Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Another story. I'm managing to keep to my schedule.

This is another Apprentice story. This one is going to be a bit more plot-heavy, but I'm still going to try for at least some sexiness every chapter :).

This chapter contains female masturbation and (technically kind-of) voyeurism.

Annalise carefully made her way along the narrow forest track. In the last village she'd passed, the innkeeper had mentioned that bandits had been raiding villages in the vicinity for the past few months. Apparently, the King's soldiers had recently caught and killed the majority of them, but Annalise had no desire to run into any that had managed to avoid capture.

She'd been travelling for a month now, and though walking all day had been difficult in the beginning, she was quite used to it now. When the weather was as sunny as it was now, she quite enjoyed it.

Annalise shaded her eyes as she reached a small clearing, the sun — even though it was starting to set — nearly blinding her after several hour's walking under the cover of the trees. When she could see properly again, she saw that she was in a small grassy clearing, caused by a large fallen tree that appeared to have been struck by lightning. It looked like as good a place as any to stop for the night. She sighed as she began unpacking her tent. Travelling was nice, but a camp she had to set up every night was a lot less convenient than her own room in Master Makala's tower.

***

"*Leave?*" Annalise asked, louder than she'd meant to.

"Not forever, of course," replied Master Makala evenly, with a small smile, "but, as I said, I think that some time spent travelling will be good for you. You've learned the basics of most kinds of magic, and I think that some practical experience and seeing how other people use magic will be a good way for you to finish your training."

Annalise didn't know how to respond. Though she'd often felt homesick when she first came here to be Master Makala's apprentice, the tower now felt like home.

Master Makala seemed to understand her apprehension, and spoke gently, "I did the same when I was about your age. The traditional way to complete an apprenticeship is to come up with some new spell or magical discovery, and I think the best way to do that would be for you to go out on your own for a while, see something other than the inside of this tower and the village."

"Right now?"

"No, of course not. But soon, before the start of summer. You can spend some time preparing and deciding what to bring with you. I'll give you some money and such, and I'll help you with any spells you think will be helpful on your journey."

"How long will I..." Annalise trailed off.

"I think about a year would be good. Then, when you return, I'm confident you will be able to show me some magic I haven't seen before, so you can complete your apprenticeship."

"If you think that's best," Annalise said, uncertainly.

***

An hour later, the sun was setting in earnest, and Annalise lay back under her blanket, nibbling on a last piece of sausage; a quick weather-sensing spell had revealed that it wouldn't be worth it to set up her tent, and a summoning spell that she had gotten very familiar with since she'd left her Master's tower had drawn water from the ground to refill her canteen. She swallowed the last of her evening meal, took a swig of water and dropped a couple more branches on her campfire. Then she yawned, turned over and closed her eyes.

A short time later, she woke up again. A glance upward showed a clear view of the stars, without a cloud in the sky. No rain, then. She sat up slightly, trying to determine what had awakened her. Then she noticed a reddish spark of light between the trees, and some soft noises, as of a number of creatures trying to move quietly. This track didn't look heavily used, she thought, and in any case, who would be travelling at night? With a moment of concentration, Annalise gathered some power for a quick concussion spell, then poked up the fire with her left hand.

"Hello?" she called, "Is anyone there?"

There was a rustle of leaves, and then a moment of total silence. Then a shout, "We've been spotted! Get them!"

Growls accompanied more rustling of leaves, quickly approaching the clearing, and then brown-grey bodies burst out of the trees. In the few moments before they crossed the clearing and reached her, Annalise saw that they were wolves, unusually large ones and at least half a dozen of them.

They leapt forward just before they reached her, and Annalise had a quick flash of gratitude for Master Makala, who'd insisted that she get plenty of practice with a couple of combat spells before she set out on this journey. Now she didn't hesitate as she wave her hand and shouted the word to complete the concussion spell, automatically shaping the force away from herself. There was a clap of thunder and several of the wolves were thrown backward. Off to the side, her campfire was blasted forward in a shower of glowing coals and sparks, scorching a wolf that she hadn't noticed in the darkness. It howled as parts of its fur caught fire, and fell to the ground, rolling over and yelping.

