Forbidden Arcana: Mirage

by Tamryn Tamer

  “The diplomatic solution would be to hand you over,” Cynthia answered. “They would insist on taking all of your property, including your familiars and this house. Even I would be taken since I am a servant of Queen Ariella who is your familiar. Then, we’d likely be enslaved or executed for our association with you. The fact is, as soon as you became master of Mirage, you declared war.”

  “Now’s probably not the best time for this,” Jericho looked at Mirage. “What did you do anyway?”

  “I thought you didn’t care?” Mirage said nervously. She clearly was uncomfortable talking about it.

  "It’s curiosity at this point,” Jericho grinned.

  “I was really young at the time,” Mirage said defensively. “I’m not proud of what I did. I made a lot of mistakes in my youth. I wasn’t the person I am today. I swear, I’ve changed. You need to understand I was homeless and hungry and there wasn’t a lot of work for non-humans.”

  “Thief or assassin?” Jericho sighed.

  “Assassin,” Mirage mumbled. “But it was a long time ago! I’m not the same person anymore! I know it was wrong but I was young and I was really good at it and then I started getting hired to kill nobles…”

  “I get it,” Jericho said. “It’s fine. About a month ago I literally blew up three fairy elders for being assholes and just the other day I killed an entire city for some books. I’m not going to judge.”

  “Blew up?” Mirage asked.

  “The explosion was huge!” Jinx said reaching for Mirage’s breast again only to get her hand slapped away. “Jericho’s an idiot but he’s strong! He even died and came back to life! Cow! Hag!”

  “What?” Mirage was even more perplexed. “I don’t…”

  “Don’t worry about the specifics,” Terra shook her head. “Anyway, it’s been about four hours. There are a lot of pissed off players but since Dayrose is a safe zone it’s not as though they can make you do anything you don’t want to do. I think they plan on guilting you into leaving.”

  “Do you think I’m going to do that?” Jericho said while counting the enemy troops. At least they were separated into legions making the math easy. Archduke Garlamond and the five lesser noble families had a total of five legions and Grand Prince Thereon was sitting on eight legions for a total of around sixty-five thousand troops. The soldiers belonging to the lesser families would be relatively low level but the ones belonging to the grand prince were likely high-level elites

  “If it were just you, I think you would leave,” Terra sighed. “But since the familiars are in play, you’re going to play it to the bone.”

  “Yup,” Jericho answered while thinking he should have anticipated the situation. He could have tried various transfers of property to mitigate some of the problems, maybe even transferred his familiars somehow. Or he could have tried assassinating the families before acquiring Mirage. But it was too late for what he should have done. “We need help.”

  “We don’t have enough gold,” Terra said. “And we certainly don’t have enough friends. If Thereon wasn’t here we could hire mercenaries and players. It’d bring us close to bankruptcy but we could manage. But Thereon is sitting on forty thousand royal guards, a mercenary isn’t going to put a dent in them.”

  “One high-level player can be worth a hundred royal guards,” Jericho said. “Phoenix, Endgame, Ambrosia, they could take on these armies.”

  “We don’t have enough gold,” Terra said. “They’re not going to help you out of the kindness of their hearts.”

  “I have information,” Jericho said pensively. “Valuable information.”

  “They’re not going to bend over backward to learn how to cast a fireball,” Terra laughed. “It’s a nice thought but…”

  “There are thirteen types of magic,” Jericho said. “Right now, everybody thinks the big secret is casting a giant fireball and spikes from the earth. I’ll offer everything I know.”

  “Everything?” Terra seemed almost swayed. “They still might not go for it.”

  “They will,” Jericho nodded. “I’m going to convince them it’s worth it. Get ready to record a message.”

  For the message, Jericho made sure he looked like a number one mage. He changed into his Seraph Robe, something he never wore because it’d make him a target for every player killer in the game. It was a glowing white legendary robe with elaborate orichalcum pauldrons. He accented the robe with golden gloves and boots crafted from the scales of an emperor dragon.

  “Ready?” Terra asked as Jericho positioned himself in front of Grand Prince Thereon’s army. Jericho nodded and she started recording.

