by C P Sennett
The ritual chamber is where I do my serious magic where I can safely summon things and easily contain an understandably pissed mephit. It was a place where magically I can cut loose in relative safety.
As I entered the chamber, it was dark inside, solid stone walls with nothing adorning them is safest. There was a tiny wooden table made of java root by the entrance. The table had been cleansed so many times by holy men and others that when it was given to me it appeared almost like a black spot magically. It was a gift given to me when I left Ashok’s teachings in India some years back. It has a wonderfully looking natural colour to it and was only here for me to rest things on that I needed when working magic. Anything else was brought into the room as needed for whatever I was performing.
I took the shaker out of the cool box and left the cool box outside the room. I then carried the cold, metal shaker containing the brown beer bottle into the centre of the room before lowering them both carefully to the floor.
Then, I took a moment and stretched my fingers as I had to get this right. Letting Fern out meant I needed my mind and body to be on the same page and she knew something was coming as she pulsed with an almost eager light. A mephit as I’ve said isn’t terribly dangerous in a straight up fight but things can go wrong, especially when she was pissed and I was exhausted.
“Ok here goes.” I whispered to myself.
I quickly prepared my mind as I dropped down low, next to the bottle. As its glow bathed me in an awesome blue light the room was bathed in an icy blue glow which started to flare brighter. It was like the best lava lamp you’ve ever seen!
The bottle was still very cold to the touch and now had steam rising off it as it was starting to warm. This room was always cold and I was hardly dressed for it, no shirt, no shoes, cold feet and a hard stone floor made it uncomfortable.
In truth, I was in two minds whether to hold the bottle or release her with it on the floor. As the pulsing of her light fluctuated with more vigour I decided to hold it. I moved my fringe away from my face and reached out with my mind uttering the reversal of my improvised binding spell that I had used to hold Fern in the bottle.
My force of will raced to the item like the camera angles you now see on modern detective shows. I raced toward the lip of the bottle and felt the magic flow through me as I unmade the spell I had placed upon it. The blue light lit up the room so brightly that I had to squint for a second. There was a small whirring sound and as soon as I felt my spell had ended Fern was standing in front of me.
The mephit appeared as the same girl I had met earlier. In the same blue dress but her hair was different now. It was flowing in long curls and now she had no mask. I could see her face and she was pretty. Model-like pretty. Almond shaped eyes, medium lips that had a touch of warmth to them as they shined. She was a real knockout... or she would have been if she didn’t look furious!
The mephit took a step towards me, her nose all wrinkled and a face like thunder. “Who do you think you are imprisoning me!” she screeched, as I picked up the brown bottle.
I put my hand up to placate her but I kept hold of the brown bottle just in case. This didn’t help much I doubt. After all, this would be like a jailor waving the key to a cold dark cell in the face of inmates. Understandably, this wasn’t going to endear me to her.
“Listen to me Eddie, if that’s even your name! I’ve got powerful friends, really powerful ones and I’m powerful myself so you need to let me out of here and start answering my questions or I’m gonna really hurt you and not with my knee this time!”
My reply was simple. “Keep the noise down or go back in the bottle!”
“Go back!” she screeched, flailing her arms accusingly at me as she took an angry step towards me. “You were lucky to get me with such a cheap trick. Then to leave me in it for so long. I’m over 400 years old and one of the most powerful of my kind.”
I shook the bottle at her before adding a patronising. “Shhhhh.” to quieten her, childish I know but I was tired.
“Don’t you dare do that to me!” she snapped and pulled at her lovely blonde hair in frustration.
“Listen Fern, talk sensible. Or, you’ll go back in the bottle, I mean it.”
Fern snarled, her rage still flowing. “I’m going to make you pay for that, I’m over 400 ye…”
I cut her off. “You’re lucky if you are over 10 years old. You were sloppy, easy to spot and catch. The question is, are you the only supernatural that was at the party or is Ali the same as you?”
Fern turned away in anger.
