“Well I sent a spell to trip the bull by causing a landslide on the path, but he countered it by making the ground pure white before the bull stumbled. He then sent a jet of white flames at us and I countered with black flames, which I’ll also need to ask about, but he was far more powerful and I knew we were going to lose so I gave every last ounce of strength on an idea and sent a wave of force to knock a dozen large trees between him and us. I passed out, but Brooke later told me he made the trees explode, giving her and a few of our warriors time enough to use the resulting smokescreen from the blast to drag me in the cave where she ordered the remaining spelled arrows to cause a cave-in.
“When I came to I learned six of our people didn’t make it into the cave.” In a very serious tone he met Megdline’s gaze fully. “Meeka being one of them.” Megdline’s jaw dropped. “I figured out how to create the spell to find her out of necessity. The first time I did it the spell was too much to handle, but the next time I did it I found her shackled as a slave with others.”
“I’m so sorry.” She said genuinely then looked to Brooke. “I’m so sorry, Priestess. If I hadn’t been so focused on Cage I would have looked up Meeka and had a better idea of the situation. If she has been taken then am I right to assume the reason for our situation at the moment is to rescue her?”
“Why else would we be in this dreaded place?” Brooke said sarcastically before shivering from a sudden chill of wind. “And I accept your apology. I am just on edge and must apologize myself. I miss my people and daughter dearly and I just lost my horse to a trap a few hours ago.”
“No apology needed, Brooke. If I had been attentive I wouldn’t have made such a lame joke.” Frill then spoke as he saw Cage’s unspoken question. Megdline showed a sullen look. “Cage, the sorcerer you fought was one of the empress’s top mages. He is a powerful first class sorcerer by the name of General Adair and the bull is Colm. He killed my great grandson two years prior in a cruel experiment. He is a powerful necromancer who cruelly twisted my descendant’s parted spirit into a ghost and sent him after my husband. My husband had no choice except to destroy our blood entirely. Nothing remains after a spirit is destroyed.” A tear spilled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. “I truly hate necromancers and Adair is nearly as ancient as the empress herself and has spells that make him nearly invincible. I fear necromancy and want nothing more than to see that man dead, but my power is too insignificant compared to his.”
“Now I can understand your reaction when I told you I saw spirits and you have my condolences.” Cage watched her nod and saw the set in her eyes that wanted a subject change. He returned to the story of how he used the seeker thread to find water and an exit and she nodded that it was the correct choice. It appeared to be news, finding a uninhabited dragon lair. Then he asked “Granny, when we were near the exit we came across a room of snakes, some dangled from the ceiling. What are they called? We don’t have them on Earth.”
Her eyes widened. “Was anyone bitten?”
“I was, several times in fact, but my boots didn’t allow their fangs to pierce anything. I wiped their venom off later.”
“Then it is a good thing that you were there. Those snakes are called Zeether and are the most venomous creatures of our world. They are creatures who’s venom bonds to mana and causes rotting of the flesh that cannot be cured. The only stop is to sever the body part before it enters the bloodstream. From reports of the Great Prophet, Queen Eleia described what she felt with her magic and it is what likely claimed his life. It wasn’t just Zeether venom though for it had been altered to infect anyone he came into contact with by touch or breathed the same air as he. Natural Zeether venom rots only the intended victim so the snakes can feast, no matter how large the prey. How did you get around them… a mating ball? Oh you sly dog. I never heard anyone doing that. It worked adequately I presume?” He smiled. She listened for a few more minutes and nearly choked. “A full grown wyvern, seriously?”
Brooke nodded. “It is hard to forget something so frightening.”
“Did the tribe die is why you are alone? How did you escape?” Cage shook his head. He went into detail and she shook her head. “You are certainly more powerful than our last encounter. Manipulating light within a protective barrier while encompassing the whole tribe… To resist those flames means you are now close to a third class sorcerer’s top strength. Amazing, simply amazing how far you’ve come. I do not think without the horse’s diversion you could have withstood anything else.”