  “I’m sure you’ve already heard about my troubles,” Jericho grinned. “So, I’m going to make this as simple as possible. When the armies surrounding Dayrose village attack, there are two possible outcomes.”

  Jericho created a tiny Dayrose illusion in front of him complete with surrounding armies and him standing on top of his manor.

  “The first possible outcome is they destroy the village and you experience an increase in property value. I imagine many of you are already counting your money,” Jericho said as the tiny army in the illusion crushed and burnt the city to the ground. A few tiny guild masters swam around in gold as the city burned.

  “There is a second possible outcome,” Jericho said creating an illusionary army comprised of soldiers from Endgame, Phoenix, and Ambrosia. “You help crush these armies. I imagine you’re laughing at that suggestion.”

  Jericho focused on Raven and flexed the mysterious muscle at his core. He felt like he’d just grabbed an electric fence. Terra’s eyes went wide as Jericho transformed into Raven laughing happily. He then focused on Loki, the leader of Phoenix and felt the charge again as he transformed while continuing to laugh. Finally, he finished on Sapphire, the azure haired leader of Ambrosia before transforming back to himself.

  “I know, it’s funny,” Jericho laughed. “What could I possibly have to offer that’d offset the millions of gold you’d stand to make if this village is destroyed?”

  Jericho gestured for his familiars to stand by him. Jinx, Ariel, and Mirage rushed to his side as if they were taking a family portrait. Mirage cuddled up to him on the left and Jinx on the right while Ariel floated behind him draping her arms over his shoulders.

  “If you assist me in saving this village,” Jericho grinned as his illusionary army crushed the surrounding forces and dissipated. In its place, different mages began to appear using various elemental magic, creating illusions, and transforming into animals. “I’ll give you all of the information I have regarding magic in Forbidden Arcana. That includes all thirteen types and the importance of these women standing beside me.”

  “That’s the carrot,” Jericho continued. “Here’s the stick, I picked a fight with a grand prince for her,” Jericho nodded toward Mirage. “All she had to do was smile. That’s the type of person I am. Those of you who know me know I don’t think things through. I react. Imagine my reaction if I lose any of these women because you wanted to make some gold. That’s the stick. I look forward to your reply.”

  “Damn,” Terra said. “Did you have to add that last part?”

  “It just felt right,” Jericho said. “And it’ll help with dissenting opinions within their guil…” Jericho suddenly felt extremely weak and fell forward. Jinx and Mirage were quick to catch him before he hit the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” Ariel asked in a panic. “Are you hurt?”

  “Shit,” Terra chimed in. “You look like you’re going to pass out.”

  “He needs food,” Mirage said while she and Jinx carried him to a bench. “Something with a lot of calories like meat, cheese, or cake. Shapeshifting takes a lot of energy and he just did it three times without practice. I’m surprised he hasn’t passed out.”

  “Don’t celebrate yet,” Jericho said as stars appeared. Ariel was already dashing down the stairs. “Still might.”

  “You’ll be fine darling,” Mirage said as s
he sat down next to him. She pulled him toward her and rested his head on one of her large breasts. “I’m right here.”

  “No,” Jinx immediately jumped into the spot on the opposite side and tugged his arm. “I’m right here. Idiot. Moron.”

  “We’re both here,” Mirage smiled lovingly at Jinx which served to aggravate her more. “You’ll be alright once we get some food in you.”

  “I wasn’t expecting this,” Jericho yawned. “I feel so tired.”

  “I have it,” Ariel yelled while flying up with arms full of foods ranging from cupcakes and tubs of frosting to jerky and blocks of cheese. “Will this help?”

  “You did great Ariel,” Mirage said patting her head and taking a tub of frosting. “Do you happen to have a spoon? Never mind.”

  Mirage stuck her finger into the tub of frosting and swirled it around before feeding it to Jericho. Jinx glared enviously and grabbed cupcakes from Ariel before rather forcefully feeding them to him. After a few fingerfuls of frosting and three cupcakes, he started to feel more like himself.

