The Dragon's Apprentice
#1 of The Dragon's Apprentice
Truly, were someone to accuse me of having set events into motion for personal gain, I would be hard pressed to deny it. In the beginning, it was not my intention to have things turn out the way they did. Most of my planning, my... preparations, were born out of idle hands and a naturally inquisitive mind. It was purely hypothetical. At least, at first.
In the days since, I've often wondered what set me down this path. Was it my draconic nature? My need for control and to hoard? Perhaps it was these, the very traits that allowed me to excel in my ever-increasing mastery of the mage arts. While I was never particularly approachable by my peers, I navigated the social waters of the Eridian Mage Academy well enough to acquire accolades and recommendations enough to work my way up through the ranks.
I began my climb, however, as all potential magi do: a humble, unranked novice.
This was of course many years ago, back when the Academy was but the sole tower, conjured as a single massive structure stabbing into the sky. The dark hue of the tower's walls combined with the eerie lack of traditional masonry techniques, brick and mortar, soon had both faculty and students alike referring to the academy by a new nickname: the Obsidian Spire.
I recall finding the accommodations quite to my liking. But again, this probably relates to my heritage. As a black-scaled dragon myself, I felt eminently at home. It's a shame that my fur-covered peers did not feel the same way -- often casting nervous glances towards the deep shadows created by the magical torches that were placed sparingly throughout the tower.
Over the years, the Eridian Academy had been forced to expand time and time again to house the ever-increasing population of noble's children -- enrolled by their well-to-do parents in the hopes of improving their clan's power, influence, and renown. But in all the constant construction of new classrooms and dormitories, the Obsidian Spire remained unique, proudly standing squarely in the center of the Academy grounds.
As you might imagine of someone of my skill and rank, I make my home near the very top of the spire. There are currently only four mages who outrank me -- one being the current High Master himself. Most likely I will move up at least a floor or two within the next few years, if for no other reason than the relatively shorter life spans of those who are not of draconian heritage. Age and seniority do have their benefits.
On the other hand, my lofty position within the Academy also means that I am beholden to the institution, and that certain duties and responsibilities are expected of me. In the past, I've lectured the tower's students on a variety of topics ranging from mundane hearth magic, protecting crops against swarms of locusts, fire-proofing homes, and the like. My exhaustive review on how to defend yourself against fellow magi's mystical attacks, both one-on-one combat and warfare tactics, is still considered a standard in the field.
I was an effective professor, if not somewhat unpopular among the less diligent students. I took it upon myself to uphold the integrity of the academy. No pupil of mine would pass unless their mastery of the subject matter was undeniable. I sent more than a few noble's children crying back to their pampered estates.
But, my pedigree now established, allow me to return to the beginning of my story. The beginning of my fall -- should you care to call it that.
It came in a form that, for a dragon like myself, was exceedingly difficult to resist. It might not surprise you to know that I'm referring to one of my students. It's a story told all too often, isn't it? An aged professor... a youth in the prime of their attractiveness and sexual appeal. The temptation is obvious, and the consequences of indulging one's self has been the fall of many magi over the years I've studied and worked within the Obsidian Spire.
I'd like to argue -- or perhaps to pretend -- that, in this instance, my case was special. Unique. That I should be judged in the light of the extenuating circumstances. But I'm too intelligent for self-delusion, and, I should hope, so are you.
We both know what I did was beyond the realm of what I reasonable person might consider acceptable. Or rather, you will once I finish my tale.
Now, where was I? Ahh, yes. The student.
If recollection serves, he came to me at twilight, knocking on my office door with a timid tapping. It was so soft against the thick, solid oak door that I almost decided it was simply my imagination. How different things might have turned out, had I simply ignored the lad's knocking.
As it happened, however, I did respond, and the shy creature did make his way into my office, where I bid him to sit and granted him an audience. This was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on the young boy, who couldn't have been a day older than twenty turns, and thus it follows that this was likely his first time to have ever seen me. Certainly out first time speaking, at least.
His anxiety at being in my presence was palpable. I've long been used to putting up with the various reactions people have to encountering dragon-kin but, if I'm being honest with you, I did precious little to put his nerves to ease. I simply bid him to speak his mind, and then, in a breathless flurry he told me his tale.
