Sensing the moment was ripe when the strong tingle of magic exploded, Cage and the group stopped. He turned to see the blue flames launching for the startled Lanna.
Before the combat colored fire reached the female warrior, Cage lifted a hand and captured the fireballs halfway to their destination. The pair exploded safely within the spheres and were snuffed out. The trio stared dumbfounded at what happened and before they could speak Cage stepped between Lanna and the three. In a calm and casual voice he said “You dare to attack my slave with so many witnesses? It seems my arrival to Eeroan truly was required after all. You foolish children forget your place. You are never allowed to deal punishment to another’s slave without the expressed permission of me, her owner. To use magic against my slave is tantamount to attacking me, Young Man. Apologize to me for stalling my progress. While you are at it, tell me your teacher so you can receive proper punishment for attempting to kill my slave.”
The three magically summoned their staffs to a hand and held it at the ready. The crude one who shot fire smirked “And just who do you think you are to tell us what to do? Move aside so I can teach your slave a lesson she’ll never forget.” The crowd became intrigued and fearful while gathering closer and watching everything in the center of a busy street. Three or four other mages stood and watched along with a half dozen guards and slavers.
Cage’s calm and bored expression suddenly showed some mild excitement. He did something he hadn’t done before in such a tense situation, Cage looked away from the trio and down at Megdline. “Young One, I’m here to see how the dark magic classes are being handled, correct?” Megdline casually inclined her head. “Then this will be a prime opportunity to test the youngsters and see if they have made any progress. They wish to deal punishment for their own inadequacies against my slave for standing in my way, but this will give me a good idea how these children are learning… Please take my slaves aside and put up a shield to protect them and my son.”
“Of course, Lord Ceembua.” Megdline answered and gestured for Frill and the Utala to move away and do as Cage coolly impressed her yet again. He seemed far older than he looked and she could swear he wasn’t pretending, if she didn’t know him so well. Her grey eyes made sure Sean held Brooke’s hand while the priestess casually laid her free hand on a shiny tomahawk.
Cage looked around to stare at the robed individuals meaningfully. “You four children, will you combine your power to protect the crowd? Oh, and be sure to watch and learn how a true dark master teaches.”
The three became somewhat sobered at realizing that only they and a green robed mage stood alone. They looked at their numbers against one man not even carrying a staff and seemed so casual, as if he was merely taking a stroll. They, and the one called Lord Ceembura could feel magic being worked by others to protect the crowd. The one with the most uncertain expression said “We only want the whore who assaulted us first.”
“Not going to happen, Young Man. She was doing as I told her to do and keep vagrants from bothering me and my son. You weren’t watching where you were going and as she is my slave who did as I said, she’ll not be punished. You forget your place and the laws in which we are part of. Before I retire for the evening, I demand to see the quality of your training. I will rip out your souls if you refuse, but if you manage to kill me, you can have her. My son though will inherit the others if you somehow manage to succeed.” In the fading sunlight, the shadows and whispers from the crowd gave a cold and creepy atmosphere. Cage crossed his arms to bore his penetrating black eyes on the three. “Come now, quit delaying. You know the alternative. Being a dark practitioner has risks, this is one of them. Show me the fruits of your studies.”
The mages couldn’t believe what had happened so quickly. The calmness of the green robed mage gave them a chill they hadn’t felt in a long time. The quality and the promise in his voice gave little doubt he could do it. The most arrogant of them smiled and stole a glance at the savage who touched him with filthy slave hands to say “Fine! I’ll kill you. I want her to suffer!” He looked to his buddies. “Come on boys, let us enjoy this.” He closed his eyes and a few seconds later came a blue light seven feet off the ground and out came an owl which landed on his shoulder. The other two summoned their Familiars too, one being a lean Doberman and the other a goat. The leader looked to the green robed mage to say “Where’s your Familiar?”
“He’s too big to play with us.” Cage smiled. Daku held still in the pocket, but Cage could feel the griffin shaking, trying not to laugh.
“Kill him!” The leader ordered the Familiars as he and the other two began working magic.