The wolves backed of a bit, and Annalise's eyes darted around, sizing them up. The light of the remains of the fire filled the clearing with shifting shadows, but now she could see enough that there were five of the wolves, including the one still attempting to put out the embers in its fur. Two of them were wearing a kind of leather armor, and that, at least, explained why wolves would attack an adult human unprovoked: they had to be war-wolves, carefully bred and magically enhanced for warfare, and much more intelligent and aggressive than normal wolves. They circled her, and Annalise put her back to the tree, keeping her fire between herself and at least some of them. Her fingers twitched and her lips moved, preparing her next spell.

The burned wolf managed to put itself out and scrabbled upright. There was an exchange of growls, and then two of the wolves darted forward, one from in front of her, the other from behind. She shaded her eyes with one hand and waved the other in a circle around her, completing the spell just in time. A circle of blue fire burst out around her, catching the leaping wolves in mid-air and racing outward several more feet to catch the others as well. The wolf in front yelped and twisted in the air and missed her entirely, but the one from behind her bounced off the tree and into Annalise, knocking her to the ground.

Before she could get back up, there were three deep growls, and the three most distant wolves, which had not caught too much of the flames and were only slightly scorched, charged forward from the sides, one of them leaping over the burning, rolling form of one of the others. Annalise scrabbled into a sitting position and managed a shield spell just in time. A transparent blue hemisphere formed above her, and the wolves cannoned into it and rolled off, one of them into the remains of the campfire. Unfortunately, her lack of preparation meant that the shield collapsed almost immediately. The two remaining unburned wolves shook themselves and staggered back upright while Annalise got to her feet, then jumped at her again.

She managed to dodge them and then, while they untangled themselves, turned and let loose with another blast of force just as they snarled and snapped at her. The wolves were blasted away. Unfortunately, she didn't manage to shape the force completely away from herself and she was knocked off her feet again. It took a few moments for her head to stop spinning, but when it did she was surprised that she hadn't been attacked again. Looking around, she saw that one of the wolves she'd blasted was lying at the base of the tree, its head at a sharp angle. Of the ones she'd burned, three were also lying very still. The remaining two were having trouble getting to their feet again.

Annalise concentrated and muttered the words to another spell and a shield of blue flames appeared in front of her. The war wolves still hadn't managed to get back to their feet, and she relaxed a little, whispering more words as she began to gather sparks of lightning in her right hand. When the largest of the wolves finally managed to struggle to its feet, she called out to it. "Get out of here!" It stared at her groggily, growling softly. Trying to stop her hands from shaking, Annalise took a step forward, keeping the shield of flame in front of her, and raised her hand, now glowing with blue sparks, threateningly.

She was so intent on the wolves in front of her that she didn't see the dark figure on her right until it was almost on top of her. At the last second, she saw movement and a flash of a face under a gleaming black helmet, then an armor-covered body cannoned into her and they both went down. Her shield of fire vanished as her concentration wavered, but she managed to hold on to the lightning in her hand.

In the flickering light from the remains of the fire and the actinic blue glow in her hand, he could barely make out the figure on top of her: a scowling female face under a black helmet on a body covered in more gleaming black armor. Annalise tried to push her off, but the woman pushed her hand aside and a gauntleted fist hit Annalise in the face.

"Sorry about this," the woman growled, "but I really can't have anyone see me right now. It's a shame to have to kill such a pretty girl, but it can't be helped." The woman grinned maniacally, and one of her hands closed on Annalise's throat

Panicking, Annalise brought up her hand and managed to force out the last word of the spell, but the woman knocked her hand aside at the last moment, and the bolt of lightning shot off sideways. There was a high-pitched yelp and a flash of light. The woman grabbed Annalise's hand and forced it down onto the forest floor, then leaned her weight fully onto the hand on Annalise's throat. Annalise tried to push it off with her remaining hand, but the woman's grip was too strong. She tried for another spell, but she couldn't force out any words. Spots danced in front of her eyes.

