Art by GotikamaAmakitog

Folder for Story: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/morpheuskibbe/folder/1203600/A-Dash-of-Demons 

“I’m glad you arrived on time” in-ka said stuffing something into a backpack then tossing it over her shoulder slightly ruffling her long raincoat in the process, “I was just finishing packing something up and we can get started.”

“Of course, mistress” Michelle chirped, bowing slightly, and holding her position at the entrance to In-ka and Kate’s home.  The Tanuki had knocked almost exactly on the minute they had agreed upon and looked a combination of excited, determined, and nervous, “I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity, mistress, I swear I will be an attentive student and shall serve you in any way you wish.”

Kate huffed peaking over from the kitchen, “That’s an attitude switch”

“I… I accept that my previous behavior was… overly forward… I … was I not punished sufficiently?” Michelle said again, “If you demand more I… would … uh. I would happily service... er Serve you too.”

In-ka held up a hand, “Ok let’s put a pin in that before it even gets started.”  She said walking over to Michelle.  Once she got close, she pressed a finger up under the bowing woman’s chin and eased her back up to full standing, “Michelle, setting aside our earlier encounter I promise we have no intention of treating you like some servant or pet or what have you.  You’re here because I felt the potential to harness magic in you and I want to help you achieve it.  I’m not necessarily opposed to, other things, but you don’t belong to us and please don’t feel like you have to bend over for lessons, ok?”
Michelle seemed to relax a little, “Thank you Mistress”

“Good, now I’m packed up, lets head out” In-ka said, “Love you Kate, see you later.”

“Love you too” Kate called back as the door closed behind them, “Don’t break her too hard.”

In-ka and Michelle walked together heading into the forest again; Michelle was quietly following behind In-ka as she led the way.  Michelle fidgeted as she walked behind her new teacher, the events of their first time in the forest, the day after, and Kate’s words on their way out roiling in her head.  The emotional state she was working herself into was plainly obvious to anyone with functional eyes, and in this case anyone even without them.  In-ka could feel the latent energies in her pupil tying in knots behind her.  Something would have to be done about that, it wasn’t easy especially for a newbie to master anything when they weren’t calm.

“She was teasing by the way” In-ka said to the unspoken question.

“…Teasing?”

“The comment about breaking you” In-ka explained, “That’s not at all going to happen.  Kate’s just being petty”

“She always like that?” Michelle asked, then started, “Uh… I mean I don’t intend to besmirch one of my betters I just…”

“Its fine” In-ka turned and patted Michelle on the shoulder, “Kate and I aren’t just members of the same ‘coven’ as it were.  We’re together, she got pretty annoyed at how strongly you came onto me that first day and is being a bit catty.  Trust me its nothing to worry about.”

“But… I don’t… was it that much?”

“Heh, a blind woman could see your intentions across a football field” In-ka chuckled waving her hand in front of her face.

“Wait. You’re…?” Michelle raised an eyebrow confused, “Uh… I mean, how do I make it up to her?”

“That’s not necessary.  May just annoy her to be honest.  Trust me if she didn’t want you learning from us, she’d have said that to me and you wouldn’t be here.”

“Oh… ok…”

“To answer your other question there, Yes, I’m blind.  No, it doesn’t really affect me.  It used to be a bit of a problem, but I can basically see with magic now” In-ka let out a pulse of energy, strong enough to be just visible and let it wash over Michelle and their surroundings.

Michelle shuddered, “That… wait... I felt that before… when we first met.”

“Yep” in-ka said with a smile stepping over some roots and up what looked like old stone steps carved into the ground.  Or would look like that if the cuts weren’t much more recent, “I was being subtle back then, so I’m glad you noticed it, that’s a good sign for your abilities.  It’s a basic scan spell in sense, tells me about whatever I aim it at.  But that in a minute, were here.”

“Here?” Michelle asked, “Sorry mistress but it’s getting dark, wait, why is it dark? its morning.”

“I messed with the trees here a bit” In-ka said casually, “The canopy here blocks out almost all sun now, but I can add some light”

Another pulse of energy emitted from the wolfess and glowing symbols appeared on all the surrounding trees, giving enough light to see much better by.
“Amazing” Michelle’s eyes widened, “you can control the forest? How… and the light.  I thought that that coat would impede spells, right? Or am I just wrong about that?”

