Life Sorcerer: Life Sorcerer: Book One - Return of Magic: Book Two

by D. R. Rosier

  “What was that?”

  “What was what?” he asked, in her mind.

  Her mouth dropped open, and she giggled, “You figured it out?”

  Cassie said, “He did, and asked it to be a surprise, since he made love to me first tonight, I got connected first.”

  Cassie shook her head, “Let’s save that for when we’re apart, and need to talk, it’s just too weird.”

  Sean chuckled, “You get used to it. I hear my zombies almost constantly, and only listen when they have something important to say.”

  She leaned down and kissed him lingeringly, then smiled widely as she pulled down Cassie by her lovely light blonde hair and kissed her as well.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  He nodded, “I can also kind of route it, so if you wanted to talk to Kim or Lin, you could, but I’d be able to hear it too, and you’d have to tell me beforehand to set it up. That’ll probably come in handy mostly in battle though, since we’re mostly always around each other. Really, it’s the healing thing I’m most excited about, but the rest of it is cool too.”

  She bit her lip, “Can I ask you something?”

  He said, “Anything.”

  She tilted her head, “Is my body at its full potential?”

  He nodded slowly, “A couple of minor internal things, but that’s normal, and my magic will probably fix it and keep you young. As far as outward growth and appearance, you’re perfect, exactly the way you’re supposed to be, and sexy as hell.”

  She giggled, then blushed, “Thanks.”

  She sighed softly as he slipped out, and giggled as Cassie pushed her off him, and then gobbled his cock into her mouth to clean him up and get him hard for round three. They probably should go to bed, since they were riding an extra two hours tomorrow. Up before dawn for breakfast, leave at first light.

  She grinned, and then supposed that they could stay up just a bit longer…

  Chapter Thirteen

  The afternoon sun warmed his back and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as far as he could see.

  “I’ve only had air conditioning back for a few weeks, and I already miss it right now,” he said casually as moved his horse by Katie’s.

  Katie grinned over at him, “I know what you mean. So, what’s really on your mind?”

  He chuckled, “I was hoping you could help me out.”

  Bria peered at him suspiciously, and he winked at her.

  She smirked, “In what way?”

  He said, “Well, I never did an age regression on purpose before. I imagine it might be pretty risky. But if you were willing to trust me, it would help out my education, and I’d owe you one.”

  Bria snorted.

  Katie looked gob smacked, “Why? I mean, I get you’re trying to do me a huge favor and make is seem like it’s not really that, but why?”

  He shrugged, “From what I understand, you aged more like thirty years because of what you did. Your intense study, and a few mistakes. Since a sorceress as powerful as you should live to three hundred, you should look around twenty-two right now, not the twenty-five you are and certainly not thirty-five. Plus, you’ve also gifted us with a lot of that knowledge the last ten days, more Cassie than myself, but I think we’ve become friends.

  “Two more things. The world is going to take a very long time to settle in its new reality, I think we’ll need you around longer for this first lifetime, before you do a long sleep. Lastly, I do want to practice it at least once, and you’re the only women that looks over thirty in our group.”

  She scowled at him, “I call bullshit on that last one, especially since Kerby is looking a lot spryer these days.”

  He snorted, “Damn perceptive women.”

  She giggled.

  “That’s actually more tempting than you know. I think vanity could be listed in my negative attribute column, twice.”

  He chuckled.

  She said, “Let me think about it? I’ll let you know when we camp tonight. You were right by the way. I did lose closer to thirty years. A tenth of this life, and I can’t argue with your other assertions. I can also see why you’d be grateful, but you did take a ride across America with me.”

  He shrugged, “I came for Mara, but if I knew then what I know now, I’d have come anyway. How does that sleep thing work, anyway?”