“You would be right. I collapsed as soon as I dropped the barrier. The others drug me into the trees to recover and we left the mountains without further incidence. When everyone got together and were safe, Brooke and I left the tribe in the old chief’s capable hands to lead them to safety.
“Later we ran into highwaymen and removed them. We continued to Castle Emroc where I delivered the package to Skylar. He read it and used the castle’s defenses to trap me.” He conjured the memory for both women and he still felt the wedge in his mind to keep him from lying.
“Impossible, you actually cut through such a castle which has never been done before… yet you did it.” The older woman shook her short black hair.
“There is something I must confess after Skylar released me. Apparently the Great Prophet left me a prophecy before he died.”
“Really? What is it if I may ask?”
“It was the last prophecy he left in Tate’s care on the day he died before visiting Meeka and Brooke.” Megdline got a startled look, as did Frill. “Brooke had a logical explanation. Since he couldn’t give me my prophecy because I lived on another world he made sure it didn’t disappear. Do you know of which I speak?”
Megdline nodded. “But how can you be sure it is you that is spoken of?”
This time Brooke answered. “The spirits call him Lord Death. And I do not believe it a coincidence that he came and became chief to the Utala…”
“Oh, this it too much. Reapers! How could I have forgotten such a name… It was hard before, but with this knowledge makes things harder. After all I know now, it cannot be disputed. I feel this wasn’t chance after all.” Megdline hung her head for a moment. “Cage, are you our hope or despair?”
He brought a knee up and said clearly “Both I presume. If you are a friend you will have hope, but if one is an enemy then they will despair. It is basically the same warning I had you relay. I think the prophecy is a warning to all who stand against me. I don’t know about the darkness or being Death Incarnate, but you’ve had a taste of my capabilities and heard all I’ve done.” She remained quiet as he explained Lord Doyle as a detailed recollection of what Brooke did to him later. “The only thing left to finish the story is Brooke and I were forced to take the forest because of the many Laqura forces blocking our way east. I fell in a pit where I would have died if not for Brooke insisting we get tied together. Then a few hours ago we fell in another trap which claimed Brooke’s horse’s life. Both fell and I reacted quickly enough to stop us. Brooke pulled herself out before it closed and reset itself. That brings us to the here and now. We are going after Meeka and the others who are being enslaved.” He then smiled kindly to say “And I must greatly thank you, Granny.”
“What for?” she asked curiously.
“Thanks to our encounter and your guidance I and many others I’ve met would have died several times over were it not for you. Healing by magic is amazing and I just wanted to be sure and thank you for giving me the confidence that I wouldn’t make a mistake.”
She smiled pleasantly. “I was glad to help at the time.” Cage and Brooke went silent and stared at them. Megdline sighed and began stroking Frill’s soft fur as he began to purr loudly. “So it is time for me to tell my story now huh?”
Brooke announced. “We have not left anything out.”
Megdline nodded and removed the truth spell from Cage who smiled his thanks. “Cage, I’ll start from the beginning, as I left you…” Frill began speaking and s
he nodded. “Cage, Frill wants me to teach you the truth spell I used on you so you will know I tell the truth. It requires little mana to maintain and implement.” He sat straighter and nodded he is ready to learn such a spell. “Focus on me as the target and repeat after me ‘Allow only truth to part from your lips or be shown through experience. Any lies or false creations are prohibited from interfering with the conversation.’ Say it like that so you do not make a person choke on their tongue. It isn’t pleasant without these specific words.” Cage memorized the spell and reiterated it. He felt a miniscule draw as the spell started and Megdline felt the wedge. “Well done. It feels as it should, but it is proper etiquette to ask permission to use this spell on another.”
“Noted. It is good to now have this at my disposal as an extension to my already refined reading skills.” He admitted. “I’m ready.”