Then, she remembered her last option. She gathered all the concentration she could manage to form a mental command, and felt a tingling around her left leg.

***

Master Makala gaze swept over the mess on Annalise's bed and came to rest on the half-completed pack Annalise had been putting together for her journey.

"Your preparations seem to be getting along quite well." She smiled to Annalise. "I see you have managed not to bring along the entire library." She traced a finger along the spine of the only spell book Annalise had packed. "Severian's Compendium is a good choice. Well done."

"Thank you, Master. I just need to choose which clothes to pack and then I think I'll have everything I'll need," Annalise said. She still felt nervous, but she was starting to look forward to her journey as well.

"Before you finish packing, you should have this, as well," said Master Makala, handing Annalise a sealed scroll, "It's a letter of introduction. Most of the sorcerers you will meet near here should be willing to help you along on your way, or at least give you a place to sleep for the night, if you show it to them."

Annalise accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Master."

Master Makala acknowledge her with a nod, then walked over to the corner of the room, looking thoughtfully at the glass tank by the window. She drummed her fingers on the top, and the Northern Grass Viper inside raised its head and flicked its tongue at the glass. Master Makala seemed to come to a decision and turned back to Annalise.

"There is one more gift I should give you before you leave. I see you've been taking good care of the snake. Now tell me, what do you know about living spells?"

Annalise doubted that Master Makala's abrupt changes of topic would ever stop taking her by surprise, but she rallied quickly.

"Er... They're spells that, well, have a sort of life to them. They can't be written down, only taught directly by one person to another. They're usually long-lasting or bound to a living thing, and they can often act in quite complex ways on their own. There's not really that much about the books in the library..."

"Well done. That's about as much as you can learn about them without experiencing them for yourself." Master Makala turned her back to Annalise and held her hair to the side. As was often the case, she was wearing a low-backed dress, and the vividly colored tattoo of a hawk with wide-spread wings was visible between her shoulder blades. "I'm sure you've seen this tattoo before. What you probably don't know is that it is a living spell of my own design. Before you leave, I'm going to teach it to you."

"Oh, thank you, Master!" Annalise leaned closer. The tattoo was unusually vividly colored, standing out clearly against Master Makala's dark skin, but it didn't look overtly magical. "What does it do?"

***

The tingling moved upward, leaving a feeling of warmth along Annalise's hip, her stomach, and up her chest.

***

Learning the words to the spell had taken most of a day. Achieving the proper mental state had taken several more hours of tedious meditation. Now, Annalise and Master Makala had just finished preparing a complicated spell circle on the floor of the ritual room at the top of the tower. Annalise was completely naked. In the last year or so Master Makala had been teaching her several spells that required nudity, and she was mostly used to it, but it still sometimes made her uncomfortable. Master Makala wiped her hands clean of chalk dust and gestured at the glass tank they had moved to the table. "Get the snake, then go take your place in the circle."

Annalise took the cover off the tank and gently lifted the viper out. She'd been taking care of it for several months now, on Master Makala's instructions, and it was used to her, but she was still always careful, because Grass Viper bites were extremely painful, not to mention venomous. The snake wound itself around her left arm, and she slowly made her way over to the center of the circle and knelt down, settling into a cross-legged position.

Master Makala had finished setting up the brazier of herbs, and with a nod at Annalise, she lit it. "You may begin."

As the unpleasant scent of the herbal smoke filled the room, Annalise closed her eyes and began reciting the spell. Within moments, she felt the magic begin to build up flowing through her arm and into the snake. It twitched, and Annalise laid a calming hand just behind its head as she kept up the flow of syllables.

***

The tingling reached her shoulder, and there was a sudden, almost painful, burst of heat.

