Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  “Alright… find a mountain of some sort with a stream to make camp. Mind if I sit up here and enjoy the view with you?”

  “Go right ahead.” Daku chuckled. His deep voice allowed everyone to both hear and feel him speak. He un-tucked a furry arm to point when they passed over Dragon’s Port, but not one person could find it from the great height they flew, but in only a few short hours they traveled what took three days by boat.

  Eventually Daku spotted a lush mountain in which he began to descend with the falling sunset. He landed in an isolated area, far from any flickering orange glow from a fire. Cage carried Brooke down to sleep on their fur while Zatal did the same for Moril. Daku remained in his immense form and made a half circle to block a cool mountainous wind while keeping everyone together near his warm belly. The conversations didn’t really pick up till Brooke and Moril awoke from their spelled sleep. The three women danced as their chief played on his ocarina. Cage and Zatal had a sparring match in which the warrior got in a few lucky shots, but still ended up on his backside. Sean also got a lesson in fighting from his dad for about an hour before going to bed.

  Cage, Frill and Megdline spoke more on varying types of magic and wards, allowing Daku to rest from all the hard work he’s been doing. Cage added passive wards that used about as much energy as a growing hair to various gems that detected deadly airborne pathogens, radiation, deadly ultraviolet rays, toxic gas. She explained most might never detect the problem, but once the spell is set on alert and has the tiniest amount of mana for fuel, it will work faithfully forever. She explained a few of the wards she implemented into her topaz and had learned about different things over the years to protect herself against. She passed on her knowledge freely and he layered dozens more wards into the imbedded diamonds. She also taught to look out for certain magical signs that were warnings or markers and how Twilight worked.

  Usually when there are dangerous areas where one works magic a mage leaves their mark, usually what appears on their back, so that if someone comes across it they can find the person or a reference to the incident. Before they went to sleep, she taught him a few more offensive spells and breaking spells should he become bound or trapped.

  Eventually all but Brooke and Moril got some rest, it would be needed for what lay ahead. They stayed up to keep watch.

  Chapter 16

  “Granny, can I ask about teleporting?” Cage asked as they flew in the predawn hours. Brooke and Moril were spelled into another slumber just after Daku took off. The griffin flew well above the ocean and scattered clouds to avoid any greater risks of being spotted. Sunrise was stunning from the vantage they flew on. Sean and Zatal sat and talked about what a young boy is required to do as a Utala. Those two had become fast friends, but Sean still looked to Cage like a good dad who was always there to listen and guide. Currently they were talking about Zatal’s two younger sons near Sean’s age who would likely help him get more acquainted with their customs. It was a calm and relaxing morning where little was able to be done except watch the beautiful sunrise and let Daku fly them to the destination.

  Megdline and Frill sat only three feet away from him while catching up on her reports she was about to Jump to her home. She kept giving reports at every scheduled three days and as of yet, not received any word from them. To her, that was good news. Megdline rolled the finished report and Jumped it to Twilight before replying. “What is on your mind?”

  He turned slightly and said “It is just that I’ve got conflicting memories about teleportation. I told you how I was on Earth, in a wheelchair due to being paralyzed, and was teleported to this world. Before I was taken I saw strange green symbols before they began to spin in a solid green blur and get consumed in the light. I don’t remember anything except warmth from the experience.

  “But then I’ve seen what you call Jumping on several occasions and it looks like a seamless archway. There aren’t any symbols you use. I mean, why were they different? Why did I see symbols on Earth and not from any mage? Is it because my gauntlets did the summoning of me? Could it be different, an object summoning compared to a mage’s personal summons?” He asked.

  Frill shook his furry head to say “You’ve stumbled upon a great secret very few know about. Because you have seen it personally you can be told. Actually we have the dragons to thank for what you’ve seen. When Megdline or other mages Jump from one destination to another in an instant they do not have to worry nearly as much on their destination because Raliea is nearly nothing compared with the endless universe we reside in. She can Jump the two of us” Frill ran a paw across his partner’s leg. “anywhere we’ve ever set foot, in an instant. You just call it teleportation. She uses a spell and can reach anywhere she desires.