  Katie said, “The spell conceals me within a grove, and puts my body in stasis. It also works a little like your power, just on a minuscule scale over a very wide area. It steals a tiny amount of life force from the trees and life around me, but not enough to impact the life of the trees, bushes, and other flora. That’s why it takes almost two hundred years. I’d de-age three years every two. It’s a delicate balance between fueling the spell, taking the life force to regenerate, and making sure it doesn’t negatively affect the life around me.”

  Right, where he’d just steal the life of a murderer or rapist. It’d go to waste if he just put them to death, so why not? Apparently, the elves thought it was wrong, but screw them. They didn’t know him, and they certainly didn’t know Kim and Lin.

  She asked, “Bria, what would the elves think, and your people, if I suddenly came back after a mission thirty years younger, back to my true age.”

  Bria frowned, “It’s hard to say. I don’t think they would judge you, but they might be wary. A life sorcerer can’t do something like that without taking life. If Sean ever stopped absorbing life from his death penalty criminals, he and his mates would start to age, albeit at a very slow rate.”

  She nodded, “There’s also the matter of being taken more seriously, people are more apt to listen to a woman in their thirties. But… I hate not being the age I should be, and thirty years is a long time and more than a few missions I wouldn’t have to skip.”

  Bria shrugged, “The elves and dragons wouldn’t judge you by a young appearance, neither would any of the magical races, and the humans will figure it out eventually. It’s the mantel that’s important.”

  He shrugged, and then left them to talk it over as he fell back slowly to Cassie and Mara. Lin and Kim were on point, so they had a little bit of privacy.

  Cassie said, “We were just conspiring back here. About Lin and Kim.”

  He sighed, “What about them?”

  Cassie gave him a look, and Mara shrugged, “We could be five, my love. I don’t know the full story, but they aren’t her.”

  He nodded, “What do the psychologists say? Admitting the problem is only the first step. I care about them a lot, and I know they love me as much as you two. It’s not morality holding me back either, I came to peace with that weird part of things long ago, facts matter a lot more than causes.”

  Mara bit her lip nervously.

  “Spit it out.”

  She smiled, “So, what is holding you back?”

  He frowned, not sure how to put into words, or if he even wanted to.

  “Hasn’t Cassie told you?”

  Cassie shook her head.

  He nodded, “Whenever I think about inviting them to our bed, my stomach clenches up. It doesn’t make logical sense, but it’s like if I take them into my bed and heart, it’s like killing them. That makes no sense I know, but it’s like I’d be tempting fate. Cassie got me through it last time, but I’m not sure I can deal with it again.”

  He shrugged at her compassionate look, “You should’ve met me five years ago. I think I was insane there for a while, when I started my campaign to quell the west coast. You know, I didn’t do it for the people? Not at first anyway, although evil men did enrage me and I’d kill them if I saw it, I never saw a need to go out looking before I started either. I did it to make it safe for Cassie, because I loved her and knew if she was hurt, I’d go off the deep end. That changed over time, and by the end I was doing it for all sorts of reasons, but really it all started just to give Cassie a safe place to sleep at night.”

  Cassie grinned, “You were also angry a lot more.”

  Mara nodded, “But it won’t ch
ange anything. The only thing it will change is they might die never getting closer to the love of their life, and you to them. The three of you are family already, and all suffering because of that separation.”

  Ouch, he needed an exit ramp from this conversation. He even knew she was right, it was perfectly logical and he was crazy. Knowing that didn’t help though, and it didn’t stop his stomach from tightening and turning at the mere idea of loving his twins intimately.

  Mara said, “So, tell me about Cynthia?”

  Fuck. What was she his psychologist now? Well, she was a priestess, and wasn’t that who the original psychoanalysts were? He didn’t really want to share, but he knew he should. He knew women liked confident men, but he also didn’t think a single chink in his armor would overly change that. He was protective, possessive, and strong, if anything it would strengthen their relationship. Maybe he should talk about it, brooding about it in silence the last five years sure as fuck wasn’t helping him.