***

The flow of the spell was intense. Annalise had completely lost her sense of time, though she knew that the spell was nearing its end, which meant that about fifteen minutes should have passed. The viper had calmed down as more magic flowed into it, though it had slithered off her arm and was now lying on her legs. As she spoke the final word of the spell, a burst of magic shot through her, and she swayed. There was a sudden intense heat on her leg, which vanished quickly, leaving only a faint tingling sensation.

A hand touched her shoulder, and blurry shapes slowly came into focus when she opened her eyes. She was lying on her back, and Master Makala was leaning over her.

"Well done! A perfect casting on your first attempt." Master Makala helped her into a sitting position. "Have a look."

Annalise looked down. The snake had vanished. Instead, there was now a vibrant green tattoo coiled around her leg: a viper, the tip of its tail just on her ankle and its head on the outside of her hip.

***

Even through the spots obscuring her vision, Annalise could see the viper materialize into solidity out of the moving tattoo on her skin. It lunged forward from her shoulder, and the woman on top op her flinched back. The hand on Annalise's throat vanished as the woman grabbed at the snake that had lunged at her and bitten into her neck.

Annalise took a gulp of air and immediately shouted a spell, thrusting her hand forward shakily. Her voice was hoarse and unsteady, but the spell worked. A blast of force blasted her attacker away, her helmet flying off, bouncing off a tree branch and almost hitting Annalise on the way down. Annalise was pushed into the ground by the force she hadn't quite managed to shape away from herself.

A moment later, she struggled to her knees. She saw that the woman had managed to get halfway upright, as well, and Annalise was just in time to see her rip the snake away from her neck and fling it into the grass. She was moving unsteadily and even in the poor light Annalise could see she was looking pale, but she began struggling to her feet. The spell increases the distinguising chracteristics of the subject, in this case the potency of the venom, flitted trough Annalise's head, in Master Makala's voice.

"No!" the woman croaked, and she staggered toward Annalise. Annalise looked into her wild eyes and at her hands, raised to grab her again. She waved her hand in fear and anger, and shouted the first spell that came to mind. A bolt of lightning shot out and struck her attacker in the center of the chest, bowling her over. Annalise lost her balance and fell over backwards. Her head hit the ground and she had only a moment to be faintly thankful that the grass was fairly soft before consciousness left her.

***

When Annalise woke, there was a bright light in her eyes and a weight on her chest, and her pain all over her body. She struggled upright, shielding her eyes with her arm. The sun was nearly at its zenith, and the viper was lying on her chest. Then events of the last night came back to her and she shot upright, looking around wildly and dumping the viper onto the ground. Four half-burnt wolf bodies lay on the grass; the fifth was nowhere to be found. There were burnt patches all over the clearing. And a few yards away lay the body of a woman. The light of day meant that Annalise could see her properly for the first time. Shoulder-length brown hair was spread around her head and she was wearing gleaming black-lacquered armor.

As Annalise came closer, she could see the blood at her throat, the waxy skin of her face and her eyes, staring up at nothing. Annalise turned aside, breathing deeply. When the queasy feeling in her stomach faded, she turned back and tried to look at the body steadily. Why did she attack me? she wonders. She said she couldn't be seen, but why?

She moved her head slightly, and the front of the breastplate caught the light. She looked closer. On the front of the breastplate, in then silver lines, wass a symbol. It looked like a skull in a pentagon. *Wait... The innkeeper in the village mentioned something about this. Some of the raiders they killed had a symbol like this on their equipment*. Was this women one of the raiders who got away? Then why not simply dump the armor and disappear?

Annalise sat back, thinking. The armor did look expensive and well-made. Even the lightning bolt she'd hit it with hadn't left any visible damage. She closes her eyes and spoke the words to Cipotian's Revealer. When she opened her eyes again, she could see a faint yellow glow surrounding the armor. A look over her shoulder showed a thin yellow line leading to the fallen helmet, which was also glowing. So, it's permanently enchanted. That would be why she didn't want to dump it. It must be worth a lot of money.