  “That is not the case when Jumping to another world.” Frill lectured. “Because of the endless distances of space and all the dangers it contains, the eldest sentient race, the dragons, used a universe encompassing spell to place symbols of magic in the heart of every planet that could ever support life, be terra-formed or could be manipulated for a purpose. The strange symbols you saw are actually the dragons written language which has been permanently woven into the universe as a constant means of communication. The magic they used billions of years ago is imprinted in the planetary mana itself.

  “Because this universe is so vast, the symbols you speak of were actually the symbols of this planet. I’ve hypothesized that those gauntlets Ceembura crafted on your arms knew the symbols of Raliea and could draw the one, I mean you, Cage, worthy of them from anywhere and bring you to them. But to pull you, the spells would also have to know Earth’s symbols to make a connection in which to bridge the world for a brief moment to summon you. I have no idea how, without a mage to focus and guide, spells enchanted in those diamonds could do what was thought impossible. Quite a conundrum or plausibility is if the spells could learn the symbols, but I cannot know for certain. It is exceedingly rare for magic to cast its own spells, but not like a ward. The only thing you can know at this point is that to travel from one planet to the next you must first know the symbols of this planet, the one you desire, form the spells to Jump and you’ll be there.”

  “So is there a book or something that lists all the habitable planets out there?” Cage asked with a smile. “I think visiting another planet would be cool.”

  Frill chuckled a hiss. “Yes, but it is under the care and protection of the dragons. Very few have gotten permission to Jump to another planet, like Megdline’s husband, because of the dangers involved. It takes great strength to Jump from one world to another and requires perfect mental focus.”

  “There is more.” Daku rumbled as he spun his great head nearly all the way around without disturbing their flight path or unsettling the passengers. “The dragons had a reason why they placed symbols on planetary objects, it made Jumping easier, safer and guarded. The last thing someone would need is to Jump into the heart of a black hole, pulsar, a star or even Jumping into the void of space itself. Those dangers and many more I haven’t mentioned also have their hearts spelled to prevent any accidental Jumping or coming anywhere near their dangers. I’ve learned much from them over the long years. Those dragon writings are the only things that protect from the greatest universal threats.”

  Something in Daku’s voice and expression didn’t escape Cage’s notice. There was a history that didn’t sit well within the ancient being. This topic had struck a nerve, one the griffin wouldn’t speak further on if asked, Cage noted. He had only seen the serious expression once, when Daku spoke on why he couldn’t explain warlock origins. In realization to the observation, Cage asked “What would happen if all the dragons died and all the records they have of other worlds ended up lost, how would you get off the planet and travel the universe, especially since you cannot harness the power of electricity?”

  Daku turned his head forward as Megdline answered “It would be exceedingly difficult, but not impossible. I hope to one day be allowed to travel the stars, but it
is a rare honor if the dragons allow it. Many scholars in the magical classes also asked the same question and the Rex Gralla, a powerful female dragon of Blind Mountains told us what we could do in such an eventuality. First, we would have to understand their complex writing system of over four thousand letters and set up a spell for a likely planet to visit. Even for their frontier scouts, it takes over a century to first locate a likely planet, send spells and hope to find the correct sequence of letters that designate the planet’s location in space. The complexities of doing such a skill is the most difficult subject there ever will be. For dragons who are older, wiser and stronger than any human and they still find expansion throughout the cosmos difficult. It will be thousands of times harder for us.”

  Science and physics were always fun to learn, almost as fun as fighting. “Just how old is the dragon race? For that matter, how old are humans?”

  She smiled. “That would have been one of the first things you would have learned in Twilight, as a child student. To ours and their knowledge, dragons as a sentient species with written history are nearly six billion years old and humans evolved around three or four million years ago.”