Megdline got a bit comfortable and Frill purred as she pet him. “After I made sure you and Meeka would be well enough on your own, Frill and I Jumped to the approximate location you warned us where the wyrms ambushed you. We were off a ways, but Frill’s keen sense of smell picked up on the well known scent of a wyrms den. In a few hours we found signs of where you were led to the large cave entrance. Frill went in first as he usually does as my best friend and protector. He returned saying it was safe and I was surprised to find the beasts exactly as you said and killed in the same manner. And that female, the big one, was one of the largest I’ve ever personally seen. You and Meeka were very lucky. I studied the corpses with magic to find one of the adolescents, the one you punched through the ear, filled with fertilized eggs and incinerated her body before they hatched within her and would feast until they were ready to set out on their own. Even the young are resilient. The large mother though had done as I suspected and hid a clutch of eggs in the back cave where she found a suitable crack. There were eleven in all and would have hatched in the next few days.” Her grey eyes were genuine. “It is good we got to them Cage, those wyrms would spread like locusts, consuming all wildlife in the Vlaran Mountains before spreading out. Just to be sure I got them all I created a spell and collapsed the cave. The spell would drain the mana from all living things for over three hundred feet before sucking the mountain down to crush everything. Effectively, I killed all life in that cave and removed evidence. I left my mark” She used a thumb to signify the golden mark of Frill covering her back. “on the former entrance to tell any mage who came to investigate that I took care of the threat.
“Afterwards I made a direct Jump to Twilight and knew that there were many things I needed to do. My biggest concerns were of you.” Megdline spoke to Cage as he sat unconcerned. “I knew it was imperative that I speak directly to the ruling members of the First Council, but one does not just barge in unannounced. I had to abide by protocol as all must for they hear all concerns. There are three levels to the council, but it is up to the individual to decide the importance. The Third Council deals with common concerns. The Second Council deals in mediation and disputes. And the First deals with matters of great importance and do not take kindly to petty issues. My husband is on the ruling First Council and has asked me to refrain from speaking of him directly.” She saw her newest student shrug and went on. “Because he is on the council I know what he must deal with and my meeting with you certainly fell in his domain. He is a very busy man, but is a stickler for protocol so I couldn’t bypass my concerns and ask him directly at home. I had to formally submit a request to speak to the council and wait until it was my turn to be seen. I was told I had a minimum of a week to wait and a maximum of fifteen days. That was fine by me so I finished my first task and went to the Dangerous Species and Conservation Office that often work with dragons to make sure one species doesn’t get too overpopulated or cause mass destruction.
“My report wasn’t the only one they received on wyrms causing problems in Vlara, but they currently didn’t have any reasonable answers and were under investigation. I’m sorry to say I still don’t know why they were out of their habitat.
“Before I finished my day I went to Twilight’s vast library. There are millions of books, Cage. Do you like you read?”
“Very much so. What types of things are in the library?”
“Nearly everything we know. There are levels dedicated to different types of books from the universe and what we know to spells known and hypothesized. Certain areas are restricted, usually for students who aren’t ready or have wisdom to use certain knowledge inappropriately. We have many records dating back thousands of years. Many books still remain as they were originally written because one of Twilight’s spells protects the books from being ruined, torn or degraded over time.
“I tell you this because I wanted to look up and study what I learned from our encounter. I wanted to read of Ceembura, the craftsman of your gauntlets and boots, find references to mages who found they had magic as an adult, a mark that grows and shrinks…”
“Told you.” Brooke nudged.
“Hey I didn’t say you were wrong.” He replied while easily maintaining the spell.
Megdline put her story aside to ask “So you saw it as well, Brooke?”
She nodded. “He was shirtless when he protected us from the wyvern. It went from two loops to eight and looked to want to make ten before he lost consciousness and it returned to the two rings.”
“Then his strength did indeed increase because I saw only a bit over four last time. I’ll explain why later.” Megdline said to forestall anymore interruptions. “Where was I? Ceembura, adult, mark growth… Oh right! Worlds referring to a planet called Earth, worlds without magic, failed Summonings and gigantic Familiars.