Annalise looked around the clearing again. Oddly, the sight of the dead war-wolves made her feel better about herself. Someone who decided to ally with war-wolves and attack travelers deserved whatever happened to them. Still, she couldn't leave the bodies just lying here. She walked back to her pack and rummaged for her spell book, touching the viper in passing. There was the now-familiar feeling of warmth as it crawled into her skin again and slithered back to its place on her leg.

***

A few minutes later, she spoke the last words of a conjuration spell. A blue glow formed into the air, then flowed into a minimally-detailed humanoid shape and solidified. Without a word, the conjured construct walked over to the raider's body and began carefully stripping it of the armor. Meanwhile, Annalise gathered up all of her belongings and began to repack her pack. By the time she was finished, her conjured construct had carefully piled all the raider's and war-wolves' belongings together and had started digging a pit.

Annalise walked over to the pile and began sorting through it; she found nothing magical except for the armor, but there was a small pouch containing a few copper and silver coins of a denomination she didn't recognize. That went into her pack. Then she laid out the armor, grabbed her spell book, and began reading a more sophisticated revealing spell.

By the time her construct had dumped the bodies into the pit and filled it in again, Annalise had made a bit of progress in identifying the spells on the armor. No malicious magic; that's good. Some pretty tough protection. I doubt that lightning bolt caused her any real damage; I got really lucky that my viper managed to bite her somewhere unarmored. A pretty good featherweight spell, and a powerful resizing spell. Plus I think some minor spells. Someone spent a lot of effort on this.

As the construct began to evaporate, Annalise came to a decision. A quick cleaning spell and a long-lasting coloring spell later, the armor was clean and silvery metallic in color, and the symbol was no longer visible. She'd thought of packing it away, but it would be easier to wear than to carry.

Sooner than she was expecting, Annalise put the helmet on. The armor had resized itself as she was putting it on, and the straps and buckles had tied themselves. It fit perfectly, and didn't seem to weigh anything at all. She couldn't move quite as easily as she could in her dress, but she didn't doubt she would be able to hike at pretty much her normal rate. She set out again, hoping for no more incidents.

***

Annalise finished setting up her camp. This time, she hadn't found a clearing, but a spot by a small stream was almost as good, though the tall trees around her meant she wouldn't get as much light. She'd decided against a fire, this time. She doubted there were any more bandits around, but apparently it paid to be careful.

Before she lay down in her bedroll, she freed her viper from the tattoo, mentally commanding it to keep an eye out during the night. Then, she spent a few minutes conjuring a small bird-shaped construct to help watch for intruders. The spell was small and not too complex, so it should last through the night. Then, as she was crawling into her bedroll, she grabbed the helmet, feeling a little silly for her paranoia, especially since she'd washed her dress in the stream and it was still drying -- her drying spells always made clothes all itchy -- so she was wearing only a pair of panties. Still, the helmet was comfortably padded, and should she be attacked again she would have at least some protection.

As she tried to ignore the various quiet animal noises around her and go to sleep, she remembered why she normally didn't try combined conjuration before bed. It's all Master Makala's fault! She was the one who decided that the best way for me to use combined conjuration for the first time would be to use it to conjure a golem to have fuck me silly! Now, whenever she didn't keep herself distracted after conjuring something, she thought back to that time. She could feel the heat gathering between her thighs. Oh well, she thought, maybe it'll help me fall asleep quickly.

She rolled onto her back and carefully brought a hand up to her breast. She brushed her fingers over a nipple. It was already stiffening with anticipation. She rolled it between her fingers and pinched it slightly, just to the edge of pain, then moved to the other nipple. She alternated nipples for a while, occasionally pausing to squeeze a full breast, building anticipation. When she felt her panties begin to get damp, she used her other hand to push them halfway down her thighs, then slowly moved her fingers down her stomach, past where her pubic hair had been -- keeping it neatly trimmed was too much work while she was travelling, so she'd carefully brewed a potion that had taken the hair off completely and permanently, until she took the another potion to reverse the effect -- until she reached the top of her pussy.