  “SIX BILLION?” Cage shouted in complete surprise. Turning all alert heads in his direction. Two under a spell continued to slumber. He calmed himself and apologized for startling everyone. “How old is this universe again? How old is that sun? How long will the universe survive before all the stars die out?”

  “Contain yourself… Relax.” Megdline chuckled, finally and truly surprising the warlock before her.

  “Thirty two billion. For some of those other answers, you will need to speak with a dragon elder willing to divulge such knowledge for it has been many years since I’ve studied all you are asking.” Megdline smiled serenely. “All I can remember is that the dragons worked great magic when they first explored the universe in which we reside. Our universe in close to thirty two billion years old and will never die because mana and mass seem to be intimately connected and can be recycled. When the stars are ready to die, if we want, we can use spells as dragons have done and turn mass into mana which would, in the course of several million years, naturally revert back into physical substance as it first was and start all over again. So long as life can use mana to shape magic, this universe shall never truly die. It will merely be reprocessed. And before you ask, no I know very little of astronomy and haven’t really studied the subject as I obviously should have. But for the galactic dangers all around us, the dragons implanted spells into the world itself to protect it from disaster.”

  Cage had to lay back from the torrent of information seeking a place within his mind. As a kid he always feared the universe would die when he learned it would, but here it seemed the dragons were more awesome than he knew. Converting matter into mana and changing it back would be quite the task.

  “Make us invisible quickly, Cage!” Daku suddenly commanded and Cage jumped to immediately throw up an encompassing shield all around Daku and made its properties shift light to pass through. Once he completed the spell he looked forward to find his Familiar’s eagle-like head aimed to the west and facial settings appeared tense.

  The abruptness of the situation was completely unexpected. First getting the bomb dropped of the incredible age of an entire species, the current universe’s versatility and being able to bypass the laws of light speed and distance by teleportation with a spell and then to have those heavy thoughts vanish with those few and direct words. Small dots appeared in his vision because if the immense draw to the diamonds, the shield that protected them from the bitter cold and strong wind and now cloaking them. Cage gritted his teeth to sustain the spells while Frill leapt and scrambled up to stand on top of Daku’s head. “What is it?” Cage heard Frill ask.

  “Two wyverns spotted me, but they have a person on them.” Daku said. “Megdline, do a spell to contain my scent. If they get it, it won’t matter if we are cloaked. They will be able to track us and I cannot fight with all of you on my back… Sean, Lanna, Zatal, all of you gather around the two sleeping females incase they get too close and there be no alternative but to fight.”

  Megdline stood with Cage as he focused solely on the three tasks and would only tap into the diamonds as a last resort. The sorceress worked her magic to add a shield around them to trap all miniscule particles except those of air. Frill ran back down to say “It’s the wyvern riders.”

  “The what?” Cage asked, uncertain of what he heard.

  Megdline looked off in the direction the griffin glared. “I’m done, Daku!”

  “Everyone hold onto my fur and don’t let go!” They did and he heard Brooke and Moril get taken out of their slumber, likely by Megdline. The two didn’t get a chance to talk as Megdline ordered them to stay low and grip his fur tightly. When he heard the woman say they were ready, Daku beat his long wings and quadrupled his speed. The griffin pumped his muscles hard and struggled to outdistance the pair of approaching fire breathing lizards while trying to not throw off those holding on. He found a thick cloud below flashing up a storm and angled towards it. He dove into the heart of the cloud and beneath it to get into the raincloud and hoping to not get hit by lightning. Daku’s powerful wings began a steady and speedy rhythm as he shot his large body through the loud and angry storm. His movements didn’t allow those riding to speak. Free for the moment while shooting ahead, Daku said “Cage, stop the invisibility.”

