Non-Erotic

Of love and The Duke: Chapter 3
The priestess was browsing the market and shops of house Morgan when she overheard the rumor that a blessed couple, a young wizard and Isabel Morgan have entered the tent of her father. The goddess spoke to her giving her the feeling that she must see the couple. She dropped what she was doing and immediately walked to the tent of Jeremiah Morgan.
Entering she witnessed for herself the couple glowing, and proclaim that they are a blessed couple. She lingered having the feeling she needed to witness a little more. The couple kissed again and she wondered why Jeremiah become irritated seeing them glow. It is a gift from the goddess to the couple.
The priestess watches in wonder as the young wizard displays and offers his dowry to Jeremiah. A large gold block that opens to present an astonishing number of uncut diamonds that are even more valuable than gold, she has never seen a dowry so large. Truly, a dowry fit for a princess. When she hears the young wizard proclaim it to be mere dust compared to his love, she can hear the truth in his words. She then takes her leave, thinking the goddess for letting her witness a love so great.
The priestess of Aphrodite returns to the Temple as quickly as she can walk, it would be undignified and lack the grace required of her if she ran. Entering the temple, she needed to discuss the events she has witnessed with the head priestess and what she had learned. After a long and intense discussion between the priestess and head priestess of Camarillo’s Temple of Aphrodite, they send a message by magical means to the high priestess in New Cowan. They fear the Duke has become unstable. They also know of the love’s discovery spell in limited time the couple have. The message simply informs the high priestess of what they intend to do, and request her blessing.
The priestess wondered why the Duke insisted on such a hastily performed wedding between Isabel and his youngest son. Even though house Morgan was quite wealthy, surely, other matches would be available for the young boy, someone of higher standing, another Royal closer to the King perhaps. Isabel’s dowry was quite extensive, but barely met what one would say expected for a commoner marrying a noble. Isabel had not truly wanted to wed the Duke’s son, a boy four years younger than she is.
It will take hours before the message received at New Cowan, and most likely the morning before reply sent. The head priestess does not believe there is enough time; she believed the wedding between Julius and Isabel should be this evening if possible. If the two give into their carnal lust, they would incur the wrath of Aphrodite, as tradition and experience in these matters have taught. The head priestess wondered if there would be time to summon the clan, and prepare the Temple for the wedding this evening. Surely if the girl is already married, the Duke would give up.
The Duke had been strongly insisting that the wedding performed as soon as Isabel could be located. Now with her return to the city, it fell to the priestess to inform the Duke that no ceremony between Isabel and his son will ever occur.
The head priestess orders that no one should perform the marriage ceremony requested by the Duke. To do so would be an affront to Aphrodite herself, not something any of her priestesses would ever consider doing. The head priestess retired to her chamber to pray for Aphrodite’s intervention, as she sent the priestess to inform the Duke.
The priestess enters the keep, requesting an audience with the Duke. An hour passed before she granted an audience with the Duke and brought to the lavish and over ornamented audience chamber where the Duke waited impatiently. She kneels before the Duke and begins to explain, “Your Lordship, with all humility I regret to inform you that your son’s wedding to Isabel Morgan cannot be performed.”
The Duke infuriated shouts, “You dare come before me to tell me you cannot do something your head priestess has already promised.”
The priestess tries to remain rational and calm, knowing it would be death to show anger at his superior attitude. It would not be the first time someone it had an audience with this particular Duke only to be struck dead by him. Sometimes she wondered why the King still has not replaced such an evil man, she wondered if the rumors were true that he was not even in the kingdom and had not been for years.
In a respectful voice she apologizes, “Your Lordship I am sorry, but we did not know that the goddess had other plans for the young woman. She has a blessed bonding to a young wizard. They must be married before the first night of the full moon.”
The Duke and his smug attitude questions, “Has this young wizard a name, and provided a dowry one greater than my sons.”
The priestess answers, “He is Julius, apprenticed to Justin of Benton. His dowry is her weight in gold, and a third of her weight in uncut diamond. I have beheld the treasure myself and it is far greater than any I have ever seen before. His love for her is strong sire; he called it mere dust compared to her. Their bond is so strong when they kiss they glow. Only a very few bonds have ever been blessed so by the goddess.”
The Duke was also a greedy bastard, and he knew how the laws worked. If Julius were unable to marry Isabel, his dowry would transfer to Isabel. Then upon Isabel’s wedding to his son, and her eventual death, untimely of course the treasure would be his sons, for him to take. The Duke pondered all this as the priestess kneeled there in front of him. Unknown to the Duke that their bond is so strong, so blessed that who would interfere with it risk the wrath of Aphrodite. One should know Aphrodite first is a woman, and hell knows no fury greater than a woman scorned, or in this case, a goddess scorned.
The Duke coming out of his throne he stocks forward, anger drips from him. Only two paces separate the kneeling and unmoving priestess, “If she had not run away, the wedding to my son would have been performed. I insist that their wedding be performed dowry or no.”
For the first time she raises her eyes to the Duke. In a shocked and concerned voice she warns, “Your Lordship to do so would be an affront to Aphrodite, and mean the death of both Julius and Isabel.” She drops her gaze, uncomfortable with the evil she sees in his face.
The sound of his sword as it withdrawn from its scabbard is the only sound otherwise in the silent audience chamber. The Duke orders, “You will perform the wedding ceremony.”
Again, the priestess raises her eyes and says, “No…” The next sound heard is the priestess’ lifeless body falling upon the floor.
A gasp from the Captain of the guards alerts the Duke to his presence, the guard Captain had been a leftover from the former Duke who he had taken over from five years ago. The Duke knew he suspected him and many of his wrongdoings, the message from the runner he had intercepted and killed earlier confirmed that. The Duke was going to either corrupt the man or see to his death, he had already been working to corrupt Captain Michael, but the captain had resisted. The Duke had another plan one he knew would work, as his loyal guards escorted the Captain’s wife and young daughters through the hall as the Captain turned seeing their presence.
The Duke waves the Captain over, “First I will have you know if you do not follow my orders I will kill you surely as I killed the priestess who failed me. Then I will enjoy your wife and daughters as your lifeless head looks on from the post of my bed.”
One look over his shoulder, after seeing the four evil man now holding his family the guard Captain’s resolve is broken, the look of defeat in his eyes tells the Duke all he wants to know. He orders to the guard Captain, “Follow me then or you know what will occur. We have business in the Temple.”
Meanwhile back at the tents of house Morgan a feast has been prepared. It is tradition that the wedding announcement held in such a manner. At the beginning of the feast, Jeremiah gives a toast to the newly betrothed. Jeremiah toast, “As you are aware, my daughter disobeyed me recently. She refused the Duke’s son. Running off to her uncle Justin, she ran into Remus on a dark night a werewolf attacked. Before his death, Remus managed to defend my daughter, and prove his love and bravery to the clan. Young Julius having heard the beginnings of the fight ran with all haste unfortunately he was not early enough to save Remus. In his own words, he found magic greater at that moment within him than he ever knew. He easily defeated the werewolf, and defended the life of my daughter.
Julius is a member of the clan because of his apprenticeship to my brother-in-law Master Wizard Justin. Therefore, falls under the laws of the clan, not being a direct blood relative to Isabel Morgan by those laws they are betrothed.
Isabel requested her uncle to do the discovery spell to verify Julius and her bonding. Justin perform the spell, finding them bonded strongly. The young wizard has provided an incredible dowry, greater than any I have ever seen. I give them my blessing.”
The clan cheers, and toast the betrothed. When the noise dies down Rebecca shouts, “Come on Isabel give him a kiss. I want to see you glow.” Isabel and I kiss; as the glow begins, there is a moment of stunned silence before it is broken with even greater cheers.
As the feast comes to its conclusion, the Captain of the guard appears. It almost looks as if he is fighting back tears, he so angry. He steps forward, and places a charm set of wrist restraints on me. I look at him questioning and he says, “The Duke orders your arrest.”
I ask, “Surely my arrest is not enough to anger you so greatly.”
Captain Michael whispers, “I watched the Duke murder the priestess of Aphrodite. Before I could gather enough loyal men to seize the Duke for his crime, he took my family hostage. I am sorry. I have no choice.”
I whisper in return, “For your family I will offer no resistance. If you promise, my family will be left alone.”
Michael whispers, “I will do what I can, I will put loyal men on the East gate tonight so they may slip away.”
The Duke with the smell of death about him strolls in to the tent. He behaves as if he is above all law and justice cannot touch him. Accompanied by four of his personal guards, who knows how many stand outside, walking up to Isabel he says, “I knew you would come to your senses, my son waits for you.” He roughly handles her, it is all that I can do not to break free of these shackles; I sense I have the strength. However, lives depend on my cooperation. The Duke pulls Isabel out of the tent, and I am led behind her. At least half the city guard is there, I knew then that the man was a coward.
Isabel pushed into a carriage, and a chain connected from the carriage back to my shackles. A momentary flash and I know the goddess’ judgment is coming and she will protect us. As the carriage pulls away at a trot, the Captain of the guard left behind. I can feel Justin’s anger boiled before I mentally tell him, clear the righteous from the city. Let none even look upon it until the sun rises tomorrow; you have until dusk, for the goddesses’ vengeance falls on the city tonight.