Careful not to actually touch her clit, she slowly moved her finger in small circle, producing a small jolt of pleasure each time she passed near it. After a few moments, she pinched a nipple harder, and at the same time slipped two fingers along the sides of her clit. A moan escaped her as she felt her wetness coat her fingers. Spreading her legs wider, she slipped her index finger inside and ground the ball of her thumb into the skin above her clit, rubbing it back and forth hard.

She hadn't masturbated for a couple of days, and she was very sensitive now. She slowed down slightly, stroking her insides gently with two fingers and only lightly tweaking her nipples, trying to make he pleasure last. After a few minutes, she gave up any pretense of trying to stay quiet, and loud moans echoed between the trees.

As she slipped a third finger inside her dripping pussy, the palm of her hand directly touched her swollen button, and the sudden spike of pleasure made all thoughts of patience disappear. With a last, sharp tug she removed her other hand from her nipple; a sharp "Oh!" escaped her, and the echo sounded loud in her ears. She yanked the now dripping wet fingers from her pussy and immediately replaced them three new ones from her other hand while she flicked her clit rapidly with her thumb.

Without waiting, she pulled an ass cheek aside with the palm of her hand and poked a slick finger into her tight ass. It slid in easily, her asshole already twitching in anticipation. A few thrusts, and a second finger slipped in beside it, the two fingers together spreading her asshole while she thrust them in and out.

She felt her juices drip down from her pussy onto the fingers in her ass. Each flick of her thumb over her clit made her ass clench around her fingers, producing another jolt of pleasure. Her legs trembled, lifting her ass off the ground, giving her easy access to add a third finger to her ass, spreading it just to the edge of pain. When she felt her climax approach, she thrust deep into both her ass and pussy, feeling deliciously filled. A last, rough flick of her thumb over her nub tipped her over the edge.

She groaned loudly. Ohgodsohgodsohgods!

The voice sounded loud, and it wasn't hers. Her eyes sprang open, but the orgasm coursing through her meant that it took her a minute to struggle upright and look around wildly. She saw no-one, and neither her viper nor her conjured construct were trying to warn her of anything.

"Who's there?" she called out, while she was struggling to a standing position on still-weak legs and trying to pull up her panties at the same time. Even to her own ears, her voice sounded weak and uncertain.

You can hear me? The voice was feminine and sounded sruprised, though there was a strangely flat quality to it, and she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

Annalise still couldn't see anyone in the darkness of the surrounding forest. "Where are you? Who are you?"

I'm in the hel--

Annalise yanked the helmet off her head before the voice finished speaking, and it bounced on the ground and rolled to a stop against a tree a few feet away. She'd suddenly realized why the voice sounded strange: she wasn't hearing it with her ears, but it was appearing in her mind. Some kind of spirit or enchanted intelligence in the helmet, it had to be. Those kinds of things could be terribly dangerous; she'd read a number of horrible accounts in Master Makala's library of demonic possessions and mind-controlling enchanted artifacts.

But why had it waited an entire day? Had it been waiting until she was relaxed? And what had it been planning? Was this what had happened to the woman in the armor? One minute, normal woman, the next, demonically possessed raider?

But... The voice had sounded genuinely surprised, and at the end even hopeful. What was going on? Annalise realized she wouldn't be able to sleep in any case with the helmet around, and retrieved her spell book from her pack, then spent a few minutes carefully moving the helmet to an empty spot, touching it only with a couple of sticks, and drawing a Circle of Containment around it.

