered was that she complete the Circle.
Eventually, the time came.
"It's done." Olivia, who had worked through the day on her knees, got to her feet. She wore simple robes that bore the stains of countless hours of work. Her hair unkempt and her fingers blackened by inks. Small smears dotted an unwashed face. She was nearly unrecognizable as the person she had been months earlier. Around the room half a dozen others looked much the same.
Before her was the circle. At one hundred feet in diameter it stretched across the floor from wall to wall. Each mark, each line, carefully chiseled into the stone. Within it were several interlocking rings that overlapped with no logical pattern. Each ring was surrounded with thousands of tiny symbols filled in with gold. Larger markings spiraled towards the center of the ring, growing smaller as they went.
A wide smile as Olivia looked over the beauty they had created. "It's actually done."
One mage scratched at his own arms while shifting back and forth on his feet. "Let's use it. Use it now."
Everyone could feel it. Power. Even untapped, the Circle began to produce energy. It lapped at their feet in cool waves. Then built till it was flowing over their entire bodies. An invisible wind of magical energy that leaked from every line of the Circle. A hint at the power it would unleash when they activated it.
"Yes." Olivia breathed. "Let's use it now."
She walked to the head of the circle and stood at just the right point. With her arms outstretched she began the ritual. Words of magic poured from her lips and with each spoken phrase a section of the circle began to glow a dull red. The others watched as Olivia performed the ritual with speed and precision. All eager to see this last small step completed. As the final words of the ritual were uttered the Circle released a sound that could be heard to the farthest reaches of the city. Like the toll of some great demonic bell. An explosion of light followed that shook the room and sent all stumbling back. The energy released was so powerful it created a visual distortion. Like hot air rising from desert sands. Some laughed, some cheered but then all grew quiet. They could all feel it. Something was wrong.
One mage opposite Olivia fell to his knees and began to rip at his clothing. His body drenched in sweat. Another mage, a woman, screamed then collapsed to the ground. She writhed on the stones and clawed at the floor. Olivia looked around her in shock.
"What's happening?" She demanded. "Where is my power? Where is it?"
Nothing had changed. Her magic, already considerable, had not been enhanced. In fact it was the exact opposite. They felt muted. Trying to reach for them was like trying to pull a coin from sap. She ignored the plight of the others as she flew from the room. Rushing as fast as she could towards the halls of her castle. From ahead she heard shouts and screams. The sight that greeted her at the main hall brought her to an abrupt halt. Red light poured in through stained glass windows. A guard ran by in a panic, his weapon dropped with a clatter as he passed. Down the hall a servant writhed on the floor. Their clothing was shredded as if by claws and where skin should be Olivia saw red scales. The servant's head jerked around to look at Olivia. Slitted eyes stared at her over a face that was only partly human. With a shriek the servant took off down the hall and out of sight.
Olivia shook her head back and forth. "No, no, no! This isn't what I was promised." Her voice lifted to a scream. "This isn't right!"
"I see I'm just in time." A voice, heavy with a southlands accent, drifted to Olivia from a nearby chair. There sat a slender coyote dressed in colorful travelers clothing. Across the side of his snout was a long scar that stopped at a milky white eye.
Olivia sneered at the sight of a lesser species here in her castle but right now she had more pressing matters. "Silence mutt. I'll deal w-" A powerful magical grip locked her in place. It squeezed until the air was pushed from her lungs.
The coyote watched her struggle with a smirk splashed across his snout. Just as Olivias lungs began to burn, the pressure slackened. She sucked in a great gasp of air. A hand pressed against the wall to steady herself while she caught her breath.
Olivia recognized him now. "You! You're the one who brought me the book."
"That's me!" The coyote reached out to pull another nearby chair closer to him. Not to offer it to her but so that he could kick his feet up on it.
She tried to move but found her body stuck in place. "You're a mage?"
The coyote let out a bark of laughter. "No."
Down the hall more shouts echoed and then a scream. This brought Olivia back to the cold reality of the moment. "However you're holding me here and whatever your reason is for this visit. It can wait. Release me and I will fetch a teleport scroll from my study. We can leave together." She had no intention of taking the coyote with her but right now all that mattered was that he cooperate.
The coyote merely shrugged then canted his head to one side in canine fashion. "Why the rush?"
His complete lack of concern baffled her. He had to see what was going on. Had to know there was danger. A cold calm crept into her heart as it became clear. "You know what's happening don't you."
