by A L Issett
“How can you expect that from a peasant” Gwendolyn said snobbily. “I will not waste my time on a demon, I want something that doesn’t come from the pit or is looking to get me killed”.
“I have noticed you teach this class human mage” Eloen began in her singsong voice. “But I have never seen you with a familiar or demon, why isn’t one of the other human mages teaching this class?”
“You have never seen my demon because he has no need to be seen elf” Vulcan began full of self-importance. “My power level is higher than any mage here, including the Head Mage. I am the only one on record who has caught a class 3 demon. Goliath, show yourself and be feared”. Sudden there was a slight popping sound and the area in front of Vulcan was taken up by a very large Demon. It looked like the cross between a man and bull and had to stand at least 9 feet. It was covered in short thick hair and had a chest wider than Jon had ever seen. It was shaped like a man, at least the body was any way if it weren’t for the fact the legs ended in hooves and each hand had only three fingers. The head was that of a bull and it had two wicked looking horns coming out of the top of its skull. Jon could feel Drommul had a swirl of emotions going on; he wanted to attack and run from the beast at the same time. Jon dug into Drommul’s memories and found out this demon was the leader of the council of twelve, the demons that had supplanted Drommul as ruler of the pit.
“Why have you summoned me human?!?” the demon bellowed in an angry voice. Almost immediately it went to its knees and screamed out in pain from whatever Vulcan was doing to it. Vulcan let the demon convulse for a few minutes to the shock of his class before he spoke.
“Know your master and your place” Vulcan said angrily.
“What is it you want human” said the demon Goliath. “If you want these young ones killed let me do my job and-“ the demon suddenly stopped speaking and started sniffing the room. It got down on all fours then turned to peer at the students assembled and looked at them menacingly. “My playmate, where is she? Which one of you has set my toy free?”
“Demon, who rules the pit?” Vulcan demanded.
“You know the answer to that already human, I rule the pit” Goliath replied. “Now who took my playmate, return her back to me!”
“Juan thinks he does not like scary bull demon Mage Vulcan” Juan said as he backed up and pressed himself into a wall. “Juan thinks he does not want a demon at all, Juan will take a bunny or something not so scary looking, yes?”
“Be gone Demon” Vulcan commanded as the demon disappeared.
“How could you control such a large demon and why are you wasting your time teaching when you should be in charge” Geoff said boldly as he walked to the front. “If Ket had a school like this you would have to be our Head Mage, instead of hanging out here like an underling”.
“Careful boy” Vulcan began. “You are coming close to trying to undermine Magus’ stability. Speak no more of it. Are the rest of you too scared to try for a demon?” Vulcan stood around as not one student stepped up, apparently too scared after the spectacle Goliath just raised. “I will not be brining you back to this room, this is not something I will give you a chance to think on, you are ready or you are not”. Jon watched as not one person walked forward to capture a demon.
“We all want familiars Mage Vulcan” Audrey spoke, a girl from Ket and one of Geoff’s cronies.
“Then that lesson is simple enough and far less dangerous” Vulcan began. “Those of you with demons are not invited to this portion of the class. I don’t care who you two tell, now off with you”.
Jon left the room and went back the way he came with Lax following behind him. She had been somewhat distant since she had returned from break and refused to look at or even speak to Jon. She had still owed him ebony wood staffs but had not brought up the issue of payment. Drommul was screaming he should take the payment out in flesh but Jon decided it would be better to let whatever was going on between them play out. He had three demons he needed to know, one of which looked like she had seen better days. The other two looked like they could do some damage to someone caught unawares but unless they were stronger than what they looked a mage or a well-armed soldier would be able to take them in unarmed combat. Jon thought about this as he bumped into Mage Aquaria, this mage he knew. She was younger than Vulcan but not as young as Jon, she was at least 25 summers and had jet black hair. Her eyes were a light blue and the woman wore an expression that made it seem like she was always surprised about something. She wasn’t very tall and built thinly but she was still very pretty. Jon and Juan thought she was the prettiest mage at the school and that was including all of the apprentices and initiates. Unfortunately she was also a raging bitch who snapped at anyone for any reason and Jon had just bumped into her.