Her voice dropped down now, almost a hint of embarrassment to her body language as her posture slumped a little. “How did you know?” she asked, before turning around to look at her new surroundings.
I continued. “Well at first I thought something was up when a really pretty looking woman threw herself at me. That doesn’t happen often enough for me and it’s never that easy. Secondly, the mask you had on was one you obviously copied from a book. A book, I know Tommy has and the mask in it was worth at least £3,000. No offence, the dress you have on doesn’t scream that you have that kind of money. Also, the earrings, together, they said a lot of money, your dress…less so!”
She turned back towards me, ready to start but I cut her off as I certainly wasn’t finished. “I’m not done listing your mistakes Fern!”
She gave me a sarcastic smile which I ignored. I was in full flow here and she was darn well gonna hear me out as I was tired and not to mention worried by the events of the night. “Then we add some feeble attempt to charm me, in public, that was just...” I clicked my fingers trying to think of a dramatic way of putting it… “weak. Then you said my last name Fern. That’s a big no, it’s really sloppy as I never told you it so clearly you had gotten this information from either Tommy or Alison.”
Fern folded her arms across her chest now, as a defiant teenager would before replying. “So, what, what harm did I do?”
“What harm. What if you were spotted?”
“Nobody would know who I was or what I was so it doesn’t matter?”
“Don’t be stupid, I knew!”
“And, what are you going to do about it?”
“That depends.”
“On what?” she asked indignantly and looking disinterested in the manner teens do.
“I need to report you to the Order.”
It was then her expression changed to one of total fear. “No” she said, fear genuinely audible in her voice. “You can’t, they’ll destroy me.”
“We don’t deal with mephits. Chances are I’ll just be told to let you go.”
“Then I know your ‘Order’ better than you Eddie, are you a member of it or an outsider? Either way, they will destroy me!”
“I’m a member. I’m the Sentinel for Suffolk and I have been for a long time now. Fern, there aren’t many of your kind in Suffolk, some but mostly in more rural areas. Your kind tend to inhabit the north of England more than the south, so, why are you here?”
“It doesn’t matter and I am able to come here if I please.”
“Stop being so childish. There are some mephits, different to your kind that I know in Halesworth, it’s not too far, still in Suffolk. But the Order, it isn’t really interested in mephits, you and your kind are not a target for us.”
“I know different and this is why you really have to let me go.” she said with the most beautiful blue eyes, glowing ever so slightly. “I can’t charm you to let me go I know but perhaps I can appeal to your better nature.” she said, taking another slow step towards me and lazily but quite intentionally running a finger along the plain stone wall of my basement.
It was at this point her voice turned back into the low, mischievously seductive growl she had earlier, and I’ll say it pushed my buttons more than a bit. “I can be very rewarding.” she said, with a flutter of her long eyelashes and a gentle touch of her long golden hair.
The funny thing with mephits is the mask she had on would have b
een fake. They can shape their form well to include things like masks, watches and the like. However, if you know what you are looking for you can catch them out. I took a long look at her, the kind of look you take when it doesn’t matter if a hot woman sees you looking. Most guys, we sneak a peek at a good-looking woman but seldom do you have the time or the balls to fully appreciate the finer things in the fairer sex. Yep, this was a good old-fashioned ogle. Of course, I needed to know exactly what I was dealing with here as she wasn’t human.
Jokes aside though, I didn’t have any heavy experience with mephits so I did need to keep my wits about me and not be suckered in by a stunningly beautiful woman who is interested in me.
With everything being so hurried earlier in the night I didn’t get much of a look at her and when I did outside it was dark, rushed and my mind was partially on the Broker’s work.
Shit I thought, that was something I still needed to sort out... Fern’s height was as I had thought, around five foot eight. She was slim in her appearance, very slim indeed, almost waif like. She didn’t wear much jewellery, just a couple of rings which she could shape as needed I guess, her diamond earrings and a large golden necklace with some baubles on it. It was an interesting design and it looked very large on her but it fitted with her short, tight dress. Her eyes were like the tropical pool pictures you see in a holiday magazine and this had never changed.
