Chapter 1: Blue Morning, Red Bottom

Frelic yawned and blinked the lingering traces of sleep from his large, violet, catlike eyes. Sunrise was still several minutes away, but the first rays of dawn were already crowning the peaks of the Whitetail Mountains and banishing the stars from the eastern sky. To the west, night was still in full bloom; the black sky was studded with sparkling diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, with Feyleth defiantly shining brighter than all. These too would soon flee the coming dawn once Helasi arose from her slumber to preside over another Niathian day.

The Elf gave a contented sigh and smiled lovingly at the Halfling girl still sleeping soundly beside him. His gentle fingers caressed the girl's childlike face, and stroked down her side and over her cute, plump bottom which was thrust out alluringly as she lay there curled up on their sleeping furs. Honeyrose had been a part of his life for the past four years since his and Mistress Aeraal's last visit to Pinevale, serving first as Aeraal's aide then his. Now, as she neared the start of her thirteenth year, the feisty little lass was beginning the next phase of her life, and Frelic felt most fortunate that she had become his first apprentice. He gave her pretty little butt a tender pat and squeeze. The heat and blush from the spanking he had given her before bedding down for the night had long since faded, and her tender flesh had resumed its normal light tan shade and warmth. Her Master's touch caused Honeyrose to sigh contentedly, and as she continued her blissful slumber, she purred his name.

"Master Frelic, I really am sorry for what I did. I won't misuse the magick again."

Frelic leaned over and whispered in the girl's ear, "I know you won't, sweetling. You're a good girl and would never have to be paddled for the same misbehavior twice. Now sleep for just a little longer while your Master prepares for our journey." He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek, another pat on the rump, and ran his fingers through the unruly mop of honey-brown hair, cropped short to just above her shoulders. Taking care not to awaken his apprentice just yet, the Elf stood up and stretched, working the morning stiffness from his joints.

To start the day, Frelic gathered up a small armful of dried wood from the pile they had collected the previous evening and dropped it into the shallow, stone-encircled pit on top of the cold, blackened coals from last night's camp fire. He started the incantation for a simple spell to get the flames going, but caught himself at the last moment before even the first tinglings of magickal energy could form within him.

"No," he chided himself, "you need to set an example for your apprentice. Do not encourage laziness in simple tasks, Elf, at least not this early in Honeyrose's training." He padded quietly to the tall pine where the sack containing their most frequently used travel supplies hung safely out of sight from potential thieves. He pulled the sack down, rummaged through it, and extracted a small wooden box and a leather pouch. Crouching naked at the edge of the fire pit, Frelic opened the box and took out a piece of flint and a steel bar. He tossed some dry moss onto the wood, then scraped the flint and steel together. After several tries, the sparks finally touched the moss just right, and the humble beginnings of a fire crackled to life. The Elf gently blew on the flames until they grew and spread to the dry wood underneath. Satisfied with his work, Frelic returned the leather pouch to the pack, replaced it with another, and made his way down to the river five hundred paces east of the makeshift camp site.

The Elf shivered as he stepped into the slowly flowing waters of the Lazy Pine River until he was submerged to his shoulders. Fed by the early summer runoff from the Gray Falcon Mountains to the west, the great river that meandered through Pine Valley, bringing life to the Hafling and Furlings' corn and wheat fields, caressed his lithe body with its invigorating morning chill, banishing the last threads of weariness from his being and bringing him to full wakefulness. He waded over to the rocks where he had set his pouch and pulled the drawstring, opening it to reveal a light blue powder. Climbing onto the rocks, Frelic rubbed the powder over his body, coating every square inch of his soft flesh until he was covered in a slick lathery foam.

Fully soaped up, he jumped back into the river, submerging beneath the cold clear waters, then resurfacing a couple dozen feet from where he entered, treading water for half a minute to regain his bearings. With a slow lazy breast stroke, he returned to the rocks, closed and gathered up the leather pouch, and waded back to the shore. Cold trickles of water dripped off his body and from his shoulder-length silvery mane as he padded naked back to the camp site.

Honeyrose was awake by now. The girl, still skyclad like himself, was crouching by the fire, an iron skillet in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. The scent of sausage, eggs, and fried potatoes, mingling with the coffee brewing to the side on the hot rocks that made up the fire pit filled the air, awakening the Elf's appetite.

The Halfling looked up and gave Frelic a heart warming smile that nearly melted him into a puddle of affection, "Good morning, Master Frelic," she chirped, "It's gonna be a few more minutes before breakfast is ready. How was your morning bath?"

