Peter of Dwarven Stone (War of Contractia Book 4)

by Tj Dixon

  “Please, call me Angelika from now on.” Ash tells me and I blink.

  “Angelika?” I ask confused.

  “It’s my real name. Ling renamed me when she killed my parents. I had forgotten, but it all came back when she betrayed me. She chose my name as a sick joke. Ash because that’s what she reduced my mother to, and snow because it was snowing.”

  “Ok. I’ll call you Angelika. If you’d told me sooner I would have called you that before.”

  “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t feel I deserved to be called Angelika, but Asuna convinced me that my mother would have wanted me to be called by the name she gave me.”

  “Asuna’s right.” I nod.

  “Asuna seemed to think that focusing on improving my magic would be what you’d want me to do.”

  “She’s right again.” I smile. I feel guilty for worrying about what Asuna might be telling Ash, or rather, Angelika.

  “She also told me I should save my virginity for you.” Angelika says shyly and my face goes bright red. Ok, I was right to worry about what Asuna might tell her. In fact I should have worried more. “My body isn’t much compared to Hermes and Asuna’s, but I will of course save it for you in case you ever wish to use it.”

  “I’m not going to force you to do anything like that against your will.” I tell Angelika.

  “It, wouldn’t, be against my will.” Angelika tells me sounding as embarrassed as I feel. My face goes an even darker red and Angelika’s face seems to match mine. I quickly think of something to change the subject.

  “So did you enjoy the celebration? I guess it must have been weird celebrating losing and becoming a slave though.”

  “I had more fun than I’ve had in… Actually more fun than I remember ever having.” Angelika tells me. I am both glad and a little sad to hear that. Mostly glad though.

  “We train straight after lessons. I hope you had a chance to talk to at least some of the other club members today, because you’ll be working with them at our training.” I tell her and she nods.

  “I didn’t speak to everyone, but I spoke to a lot of the other members. I suppose I’m not actually a member, because I’m a slave.”

  “I suppose that’s technically true, but please think of yourself as a member. I am sure everyone will treat you as if you were. Did you get on ok with everyone you spoke to?”

  “Yes. They all seemed really nice. Sherry, Marian and Rose seemed eager to work with me. I didn’t get a chance to speak to her, but it sounds like Juliet is really talented. They all seemed a bit intimidated by her.”

  “Juliet… Yes she’s very, very talented, but she does seem to lack common sense. The one time I worked with her she used so much power she knocked herself out. It’s just a good job you can’t kill yourself by using up your own mana, because you do lose consciousness.”

  “It isn’t easy, but you can use up all your mana and die.” Angelika tells me.

  “How?” I ask surprised.

  “It takes a lot of will power, but you can resist the force that knocks you out. Also if you use certain invocations, the mana will continue to drain from you even after you are knocked out.” Angelika explains.

  “Well, don’t teach Juliet how to do that, because she’d probably try it.” I warn Angelika who nods nervously. “I was wondering by the way, how does demon summoning work?”

  “You have to make a sacrifice. Lesser demons you can summon by just sacrificing mana, but more powerful demons require either a piece of soul or flesh. Controlling or working with a demon for a long time will gradually eat away at your soul and body. That must be why my health suffered. Ling convinced me I was suffering with an illness that had killed my mother.”

  “Is there a way to heal you?”

  “Perhaps my body, but not my soul. Your soul can only recover either when you die, or by eating other people’s souls. Unless you’re immortal.”

  “Well, you never know, perhaps we’ll earn immortality.” I tell her and she looks at me in shock.

  “Even for your lowest slave?” She asks, both looking and sounding stunned.

  “Don’t think of yourself that way. Slave or free we will work together, risk our lives and share any reward that we earn. I will probably have to ask more from everyone than I’d like to.”

  “I will gladly give you everything I have and everything that I am, mind, body and soul.” Angelika tells me with a proud but sad smile.

  “I will have to ask for enough from you already. Your mind, body and soul are yours and yours alone. What I will ask for you now though, is your loyalty and hard work.” I tell her.

  “I will work as hard as I possibly can, and I will never betray you.” Angelika tells me vigorously and honestly.

  Angelika put herself down earlier, but I think she is cute. Perhaps not as pretty as Asuna, but she is still pretty. It takes a lot of will power to keep refusing her offers, but if I took advantage of her now I know I would hurt her even though she is so accepting. That is enough to give me the will power to resist. I was a slave once, and whilst I may have no choice about owning slaves now, I can at least treat them well.