The Duke orders his driver to make better speed, yanking me from my feet, and dragging me over the ground, and yet the Duke orders him to move faster. I barely managed to get back to my feet, and at this pace I slam into walls nearly on every turn, the driver takes pity and slows down only to have the Duke screaming for him to speed up yet again. Even before we arrive at the Keep, I am already bloody and bruised.
Only the righteous heard the call, the ones who feared justice left quickly. In the years that I have not been within the gates of the city, many have fallen from the true path. The Duke’s corrupted guards seem to be blind to the people leaving. Captain Michael even managed to walk into the keep unopposed and retrieve his family and leave. The righteous took only what they could carry, leaving quickly in the four hours before sunset they all had departed the city and walked out of sight of the East gate. All seemed to fill the need to be away from the city, even the guards that did not follow the Duke closely left.
The Duke had decided to try me for treason at sunset. He needed the time to bring his lackeys and to exclude all others to ensure his victory by trial. He thought to direct justice down his chosen path, but sometimes justice is not that blind.
I was to endure four hours of torture before the sunset; my time had not yet come. I am beaten and thrown in a cell only to allow the guards to rest. Then removed from the prison cell to allow the guards to continue their evil game, one will punch me knocking me into the other and again. Finally, they chained me to a whipping post. Nevertheless, the hour of my salvation rapidly approached. As the whip reopens old scars on my back, the sun finally set, they dragged me bleeding and bruised to the audience chamber of the Duke. Chains were about my feet, their shackles still dug into my wrists, even in this dark hour I did not feel abandoned.
Thrown roughly to the floor only a few yards in front of the Duke, I still see the bloodstains from the priestess. I could hear Isabel’s soft cry above all other sounds even though the guards were shouting for my death.
My mind reaches out to Isabel, (Are you all right my love? Have they hurt you?)
Isabel’s mind answers, (They have been unable to break me, but they threaten that if I do not allow the Duke’s son to have his way, that you will be dead before morning.)
A smile is on my face as my mind reaches out again to Isabel, (Justice comes now my love. Only the wicked remain in the city, except us two prisoners. I say let us be prisoners no more.) With that thought my shackles drop from my wrists, the chains slip off my ankles and rattle on the floor. The bindings holding Isabel vanish, before anyone can react. Isabel and I rush to each other, we meet in a kiss in the glow instantly surrounds us.
Like always, our eyes close in the world outside vanishes. Isabel and I only exist in our kiss. Nothing will disturb us once were in our kiss. The wounds I suffered vanish under the glow that surrounds Isabel and me.
To the rest of the castle they hear the Duke screaming to have us killed, he orders his archers to fire. Each arrow vanishes in the glow that surrounds Isabel and I, and the glow grows brighter the longer we kiss, with each attack the glow grows brighter, with each attempt of violence the light that surrounds us grow stronger. The Duke orders his mages to attack, their magic rebounds and again the light becomes even more blinding.
Finally, the Duke himself using the same sword he struck down the priestess with steps forward trying to kill his hated enemy. The sword tip enters into the light and the Duke begins to scream as the sword begins to glow red-hot. Lightning travels down the length of the blade, the Duke screams in pain with every jolt that travels through him, the lightning arcs out striking all who followed his commands. The lightning continues on striking all who followed the Duke, the city glows now as the light travels with the lightning. No corner in the city left dark, not a single follower of the Duke left untouched.
As long as our kiss continues the light grows yet brighter, and nothing has caused us to break our kiss.
Justice has come, all of the wicked all who would do evil to his fellow man, who would deny love punished, only one left to witness that punishment, and he left unseeing and cannot feel, or taste his life would know no joy, so disfigured that all who saw him shriek and recoiled at his presence. No one would ever recognize him as the Duke. He could speak no orders and only knew pain and suffering, he would hear this shrieks and cries of fear at his approach, to remind him of the monster he is.
As the sun rose, the light took on a form, her hand touched our cheeks and we knelt before her presence. With a wave of her hand she sent the Duke away, no one would ever guess who he was.
All we felt was the overpowering love and joy in her presence. She placed our hands together and we draw back into a kiss, when we broke this time we were truly alone. When we kiss next, we found that we could leave our eyes open and see the glow for ourselves.
Hatred had struck at love, when love finally struck back nothing could stand against its power. All who denied love felt it sting, leaving them empty and lifeless. Perhaps that is the real lesson here; never deny love even if it is for someone else.

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Everyone in the Existence tensed as the doors flew from their hinges into the bar and all eyes were directed to the doorway. The silence that followed the crash of the doors was deafening, then a slow click, click, click was heard. It was the sound of a measured pace walking through the entryway into the bar itself. I’d like to tell you that the face of evil was as hideous as her soul was black but I’d be lying to you. As they say, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.
The woman that entered the building was tall, close to six feet and maybe taller. She had the athletic build of a runner or swimmer judging by the toned muscles in her legs and arms. Her short wavy hair, the color of dark chocolate hung wildly around her head ending just before he shoulders. Her features were a mask of serene beauty marred only by the deep red glow from her eyes. In those eyes you could see the depraved evil running through her mind. It sent a chill down the spines of all who looked into them.
Following her through the door were at least forty other vampires, her children and the beginning of and army. She strode up to where she stood even with Arthur’s table before looking up to the catwalks and meeting his eyes. “Arthur Masters, you and Andrew Graves must stay, but anyone else who values their life should leave now,” she stated calmly as though she was conversing and not threatening everyone in the building and the city.
Arthur was our current spokesman as it was his place, “Madam, you will want to leave here in peace. This place is my home and an Elysium, do not violate the laws of Elysium and we will not be forced to stop you.”
Her laugh was sharp and the contempt could have cut like glass, “None of you are a threat and even together you haven’t the power to slow let alone stop me. I will march through here and leave your corpses for all to find. My enemies will learn to fear me and give in before we fight with your deaths.”
As Arthur was speaking all of those here to fight moved into the Club area, scattering across the catwalks and floor area to get in position. In stood at the center of the dance floor with Sindee at my back in preparation to stop her from the casting I sensed in my vision. Tapping into the magick I created swords made of magick; unlike the original rote that was only Primal and Forces Magicks I added Entropy, Spirit and Correspondence magick to the spell. I shared the rote with Arthur alone as he agreed with me that the power should be forgotten at the end of the battle if we survived. We both cast a contingency spell on our memory to lock away the rote except in times where it may be the only solution. The reason for these actions was a precaution against our own corruption. The original rote allowed the Mage to inflict damage to any being, supernatural or mortal that would need to be healed at mortally slow or to expend vast amount s of power. While those would be effective against most enemies, Vampire and Mage alike, a Lich may have greater healing abilities from the combination or Mage and Vampire magic. I studied and reworked the rote into this new form incorporating the addition three areas of magick with the intent of not only harming the Lich, but to possibly allow me to sever the Lich’s twisted connection to its Avatar. This would either free or destroy the Avatar and either option was better than leaving it enslaved to such a twisted creature as a Lich. While the fact remained that if the rote were successful, the power to remove a Mage’s access to magick shouldn’t be in anyone’s hands.
Arthur met her bloody gaze and said, “You leave us no choice but to stop you here and now.”
Her response while simple caused all hell to break loose within the Existence, “So be it.” At those words the horde of vampires following her rushed past and into the club where our own forces awaited. The battle was on and I had nothing to do for the time being but fight.
The security staff opened fire on the attackers from the catwalks, taking the time to aim for the heads and hearts in order to make a kill shot more likely. The muzzle flashes from those weapons gave an eerie feel to the battle to go along with the silenced weapons and the screams and sounds of struggle. The initial fights ended quickly as our numbers were close to even with those arrayed against us; we had more powerful allies than the new vampires she had brought with her. While the initial fighting went in our favor it wasn’t without cost. Many of the security staff had been swarmed after they opened fire costing us five of them as well as two vampires that had stayed to aid us. There were many others wounded and healing quickly to take her on.
From behind her more vampires and other creatures appeared through the front doors. She spoke again, “They were just pawns, too weak to make much of a difference to my army. You have chosen to stand and defy me, for that you will all die.” She charged into the fight followed by to many soldiers for me to count in the moments before the fight began anew.
Arthur grabbed his sword and leapt from the catwalks into her path as Roarke did the same behind her. She produced a paired set of swords from the air. While they were summoned by magick they were steel as the ring for her swords meeting theirs rang throughout the room. That was the last sight I had of the three of them for some time as I engaged those attacking Sindee and I, however I could hear the ring of crossing steel while I fought.
A tall lean being charged at me, what he was I didn’t know; only that he was there to try and kill me. His fingers morphed into long sharp and jagged claws the he swung for my neck with his right hand when he got close enough. I slid back just out of his reach before I dropped into a sweep of his legs. He had moved before I was halfway through the spin causing me to miss completely. As I finished my turn I saw him dropping down towards me with both hands ready to drive the talons through my head and chest. I was trying to bring my swords around before he got there but knew I wasn’t going to be fast enough. At the last possible moment he was suddenly thrown back and down to the floor by some force I didn’t see. I turned my head to see Sindee with her left hand extended towards him and realized that she saved my life. I used the crouch I was in to make a small leap above my enemy, driving the two magick bladed through the creatures head and let the energy burn him to cinders and ash before removing them. I spun to see Sindee fighting someone wielding a knife. The person seemed to be mortal but that was through my awareness with no additional information from sensory magick as I was conserving my power for the Lich if it came to that. I turned to move and aid her when she stepped inside of her opponents reach and drove her knife up through his chin with the blade piercing the top of the skull. I moved rapidly, placing us back to back to allow us to defend the spot where the Lich’s spell was to be cast. I tapped into my magick and our connection as I felt her do the same. We used our combined magick and the bond we shared to bring our minds together. The result was that we moved and fought as though we were one being and not two, using the skills and knowledge the other had as if we had learned it. Sindee tapped into my knowledge of spells and casting as I pulled from her knowledge of anatomy and healing. Our combined combat training was invaluable because it opened more possibilities for each of us.