Cage put up a relatively strong barrier when the goat head-butted it with the force of a half ton battering-ram. The large attack dog tried striking from a different angle to run teeth first into a barrier. The owl ineffectively attacked from above, making loud crashing sounds with the other two Familiars. He could feel Daku wanting out and to teach the Familiars a lesson, but stayed hidden. Each hit drew more mana to maintain the barrier, but Cage could sustain such an attack for an hour before tiring.
The problem came when the trio of mages began sending magic.
The road beneath his feet began to churn, but Cage learned how to slam his own spell on top of a current one to negate it. The ground turned black and still. Ice sickles from a bucket of water that had been frozen was launched with a piercing green spell, Cage sensed this with his own magic and his wards spun his barrier a moment before the projectile hit and was redirected. Cage altered the sharp ice sickle’s path and speared the man’s goat, making it bleat out “Fuuuuck, It hurrrts!” while the leader sent breaking spells wrapped in blue fire to destroy Cage’s shield and incinerate him. Cage meanwhile used magic to jerk the owl out of the air and put it in the path of his partner’s own spell.
“Such spells are too easily taught.” Cage said in an unimpressed manner as the bird’s flaming feathers were put out by his surprised master. “You came here to learn the dark arts. Use your strongest spell or I’ll really have to replace the Arch Magister and expel you three who do not take your studies seriously.”
“WHAT?!” One of them shrieked as the Familiars backed off after all heard such a declaration. “The Arch Magister… He’s been the teacher for nine hundred years.”
“Is that all?” Cage wondered with a smile while acting aloof. “If you speak of age then I’ve been a dark sorcerer for two thousand and eleven years.” The three men dropped their jaws at such a statement and couldn’t sense any falsehood. Cage laughed on the inside. Ha, I haven’t been working magic for a year idiots. He thought and laughed internally. “Now show me something good.” Shakily, the leader removed an eerily glowing gem the size of a pea which Cage knew immediately what it was.
The gemstone was a dull pink, but it glowed and pulsed as if something inside fought to get out. Even from twenty feet away and without using magic to feel out the extra sensory way, Cage could sense a trapped spirit imprisoned within. After all the talks with Frill and Megdline, Cage learned the basics from what little she researched. For necromancers, to bind a spirit they are placed and locked within a soul gem while the caster inflicts pain to the spirit’s body with magic, tearing it until the spirit can no longer experience anything except pain and a way to be released of it. A ghost would be in pain for eternity until it completed its task and would be relentless, no longer itself. When the task is complete though, the ghost can no longer return to being a spirit and simply becomes nothing to end its pain. The crueler the torture, the more dangerous the ghost. But to affect the physical realm, the ghost is released to be bound, usually within a primary element.
Such is the case for what happens next.
The cruel mage placed a hand over the gem and used a series of spells to safely extract a howling green ghost that had the crowd covering their ears. Some fled, expecting to be cursed, but only the stronger mages could clearly see the ghost spiraling around to take a form, but unable to because o
f what the obnoxious man did. “Pain… so much!!! End it!!!” The male sounding ghost billowed in agony. The mage conjured a powerful blue flame and stuck it in the center of the green apparition and bound the ghost with flame that would forever burn as it drew power from the ghost. It howled louder and everyone could now see the blue, writhing flames burning hot enough to melt sand. Only the barriers stood as protection from the deadly blaze.
The man who bound, tortured and transformed a spirit into a ghost angrily commanded “Kill him to end the pain!” and pointed at the green robed mage before him.
Cage kept his expression bored, but inside his blood boiled at the thought of the inhuman torture a spirit had been subjected to after dying already. Just the cruel thought to harm the harmless just because you can made him angry and want to enjoy killing anyone who took pleasure in turning spirits into ghosts. He fought with everything he had to not grin as he watched a necromancer in action, setting a ghost on fire and send it on a task.
