New Magic Brothers: A scholar and a tattoo artist walk into a tavern…

"Amez?" It was Bresh who spoke.

The man looked up at the witch. He saw her face downcast, her freckles partially obscured by a curtain of wavey brown hair.

"When is Rum coming back?"

Amez stared, across the sentient furniture acting as dining tables for their breakfast. His lips twisted, becoming sad, and he too lowered his eyes and head.

"I don't know."

"What is to become of us" she continued, "if Rum does not return?" It was a question that'd been at the back of every apprentice's head, but which before this moment had yet to be spoken. Now, after days of quiet waiting, the time for it had finally come.

"I don't know." Amez' head sunk further. A silence fell upon everyone seated. Larkoff chewed quitely, along with Electroblade. Everyone else had lost their appetite.

"I wish Eleganto was here" said Axel The Chest, with Amez' half-eaten plate resting atop him. "Eleganto usually had thoughts. Thoughts we could use. Veish more so. Both of them had."

The apprentices stirred at the mention of the name. "Veish?" Amez looked up in front of him, at his substituting table.

"Yes."

"Who is Veish?" Amez took on a thinking expression and titled his head. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Around the table some of the apprentices looked like they were about to answer, but Axel beat them all to it.

"She is the first witch, the original denizen of The Closet."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"She was here before everyone else?" Amez looked up and around at the gathered. Nods could be seen, and "yeah" and "yes" were variably mumbled. "Where is she now?"

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

The time was close to noon when one handsome young man could be spotted at the southern highway of Ermos City, taking a right turn in to The Green Streets. Though the fact he could be spotted, does not mean he was spotted. No, that was rather unlikely. For this young man was quite unremarkable under the circumstances. Instead, what caught the eye of interested bystanders and bypassers was much more the well-armed (yet ironically limbless) gnome, sitting in the harness of an exceedingly thin and boney incognito figure – the duo which happened to be leading this man. And if those two didn't catch an onlooker's eye, the line of six pointy-hated mages in stylish robes following them and carrying intriguing items – items which an adventurer or mage might recognize as artifacts of power – if not the duo, then these people certainly attracted attention.

The only one who did notice Amez out and about down these streets was a single curious adventurer who'd once been Amez' customer. His eyebrows raised at the sight, but then once they'd passed him across the street, the adventurer shrugged, and simply thought nothing more of it. Maybe he'd mention it to the guys at the Minotaur's Feast later. Or he'd forget about it. Both were equally likely possibilities.

Electroblade and White Rose guided the ignorant tattoo artist through the neighbourhood, into the forest, and down the lush trails of autumn leaves leading towards The Northern Lemon Bar.

There, rounding that boulder with the crude paintings of tall lemon drinks, a single elf attending the primitively built bar noticed Electroblade and White Rose immediately. Royath leaned over the counter, a mild interest in his eyes. A mild interest which grew as they approached. "Aaah" he said, "you're Rum's brother, right? I think I met you once before. And these are?" He gestured towards the troupe of mages.

Amez wasn't sure if he should be the one to answer, so he looked over to Electroblade, whose White Rose had walked up next to the counter.

The gnome gave a pained smile as initial reply. "You know Veish?"

Royath turned his head at her and nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"They're like Veish. Like, from where she's from?" The gnome woman looked intently at him.

The elf opened his mouth, closed it, took an inward breath, then sighed. "Are they here for the same reason?" He flicked his eyes at the troupe, a hint of concealed suspicion in his gaze.

"Not precisely, but..." Electroblade thought about it. "We're just here to find Eleganto. And Veish. We're looking for the two of them."

"Oh." Suspicion left Royath's face, and there was now a hint of relief. "Eleganto's not here today. But you'll find them both at Great Spruce. In our room." He gestured to himself. "You remember the way?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll stay here. Nobody else working today anyways. Everyone wanted to be at the event."

This time it was Electroblade's turn to raise an eyebrow. She glanced curiously across the clearing, and noticed how many of those large soft chairs were empty today. But she didn't ask, even as Amez looked about to do so.

"Off we go." She interrupted the younger brother's mouth. "Take care Royath." She raised her one hand in goodbye, and he simply nodded back.