The sounds of battle around us suggested that the fighting was not going well for either side and I offered a prayer for my friends and allies as we continued the battle. As Sindee’s and my muscles began to tire I pulled on the magick to refresh our bodies and we continued the battle. At some point I heard the sound a metal shattering over the noise of conflict followed by a scream of rage and pain. I felt a pressure wave burst across the combatants as many were knocked off their feet. Sindee or I, and there was no way for us to tell as deeply linked as we were, cast a quick forces spell allowing us to absorb and convert the kinetic energy of the pressure into useable energy for our bodies. We both moved around to the enemies around us who were felled by the blast wave and delivered killing blows. It was at this point that I realized I was no longer wielding twin blades of magick as one of them was in Sindee’s hand; somehow we had managed to transfer the control of a rote she had no knowledge of to her hand along with the ability to wield it as a sword. At that moment I was able to spot Ynara across the room, she had been surrounded by several vampires and was barely holding them back. I prepared to move to her aid when a pure golden pillar of light surrounded her body; she lifted from the floor with her arms spread wide, hair floating like a burning aura around her and the glow spread out to encompass the enemies attacking her. One moment she was under siege by no less than a dozen vampires and the next a cloud of ash was floating to the ground.
Since vampires don’t usually turn to as when destroyed I had no idea what just happened to them and had more important things to worry about at the moment as I was caught in the left shoulder by four raking claws. With a pulse of magick I sealed the wound, not taking the time or energy needed to heal it completely and spun my weapon into a reversed grip, driving it back through my attackers chest before slicing downward splitting it from heart to groin spilling organs and blood to the ground. As I performed the downward stroke Sindee spun whipping her weapon through and severing the head from the rest of its body. The fight continued like this for what felt like forever as the bodies from both sides piled up. As fast as the bodies were compiled so was the list of injuries sustained as well. After finally getting a break in the fighting I was once again able to spot the others in the fight. Roarke was laying against the divider on the club side of the glass, blood staining the right side of his face and neck and his eyes were closed. Marcus was trying to heal those knocked out of the fight near him in the back of the room while Kyra was defending their position. Most of the security staff on the catwalks was either dead or at least out of the fight as there were no living enemies up there with them. Sam was a whirling dervish of fangs, claws and steel as she cut through those that attacked her. JD was out of the fight leaning against a wall near the corner, his head turned away so that I couldn’t see his face, but the white shirt he wore was now crimson with blood that I didn’t know if it was his or from those he killed. George was in the war form of the werewolves fighting with a rage that even frightened me as Talia lay at his feet, eyes closed and in human form. Jarvis was in the back corner near the sublevel access to his and Elayna’s residence standing between her injured form and any who tried to get near her. I spotted many of our allies bodies among those of our enemies including more than half of Donovan’s pack members that stayed and a few of Alexander’s warriors and children. A half dozen of the bodies belonged to members on Talia’s pack from my land and were scatter among the bodies that surrounded hers. Arthur was still fighting the Lich, he was covered in numerous scratches and cut from her swords. He was unable to seal them, let alone heal because he was wielding not only his sword but Roarke’s Primium weapon as well.
With a thought I passed all that to Sindee and rushed to aid Arthur against the Lich. As I approached I crafted a new spell on the fly and cast it out to the room at my enemies that lay injured and dying. I used Mind, Life and Prime in this casting and performed a spell that would haunt me for the rest of my life, but chose to do it and would do so again to save the lives of my friends and allies. I used mind to search out and identify those who were my enemy and would be susceptible to my magick, those unprotected and unable to counter it. I then used the power of life to latch onto the energy of their bodies drawing it in and used Prime to rip from them the Quintessence that bound all things to reality and was the power behind Magick. While the energy was drawn in and healed my injuries, the horror at what I had just done made me want to vomit the dreams, hopes and thoughts of sentient beings passed through me in the instant their souls were shredded from reality. That kind of power could corrupt, but the horror would ensure that I never attempted the spell on a sentient being ever again. I used the vast energy reserve that I pulled in after healing my injuries to cast a powerfully charges counter spell around myself against the magick of everyone else but Sindee and Arthur as I joined the fray with the Lich. Sindee released her hold on the rote in our mind returning my second sword to my control and I blocked a swing from the Lich. I fought defensively against her until I could interpose my body between her and Arthur. I used my body to shove Arthur back and out of this fight towards Sindee to allow him to recover and heal before he came back in. I immediately felt a spell blasted at me from the Lich and the shock on her features when the spell failed to destroy me was priceless.
She came at me harder and faster with her weapons when the magick failed using both the speed granted from magick as well as Vampiric powers. I was able to keep up because of the natural speed of my body and my magick for the most part but she landed a number of scratched and slices that I could take no more time than to just seal them if I were to stay alive in this fight. As she drew her blade across my right thigh, cutting deep into the muscle barely missing the femoral artery I managed to get a strike past her defenses, driving the blade into left shoulder joint, disrupting her attack on my leg. The growl of pain and rare as she released her sword was deafening. Her shoulder and arm went limp and black ichor flowed from the wound. She released her other sword and pushed my chest so had that I flew twenty feet back across the room and landed on the center bar before falling to the floor behind it smashing my head into the metal sink on the way down.
I opened my eyes to Arthur’s face above me as he grabbed my arm to pull me to my feet. I surveyed the rest of the scene quickly before deciding a course of action. Sam was still entrenched within a swarm of enemies while George was in the clear but distracted, cradling Talia’s body against his chest with tears flowing. JD still hadn’t moved from where he lay in the corner while Roarke was no longer where I spotted him last, but I couldn’t see where he got to. Jarvis and Elayna were gone, but the security door blocking their daylight retreat was in place. Kyra was ripping apart anything that got near her as she stood over Marcus; I couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive from where I stood all the spells I had running dropped upon my losing conscious as I went over the bar. Alexander and Donovan were both tied up with the continued fighting as they were attacked; they fought as a team Vampire and Werewolf who outside of the Existence would have been more likely to be killing one another. Sindee was circling the Lich, using magick and speed to stay just outside of her reach but not letting her have time to cast the spell. Jaq was back up and moving on the catwalks grabbing the fallen guard’s weapons and taking shots as targets presented themselves. When Sindee backed away from the Lich Jaq would take a shot at it, giving her no time to do more than fight. As I watch the Lich sent a burst of magick towards Jaq who attempted to counter a spell directed at her. This failed as the magick was directed at the catwalk, as it hit and twisted the metal screamed and Jaq was thrown over the railing. As she plummeted to the floor Arthur disappeared from beside me to catch her. The impact put both of them out of the fight for now.
The Lich spun and focused her attentions on Sindee and I felt the power being drawn for another spell. I recast the rote I used for my swords as I used correspondence to interpose myself between the Lich and Sindee. The Lich’s spell hit my weapons and drove me to my knees. I pushed back against the energy directing it towards the floor. As I fought it to the floor to protect myself and Sindee I opened myself for attack. The Lich grabbed be, pulled me to my feet with my back spun to be against her chest. She sank her fangs into my neck from behind and a sense of peace and rapture flowed through me. I had no mental defenses in place to stop the effects of the Kiss from a Vampires bite. While our minds were linked Sindee was unaffected by the Kiss and I felt an inspiration flash into her mind. Sindee tapped into her Avatar and mine fed power to her as well through the connection we shared. She used her incredible knowledge and power of Life with the understanding of Prime she pulled from my Avatar then altered the rote I used to erase the assassin from reality into an entirely new casting. She reached out and grabbed the Lich’s face in her hands and shoved the spell through the physical connections of her hands and the sympathetic magick of my blood that she drank to bypass any counter spells the Lich may have been able to cast. Sindee’s spell was a flash of pure inspiration and served to save my life as she obliterated and erased that which made the Lich a Vampire from her body. As soon as that was done I was released from the Kiss and was now fighting a powerful yet twisted mage. As I was freed from the kiss and the Lich screamed as the twisted connection to her Avatar shattered at it freed itself. The backlash of the magick released burnt the Lich’s body from the inside out until all that was left was a pile of petrified ash. Moments after watching the end of the Lich I passed out again as blood flowed from the tear in my neck.
