She waited as Cage repeated the spell on all four gems. He did it and could feel the spell layer and imbed itself in the gems. The pull from him remained the same. “Good, I was worried about not having safety precautions. If they continued pulling while I was unconscious, I fear they would suck me dry. Even if I do recover faster than they pull, I might be susceptible to weakening and dying because I’d be unconscious and couldn’t stop it from happening. If no one can stop my spells because they cannot manipulate the gems… it would be game over for me.”
Megdline nodded. “That is why you must never strip those spells unless there is no choice. We also do not want our gems to crack if they take in more than what they can sustain. That would be disastrous. Now that you have begun to charge your diamonds, I want you to try touching my gem so you can understand why you should not try targeting the link between gem and owner. Try to give it magic like you did to yours.”
Cage focused and jumped back in surprise, scaring Brooke and making Frill laugh. “So much power!” He expressed with fright. When his heart slowed he crawled back and sat down. “Granny, I couldn’t apply any magic… like it just fizzled out, but I gained a sense of so much mana. It felt like… well the sun I suppose. Blinding and immense would be a close description.”
“It is a fair amount, but it is maybe half full at the moment. Your reaction would have been greater if it were. It is why you shouldn’t touch another mage’s gem if you were in a battle situation because what is there will cause a distraction that will cost you dearly. When full, I could sustain a powerful spell for three to four years without a break. If your diamonds ever saturate, one alone could hold for sixty years of the same spell.” She sat her staff down. “This is enough for the application lesson. I will answer one question you have and then we must get some rest. Choose wisely.”
He didn’t have to think. “If gems can be absorbed back to support the mage from weakening… How can gems do magic on their own? I think that is what you insinuated that the dog Familiar, I mentioned earlier, did. Like the Laqura Empire’s forces were protected by arrows too.”
“You are correct in your thinking. There are many spells that can be imbued in gems, just like other objects, but gems are better by far to use. Certain spells are keyed to activate on their own when a requirement is fulfilled. They are called wards. Sometimes it is a word, movement or even weather conditions that start up a spell. When Frill and I were younger, I linked a gem to him that would turn on a barrier if flames got too close. He was fascinated with dragons and I worried he’d be burned alive. It saved him one time when a young hatchling was playing. I also wanted to give him an advantage, but in a Familiar battle, gem spells just get in the way, since he cannot die. He eventually got to the point where he didn’t need it. As for the soldiers protected from arrows, they could only use spells as strong as what the mage who created it could make and what the individual could sustain.
“Protection from arrows is a simple spell and one used often in wars.
“In the morning I will teach you more about wards and setting parameters to gems so that they will automatically initiate without you needing to be killed because you couldn’t react in time to save yourself.” Megdline scooted back on her bedding and yawned. “I’m tired. Good night you two.” She laid down and went to sleep in seconds. Frill wasn’t far behind on the pillow.
“Cage Love, I would rather one of us remain awake for now. I would like to stay awake for a few hours. I do not think I can sleep with all that has transpired. I would like to sort out my thoughts, alone if you do not mind.”
Cage laid a hand on his woman’s shoulder. “On two conditions. You will lay down with me and wake me up when you see this flash.” He made a pea size blue orb that would go off in four hours.
“Alright.” She leaned back on the fur with him and pressed her front to his side and wrapped her arms around his head. Before he could go to sleep she spoke so the other two couldn’t hear, if they were even asleep at all. “Cage, I do not know what it is like for you after learning all this, but even with the danger others view you as, I wouldn’t have any other man be my mate. I know my woman feels the same. I’m sad I cannot make beautiful babies with you, but not so much as to go find another man to make me pregnant. You do not know how happy it makes me that you see Rena as your own. I do not care if others fear you as this warlock because I knew my man is so much more than anyone else. The only title I care about is you are mine. And I want you forever, now that it is an option. I just want you to know that I love you, no matter what I’ll learn or how many see you as a threat. I can no longer even think of living without you or Meeka. If anything happened to either of you I swear to kill those responsible and meet you again as a spirit.”
He brushed a few loose strands of hair off her sad expression and smiled lovingly. “It is one of the reasons I love you so much. Your passion and spirit is matched by Meeka. I’m so lucky to have two amazing women in my life. And your right, they can label me all they want, but it won’t change the fact I’m still going to be me. I’m also glad that if I live a long time that I will not be alone and if I lose you two I too will follow. We will always be together. I would pick my last fight and go out as I should, with style.” He touched her silky smooth cheek. “Brooke, I’m so glad you feel as I do. I love you, Brooke.”
