Thaumatology 101

by Teasdale, Niall

  Lily smiled a slightly mysterious smile. ‘I have more than one aura I use for work,’ she said.

  Ceri narrowed her eyes. The half-demon was being sneaky. Well, Ceri had been practicing one thing since she had blasted Shane; closing her eyes briefly, she concentrated and let herself see the power in the room. As her eyes opened she let out a soft gasp; the Jade Dragon was humming with energy. Lines of force arced and curled around the room in such volume that she had trouble sorting through them. Lily watched her, almost as if she could sense the confusion as she worked through it all.

  Sure enough, two different sets of energy traces billowed out from Lily. The smaller field seemed to originate in her groin, from the glowing pulse of energy which was the terminus of the Tantric Median. It was stronger and, given its origin, Ceri guessed that it was the source of the sensations which made her nipples tighten every time Lily came near. However, there was another field too. It spread out, tenuous, but very wide-ranging, from Lily’s head, from the Chakral Median point called Ajna. Ceri had made a bit of a study of it in her few off moments because that was the part of her head which seemed to sense magic. Mystics said it was responsible for intuition, and it seemed to be generating the field which presumably gave Lily her ability to sense the needs of her customers.

  ‘You’re seeing it, aren’t you?’ Lily said quietly. ‘What does it look like?’

  ‘It’s… kind of hard to describe,’ Ceri said. ‘Your… well, the aura I feel is a deep red.’ She lifted her hand and watched the strands of force wrapping around it. ‘It kind of clings to the flesh… caresses it… really kind of beautiful…’ She shook her head. ‘The other one is a delicate blue, very thin, almost invisible.’ She looked out at the room. ‘It just sort of drifts out like a blanket, touching everyone…’

  ‘Everyone I can see,’ Lily corrected. ‘Well, everyone I could see if I could see out the back of my head. I have to see them to know what they want.’

  Ceri’s thaumatologist instincts were kicking in. ‘Really? Cos it extends out all around you, right through the walls. Could be it needs a visual focus to interpret, or maybe it’s a limitation of your human side…’

  Lily giggled. ‘Stop… theorising!’ Ceri blushed and then frowned. Following her gaze, Lily asked, ‘What is it?’

  ‘Don’t know… Suddenly there’s a shower of… kind of undirected energy coming from, uh… from one of the werewolves.’ Ceri’s frown deepened. ‘It’s focussing… Oh my God, Lily, I think he’s going to change!’

  Lily’s lips drew back into a snarl. ‘Alec!’ she said, but the barman had obviously already heard and was vaulting the bar. ‘If he changes,’ Lily said, ‘we’ll have hell’s own job controlling him and it could cause a cascade. The other weres’ll change and we’ll have a riot on our hands.’ She moved forward, and Ceri watched her aura expand and intensify.

  The cascade of force lines around the wolf-man were contracting. Ceri had never seen a werewolf transform before, and even if she had it would not have been like this, but it looked to her as though the man was generating thaumic energy, and that energy was concentrating. She imagined that, when the sphere of thaumitons she was seeing radiating out from the man like the magnetic field around the Earth finally collapsed, it would trigger the transformation. Lily’s aura fell across his three friends like a seething, sensuous blanket, calming them and stilling the bursts of thaumitons which had started from them. Alec was there, trying to calm the Dog Boy down by force of will. Neither seemed to be having the desired effect on the transformation process.

  Ceri slipped off her stool and walked toward table four. Alec and Lily, engrossed in their desperate attempts to calm the were, did not see her until it was too late. Ceri stood behind the shape-shifter and placed her hand on the top of his head. His body stiffened. Her eyes closed, and she could still see the field of thaumic energy flowing through his body, up from the base of his spine, along the Chakral Median, out through the Crown, blooming around his body, and back in at the Base. She focussed on it, trying to remember the feeling she had used to attack Shane, but with more control. She heard Lily gasp. The room became hushed. All Ceri could think of was drawing out the power building in the Dog Boy’s body. There was a moment of resistance and then…

  Ceri opened her eyes. Her right hand was now palm up, held a few inches away from the were who was breathing hard, but still human. In her hand, a ball of sparkling blue energy sat, surrounded by two darker bands which slowly revolved around the ball. They looked a lot like containment circles.