I was healed and came to several hours later lying in the spare bedroom of Arthur’s apartment above the Existence with Sindee a warm presence beside me. I was still completely drained of energy and unable to move much but forced myself to turn and look at Sindee. She was sitting up beside me with her back against the wall running her hands lightly through my hair. I managed a weak smile before falling back into a deep sleep as my body healed and regenerated the blood loss. When I woke again I was alone in the room but able to move. I got up and grabbed the robe someone left hanging behind the door for me before I headed out into the living room of the apartment. The room was as full as I’d ever seen it and the expressions were somber with some hope behind them. The fallen members of our groups could be spotted by their absence in this gathering. Arthur and Jaq were sitting together in a slightly oversized chair, bodies together as she hugged in and provided support for his losses. Sam was standing against the back wall of the room, he somber look etched with anger and pain at the members who were missing from this gathering. George and Kyra sat alone in another corner of the room, both supporting the other as the tears of loss filled their eyes and tried to crush their spirits. Elayna sat in a chair on her own with a lost expression on her face; Roarke stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder as Jarvis usually did. Ynara had been sitting on the sofa when I walked in but moved to George and Kyra to help comfort them. Sindee was sitting on the love seat looking at me with love and sorrow as I crossed the room to her. We had lost Marcus, JD, Talia, Guido and Jarvis in the battle. While Jarvis was a quiet presence in most settings her was the person who always made sure everyone was taken care of when we gathered. He always had a friendly word and a smile for you. Guido was a true Italian in that he made you feel at home when he was around which is an interesting talent for a cleaner, but he treated everyone who at from his kitchen as though they were the very idea of family to him. Talia was a loss to many of us, kind and strong in spirit she was able to help others work through that which was hurting them and she had grown so close to George I felt for him and Kyra both. JD was something of an enigma to me, his playful manner and noble attitude made him stand apart from the man you assumed he was when first introduce and his loss was a shock as he seemed to pull off an attitude that made him seem untouchable in the time I’d known him. The most painful blow to me at the moment was Marcus. He was the first Mage who I found and taught me well in not just how to use my powers by why to use them. He used to quote to me in Latin a simple axiom that I took to heart; the translation of which is: What is a man is he doesn’t make the world better. That and other lessons have helped me use my magick responsibly and without malice as much as possible and remains part of the reason for my horror at gathering the quintessence from sentient beings, even if they were trying to kill me. We sat like that for a few hours, silently mourning the dead each in our own way when Arthur finally spoke up.
He raised his head and drew Jaq towards him, kissing her and holding her tighter. He then turned to face everyone in the room, “We fought and won at a great personal cost to all of us. Among those who fought with us and fell were some of the people closest to our hearts; family to us in the truest sense of the word. I feel a hollow wound inside where each of them resided but I also know that JD would be here kicking my ass and telling me to think about better times and get this place reopened. I’d like to tell you how JD and I met and share some of the other stories we all have. I would like for all of you to know them as I did and to hear all of your stories of them as well.”
With that he proceeded to tell the tales of how he met each of those he lost with the exception of Jarvis as that was Elayna’s story to tell. JD and Arthur had met when JD had walked into the Existence when it was still a bar. JD was a hunter at the time and was tracking down a dangerous vampire named Red who had been traveling across the country leaving behind a trail of bodies. Arthur was able to get some information to JD and while that hunt was unsuccessful as Red had already been chased out of Las Vegas by others JD had other targets present themselves. He had initially been planning to leave the city after a couple of weeks when a new problem presented itself, or more precisely two groups of problems. The first was a group of Anarchs, vampires that followed no laws or organization, from LA where JD had grown up and started his hunting. Problem number two was another group of Hunters who had found out about JD’s own paranormal abilities and decided that a supernatural being with knowledge of the inner workings of hunters was a threat that needed to be eliminated. Arthur gave him sanctuary and aided JD in setting up the anarchs and the hunters in fighting each other. JD was always the one to offer the enemy sarcasm and confusion when they fought together and was an expert strategist for Arthur’s team. Sam told us of weapons training and how JD had been banned from using firearms in her presence after managing to shoot her while at a gun range. George related some of the pranks that JD had pulled on the Ragabash, werewolves who made their first change under the new moon making them the tricksters and scouts among the ranks. He managed a slight smile when he explained there were few who could pull the wool over their eyes.
Arthur then spoke of Guido with the simplest explanation. Guido had been hired to hunt down and kill Arthur. Arthur got a last second warning as Guido attacked and managed to win the fight. At his loss Guido was willing to submit to death or any other punishment Arthur had to offer and explained that if he lived the contract was void and would never be attempted again. Arthur asked who had sent him and Guido refused to tell him. Guido told Arthur that while he was a cold blooded killer, he had his honor and reputation and would not betray a client. That was good enough for Arthur and he hired him to work at the bar and to aid him in the wars he fought. None of Guido’s employers had ever respected him and that enforced more loyalty than any amount of money ever could. Guido had grown up with is Great Grandmother, Grandmother, mother and sisters surrounding him. There were no other men in the house as their professions caused them to meet an early end so while he worked hard outside the home and learning to fight he also spent much time learning to cook from all of the women he lived with as he was the youngest child and by a gap of ten years from the youngest of his sisters.
Elayna picked up where Arthur left off and told of Jarvis. She had been living in England in the early fifteen hundreds and worked as a bar maid when in the middle of a cold winter night a stranger arrived seeking shelter in the tavern. Her father had let him in and set a place by the fire for this stranger. He had not been human and during the night he had killed her father and locked her inside the building with him. He spent the next few nights using her and doing things that she wouldn’t speak of. After about a week he had tired of playing games with an easily injured mortal and decided to turn her. This was another form of torture as he gave her only enough blood to make the turn and keep her alive. He would then tie her to a chair and stand in the show behind the door and open and close it during the day letting the sun burn into her. At night he would hunt and bring people she knew back and force her to feed on and kill them. As it was deep in winter there were few travelers and people weren’t noticed to be missing until a couple weeks had past. This stranger had inflicted upon her great mental, emotional and physical pain for his own sick amusement. A night finally came when the stranger was out hunting that a lone soldier, a scout was sent to check on the farms, villages and people when word stop coming to the castle about them. This scout entered through the taverns unlocked door to find her tied to the chair again with her face and chest covered in the blood of the body at her feet. He moved toward her and she looked up, eyes feral and fangs bared in a hiss. The soldier moved away and stood beside the door studying her. She was barely aware of her surroundings and the stranger had drained most of the blood from the body before giving it to her having left just enough for her to survive on. She fought to focus on the stranger before her did more to harm her. She fought hard past the blood lust and rage in herself to gain focus when she spotted the soldier standing against the wall beside the closed door. She could smell his skin and blood and hear his heartbeat from across the room. She closed her eyes and used the steady beat to gain focus and control from the blood lust. The front door swung open hiding the soldier behind it as the stranger entered with the body of a young girl she knew from a neighboring farm in his arms. The child was still breathing and just appeared to be asleep in the monsters arm. The stranger crossed the room to stand right before Elayna and placed the small child in her lap, seating the girls night right where Elayna could simply lean down and bite, drinking her fill until it killed the child. Elayna fought with every ounce of control she had not to hurt the child in her lap. While she fought for that control the soldier charged up behind the stranger and swung for his head with hammer her carried. The stranger caught the sound just in time to stop the soldiers attack and lifted him off the floor by his neck. Seeing the soldier in danger and knowing that he was there to help her and could save the little girl Elayna gathered bloodlust and rage and focused it on the stranger. She ripped her arms through the bonds that held her in the chair and attacked the stranger from behind. She jumped onto his back and sank her teeth into his neck and drank of him until her was an empty husk and she kept drinking, pulling everything she could from him. When she finally released him it was to see the soldier who had come to help dying, a wound in his neck spilling his blood across the floor. She remembered that the stranger had forced his blood upon her to force the change and decided to save this soldier the same way. She bit into her own wrist and forced her blood from it into the soldier’s mouth; she pinched his nose to force him to swallow it. Almost instantly the wound in his neck sealed and continued to heal as more of her blood flowed into his mouth. He didn’t change into the same thing she was however and she didn’t understand. She moved across the room away from both the soldier and the child to keep herself from further harming either of them. At sunrise she moved into the dark cellar where the grains and ales were stored to hide away from the burning sunlight. The Soldier took the girl back to her farm and family who were starting to search for her and returned to the Tavern. He went down into the cellar and sat across from Elayna. He thanked her for saving his life and the girls and told his name was Jarvis. That evening after sundown, they burned the tavern to the ground and left together, travelling in the night. It was months later when she ran into another like the stranger, however this being didn’t attack and harm but explained to her what she now was and the laws of their kind. She asked why Jarvis hadn’t been changed like she had and her new teacher explained how a turning works and the effects of her blood on a living being. She told Jarvis that if she gave him some of her blood on a regular basis he would stop aging as she had and be able to stay with her as long as he wanted to. Since that night they had been together, master and slave to most Vampires and outsiders but husband and wife to between them and their family. Together for over five hundred years. Pink tinged tears flowed gently down her cheeks as she recounted the tale and I had newfound respect for the good man we lost and the woman who loved him.
George and Kyra we unable to speak past their grief so related how I met Talia and the way things worked out for all of us. After that I explained my history with Marcus to everyone here. Most had heard the tales but it was nice to repeat them and think of better times.
Ynara moved around the room to each of us in turn offering a gentle hug, a kiss on the cheek. She spread compassion, comfort and warmth as she moved between each of us. After going to Jaq and Arthur she stepped back and turned to face everyone in the room, “Thank you for sharing the stories of your friends and family with me. Though I didn’t know them I feel I do now and mourn their loss to you and to the world. I wish I could stay and continue to help you, but for now I must be going. Before I do however I have a message for all of you from the Ascendant who created this plane.” Her voice changed into a neutral tone and filled with power, “You have all done well here tonight and need to rebuild your families and lives as in time you may be called upon again. You have all stood before the darkness and protected those that couldn’t stand against it and I will see you and your friends in my care until the time comes for you to join them or them to rejoin you.”