“Frill and I separated to speed up the process. He went to the Familiar section while I went to find ancient first class sorcerers. Each mage has their own book archived, even me, and can look up others if they wish. Some have small books, others large. It is required mages leave something behind, a legacy if you will. It wasn’t all that difficult to find Ceembura’s book. Then I went in search and used spells to find the other books, but all I could find in the library were two thin books relating to mages who gained powers as an adult. A reference to Earth, no magic or growing and shrinking marks didn’t seem to exist. Frill returned to tell me he couldn’t find any reference to the Familiar you failed to summon that was near what he searched for. So since he couldn’t find what he needed he padded off to see if the dragons knew anything that might help.
“With the books I did find, I checked them out and went to my home to study up. My husband was home and greeted me since it had been many weeks since we last saw each other.”
“Before I hear what you learned, I want to understand why we met in Vlara if you live in Twilight?”
“That is easy, Cage, I’m an adventurer and my husband is a council member. We each love what we do, even if we are separated for a time. It is good for us both. Frill and I love traveling. Besides, many mages call Twilight home because of how simply amazing it is there and people don’t treat you differently. I also have homes in Vlara and Emroc. When you live longer than most, you find adventuring refreshing for a still heart.” She noticed it satisfied his thoughts. “I really wished to tell my husband of our encounter, but again, I know he wouldn’t allow it. He likes keeping work separate from home. In the morning I had the time to sit down and began reading the two small books on adult awakenings and found it was exceedingly rare and comes when the person is pushed beyond their physical or mental limit. Nearly all died, especially when there was an experiment to intentionally force non-mage people into becoming one, but again, less than one percent survived. The other problem I found that in those few adults, their power and mana quality was less than a third class wizard and above a magician. From our time with you, we saw great power from you and your potently sweet saliva didn’t correlate to what I read. I presumed, at the time, it might be because you would have been a born mage like myself and many others, if you were in fact born on Raliea.
“The books were a short read and not much help actually so I took out Ceembura’s thick tomb and began reading through it. I found he lived five thousand five hundred years ago. From what you told me of his gauntlets, he lived little more than five hundred years, quite short for a first class sorcerer. Though he didn’t live long by our standards he pioneered bonding man and magic. It is an exceedingly difficult and complex skill that so few even know of the idea or premise of such magics let alone know his name.” Cage looked at his hands to understand that clearer than anyone else. “He was a powerful sorcerer, but quite eccentric from what he left behind for me to read. Ceembura was also designated and known to others as the Skull Mage.” This made Cage laugh and it infected the others as it was perfectly apt. When they settled she continued. “He didn’t like to be well known as he liked seclusion to perform and perfect his unheard of kind of magic. Even I didn’t know of his name or the types of magic he rarely shared. Towards the end of the book he talked about making masterpieces when he came across something he referred to as ‘the rarest of the rare’ and that is all I could learn. It took me three days of being undisturbed to read his work.” Megdline then pointed to Cage’s hands. “I truly believe what Ceembura referred to was finding those flawless black diamonds in your hands. They are too perfectly identical to not come from a single gem he cut into four and divided them for the octagonal eyes set in the engraved skull.”
Frill began meowing and sounding like a bird. “He wants me to translate this part… After I left my partner I went into Blind Mountains where many dragons call home. I wanted to speak to one of the elder dragons, possibly the Rex Gralla of the colony…” He began meowing when he caught Cage’s confusion. “Rex, is the highest title for dragons, like a king or you being chief of the Utala. There is one Rex for each of the six dragon colonies and we have two in the Emrocan territory. One in both Fire and Blind Mountains… But he was busy and I got to speak to another elder dragon. I climbed his scales till I could sit on his snout and speak my mind. I told him of you and what I saw, but he laughed it off.” Frill grinned in his way and licked a paw for a few strokes. “I scratched his nose and drew a little blood, but it didn’t hurt him, just to get his attention. I asked what was so funny, but he didn’t answer. He had me repeat our encounter and gave me an inquiring look to change my words if I was being false. He knew something, but didn’t tell me. The next thing I know the dragon Jumps me back to Megdline, but not before he said ‘The line we thought to never see again has made a circle.’ and it wasn’t till a few days ago that I understood that message.”
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 22