by Bob Dattolo
“I have the others as well. I did wipe out a bunch of them, but kept others. I have the two at 100 percent and then some at every level above that. Actually, I have 30 or so at varying levels locked away. Any chance you know of a way to keep them really safe?”
She hugged me tight before stepping back. I only just realized that we were both naked, but it didn’t seem to matter. “Have you ever heard of a taiscedeadan?”
I laughed, hearing a stronger sound of bells again, “I can’t even pronounce that, so no.”
She joined my renewed laugher, letting me hear hers again. I love that sound. “It’s not a common spell. I only know of a handful or two of us that can cast it. All of us are fey or…others.”
“Others?”
She patted my hand, “You’ll know soon enough.” She settled on a chair and nodded to the other, “It’s basically a safe. A locked room of sorts. It’s only accessible by you. And, what’s better, is that it’s carried with you.”
Frowning, I looked around, “Umm, what? What does that mean?”
She held up her hands, “Tell me, what did I do with my sword?”
My jaw fell open as I looked around, “Holy crap. I have no idea! What did you do with it?”
She nodded and smiled, “I stored it in my safe. It’s where I store oh so many things. When you’re powerful enough, you can create your space to be almost any size you want. What’s better, you can reach in and access anything stored within it. There’s no searching for it. Then again, I can step into mine if need be. Not that it’s needed very often.”
She shocked the crap out of me by reaching into nothing slightly to the right and pulling out the same sword again. It appeared as if from nothing. She smiled at my reaction and put it back, then pulled a different sword. Then a dagger. Then a shield. Then an apple. That had me shaking my head, “An apple?”
She smiled wide, “You have to eat. Things don’t age or rot once stored there, so it’s a ready way to stockpile food for when things get difficult. I have literally tons of food ready for me if it’s needed. And sleeping supplies. Clothing. You name it. I have had quite a long time to build up my stockpile.”
“Uhh…okay, that’s both extremely cool and utterly bizarre. I can see why it might be useful, though. And only you can access it?”
“Exactly. So things that you make? It’s the perfect place to store them.”
Huh, yeah, I can see that. “So…how do I make one? Assuming I can.”
She laughed again, pulling me along with her, “Oh my, daughter-mine. You just bested a smotherer without knowing what you were fighting or doing? I’m pretty sure you can create this.
That led us into an hour of discussion and her demonstrating what she was doing when she accessed it. Honestly, once it clicked, it was like I wanted to kick myself for finding it so hard to understand. It just made sense once it really made sense. Prior to that? Yeah, like talking string theory to a turtle.
Then it took another hour to create my own, get my rings, and store them away. Once created, it takes a conscious effort to destroy the taiscedeadan. Not even death does it in some circumstances.
I shocked the shit out of her by setting mine up so that she can access it if she needs to. Apparently that’s not supposed to be possible.
Well, it is for me.
Back in my bed cuddled in front of Steph, I thought through everything I learned from her. We covered a variety of topics, but she refused to tell me much about the smotherer or why it was attacking her. Or why she wasn’t kicking its ass. She didn’t seem upset about it, but she also didn’t admit that she was going down hard and had a chance of losing.
Then again, she did let it slip that smotherers are something like outsiders. Basically, things from another dimension of some sort. As if I need this crap. Or her, actually. I don’t want it to seem like it’s all about me.
As I tried to think through the implications of why something from another dimension would attack her, I sent out a wave of power that made me smile. Let’s see something attack my mother without me knowing about it now!
Chapter 25
Breakfast in the morning was fantastic until the challenge started. Everything was going along perfectly, with happy conversation taking place. Even between the dozenals! With the bad seeds gone, the cafeteria is much more carefree and easy going. It’s actually pretty darn enjoyable.
And then someone had the bright idea of a group challenge that I got pulled into. You’d think they’d learn.
Except…yeah, except it’s not exactly a challenge to the death.
“Come on, Ceri, don’t let them win!” Armand cheered for me as I plowed forward, feeling like my jaw was going to snap off with every movement. The entire room was going nuts, and teachers were even throwing in their two cents with cheers for their particular favorite.
When Dawson changed to his wolf form, I knew it was all over. That started a wave of changing forms, and it was just me left against a horde of shifted shifters.
I threw in the towel at that point, earning groans from the people around me.
“You’re giving up!”
Rubbing my face, I smiled, “I can’t do it! I can’t compete against them like that! There’s only so much sausage I can eat at one time. Yeah, it’s a lot, but c’mon, look at them! They’re eating half a plate at a time!”
Rachel hugged me from the side, “You can’t do something with magic somehow?”
That made me think hard and then wonder if I can get away with hiding things in my safe. Nah, I can’t do that. “Probably, but that’d be cheating. We never said that they couldn’t change, but we did say no magic.”
In the end, Steph was crowned winner, having eaten almost 15 pounds of sausage. The losers all owed her fifty bucks apiece as well as a bit of naked fun. Since I spent most of an hour with her this morning prior to breakfast having naked fun, I figured I’d be paying that particular debt pretty quickly.
Classes moved along, and magics class started with the direction that folks needed to work on their charms again. I got Mr. Reynold’s attention, and he had me sit with him at the side.