We all looked over at her in amazement as for whoever was speaking it wasn’t Ynara. Moments after the voice faded Ynara stepped away and disappeared. We all sat and comforted each other for the rest of night then slept the day away. When evening once again came upon us we decided it was time to get motivated and moving. We headed down to the club in order to begin the cleaning and repairs that were needed. As we reached the foot of the stairs we found that everything had been cleaned, the bodies removed, the catwalk and doors repaired and the walls were being repainted. Those that remained of our allies in the fight filled the room along with their people. They were working on getting the Existence back into top shape for Arthur.
Alexander and Donovan walked over towards us. Alexander was the first to speak, “None of us knew how to thank you for placing your home and family in the path of the Lich. While we all lost people in this fight, all of you lost family. Doing this here was at least a start towards showing the depth of our feeling in regards to their sacrifices.” His voice trailed off.
Donovan picked up from there, “While what we are doing her is just a start we have other news. Word of what happened here is spreading through the supernatural races and communities in this city and possibly further. I can tell you that most of the shifter packs and communities are arranging to meet with the vampire’s Prince and other leaders in Las Vegas to set a peace within the city between all the races. While conflicts may not stop entirely we hope you’ll remain here to help the involved partied work through them as you have been.”
Alexander picked up again as Donovan finished. Her turned to face Sindee and I directly, “You both my personal gratitude and that of the Prince and Sheriff. They have already spread the word to all of the Vampires within the city that you are inviolate along with your land, the hospital where you work and those who work or live there are also protected. You each may also call in a favor from the Sheriff and from the Prince and they will grant it if it is within their power.” He turned to Arthur, “The Prince and Sheriff have also told me to tell you the same in regard to the favor. All of your staff and family are also no inviolate while outside the club as you had them protected within. The Prince also has a personal request of you. He requests the use of the Existence as a location to negotiate the proposed agreements between the races as you have always treated as neutral territory and that you act as a moderator in the event tempers flare. That means that you will be able to act to stop any violence, including acting against him without repercussion.”
Arthur looked Alexander in the eyes before replying, “You can rest assured that I will continue to run the Existence as I always have and that I think it is a fine location for the talks. As for the personal request; it would be my honor to aid in capacity your highness.” All eyes shifted to Alexander as a shocked expression crossed his features before he could control it, “Yes Alexander, I’ve known for quite a while who you really are. You’ve been welcome here as you followed the rules and respected all of my people including Elayna as she is a vampire within the city, who never reported to you, you had the right of your laws to censure her when she was outside of the Existence. As I know that you both spoke on many occasions at events that you attended and have always been kind you had my respect and the friendship I offered you here was and in quite genuine.”
Elayna looked between Arthur and Alexander with some confusion before facing Arthur first, “You knew he was the Prince and that I didn’t and chose not to tell me?” Without waiting for an answer from him she turned to Alexander, “And you!! You’re the Prince and didn’t feel that I should be told. I have treated you with respect, but there were times that I was downright rude to you due to your behavior.”
Alexander was the first to respond as he cut Arthur off, “I chose not to tell you because I respected your spirit and your way of thinking. As for your being rude to me, I was here in your home and was not respectful of the bond you shared with Jarvis. I can see how his loss is hurting you and wish there was something I could do about that. I was also here as most others are, to enjoy the anonymity and freedom of an Elysium that catered to all walks of life and am thankful that Arthur didn’t reveal my secret to anyone. His revealing now was not an issue because as soon as the talks began I would have to identify myself. The man that most Vampires who enter this city meet, those that will most likely see the Prince only once is my seneschal who is being trained and prepared to run a city himself someday.”
The rest of the night and the next couple of weeks flashed passes as we helped Arthur repair and restock the Existence. After the manual labor was done we started to interview new staff with him. Most of the security force had been killed or injured so severely that they retired. There were applicants from all walks of life, awakened mortal mercenaries, shifters that had lost pack members in the fighting, vampires who were soldiers or security prior to their turning, several types of magic users and even a young Mage who was looking for work and a teacher. The Mage had awakened the night of the battle with the Lich and felt a pull towards the Existence almost immediately. I offered to take over the books for Arthur with the loss of JD and he accepted. The kitchen would remain closed for a short while until we could find someone as exceptional as Guido. That happened far faster than anyone expected as just a few days before Arthur planned to reopen the club a tall, thin woman entered the bar and walked right up to Arthur’s table and sat down while he and I were going over the books JD had kept.
Arthur looked up and smiled at her, “Good afternoon ma’am, can I assist you with anything?” As he did that I took a quick peek at her through sensory magick. She was mostly mortal, but there was something special about her as well.
She smiled back at Arthur and looked at me briefly as the sensory magick flowed around her. She turned back to Arthur, “Maybe, are you Arthur Masters?”
“Yes”
“Then you’ve helped as I’m here to see you,” she replied. She took a breath before continuing, “I’m here to for a couple of reasons. The first of which is to thank you for the care you showed my brother and the message you sent to our family. It helped with Guido’s loss. We were glad that he found a place that he enjoyed and people that accepted who and what he was,” a tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke the last. “A few days after you sent word of what happened I received a package from Guido. It had been placed at a remailer to be sent out unless he called weekly to keep it on hold. There were two books and a letter in it. The letter was a set of instructions that he wanted me to carry out.” She reached into the satchel she carried with her and withdrew a small leather bound journal. Handing it to Arthur she said, “In that book you will find the records of all of his clients with details of who and what they were, the jobs they hired him for and the records of how each ended. The letter instructed that I give this to you to do with as you choose, but to pass on a request. He wants you to get the information you need on the contract taken out on you and to scour the supernatural references from the book; after that he’d like you to turn it over to international law enforcement with the certificate of his death and the letter in the back. His belief is that with his death his honor to those he worked for is satisfied and that he honors you and our family by stopping monsters like the men he worked for before meeting you.”
Arthur took the book and placed it before him reverently, “I will do exactly as requested. I find that honoring the last wish of someone who was family to me quite appropriate and a genuine pleasure.”
She took a few breaths and fought the tears in her eyes to keep them from falling, “Guido was right about you. As kind a soul as you are strong as a warrior he told me. The last piece of instruction was more a bit of advice and a request to me.” She reached into the bag again and pulled out two thick books with worn covers and yellowing edges to the pages within. “He knew that I saw more of the world than others like he did and suggested that I come and meet you to talk about it. Until now I was able to convince myself to stay home and keep my head down. The top of these two books was his. It is the journal that he kept his recipes and his thoughts in. He wrote of all the things in this world and how you and those you call friends and family stand between those that would harm others. From his words I know that you are more than you seem and I saw that for myself when I walked through the doors. Guido also wrote that unless I truly believed that I needed to come here I wouldn’t find the place and he was right there as well. I spent a few days wandering this part of town trying to decide if I truly wanted to face the reality he wrote about. I guarantee that I walked past this block at least a dozen times while I made the choice. As soon as I did I saw the doors as I walked past them again and I entered. His advice was to come and talk with you and I plan to do so in depth. His request in related to both his book and mine below it. That is my recipe book and journal and I’d like to run his kitchen if you’ll have me Mr. Masters?”
Arthur looked surprised and a small smile genuine smile played across his lips. I hadn’t seen a real smile from many of us since that night. Sindee and I would smile when we were together but it still held the bit of sadness we were feeling after everything that happened. I guessed that was everyone was feeling.
Arthur gave her an evaluating look, “What’s your name?”
“Isabella Teresa Scallotti,” she said, “but those who know me call me Izzy.”
“Well Isabella, before I decide to hire you or not, we need to know what you can do.” With that he stood up and offered her his hand. He looked over at me and gestured for me to follow as well. She took his hand and he walked her back to Guido’s kitchen. “Isabella, make any recipe of yours for use to try, you choose it.”
Izzy was a whirlwind in the kitchen moving from storage rack to cooler and freezer to gather her ingredients and began preparing her recipe as Arthur and I sat and watched from the butcher’s block that Guido had installed. She moved through the kitchen as though cooking was a dance and she was very graceful. While she was cooking Roarke came into the kitchen wearing a security jacket for the Existence. He had called back home to Ireland and told those who now trained at the home there to continue their training and he would send information to them. He would also go back for a month after two months here and teach them what he learned from Arthur and the rest of us. He was teaching his charges that Hunters weren’t just killers, but guardians and that not all supernatural beings were evil. Some of us agreed to travel over and aid him in imparting this knowledge when he requested it. He sat down to the butcher block and followed Isabella with his eyes. About twenty minutes later she turned and set four plates on the block in front of us and sat down to join our group.
“While this took me a while today it will be faster to prepare when the kitchen is open as I will have my prep work done and I’ll know the layout better. This is one of the recipes that Guido always wanted me to teach him because he liked it so much. Of course with sibling rivalry I had to withhold it from him. I always planned to come see him and teach it but always thought there would be more time.” She took a moment to calm herself, “I hope that you enjoy as much as he did.”
