by M. D. Grimm
I bent over him, claiming his mouth as I effectively claimed his body. He gripped my shoulders, rather high-pitched cries escaping him. As I felt myself come close to release I allowed my magick to break forth. It rushed over us, warm and sparkling, glittering with promise. Without direction, it was simply a force, like air, but thicker, grander. Violent purple, serene blue, dazzling green, all the colors swirled and pulsed around us, filling the parlor with the vibrancy of life. Aishe gasped as it touched him.
He had only felt my magick like this once, and that time had been far more intense. The first time we’d made love, when I had been inside him, my magick had broken forth and consumed us both in flames of un-burning fire.
Enfernlo, my payshtha friend, had told me that I’d soul-bonded with Aishe. I’d chosen him to be my soul mate.
I hadn’t consciously done it, but I couldn’t regret the outcome.
My magick whirled around us, and I pulled back enough to see the wonder in Aishe’s eyes. Then I saw the magick enter him, almost seep into his skin, and his body suddenly froze. For a moment, I thought he was in pain, but then his eyes flew open and he came violently, his entire body shuddering from the blast of my magick. His inner muscles clenched like a vise around me, and I came with a surprised shout.
I collapsed on top of him, and both of us shuddered as the aftershocks lingered. As my moment of clarity faded, some of my old fears came back. But the knowledge I’d gleaned from that moment lingered, and I hoped I never forgot it. I had to be cautious now that I knew my true determination to keep Aishe close to me. I had unconsciously given him my all, and that meant I had to actively protect him from all that would seek to harm him.
Though I had always known my overwhelming desire to protect Aishe, even during those first days after we met, now I knew it was more dire. He was my reason for rejecting my destiny whole-heartedly. Without him...if he was taken away from me....
I lifted my head, and Aishe’s eyes fluttered open. They were blurry, dazed, and he blinked rapidly, trying to focus on my face. I smiled.
“I love you.”
Aishe grinned and nuzzled my neck. “I know.”
I snorted. My heart trembled. “I’ll never let you go.”
Aishe slid his hands around my back and held me close.
“Good. I don’t want you to, my love.”
I pressed my nose to his hair and took a deep breath. My thoughts eased, and I could feel peace trying to steal over me.“Aishe,” I whispered.
“Hmmm?” I could hear the sleepiness in his voice. But I had to say this.
“Please watch yourself,” I said quietly. “I can’t lose you.
I can’t have you die. Now that I’ve found you...and if I lose you...I will destroy the world.”
My voice cracked, and Aishe’s arms tightened their grip.
Aishe was my reason in two ways: alive, he was the reason I had to avert my destiny. Dead, he was the reason I would have to embrace my destiny.
Chapter Five
I felt the storm break in the early morning hours. I stretched in my bed, and a sigh escaped me. The mages would be waiting, and however much I wanted to just make them wait, I knew I couldn’t. I dearly did not want the entire Council on my doorstep. But I had yet to come up with a good solution to my situation. Aishe stirred beside me but didn’t wake. I sat up and looked at him, his white hair spread out on the pillow and the blankets pushed down to his stomach. I was a little envious of Aishe’s looks, his grace. Comparatively, I was a skinny rat.
Rolling my eyes, I got out of bed. Aishe has so often told me that he thought I was sexy -- another word I’d taught him -- and that he had a liking for grouchy mages. Smiling, I dressed quickly and grabbed an apple from the tray of food the boygles left. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew what it was to starve. If there was food, I ate it.
I’d exhausted Aishe after our little bout on the sofa. I’d half carried, half dragged him upstairs, and he’d fallen immediately asleep. He didn’t say anything about my declaration to him, and I didn’t expect him to. I needed him to know, to always keep in the back of his mind that he couldn’t take unnecessary risks. Perhaps it was selfish of me to put so much on him, to preach caution when I myself was always ending up in risky situations. But he had to know what he had signed up for when he’d chosen me as his mate.