The fine details of his background escape me for the moment, but his story of woe and hardship was not terribly original, as I remember the broad strokes. He was the son of a very minor noble, whose lord father could not afford the astonishingly high tuition costs that the Eridian Mage Academy charged, which further complicated matters. For him. His pitiable situation was of little consequence to me. Or, so I told myself at the time. He had not met the academic threshold necessary to obtain one of the few, hard-sought scholarships offered by the academy.
This particular revelation did not surprise me, as the magi charged with managing our academic scholarships meted out less than three dozen of the widely desired allotments per turn. In other words, the lad would have had to have performed very well indeed on the academy's entrance exam to have even been considered. That he was not invited to interview with the magi council after the test revealed to me that his failure had not been as close a call as he seemed to believe it to be.
The two traditional paths to becoming a magi denied to him, the youth embarked on fully exploring the third, and final, path for entrance into the academy: an apprenticeship under one of the senior magi.
After answering a few of my pointed questions, he acknowledged that he fully understood how unlikely it was that he'd be able to convince even just one of the most powerful men in the country to take him under their wing. Master/apprentice relationships were extraordinarily rare, given how embarrassing it would be to the magi should their ward underperform. This, combined with the reality that only senior magi were even permitted to take on apprentices, and only one every ten years at that, meant that the boy's hopes were almost unquestionably misplaced.
And yet, here he was. Poor of coin, and lacking that spark of brilliance that any magi worth their salt would insist be present in any prospective apprentice.
Seeing no need to mince my words, I expressed these truths to the teenager. That, as heartfelt as his dreams to become magi must feel to him, that they were all for naught unless he could dig deep and offer something that no other candidate could.
And then... a curious thing happened.
After falling silent for a few moments in quiet contemplation at my words, he stood up. At first I assumed that he would simply walk out and leave me to my scrolls. But then he began removing his garments, one by one.
First his shirt, followed quickly by his shoes and pants. Then even his underclothes were stripped away. Soon, he stood before me entirely in the nude, and said, "Since I was a child, becoming a magi of the tower has been my sole desire... my only dream and my lone ambition. In return for making me your apprentice, I offer my everything to you, for it is worth nothing to me if I cannot become what I feel I was always meant to be. I say this in all humility, knowing that there are other pupils whose stars burn brighter than my own. I also tell you what I lack in natural talent, I more than make up for in dedication. Should you deny me, I will still find my way to my destiny. Not because it is owed to me, but because I will never stop until I seize it."
It occurs to me now, as it did then, that this was not an impromptu performance. He had obviously memorized this little drama before entering my office, and must have assumed that his brazen performance would have a greater chance of peaking the interest of a potential Master.
Normally, even this gambit would not result in the acquisition of an apprenticeship -- it most assuredly did not manage to pull at any of my draconic heartstrings. But, given the circumstances, I could not help but genuinely consider his proposal.
Why, you might ask? Well, as to that, there is a detail that, thus far, I've left out of my story. I wonder if you've noticed?
The boy's race. You see, he was a human.
Due to the fact that the Eridian Academy lies near the west coast of the Aridean Federation, the demographics of the surrounding countryside were almost exclusively of the furred variety. Even dragons, such as myself, were very rarely encountered. And humans? Rarer still. Much, much rarer. The reason for this is quite simple, as I'm sure you're already familiar. The reclusive human kingdom lay many miles to the east of the Federation's borders, which made it many more miles away from the Obsidian Spire itself. That, combined with the peculiar travel habits of the humans and their reluctance to open trade or establish formal diplomatic channels meant that most Arideans had never seen one in the flesh.
Speaking of flesh, now you might understand why the lad's crude act of courage caught my attention. His rarity, his... unfurred hide made him distinctive. And, if you know anything at all about dragon-kin, it should come as no great shock that the prospect of obtaining such a unusual trinket was attractive to me.
Looking at the boy's exposed, unblemished skin, I felt my objections weaken and my desires quicken. I couldn't help but imagine my black scales pressed up tightly against his frail hide. I could already almost hear his whimpering as I unsheathed my hardened arousal and pressed it against his own, much more modest pink worm. Before this moment, I had never laid eyes on the reproductive organs of a human. Now I had a front-row seat to examine him... and it pleased me greatly to realize that his kind was completely incapable of hiding their flaccid shafts or diminutive spheres. He had no sheath to speak of, and so his soft fleshy bits were mine to feast on. With my eyes only, naturally.