I’m no expert on food as I just know what I like and how to cook what my mother taught me. The flavors in this dish were simply divine and showed she had talent that rivaled Guido’s in the kitchen. From the sounds Arthur and Roarke were making I’d bet they felt the same.
Arthur ate more than half the dish before remembering why we were sitting there, “Isabella, I have to say that this is an incredibly delicious meal. If you truly wish to run the kitchen it’s yours, but only if you call me Arthur. Those who work for me are at the very least my friends and being Guido’s sister you are more extended family.”
She smiled again, “Fair enough Arthur as long as you call me Izzy as the same applies to you. Guido spoke of you like an uncle or father though you are too young for that title and as such you are also my extended family.”
Arthur replied, “Agreed, you can start when we reopen, but the kitchen is now yours to stock and use as you’d like. Guido stayed in an apartment above the club and that is also yours if you wish it.” Before she had a chance to reply he gently grabbed my elbow and led me back to his table and our review of the books. As we exited the kitchen, Roarke was sitting there eating slowly and just watching Izzy check over her kitchen.
Two days before the grand reopening we had the place staffed, stocked and ready for a party. Izzy had moved in to Guido’s old place and had taken the time to sit with Arthur and discuss what her brother wrote in the letter and journals. George and Kyra were spending time over with Sindee and me as we all enjoyed the company and were able to remember to good times with our lost family members. They were starting to come out of the depression that they felt. Kyra took over Talia’s role in the pack and George aided her in learning more about it while waiting for the Existence to re-open. Sam was training the new security people hard to ensure that no one else was lost under her watch. Things were starting to slow down to a normal peaceful pace for all of us and I know I welcomed the break. I hadn’t had any more visions of the Nephandi or dark futures recently. While they may came in time, perhaps the knowledge and power gained by all of us protecting the city has averted that possibility for a time.
I spend the last day before Arthur reopened refining the accounting and ordering programs as well as showing him how to use them. He was a quick study as most Mages are and made the task easy. The day progressed and the staff was told to take the night off and arrive before noon unless they started after sundown the next day. As I was heading for the door Arthur called me back over to the bar. He reached under it and pulled out a bottle of Cristal Champagne.
Handing me the bottle he said, “Take this, I ordered for you and Sindee. You both deserve it.”
A little surprised by the generosity for simply doing what I can to help I accepted the bottle, “Thank you Arthur. I’ll be sure to let Sindee know it’s from you.” He flashed a knowing smile in return. I wondered what was going through his mind at the smile, but decided to leave it alone because at least it was a genuine smile.
I drove back to our house thinking of Sindee the whole way. She had left the house that morning before I even woke for the day which was unusual because I preferred to get up with her and spend time together before she got out of the house. We had a nice evening together the previous night, another quick trip to Hawaii that included me teaching her how to work the Correspondence rote that allowed us to travel instantly. Think of it as folding space time and you may get an inkling of how it works. As it was more than halfway through March the night on the beach was warm and peaceful for us.
When I pulled into the driveway I noticed that while the front porch light was own, most of the interior light were off. I walked in through the front door to Sindee standing by the dining room table wearing a simple sundress in pastel yellow. Behind her the table was lit by candles surrounding two plates that were together along one side. She walked over to me without saying a word, kissed me hello and led me to our seats. I set the bottle of champagne on the table as she handed me a small white gift bag. As I knew it wasn’t our anniversary, my birthday or any other occasion I was surprised, though I don’t wait for holidays to surprise her so I shouldn’t have been. I pulled the tissue paper out of the top of the bag and reached in. I pulled out a pale blue and a pink newborn sized outfits. I tuned to look at her in surprise, the joy written all over my features as she nodded. I tapped into the magick and used a life scan on her, immediately spotting the two additional signatures growing with her. As a Life Mage she would have felt the change immediately and tonight’s surprise explains the behavior from the morning. I pulled her into me and carefully embraced her to me. My eyes fell to the bottle of champagne that Arthur sent with me. One of these days I was going to find out what he was now, but for the moment Sindee and our own future were foremost in my mind.
The end…………………………
For now.
Thank you all for reading and sticking with me this far.

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Fantasy

28.11.2019

A Sorcerer in Downtown Atlanta Ch. 3

Dave meets a man who can help with Maddie’s problem.

This contains all the chapters

Fantasy

28.11.2019

Modern Mage – Chaper 5

Another Chapter down, hope those of you who like the story are continuing to enjoy it. I got a little more character development done and brought another important player for the direction I have in mind for the story into play. I know the story is going slowly, however I’m writing that way because I want it to unfold properly and keep the quality of writing up. As always please leave feedback or Message me with questions. Thank you all again for reading.
I turned and put the envelopes into one of my bags before heading to the Valet with Sindee to retrieve my car. We drove back to Sindee’s and moved my bags in. Besides the two from my room there were 4 more bags in the trunk of my car. When I decided to move to Las Vegas, I packed up my clothes and personal belongings, sold everything else. Traveling is a lot easier if all you have to carry with you are 6 bags. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting my stuff organized and relaxing. My mind was on the letters sitting in my bag. I didn’t know which one worried me more, the one from my brother or the one with the old wax seal. I hadn’t seen or spoken to my brother since I was 16 until chance brought us together at the hospital a few weeks ago. We barely said anything to each other at that time either. It was unlikely that the letter contained good news.
The one with the wax seal presented a different issue. The archaic seal could have been used by almost any type of supernatural being or even a mortal with a flair for the overly dramatic. The first thing that concerned me about it however was that among the Supernatural races the ones most like to use such a seal were Vampires. While there are many younger vampires in the world; they are usually the foot soldiers and modern face of the species. The older Vampires are much more dangerous than the young lady I fought with. The older the vampire the more time they’ve had in order to gain in strength and abilities; and to make matters worse they have the patience to play the long game. Marcus taught me to avoid Vampire politics at all costs; to not reveal what I am to them. Thinking back to the night I fought the bloodsucker in my hotel room; I had yanked the curtains open to give me light to see by meaning someone could have seen the fight if they were watching her. There were too many possibilities; I needed to stop speculating and do some research.
I also had to tell Sindee about my world and soon before we moved any further in our relationship. If I was going to try to awaken Sindee to the greater reality I needed to prepare a few things and make a couple of calls. I wanted to make sure that if and when I did this, it had the highest chances to succeed without having a detrimental effect on Sindee. What scares me about doing this is simple to explain. Most Mages I’ve met are singular beings. While some Mages form cabals, basically a group of mages working together sharing knowledge, they are still disparate individuals. I have yet to meet a Mage is a relationship other than casual hook-ups. This concerned me when I first thought about why that would be and I came to an answer I didn’t much like. Because as Mages we had the ability to impose our will on the world, including on other people, we tend to do so without thinking about if we should do so. This idea bothered me because of what I did the first night here in Las Vegas. I didn’t actually change her mind as much as lower Sindee’s inhibitions leaning her in the direction of doing what she felt like over what she thought was best. I always saw the distinction as a gray area before. Now, if I knew a Mage or other supernatural being used a power on Sindee I would seek their destruction with the full measure of my abilities and willpower. It’s strange how emotional ties can alter ones perception easier than Magick.
The first call I made an attempt to get ahold of Marcus again. Many Mages, including myself, tend to stay on the move. It gives us more opportunity to learn and makes it less likely that someone will come to know us and accidentally discover our secret. The longer one stays in one place the more complacent and relaxed they become. The measures taken to keep our secret become lax. There are so many dangers in our secrets getting out that we are very protective of them. I’ve spoken of Hunter’s briefly before, I’ll go into a little more detail now. I had been staying with Marcus training for 9 months and was learning how to manipulate the Spheres at this point. Learning to Sense each of the Spheres comes quickly as once you understand that while they are each different, sensory magic is very similar no matter what you’re trying to detect. We had gone into the woods outside of town so he could teach me how to manipulate Life so that I could learn to heal myself and others. He was showing me how to speed up growth and regeneration on plants before we moved up to complex life forms. Never perform Magick on anything unless you understand what it is you are trying to do. While we were working a man stepped out of the woods into the clearing. He was around 6 feet or so, looked to be in his 60’s though he could have been older; it was hard to tell in the shade of the trees. He wore a pistol on his hip and had an old Winchester rifle aimed at Marcus. “Been a while Marcus, you aren’t an easy man to find,” he spoke loudly from across the clearing. “You gonna try to hide from me forever?” There was a trace of southern accent in his voice but I couldn’t place it exactly.
Marcus turned to face this man and spoke clearly, “I told you last time Jackson, stop following me or it will end badly for you.”
“That was 30 years ago, and I didn’t have a clue as to what you could do then. I know now and you’re going to pay for what happened.” I looked closer at Marcus closely when Jackson said this. Marcus looked like he couldn’t be older than 25, even when using my senses with the Life Magick we were practicing today I wouldn’t put him any older. Marcus stood about 5’8” and weighed in around 180. “You’re all abominations and shouldn’t be allowed to live in this world.” As he said this he pulled the trigger, I felt Marcus pull Magick and knew he was doing something. I immediately turned to dive behind the closest tree. As good as my reflexes were, they were no match for that old man’s speed with a rifle. Jackson worked the lever on the rifle as he swung it towards me; guilt by association I assumed. I was in the air as I felt intense pain in my left shoulder from the back. This being the first time I’d ever been shot, I was unable to focus past the pain to help Marcus.