I took in a deep breath and sighed. “I’m sure you can be very rewarding Fern.” I said, smiling and doing my best to keep my cool as the tiredness was starting to return. “As lovely as this form you have is, I need to report you. It’s my job as the protector of the Vale here. The Order are not interested in the scheming and feeding of a lone mephit or two but we need to know of your movements and if you’ve done nothing seriously wrong then I expect I’ll be able to just release you and this will all blow over.”
Fern was looking quickly around the room now as she spun on the spot. Her actions instantly less coy and seductive than a moment ago. She genuinely seemed desperately looking for a way out. “Eddie, I need to get out.” she said, her eyes wider now and a little frantic.
“Why?”
She looked me dead in the eyes now. There was no lustful gaze now it was fear and desperate self-preservation.
“Because I have to, I’ve not eaten in some time and I am weak.”
“Bullshit!” I replied. “I know you are unable to hold human form for a long time. I also know if you are weak, your human form would flicker and lose its consistency, everyone with any literature on you knows that. You’re fine, just a little rattled and inexperienced, I’m cool with that. You’ve not been hurt and you won’t be. The Order has asked for us to track any elemental beings in our area if we encounter them and to call them in. It’s been like this for months and it’s nothing special. Just relax.”
Then, with that, the crazy bitch lunged at me!
She threw herself at me with all she had and thankfully the protective ward I had in the room which she hadn’t strayed out of activated to protected me. I however had casually walked out of it during our talk. I’ve done this many times and it’s worked every time. When an aggressive action is made the wafer-thin inlaid brass circle in the floor is part of a potent ward to keep the aggressor inside it and me safe. That’s why I brought her here.
The brass circle is almost the size of the room and embedded in the floor. The top side is painted to match the stone so it blends in well. If you know it’s there you would see it but nasty things never know, which is why it helps to keep me out of harm’s way. Also, if I ever summoned up anything else I could empower it quickly to hold in some pretty major spirits. I’ve had to do that before as well.
This circle could even hold a magic user for a time if I could trick one into it, that’s the hard part though. Thankfully however, as it was me who bound it to my home it didn’t affect me at all as me and my magic were attuned to all the wards within the house.
Now, ordinarily I’m not easily spooked but this took me aback and I think she would have got me if she hadn’t hit herself on the invisible wall penning her in. As she did she screamed aloud and was forced into her natural blue energy form. It was then I got the confirmation I needed. Seeing Fern clearly now outside of the bottle she was indeed a mist mephit.
I’m not altogether sure what she would have done if she got hold of me but thankfully me and my groin didn’t have to find out. Honestly I wasn’t expecting this sort of reaction and although I figured this circle could hold her for hours, if not a few weeks depending on how hard she tried to escape, I wasn’t gonna take any more chances.
I held out the bottle and spoke the command word. “Greelish!” timing it perfectly as I stepped back into the circles as my spell sparked into life. Then, Fern was again forced into the beer bottle as an electric blue coloured ball of mist.
The bottle would hold her for a bit longer giving me more time than just the ward but I planned to make this as safe as possible for me. Mostly, so, I could get some rest and work out what my options were.
Also, I needed to find out what the hell that serpent creature was. My life had gone from scratching around for something to do straight into DEFCON 4 with no warning. Typical, and I still needed to speak to Monika, my Broker, and find out what she had gotten me in to.
I quickly put Fern’s bottle on the floor and composed myself.
“Bloody Bitch.” I said aloud, looking at the angry glowing bottle. “I warned you that you would go back into the bottle.” The bottle furiously shone in defiance at me. “You might be pissed at me for putting you back in there. I warned you though, I did, and at least I ain’t the one who looks like a bad prop from a bad 70’s porno, am I?” With that, I chuckled and picked up the iron cocktail shaker and put the bottle back in it.
