Daku grew silent and looked away, making it quite obvious he stumbled on a touchy subject. After a few minutes of silence the Familiar said “What you ask is not for me to divulge carelessly. Not even to my own partner. One day I will seek an agreement with Twilight’s council and that of the Rex’s’, the dragon leaders. Without a unanimous vote, I am not permitted to speak of warlock origins.” His blue eyes turned back around to stare seriously. “Do not ask me this question again. I will not forget it, nor will I not seek agreement from others. If they say no, I won’t be allowed. Is this what you wish? To know the legacy and origins of your ancestors?”
“Yes. Any information is better than none, especially if it might be used against me and I’m ignorant. I learn from the past to not make the same mistake in the future.” Cage watched Daku nod and went silent, waiting to speak more. “What is the difference between a normal warlock and an elite? Megdline cannot even seem to find anything on this classification, just a vague reference.”
Daku smirked. “Besides that your strength will be more formidable, I’ll not say. You will learn quite soon what will separate you from any others. When your power fully matures it will be something quite amazing. I’ll keep this a secret. You just keep using magic to get stronger. In all my time I’ve only ever seen an elite mature once fully before my eyes. Usually it takes twenty years to mature as the body does, we’ll just see how long it will take for a grown male.”
Silence lasted all of a few minutes, Daku really seem to enjoy dandling tantalizing things just out of reach, but Cage figured to let him have it for now because the future seemed more exciting, not knowing. If he did say, the expectations would do more harm than good. It would take out all the fun. Cage nodded before saying “There is one thing we need to discuss, who we’ll fight. If in a mage battle, you occupy the Familiar.”
“Really?” Daku retorted sarcastically, his eyes teasing. “Is that all? I’m a Familiar, your Familiar. I will take on enemy Familiars. But if you get overwhelmed like yesterday, my priorities will change to keep you alive. For battles we know would be easily won, you fight the mage, but for large ones, we fight together.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
Daku turned back around and peered far ahead to say “Am I to assume you are going for a swim so those human’s will pick you up?”
“Yep, drop me in their path. Can you see them?” Cage asked for all he could spot was either land or open ocean.
“Yes. They are still coming this way. How far away should we land?”
“Place us an hour’s worth ahead of the boat. I’ll cloak us so they do not accidently spot our descent.”
Daku leaned forward and Cage erected a very weak barrier with the sole purpose of allowing all light to effortlessly pass through, rendering them invisible to the naked eye. They could see out, but nothing could see behind the veil. The Familiar gracefully spiraled to the ocean, in the direct path of the approaching ship.
Getting less than fifteen from the water’s surface, Cage flipped himself as if he had practiced the move for months and landed expertly dove into the water while throwing the cask before it got taken due to buoyancy. The water felt warm after flying up high for a half hour. He surfaced and swam over to the floating little barrel. The invisible spell broke and Daku began to get small as he circled. Cage grabbed it and held on in the ever moving water. Daku eventually shrunk to the size of a large hummingbird, barely four inches long, and landed on the floating wood and waited.
Rolling waves lifted and dropped them. The morning sun constantly beat upon the water with few puffy clouds to offer shade. The horrible smell of the common sailor clothes finally got a much needed bath. Some of the stains seem to be losing their grip on the fabric and the cotton material became heavy with the Jamma Ocean’s seemingly endless water. Land barely could be spotted from time to time, when the waves rose high enough to allow the static landmass to be seen.
“Now we wait?” Daku asked, avoiding most of the water from atop the small barrel.
“Almost. I need to sell the story.” Very carefully, Cage opened the tap and took a swig of the foul rum to begin swishing it around like mouthwash. The smell became the primary point to sell the issue since most of the sailors seem to sweat the drink. He poured all except a half cup out before sealing it and making the barrel more buoyant. Daku flitted around like a speedy sparrow as Cage held on to the airtight cask and laid his head on it, pretending to need to hold it for dear life. Magic sucked moisture from his lips and made them crack, further selling it. Emotion and hope drained from his features and only the faint wish for rescue is all that remained. “Daku, fly to the east first and turn around to use the sun and find a safe place in which to board the boat and wait for me. I won’t be able to use magic to conceal you with that mage onboard. It would be best if you keep that size until we get the mage out into the open.”
“See you in an hour or so.” Daku said and sped off like a bullet, disappearing.
Cage took his arms and weakly held on to the flotation device to wait. He also set his diamonds to scan for dangerous sea creatures and warn if any got too close. If animals on Earth came from here then there certainly had to be man eating sharks. Getting bit, even for simple curiosity, wasn’t a fun idea. And if any sharks did get close Cage would simply create a very weak electrical pulse that the apex predators of the ocean detested and avoided.
“MAN OVERBOARD!!!” The sailor up in the crow’s nest shouted and pointed north. The ship came alive and looked in the general direction. It took several moments to spot the floating body ahead of them in the mid morning sun. The sailors scrambled to prep the ship to slow. The mage traveling with their cargo of fresh slaves stepped outside with a black raven on his shoulder. The sailors stopped as he worked magic before all of them to bring up a picture of seawater and nothing more. “I see no man overboard. What nonsense is this!?”