“You are exactly who I wanted to see” the woman said to Jon’s surprise. “Follow me initiate, I have a boon to ask of you”. Jon followed the woman around to the area where he knew the water mages were, he had never been inside of the building before but had seen the outside of it plenty of times. Jon followed her inside of the building and was instantly surprised. There was some type of spring inside of the structure, probably streaming from a well. Inside of the water were water demons of all types, the majority were like the man-fish demon the barge driver had leading out of the city while others just looked like octopuses or squids of some type. One that stood out in particular looked like some type of water man. It was slimy and green but shaped like a man with webbed feet and fingers. It looked to have gills as well as lungs and Jon knew from searching through Drommul’s memories the demon he was looking at was called a merman in his tongue and could be dangerous on land or in the water. The water mage led him up a couple of flights of stairs and to a door that had her name on the front of it, that is when she turned around.
“Healer inside is a guest of mine who wants an audience with you, they are injured and you will provide healing” Mage Aquaria said bluntly. “If you shirk this duty you will be thrown out of here immediately. If you are rude to my guest you will be thrown out of here immediately. Do you understand?”
Jon nodded wondering where this was all coming from when the mage opened the door to her office. Jon walked inside as she shut the door but didn’t follow him in. Jon studied the room closely and could see men in familiar armor all around him. Jon turned to leave when one of the men stood in front of the door. This man Jon recognized as one of the ones he fought when he was forced to heal the King of Ket. Jon was much stronger now, he grabbed the man by the shoulder and was about to fling him out the window when the demon stopped him.
“YOU ARE A FOOL YOUNG HUMAN” Drommul began “YOU HAVE NOT BEEN ATTACKED BUT YET YOU ARE WILLING TO OUTRIGHT ATTACK THE KING OF KET. YOU WOULD BE BANISHED FROM HERE AND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO REST SINCE ALL OF KET WILL BE LOOKING FOR YOU”.
Jon sighed and turned around to face the king, he could see the four guards he had with him all had crossbow bolts leveled at Jon. Not only that but the High Mage of Ket was their also with her staff pointed at Jon and a spell on her lips. At this close range the heavy crossbow bolts may have been able to puncture Jon’s skin, if not then whatever the mage had could do the job. Even if Jon could defeate all of them Mage Aquaria was still unaccounted for and there was plenty of water al around Jon and the place was crawling with demons.
“You are a hard man to track down” King Jafe said as he gestured for Jon to sit. Jon stayed standing as rough hands grabbed him from behind, Jon wanted to flip the man across the room but thought better of it, the demon was right, he shouldn’t put all of my cards on the table. “Now I hear you decided to decline my offer of citizenship” the King said as Jon was shoved into a chair. “Now Gwendolyn had told me all about the situation surrounding your refusal and it is a nasty business. After you healed me I thought about any other illnesses I could contract, I even heard you can change hair color and other parts of the human body. I need you to come back to Ket with me and I am not willing to take no for an an
swer”.
“I wouldn’t go with you if you were offering me 72 virgins to service me whenever the mood strikes” Jon spat. “Take your damn money and whatever else you are offering and shove it”. Jon would have said more but felt a blow ring off the side of his head. Jon could tell the blow should have knocked him cold and decided to play along with the farce, he wanted the king to put all of his cards on the table. Jon closed his eyes as someone with warm soft hands checked for his pulse, it had to be the High Mage since everyone else was wearing steel gauntlets and the king himself had on gloves.
“He is still alive” Jon heard a female’s voice say.
“We will take him with us” Jon heard the king say. “Call the water mage in here and tell her it is time to do her part”. Jon listened as a door opened up, followed by some footsteps and then a door closing. After that he heard the king speak again. “You said you can get him out of the city?”
“I can your majesty” Jon heard the water mage say. “I can take him through the spring and into the great lake and finally come ashore in Dead Man’s Land. But I have been questioning our deal, I am sacrificing much and I have no guarantee you will honor your bargain”.
