Tri'lanna

"Well...um...you, Tri'lanna." Ceinwyn shyly looked up at her elven friend, squirming under her frozen gaze. Her shoulders were still held firm by the Elfmaid's grip and she was unable to turn away. "I, I want you to do it."

The look on her friend's face was indecipherable. Her lips were slightly apart and her forehead for creased with either confusion or surprise. Tri'lanna eyes stayed locked on hers, unblinking, seeking out something inside of her but not exactly certain what.

There was a loud bark and Ceinwyn turned to see Malvern shaking his head. "Do 'it'? Perhaps it has fled your mind, little druidess, but Lady Tri'lanna is lacking certain..." The old man's gaze fell between her legs, "...equipment. She would not be able to assist you in this enterprise. I, on the other hand, am fully prepared to sacrifice myself for this task." He gave Ceinwyn a leer that made her shudder inside.

"Oh please," Tel'eria muttered, "I doubt your 'equipment' would even be functioning, much less be any more useful."

The Grandmaster bristled at the jab, "Well what would you suggest then, my dear? Are you going to conjure up a penis for the girl? No? We still have that goat, you know."

"Actually..."

Just when it looked like the two were going to start verbal sparring again, Tri'lanna spoke up, finally breaking eye-contact with Ceinwyn to look at the grandmaster.

"I think I might have a solution."

Outside Grandmaster Malvern's testing chamber, Ceinwyn stood alone, waiting. Tri'lanna gave Malvern and Tel'Eria a set of instructions and then mysteriously disappeared, advising the young druid that she would be back momentarily. The head wizards muttered under their breath and had pushed Ceinwyn out into the hallway, claiming that they had to obtain secret materials there weren't for the eyes of "non-wizards". Which left her outside with nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs. Roughly an hour later, soft-sounding footsteps rang in the hall again and Ceinwyn watched Tri'lanna trot up to her, wearing a satisfied look.

"I thought saw an old acquaintance of mine hiding in the basement with the other refugees when we were down there and I was right. I knew she would be carrying what we needed!" Tri'lanna said proudly, holding up the bizarre contraption for all the world to see.

It was a strap-on. Roughly seven or eight inches in length, pale yellow in color, and about as thick as her wrist. Or at least, that was what Ceinwyn's rational mind whispered to her. Above those tiny words though was a screaming cacophony of disbelief and disturbing thoughts. How are you supposed to wear something like that? Who would think of inventing such a thing? Is it supposed to be that big? She tried to think Hans' own penis, to try and compare the size, but that only sent her into a whirlwind of lustful fantasies, making her blush furiously.

Looking at the sex toy nervously, Ceinwyn asked, "Just what does this 'acquaintance' of yours do for a living?"

"She's the owner of a brothel, down in the city." The elfmaid answered with a shrug, "I believe it's called the Palace of Indefinite Pleasures....or something similar."

"Oh...That explains something." Ceinwyn said as the door swung open. Malvern and Tel'eria walked out into the hallway and in the corner of her eye, and the young woman saw the strap-on disappear somewhere within the folds of Tri'lanna's clothes before the two wizards even noticed.

"The instructions you set out for us are now complete." Tel'eria said as she approached, "The circle has been inscribed in the method you explained and the reagents have been prepared to your specifications. Once the opening begins, the ritual should progress automatically." She looked at Ceinwyn's elven friend with surprising admiration, "I must say, that none of us ever thought about designing a ritual like this. Perhaps there's more to you than I thought."

"I'll have you know, I object to being treated like some trainee." Malvern said, "Don't lump me together with your incompetence. I had figured out what she was trying to do almost immediately."

"So, now that you two are finished." Tri'lanna interrupted before the bickering could start, emphasizing the last word, "If Ceinwyn and I could have some privacy..."

Malvern and Tel'eria shared a glance and stiffly stepped aside, allowing a small amount of space between them, but keeping their eyes locked on each other and maintaining a rigid tension. Walking past the two wizards, Ceinwyn and Tri'lanna entered the chamber.

At first glance, the room had not changed significantly from when she first was inside. The long table still stood close to the entrance, with all the strange mishmash of alchemic reagents strewn on its counter and along the walls. But there was a heavy incense smell in the air now and where once the back of the room was mostly bare, the now was a large, complex pattern that covered most of the floor. In its most basic form, it was another circle. This time it was etched in gold and what looked like dried quicksilver, but that's where the similarities ended. There was a web-like pattern that traced through and around the symbol, looping, twisting, and criss-crossing in an intricate pattern that made her eyes water.

Tri'lanna walked along the side of it nonchalantly, like she had seen it all before. "So Ceinwyn, if I could get your help for these last adjustments." She said, grabbing a small piece of chalk from the table as she passed by.

Ceinwyn went to where Tri'lanna was and knelt down to the ground as she did. As they began to work their way around the circle, the elfmaid began to ask her a series of short questions, about her training, the various incantations, rituals, and inscriptions. Each time she would describe a symbol or a concept, Tri'lanna would nod her head sagely and then make changes to the ritual circle. Drawing new sigils here, removing some there, and modifying some of the remaining ones.

When they were almost full circle back to where they started, Tri'lanna spoke up. "We’re almost done." She said. "Are you nervous?"

"A little." Ceinwyn replied, looking at the elf. "Is this really going to work the way you said?"

Still drawing in the signs, Tri'lanna said, "I'm sure. When the ritual was first designed, my teachers had deliberately placed openings, so that the circle could be modified when needed. I’m sure they didn’t expect us to use druidic signs, but the circle should accept them all the same.”

They fell silent again as Tri'lanna continued to write, the soft scratching of the chalk the only sound in the insulated room.

Ceinwyn was about to get up, when Tri'lanna suddenly asked, "…Why me?"

The young woman looked at the Elfmaid. It was a simple question, but it was spoken quietly and was tinged with uncertainty. Ceinwyn could see that her friend watching her from the corner of her eye.

She let her eyes wander, gazing over the runes that traced the circumference of the multi-layered circle. The craftsmanship was impeccable and exquisite; she would even dare say it was beautiful. Each arcane word and sign was etched with incredible precision, like a sculptor crafting a work of art, and the druidess was certain that there would have been no way she could have gone this far without Tri'lanna.

"I could ask you the same thing, Tri.” She replied, “You held such a terrible secret inside, yet you told me everything about you and Vanarim, why? But I think my answer is the same as yours.”

Speaking slowly, Ceinwyn continued, "Because you're one of the only people I trust, because I love Hans and want to help him defeat Vanarim, and because..." her eyes rose up from the circle to meet the violet-hue gaze of her elven friend.

"...because I love you too, Tri'lanna. And I couldn't bear seeing either of you getting hurt again."

Tri’lanna’s head lowered, her hair falling down to cover her face. A small tremor passed over her shoulders, like a heavy tension was leaving. When she looked up again at her, her eyes were moist, “You don’t know how much that means to me, Winnie.” She whispered, embracing Ceinwyn.

“Come on,” Tri’lanna said, unlacing the top of her blouse, “It’s time to start the ritual.”