  “Here’s another,” Jinx said grabbing the fourth cupcake she intended to shove in his mouth. “Say Ahh! Glutton! Bastard!”

  “I’m fine,” Jericho said pushing the cupcake away and wishing Ariel had brought something to drink. “I feel much better. Seems as if I’m going to start carrying stacks of chocolate.”

  “That’d be good,” Mirage said while handing him some Jerky. “But also practice regularly and eat constantly.”

  “So,” Terra chimed in. “Message sent to the guild masters and a few of their officers in case they’re not online, now it’s just a matter of waiting. How long do you think before we know their answer?”

  “No idea,” Jericho said. “Hopefully not too long.”

  Chapter 9

  A Series of Arrvials

  It took four hours before they got their first answer. Players from Ambrosia began arriving through the portal in the town square where Cynthia waited to direct them toward the manor. Jericho smiled as Sapphire and her officers marched up the hill toward his house while the others loitered around town.

  “Jericho,” Sapphire smiled eagerly. She’d come ready for battle wearing full crusader plate armor and wielding a giant gem encrusted war hammer. “You better not hold back any information once this is over. You know I’ve always wanted to be a sorceress.”

  “I won’t,” Jericho shook his head.

  “And just so you know if we fight and lose and you don’t give us the information, we’re going to hunt you down like a dog.”

  “Well, hopefully you brought enough troops to keep us from losing,” Jericho joked. He knew full well that she didn’t have enough. Any guild that had that type of volume of active players also had shit players.

  “I have about two hundred active guild members,” Sapphire said. “Not sure how many will be online. We’ll see. For a big war some of the inactives might pop on.”

  “Welcome,” Mirage stepped forward and bowed politely. “Thank you for coming. We’ve prepared food and beverages if you’d like.”

  “So,” Sapphire stared at Mirage standing there graciously in a demure dress. “Jericho’s video mentioned you were important. I don’t suppose you’d tell me why?”

  “Maybe once this is all over Lady Sapphire,” Mirage said courteously.

  “Lady Sapphire?” Sapphire gestured at her officers. “Think that’ll catch on?”

  “Not a chance,” one of her officers answered.

  “Anyway,” Sapphire looked back at Jericho. “Endgame is definitely coming.”

  “What makes you say that?” Jericho hadn’t yet heard anything from Raven.

  “They’ve been selling property at a significant markup,” one of Sapphire’s officers answered. “Not quite as high as it’ll be if this village is destroyed but much higher than the current value. There’s really only one reason to do that. They’re selling at a markup and intend to rebuy at a discount after saving the village.”

  “Insider trading,” Sapphire laughed.

  “So, it’s really down to whether or not Loki shows up,” Jericho knew full well that Loki was a longshot. “I figured that’d be the case.”

  “My money is against him,” Sapphire said while heading inside. “But without him, we’ll lose.”

  Jericho continued to wait outside as others started arriving and soon the entire village was filled with players from Ambrosia and Endgame. Several had set up small dueling arenas throughout the village to practice fighting while others spent their time renting rooms at the inn with some of the local fairies.

  Owl and Raven eventually arrived and started brainstorming possible strategies should Phoenix decide not to come. The unfortunate truth was the total amount of players was coming in around two hundred and fifty which was a far cry from the five hundred desired.

  They were fortunate that most of the players with homes in Dayrose had no other option than to fight adding to their number. But Jericho was coming to terms with the reality that unless Phoenix came through the portal to assist them, there wasn’t much chance of victory.

  “They’re not coming,” Jericho sighed at Terra who was watching the portal with him. He wasn’t a fool, he knew exactly how Loki would look at the situation.

  “You can’t really blame them,” Terra shrugged. “They’re a raiding guild and Loki isn’t going to make it his problem. And really, they sold all their property here so they’re probably riding high. If nothing else, Loki is probably claiming he knew something like this would happen which is why he sold early.”

  “He sold early because we owned most of the property and wouldn’t sell to Phoenix because we didn’t want it to become a guild village,” Jericho said coldly.

  “I bet he’s still pissed about that,” Terra said. “Not to mention he really hates you for some reason. Think we can snag up some of the smaller guilds?”