She finally smiled and pulled herself closer for a deep kiss. “Rest well, My Love.” She whispered and watched him fall asleep. Brooke rolled the tiny blue ball of magic up and down his flat torso while thinking and keeping an eye of the other pair. Every so often she would toss a stick or two to keep the fire going. Her thoughts were everywhere as she felt loss and proud. She hadn’t felt so confused in a very long time. The good thing about it all is she got the quiet she needed. While her thoughts swirled she watched Cage sleep and if not for the rise and fall of his chest she would have sworn he looked dead. She never knew anyone who couldn’t dream before and wondered why.
Eventually the magic flashed and she roused the silent Cage. He propped his back against the cool cave’s wall and Brooke used his leg as a pillow. She might have said she could go on, but she fell asleep in moments after getting comfortable.
Cage continually felt the diamonds slowly drawing from him and could feel how the gems stored the amount like a single speck of dirt to the size of a sun, yet was easily found as it shone in a void. He did small tests to get used to drawing back from what had been taken. Each test was designed to regulate the intake by will. He severed the draw from the stone that took from him and sensed what happened. The second stone stopped pulling in the first when its storage met the limitation. The next two did the same until the magic stopped when each contained nearly the exact amount. He could sense the differences and wanted perfect symmetry and fixed the siphoning amount from each other until each one stored exactly the same amount. It took an hour and a half to get it just right. The tests progressed as he drew in power from the third to find the target pulled from the second and then the first, leaving the forth alone. Then he had three with less than the forth. Again he didn’t like the feel of one storing more so he set up a complex lattice that would allow each diamond to automatically give an even amount to the others when one or more were draining and would bolster whenever the others were less than itself. When he thought he figured it out he reattached the first, the right eye diamond on his right hand, link to his inner power and sensed there weren’t any complications in the distribution process or any way to bind or confuse the spell’s network.
To make sure it would work at all times he pulled from the second diamond-eye on the right hand and the third right eye of the left and found himself full of awareness like a jolt of adrenaline, only different. While the first continued pulling at the same rate it and the forth gem gave what it held to the second and third till they were even. He then poured what he took into the fourth, much more than he ever absorbed before that make it twinkle with more brightness. Since it held more than the first
three it stopped absorbing and distributed it to the others till it was equal again. Cage continued strategically testing for any weakness to the established spells for another hour to find it was perfectly the way he needed it. He didn’t like the rollercoaster feeling of taking and giving as it gave a headache, but he felt the need and it eased his worry. He eventually felt like himself and allowed them to fill up without any more tampering.
The rest of his time alone was spent on all that he had learned and watched for any deceit from Megdline and Frill. It wasn’t so much a problem, but he needed to be sure so he could protect Brooke as she slept.
Nothing happened to cause him any sense of danger.
As the mouth of the cave began to turn from black to light grey he stoked the fire and said “Time to wake up everyone!” Brooke sat upright and found her weapons where she left them. She immediately went for them, expecting danger as her dream wasn’t kind. When she didn’t find anyone coming she relaxed.
Megdline snorted, before waking quickly. “What?” she asked, half asleep. Frill looked up for a moment before curling back into a ball of fur to return to sleep.
“It is time we need to get up so we can leave.” Cage explained. “We’ll eat and pack up before leaving.”
The older woman looked outside. “But it is so early.” She complained.
“Yes, but have you forgotten who we are going after?” Brooke yawned while speaking and stood up. “We do not have the luxury of sleeping in.”
Megdline took a few seconds to process this and grabbed her staff and created an image of Meeka for the first time. Brooke and Cage stopped to see the woman they loved sitting in a cage with five other equally beautiful women, wearing a white dress. It had been five days since they last saw her on a boat. Megdline commented “They have her in the Bepop slaver compound. It won’t be easy, but at the moment she doesn’t seem in distress and I see they aren’t trying breaking her for some reason. Don’t ask me why though. I’m not overly intimate with the Laqura Empire’s affairs outside of their mages.” Then the spell pulled back to see everything. “I see quite a few tribal peoples… from their anger and defiance they haven’t been there long.” The spell disappeared as she had seen enough. “I see why you want to waste as little time as possible. Cage, before we go I’ll have to teach another lesson, but I need to step out for a few minutes. Boil us up some hot water for tea.” She stood and exited the small chamber with a yawning Frill.
“I must go as well.” Brooke said as she gripped the handles of her tomahawks.
Cage focused on the tingle of magic and would run after her if Megdline used any, as he didn’t want to be separated from Brooke. He grabbed the two metal cups and a bowl while waiting for the worst to happen as he began heating water from his container. His worry was needless as Brooke returned a minute later and sat beside him. “I’ll be grateful when I don’t have to clean my flower with a cold leaf again. It is too cold for it.” She shivered as he chuckled. She swatted his shoulder. “It is better to be a woman in most ways, but not when men can stand and have aim while we have to squat.”