The captain pointed. “Your magic must be broken for my eyes clearly see that.” He pointed ahead of the slowing ship.
The mage scowled and approached the bow to see clearly what his magic could not. “I do not like this. My spell should have seen him.” He tried again, now seeing the barely alive individual to find his sight mirror had gone pure white and unable to see anything. “He must have been spelled.” He turned around. “Captain, be extra cautious with him.”
Heavy splashes and shouting men grew louder, but Cage pretended to be passed out and delirious. He could hear the ship slowing almost to a standstill. They shouted to see if he was alive and he moved an arm slightly, pretending to be weak from exhaustion. The subtle movement of life made the shout for him to be ready.
A huge fishing net was thrown and landed completely over Cage and covering ten feet in any direction. He expected something like this or using a lifeboat to retrieve him. The net threatened to drag Cage below, but before it could the net was snapped hard and pulled him towards the cargo ship. It was an uncomfortable way to be brought up, but effective nonetheless. He hit his head and shoulder hard, but he kept up a severely weak appearance and relaxed as if he’d been struggling to live for days without any aid.
Once aboard a group of men extracted him from the heavy netting and pulled his limp body near the center of the deck. A quick, almost delirious glance informed him that all twenty two men were there, but the mage and his Familiar wasn’t. He could sense a faint tickle of magic as he hung his head and was laid out beneath the shade of the mast. Also in his glance he saw most had a hand on a cutlass. The curved swords remained sheathed, but in their stance they were all on guard.
“Here son, you look like you need this.” An older man, probably the captain offered a cup. Cage shook his hands weakly for the offered drink, but the man placed his hands over Cage’s and got more water on his chest and the captain, a few coughing fits really sold his state. What they didn’t know is not one drop of water was ingested, especially after smelling the faint floral aroma of what ruins a mage’s focus to use spells. Florann
a flower petals. Somehow the mage aboard had a suspicion and wanted to drug Cage so he couldn’t use magic. To make sure that not a drop flowed through his system he bit his cheek to let blood freely and half filled his mouth before spitting it up. “What happened to you?”
“Pirates.” Cage slurred and quickly realized that if the other mage wanted a closer look at him while he was in the water that he wouldn’t because of Twilight’s spell preventing anyone from looking at him while they alone watched. That would be more than enough to put any weak minded fool on guard. It would also be why they tried to drug him. His teeth were stained red as he tasted copper. “Yesterday… captured… Bepop attacked… so many mages. My gift let me… escaped…” Cage looked away after the incoherent blabber to give them just enough information to shift suspicion while retaining a delirious character which made the sailors grow sympathetic. His eyes slowly started to fall.
“Captain, he does not look well. What are your orders?”
“Bring that damn mage here.” The captain said while dropping the cup.
The mage with the crow stepped out from behind a door to approach with a wary eye. He said “He did not drink. I told you he must.”
“The man is barely alive.” The captain said while standing. “His words might not be clear, but they do not bode well. He said pirates and something about Bepop being attacked. Use those damned spells to find the city.”
“Watch your tone with me, Captain.” The mage said coldly and the captain stepped back and looked away in defeat, not one to test a mage’s patience. Then the mage conjured his sight mirror to find his eyes flying wide as much of Bepop lay in smoldering ruin or consumed in flames. “The city is in shambles… but how? No band of pirates would dare attack a city… just who could…” Before he could get an answer he looked down and said “Where did he go?”
Entrapped by what they saw, none watched as Cage casually slipped around, using blind spots and got closer. A little glimmer of white caught his eye as Daku climbed out of a coil of ropes and climbed the backside of the railing to not be seen till he reached the top. A surge of magic turned the mage’s attention to Daku as he grew to eight inches in length and leapt.
Daku cried out for another battle and tackled the crow off the man’s shoulder, not even getting slowed by the man’s barrier since magic didn’t directly affect him. The raven squawked at the sudden attack and was overwhelmed as the powerful griffin dug his talons, claws and beak into the bird. Black feathers flew and no matter however powerful magic the bird used, he could not break the griffin’s attack or gain a hold as they flailed all across the deck.
Cloaked in a skintight barrier, Cage maneuvered in such a way that the other sailors couldn’t react. Cage got closer as black, shield breaking, magic swirled around his fists. The other mage turned and caught sight of who laughed and jumped right at him. The man sensed the greater strength coming and knew he had no chance. He managed to successfully avoid the attack while conjuring a dark purple arch and stepped through before Cage could get closer. A faint pop sounded in less than a second as the man fled for his own life.
It was his only correct choice.
Daku’s struggle ended as his opponent turned purple and disappeared too.
With the mage gone and taken care of, Cage turned as all twenty two drew swords. The darkness swirling around Cage’s fists ended along with his barrier. Though they had advantage in numbers they could instinctively know that they were sorely outclassed. Still, they couldn’t allow one man, even a mage, to take their ship. The captain pointed his sword and commanded his men to charge. The first ten did so and heard their opponent laughing as he raced for them.