They soon traversed the depths of the forest, coming into another clearing, but this one decidely more impressive. There, in its midst, stood The Great Spruce. Tall and wide and magnificently branched, enough to house a village on its own, and with its trunk painted in that strikingly yellow hue shining like the sun, while the rest of it was, in Electroblade's private opinion, a sheer mess of competing artistic ambitions and -impulses.

"She lives here?" Amez awed up at the length of it.

"That's what he said" Electroblade replied, and led them over to the stairway, where the legless body of Great Spruce awaited. The tree-person waved at them almost as soon as they'd begun ascending. "Hey Great Spruce" Electroblade waved back with her one arm. Amez automatically waved as well, not quite knowing what else to do, and the mages copied the gesture quietly, some of them amused by the creature and its sheer excitement at their arrival. Great Spruce made a triangle shaped over its head, and pointed at Larkoff's hat.

"Yes" Bresh answered for him, "this is our hats. It's part of our mage's attire."

Great Spruce proceeded to make an expression of exaggerated surprise, and gestured wildly with wavey motions in the air. They all stopped to look at it.

"Yes, yes, they can cast spells" Electroblade replied to its motions. "That's what a mage does."

The tree-person smiled broadly at the mages, staring friendly at each and every one of them, as Electroblade prompted them all to move again, up the stairs and into the hollow trunk.

Inside they climbed the new set stairs, going up, up, and further up, until Electroblade stopped, and she stared long and uncertainly at a door, while the rest of the group just stared confusedly along.

"I think it was this one. But, now that I'm here, it's a little difficult to remember precisely." She scratched her chest. Eventually, she got White Rose to approach.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

The little gnome hand retracted. They waited, and nothing appeared to happen for a while. Electroblade gestured for White Rose to repeat the act.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

A boney hand retracted. For a while more nothing happened. Then the magic door swung inwards into a slightly narrow opening, where popped forth the leaning head. A cute and excited elf woman, to be precise, who looked at them all with curiosity, a smile, and a raised eyebrow.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Yes?" she said quietly, and looked to each and every one of them. From behind her inside the room, a moaning voice could be heard.

"We've come to see Veish" Electroblade stated, not giving thought to the strange noises.

"Oh! I didn't know she'd invited friends over. Come on in then" she waved at them, "and take a seat! It's already started!"

"What's started?" Amez whispered, but the woman didn't hear him, and Electroblade just shrugged. Together they stepped forth, through the narrow gap of the door and into the room.

Electroblade and Amez stood in front of their group, blocking the view for those behind. And what they both saw was something neither could've even remotely been prepared for.

Beyond rows of couches, separated to a left side and a right side by passage going straight up to a scene, there sat Veish the witch, naked, on Eleganto the chair. And she was moaning – no, singing! Amez realized.

"Who is that woman?" the young man whispered to Electroblade. "What the heck is going on?"

Electroblade smiled up at him, and the little gnome, normally non-fluxed at most things, had to struggle to contain a fierce laughter. Her cheeks abruptly reddened, and her one small hand shot up to hold her mouth. Amez stared down at her, then his eyes went back up to the woman moaning melodically on the chair, and back down to Electroblade again.

"It's–" Electroblade nearly burst, and her hand quickly covered her mouth again, holding it tight as she took deep breaths through her nose. "It's her" she managed to let out.

"Her who?" Amez asked, a bit too loud.

Electroblade changed her hand into a finger over her mouth, indicating that they both should hush. "It's Veish" she whispered, and smiled some more as she saw the realization go up in Amez' eyes.

Amez turned his head, staring dumbfounded at the witch called Veish, that naked woman touching herself before a whole audience of elves lounging in sofas, and looking at her as if she was a work of art; a performance greater than any bard. Amez didn't understand what was happening. Is she into people looking at her? Is that why they're all here, to watch her for her own enjoyment? But then – why is she singing? And what's that sound? Amez thought he heard something else, then realized there was a second voice moan-singing along with her. Not as loudly as she was, and not moaning per se, but yes, there was a distinct man's voice coming from the chair. He peered at the chair, and noticed Veish's vulva, and what he thought were waves rising across the skin, animating it like a, a.... a vibrating something. The chair – that's what's vibrating her! But how?

