Hela was confused and stunned by Liza's outcry, and she sat down in a nearby chair. Liza was also stunned by her inability to suppress her darkest secret. Her hands slid from her mouth slowly. "How badly do you need to know?", Liza whispered. Hela didn't respond, and Liza moved to her chair and knelt in front of her to meet Hela's stunned gaze. "I've never told anyone, how badly do you need to know?" Hela focused on her mother's eyes, "What do you mean?" Liza closed her eyes, trying to remain calm. "I mean, this is a secret that could end everything. If Maelle found out, it could end our love. If the Empress found out, it could end my life. If you are unable to understand, it could end our bond. Do you need to know? Or can you leave my outburst alone?"

  Hela thought for a long time. "Mother. I just told you my secrets, and I feel they are similarly dangerous, perhaps even to us both. I don't doubt your love and care for me, and I trust you. I promise to keep your secrets. I think I do need to know though. I can manage a secret, I don't think I can handle not knowing, not after what I just told you. What do you mean? What worked?" Liza stood, and smoothed her dress. "Come with me. It will help to show you." Hela stood and turned toward the door, but Liza walked to a corner of the study. She waved a hand in front of a swirling carved pattern on the wall trim, and a soft clinking sound began and slowly faded into tiny echoes. Hela turned and followed. As she came around the desk, she saw a large hole in the floor that wasn't there before, and stairs descending into faintly glowing shadows. 

  Liza moved to the hole and started stepping down, motioning for Hela to follow. She shot a small bolt of mana from her finger tip toward the main door, and Hela heard the lock click shut. Excitement overwhelmed her worry and she followed her mother down into the shadows.  They descended to a short platform, and Liza waved her hand to another wall symbol. The stairs began clunking together as they formed a cylinder and rose to fill the hole in the floor above. "Come", Liza spoke softly, "You'll be the first person to see this in hundreds of years". 

  Hela's eyes were wide as they walked down the gently sloping tunnel. Lamps with glowing crystals lit the path ahead as it curved and sloped into the distance. They walked for some time in silence, and Hela began to hear the sound of a waterfall in the distance. "We're here", Liza turned to face a section of wall that looked the same as the rest to Hela. Liza waited and looked down the tunnel in both directions. She waved a hand in front of a brick that looked like all the rest, and nothing happened. Then she took Hela's hand, checked both ways again, and they stepped together through the wall. There was a strange buzzing that crept over Hela's body as they stepped through the projection of the wall, she felt it move from the tip of her nose to the end of her heel as they went through. They were now in a short tunnel that opened into a vast room. There were large, rusted vats and broken pipes running everywhere. The room grew larger in the distance and she could see bright lights on 10 strange egg-shaped crystals, each with its own door. They were covered in facets like a cut gemstone but looked to be made of something more like stone or metal.

  "Here it is", Liza sighed, "The place of legends". They walked further into the room, passing many openings to tunnels that went into darkness. "You'll want to see this", Liza said. They turned and walked thru a large opening that led into massive cavern. The cavern stretched into the distance, with large dim crystals high above providing enough lighting to see the vaulted ceilings and wide indentions across the floor. It looked like a place to store water, there was even a system of crude locks and drains, but Hela could not see any liquid anywhere. "I don't understand", Hela almost cried she was so confused. "What does this all have to do with me?" Liza turned from looking across the cavern to look at Hela, "Us. It has to do with us. This is where we were made. Or at least, where sorceresses were made. This is where my grandmother was born. Your great grandmother. One of the first ten sorceresses. Come, there is much more to see". 

  They made their way back to the main hall and continued walking toward the faceted structures. "What are those? There are ten of them", Hela asked. "Those are like wombs, that's where she grew the first ten sorceresses". "She?" Liza nodded, "Yes, she. They called her Mother. She was the human woman that made the new race". Things began to make sense in Hela's mind. There were many legends and stories of the first Mother. The myths were fantastic, but nothing that was this real. There were no celestial eggs popping out of the Mother's cosmic vagina, there were little oval rooms. Hela could see them clearly now. They were quite small in relation to everything else down here, and each facet had a rune engraved in the middle.

   Liza gestured for Hela's attention, and they turned away from the eggs to a well-lit tunnel. It was a short walk to a very secure looking door, and Liza waved her hand again. A line of light raced down the tunnel and a massive slab thudded shut behind them, causing Hela to jump in surprise. A few moments later, the door in front swung open, revealing a laboratory filled with complicated equipment. Hela followed Liza inside and was immediately distracted by all the clever looking and shiny contraptions covering every surface. Liza cleared her throat from a good distance away, and Hela realized she had kept walking without her. 