  He smirked, “She was an evil bitch serial killer who vamped and stabbed me to steal my nonexistent food, and she enjoyed her power over men…” he continued to tell the story from beginning to end.

  He actually felt guilty when he recounted what he’d done to Vincent. The thrill of the rage and power he’d felt, as he’d torn apart Vincent’s life force as painfully as possible, while keeping him alive for as long as possible. He also took back the may have been out of his mind. He’d definitely gone around the bend for a while back then, and only found his way back to sanity in Cassie’s love and absolute acceptance.

  Perhaps evil men did deserve torture, but in the end all it did was harm the soul of the person doing the torturing. Torturing the evil just made a good righteous man become what he fought against. He killed quickly and cleanly for the most part, the pain as short as he could make it when he took a life. That mercy for the death they earned was about him and his soul, not about what a rapist or murderer might deserve or not deserve.

  He had no idea if it would help or not, talking about it, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it on that early afternoon. Time would tell.

  Katie joined him by the fire. It wasn’t later that night. It was the night after, she’d obviously needed more time to think about whether or not to accept his gift, and he hadn’t pressed her. It seemed like a no-brainer to him, but then he wasn’t a woman, nor the bearer of the mantel of balance, nor a servant of Gaia. Nor did he have to deal with the arrogant elves, or the tempestuous dragons.

  “Come here often?”

  Katie giggled, “The food is good here.”

  He nodded in agreement, “Kim is a magician in the kitchen,” he made a face, “I didn’t mean to rhyme like that. It’s her passion. Which is all her, I hate cooking.”

  She laughed, “Are you sure that’s not the reason? If she loves it, then you don’t have to cook.”

  He frowned, “I never thought of it from that angle, but Lin hates cooking too.”

  She shook her head, “I was just teasing. They’re nothing like you, which was actually a big surprise to me, and goes against what I read about the condemned practice. Not that I ever condemned it, I mean…”

  He held up a hand interrupting her, “You’re babbling. What did you decide?”

  She blushed, “It’s horribly vain, but yes? Please?”

  He laughed and took her hand. He didn’t need touch for most things, but he’d discovered things were more in… focus? Things were more focused and showed in detail when he was touching for some reason. Maybe it was all in his head. In the beginning, he couldn’t read lives without touching or draining life either, so maybe it was just a matter of focus and practice.

  His power reached into Katie, and life force with a purpose flowed into her body. It wasn’t even really hard, much like any sorcerer or spell, intent and focus made the difference. As long as he was in there, he tweaked a few small things to make her body even more efficient. She’d been a very healthy young woman that grew up on a farm away from the poisons of a city, so wasn’t stunted or anything, but her metabolism would be a little better balanced. He withdrew his power, leaving a lot of the life energy in her body to work.

  She gave him a questioning look, “That’s it? I don’t feel different.”

  He nodded, “You’ll look like your old self by breakfast. I could do it faster, but it would hurt, a lot.”

  She smiled, “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure. Ready for tomorrow?”

  She nodded, “I think I’m an adrenaline junkie.”

  He smiled, “I imagine saving the world can get addicting.”

  They dug in as Lin sat on his other side and handed them both dinner.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The morning sun rose as they broke down the camp and packed.

  He couldn’t help but admire Katie. She was hot at thirty-five, now she was just… mesmerizingly stunning at twenty-two. With shiny and lustrous extremely light brown hair that shimmered in the sunlight, and warm intelligent hazel eyes. She had a supple tight ass, lovely legs, and a curvaceously athletic body that fell somewhere in between his twins and Cassie’s more ripe sumptuous body. She had lovely and pert rounded C cups, and a thin waist. Her face was all soft and innocent beauty, with a perfect complexion and lightly tanned skin. He thought he’d hit it just right, she looked to be in her early twenties. Perfect complexion, but the blush of youth completely faded.

  She was enthralling.