  I also hope one day to be able to free Dairon, Angelika, Asuna and Hermes. With the queen’s help it should be possible to free Hermes, but I always seem to have something else that I need from her more urgently. Asuna and Angelika I could free today because unlike Hermes they have no family bonds that would take effect if they were freed, but neither would accept it. With Dairon of course the issue is the war. So as a former slave who once vowed never to own a slave myself, I now own four.

  Chapter 25 (Multiple)

  (Lucy)

  The others are asleep now, but having slept through the day my tiredness is gone. The room is pitch black and with everyone asleep there is nothing to do. Just as I am thinking that though the window becomes visible as if on its own. I focus all my senses and detect the source of magic. Sakura may hide her presence well, but I am talented enough to trace the magic back to her and in so doing reveal her presence.

  “So I’m not the only one awake. I’m surprised Peter has been sleeping with the window hidden, but it seems you are as interested in the night sky as he normally is. So what is it that interests you, Sakura?”

  “I’m just bored with the dark. Faeries don’t sleep, so it gets boring at night.” Sakura tells me without revealing her presence any more than she had already.

  “So, did you kick Peter out of bed each night to relieve your boredom?” I ask.

  “Nope. He’s been falling out on his own. If you watch him long enough I’m sure he’ll do it again tonight.” Sakura tells me.

  “So what do you do to relieve your boredom, other than letting in a little star and moonlight?” I ask.

  “Not a lot. I’ll be glad when I can leave this horrible place and return to his majesty’s side. Since this is his majesty’s will, though it is my duty, and I must fulfil my duty.”

  “Why do you faeries obey the elves anyway?” I ask.

  “The elves protected us when we needed it most. We swore to return the favour, but when the time came we were unable to fulfil our oath. It is a stain on our honour that we may never be able to remove.” Sakura says, sounding like it brings back painful memories. “Oh, look. He’s doing it again.”

  I look and sure enough Peter is moving closer to the edge of his bed. He is still asleep and it is almost as if his arms are dragging him. I consider for a moment and realise that perhaps that is exactly what is happening. I focus my senses and there is definitely earth magic concentrated in his arms, but there is always earth magic in his arms. It seems like more than normal, but perhaps that is just my imagination.

  “Could the dwarven stone in his arms be trying to get closer to the stone floor?” I ask Sakura.

  “I have no idea. Dwarven magic isn’t exactly my specialty.”

  “It would make sense though. Damn that useless dwarf. Everything he does he messes up.” I say and before Peter can fall from his bed I us
e magic to port him back to the centre of the bed. That seems to disrupt the magic in his arms, because he stops moving.

  (Peter)

  I wake in my bed. Is this the first time I haven’t fallen out of bed since I got back to the academy? I think so. Lucy is snoring away on my bedside table in her little green blanket. Her aura seems to suggest that she is really tired. More so perhaps than when I went to bed last night. I don’t wake her of course.

  I get out of bed, clean myself and then walk over towards Asuna. I don’t think it would wake Lucy if I called out to Asuna from my bed, but I don’t want to risk it. I gently shake Asuna’s shoulder and she wakes instantly.

  “Good morning.” I whisper.

  “Good morning.” Asuna whispers back sleepily.

  “I’m porting to class. See you there.” I tell her and then port outside the classroom. As I enter I am the first person here. It is early, but not that early. I am sure everyone will be here soon. Sure enough, as I sit down a girl who sits further along my row enters the classroom. She has short blonde hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin like a typical Contractian, but she has a bright blue scar on the back of her right hand. Her name is Pippa and she is my next opponent in the tournament.

  “Ready for tomorrow?” Pippa asks me. It is the first time she has spoken to me, but also the first time we have seen each other alone.

  “Yes. Are you?” I ask.

  “Of course. May the best girl win.” Pippa says and I blink. “Just kidding. I plan to beat you though. My honour demands it, and I have no desire to live as a slave.”

  “I’ve freed most of my opponents.” I remind her.

  “Most, but not all.” Pippa reminds me.

  “There were circumstances.”

  “I’m sure there were.” She says disbelievingly.

  “So, would you have freed everyone you beat?” I ask.

  “Yes, but I don’t expect you to believe me any more than I believe you.” Pippa says with a shrug.

  “I believe you.” I tell her and she laughs.

  “Flattery isn’t going to earn you an easy fight. I’m going to beat you tomorrow.” Pippa tells me very confidently.

  “Good luck, but I’m not planning to lose either.”