The bottle would be weaker now but even if she got out of the bottle the iron container would keep her for an age. You can always bank on their hatred for the touch of iron. Then, even if she did somehow manage to get out of the shaker she would be held by the circle. So, thankfully I was very safe from her for now.
Chapter 5
I’d gone to the small bedroom in the basement. It wasn’t as tidy as you would think, being a wizard household cleanliness is often overlooked and this room was no exception. It was literally covered in antique catalogues and old books.
I was really beat now though. I’d been on limited sleep for days and all the adrenalin dumps were starting to take their toll. I’m normally good without sleep but the days were beginning to catch up and I still needed to investigate the giant serpent and what the hell he was doing under the hotel grounds, as well as its naked followers and crazy brown robed acolyte. I also, needed to report in about Fern and check Tommy was ok. First though, I needed some sleep and then after that I would call the Broker. Then I would tackle the rest in some random order from there.
With that I lay back on the bed and looked over at the cover of a book I had been planning to read next as a refresher on hieroglyphics. However, as I lay back my mind was evidently more active than my body wanted it to be.
My brain considered the events of the night. It considered getting the cool box out and about a million other things raced in my skull, including, the fact that my car insurance was due on the 25th… Isn’t it funny how minds work against you at times.
Just as my mind was starting to quiet, I then needed the bathroom. Stupid mind and body being out of sync.
So, I got up, still in my socks and half-dressed from earlier. The left sock now had a hole in it, I noticed, as I staggered to the basement bathroom.
I did what I needed to and realised I really looked a state in the mirror. I’d wet my face for what seemed like an age standing at the sink and then I realised the enormity of what had happened and that I needed to get my second wind to tackle some of this crap now. It couldn’t wait as that creature, whatever it was, had to be big news and I needed to get a handle on it.
I went back into my be
droom and sat heavily on my comfy bed, careful not to lay back. The last thing I wanted was to catch a bit of shuteye. I needed to close off some jobs I thought. I needed answers and actually, “I need them quickly.” I said aloud.
I reached over to an unopened flask I brought a few weeks ago, and as I picked up the featureless steel flask I concentrated my mind. Magic you see is often fuelled by emotions. It’s rarely just anger or fear as the emotion needs channelling to give your power extra impetus. Emotion needs direction though. Through focus it can be like using a blacksmith’s hammer, you can forge it into a weapon or armour. Or, as a craftsman you can turn a lump of wood into a tool for a specific task. Using magic right can make light work of a lot of things. It’s when it’s misused or used by amateurs that things go wrong.
The steel flask was cold to the touch but with both hands on it I breathed in and held my breath. As I did I drew on the faintest tinge of anger deep inside me. When you focus on an emotion most magic users like me don’t really lose the emotion forever they just use it to fuel what they need. Rage, anger and jealousy work best with the fire element, so that’s where I went to make the contents of the flask warmer. I didn’t want flame though, I wanted heat, steady heat. Also, I know what you are thinking, you’re wrong. This wasn’t about Fern, it was for me.
Holding the cool metal flask in my hands I focused on the annoyance at Tommy for not leaving me alone at the ball. Once that memory was recalled into the forefront of my mind, I recalled the images and Tommy’s stupidity at not getting the hint when I asked him to leave me alone. This was about all I needed. Then I focused the feelings these instances gave me and with expert control I forced the feeling into energy. That energy, then travelled down my arms until I felt it in my hands. This is just raw emotional control and something I am pretty good at when I have to be. What I needed to do now was simply turn that emotion into elemental energy, in this case, heat. To most, my hands would be radiating heat but I knew I could control it even further.
The flask started to warm up as I held it longer than normal. This flask had never been the best conductor of heat either going in or out. I held it until it warmed up and then when it was warm I knew the coffee inside would be piping hot. You see, you don’t focus on the flask alone, you also focus on the contents to heat coffee. Then, I took off the lid which served as a cup and poured a delicious black coffee. Why? Simply because the caffeine in this South African blend was like rocket fuel and I lived off the stuff.