“Jackson stop now or I stop holding back,” Marcus was back on his feet staring down the older man. “You have no idea what happened or why I left. It happened before you were born, and all you’ve been told are the memories of a bitter man.”
Jackson swung the rifle back at Marcus firing as soon as he was lined up in the sights, “You’ve been too long in the world and it’s time for you to die!!!!!!” he screamed as he worked the lever firing 4 shots in quick succession.
They each stopped about a foot in front of Marcus as though they hit a wall. I felt and saw Marcus throw a crackling bolt of Prime energy itself at Jackson. He screamed and fell to the ground curled in pain as Marcus walked over to him. Marcus tossed Jacksons rifle and pistol away and placed his hand directly on the man’s forehead. I had no idea what Marcus was doing and couldn’t concentrate enough to read the Magick he was performing. A few minutes later Marcus stood up and walked over to me. He placed his hands over the wound on my shoulder and I felt the flow of Magick. The pain ceased immediately, but the shoulder started to itch as I could feel the wound start to close. The itching came for torn flesh and tissue stitching back together. When it was finished even the skin of the surface showed no sign that it had ever been damaged in the first place.
When we stood up and I looked around, Jackson was gone along with his weapons. Marcus looked like he was in pain, his joints were creaking and his movements were slow. I understood then what the Prime energy he threw at Jackson was. It’s one of the first active spells of Prime mages learn. It makes you feel as though all of your bones are rubbing against each other, grinding into dust in the body. Nothing is actually happening except the sensation is excruciating to the subject. Because he actively threw the effect it caused a backlash for Marcus. Marcus would be suffering similar effects as Jackson. Marcus could have avoided the backlash by casting the spell in a way that if blending with reality instead of breaking it. The more seamlessly our spells blended into reality and were acceptable to everyone the less likely or severe the backlash. There are other ways to reduce the likelihood or severity of backlashed but those take time and power to learn. I had known Marcus was a knowledgeable and power Mage, I now knew he was a Master of at least the Sphere of Life to be as old as the conversation hinted at.
“Marcus, how old are you in years, not body,” I asked.
“I’m a little over 80 years old and have been a Mage for more than 60 of them. I told you when we met that most Mages don’t die of old age or natural causes.” He smiled, “It’s up to each mage to learn how to extend their life on their own because there are many ways magic can do so. We aren’t immortal as you just learned the hard way. I had known his family before my change and shared my secret with them after. His father was a friend as kept wanting me to bring his the same kind of power I had, not willing to believe that I couldn’t do so. Mages can’t just be made at will. While a mortal can be awakened to the greater reality, it is rare that this becomes the Awakening of a Mage. When I explained this he accused me of betraying him and his family and tried to kill me. I was forced to stop him and it put him in a wheelchair the rest of his life. I didn’t have the knowledge to repair the damage I’d done. That’s what started my wandering. Now you know my sad tale as I know yours. You’re ready to continue on your journey Andrew, as I need to continue on my way.” With that he handed me a simple card that had a phone number on it, “That is so you can try to get ahold of me if you need to. It’s not a direct line, but a point of contact that I check from time to time. Leave no details, just a way for me to get back to you.”
We left the woods shortly after that and parted way at his home. He took a few bags out to his car and headed north as I did the same and headed to the west. We haven’t seen each other spoken since, the only contact we’ve had were the deposits I made into his accounts from the investments we made together. That was the first encounter I had with hunters, there have been others but Jackson was the only “Witch” hunter. Most hunters I have run into were Vampire hunters. I’ve seen many of them die because they were messing with things beyond their understanding. I’ve also seen groups of hunters that were very well equipped both with knowledge and weapons. These groups are the most dangerous as I’ve seen psychics and hedge wizards and others working with them as I traveled. I had a close call or two in my time travels but have so far as I know remained unidentified to them.
The second call I made was to the realtor to check on the purchase of the land and to get the architects number to schedule an appointment with them. I wanted to get the land purchased and include the mineral rights in the deed. I also wanted to get with the architect as a lot of design went into a Mages home. We needed to have all the usual amenities that every home had, but also needed some space to build a Sanctum. A Sanctum sounds so mysterious and I know you just pictures a dark stone room with an alter and strange symbols carved into the wall, or something similar from literature or movies and while some magic users; hedge wizards and Mages alike; go for that kind of gothic or dramatic look as that’s how they were taught a Sanctum doesn’t need to be that. A sanctum can be as small as a closet however I do prefer a little more space. What takes a sanctum and turns it into a Mage’s Sanctum is the time and power expended to place Wards all around the room. Again, I’m not speaking of carvings or spells written in blood or other such materials, wards are protections from each Sphere imbued into the physical construct. When you have a room properly and powerfully enough warded you can practice all forms of magic in there both coincidental, the blending of magic with accepted reality to hide it from sleepers, to what would be called vulgar magick, spells that break the fabric of accepted reality. A good example of this would be if a mage had to fight in the open and had no choice but to resort to using fire to stop their enemy. While a mage of even moderate power could easily throw a fireball down the street after an enemy everyone who saw it would create such disbelief that the backlash could easily kill the Mage as the spell backfired on them. A smarter mage would look for a way to make it blend into reality to be possible, like as the person was running past a utility box or near to maintenance access, having a gas line burst, engulfing the target in a ball of fire. While unlikely this is more acceptable to the masses and the mage may get away with no backlash at all or one of minimal effect on them. Even when there are no sleepers around outside of a properly warded sanctum, Vulgar spells usually cause some form of backlash as it is the break in reality not just the witnesses that cause this.
The next item on my list was to get registered as a student at UNLV. I was already an Investment Broker and Councilor as a profession, that had nothing to do with taking a couple of classes while here in the city. Students have access to the colleges’ library including any special collections related to the classes they take. As I have said before what a mage can do is limited to the Magick they could draw upon and knowledge of what they were trying to do. You’ll find that if or when Magick becomes acceptable to the general world that most of the Mage’s are students of some kind, always trying to increase their knowledge there by allowing them to cast many more spells based upon that knowledge. I still had to choose other classed, however I chose economics as 1 class as it dealt with my profession in the event anyone did look into my while I’m here in town. More than anything I was hoping to find some other Mages to share knowledge of the city with; it was a long shot but still possible.
The next week flew by as I waited to hear back from Marcus and started my first class. Sindee and I didn’t see each other as much as we did before I moved in and I was missing the time we spent together. Between my classes and meeting with the Architect during the days and her working night shift at the hospital we only saw each other in the early mornings when she got home and sometimes for dinner before she left for her shifts. I know I was getting depressed by this, as I wanted to spend more time with her. I decided to surprise at lunch this evening. I picked up dinner from one of the restaurants I knew she liked and took it in to her at work so we could spend sit and talk. We laughed and talked and all too soon she had to return to work. When I left for the evening, I felt better but all the more urgent about trying to arrange for her to be awakened. I didn’t want to lose her, and while that could still happen, it would if she didn’t know about my world and how to protect herself from it when I wasn’t around. I went back to the house after we finished and pulled out the letter from my brother. I’m not going to go into what was in it other than to say two things. My father was still ok, and it wasn’t good news that could bite me in the ass down the road some. Basically, it was for the most part what I expected as well as something I didn’t. We’ll come back to this in the future, say at the time that it bites me in said ass.
When Sindee got out in the morning it was the start of her weekend. We both decided to get some sleep before going out for the day. We took Sindee’s car and went out to Lake Mead, spent some time on the water with rental jet skis. When we arrived back at her house there was someone sitting on the trunk of my car, mostly hidden in shadows. I told Sindee to pull up along the curb and stay in the car. I hit the power locks as I got out of the car, “If any trouble starts call the police on your phone and drive away.” I closed the door before waiting for a reply. I moved sideways into the yard, putting distance between Sindee and I, yet not moving closer to the person sitting on my car. I called out, “Can I help you with something?”
The figure shifted, sliding of the trunk still standing so that the face was still covered in shadow. I called out again, “If you’re here looking for trouble you’ve chosen the wrong place. It that’s your intention, leave now or else.”
“Strong words from someone so young,” was the reply from our shadowed visitor. There was something familiar about the voice, but I was sure I’d never hear it at the same time. Then the figure stepped out of the shadows into the light, “Is that how you talk to all your old friends when you called them, and they drop what they are doing to come see you.”
The young man that stepped out looked to be around 14 to 16, he had short trim black hair, was about 5’6” and I couldn’t give you weight but he looked healthy, not heavy or muscular but he wasn’t skinny either. I was about to tell him I didn’t know who he was and we weren’t old friends when I noticed his eyes, those I knew. You know how they say the eyes are the window to the soul, in some ways it’s true. A person’s years can be read in their eyes if you know what you’re looking for, additionally, even as your appearance can change though many means, the eyes don’t unless you intentionally cover them. “Marcus!!!” my surprise at his appearance filled my voice at first, “How nice to see you again.”
Marcus laughed at me, “that’s at least a better greeting between old friends. Who’s the young woman in the car, and what does she know?”
“Sindee is the reason I called you as she doesn’t know anything yet.” I turned to wave Sindee into the driveway smiling as I did so to reassure her nothing was wrong. I walked over and opened the car door for her. “Sindee I’d like to introduce you to Marcus, he was a neighbor before I moved her. Marcus, this is obviously Sindee.”