  The entire club had gone quiet and the sudden intrusion of a voice into the silence came as something of a shock. ‘Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it?’ Carter’s voice was ebullient. ‘Alec, a round of drinks on the house.’ The noise level suddenly increased again at the thought of free drinks and the realisation that their host was there and in charge. Ceri almost did not hear Carter speaking to Lily. ‘Get these four out of here right after their drink.’ And then he was beside Ceri, her hand still holding the ball of energy. ‘What do you need?’ he said.

  ‘Water,’ Ceri said.

  Despite the lack of humour of the situation, his lips quirked. ‘You want a drink of water?’

  Ceri giggled. ‘No, a bucket… no, make that something like a bath. Need to sink the energy.’

  Carter nodded and looked up at Lily. ‘Take her through to the bathroom back of my office.’

  Lily nodded and started back toward the bar, Ceri following after. As they started into the back rooms, Cheryl appeared from the toilets looking flushed and straightening the hem of her dress. ‘Did I miss something?’ she asked, her eyes on Ceri’s hand. Ceri and Lily looked at her, and started giggling.

  Kennington, September 25th

  Ceri’s bare feet slapped on the slate floor of the kitchen as she headed for the coffee machine. Twill had obviously filled it when she heard people starting to move about; it was full of beautiful, brown wakefulness, and she poured herself a mug, turning around to lean casually against the counter. The coffee tasted like liquid gold.

  Lily walked into the kitchen looking about as awake as Ceri felt. She brushed tousled hair out of her face and said, ‘Is there coffee?’

  Ceri nodded. ‘Fresh,’ she said.

  Lily took a mug, filled it, and took a drink, settling against the counter beside Ceri. She let out a contented sigh. ‘You’re naked,’ she said.

  Ceri looked down at herself. ‘Um, yeah,’ she said. ‘Sorry. Long night, y’know?’

  It had, in fact, been a long night. After boiling an entire bath of water with the energy she had pulled out of the werewolf, a trick which had had Lily watching with an awed expression, Ceri had been plied with drinks until closing time. Getting home was a bit of a blur. She thought Carter had driven Lily and her home, and then driven off with Cheryl. She vaguely remembered giggling with Lily about what they would be getting up to. Carter had a reputation for sleeping with a different woman every night, but they both had a suspicion that Cheryl was going to get a weekend.

  ‘You don’t have to apologise, y’know?’ Lily said. ‘I like it.’ Ceri’s cheeks coloured. ‘Though, if I’m honest, you’re sexier when you’re wearing one of those shirts, or a one of those teddy things.’ Ceri’s cheeks considered bursting into flame. ‘You looked really sexy last night.’ Ceri took a nervous drink of coffee, which did still her breathing some. ‘So are you going to start work on the house enchantments today?’ Lily glanced at the clock and added, ‘In what’s left of today.’

  The sudden change of topic left Ceri floundering. She looked at the clock; it was after three. ‘Well damn,’ she said. ‘Uh, no, given the time. Carter suggested some reading. I think I’ll call today on account of sleeping through most of it, and take a look at that.’

  ‘Cool,’ Lily said, checking the weather through the window. It was overcast and looked like it might rain. She sucked on a fang. ‘I’ll hang around looking pretty and being a nuisance,’ she said.

&nb
sp; A ball of glittering fairy-light whisked in through kitchen door, materialising into Twill’s normal shape and skidding to a stop in the air. ‘Oh, you’re both up,’ she said. She put her tiny hands on her hips. ‘I suppose you’ll want some breakfast? Or should I say tea?’

  Ceri shook her head. ‘I’ll wait until dinner,’ she said. ‘My stomach is slightly delicate.’

  ‘How did you manage to escape a throbbing hangover?’ Lily said. The half-succubus never got hangovers.

  Ceri shrugged. ‘Just lucky, I guess. I’m going to put something on and find my tablet.’

  ‘One of your teddies,’ Lily said. ‘That black one with the leaf pattern in the mesh.’

  ‘Uh, sure,’ Ceri said, heading for the door.

