by Delmire Hart
Barkley hummed in response, not really paying attention as he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Barkley awoke to discover that, as per usual, he had kicked all the blankets off in his sleep. The only difference was that this time he was naked and perfectly warm even without the covering. After a quick stretch, he sat up and looked around. The curtains were still drawn around the huge bed, blocking most of the light. His muscles ached pleasantly as he crawled to pull one of the curtains back to get a proper look at the room he was in.
Elegant pieces of furniture decorated the room; drawers, chairs, a desk. They were all masterfully crafted with delicate appearances. This had to be Zaxor’s bedroom, the fancy furniture seemed like things the demon would like. Barkley could almost imagine the room belonging to a human noble but for the strange materials everything was crafted from. The colours were off; black, red, purple, white. Barkley had never seen wood or stone in such varied and vibrant colours. He wondered if they were made from materials found in the demon plane or if they were brought from other realms entirely.
Carefully, to avoid stretching his abused muscles too much, Barkley pulled himself from the comfortable bed. He quickly located his clothing in a neat pile on a comfortable looking armchair. Usually the temperature would force him to hurry to dress on all but the hottest of days, but here the air was warm enough that he was comfortable, yet not so hot as to be unpleasant.
Was it magic or just the temperature of the demon plane? He had felt nothing other than comfortable the last few times he had been here as well. It was such a perfect level of warmth that Barkley hadn’t even spared a thought to the weather here until now. Were there seasons like in the human realm? Did it rain or snow? Or was it always like this, temperate and bright?
The door opened when Barkley was still part way through putting his clothing back on and a tall, imposing man swept through holding a large silver tray. Nearly all his hair was steely grey but for wings of pure white at his temples. While his face was lined with age, he stood upright with his back straight, a power that belied his apparent age in his steps. His eyes were piercing and seemed to see right through Barkley to his innermost failures. The sheer intensity in his gaze had the young man frozen on the spot like a quivering prey animal about to get eaten alive.
“Good, you’re awake.” The man’s voice was surprisingly warm when compared to his severe expression. “Zaxor thought you might want food before you head back to the human plane, as it is late enough there that you have missed dinner.”
Right on cue the demon popped into existence on the chair next to the one holding Barkley’s robe. The wide, fiendish smirk caused heat to flood to Barkley’s cheeks, but he ignored it in favour of looking over the tray the older man sat down on a small elegantly carved table between his chair and Zaxor’s. It was covered in what appeared to be fruits and breads, though he recognised none of them.
“Barkley, allow me to introduce Frederick Iron-Eyes. He was my first human contract and one of the most esteemed mages in human history. Well, until a few hundred years ago when they burned all his research,” Zaxor added, voice dripping with disdain.
It was easy to see how the mage had earned his name; his expression was as steely as before and his eyes were the heart of the intensity. Frederick sighed, equal parts sadness and acceptance in his posture.
“It has been many lifetimes since I last visited the human plane; long enough that this is my home now. It is none of my concern what the Circle does now.” He turned to face Barkley more fully, giving a small half-bow of respect. “I run the fortress and direct the staff here as needed, let me know if there is anything you need while you are here.”
“He’s my self-appointed steward and sometimes butler,” Zaxor interjected, earning himself a long-suffering glance.
“As I’m sure Bel will soon discover, eventually you reach a point when you need something more than just self-interest to keep going. I have spent lifetimes researching and written countless books on my findings, most sitting in the fortress’s library untouched. Nowadays, I prefer the more active role of running the fortress. Although, speaking of the library, I heard you like books?”
“I do!” Barkley exclaimed, perking up at the familiar subject before faltering. “Um, not books on research or anything. I like stories mainly, I read to relax.”
Frederick, who had an air of polite interest before, suddenly stepped forward, his entire body conveying nothing but overwhelming enthusiasm. His gaze was just as uncomfortably intense as before, though now it was full of passion.
“Finally, a fellow reader! As interesting as books on theory and findings are, they are rather dull reading. I much prefer a good novel to sit down with in the evenings. In my spare time I tend to the large library here; I can recommend you a number of excellent authors! I even translated a few Althulean tales of adventure so I could discuss them with János, but he avoids me like a disease.”
He wilted at the end, clearly upset at his efforts being for naught. Zaxor hummed thoughtfully as he reached over to grab a slice of an odd looking purple fleshed fruit. It occurred to Barkley that this was the first time he’d seen the demon eat, other than when he’d sucked him off, that is. The memory of that erotic little scene caused the heat in his cheeks to increase to a fiery burn and he reached out to pull on his simple mage robe to distract himself.
Sitting on the puffy armchair next to the tray of food, Barkley cast an eye over the selection with trepidation. He honestly didn’t recognise a single item. Even what seemed to be bread was oddly coloured, a strange yellow on one large loaf while another flat loaf was a pale greenish and dotted with dark seeds.