“It’s my pleasure to meet you ma’am,” was Marcus’s statement and he took her hand. His body jerked a little as he had to stop himself from kissing the back of her hand. Something of an old fashioned gesture for someone appearing as young as he did.
Sindee took his hand, “Nice to meet you as well Marcus. Please call me Sindee, ma’am makes me feel like an old lady. So what brings you to Las Vegas?”
Fortunately she was looking at Marcus as I’m the look on my face revealed that I had no idea what to tell her. Marcus on the other hand was apparently better at thinking on his feet this evening as he replied, “I’m getting ready to start classes at UNLV. I’ll be staying in dorm on campus; however the room won’t be ready until tomorrow, fumigation. Andy there had sent me an email when he moved into town and then again when he moved here. I can’t check into a hotel, they won’t allow minors to stay alone even if they graduated high school at 15. I came hoping to ask him to get me a hotel room for the night.”
Thank god for Marcus’s brain and Sindee’s heart because her response. “Nonsense Marcus, you’re staying here tonight, and you’re welcome to stay a few days to visit if you’d like. I’m sure Andy would like the company.” She smiled as she called me Andy, so did Marcus as he knew how I felt about that particular nickname.
“Thank you Sindee, I appreciate that. Tell me how is it you know Andy please.” Marcus picked up his bad from beside my car as we continued the conversation.
The rest of the night passed with Sindee and Marcus getting to know each other. Her relating the tale of how we met and then came back together while Marcus told her, and by extension me, about his current back story shortened to match a 16 year old genius instead of the man he was last time we saw each other. I planned to talk to him at length and find out what happened to him soon. Sindee and Marcus hit it off like old friends, which would make things simpler having him around considering their age differences, both their visually disparate ages and well as the years that separated their actual ages.
We all spent the next day together just hanging out, introduced Marcus to some of Sindee’s friends and got him settled into his dorm room. He wasn’t kidding about setting himself up as a current student at UNLV. I still hadn’t had the time to talk to him about any of the many issues I was juggling at the moment, nor about what happened to him when we left him at the dorm that evening. We were leaving the campus when a feeling passed over me that I can’t properly explain. I know it came from my connection to the Magick but had no idea what it meant. My life was getting to be way to interesting even for me. We drove back to Sindee’s, the whole way that feeling becoming more and more oppressive. It didn’t feel like I was being watched either directly or by Magick as I would have felt that; not being able to identify the feeling was putting my nerves through the wringer to the point that I was unable to keep my face from showing some concern.
“Andrew, you look like someone stepped on your grave. What’s bothering you?”
“I’m not sure, you ever just get one of those feelings that you can’t explain? The kind that you know there’s something wrong or coming but you have no idea what it is?” I replied without thinking. “I just got this sense of something …..” I trailed off as I realized two very important things. First, I was very close to talking of Magick and my gifts with Sindee, and second I remembered when I felt something similar to this; the night it woke me up a little over five years ago.
As I went quiet, Sindee looked over at me and immediately pulled over. She put her hand to my neck checking my pulse, “Andrew, you’re very pale, is everything alright?” I didn’t know how to answer that one, my heart was racing at the thought of losing Sindee like I had most of my family.
I knew my heart had to be racing and I didn’t want Sindee to decide I needed to go to the hospital. I focused on my breathing and slowing my heart down. “I’ll be fine Sindee, just an Anxiety attack for some reason. Let’s just get home, have a glass of wine and relax. You’re the only doctor I want to see tonight.” I was sure about the feeling but didn’t know what it meant. Did it have to do with a new Mage awakening, was it something to do with another attack like back then. My heart rate was starting to pick up again so I looked over into Sindee’s amazing eyes and slowed my breathing. I used her eyes for a focus in meditating, thinking of the time we’ve spent together, the stories she told me of her growing up. My heart slowed and my breathing became normal after a few minutes.
Once I had calmed down Sindee reluctantly agreed to drive back to her house and not the hospital. The feeling faded as we moved closer to the house and I was able to relax more, it was still in the back of my mind but felt more distant. It still concerned me a lot as I didn’t know the meaning behind it. Sindee and I decided to go to bed early, after lying down I feel asleep easily with her in my arms but the sleep was restless. I dreamed of the night I awakened and lost my mother and sisters. Dreams and memory usually fade with time; however one of the Mind Magick spells I used on myself was to improve my memory giving me total recall. A very useful gift in most situations but when you have to relive the worst night of your life in horrifying detail, seeing things that you didn’t process at the time like the blood pooling out on the floor from my father’s skull or the look of pure terror in my mother’s eyes when that man grabbed me by the neck. Every second in the dream felt like an eternity and even though I knew it was a dream I couldn’t wake myself. I finally snapped awake after reliving the entire attack, Sindee was leaning over me looking at me face. She pulled me against her and held me tight after seeing the look of anguish on my face.
I’d not dreamed of that night since shortly after getting out of the hospital that first time. After reliving it in such detail I felt raw and drained, like I went through a wringer. Sindee just continued to hold me and whisper soothingly into my ear that I would be ok, she was here for me. I pulled her tight into me wrapping her tightly in my arms and just let the tension leave me. It had been a half hour before Sindee fell asleep. I already knew I wasn’t going to sleep the rest of the night between the strange sense I’d had earlier in the evening and the nightmare of my Awakening. I got out of bed careful not to wake Sindee. I walked into the other room and got a small case out of my suitcases. The case held what Mages call Foci, object used for focusing our Magick. Mages who belong to the organizations that specialize in different Spheres are trained from the beginning to use Foci. Those Mages are unable to cast spells safely without their Foci, the tradeoff for them was that it made learning to cast easier. I never learned about Foci until after I learned to cast. I kept the Foci in the case for use with certain spells and effects. I looked through the case to the Foci I used for Correspondence, the Sphere related to distance and space. I pulled out the little charm I had given to Jamie and brought with me when I left home. It was a gold infinity loop on a necklace. I had to reasons for giving it to hear, first as I used it for focusing my spells I had a connection that would allow me to find it over great distance. The second and more important reason is the infinity loop was a representation of my feeling toward Sindee. Somehow looking at the Infinity Loop I knew we were meant to be together.
I took the necklace and charm in their little box out of the case and put the case back in my luggage. I looked at the clock and knew Sindee’s alarm would be going off in about another hour. I decided to make her breakfast in bed, I know it’s not a grand romantic gesture but I’ve also come to know it’s the little gestures at the right moments that most women remember with the most fondness. I’m no chef but I can cook, so I made her a nice fluffy omelet with sausage, cheese and salsa. A glass of Orange Juice and the all-important cup of coffee as well as some toast completed the meal. I threw a robe on and quickly snuck out back to pick a rose for the tray. I found a small almost dead rose plant poking over the fence. I pulled a bud that hadn’t bloomed from it and went back into the kitchen. I focused on the flower and my feeling for Sindee into the flower. The dry stem turned from brown back to green and thickened as the Magick gave back the life that the desert had been pulling from it. I slipped the stem into a thin vase allowing the stem to pull in the water. The flower itself started to grow and open revealing a perfect white rose, as the spell came to an end a single petal of the rose turned into a copper red color like Sindee’s hair. I carried the tray in just as her alarm went off. Sindee reached over and hit the switch killing the alarm. She reached over to her side finding the bed empty I heard a mumble that sounded a lot like my name before she sat up in bed and looked around the room.
I walked over to her side of the bed when she looked around and spotted me, “Good morning Beautiful, I thought you deserved to be pampered this morning.”
Her eyes lit up as she changes positions letting me set the tray down in front or her, “Thank you Andrew, you know you didn’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I knew that, and you more than deserve it. Last night was hard, and probably would have been impossible if we weren’t together. I have no idea what I’d do without you. I have something else for you as well.” I pulled the little box with necklace out of my robe pocket and handed it to Sindee, “That was something I gave to Jaime when she was six, I told her that the infinity loop symbolized forever and that was how long I would love my little sister. I love you and want you to want you to know that love is also infinite.” I stopped talking and could see the tears in her green eyes as I said all this.
Sindee lifted the tray off her lap setting it to the side on the bed and stood up, “I love you too, I was afraid to say anything about it because we’ve only really know each other for a few months and didn’t want to scare you away.” She stopped talking and stood on her toes as I leaned down to kiss her. This was a slow gentle kiss, with all the passion and attraction we felt for each other tempered by the emotions we shared. I felt something strange in my connection to the Magick, but it felt right, not like the sensation from the night before. When we broke the kiss, Sindee pulled the necklace out of the box and handed it to me. Reaching back behind her head, she turned to face away from me and moved her long silken hair out of the way so I could put in on her. We sat down on the bed and shared the breakfast I made for her. We both wanted to stay in for the day but Sindee had an early morning staff meeting at the hospital today and I had to meet the architect again to work on the plans. Even being a Mage with an affinity for Time Magick there sometime weren’t enough hours in the day to do what you wanted.
Sindee and I got ready for our days, she had her meeting and lunch with the girls before needing to come home and sleep for work that night. I needed to see the architect then needed to go find Marcus and get the real story of what happened to him. Last item on my list was perhaps the most dangerous. I planned to do a Seeking…..

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