The moment the angry, ten foot writhing flame was sent on a duty and flew right at him, Cage felt the change. Like what happened before in Frozen Forest, the unexplainable feeling blossomed within Cage. It fortified him like adrenaline, but instead of strengthening the physical, it powered what could not be touched by the flesh. In the otherworldly and commanding voice Cage demanded “Enough!” The ghost consumed in flames stopped dead in his tracks. It went silent along with everyone else who felt his words hold them silently in place. Before the crowd and mages, Cage sent his spells to rip all that bound the inferno and fueled it from the ghost. The task was simpler now that he understood the concepts of what he had done when pulling the wind and debris from the tornado-like spell applied to a small girl’s ghost. In a moment the flames were extinguished without a fuel source.
Without the physical force binding the ghost, Cage extended his hands and let the feeling within guide the spell. A black mist shot from his palms and bonded to the green mist of the ghost’s form. The blackness began tugging and forcibly pulling the marring done back together like a jigsaw puzzle. The blackness slowly healed and the flood of magic was too much to sustain without help so Cage tapped into a diamond and increased the speed and power of gathering. In moments the swirling green ghost assembled into the form of a man covered in darkness. The sickly green coloring healed into a soft whiteness of a healthy spirit once again. Cage this time remained conscious and felt when the spell ran its course. He remained calm and absorbed just a bit more from his diamonds to diminish the headache and stopped. The newly healed spirit went to say something, but before the plan could be ruined Cage commanded in the inhuman, ethereal voice “Depart and join the other spirits immediately!”
The spirit’s eyes widened as it couldn’t disobey and vanished completely.
In the following silence, the feeling, instinct or whatever it could be called, slowly dissipated before leaving entirely. Cage retained a calm, bored expression as he dropped his shield and felt the full force of heat that lingered. The ground between them gave the mirage of waving like water due to the heat. It would take some time before the section of street cooled. He said “Not bad, but I expected more. Off with you, my journey has been long and an old man needs his rest.” He yawned and turned his back on the stunned crowed and approached Megdline and the others. He simply gestured with his hands and the others surrounded him as if this were any other day.
As they pushed through the crowd and headed towards the Quiet Dove. In a few easy seconds they stood at the open double doors while hearing the crowd whisper behind their backs. People moved widely aside as they entered the wonderful smelling and clean establishment.
Behind them they heard “Welcome to the Quiet Dove, Lord Ceembura.”
They turned to see a portly, well dressed man with a groomed beard and mustache. His eyes looked only to Cage who smiled kindly, knowing the plan was working splendidly. The owner had seen everything since it happened just outside and went to see what the commotion is all about. Cage said “It is good to be back here after so long.” He dug in a pocket and withdrew his coin bag, half full of rocks. “I will be requiring your finest room with five beds, a hot bath for us all and a filling meal. How much will it cost.”
“I’ll not even take a copper.” The man stated confidently and walked behind a counter. “Though I’ve never heard of you before this evening, I can tell you are a great man of importance. After that demonstration I know when a mage of great power is in my inn and I get the great honor. In exchange for the meal, room and baths I ask you to keep humbling those worthless mages who bully decent folk. Give my slaves a minute to drag a few beds into a room first… We’ll call it even. How long will your stay be, My Lord?”
“Unclear. I have business with the Arch Magister in the morning. We shall see what happens afterwards.”
The proprietor withdrew a key and whistled. Three slaves in finer clothes stepped into the reception and dining room. “Prepare our finest feast for Lord Ceembura and his company… uh, my lord, what about your slaves?”
“They will reside in the room with me, my son and my aid.” He placed a hand on Megdline’s shoulder. “They keep the unwanted away and I treat them with respect. They also eat what I do so do not give them slop.”
“Nothing except the finest here, My Lord.” The owner stated. He gave the key to Moril before saying to his slaves “Prepare baths for the lord and the others as well. Also take beds from other rooms and have five in one. They are our most welcome guests, make sure they are treated as such.” The slaves left to get started.
One came down five minutes later and led them all up the stairs.