As far as providing you with a rundown of his appearance, I will make an attempt to do so, but I have not seen enough humans in my lifetime to know if this particular specimen stood out from the pack. The shortish hair that covered the top-most portion of his head was brown. Is that common for his kind? I have no idea myself. He had some muscles that seemed well-enough defined -- more so than most of the furred ones I've met. Though, I might be exaggerating his true strength as, since he doesn't have any fur to hide the definition of his musculature, he might have appeared stronger than he actually was. Overall, he was of shorter stature and smaller frame than the average student. His eyes were the most striking feature to me. Dragons and furred kin are never born with blue eyes. Was he handsome? I suppose, if pressed, I would say yes. Certainly an uncommon specimen, which is its own form of appeal.
Still, I was dubious that the boy fully comprehended what he was signing himself up for. You've heard the phrase, 'throwing yourself to the wolves'? Well, I assure you, throwing yourself to the dragon is an even poorer choice.
To get a better sense of the young would-be apprentice, I interviewed the human lad for the better part of two hours. Many of my questions related directly to the magical arts, but a great number of them were intended to give me a sense of his personality, his preferences, and his limits. My conclusion from this chat of ours was that the boy was sincere about his burning desire to one day become a magi.
It was at this point that, had I used a more traditionally accepted set of morals, that I should have turned the boy away. Not because he didn't have what it took to become a magi, though this was likely the case, but rather because my mind had already been turning on the things that I would do to this rare specimen. In my head, I was already picturing all the ways I might achieve satisfaction using this delicate furless youth as a rare exotic toy for sexual pleasure.
To my credit, I did provide the boy with an opportunity to escape my clutches. While I did not do the responsible thing and command the boy leave my office, I did offer the boy a small insight into the cruel machinations in store for him should he stay on as my apprentice.
Allowing my black scale-covered wings to unfurl as a visual cue that I was a creature to be feared, I fixed the youth in a piercing stare and said to him, "I ask you, child, are you sure you wish to make this bargain? Obtaining an apprenticeship with the most renown magi of the Obsidian Spire would certainly make you the envy of all your friends and peers... except, they will never understand what you gave up to achieve this feat. And do yourself understand? You stand here before me, offering your unprotected body to me. Do you assume that I might one day return it to you? Are you gambling on the fact that, perhaps as a graduation present, I would grant you your freedom and release from my clutches? Perhaps you are naive as to the pleasures a dragon like myself can derive from your soft flesh? I speak only the truth when I say that I am quite sure you will come to keenly regret this bargain, child. Is being a magi so important to you that you would truly become a slave to my whims, until such time that I choose to release you? Think carefully on this. Consider well what you would be giving up."
Almost predictably, the human answered with confidence equal to what he had demonstrated earlier, during his little speech.
I admit to being borderline astonished at this point in the interview. Had I not all but said that I would make him some variety of sex slave? Had I not clearly implied that my draconic arousal would know the delights of his supple body? Had I not stated outright that I would offer no guarantee that I would ever relinquish my hold on him, should he be foolish enough to place himself in my hands?
And yet, he pressed on -- asking if I would be willing to accept this offer.
I admit now, to you, that my desires... my draconic nature... got the better of me. I told the youth that his words of acceptance would not be proof enough. That underneath my loose fitting robes there was a second master, eager to be served by him. I explained to him that I would understand if he was unwilling to humble himself in this fashion, but I could not enter into an agreement with him without proof that he would make good on his word. Holding the increasingly nervous boy in my stare, I made it clear to him that I was a powerful man, with powerful lusts. To become my apprentice, he would need to dull my horns however often that proved necessary... and he would have to start now.
As a credit to his bravery, he fought back his sudden case of second-thoughts, and still entirely naked, made his way around the table that had been separating me and stood at my side.
"I am... unsure what to do... Master...," he confessed to me.
Less interested in intimidating the human at this point and more focused on quenching my rising arousal, I stood up from my ornate chair and replied, "Let's start off simple, shall we? Take your hand and place it between the gap in the front my robe so that your fingers are upon my stomach."
