Chapter 154

Denethia awoke with a sharp gasp, curling to clutch her sex in her hand. The orgasmic sensation faded quickly, a product of her dreams and memories. Uncurling, she panted for breath and took in her surroundings.
She was back in her room, in her own bed. The blood trails were gone from her breast, and the evidence of her orgasm — and Celdin's — was absent as well. Sitting up, a profound hunger and thirst struck Denethia, as if she had not eaten for days.
The door to her room opened only moments later, and Celdin walked in, smiling. Seeing her awake, he exclaimed, "Twenty hours — remarkable! You are truly gifted to have awakened so quickly. Kyleria slept for three days before she recovered from the joining."
Turning, he signaled to Kyleria, who stood behind him in the doorway to Denethia's room. The woman bowed and left immediately at his unspoken command.
"Can you feel it, my Denethia?"
Denethia's brow wrinkled at first, not knowing what her Master was asking.
Then she felt it.
Denethia could feel a link to her Master, and through him, a link to the undead creatures he controlled. She knew that she could command the dead to obey her, as if they were her own creations. Likewise, she could feel a connection to the woman Kyleria — and other women that were unfamiliar to her.
"Yes, Master," Denethia replied once she understood his question, still reaching out with her mind to touch each of the unliving servants, feeling the power that was hers to command.
The smile on his face grew wider, "Excellent, you are truly well-suited to serve me as one of my elite. There are restrictions to your new freedoms inherent in the joining as well, however."
Celdin's voice took on an obvious note of command, "We are bound, for so long as we both shall live. You will not use your Art or any mundane weapon to strike at me or any other who serves me, save when I order you to take such action. Likewise, you shall not conspire to have others act against me, or the others who serve me. You will maintain your studies, advancing your knowledge, and obey all of my commands without question. Refusal will mean pain — and worse — beyond anything you could possibly imagine. Obedience will bring you pleasure, power, and reward in my service."
Denethia could feel the compulsion present in his words, and knew she was bound by the magic of the joining to obey the commands he had just given her, and any he chose to give her in the future, until the day one of them died.
Her voice quavered slightly when she replied, "I understand, Master." The enormity of her new bondage tore through her blissful exploration of her power, fanning the flame of her soul back to life again. Denethia was horrified by how low it had burned, flickering and threatening to wink out. She had nearly turned her back on the light forever, feeling the vast power now at her command.
His tone softened once more, "Good. Kyleria will return momentarily with food and drink, that you may break your fast. You will likely need to rest further to recover before attempting to return to your studies. After two days time, you should be recovered sufficiently to endure the first tests, and enjoy your first reward of service. I shall see you then, Denethia."
Denethia found that Celdin's predictions proved true, and she did spend much of her time in bed for two days. When she awoke the third morning, the memory that tests awaited her this day stole away the relief of her renewed strength.
Celdin swept into the room shortly after Denethia had dressed, smiling and ordering her, "Come, it is time for your testing."
She followed her Master to his private study, yet another forbidden place within the cavernous complex beneath the earth. Once inside, he turned to her and said, "Sense the dead through me. You seek the one that was your first success. You will feel the touch of your magic upon the creature, in addition to my own. You should recognize the creature, and know it from all the others. Command it to come here."
She closed her eyes and concentrated, finding that the tendrils of power leading to the dead emerged with sudden clarity in her mind. She easily selected the zombie Celdin had instructed her to command, and ordered it to come to them.
Celdin could feel his undead servant moving at her command, and nodded in approval. "Now, explore the connection to the creature. Feel what it feels, see what it sees, hear what it hears."
Accomplishing this was just as easy as commanding the creature. Denethia's skin crawled when she felt the chill of death creep through her, her footsteps heavy upon the stone. The crooked angle of the zombie's neck made her stomach lurch as she saw the world through its eyes, now approaching the room.

The creature entered and Celdin ordered, "Speak through its lips."
Denethia mouthed the words, and the creature sucked in a breath for the first time since its death, wheezing, "Yes, Master."
"Very good, now order it to return to its place. It will obey this simple command without direct control."
Denethia did as he had ordered, causing the creature to lurch back toward the door, and shamble back to the chill cavern of the dead.
"Now, reach farther, out in the world beyond our quaint home. Find this one," Celdin demanded, revealing one of the reins of power to her. It was different from the others, stronger and more ominous. Denethia touched it with her mind and instantly knew the nature of the creature, a vampire.
"My most recent accomplishment," the Master explained, "Raised through the power I gained in bonding with you."
She could feel the malevolent hatred of the creature pouring through the link. It was intelligent — its soul bound within dead flesh — and despised the living, even as it hungered for their blood.
Through the vampire's eyes, she saw only darkness. The creature was at rest, its eyes closed.
"Command it to rise."
Denethia did so, and saw the world in shades of sickly green through the vampire's eyes. She saw the stone lid of the creature's crypt above, which shifted as the vampire slid it away. The creature rose from its grave, revealing an underground crypt. Chained to the wall nearby was a woman, lush of figure and hanging limply from the manacles about her wrist. Denethia felt the surge of hunger that emerged within the vampire upon seeing the faint pulse of the woman's heartbeat in her neck, a neck marred by partially healed puncture wounds.
"Command it to take her, to feed and take its first wife in undeath."
Denethia tasted bile, and refused to release the horrible hunger of the creature she commanded. Almost instantly, her blood turned to acid, burning in her veins. Her strength left her and she collapsed to the floor, the sharp crack of her knees against the stone utterly lost in the burning of her blood.
"You must obey me, Denethia. Through our blood bond, you will know pain beyond imagining whenever you refuse my orders. Only by accepting your fate, and pleasing me, can you end the torture."
A sob wracked Denethia's body as she realized it was true. The burning in her veins lessened as she came to grips with what Celdin had just told her, understanding that she had no choice.
"Now, order it to feed."
Still sobbing, she connected to the vampire again. The burning of her blood vanished as she obeyed Celdin's commands, but when she hesitated to give the vampire an order to feed upon grasping its reins of command, the burning started again. Ordering the creature, as Celdin had commanded, ended her pain, but not her torment.
Denethia felt the almost sexual ecstasy of the vampire as its fangs pierced the woman's flesh. She could taste the coppery blood, feel it sliding down her throat. Her nipples hardened, and wetness gathered between her legs as the creature fed, transferring the one feeling other than hatred it could experience in undeath through the link to her.