Two hours later, she'd finished using every curse- and trap-detecting spell she had access to, as well as every means of magical identification she could find. She hadn't been able to find any kind of malicious magic (though she was now pretty sure from the feel of the magic that the helmet was very old; probably it even dated from the time of the Aruveic Empire. That would explain the large number of permanent enchantments). She hadn't detected any kind of demonic presence or conjured spirit. The only thing she'd found was that there was a complex of spells that created a kind of spiritual empty space, and that there was now some sort of living mind occupying that space, which did not seem to have any kind of ability to act through the magic of the helmet.

In fact, it all seemed completely harmless, if strange.

It took another half an hour of thinking before she came to a decision. She spent some time casting a number of mental protection spells, just to be sure, then carefully put on the helmet again.

"Hello?" she ventured.

You're still here! I thought I'd been abandoned! The voice sounded half-panicked, half-relieved.

"What are you? Why are you in this helmet?"

I'm Sandra. I'm just a normal woman, really!

"Normal women aren't minds living in enchanted helmets!"

I just... I'm a blacksmith, really!

"You were a human woman? Then how--" Annalise was interrupted as the voice continued on rapidly, without pausing for breath. Not that a mental voice in a helmet would need to breathe.

Yes, I am! I heard that the king's soldiers had had a major fight with the bandits near my village, so I went to take a look. My village isn't rich, so I thought that maybe the was still something valuable to be found, you know? I went to the battlefield and there wasn't really anything left, but when I was leaving I saw this glint of light from a ditch, and when I looked there was a broken sword there and the body of this huge guy in black armor with an arrow in his eye. But the armor looked in perfect shape and very valuable, and it had the symbol of the bandits on it, so this guy had to be a bandit, so I didn't think anyone would complain if I took it, you know?

"You're talking about the armor I found that woman wearing?"

Sandra didn't seem to be listening to her anymore; the voice simply kept going.

So I took the armor off him, and I went to take it home, so I put it in a bag but I thought the helmet would be easier to carry if I put it on so I did and then-- She stopped talking with what sounded like a sob.

"And what then?" Annalise had an idea building in the back of her mind about what was going on, but she needed to hear it.

And then there was this really weird feeling and suddenly I was only looking out of my own eyes while someone else was moving about using my body! Suddenly she sounded angry. And I had to watch for two weeks while he recruited those wolves and gathered equipment and got ready to move somewhere else to begin raiding all over again! And then we ran into you and you knocked the helmet off and then I guess you killed him! But he was wearing my body and I don't know what's going to happen to me now and-- She trailed off with another sob.

Annalise sat down on her bedroll, her back against a tree, and closed her eyes. This was not what she'd expected after having been attacked in the middle of the night.

"I'm really sorry, but--"

You're not really to blame, I know. Now Sandra sounded resigned. You were only defending yourself. I suppose it was lucky that you knocked the helmet off before you killed him.

"Why is that?"

Oh, I suppose I didn't tell you about that yet. Sandra spoke rapidly, almost rambling. He gloated a lot, you know. He was blocking me from talking to him, but he knew that I could hear him. He's been doing this for a long time. Decades, probably. When he found this armor there was some kind of guide spirit in the helmet that was supposed to help the wearer in a fight by giving them advice and such. He wasn't really a sorcerer, but he found this spell to transfer his mind to the helmet, I don't know how. Any time he was about to get killed, he'd move into the helmet and kick whoever was in there out into the dying body. Then he'd simply wait for someone else to put on the helmet and switch with them and take over their body. So when you knocked the helmet off he couldn't do that and he actually died. He did die, didn't he? She said the last part in a tone of vicious hope.

"Oh. Er, yes, he did." Annalise's head was spinning with the implications, and also with exhaustion. She felt her head nod forward, and shook herself to stay awake. "I'm going to have to think about this, but that will have to be in the morning. I'm going to have to take the helmet off now."

That's OK, I suppose. When no-one's wearing the helmet I can't see, hear or feel anything, and I sort of go to sleep after a few minutes. But please put the helmet back on soon.

"I will."

A few minutes later, Annalise was back in her bedroll. Her head was still spinning with questions, but two nights of little sleep caught up with her quickly, and soon she was asleep.