His compliance pleased me, and soon I felt the featherlight pressure of his fingertips upon my scaled torso.
"Move your fingers gently back and forth. What do you feel?"
Watching as the boy's arm wafted gently back and forth, the lad answered, "Small scales... much smoother than I thought they would be. Almost like a snake's, but... warm."
I allowed the unintended slight to slide. Comparing a dragon to a snake, of all things. How crass. I instead focused on the next step: introducing the human to where he would later spend countless hours worshiping me.
"Now... move your hand downwards slowly, until it rests between my legs. Explore with your fingers... and tell me what you feel."
The lad's breathing had become more labored. While I was no expert at gauging human facial expressions, he seemed to me to be ready to bolt. I took care to move as slowly as I could. Or, at least, as slowly as my need would allow me to proceed.
"The same as before... except, maybe the scales are finer. And... oh... ummm..."
"Yes, child?"
"There's... a slit. A divide between two patterns of scales."
My experience as a teacher told me that the boy required positive reinforcement at this point. He needed to know that I approved of his performance.
"Excellent, my apprentice. Now, please your new Master by rubbing two fingers up and down that slit. Firmer. Yes, that's it. Your efforts are being rewarded. Continue to describe to me what your hand is telling you."
Hand and part of his arm still hidden beneath my robe, the human boy's eyes went wide as he said, "Something... something is poking out from the slit. It's... wet and somewhat pointed, but also rounded. And it's growing, pushing out further still. Sir... is this... your penis?"
I couldn't help but smile at the innocence, and ignorance, the youth was displaying. Yes... I would enjoy introducing this petite human to the carnal side of nature very much. Very much indeed.
"An astute observation, human. Unlike your bits, which seem unable to withdraw back into your body, a dragon's cock is hidden away when not needed. In a few moments it will be entirely unsheathed. Now, hurry, continue describing what you are feeling. And don't be shy about comparing my length to your own. What are the differences between them?"
Feeling the would-be-apprentice's hand move up and down my almost fully hard shaft, he resumed with, "It's not covered in scales... but rather, flesh. Just like mine... but shaped differently and more rigid. There's rounded ridges, that form a continuous pattern along the length. It's also... ummm... extremely large."
Wishing to establish dominance early on, I pressed on this last point.
"Oh? Is it now? Larger than yours, when you are erect?"
Casting his eyes downwards to avoid my gaze, the youth mumbled, "Yes... sir."
Pressing the point, I asked, "How much larger? Give me a comparison."
Wishing to avoid the humiliation of further examining this particular point of contrast, the boy hedged, saying "It's hard to say... by touch alone, I mean."
Flashing a toothy grin, I quickly unrobed myself, allowing the human to see my draconic cock, along with the rest of my body, for the first time.
"Any more excuses, child? Then get on with it. How much larger is my aroused length compared to your own when you are showing? And I don't recall telling you to stop moving your hand."
Biting his lower lip in a cute manner that resulted in me jetting pre-cum over the boy's furless hand, the boy pondered the question before responding with, "Sir... it's massive compared to mine. There is no comparison. It's well over twice the length of my own... and thicker. Much thicker."
I am aware that such coerced praise is beneath my dignity... and yet, I still enjoyed it thoroughly.
Switching topics, I said simply, "I wish for you to taste it. Take the tip into your mouth and run your tongue over it. You may swallow any essence that leaks out."
Showing the first sign of evidence that his unquestioning obedience might indeed have limits, the human exclaimed, "Sir!? Please I... so soon? I've hardly--"
Cutting off his feeble objections, I said, "It confuses me how you are able to form petty complaints with your lips and tongue, when they should be busy lavishing your new Master with attention. Or have you decided that I am not your Master after all? If so, dress yourself and leave immediately. I have piles of paperwork to attend to, that you have distracted me from them long enough."
From the lad's body language, it was clear he was torn by my demand. I recall thinking, 'Yes, child. The path of a magi should be hard. And it will be much harder for you than most. This is but a... taste of things to come.'