“I’m told you are Rilian,” Frederick said, interrupting his perusal. “I myself hale from Brantis, far to the southeast of Rilia, on the edge of the continent. Being of a more tropical climate, I grew up with a larger variety of fruits than you would have seen, but I tried to pick some that you might be familiar with. Here we have apple, pear, and cherries.”
They certainly didn’t look like the fruit Barkley had seen with the same name. The slices of apple had a too red skin, and the inside was almost orange instead of the pale yellow he was used to. The pear and cherries were also far too brightly coloured.
“Magic infuses everything in the demon plane,” Zaxor said, pulling Barkley’s attention back to him. “We grow plants from the human plane here, but they change when exposed to magic in the air, soil, and water. They might look different, but you’ll find they taste far superior to anything you’ve ever eaten.”
The demon was smug, as though he was personally responsible for the quality of the platter, but Barkley ignored him in favour of braving a slice of apple. The apple was the perfect blend of crunch and juice, and he gasped around his mouthful as the flavour hit his tongue. It was sweet, but not overly so, and absolutely delicious. All qualms over the odd colours vanished in the face of their taste.
“The plants aren’t the only thing the magic changes,” Zaxor continued as he grabbed some flat bread for himself. “You’ll find your need for food and sleep are warped while exposed to the high concentration of magic in the air here. Even if you aren’t hungry now, you should eat or you’ll regret it when we return to the human realm.”
Barkley nodded as he sampled each of the fruits on offer. Frederick rattled off the names and places each of the fruits originated from, but Barkley couldn’t keep track of so many new names. Finally done with the fruit, he moved on to the odd pale green flat bread.
“Ah, that’s a new Althulean recipe I was hoping would cheer János up, but it seemed to have the opposite effect,” Frederick commented with a sigh. “I even had the forestkin grow all the ingredients here.”
“You seem to be putting a lot of effort into reaching out to him,” Barkley observed in between mouthfuls.
The bread was dense and packed full of seeds and nuts. It was a welcome change from the sweet fruits.
“I gave him his spac
e for a long time; it can be a difficult change for many people, but I cannot do nothing after seeing him in such a state. Unfortunately, he seems to avoid me the most of everyone.”
Barkley remembered Zaxor’s comments about János and how his wings reflected his state of mind. He could understand how hard it would be to leave your life behind only to come to this strange place, knowing it was forever. When his own time came, Barkley knew it would be hard to say goodbye, but his reason for forging the contract in the first place held some of the despair away. Why had János accepted the contract? Perhaps the reason would explain why he was struggling. Maybe like Bel, he held regrets he struggled to let go of.
“Can I meet him?” Barkley ventured, looking over at the demon hopefully. It would be a good chance to look around the place in which he was going to spend the rest of his time.
“You’re like a child, desperate to grow up and not appreciating the present.” Zaxor’s tail whipped out to flick him squarely in the forehead. “You will have time enough for that later. Right now, you have your own problems. If you’re finished eating, you need to return to the human plane lest they miss you.”
Barkley rubbed the slightly stinging spot on his head ruefully. He had been intentionally ignoring the prospect of returning to Loria; dealing with the mage academy was becoming tedious. But, it was what he needed to do.
“There’s not much about the present to appreciate,” he grumbled, aware that he even sounded like a child now. “I’m stuck at the stupid academy while there is a war raging on, threatening to take even more of my family away!”
“You aren’t yet a mage?” Frederick asked, looking taken aback.
Barkley snorted derisively and crossed his arms in a huff. “No, and I don’t even want to be one. But I need a mage license to join the army as something higher than just front-line fodder. What’s the point of going through all this hassle to get a contract only to be treated like a pawn for the higher ups? I don’t know much about the military, but I don’t want to leave my family’s safety to chance.”
“You seem awfully surprised, Frederick, considering only half my contracted humans are mages,” Zaxor commented idly as he helped himself to more of the strange flat bread.
“Do you even need to eat?” Barkley blurted out the thought, not even realising he had spoken aloud until Zaxor turned to give him an amused look. “I, err, well. Humans obviously do but…”
“Technically no.” The demon didn’t seem the least bit disturbed by the sudden change of topic or Barkley’s stammered attempt to explain himself. “But there are benefits to doing so beyond enjoying the pleasure of eating. We demons run on magical energy, and food grown in the demon plane is full of latent magic absorbed during growth here. Eating and sleeping aren’t necessary, but they greatly speed up the regeneration of our magic.”
Barkley took a moment to absorb the new information, filing it away with all the tidbits he knew about Zaxor. “Does it matter that I’m eating this food if it’s so magical?”
“Being in the demon plane, especially for extended periods of time, does affect humans. There is magical energy in the very air here and your body is slowly absorbing it. That’s why your perception of time and bodily needs change. The magic fuels your body in place of food and sleep; it’s why your body crashes when you return to the human plane, where there is no magic to help sustain your body, and it all catches up to you. Eating food with magical energy will mean that you retain that magic within your body longer when you return to the human plane. It will keep you full but help ease you over until you can take care of your bodily needs normally.”