After I’d tucked him into bed, I’d felt too energized to sleep. Some magick practice in my training room had served me well. I’d set up different scenarios and used different spells to destroy my enemies. I was slightly achy now, but that only proved I needed to practice more. I was getting lazy.
Munching on the apple, I walked down several hallways, all of varying lengths, and passed countless doors. The walls were covered with tapestries and some of my own paintings. I had yet to start on a portrait of Aishe because I was still forming it in my head. It had to capture the essence of my mate, and I was a perfectionist -- especially when it came to my art.
I tossed the apple core into a trash can (an invention from Earth that I utilized happily) and jogged down the grand staircase, the thick royal blue carpet muffling my footsteps.
But the minute I hit the landing, I felt the defenses around Geheimnis shudder. I froze and narrowed my eyes, clenching my hands into fists.
My massive front doors seemed to bow inward slightly and then rebound back. Geheimnis shuddered again.
I was under attack.
I heard a noise behind me and whipped around, my magick at the surface, ready to attack. But it was only the boygles. A large group of them were gathered behind me.
Grendela, the matriarch, stepped forward, her eyes wary.
“What can we do, Master?” she said in her raspy voice.
I looked at my front doors again. “Be ready,” I commanded. I walked to the doors, and they opened before me, creaking slightly.
I had built Geheimnis on a mountain peak, far above my forest. It was a jagged mountain with snow-covered tops and a crystal cave inside. It was a treacherous path up the mountain should one climb, but it wasn’t any easier to fly or magickally transport oneself. Also, if someone managed to get to this landing, they wouldn’t have an easy time infiltrating Geheimnis. Most mages learned the skill of transporting themselves over long distances. I had just recently learned the skill, but I was still a novice. Dyrc and Nanna, however, I knew could do it with ease -- and they had tried to do that with Geheimnis. They had tried to transport themselves into my fortress, but with the amount of magickal webbing and shielding I had woven around her walls and underneath her foundation, their attempt proved futile. Which was why the doors bowed inward; it was a warning to me that an unknown -- and unwelcome -- presence had tried to invade.
Only I and my things could be transported in and out of Geheimnis. Only things that had originally come from inside her. Master Ulezander had the same sort of barriers around his hall at his home in Muelsel. I had observed what he did and duplicated it -- with my own variations, of course. Since my enchantments recognized me, I had no chance to really test my own skill. Thankfully, my own spell hadn’t disappointed me.
Along with the shield, I had vines that covered my castle fortress that sensed intruders and wrapped their poisonous, thorny selves around said intruder. I also had attack gargoyles that patrolled the skies and enjoyed tearing things apart. I had a small landing before my front doors that could accommodate ten normally sized seelas or mages comfortably. There were no railings, however, and someone who fell would have a lot of time to think about their life before it ended. There had originally been no path to the landing, and no path that actually led to my castle. That had changed with Aishe’s coming. One of the paths that had served as a decoy, I had converted into a true path. It actually started at the base of the mountain, and once inside the cave, a small platform would glide up the inside wall and carry Aishe up to the landing.
The entrance way was illusioned, of course, and only Aishe with his pendant could find it. It was a risk to have it, bu
t I didn’t really have a choice. I had the path lead to the landing because I wouldn’t risk my crystal cavern being discovered should another mage or someone else discover the entryway. Aishe understood. He always understood.
Currently, there were two mages fighting with my vines and my gargoyles on the landing. I leaned against the doorjamb and crossed my arms over my chest, enjoying the entertainment. My gargoyles were swift and eager. I had formed them myself. They had three eyes around their heads, eliminating any blind spots, and they were made of thick stone. Sharp claws and teeth with wings that could slice a seela in half finished the creation of my darkest dreams. Dyrc and Nanna were currently blasting them with expert precision (even though I hated the two, I could still admire skill) while also trying to prevent the vines from wrapping around their legs. I smiled and enjoyed the sight of my minions at work.