Eventually, his ambition won out, though, and he took me between his pink lips and began providing oral service. After some more verbal encouragement, he got both his hands into the act as well, but overall it was a fairly incompetent performance. I knew we would have plenty of time to work on improving his oral skills, which is why I opted not to test the limits of his throat this first time. The gagging, the involuntary tears, and the coughing would to wait until I placed some sound-canceling runes in and around the perimeter of my office and residence. I knew in my bones that one day soon I would manage to get him to tongue my genital slit as he deep-throat me.
For this occasion, though, he had a much more straightforward task. The disposal of his Master's copious deposits. Normally, I would not jump straight to the end when narrating an inaugural sexual encounter, but trust me when I say that his attempts at pleasuring me were thoroughly inept. Though, not so abysmal as to prevent me from feeding him a batch of my fluids.
Choosing not to warn him to see how he would react to an unannounced seeding of his face, he unsurprisingly only managed to down a couple mouthfuls before pulling off my arousal with a gasp. Which, of course, resulted in the rest of my dragon cream streaming out all over his nude body. While I enjoyed the sight of my white streams covering his furless flesh, I was less than pleased at how quickly he abdicated his responsibility for serving as a receptacle for my seed.
As he coughed and attempted to use his hands and arms to wipe his face clear of my semen, I took this time to ask him a few more explicit questions.
These included, "At which point during this encounter did you become erect?", as I noticed the boy was now what I assumed to be fully hard. Hard being a relative term, as his unit appeared to have none of the innate rigidness or durability of my own length.
I also insisted on answers for questions such as, "How often do you self-pleasure?" and "Do you understand that, in the future, I will insist that you swallow every ounce of your Master's seed? And that you will be punished appropriately should you fail to live up to this standard?"
I half expected the boy to give up then and there. To clean up as best he could and leave. But, his determination was unshakable. He answered my questions and renewed his vow to become a worthy apprentice. When I pointed out that he would also be property as well -- my property, specifically -- he seemed resigned to the fate he had created for himself.
Donning my robe once more, I sat down in my impressively ornate chair again, and said to him, "There is only one more test, before I accept you as my apprentice and property, and set you on the path to becoming a magi. I wish to see you self pleasure. Jerk yourself off as you would do if you were alone, except do not allow yourself to reach completion. Instead, describe to me how it feels when you orgasm, and what your output is like: both its volume and consistency."
Again, he pleased me with his willingness to comply to my admittedly outrageous demands. But hearing him describe what had to have been intensely private sessions of sexual fulfillment suddenly sparked a thought in me. It was as cruel as it was irresistible. It also made a large amount of sense to me: to encourage him perform to his utmost, I would eventually need to offer the child a carrot. And I intuitively knew I had stumbled onto the perfect way to motivate my new apprentice.
Temporarily interrupting my mental planning, the boy cried out, "Sir! Master! I'm about to cum!"
Using the top of my clawed foot to push his hand away from his tender meat, I sternly answered back, "Do so you and you fail my test, at which point I will kick you out of this office -- nude, covered in seed, and without me to protect you."
It was a hollow threat. Under no circumstances would I risk my own reputation just to shame some noble's child -- human or otherwise. But he appeared under the delusion that magi were gods amongst men, and could act with impunity and no fear of reprisal. In the end, the threat seemed to work well enough, and the boy brought himself under control after a few shuddering breaths.
Now that the boy had reached the peak of desire, it was time to set my plan into motion.
"Stand before me, apprentice. Arms clasped behind your back and your hips thrust out towards me. I will now cast a spell that seals our agreement. With it, you shall become my apprentice until such time that you become a magi in your own right."
I conveniently left out the bit about the youth remaining my property, but left him free to draw his own conclusions. If he wanted to paint himself a mental rosy future to get through the next few years, that was his perogative. But my dragon-kin blood sang to me, and I already knew that it was unlikely that I would ever voluntarily release a piece of treasure that had found its way into my hoard.
Following my instructions, the human stood, pushed his erect and dripping pole towards me, and placed his hands behind his back. A moment later I was seizing his arousal at its base, the balls throbbing in my taloned grip. Closing my eyes, I focused the ley-lines of magic within me, and with a softly spoken incantation, began casting one of the most unethical spell of my career.
Entirely in the dark as to the nature of the magic that I was focusing on him, the human stayed still and decided to place his trust in me. A foolish mistake to make, but, that's youth for you.