On the top floor the slave left after pointing the door. Moril managed to unlock the door on her first try and Zatal and Lanna entered the massive room to check everything out before allowing anyone to enter. When all seemed in order Cage and the rest slipped inside and locked the door. The room was lavish and had soft carpet running across the ground. Five large beds were against the wall and a fireplace sat in the corner with ready logs. Cage effortlessly started a fire to give light to the dark room. Zatal went over to the window door and stepped out on a balcony to look down at the city streets where a crowd lingered and continued discussing what happened. Cage felt movement at his hip when Daku emerged and grew to the size of a housecat to look discretely out over the balcony in the rapidly darkening city.
Exhausted, Cage dropped face first into the soft bed and sighed. Megdline made a simple spell to prevent eavesdropping to sit down as well. “I cannot believe it actually worked!” She laughed. “Dimwit, you did it again! For a few moments I was afraid it wouldn’t work. You told us what we were doing, but not why.”
“Oh…” He chuckled as he rolled onto his side. “That’s easy. You said its unheard of to heal a ghost and return them to a spirit. Back there” He pointed to the balcony where Zatal and Daku looked out. “I needed to show actual necromancers something they’ve never seen before and to grossly exaggerate my age to give the impression that I’ve come across a way to do what you said is impossible and do it in a crowd where my notoriety will spread like wildfire. Utilizing the mannerisms and speech patterns of an older and wiser man is far too easy. It seems like they respect the darker parts of magic and to do what I did would make everything I said seem truthful. If age for mages is a good thing, a sign of respect, then if in all my supposed years I stumbled across a secret of necromancy, it would be best to give a demonstration.”
“What a way to do just that.” She laughed.
“Dad, you’ve gotten stronger.” Sean noted as he sat on the bed beside Cage.
“So are you with knife skills.” Cage put Sean in a headlock and gave him a playful wrestle. Sean giggled and managed to free himself before tackling his dad and play-fought for a minute. Cage moved just so to let Sean win the match.
Brooke smiled as she watched her men play after feeling worried the plan wouldn’t succeed. She soon hugged them both together, kissed Sean on the forehead
and her mate on the lips.
Daku glided off the balcony rail to land on the bed beside his partner. “The plan is working, Cage. All of the mages who stood around could only talk about returning a ghost into a spirit and hurried off to the castle to tell their instructors of what you did. They will be curious and be waiting for our morning arrival.”
“They won’t wait.” Cage stated. “Someone who can heal a ghost will make them too curious to use formality and draw out a few of the upper class necromancers. If their anything like Twilight learning I’m a warlock, healing a ghost will bring their intellectual curiosity to their forefront and disregard their usual traits. They’ll send someone tonight.”
“If there is a problem, do your diamonds have enough to fight?” Daku asked.
“I used maybe a tenth of what I’ve pumped in back there. It was difficult, but I could put up a decent fight for awhile.” Cage admitted.
“That was fast, they are coming with the baths.” Megdline abruptly said as she put spells to warn when others approached down the hall.
Daku took two bags in his hands and dove under the bed to hide behind them so if someone peeked under, he would be well hidden. Just as he settled down there came a knock and a jumbled voice because Megdline hadn’t canceled her spell to disrupt words. She stopped and watched Zatal return with a knife gripped in his hand and still stained with blood. He approached the door, unlocked it and peeked out to confirm it was a team of twenty slaves carrying seven, thin wooden tubs, soap, linen and the rest carrying steaming hot water. He opened the door to let them do their task. Cage had only one gold left and handed it over as a tip to the surprised slave.
When the slaves left and the door locked everyone stripped down and submerged themselves in the relaxing hot water. All of them groaned in the bliss of a good, hot bath. Daku crawled into the water with Cage like Frill did with his partner. Daku leaned his back and wings across Cage’s chest and let the hot water seep into the body and relieve sore muscles. Zatal started snoring while soaking and it received a laugh from everyone. Sean followed his friend’s deep breathing exercises and was allowed to stay till the water cooled. The rest soaped and rinsed to feel like new people. When the water got cold, Brooke picked up her son who remained sound asleep and placed him on a linen on the bed and let him sleep.
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 54