  "What is all this?", Hela asked. She walked toward Liza who was standing near a large desk surrounded by bookshelves. "I wish I knew, I've only figured out the purpose for a few dozen of these contraptions. I think this was the hobby room of a very powerful, very intelligent, and very bored human. They seem to be playthings or small conveniences. I think Mother was down here a long time all alone. Some of them are rather naughty little things", Liza smirked. Liza pointed at a chair, "Please sit". Hela moved to the chair and sat down. Liza shot a bolt of mana at the chair. Hela immediately felt two invaders attempting to break through her dress and yelped loudly in surprise. Liza shot another bolt with the hand that was not covering her chuckling mouth and then released the stifled laughter. "I'm sorry. You can see, she must have been very lonely". Hela glared and pointed at another chair, silently inquiring if this chair was safe. Liza nodded and moved to sit in the chair behind the desk. She pressed a rune on wall as she walked to her chair and a faint humming buzzed in the air. 

 As Liza sat down, she put her hands in her face and rested her elbows on the side of the desk. When she finally removed her hands, Hela could see a shift in her expression to one of deep melancholy. She sat back, slouched behind the desk, and began speaking. "There were many wars fought over this place. I fought in the last one of them. We didn't know at the time what the war was really about, but our leaders in our alliance did know. One of them was my mother. Once we defeated our enemies, it was revealed to me that the war was over control of this laboratory. Many things were moving behind the scenes, including my grandmother, whom I had never met. Apparently, there was some kind of agreement between the remaining daughters of the first Mother to refrain from intervening in worldly affairs directly, instead directing their descendants to act as proxies. I'm not sure exactly why, something happened between them. Maybe it was the death of their Mother".

  Liza stood and began pacing behind her chair. "I had done well in the war, and was known among my sisters for my intelligence, so I was given control of this place to decipher it's uses and the tools that had been employed to create the original sorceresses. The first Mother had shrewdly decided to design weaknesses into our race, and the descendants of the first daughters were beginning to weaken. I was supposed to unlock the secrets and save our race, but..." Liza sat back down and sighed. "Everything is broken. Someone deliberately destroyed key parts of the laboratory. I haven't been able to engineer any way to bypass or replace those unique inventions. I think I'm missing an important part of the story, but no one seems to know what happened. My mother even managed to meet with my grandmother, but the story was fragmented even in her long memory. There was still something she would not discuss with my mother, but she was assured that it had no bearing on my problems. I suppose I'll never know for sure".

 Now Hela stood and began to pace. "So we're dying out?" Liza nodded, "Yes. I've even studied several cases where a sorceress was born without a functioning cock. One even shit itself like a human. Every generation is weaker. I was attempting to augment our power thru other means, magic tools and the like. I even was pressured to try other techniques. Some of the rebel covens found a way to increase their power. It doesn't solve the degeneration issue our race is facing, but it does increase power and capacity". Hela stopped pacing and stared down her mother. Hela guessed what she meant, and asked "Cannibalism?"

   Liza nodded again, "Yes, and worse. It's not a replacement for normal mana generation, but it does seem to increase the sharpness of one's power, and how much mana they can keep in reserve, but the sacrifices are immense. You could devour an entire village and barely increase your mana capacity. It's too much. I never partook of it myself, but I was convinced to experiment. We chose promising candidates, but the experiments were a complete waste of time, except for one positive outcome. We never were able to determine why, but one candidate developed an impressive refinement potential, and while their mana capacity and power didn't increase, the levels of mana refinement could be utilized the same way. Refined mana increases power and is not constrained by capacity, but it's limited to the mana you have stored. Once it runs out, you have to start the refinement all over again to reach the same levels. I developed a magic tool to bridge that gap, and the Empress was born". Hela's eyes widened. That explanation fit perfectly with what she experienced with the Empress's mana. She could still feel the Empress's mana blazing inside her". 

  Liza watched Hela's face and then jumped to her feet. "You...", Liza's voice quivered, "Y-you took it all, didn't you? You were a full sorceress when she fucked you, weren't you?!" Hela nodded slowly. Liza collapsed into her chair, breathing quickly, eyes darting back and forth, focusing on nothing. "I can't believe this. My two cornerstone experiments. And two of my own magic tools. I would have never expected this synergy or predicted this outcome," Liza was almost in a panic, gasping for air. "What stars aligned to make this happen? It's impossible. Infinite refinement married to infinite capacity, and all an accident?!"