The spell itself was actually quite a masterpiece, even if I do say so myself. It was protected against broad, area-wide dispelling. It was hidden against all but the most focused magic-detection probes. It was self-sustaining and wholly stable. It was capable of lasting the entire lifespan of the human, unless dispelled or tampered with. But as impressive as the technical aspects of the spell were, its effects are why I described it as a masterpiece.
With an almost inaudible pop, the boy's cock and balls fell from their perch on his groin and lay at rest in my hand, no longer attached to their long-time home on his crotch. In the place where they use to rest there was a gently pulsing circle of runes that surrounded flesh that previously had not existed. The skin underneath his trimmed pubic hair was smooth, and the runes' calligraphy was flawless.
In my hand, the boy's length throbbed with the boy's pulse as if nothing had changed. The spell was a success: the lad's tacke was no longer tethered directly to his body, and instead was free to be moved around or manipulated at my leisure. No matter how far the human's arousal was from his body, and regardless of how many walls separated it from its host, the youth would retain sensitization. Indeed, if he closed his eyes, he would easily be able to pretend that it was actually still attached. There was little to no difference in the sensation experienced by the host pre and post spell. The lad's unusual breeding apparatus was quite the treasure... and so, I had claimed it as my own.
At first, the boy continued looking down with a slight frown on his face, as if unsure what he was a witness to. It was only when I moved my hand (and so, also his shaft and eggs) away from him in one swift motion did I achieve a dramatic reaction from the human.
Panicked, the boy cried out, "Sir, no, please don't castrate me!"
Allowing myself a small chuckle, I attempted to put the lad at ease.
"No one is going to castrate you, apprentice. Your bits are far too valuable to me to allow that to happen. All I did was a simple cantrip to temporarily untether your sensitive bits from the rest of your body. I assure you, there's no permanent harm. It is able to perform just as before, and is still capable of urination, pleasure, and achieving climax. You can still feel it, can't you?"
Closing his eyes as if mentally reaching out with his senses, the apprentice said, "Yes, Master. I feel it. But... why?"
I was tempted to burden the child with the cruel truth of my intentions, but, in the end, I decided to save that for another day. Instead, I said, "You are now officially my apprentice, child. You will need to apply yourself to your studies here at the academy, and I have taken away the single greatest distraction to these efforts. Do not fret, I will keep it safe. You must trust me with your body as you trust me with your mind and education. Do you understand, human?"
Clearly unsure, but putting on a brave face, the lad answered, "Yes, Master. I do understand. And I will do everything I can to make you proud of me. Thank you for taking a chance on me. You have no idea what this means to me."
It was a bit surreal, hearing the boy spout off about how proud I would be of him, as I held his disembodied pride and joy in my hand while he stood there, covered in my seed. Keeping the sarcasm out of my voice, I replied, "I'm sure you will, lad. Now, clean up and head to my residential room. I have a small guest-bedroom that you will be using during your stay here."
"I won't be staying at the novice quarters, Master?"
"You are my apprentice, child. Never forget that. There's no need for you to mingle with the common riff-raff more than strictly necessary. When you are not in class, in the library, or at the cafeteria you will be in my personal quarters. Do you understand?"
Smiling, the youth responded with an eager, "Yes, sir!"
At the time, he was under the mistaken assumption that living with me would be some kind of special privilege. It had not yet occurred to him that this gave me unrestricted, private access to him for most hours of the day. Nor had it dawned on him how we might spend much of that time alone together.
But, I will save that story for another time. In fact, this appears to be a decent enough stopping point.
I suppose I could go over the details of how I enrolled the youth as my apprentice -- about the astonished reaction my choice caused amongst students and staff alike. I could speak on the gossip swirling around us... of how most assumed that the youth must have access to some hidden well of power, due to his exotic human heritage. It amused me greatly to see the magi around me beat their heads against the wall trying to determine what made this youth special enough to merit an apprenticeship under one of the most famous magi of the Aridean Federation.
However, I am tired, and so the next portion of my story will have to wait until next I write to you.
Yours in the pursuit of knowledge, Bradshaw Ebonhide, Magi Adeptus -- Fifth Rank