"Of course, M'lady. It's the end." The coyote's ear turned towards a monstrous shriek that echoed down the hall. "At least for you and your little city. The book, you see, was a trap. It infiltrates the minds of those it's exposed to. Tricks them into believing the book's instructions will bring them whatever they desire. The longer you're exposed to it the more potent its control. Until you no longer question anything. All you can think of, all you can do, is work to complete the Circle. Which, when activated, closes the trap."
Olivia wanted to strangle that smirk right off the coyote's face. "There is no way a pathetic mongrel like you could possess such a thing. If what you say is true it would have affected you the moment you touched it. You speak nothing but lies."
The coyote laughed. "It didn't affect me, M'lady, because I created it."
The shadows around the coyote lengthened and twisted as they came to life. The light in the room dimmed as those shadows rushed upwards to fill the great hall with the shape of a dragon. Its two red eyes burned hot within the inky black frame.
Olivia knew that image. "Kirvelizeal!"
The coyote inclined his head as she spoke his name. The shadows returned to their proper place as quickly as they had left it.
Olivia knew of the dragon. History was filled with stories about him. Some were so fantastical they were considered fables rather than history. "Why? Why do this?"
Kirvelizeal folded his hands under his chin as he considered his answer. "I was well paid to remove you. Well, not as good as I should have been. Normally such requests require significantly more gold than they had but there were so many who wanted you gone that I just had to meet you. To see what all the fuss was about." A smirk spread across his snout once more. "It also seemed like a great excuse to have some fun. I don't get to destroy cities as much as I used to."
Olivia's heart raced. Panic broke her composure. "I can double it. Whatever they paid. We can work-"
Olivia's voice failed her. No matter how hard she tried she could not produce a single sound. Kirvelizeal got to his feet and brushed his hands over his clothing.
"I'm sorry M'lady. My word is my bond. Besides, I don't like you. You're a small minded and paranoid thing. No, I don't see anything worth saving. Farewell, Olivia." He strode down the hall. After a few steps his form melted into shadow and vanished.
With his vanishing Olivia could both move and speak again. She stumbled forward a few steps and caught herself against a chair. There was a tremendous build up of energy inside her. A heat that burned like a furnace. She fell to her hands and knees gasping for breath. Her body drenched in sweat. She knew what was happening. Like the others she was being changed. Whether it was a curse or some transformation spell didn't matter. She had to get out of the influence of the Circle. She had to get to her study and to the teleport scroll hidden there.
She felt a compression on her chest. With a soft sucking sound a breast pulled back into her body. Within moments the other had followed suit. She pushed herself up to her knees and tried to pull off her robes. Her hands couldn't find purchase and she looked down at them in confusion. All of her fingers save her thumb had lengthened and between them a leathery membrane stretched. As she watched, her thumb shortened. The nail replaced with a razor sharp claw.
Olivia was out of time. She had to make it to her study now or all was lost. As she struggled to her feet her body began to grow. The surge in size caused her to rip straight through her clothing. Shredded bits fell to the floor. Rough red scales replaced her skin in patches and a tail had grown long enough to lay against the floor. Her legs popped a few times as bones and joints repositioned themselves. Once slender and toned they now were heavy and bestial. Two toes pulled back into her feet and those that remained grew thick as her feet became paws. Long talons grew where nails used to be.
Her hair fell in patches from her head. She tried to pick it up but her half formed wing arms could only sweep the hair away. A frustrated snarl left her lips as she shuffled awkwardly towards the door to her study. The changes in her body made it impossible to move fast. When she finally made it to the door she found that without hands she couldn't open it. Even if she could, she might not be able to fit through. She beat against the door in desperation.
Olivia's face shot forward to form new jaws filled with dagger teeth. As her skull took on a new shape her brain changed with it. This dropped her into a thick mental fog. Drool dripped from her open jaws and eyes glassed over. She didn't lose intelligence really, it was just altered. Some of her higher thinking was replaced by a cruel cunning. New instincts rushed to fill in gaps made by the transformation. Which caused Olivia to twitch and snap her jaws. As the fog cleared her eyes turned slitted. They narrowed at the door she had been trying to enter. She unleashed her frustration in a blast of fire from her jaws. The door was shattered and everything beyond set ablaze.
A shake of her head in an attempt to clear stray thoughts. Why had she been trying to squeeze into that small room? Olivia looked over the great hall with new eyes. She remembered who she had been but the needs of the creature she was becoming had pushed previous desires aside. As a human she had been a frail thing scared of this change. Now she welcomed the changes and the power that came with them. Every second brought her farther from the soft human thing she had been.