“That is unless you have a lance like mine that brushed the snow when I have to drop a log.”
That got Brooke laughing. “Then I feel better knowing I’m not the only one suffering.”
“Be thankful you are not Frill!” Megdline said as she returned and their eyes went to the cat. The Maine Coon was covered from the neck down in snow as the only brown, woodsy stripes was shown on his forehead. “He had to be covered in snow to relieve himself.” Frill raised his nose in a dignified way and strutted closer to the fire while everyone had a light laugh. Before his fir became soaked from the melting snow, Megdline magically removed the snowy coat.
The water began to boil and Caged filled his cups and two that Megdline magically pulled from a pocket in her robe. Cage left only for a moment to find a pine tree and take some fresh green needles to steep. Brooke acquired a liking to it. Megdline also removed a tin container full of tealeaves and flavored hers and Frill’s water.
“Alright, just how are you doing that, Granny?” Cage asked humorously. “There is no natural way you can hold all those items in such a simple, form fitting robe. Your pockets should be bulging or at least you should carry a pack like us, but all you carry are the robe and your staff.”
Megdline grinned. “You will learn how I do it in time, Dimwit. Suffice to say, it is a very specific spell that allows me to carry many things without actually being encumbered by them.”
“Are you shrinking the objects or manipulating space?” He didn’t let her divert the conversation so easily.
Megdline raised an eyebrow. “Very astute. Actually I’m manipulated space and no, I won’t tell you how just yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m more concerned with you defending yourself. Storage-space manipulation won’t protect you from a blast of magic now will it?” Cage kept his mouth shut and shrugged before breaking out seeds and other cold rations. Brooke began cooking up some meat. Megdline sighed and shook her head. “Cage, you’ll not live well enough on so little when it will take us two more days to get out of the forest. Your large body requires more calories than that meager meal.” She put her hand in a pocket and pulled out six chicken eggs, a wedge of cheese and a wrapped package. This gained some interest as she said “Alright, Dimwit, you are worried about poisons and things that will affect your mental state correct?” She received a simple nod. “I suspect you know many more poisons, hallucinogens and even sedatives than I do, so send a spell with the focus and emphasis that what I laid before me has been laced. I had time to prepare for this situation because of what I learned from Meeka. In actuality I did poison some of these. It will be up to you to identify which ones. Besides, when you were so hungry after the summoning I had given you what I stored in a pocket.”
He faintly remembered wondering where the bowl of food came from as his hunger at that time overwhelmed his need to care. Megdline gestured to the objects and Cage focused on all he knew, even the chemical composition of each. The magic from him flowed to the food and immediately three eggs turned from white shelled to ebony and a corner of the yellow cheese changed. When the spell ran its course and stopped, the black parts remained. Megdline said “Excellent work. It seems the primary color of your magic is black. Your understanding is quite impressive, for one of the eggs I had a friend who specializes in poisons make those three eggs with the rarest and least known compositions. For you to know and isolate these is very promising and will save you much learning time on how to avoid being poisoned.” She picked up the three tainted eggs, put a spell on them and fired them outside to be forgotten. Megdline then picked off all the blackened area of cheese and opened the wrapped piece of cold bread to find half black. She sent the pieces on their way. “Since you can now distinguish what won’t kill you, Do you feel more comfortable making a proper breakfast for us?”
“For some reason I do. Why is that?” He wondered as he leaned forward to take what she offered and crack the shells to scramble up some eggs and rip up the cheese to mix together.
“It is because our senses are interwoven with magic.” She explained as he worked and Brooke was content to listen and eat her meat. “You can sense things by magic that our five basic senses can never comprehend. It is how you feel what you cannot describe or know what the feel of magic has been designed to do without question, like when you fell in the snow-pit and sensed the only way out was with Brooke’s help. You knew magic and your movement was dragging you down when you sent your magic for that brief moment. When you found the poison in the food you could feel what is safe from what would kill you.” She tapped her temple. “Remember, magic is understanding. Understanding isn’t words. Real understanding must be felt. And for the greater, more complicated magic, it will take time to understand, how much is up to you.”
Cage considered those words carefully. “Well, I thank you for providing this. I’ll repay all this one da
y.”
She shook her head. “No, this is my payment for spending time with you and your beautiful women. I’ve taught dozens and dozens of young mages before and hated every minute. Frill and I had to stay inside for hours and hours, going over the same things until they got it. Trust me, this is the most excited I’ve been in a long time and I’ve got a feeling it will only get better and more adventurous from this point onwards. You keep my life interesting and if food is my price then I’ll make sure you never go hungry again.”
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 26