“Call them off, Morgorth!” Nanna shouted. “We are on Council business! The laws of guest-host dictate--”
“That you be invited before I owe you anything,” I finished for her. But I couldn’t have the mages die or destroy my minions that had taken months and months of labor to create.
“STOP!” I bellowed, amplifying my voice to be heard over the gargoyles’ screeches and the mages’ blasts. The gargoyles spun away from their attack, and the vines quivered in confusion.
“Back to your positions!” I ordered, stepping out of my house. My doors slammed shut, the booming sound echoing into the distance.
The gargoyles obeyed and flew up to their tower perches.
The vines crept along the ground, slithering back to their home on the stone of Geheimnis.
Dyrc and Nanna were panting slightly, and I could see sweat on Dyrc’s face. The wind was cold when it blew over us, and I immediately lifted my hand and summoned my jacket. It appeared in my hand as if out of nothingness. I slipped it on and glared at the mages.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” I said, my voice hard.
“When messengers of the Council would so blatantly invade and attack the territory of another mage. To attempt to enter his home uninvited. Especially when that mage has not declared war.”
“You declared it when you took Rambujek,” Dyrc snarled. “When you didn’t hand it over to the Council like any loyal mage would have.”
I flexed my fingers, barely containing my magick. How I desired to launch a ball of pure force at that asshole’s face.
How I desired to battle with him. I could see that he felt the same. My imagination turned wicked as I thought of all the things I’d like to do to him. Making him scream in agony and beg for death would be a delight. My mind suddenly turned to the stones and what I could accomplish if I used them. Shock had my visions crumbling.
Why had my mind suddenly gone to the stones -- to actually using them? Recovering quickly, I knew my face had shown nothing of my thoughts. I’d trained well in that area.
“I don’t remember that rule when I was in mage training,” I said to Dyrc.
“Enough, Morgorth.” Nanna slashed her hand in the air, cutting off Dyrc’s retort. “We have a mission to accomplish, and we won’t leave until we have. You are a mage, Morgorth. That means you are subject to the same laws and traditions as we are. And the Council is through negotiating with you and playing nice. You owe loyalty to the Council. To your Elders--”
I laughed bitterly. I couldn’t help it. “I owe loyalty to them? Is that what you just said, Nanna? To mages who wanted me dead when I was still just a child? When Master Ulezander took me up to train me?”
I looked at both of them incredulously. I felt the anger of a child rise up and images from the past swam before my mind’s eye.
“Do you think I’ve forgotten that day?” I said softly. “Do you think I ever could? I had been with Master Ulezander for one week. Just one week before five mages came to his hall at Muelsel. They demanded to see me. To see the little abomination.”
I bit out the word, and it took all my strength to keep my voice level and calm. “Master Ulezander tried to protect me, but I came out of hiding. Hiding like a coward had never been my style. They wanted to kill me, you see. They wanted to kill a seven-year-old child for crimes he hadn’t committed yet. They tried to grab me, to blast me away.
Master Ulezander guarded me.”
I could still see it in my mind as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. I had been roughly handled, grabbed and yanked. My magick had flared, but I was still so new to magick and how to control it, it was no good to me. Master Ulezander had actually used magick to keep them off of me. He had defied the Council, of which he was a member, and had lifted me into his arms. He’d held me firmly, and I had clung to him, not really knowing what was going on. I didn’t know about my forefathers at that time. I only knew what my father had told me, that I was to become a tool of destruction -- a tool he would control. But Master Ulezander had been so kind to me, more like a father than my blood kin had been.
He had protected me and comforted me, after the mages had left. He’d vouched for me, taking responsibility for everything I did. That, more than anything, had kept me from seriously planning revenge on the Council. And it had kept me from murdering my family. I owed Master Ulezander my life. It was a debt I could never repay. A debt I didn’t think he ever meant to call in.
“Do you dare to tell me,” I looked right at Nanna, “that I owe loyalty to those who would have murdered me while still a child?”
“They allowed you to live!” Dyrc said stubbornly, walking right up to me and pushing into my face. “You owe them your life. They should have destroyed you then and there.”