“I have come to the conclusion that I have not been asking you nearly enough questions over the years,” Frederick said ruefully to Zaxor after a moment of silence. “It occurs to me that rather than finding out that information through trial and error, I should have just asked. I suppose that’s what years of solitary research does to you though. It truly never crossed my mind that anyone else would have the answers to my inane questions.”
“Ah, but learning about the demon plane and its idiosyncrasies was what kept you going those first few years,” Zaxor replied with a smirk. “The researcher in you needed an outlet and there was one right there. But if you still find you have questions, I’m happy to point you in the right direction.”
Frederick turned to raise his eyebrows at Barkley. “I hope you realise what you are getting yourself into with this one, he’s far more cunning than he lets on.”
It took Barkley a moment to realise that Frederick knew they were sleeping together, something that was probably obvious considering he had been sleeping naked in the demon’s bed. Well, that was one thing Barkley knew already. He was certain he could trust Zaxor, for the big things at least, but everything else was a mystery he might never solve. Not that it mattered; he would take things as they came.
“Now, if you are done, you need to be getting back to the human plane.”
Zaxor stood, stretching languidly. Even his tail stiffened out straight as though those muscles were also being stretched. Honestly, Zaxor’s tail seemed to almost be a separate entity, so it was almost amusing to see it work in sync with the rest of the demon’s body.
There was no further warning and no chance to say goodbye to Frederick. One moment he was sitting in an armchair in Zaxor’s fancy room, the next he was sitting alone on his bed, his sparsely furnished room seeming lacking in comparison.
Chapter Seventeen
Nine days was all it took for the Headmaster to cave in to repeated demands from the teachers and agree to let Barkley take the mage test early. The young man was bored to tears of memorising the theory and practising creating magelights. By day five all three teachers had barred him from their classes and he was left to spend his time as he saw fit. Which was mostly spending time in the library with Max studying or practising magic outside where he couldn’t do too much damage if something went wrong.
He learnt that lesson very quickly after accidentally setting his curtains on fire, along with the lesson about concentration while practising magic. Zaxor had come to the rescue but had yet to miss an opportunity to tease him about it, of course.
Barkley would have been in better humour about his circumstance if it wasn’t for the pressure of time passing them by while he idled away his days. Each day he stagnated here increased his frustration, and he struggled to remain optimistic.
But finally, it was time to start moving again. Now that the Headmaster had given in, everything was moving at breakneck speed. They had given him no warning about the decision, he’d only found out when Maria came to fetch him. There was a long stone room built into the middle of the academy where all the practical mage tests were carried out, along with demonstrations by full mages to explain or test current magical theories. It was tucked in behind the grand entranceway, and a long stone staircase on one end of the room provided seating for any wishing to watch.
There were more people sitting along the seats than Barkley had ever seen around the academy. The class he was supposed to be learning with, the teachers, Max, and a number of older faces all stared out at him with a mix of interest and disdain. In front of them all stood Headmaster Archibald, looking impatient. It seemed like Barkley had been the last one to find out what was happening today.
“Finally!” he snapped, then huffed as Barkley cautiously approached, Maria leaving him to join the others. “You’d think after all your demands you’d at least show up on time for your exams!”
Barkley bit back a retort, it’s not like he knew what was going on, and instead whispered for his demon. Zaxor appeared beside him almost immediately and grinned widely upon looking around. Murmurs of surprise met his arrival, and Barkley wondered just how many of the mages hadn’t believed he’d managed to contract a demon other than an imp.
“Oh, how interesting,” Zaxor drawled, tail swishing in large arcs behind him. He seemed interested, even excited for what was about to happen. It surprised B
arkley, he had expected boredom or annoyance from Zaxor. After all, this test would be nothing short of trivial for the powerful demon.
“First, we will run through a series of basic tests to ensure you have both the understanding and control of magic,” the headmaster drawled, annoyance clear in his tone and posture as he very purposefully avoided looking at Zaxor. “Once that is complete, you will sit the theory components under Lucille’s guidance. If you complete all tasks given to you, you will be awarded the title of ‘Mage’ and be released from your class duties.”
Barkley nodded, not trusting in his voice to reply levelly. Irritation at all the delays and unnecessary pomp coupled with relief of finally getting this over and done with, a combination that would most likely end up with him saying something stupid or snapping at the Headmaster.
“If you are in agreement, then we shall begin.” Archibald seemed to enjoy standing in the spotlight, as he intoned each word with superfluous pomp. “The first test is very simple; a magelight. The most basic and useful of all magical crafts.”
Without hesitation, Barkley raised the hand with the black rune etched into his finger and wordlessly summoned a dozen magelights of various sizes above him. A murmur of surprise ran through the gathered crowd, and even the headmaster looked taken aback for a moment before he smoothed his expression. Satisfaction bloomed in Barkley’s chest. He had spent hours practising casting the magelights and even had Zaxor teach him the trick to non-verbal casting. All the balls of soft light still danced in place; he could not for the life of him work out how to make them stay still, but the effect was impressive. If his quirky dancing lights made it seem like he was showing off, all the better.