  ‘You look edible in that,’ Lily added. Ceri fled.

  ~~~

  The documents in the “Psychology” directory consisted of various e-books and papers, mostly on the psychology of demons, but there were also a couple on werewolves and a single one on werefoxes. People had a tendency to discount the fox shape-shifters; they were largely solitary and, frankly, not very interesting. Ceri looked through the titles as she sat in the study. Twill had chased them out of the kitchen so she could cook.

  Lily strolled into the room and Ceri glanced up, flashing her a smile. Lily smiled back and continued walking to the chaise longe. Even though she knew her friend was using her aura, Ceri could not take her eyes off the slowly moving figure. Lily sank onto the seat, lying back and stretching. Ceri let out a whimper which she really hoped Lily did not hear.

  ‘Thank you,’ Lily said.

  ‘Uh… what for?’

  ‘For wearing what I asked.’ Lily favoured her with a long, sweeping look and Ceri hid her embarrassment by looking down at the tablet.

  ‘Uh, well… had to wear something.’ A file caught Ceri’s eye and she clicked it. The title page popped up; it was a semi-academic document written in the late sixties entitled On the Care and Control of Your Succubus. Back in the sixties and seventies it had been all the rage for wizards to summon and bind succubi. A few still did it, but it had gone out of fashion a bit as the demonologists tried to gain a better reputation. Ceri flicked to the first page and started reading through a slightly rambling discussion on the benefits to be had from a sexual partner who happened to be a demon. When the author started describing some of the interesting things he had got up to with his own pet succubus, she decided to skip ahead; he had a very descriptive writing style and she was feeling hot enough already. Thankfully, things settled down when he actually started describing the psychological precepts behind successfully handling his demon.

  The first thing to remember about succubi, she read, about all demons in fact, is that they seek power above all else. Demons dwell in a dimension steeped in magical energy, or so we believe, and they are constantly vying for control of that energy. When they cross over, they seek instead those who are powerful, in magical ways, here. Succubi, therefore, are attracted by power and the more powerful a wizard is, the more a succubus will be drawn to him, seeking his patronage. When a succubus behaves submissively toward you, this is a sure sign that she is seeking to make you her Master.

  Ceri looked up at Lilly. ‘What are you reading?’ the half-demon asked.

  ‘It’s about pack behaviour in werewolves,’ she lied.

  ‘Cool.’ She rolled onto her side, grinning at Ceri. ‘Maybe you can give me some pointers later. You’re so much better at the academic stuff than me.’

  The succubus will behave suggestively, and compliment you on your knowledge and power. Often they will indicate that they find you attractive, even if you are, by all contemporary measures, about as good looking as a walrus. Refrain from bedding the succubus immediately. Giving in too easily will make the demon think less of you. I cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring that you are the master in the relationship. I recommend waiting two to three days before finally taking your succubus to your bed. Her attempts to persuade you will increase in intensity over this time, but resist. It must be you who commands her, not the other way around.

  Okay, Ceri thought, survive three days of Lily drooling over her and things should sort themselves out. She closed the file, located one which was on werewolf pack behaviour and opened it. ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘I can do that.’ Though whether she was thinking about Lily, or Lily’s request for information was open to question.

  ~~~

  ‘Werewolf packs exhibit substantially different behaviour from that of Grey Wolves which they are believed to be derived from,’ Ceri intoned, and then shovelled a large mouthful of pasta into her mouth. ‘God I love this dish, Twill,’ she added around her food.

  ‘Then eat it rather than spraying it over the table,’ Twill replied. Ceri looked suitably chastised and went back to reading the werewolf pack paper.

  ‘What’s this stuff called again, Twill?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Spaghetti alla puttanesca,’ Twill said. ‘A relatively recent recipe, but I know Ceri likes the olives and anchovies.’ Ceri nodded enthusiastically.

  ‘That’s Italian, right?’ Lily said.

  ‘Yes,’ Twill replied, pleased that Lily was taking an interest. ‘It literally translates as “whore’s style spaghetti.”’ Ceri swallowed rather convulsively and looked up at Lily. There was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes; she had known full well what the stuff was and what the name meant.