Olivia felt the need for space and so made her way towards an opening that led to a balcony. Talons tore at the floor as she walked, wing arms smashed furniture into splinters and her long whip like tail lashed behind her. A grunt as spikes shot up out of her neck, which was now long and flexible. Horns grew from the back of her skull. Long, curved and tinted black.
Out on the balcony she surveyed the city. Above her the sky was filled with a vast red vortex. It was centered over her castle. Over the Circle. In the streets below there was no sign of people. Anyone with sanity had fled. Only those under the hold of the Circle stayed to be transformed into beasts. They already hunted one another in deadly games of predator and prey.
She lifted her wing arms to bathe them in the light of the vortex. With a few last twitches they grew to their final size. Now a set of vast leathery wings easily able to carry her into the skies. The balcony crumbled under her weight and as it fell she took off. Her wings caught the air and she flew over the city with a shriek. Hearing her cry, other wyverns joined her in the sky. Their greeting calls mingled to form a terrible symphony. Together they would claim this territory for themselves. Find good places to nest and most importantly, hunt. The group of Wyverns turned together to head out over the city walls. The cattle ranches nearby would make excellent first targets.
Epilogue-
The grand hall was buzzing with activity. Lirs gnollish warriors mingled with kobolds, coyotes, elves and even the dwarves of all people. Food sizzled over the top of fire pits and strong drink was shared between people who would have, a few years ago, been at each other's throat. Who could have guessed their hatred of a woman and her vile city could unite so many. All here to celebrate her defeat. But, while Lir felt the same joy as her fellows, a frown formed. The Baroness and the city might be gone but It was not empty.
A shadow moved just at the corner of her vision. When she looked it was gone but a door opened just a crack. She knew who it had to be. The tingle of fear made her fur bristle. She took a moment to swallow that reaction. It wouldn't do to reek of terror when she spoke to the dragon. She excused herself and passed through the waiting door to the meeting room beyond. Here there was a single table in the middle surrounded by chairs. Candles placed along the wall provided the only light. She walked a few steps into the room and then knelt. Her head tipped down as she waited.
Kirvelizeal's voice came from every shadow. "Always so respectful."
Lir felt the weight of the dragon's presence as his shadow form filled the room. The candle's light dimmed to tiny specks in the darkness. The tip of a claw touched the underside of Lirs jaw and gently brought her gaze upwards. Where she found the two red slitted eyes of the dragon waiting. For a moment she was lost in them. As helpless under the dragon's eyes as a pup.
"Rise." The dragon commanded and Lir obeyed.
"I have fulfilled the terms of our contract, Lir. I can tell by the celebrations that you are all already well aware of that. Yet, I sense some frustrations."
Lir found herself in control again and quickly averted her gaze. "Lord Kirvelizeal." She began but paused to clear her throat. "I was informed by my scouts that while our enemies are gone, Wyverns and other beasts now infest the city. They will surely nest there and in the surrounding hills. I thought the city would be mine?"
The dragon's eyes loomed closer. His breath felt against her face. Lir's heart beat hard and her stomach churned in sudden fear.
"Your enemy is gone and the city is there to be taken." There was a small pause. "I admit I pushed the boundaries of our contract just a bit but I wanted to have fun. Besides, there is potential for you here. Can you see it?"
Lir felt a flood of relief as that moment of tension passed. "I do. My fellows have been talking all day about the hunts we could have. To kill or capture such beasts would be quite the prize. But I am no fool. The beasts are numerous and powerful. Our hunts may cost us more than we gain."
Kirvelizeal rumbled low. "That's not the potential I was speaking of."
Lir went quiet. It seemed the dragon wished for her to think. What potential could he mean? A thought came to her. She had allies now. Those who helped her gather the money to rid them of the Baroness. Perhaps the alliance could be extended? The dwarves and kobolds could make them excellent weapons and tools for the hunt. Some might even want to join the hunting parties. Each species had something to offer. All she had to do was take it.
Lir growled as a smile graced her snout. "I think I see."
"I knew you would." The dragon's laugh tickled her fur. "I like you, Lire. If you ever want to add dragon's blood to your lineage just ask and I'll be there. You won't be disappointed by my performance."
Lir blushed hot at the proposal. The bluntness of it appealed to her. Strong males made strong children and the idea of breeding with a dragon, even if he assumed a gnolls form, was highly appealing.
"I don't-'' Lir stopped as she realized the dragon was gone. She got to her feet and looked around. There was no sign the dragon had been here or that he had been heard by those celebrating just in the next room. For a moment she processed what she had been told. Future plans were already forming but, for now, she would celebrate with her allies. There would be plenty of time to talk tomorrow.