Frelic crouched in front of the fire, letting the heat from the crackling flames warm his body and chase away the chilly water still dripping from his hair and body, "Cold and invigorating," he replied, "just the way it should be. How is your bottom this morning?" He smiled lovingly at his apprentice as her face reddened a little in the fire's glow.

She set the skillet and spoon down on the rocks next to the pot of coffee and rubbed her plush, jiggly rump, "I recovered fine, Master," she said, "Surprising though considering the number you did on my butt last night."

"Just the way it should be," the Elf chuckled, "Hopefully, my little apprentice learned a valuable lesson last night."

Honeyrose nodded emphatically, "No worries, Master," she assured him, "I certainly won't be wasting magick on mundane tasks again any time soon. I'd bet my ass on that."

"Yes. That goes without saying."

Honeyrose returned to her cooking, vigorously stirring the eggs, sausage bits, and potatoes into a mouth watering mix in the skillet while Frelic attended to the ponies tethered nearby. He groomed and fed their mounts then led them down to the river to drink. Upon his return to the campsite, his apprentice had a bowl of breakfast mix and a steaming mug of black coffee ready for him.

Sitting together, cross legged on the grass-covered ground, Elf and Halfling dined in silence, contemplating the crackling fire before them and pondering the final leg of their journey. Frelic took a hefty spoonful of his mix, chasing it down with a sip of coffee. "Marvelous," he said as he swallowed the first bite, "You make one killer glop, Honeyrose."

The girl blushed again, "Thank-you, Master," she humbly replied, "I do take pride in my cooking, even if it is just breakfast mix, or glop as you like to call it."

"Well hopefully, you will put as much care into your studies as you do into your cooking," he admonished her.

"I won't let you down, Master," Honeyrose vowed, "Besides, since we are settling in Pinevale, close to my family, that means double trouble for my ass if I fuck up, what with the tradition of spanked at school, spanked again at home, even though this is an apprenticeship with you I'm starting and not a traditional school." She rubbed her behind again then took a big bite of her glop.

"Correction," Frelic replied. He swallowed a mouthful of breakfast mix and took another sip of coffee, "Not if you fuck up, but when you fuck up. It's pretty much a given that any youngster over the course of her training is going to get the paddle across her bottom frequently. No matter how good you are, you are going to get in trouble from time to time, especially a feisty, mischievous lass like yourself."

Honeyrose nodded, her blush deepening as her Master talked about her aft end so matter of factly, "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Master," she conceded, "But I will try my hardest to behave."

Frelic laughed, reaching over to pat his apprentice's bare tender bottom, "I'm always right," he corrected her, "And I know that you will try hard to be good and do well during your training. If I didn't believe that, I would not have recommended you to Mistress Aeraal to serve as our lab aide four years ago when we last visited your homeland."

"Thank-you, Master Frelic," the girl replied, "But no offense intended, I thought you pushed for me to join the two of you in the hope that Mistress Aeraal would let you practice boink magick with me." She giggled ever so cutely and shot her master a coy gaze worthy of even the most alluring and expensive Elven whore.

Now it was Frelic's turn to blush, "Ah, well," he stammered, "I won't lie to you, dear. I plead guilty as charged to your accusation. I did indeed have hopes of making use of your tender assets during the course of my training. What red blooded Elf lad wouldn't want to practice boink magick with a sweetling like yourself? 'Tis too bad Mistress Aeraal was wise to my ploy though. That made it a most torturous four years for me, what with you parading about the area so scantily clad and frequently skyclad, and me not able to partake of your sweetness."

The girl set her bowl down on the ground, sighed, and stretched cutely, then idly ran her fingers up and down the front and insides of her subtly muscular thighs, "At least that helped you build up the self discipline needed for a life of wizardry. But I had no idea that it was Mistress Aeraal that was responsible for keeping us from getting too close, so to speak." The thought of Master Frelic desiring the use of her tender little body for the past four years caused a delightful tingle to ripple through her nether regions, manifesting as a gentle shudder that anyone else but the Elf could easily mistake for a shiver in the chilly morning air. She finished off her mug of coffee and changed the subject, "So, when do you think we will pull into Pinevale?"

Frelic thought a moment, casting a glance to the east, where the sun was finally slipping above the Whitetail Mountains, "Probably early afternoon, if the weather holds out. It's not a difficult ride from here unlike the past few days have been."

"Do you think Mistress Aeraal will make it for my apprentice bonding?"