The woman Veish had her eyes closed, which made Amez slightly doubt that she was really doing this purely for her own gratification. At least if the purpose was to be publicly viewed in order to feel arousal, she looked a bit too shy for that. Rather, she looked to be having a thing with the chair. Eleganto?

Amez leaned over to Electroblade. "Is that chair–?"

"–Eleganto?" the gnome raised an eye back at him. "Yes, it is." And she smiled again. "They're a couple, you know."

Amez' face was back to dumbfounded. He looked back to the woman. To her voice rising. To her moans intensifying. To her labia vibrating more and more, until it flapped like a flag caught in a strong rough wind. Then, as he stared at her, transfixed by the scene, she opened her eyes, and as if by chance looked straight back at him. He didn't know what to do now, he just held her gaze, their curious eyes meeting, his mouth slightly open but otherwise unable to make an expression. And she? What did this meeting of eyes do to the former witch of the closet? She – SCREAMED.

"AAAAAAH!" Veish convulsed like she'd been hit by the greatest lightning bolt. Her whole body, top to toe, began shaking, trembling, the shocks hitting her like rough waves against cliffs. Each one crashing in on her, messing up her self-control. Soon the woman's body began to repeatedly tilt forwards in jolting motions, almost as if it was trying to escape the chair and its all-consuming stimulations. Only barely did she manage to throw herself backwards at the last major jolt, landing against the back of it where she leaned.

The woman spasmed with aftershocks of pleasure, all until she was, finally, completely, utterly, collapsed. There, sitting on Eleganto, Veish the witch slumped, her furiously pleasured body quieting down.

Amez continued to stare. Sitting in that chair was now a woman with wild hair, rivers of sweat, cheeks and all sorts of other places flushed in deep red, and with breaths going rapid like she'd just finished a sprint.

Amez heard a sudden noise, followed by others. He unfixed his gaze, and noticed all across the room elves leaping from their sofas. "Wonderful! Wonderful!" erupted one, and they all clapped and cheered at the musical climax. "Absolutely fantastical!" another erupted, clapping madly, faster than anyone else present.

"I've never seen art like this" spoke an elf woman to another, and she looked genuinely amazed at what she'd witnessed.

"I knew Veish had hidden talents" replied the other, "but I'd never imagine it be this. I think we've just witnessed history, my friend. A new chapter in the history of the arts!"

After all the clapping and cheering started to die down, someone got the idea to walk up to the witch and hand her a towel for the sweat. And possibly to cover up. The elf, Electroblade managed to catch between her now unleashing fits of giggles, was Ovadova Zizik. Veish weakly reached for the fabric, but had to try twice, as well as get guided directions, before her clumsy hand achieved grabbing it.

"Is that our Veish?" Bresh said from behind Amez. The witch pressed her way passed the body enchanter and disguised skeleton and stared at the scene, momentarily mesmerized. "IT IIIIS!" She turned to the others. "Guys, it's Veish! She's been performing for us."

One after another the other mages pushed Amez aside and got in front to have a look at the slumped naked body of their friend, trying to clean some sweat off her body.

"What? I hardly recognize her" Larkoff staringly stated. "Did she used to have these interests back in the dungeon? I always knew her as the slightly quiet and diligent sort, I didn't know she had an artistic side." He held the ponytail of his brown beard in thought, analyzing the woman at the other end of the room like she was a strange object.

Elves crowded around Veish, talking animatedly to her, while she barely managed to provide an answer in return. Between the gaps in the crowd forming though, Electroblade met eyes with Veish, and the witch's expression widened, focusing, staring with near shock. But Electroblade just laughed back at her, and the shock of the witch turned into an eye-rolling sigh.

"I don't think she was expecting to see us here" the gnome told Amez over the rapidly increasing volume of babbling voices in the room. Then she had a thought, and looked again over at Amez. "You two haven't met before, have you? She doesn't know that you are Rum's brother?"

"I can't recall her" Amez responded honestly, and shrugged. "And I tend to remember people."