“Something, Ceri?” He eyed me speculatively, but didn’t seem to mean anything sexual by it.
“Umm, yes? I was talking to my mom, and she said that she’s okay with me selling the 100% multiplier rings. Both of them.”
He raised an eyebrow and looked at my hands, seeing one there, “Is that your more powerful ring?”
My blush came on quickly, “It’s, umm, one of them?”
He cocked his head, and I swear he blurred a little before starting to move once more, “You said that you have the other rings between 100 percent and that one. Why do I think that you actually have more powerful rings?”
Fudge. Although she did warn me that he’d probably figure it out. “Uhh, because I do?”
He laughed softly, “Come now, Ceri. Don’t hold back. What did you manage to do?”
He froze completely as I reached a little into my safe and pulled out my most powerful one. “Uhh, I created this?”
He continued staring at my hand, only moving his eyes a little to look between it and where it had disappeared.
My blush grew hotter as he continued to stare for long minutes before a strange sort of smile crept to the corners of his mouth. When he spoke, he kept his voice crazy quiet, “Interesting. I see you were able to create a taiscedeadan. Wonderful! Now, the ring?” His magic flowed around it for a few minutes as he tested it, finally pulling away as he started laughing, struggling to not disrupt the others.
The ring slipped back into my safe as he slowed to a stop. “Only you, Ceri. That’s most impressive. But immaterial I would think. The cost for something like that is beyond prohibitive for the vast majority of people.” His eyes focused on the ones I was willing to sell, “Now, on the other hand, your other two rings. How much are you looking for?”
Fiddling with them didn’t buy me much time, “I’m not entirely sure? Mom said she
was going to think about it, but if you have an offer, I can go back to her with that?”
He nodded slowly, “Let’s see what she has to say. I will think about it as well and let you know? I would love something like what you have.”
“I’m sorry I can’t just give it to you.”
He patted my hand, “No worries, Ceri. I completely understand. That’s not how our world works in most cases, so we need to work within the framework of our lives.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
He sat up straighter, “Now, what do you plan to work on for class today? Have your classmates requested rings of their own yet?”
“Umm, not totally? But I have a quick question? The ring I made for Steph was just one of strength, while the one I made for Rachel was for her vampire strength, for lack of a better word. Is there one that really works for shifters? Meaning, I know Steph is physically stronger, but is there one that helps with overall shifter powers? That makes them shift faster? Maybe gives them alpha-level powers?”
He nodded and smiled wide, “Indeed, there is? It’s somewhat like the vampire spell, but it covers them for their own cross-section of powers. Would you like to see it?”
“Yes, please?”
He rummaged through the shelves of books and came back with one that he popped open, flipping to the right page before sliding it to me. “It’s less complicated than the vampire one since they have a larger cross-section of powers, but it’s still a tough one. Plus, given what you’ve managed, you may actually be able to adjust and add things to it?”
Reading through the list of items the spell helps, I couldn’t help thinking about what I’d done for the vampire spell. “Huh, like make them less susceptible to vampire eyes and less likely to be hurt, things like that?”
He smiled wide, making my mind flash back to something I couldn’t quite pick up. It looks so familiar… “Exactly!”
He left me alone at that point, and I pulled the book back to my desk and studied it for almost 20 minutes before shrugging and pulling out five rings and then slyly grabbing my more powerful magical ring and sliding it on. Let’s see if I can do this!
I’ve managed to get better at the initial focusing to get the charms to take, so I rocketed through that part, feeling the rings and really trying to connect with them. Once the magic started to flow, I grunted through a sharp stabbing pain in my head as I tried to split the spell into five different rings. The information in the book and given to us in class is pretty specific that it’s impossible to do more than one ring at a time. It’s flat out impossible. Yet…I gotta try this.
On a whim, I opened a tiny portal to Mom and had it focused on my hand as I whispered, “Let’s see if I can do this.” I heard a soft indistinct response from her, but didn’t try to understand it as I dove into everything and pushed, pulling at everything that I have and that the rings can give me. It seared lines of pain through my body, but that quickly turned to pleasure as I purred and ramped up the power even more, getting another burn. The chasm in my belly where my magic seems to be stored rumbled and twisted, shifting and expanding even more. Not that I can really fathom how large it is now, I just knew there was a change taking place that made the space grow.
The magic flowed into the rings, and I expanded on the original spells. The goal of the shifter ring is to make them stronger shifters. It can make someone not an alpha an alpha. It can make a weak one stronger. That type of thing. Instead of just making someone physically powerful, it makes them magically powerful as well. Physical power is one thing in the shifter world, but this will hopefully be better.
Magic flowed and flowed, and I went through four cycles of agony and pleasure as the power outlay continued to expand. When Mr. Reynolds called time, I sagged in the chair and pulled back, hearing tinkling bells and a flow of magic from the little portal. I’m not sure how she knew to be quiet, but her voice was muffled as she sighed, “Oh daughter-mine, you continue to bring me joy. I look forward to seeing what you can do when you really have access to everything that will be at your disposal.”