Cutlass’ have only a hacking technique to be effective and were quite limited. Gauntlets harder than steel, but with the pliability of skin is by far the greater weapon. Cage caught or deflected the weapons, sometimes causing them to spark. Punches, elbows and kicks disarmed and inflected terrible pain on each person who came at him and got too close. He knew he needed these men to work the enormous boat properly and held back on the death blows.
Ten went down in just as many seconds, one barely scored a cheek cut that drew only a few blood drops. The rest soon followed, unable to resist the man who alone overtook the ship. In two minutes it was all over and during that time, Daku stayed perched on the railing while laughing.
Cage bathed his hands in bright orange fire to command. “All of you, move to the bow.” To show they didn’t move fast enough he put his hands close to one of the terrified men. The intense heat alone got the desired effect. All the swords remained on the ground as the group of men crowded at the front. “Daku, I hope you do not mind keeping these good gentlemen together while I go free the prisoners?”
“Not at all.” He said and flew down, all the while growing to the size he took to fly with Cage on his back. The large griffin’s landing showed he weighed much more and his hard blue eyes locked the frightened humans in place, hoping one would be foolish. Daku stood guard while Cage went into the room beneath the helm where the mage occupied the captain’s quarters.
Hanging on a wall was a large ring of keys. Cage took them and came back outside to find the cargo hold, opened the horizontal door and walked down the steps. Many prisoners turned to look in his direction. Most had been starved to the point where they could be broken more easily. He found a few tribal people because of their beads, but most were common Emroc citizens. He grinned “Who wants to go home!?”
Not a single person replied and he knew that they thought he was making fun. He held up the ring of keys. “I know all of you heard that scuffle right above your heads. I’m taking you home.” To show he meant it, he walked over to the nearest tribal warrior. “Hello, Brother. Let’s get those things off.” He unlocked the shackles on his feet and reached over to release his wrists. The warrior sat up to smile. “Take the keys and free everyone.”
Cage went back up to begin gathering all the swords and knives. Daku kept the men silent and focused as he twitched his tail, wanting to play like a cat with a mouse. Cage watched as one older man slowly stuck his head out, expecting to be killed, but he did climb out when he saw Daku’s stunning form blocking the sailors. Others came out behind to get a breath of fresh air for the first time in weeks and rubbed chafed wrists. “Are there any soldiers among you?” he asked the growing number coming out. Ten men with the physique and movement of seasoned veterans raised a hand. “Good, you and the tribal people come and get a blade. In return for your freedom I ask you do not kill the sailors unless they cause trouble. I’m giving them the same guarantee as I did for the fleet of freed prisoners coming this way. We will not stoop to their level and when we are safely in Emrocan waters they will be allowed to leave. Locate the rations and eat to regain your strength. I can see you are all starving. Remember, we will let them keep their lives so long as they work the ship. If I wanted them dead, I would have killed them. Do you have any questions.”
“They killed my wife and son! They shouldn’t be allowed to live!” A furious young man stated.
“Honestly, I don’t give a rat’s ass whether they live or die. But it is not up to you, it’s my choice. If you try to kill them I won’t stop you, but I won’t let all of you do it out of a mob mentality. If you go, you go alone and take your chances. If they kill you I will not stop them either. They will live if they work or die together, but if they work and you try to kill them, they can defend themselves. I am in charge… unless you want to challenge me and don’t want to go back to Emroc.” The group looked down, especially the resentful man who had every right to his vengeance, but they could see that if he overtook the ship that he wasn’t to be trifled with. “If you hate the empire, when you get returned you can enlist. Skylar can always use the extra hands, but while I’m running the show, my word is law. Is that clear?” He and many other’s nodded, aware that he is a fair individual and didn’t ask for much more than respect. He laid out the swords and the soldiers and tribal adults got the
weapons. Lastly he said to the newly armed men and women. “Take them below and get comfortable. It’ll be a few hours before the rest of the ships head this way. Rest and recover. Enjoy being free again. I’ll see if I can get some food for everyone.” The armed men ushered the sailors below as proper soldiers given a direct order.
Some came close, but he held up a hand. “I know you are grateful, but I do not trust any of you. It is common for an enemy to be slipped in to a group of slaves to gain intel and make discord or kill any who try and help. It would be too easy for one person to slip a knife between my ribs when they pretend to act like grateful people. Do not come within arms reach unless you wish to be hurt or even killed.”
They took the warning seriously, especially when Daku came closer to sit comfortably nearby. Someone stated “What manner of beast is that?”
“My name is, Daku, and I am no beast. I am a griffin.”
Cage sat down to rest for a few minutes as Daku informed all those who were ignorant of his lost kind. The hard fight first thing in the morning, staying afloat for over an hour in choppy water and a second fight wore him out. Blood loss and magic to heal made him weaker. To help recover he eased back on the draw his diamonds drew from him. In a half hour he felt better, enough so that he could harpoon a large grouper and a sea turtle.
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 48