  “Not without pissing off Endgame and Ambrosia,” Jericho said. “The value of the information is in the limited nature of it. They are okay with sharing the information because they bring equal value to the table. If I were giving the same information to a bunch of guilds bringing ten players each, they’d pull out.”

  “Very insightful,” Raven said as she approached with Owl. “If only you applied that same depth of thought to all of your decisions, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “He’d be in the same place,” Owl said stoically. “It’s not that he doesn’t think about consequences, he just doesn’t care.”

  “Can’t it be both?” Jericho smirked.

  “So,” Raven sat down next to Jericho. “We’ve come up with a strategy...”

  “You plan on securing an escape route allowing us to leave with my gold and familiars,” Jericho sighed knowingly. “You’ll cut through Archduke Garlamond’s armies since they’re weak and we’ll continue through Dawn until we get to the ocean and cross to the eastern kingdoms.”

  “And?” Raven stared at him waiting for an answer.

  “No,” Jericho replied.

  “It’s the best strategy,” Owl said coldly. “It’s arguably the only strategy.”

  “Ariel and Cynthia won’t abandon the village,” Jericho shook his head. “Let me ask you something Owl, you must have realized that fairies can become familiars, why haven’t you acquired one?”

  “I haven’t been able to,” Owl answered. “I’ve approached every fairy in the village and none wish to become my familiar. I imagine there’s a trick to it.”

  “There is,” Jericho chuckled. “You have to pay a price. That’s why none of the fairies will bind themselves to you. Ariel’s price wasn’t just the freeing of her village, it was the belief that I would protect it.”

  “I see,” Owl said pensively. “So, all I have to do is promise them something.”

  “Oh yeah,” Terra scoffed. “Because you’re not hooked up to a giant lie detector capable of telling whether or not you’re making empty promises.”

  “She�
�s got you there,” Raven smirked at Owl.

  “Yeah,” Jericho laughed. “They need to trust you. Even with Jinx, she killed the mage that summoned her but was content binding herself to me. She knew I wouldn’t mistreat her or abandon her. Mirage, I’m sure she sensed the same thing.”

  “Am I not trustworthy?” Owl asked.

  “Owl,” Jericho grinned. “I trust you to do the smart thing. And that’s why you’re having trouble. Because picking a fight with a grand prince for a woman you just met isn’t smart.”

  “That seems like an understatement,” Raven said.

  “That’s why I’m going to fight,” Jericho grinned. “Because I’m not smart. I’m an idiot.”

  “Sorry I’m late!” Diana said as she burst through the portal. She glanced at Raven and then scanned the village to see who’d arrived. “Good! Endgame and Ambrosia both came! That’s awesome. How you doing?”

  “Good,” Jericho answered as the red-scaled reptilian woman approached. The last time he’d seen Diana was at a celebration where he’d agreed to be her date. They’d spent the evening dancing and fooling around before finishing it in her room. “Is anybody else coming?”

  “Oh!” she rolled her jet-black eyes and shook her head angrily. “Let me tell you about my day! First, we get the message and Loki tries to ignore it. Then he tries claiming that he wasn’t ignoring it but it just didn’t matter because we weren’t getting involved. This pissed off a lot of us officers because we should have at least had a conversation, right? Then we find out that both Ambrosia and Endgame are assembling and we get really pissed because they’re going to get the information and we’re not. Well, it turned into a huge fight and Loki was just being a complete asshole. Honestly, Loki’s been an asshole for a while and it’s only gotten worse. This was just the last straw. So, I left and decided to come over.”

  “Well,” Owl said. “One is better than zero.”

  “Oh,” Diana laughed and twirled showing off her black cloak with a gold dragon insignia. “Sorry! I’m just still fuming about the entire thing. Let me clarify. I formed my own guild and took around fifty members from Phoenix with me. As I said, Loki’s been an asshole for a while. I also sent out some messages to friends and asked them if they wanted to join me. Overall, I’ll probably have about seventy people. The problem is that your offer was to Phoenix. I need to know if you’ll make the same offer to Tiamat.”