“Thank you, Mom.” The portal closed, and I caught Mr. Reynold’s look as he glanced at me. There’s no way he could have heard us, but he seemed to know that something odd had been happening.
He clapped his hands, “Now, how did everyone do today? You first.” He pointed at Armand.
“Umm, good? I tried to make a stronger spell than I did before?” Magic flowed and Mr. Reynolds clapped.
“Excellent! That’s a decently strong memory charm for the time you had. Here’s my recommendation? After school today, make the spell again, but follow the instructions in your book to leave the spell open to you. Then set your alarm and feed it power every 8 to 12 hours. You’ll see stronger growth and get to the point that you’ll have a powerful charm!”
“Thank you, I’ll try that.”
Mr. Reynolds turned to Carl, “And you?”
Carl shrugged, “I tried the same thing? I tried to see if I could make a stronger spell?”
More magic flowed, and our teacher grunted, “It’s actually a bit weaker than before. I recommend trying the same thing that Armand will be trying? Luck is a difficult spell to get right, so don’t be disappointed. If it worked easily, we’d have billionaire playboys falling over each other.”
The class laughed as he looked at Zach, “And you, Zach? Did you try to strengthen your virility spell?”
He shrugged, “No? I wanted to try something different, so I went for speed.”
The ring was tested, “All right, not bad. If you want it to be stronger, follow the same process that I already talked about.”
Nick and Christine had been silent through this, but it seemed to me like their attempts might have worked. “Nick?”
He fingered the ring on his desk, “I tried for a magical multiplier ring?”
Christine perked up, “Ooh, so did I!”
Mr. Reynolds held up his hands, “Let’s test them both at the same time.” Magic flowed from the three of them, and my classmates were smiling when they pulled back, “Congratulations to you both! Not bad power levels for the time given. Try the same process and you’ll see stronger results.”
They both thanked him as he looked at me, raising an eyebrow, “Now Ceri? I know you were trying something impossible, so let’s see what you may or may not have done?”
Armand perked up, “Umm, impossible? What’d you do now?”
If blushes could cause strokes, I’d be having a few right about now. “Uhh, I tried to make multiple rings at the same time.”
Zach hit his desk, “That’s impossible!”
Mr. Reynolds laughed, “It is. Very much so. Yet I have a feeling we’ll be surprised here. Tell us what you did?”
Holding up the rings, I fought crawling away to hide, “Umm, I wanted to make a shifter strength ring, sort of like what I made for Rachel?”
Carl shrugged, “Besides trying to do multiple rings, you made something like that for Steph already? What am I missing?”
“Umm, being physically strong is one thing for shifters, but there’s more to it than that. Being strong doesn’t make her shift faster. Or have alpha-level powers. Or a bunch of other things. The spell covers a decent amount, although not as much as the vampire spell does.”
“And did you attempt to tweak the spell as well?” Our instructor called me out without a hint of feeling bad about it.
“Umm, yes?”
Armand laughed, “C’mon, what’d you do?!”
“I tried to add access controls. Only the individual that I name can access the power. Only the wearer, my mom, or I can remove it. Only my mom or I can change who the ring allows to access it. Umm, I also tried to make it so that they’re harder to hurt? It should be harder to pierce their skin. I also tried to make it harder for vampires to capture them with their eyes. That sort of thing.”
“That sort of thing. She says it so calmly, as if she didn’t just try to create something that entir
e Packs couldn’t even think about affording.” Christine laughed hard, “So…did it work?”
I pushed the rings forward, “I think so?”
Magic flowed, this time from everyone just like last time, and the room filled with cursing not too long afterwards.
“How the fuck did you do that? Not to just one, but to five different rings?” Armand sounded like he was going to cry.
“Now Armand,” Mr. Reynolds said, “let’s not take that tone of voice with your absurdly powerful classmate.” He smiled through it, “That being said, I have no words for that. You do realize that these rings will propel your classmates into being very powerful alphas, correct?”
“Umm, yeah? I mean yeah, I know that now after testing them.”
“I see. And what do you intend to charge them for these rings?”
“I haven’t set the price yet. I settled on one with Rachel, so I’ll need to confirm with my Mom and the others to figure out what works.”
He smiled again, looking so familiar, “Excellent. Well then, shall we go visit your classmates and see if they like their new rings?”
At the shifter room, the teacher saw us come in and nodded at us, “Something, Mr. Reynolds?”
Our teacher nodded and I knew he was smiling, “Yes, Ms. Ahmed. Our young Ceri here has created rings for her shifter classmates. We’ve tested them and they seem to be successes…and we’d like to get their thoughts.”
The teacher nodded, “All right, shift back everyone.” My classmates shifted back and looked at me curiously, “And what kind of ring did she create this time? And who is it for?”
Mr. Reynolds laughed, “Oh my, she created five rings. At one time. They’re rings of shifter strength, which actually makes them more powerful shifters. Not just physically stronger.”
Ms. Ahmed touched her chest, “But…that’s…how?”
“Ceri is abnormally powerful and not quite constrained by common understandings of how things work. That seems to allow her to do more than we thought possible.”
Tom approached first, “You made us a ring? What does it do?”