  “Of course not.” Pippa shrugs and then takes her seat second from the other end of the row. As she does so the door opens and a few more girls enter the room. It isn’t long before everyone is here and the lesson begins.

  “Today we will be covering aerial combat. As such we will be taking the lesson outside.” Professor Schwarz tells us.

  “It’s raining like mad out there. Why can’t we just do it in the flight hall?” The girl sitting on Asuna’s right asks.

  “It may be raining when you come to fight for real.” Professor Schwarz warns her.

  “It’s almost two years before we graduate. Can’t that sort of realism wait until next year?” The girl groans.

  “No. This afternoon is a test and you’ll be using everything you learn in this lesson. So be sure to work as hard as you can this morning.” Professor Schwarz tells her unsympathetically. “Everyone port just outside the academy’s main entrance.”

  We all stand, put up a weak shield of one sort or another to keep us dry and then port. My shield is of course a wind shield. I look up through the pouring rain at the main entrance, two huge wooden doors each completely covered in black iron. On either side of course is an imposing round grey stone tower.

  “You will work in five groups of five. You will work in the same group for the test. Choose your groups now.” Professor Schwarz tells us and I wonder why we couldn’t have done that inside. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. Groups of five though, that is going to be a problem, since we have seven people from our club here.

  Five of the girls on our row almost instantly agree to work with each other. I’m pretty sure they were all beaten by Ling or Angelika, other than Pippa who I will be going up against tomorrow. Three of the girls from the front row, all of whom had been beaten by Ling, as well as the two girls who sit immediately on Asuna’s right have formed a team before we have even had a chance to discuss our options. That leaves seven of us and eight other people. To my surprise Sor walks up to us and glares at me.

  “I’m not working with you or your slaves, but I’ll take rude girl, Emma and Rin.” Sor says rather bluntly. That leaves me, Hermes, Asuna and Angelika.

  “Ok, thanks Sor. That just leaves one more person to find.” I say. “Wait… What do you mean by rude girl?”

  “Yu Kii. It’s not the first time I’ve called her that in front of you.” Sor shrugs.

  “I can’t think of anyone less rude than Yu Kii. Why do you call Yu Kii rude?” I ask rather confused.

  “She was rude to me, so I call her rude.” Sor shrugs again.

  “Oh well. That’s not important right now. Good luck.”

  “I don’t need luck.” Sor tells me.

  “Can I join you?” The girl who sits next to Pippa asks. Wasn’t her name Zariel? She has a golden tinted skin a bit like Yu Kii, but much darker. Like Yu Kii she also has bright green eyes, but her short hair is black so very different to Yu Kii’s short white hair.

  “Sure.” I smile. It looks like we got our group without too much trouble.

  “Great, I get to be on the winning team. I’m Zariel by the way. My specialty is fire magic, but I’m not bad at flight magic.” Zariel tells me and Sor laughs at her.

  “You think you’re on the winning team… You’re going to be my first target.” Sor says shaking her head with an amused grin and Zariel’s face goes pale.

  “Sor, stop chatting and get in your group! The rest of you too!” Professor Schwarz yells. Hermes and Asuna move closer to me, Angelika and Zariel. Sor, Emi, Emma, Yu Kii and Rin gather together. “Now you are all in your groups start by going over formation flight again.”

  “Formation flight? Did you cover that whilst I was away?” I ask Asuna.

  “Yes. Don’t worry though, it should be fine.” Asuna answers. “You lead and we’ll follow, but remember we can’t fly as well as you or Cherry.”

  “So who takes the other positions?” Zariel asks nervously.

  “Hermes and I will take first left and first right respectively. You can be second left and Ash, I mean Angelika, will be second right.” Asuna answers.

  “What are first and second left and right?” I ask.

  “We’ll fly in a V formation, so first left is immediately behind you on your left, and second left is immediately behind and to the left of first left. Same for first and second right, except on the right of course.” Asuna explains.

  “For such a good wind mage I’m surprised you haven’t done formation flight before.” Zariel remarks.

  “We did a little but that was a while ago and I don’t think we used those words to describe it. Unless I’ve just forgotten. A lot has happened since then.”

  “Like whatever your secret mission was?” Zariel asks with a hopeful smile. I suppose she hopes I might reveal why I was away from the academy.

  “Sure. Now let’s get started. Everyone else is already flying.” I answer and slowly rise into the air. The rest of the group take formation behind me and I lead the way, at first slowly, but quickly picking up speed. There are times when I lose the rest of the group but after about half an hour I am confident I understand exactly how far I can push them without losing anyone.