I punched him. There was nothing that could have stopped me. Perhaps I have heard all that poison before, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. It didn’t mean those words, that hatred, didn’t pierce my heart and make me ill. It didn’t mean that my stomach didn’t twist into greasy, black knots and my throat wasn’t scraped raw as if I’d been screaming myself hoarse trying to defend myself.
Dyrc stumbled back, shocked. He would never expect me to forgo magick in favor of hand-to-hand. He grabbed his nose, and I saw blood leak down his face. I lifted my fist, my hand glowing with blue flame.
“Come near me again, and you will get worse,” I snarled.
I realized that I was trembling and my skin felt cold and clammy. But inside I had a fierce fire blazing, one I wished to unleash upon these two invaders.
“I owe loyalty to only one mage.” I forced myself to lower my hand. “And his name is Master Ulezander. Not to child murderers.”
Silence fell. Dyrc still looked shocked, but Nanna hadn’t done anything after my attack. She stared at me, and I could see her mind working. She was considering my words. The wind chilled further, and it burned my skin, trying to pierce through the fabric of my coat. I ignored it as best I could, but it was becoming unendurable.
“So if Master Ulezander,” she said softly, “were to ask for Rambujek...?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I would give it to him.”
I saw hope flare in her eyes. “But I wouldn’t depend on him,” I said. I looked at Dyrc. “You and I both know he would never ask that of me. He trusts me.”
Dyrc scowled and lowered his hand. He’d used healing magick -- the same kind that Aishe used -- to heal his nose.
He wiped the blood from his face with a cloth he’d pulled from his pocket.
“Yes, he trusts you,” Dyrc said bitterly. “And it will be the end of him.”
I nearly punched Dyrc again. He dared accuse me of doing something that would cause Master Ulezander’s death? He thought I would harm my mentor -- my protector? The first living being in my life to trust me, care for me, show me compassion? The first one that I had ever trusted?
I took a deep breath. I looked at Dyrc. “That just kills you, doesn’t it? To know that he has a soft spot for me?
That he favors me above all his students?”
Dyrc bared his teeth. It was time to get some of my o
wn back.
“And why shouldn’t he? Destiny says I will be formidable, unstoppable. It would be wise to become an ally with me before that happens. Destroying my enemies would be my first move.”
“Morgorth,” Nanna said, her voice shaking. “You don’t mean to suggest that you want to become the Destroyer?
That you want that to come to pass?”
I shifted my eyes to her face. Her eyes were wide, and she looked slightly green. “Maybe I do, Nanna. Maybe I’m tired of bastards like him.” I jerked my head at Dyrc.
“ Maybe I want to commit the deeds I’ve been accused of.
It’s better to be guilty than to be a victim of prejudice.”
Nanna looked like she might puke. Dyrc was pale as well, his brown hair contrasting starkly with his ghostly skin.
I met Nanna’s eyes. “I’ve been meaning to ask, Nanna.
Was Master Ulezander part of this vote you said the Council took?”
Her face became serene, as if it was carved from stone.
“He was unavailable for the vote.”
I blinked at her. “Unavailable? What the fuck does that mean? From what I know about Master Ulezander, he never misses a Council meeting. Especially not one concerning me.”
“He has better things to do with his time than clean up your messes!” Dyrc snarled.
I just frowned at him. What did unavailable mean? Did the Council purposely not inform him of the meeting? Was he in trouble? On a mission? Training a new student? But I couldn’t ask more without showing weakness. Any more questions would tell them I thought I couldn’t handle them.
I couldn’t go running to my mentor and hiding under his robes. I wasn’t a child anymore.
But it was puzzling.
I drew myself up to my full height -- which wasn’t much, but it was all I had -- and stared down at both of them.
“Now, I will only say this once more. Get off my property.” With a punch of pure force fueled by the fire inside my gut, I blasted both of them off my landing. They screamed as they flew into the air and plummeted to the ground.