  The moment he did, darkness from overexertion took away consciousness. Megdline and the others were hit hard by the wind, rain and thunder when he no longer could maintain the simple parting spell. The sorceress acted fast and reestablished the shield, but not before getting drenched. Zatal saw his chief’s limp form begin to slip on the slicked fur. He timed his move the moment between each wing beat and grabbed a firm hold on Cage and pulled him closer. Zatal supported his leader’s large body, but the wetness made doing so difficult.

  Daku flew hard, too afraid for his partner and companions to fight back. He couldn’t justify fighting when they weren’t ready. He had to rely on an inner eyelid to protect his eyes from the deluge of rain or be forced to blink every second. He flew faster than those wyverns ever could, but couldn’t risk being seen in a clear direction. Thankfully the rainclouds were extensive and he could fly freely.

  In ten minutes, Cage recovered in an unfocused state and simply held on to a patch of fur while Zatal kept an iron grip on him should the worst happen and he pass out again. To help deal with the headache, he put his face down in wet fir and breathed slow and deep.

  Daku slowly began to rise as he reached the edge of the clouds fifteen minutes later. He carefully peeked above the clouds to say “They are circling around where we entered the clouds, but are looking the wrong way. We need to settle down somewhere till they leave the area.” He then flew low and landed in a thick copse of trees to shrink to half his current size and disappeared beneath the canopy. “Is everyone alright?”

  Cage sat with his back against a tree while Brooke and Moril were over a ways, throwing up after the experience. He said “What just happened back there. Frill, you said wyvern riders. What did that mean?”

  The large cat looked to Megdline to explain so everyone could hear. She accepted the task. “It is as the name implies. Here in the Laqura Empire, Empress Vika has a small group comprised of second class and above sorcerers who solely dedicate themselves into taming wyverns from the moment they hatch from the clutch. It is difficult and dangerous work, but the wyvern riders are the most dangerous weapon the empire has. They cannot use the wyverns in war because the dragons would involve themselves, but so long as the riders stay within their borders, they are free to keep law in the empire. There are less than a hundred riders, but since we passed Bepop not long ago it is not surprising a wyvern rider had come. I’m surprised there were two and they spotted us.”

  “Are they Familiars?” He had to ask.

  “Most certainly not. If they were it would be an entirely di
fferent situation, one we wouldn’t be able to avoid. Think of them more like big, angry warhorses who have meaner riders guiding them… I wonder how they found us. We were so high and far from Bepop.” Megdline tapped her chin. “We couldn’t have been seen by magic. The spells to prevent it are still in place.”

  “Wyvern eyes are sharp like mine.” Daku said, walking closer to lay down in a thick patch of dry grass. “They must have seen me and the humans had them follow their instincts to hunt an unknown prey. The humans likely wouldn’t have been able to see me for what I am from so far away, even if magic enhanced their vision. Enough questions for a few hours. They should be gone in an hour. Rest, all of you.”

  He didn’t need to repeat the order. The flight was hard on them all.

  At noon, the clouds cleared and Daku’s scan of the sky concluded that the wyverns and their riders had left the area. Because of their last experience, Brooke and Moril chose to wear a blindfold because sleeping turned out to be too great a risk now. Daku chose to fly higher than last time and much faster to make up lost ground. Megdline chose to erect a stronger barrier and forego channeling her mana into her topaz since she already had so much stored. Cage was the one who needed to put away more. He wasn’t the kind of person who’s pride is hurt when others help. He had to rest after all.

  Thankfully the rest of the day went without incident.

  The very next afternoon Daku said “Eeroan is near.” Those words had everyone looking at him as he spun his supple neck around. “Gather round between my wings. I must get smaller before we descend.” Brooke took Sean’s hand and held him close while they walked with the others. Cage stood in the back and watched as Daku began to quickly shrink from over a hundred feet in length to about twenty. The griffin couldn’t fly with so many in this size, but he could glide. His warlock put up an invisibility spell as they glided steadily lower.