In-ka set down her backpack on the flat mossy stone that served as the ground in this part of the forest and regarded her long raincoat she was wearing. “I’m not sure if you read that in some online wiccan forum, or felt it intuitively, but you are actually correct there.  In fact a good deal of what you said the other day isn’t actually wrong.  Physical objects DO impede spells, magic is part of the world, not some totally other thing that can ignore it, so yes, my coat did make casting that spell just now harder, not impossible, just harder.  It also makes feeling the energy of the forest harder too, hence…”

Michelle’s eyes widened farther as In-ka trailed off and let her raincoat slide off of her body.  She wasn’t naked under it, but the distinction was academic at a certain point.  In-ka’s current ‘wardrobe’ consisted of ribbon like straps barely serving as clothing.  One was wrapped around her breasts, keeping them at least partially contained, and a second connected to a collar and wrapped under her crotch to provide a sliver of modesty while leaving the rest of her near totally exposed.

“M-mistress…” Michelle said blushing red enough that In-ka had to try not to chuckle at the formerly very confident woman’s flusterment, “I… I thought you said we… uh…”

“I’m not coming onto you Michelle” In-ka said calmly dragging a large bowl-like dish out of her backpack, “You were right about clothing being an impediment, this is NOT a sexual thing but a practical one.  Though I won’t make you undress if you are uncomfortable.”

No, I… I can handle it mistress, I assure you” Michelle said with a firm nod and started to unbutton her shirt and her pants and slowly sliding both down till she was in her underwear.  While her outward outfit of jeans and a t-shit were fairly modest, the frilly lacy undergarments spoke to Michelle’s earlier assumptions of what her mistress might ask of her.

“Alright then” In-ka said glad she didn’t have to actually move her head to look over her pupil, “Lesson one is easy enough, see this?”

Michelle nodded at the large dish in In-ka’s arms then gasped as In-ka changed.  Suddenly the blue markings on the wolf’s body started to glow then quickly changed to bright gold.  Her hair fluttered in an unseen breeze and the bowl started to fill from nowhere with a liquid that looked like luminous molten gold that shone that the noonday sun. “W-whats that…?”

“Power.  Some of mine that I just pulled out.  The bowl is enchanted to hold it” In-ka explained stepping closer to Michelle and handing the bowl over, “Your first lesson is in control.  You have power but you’re just starting out, so you don’t have much.  Annoyingly that also makes it harder or you to learn control, almost like a new painter learning by painting portraits on rice grains rather than a full canvas.  This is a bit of a training wheel in that regard.”

Michelle took the bowl and stared it the glowing not-quite-liquid in it, “What do I do.”

“Drink it, slowly.  And I mean SLOWLY. And the whole time I want you to focus on what you feel, with any of your senses.”

Michelle tilted the bowl and started to drink. At first, she felt nothing, then she felt warmth, and then pressure.  A pulse went off, but this time it came from within Michelle herself.  The trees flashed their own in response, or in echo of it and the forest lit up in the back of Michelle’s mind.  It felt like she could tell where every tree, every twig, was at all times.  She tiled the bowl farther, she wanted to see more.  Another pulse went off and she realized that she somehow knew there was a squirrel napping on the canopy above her, a robin resting on her new eggs, a snake brushing against the dry leaves of the underbrush. 

She wanted to see more, so she drank faster.  A fire started to well up in her and another pulse went off.  She could see In-ka, all of her, not just behind the thin ribbons she wore for clothing, but under her skin.  She could feel the other woman’s heart beating, her lungs stretching with air, and her blood flowing like fiery rivers.

Michelle’s own blood was starting to feel like In-ka’s looked, hot and glowing with the fires of power.  She drank more and the heat spiked to new heights, she felt like her body was straining against itself.  Like she was too small for herself and needed to burst free.  It felt amazing.

She drank more and started to feel like she’d burst.  Her veins felt like over puffed balloons filled with molten iron.  It was hot… too hot.  It hurt to move any muscles, but it also was amazing.  She could feel the insects now, in the trees and even above the dark canopy in the open sky.  She felt like she could command them, all of them, if she only knew how.  She needed to know more, she needed to feel more, despite the pain she took another big gulp.

Michelle cried out as the force inside her got too intense.  The bowl hit the ground showering its contents around splattering her legs and the stone she was standing on. Everywhere the strange liquid landed burst into multicolored flames.  The power quickly erupted and engulfed Michelle who stumbled to her knees in it crying out and doubling over as the fire within her felt like it would explode out even and she burned on the outside.