  Hela pondered how much she should reveal, she knew it was more than that. Her power also didn't seem to have a limit on growth. Liza kept on speaking frantically, almost like she was talking to herself. "My own daughter. I never wanted this. This is all so strange. I gave it all up and vowed to pay my penance to protect her. And here she is, the most powerful sorceress in a thousand years". She looked at Hela again and started laughing. "From dud to archon. Maybe you will be our salvation?" Hela tried to change the subject, she could tell the conversation was quickly charging toward tests and demonstrations. "What tool does the Empress have?" she asked. "Funnily enough, it's another ring. A cock ring. It absorbs ambient mana and creates a massive increase in essence production. It is constantly working, and while it's equipped the wearer is in a state of constant arousal. Essence is leaking out of your cock all the time. Paired with the Empress's natural refinement capabilities, she can constantly refine essence and mana without needing to fuck at all. Her essence must have felt like white hot lava inside you".

   Hela swooned and sat back down in her chair. "Yes, it was incredible. She fucked until she finally went soft and the glow left her eyes, and I'm beginning to understand why she was so shocked about that. How long has she been wearing that device?" Liza blinked as she tried to piece the years together. She gave up and just said "Hundreds. Not only that, but she has also drained countless other sorceresses to death. I think you know the difference in refinement when that happens". Hela looked down and nodded.

   Next came the question Hela was dreading. "Tell me. How powerful are you now?" Hela winced. She couldn't lie to her mother. "I don't know", she said. That wasn't a lie. "How big can you make your cock? Show me." Hela winced again but stood and lifted the front of her dress. "Mother, please understand that I have never lied to you. I may have obscured or omitted the truth at times, but I am loyal to you". Liza nodded, "Show me". Hela modified her cock, pausing at eight inches hanging between her legs. Liza's mouth dropped open slightly, but she asked, "Is that all?"

   Hela shook her head and went bigger. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Liza stood up. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Hela kept going. Liza's gaze jumped from Hela's growing cock and locked on her eyes. Fifteen. Sixteen. "Stop. Just stop. Hold it there". Liza watched Hela's face, looking for signs of mana drain. "What is this?" Liza asked. "Is this some kind of trick?" Hela shook her head, "No, Mother. I can go bigger. The thing you're probably most interested in is that I don't even feel the mana drain". Liza fell back into her chair. "....what?" she whispered. "It feels like there is a sun inside my mana pool. I sort of have a special technique for mana refinement and I think I broke any limits or barriers I might have had. I might be the only sorceress in history that can fuck herself. "...what?", Liza whispered again in disbelief. "I can complete a mana circuit with my own body". "...what?", Liza repeated blankly. "Why would you even think to try that?!" Hela blushed and returned her cock to normal. "Well, I...". "Don't answer that", Liza interrupted.

 Hela watched as her mother stuttered thru half sentences and wild expressions. She was getting a little worried that she had broken the woman, but eventually Liza settled down and just sat there huffing exasperatedly. "I just don't understand what is happening. Suddenly we're in a different world. Every plan I've made will need to be reformed. Every trip rescheduled. Every negotiation undone. Do you know where I had to go right before you arrived? To the capitol. I was standing in front of my old protege, now the empress, when the alert for the attack on the estate was activated. Do you want to know what we were talking about? You, my daughter. The Empress is quite taken by your unique traits and wants you all for herself. I thought she was going insane, but I didn't realize the full extent of your transformation. I wonder how much she realizes about you?"

    Liza leaned back and rubbed her temples. "I'm getting a headache. I don't know where to start. I have so many questions and I can't even begin to...." Liza's eyes refocused on something behind Hela, and she went white with terror. She lunged at Hela and pulled her over the desk, gripping her tightly. Hela tried to twist in her arms to look in the same direction. There was a sorceress standing on the other side of the room watching them. Tall, and perfectly beautiful, she was glowering at them darkly. Her lips started moving, but Hela heard no sound. She guessed that Liza had engaged some kind of barrier for privacy. The intruder seemed to realize this at roughly the same time, and visibly sighed. She calmly stepped forward, her movements effortlessly seductive, and pressed the rune on the wall. "That's better", she crooned sarcastically.

© PunishingOne 2026. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.