“The King of Ket is not a liar” Jon heard Anna the High Mage of Ket say. “You will be made a noble and will be in charge of your own Mage Academy specializing in water magic and you will have your own slaves, provided you can help get the healer out of here and you bring copies of all of your texts about water magic with you”.
“What is to stop me from just turning you all in right now?” Mage Aquaria asked as Jon thought she was having second thoughts about whatever was happening.
“Nothing” the king replied. “I don’t mind getting kicked out of here, Magus is doomed. Already my army marches to be ready to take this place with a couple of our allies. They are after the land, I am after the school itself, that is where the real power lies”.
“Magus has stood for centuries, getting past our defenses is impossible” Aquaria retorted.
“Perhaps you are right but it will not concern me” The king said with a laugh. “You are not the only person I have approached; I aim to have my own magic academies inside of Ket. If this all blows up in my face I will be covered, I only want the knowledge so I can finally crush my enemies and to stop relying on this place. If Magus is in danger of falling they would most likely burn all of the knowledge rather than let the enemy get it. Now do we have a deal or am I wasting my breath?”
“You have a deal Your Majesty” Aquaria replied. “The basic lessons I am sure any water mage in Ket can teach. I have everything for the advanced lessons, how soon before I can move into my residence?”
“Immediately girl” King Jafe chuckled. “It was built last year near a river, your slaves are already there and you will want for nothing”.
“Then let’s move the healer downstairs while most of the initiates are in class and I can leave without making too much of a fuss. I need your men to move him”. Aquaria finished her statement as two men on either side grabbed Jon’s arms. Jon may have changed his size but he still weighed what the demon did, two men wouldn’t be able to drag him down stairs. Jon heard the High Mage of Ket utter something and could feel his feet lift slightly off of the ground as the men seemed to be moving him a lot more easily. Jon felt himself being moved downstairs with the people who was in the room following him. Jon sniffed the air and could tell he was right next to the water and wondered how they planned to sneak him out. Someone threw him into the water, Jon felt himself get wet and was about to break the façade when he sudden felt air all around him and was able to breathe. The sounds around him seemed muted somewhat. Jon chanced a small peek and could see he was in some kind of bubble moving through the water. Jon still had air inside the bubble and wondered what would happen when the air gave out. Jon stayed silent as the bubble moved through the water and did not chance a second peek, but instead listened to his surroundings. From the breathing he could tell their were at least two people inside of the bubble with him. One he was sure had to be the water mage, Jon had no idea they had the power to open up the seas. The other he was unsure of until she spoke, it was the Ketian high mage. She was probably here to deal with Jon if he woke up early and to make sure they did not run out of air since she was a wind mage.
“How much farther” the High Mage Anna spoke.
“Not long at all” Aquaria replied. “There are a lot of traps out here in the water, not to mention demons fresh water sharks and other man eating creatures. I am trying to avoid all of them so no alarms will be raised. Only a few people at a time can travel this way, and even then the mage has to be a level 10 or higher to perform such a spell”.
True to her word Jon felt the pressure in his ears lighten which meant she was surfacing from the strange craft. Jon felt himself being lifted out of the water and onto dry land as the wind blew on his face. Jon wished he knew where he was going when it dawned on him that he was a healer, he could see through the human body, he just focused on his eyelids and soon he could see through them like they were not even there. Jon was being floated by the High Mage who looked like she was having a difficult time at it. They were going away from the shore as fast as the two women could move, probabaly to avoid being spotted. Before long Jon could see the merman from earlier standing by with a small horse attached to a flatbed wagon. The demon had to leave as soon as he could and swam out here, why the horse wasn’t going crazy Jon did not know, possibly the horse had already had dealings with the merman. Jon was floated over to the wagon where he was dropped on some light cushions. The wagon instantly started moving as the women kept the conversation none existent. They were probably too scared since they were in dead man’s land and didn’t want to attract attention until they met up with whoever they were going to meet up with.