  Ceri was about to say something when Lily put a forkful of food into her mouth and proceeded to slowly suck a loose strand of spaghetti in through pursed lips. It took every ounce of will Ceri had to look away, but she managed it. ‘According to this,’ she said in a desperate effort to stop thinking about Lily’s lips, ‘the idea of wolf packs having an “alpha” wolf at the head is entirely discredited, but werewolf packs do have an alpha. Says it’s likely because of the mixture of human and animal social traits.’ She looked up, thankful to see that Lily was chewing. ‘Why’s Alec a ronin?’

  ‘He’s never really said,’ Lily replied after swallowing. ‘He’s been at the Dragon since before I started. From the beginning, I think. I know he gets more respect from the wolf packs than most ronin do. I think he’s a friend of Carter’s from way back.’ Ceri nodded, looking down at her tablet again. ‘Why,’ Lily asked, ‘you fancy him?’

  ‘No!’ Lily was grinning again. ‘I was just interested. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a werewolf without a pack until last night.’

  ‘It happens for a couple of reasons,’ Twill said. ‘It’s usually a failed play for dominance in a pack. If a younger were tries to take the Alpha position from the current one and fails, he’s generally run off by the rest of the pack. That’s if he lives, obviously.’

  ‘That doesn’t fit Alec, from the sound of it,’ Ceri said. ‘I’d imagine that someone driven off like that would get no respect at all.’ Lily nodded her agreement.

  ‘Some leave of their own accord,’ Twill said. ‘It’s generally because they can’t stand living under the Alpha’s rule, or they’ve fallen for a she-wolf from another pack. And there are a few cases where a pack is wiped out for some reason. Often a lone survivor will never join another pack out of respect for the fallen.’

  ‘Huh,’ Lily said, ‘I can see Alec having gone after someone else’s Alpha female.’

  ‘Horn dog, yeah,’ Ceri said, grinning. Her face straightened. ‘Though it kind of makes more sense if he’s a last survivor. Especially if the others had died doing something… noble? Kind of romantic, in a sad way.’ She glanced down again. ‘Oh, there’s a bit here on that cascade effect you mentioned last night. One were changing can result in those nearby changing too, and you suddenly have a pack all wolfing out at once. Wonder if it’s some sort of backwash effect from the thaumiton collapse.’

  ‘You said something about that when you were talking to Carter. What did you actually do to that guy?’

  ‘Yes,’ Twill said, ‘I haven’t heard this story.’

  �
��Well, the guy was giving off this field, like a magnetic field, but thaumic,’ Ceri said. ‘It was contracting, or collapsing. I figured when it collapsed all the way there would be an energy surge and he’d transform. So I kind of… sucked the energy out. It was like what I did to get the energy to hit Shane.’

  ‘Then she had to get rid of it,’ Lily said, ‘so we went to the bathroom up in Carter’s offices and she boiled a bathtub full of water.’

  Twill looked impressed. ‘You do know that no one knows what the mechanism is for true-were transformations?’ she asked.

  ‘You’ve got another paper to write,’ Lily said with a grin.

  Ceri grimaced. ‘Still,’ she said, ‘if there’s an emission of thaumitons prior to a transformation, you could probably detect it. Either an enchantment or a thaumometer fixed under the tables. Might give you some warning.’

  ‘I’ll mention it to Carter tonight,’ Lily said, and then developed a smirk. ‘Always assuming he doesn’t have your boss tied up in the office to go bang at regular intervals.’

  ‘You,’ Ceri said, ‘have a one track mind.’

  ‘Yes,’ Lily retorted promptly, ‘I’m half succubus.’

  September 26th

  Somehow the study seemed less oppressive now. Ceri sat at her father’s desk with the file on the house’s many enchantments. She had extracted the bulky document from one of the filing cabinets which were kept hidden away, out of sight, behind the false walls at the sides of the room. There were files on more or less every enchantment the Brents had ever done in those cabinets. The only ones missing were a few confidential corporate ones and a couple which she knew they had done for the government, though what part of the government it had been for they had never said.

  It was morning, and she could work without any distraction from Lily’s attempts to get her into bed. Which was a good thing, because her parents had created quite complex enchantments to fortify their own home, and despite her initial confidence that she could handle the necessary maintenance, she was starting to think she was in over her head.