  Regardless, he was just enjoying the view to get used to it. There was no way they’d ever be together for more reasons than he could count. He perhaps led the largest kingdom across the states, and the elves didn’t like him, which would harm her reputation and credibility. There were personal reasons as well and realities that would prevent it, since Katie wasn’t bisexual she wouldn’t fit into their group in all directions. Plus, despite her beauty, they didn’t really have a spark.

  Of course, he’d been admiring her form and beauty subtly, and he was almost used to it by the time they’d mounted their horses and headed toward Savannah. It was very clear to him that he’d just done a service for all mankind, and he suppressed a smirk at the tongue in cheek thought. He hadn’t been thinking of her mantel or power at all, with that thought.

  He’d been thinking about the view he was providing.

  There was a bit of nervous excitement infecting the group, and they went over the plan again and discussed several contingencies. His job was to kill the two sorcerers while Katie and Cassie defended against anything they did. His glut of life force in all his zombies would ensure he’d have more than enough power to break through their shields, and with them protecting him there was little chance they could finish him first, since he didn’t have shields of his own.

  That was the opening move, or part of it, what happened then depended entirely on how the priestess of Myzasis reacted.

  When they saw the community, they circled it from a distance to the road Lori was using, and set up a road block of sorts. If all went to plan, the community would never even know they’d been saved from a vengeful young woman on a tear. He wasn’t sure she was all that much different than he was five years ago… except she was taking it in a much darker direction. At least when he’d gone nuts, he’d gone after just the rape gangs and raiders.

  Point was, he felt a lot of empathy for the woman, when Mara had filled them all in on her story. Empathy or not, they wouldn’t be allowing her to start a reign of destruction that would upset the balance. How that would upset the balance had surprised him, when it was explained to him.

  Cassie and Katie set up crude fortifications to hide behind just in case they decided to launch a flurry of arrows, but the most impressive part was what lounged behind that. A silver dragon the size of a two-bedroom ranch house was lounging and sunning in the middle of the road. Bria was an impressive sight, and incredibly beautiful in dragon form, if in a far different way from her lovely human form.

  Katie said, “Stop staring, dragon
s are insufferably arrogant as it is.”

  He chuckled, which was joined by Bria’s rumble of amusement which shook the road.

  Bria said, “Clearly, he’s a man of refined taste and sensibility.”

  Katie sighed, “See what you’ve done?” she asked in mock dismay.

  Lin giggled, “I’d say they must come by their arrogance honestly, just look at her,” she said in an awed voice.

  Katie choked, “There’ll be no living with her now.”

  Kim said, “It’s time, I can see them about a mile down the road.”

  He squinted his eyes. The road was fairly level, but he could barely make them out. Still, that gave them about ten to fifteen minutes. They set up behind the fortifications, which wouldn’t help against anything really, except arrows and it might slightly slow down a charge, but they had magic to meet magic so that should be all they needed it for.

  He picked out the magic users at quite a distance due to the size of their life forces, right as soon as they entered the edge of his range. They kept coming forward, several of the men drawing swords. A couple of the men tried to run for it when they saw the silver dragon, but they were cut down quickly and mercilessly, to prevent them from fleeing in mass.

  Lori was quite a beautiful young woman, with very dark long brown hair similar to Mara’s, but with much darker brown eyes and there was a coldness to her beauty and the way she held herself. Her cheekbones were high and very defined, and she had a thin face. She was about five foot seven, and her body was lithe and willowy. Honestly, she looked like a damned catwalk model.

  Next to her stood a petite young woman who was cute with a heart shaped face, and she made his Mara’s tight petite body actually look big. At a guess, she was maybe five feet tall, and had a cute heart shaped face and very subtle curves. She must’ve been Emily, the new priestess of Vadea that had filled them in. He’d been told she was eighteen, or just about, but she looked sixteen, maybe even younger. Like… she wasn’t quite done. But living in captivity for five years during those critical years and starving herself could do that to a body. She looked nervous but hopeful.