“I CAN READ YOUR MIND HUMAN, DO NOT ATTACK YET” Drommul said urgently. “WE CANNOT STAY IN MAGUS ANYWAY; IT WOULD ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE WE ARE FORCED TO CONFRONT GOLIATH. LET THIS PLAY OUT, YOUR ENEMIES WILL EVENTUALLY AGE AND DIE, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE LONG GAME”.
“So we shouldn’t warn Magus” Jon thought to the demon.
“MAGUS IS SUPPOSED TO BE INPENETRABLE, LET THE KING THROW HIMSELF UPON ITS WALLS. WE WILL PICK UP ALL THE PIECES. SOMEONE WILL DISCOVER WE HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED WHICH GIVES US AN ALIBI SHOULD WE EVER WANT TO RETURN TO MAGUS”.
Jon thought about the demon’s words and could find no fault in them. Mariah would be safe and really didn’t need any of Jon’s money anymore. Gaea and the rest of the mages could take care of themselves. Jon thought about his next move when the small wagon he was traveling on met up with an entire caravan of armored guards. Another wagon was present that Jon knew was for him, it was a cage on wheels basically. Jon thought back to his time in the dungeon and made his move. Jon’s eyes snapped open as he summoned two of the insectoid demons. The demons started attacking the mages as the surprise attack forced them to ignore Jon as he fell to the ground and started with his magic. Jon severed a man’s optical nerves as he rolled towards a big man with a broadsword. Before Jon got there something big collided into him and sent him to the ground. Jon stared into the face of a wolf as he picked the thing up off of him and tossed it. Jon got to his feet and could see he had crossbow bolts leveled at him, his demons where on the ground unmoving as one of them started fading away back to the pit. Jon willed the other one to return as well and knew from the damage they received they would be in no shape to fight until tomorrow. Jon lifted his hands as he looked at the angry mages, the Ket High Mage looked badly wounded, her ear was torn off, she had a big slash going down her face which was pumping blood freely and it looked like her robe was torn. Mage Aquaria didn’t fare much better as her arm had a deep gash that looked like an artery was nicked. Jon turned his nose up and healed the wound instantly, but did nothing else for the woman. His insectoids were fast and brutal and proved him point that he was a force to be reckoned with. One guard was crying about be
ing blind and Jon felt a little sorry for the man as he climbed inside the cage and restored his eyesight.
“What about my fucking face?” High Mage Anna cried out.
“Fuck your face” Jon replied. “I think it is an improvement”.
“I should kill you right now” the woman spat. Jon smiled as he saw how horrible and jagged the wound looked, he knew Anna had a husband who was also a wizard that would be very upset looking at his wife. Jon would probably fixed her face, but he definitely wouldn’t do it now.
“You won’t kill me” Jon said with a sly half grin. “The King needs me, no you will sit there with your scarred as face pissed that I won’t lift a finger”. Jon laughed as the mage turned her back as the caravan started to move, Jon being safe inside of his cage. The guards were all around him though, more than one crossbow was trained on him waiting for him to get out of line. Jon knew he could break apart the steel cage they kept him in, but he now wanted to go to Ket. He would personally see to it that the king and prince Geoff dies. Gwendolyn was annoying but had no part in his mother’s death, neither did her older brother, the Crown Prince, Prince Joff. Jon relaxed in his cage and nodded off to sleep as the caravan moved along the road slowly.
~
Jon awoke when he was prodded in the ribs by something. Jon opened his eyes and could see he had slept way longer than he meant to, probably about six hours. The sun was beginning its decent and the sky looked darker. Jon looked around and could see the smiling face of Gwendolyn poking him with the end of her staff.
“Not so mouthy now are you?” Gwendolyn said as she withdrew her staff and sat back atop her horse.
“Your Highness would it be too much to ask for better traveling arrangements, perhaps some meat?” Jon replied as he took a big stretch.
“What happened to your cockiness peasant?” Gwendolyn snarled. “Geoff will be happy when he gets here to see you in a cage”.