"Well, isn't that interesting" Electroblade giggled behind a closed mouth. "Maybe we can delay her knowing that. If just for a little while." She glanced back at Veish. "First we need to explain the situation to her."

Farlkend was observing the events over at the scene with great interest, and he made lots of thoughts about the strange traditions of city folk and elves. He walked a little bit to the side, to get a better view of it all, but then it happened: Veish saw him. For a moment she stared, confused. The witch leaned closer, trying to see better through the crowd surrounding her. Then recognition dawned. Color drained from her face. Farklend nodded at her, in a manner that he probably thought was friendly, but Veish just grabbed the towel closer, starting to wrap it around herself, before abruptly standing up and walking into and through the crowd. She moved passed the mass of elves and for a few steps more beyond it, there she stopped, straight over at Farklend, the towel covering her breasts and down to her hips.

"Farklend?"

"Hi Veish" he gave her another nod. "Interesting performance you had there" and he gestured to the scene, and at the crowd of elves who were now staring at Veish's back, and at him too, as the one who'd caught their star's attention.

"I – what are you doing here?"

"HI VEISH!" Meti yelled from a few meters away, and as the witch turned to find the familiar voice, others too announced themselves.

"HELLOOO! Remember me, Bresh?" The other witch waved excitedly at Veish.

"Hi" Soren let out, and smiled.

"Veish, that was phenomenal!" Bun exclaimed. "I would never had dared to – in front of so many people? You are a brave woman. I'd die of embarassment."

At that, and at all those familiar faces looking at her, Veish currently did look like she'd prefer dying. The embarassment was really too much, and she felt her feet involuntarily take a step back before hitting a sofa, and she realized there was no escaping. As a second of stunnedness passed, a more accute matter rose to the forefront of this newborn performer's mind: why – why are they all here?

"Where did you learn to do this, Veish?" Bun continued, but Bresh reached out with a hand and halted Bun in her excitement.

"It's okay, Veish" Bresh spoke softly to the mostly-naked woman. "We just think your performance was good. Like all the others did" and she gestured over to the body of elves observing their whole conversation.

Veish looked to the elves, and her tensed shoulders lowered a little. Then she went back to staring at them. "Why are you all here?" Her face went from person to person, her eyes large with curiousity.

"Because we need you!" Bresh replied. "We need you a lot Veish. Rum has been taken prisoner by The Iron City, and there's nothing to do. We're locked up in the closet all day!"

"Rum is gone?" Her eyebrows shot up. "Wait – HOW do you know Rum? Did he catch all of you?"

"No" Bresh smiled back at her. "Jorteg's dead, Veish. We came back with Rum voluntarily."

The shock on Veish's face was total. "W-w-what? How? HOW DID HE DIE?"

The mages glanced at each other, but when Farklend at the other end appeared to try and speak, Bresh interrupted him. "Shush Farklend! That's a secret we cannot share. Not here." And the wizard shut his mouth.

Bresh walked over to the towel-dressed Veish, took her hands, and leaned in to her ear. "You must keep this a secret, but, it was Rum. Rum killed Jorteg. I saw it myself." She leaned back to watch Veish's face, which had just widened its shocked expression.

It was at once surprising and unsurprising for Veish to hear this. She'd always expected that the man was more powerful than he appeared, and she'd witnessed some of that power firsthand in the creation of the closet, which was a wonder all of its own, unlike anything she'd ever witnessed nor even heard about. Yet the idea of him slaying a dungeon lord was somewhat unreal. It wasn't what the wizard did, not how she'd come to know him over these past few weeks. It was all very... confusing.

"Veish?" Bresh snapped the witch out of her moment of thought, and stared at her, a mild pleading in her eyes. "Will you come back to the closet with us, and teach us the magic of Rum?"

Behind Veish, elves immediately erupted into protests. They'd discovered artistic treasure, and did not like the idea of it being taken away from them.

"Veish, stay with us!"

"Veish, don't leave us. We LOVE you, we ADORE you!"

Veish was stopped from answering, and turned around to face the crowd, who continued to call out affections for her, pared with complaints hurled at these newcomers to the event.

She bit her lips in pained uncertainty. "Eeeuuum."