by Dante King
All that remained was to decide what tattoo we wanted to give her.
“I don’t have any experience with this sort of thing,” Veronica said, her eyes shining as she looked at me. “I have the spell runes on my ring, skirt, and sword, but they are custom-designed for those vectors. We’ll need something different. What sort of tattoo do you think I could get?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, taking her hands in mine. I was taking a bit of a risk by holding her hand, but she didn’t shy away. “We’ll make sure it’s a special one, for you.”
The Mistress and Jacques stood near the stairs, watching the conversation between Amelia, Veronica, and I.
“I hate to have to say this,” said Amelia. “But it turns out any Lightning Rune you choose will be a special one.”
“What do you mean?” I turned my head to look at Amelia.
“Well,” she said, “Lightning Runes are the most intricate ones out there, and therefore the items which use them are the most expensive. That’s one of the reasons Lightning Mages are less common than the Mages who start out with other affinities. It’s harder to gain entry, even when you have the affinity.”
“That’s true,” said Veronica. “I did have to pay a lot for my starting equipment, and the test to gain entry to the training was difficult.”
“I don’t see how any of this affects the tattooing process,” I asked. “Can’t we just take a rune from your spellbook?”
“The thing is, there are no Lightning Runes in my book,” Amelia said reluctantly, pointing to the book sitting on the bench next to her. She shrugged her shoulders, helplessly. “My book is just basic elemental runes and foundational principles. Lightning magic is much more advanced and complex; even a basic rune would be in a level 2 book.”
Veronica squeezed my hands harder. “Does that mean you can’t give me a tattoo?”
I looked her in the eyes. Tears stood there. “I wouldn’t want to attempt it without a proper design.” I turned to Amelia. “You’re certain there’s nothing we can do?”
“Veronica has a Lightning affinity, and you have a Lightning Beast Core, but without the design, you can’t do anything. I’m sorry.” Amelia gave Veronica a sympathetic look.
Veronica blinked several times and took a few deep breaths. “I understand. It’s just that, after seeing how confidently you and Amelia went into battle, without even needing weapons, I just... I wanted to be more like you.”
“Surely there’s something you can do,” Mistress Blossom said, coming forward with a look of concern. She looked around at us, but nobody could find anything to say.
“Oh, hell,” Jacques burst out as I was trying to think of something to say. He put his hand to his trousers pocket and fiddled with the button for a moment, before pulling out a crinkled sheet of parchment.
“I was going to sell this for beer money,” he said. “But it seems like you need it more than I do.” He handed the sheet to Veronica and me.
I took the sheet of parchment, uncrumpled it, and glanced over what was written. Even though I couldn’t read the words that were written there, I could see that most of the page was covered with a drawing of a symbol. It looked a lot like a Lightning Rune.
Veronica wiped at her eyes. “What is it, Jacques?” she asked.
Jacques shuffled his feet and glanced at Amelia. “Well, you know how I mentioned I spent some time poaching books from the Royal Library?”
“Yes, I remember that,” Amelia said in a slightly frosty tone.
“Let’s just say I worked out that selling the individual pages could make me more than selling a whole book all at once. And this is the last page left for me to sell.”
“You bastard!” Amelia exclaimed and raised a fist. “You defiled a book like that?”
Jacques looked at me, petrified. I shrugged. He may have been my friend, but that didn’t mean I was going to defend him from Amelia for theft and destruction of property.
Amelia landed a punch on Jacques’ arm.
“Ow!” he cried, rubbing his arm. “There’s no need to go all warrior librarian on me; the deed’s already done.”
“Hmph,” Amelia sighed. “I suppose you’re right. It’s not like we can return the page to the book; as you said, you’ve already sold the rest. This must have been a very advanced spellbook. I guess you’ll have to live with the guilt of destroying such a valuable work of arcane literature.”
“A fitting punishment,” Jacques said with a mock frown. “How will I live with myself?”
Amelia didn’t seem to catch his sarcasm; she simply nodded her head distractedly, as though she was pleased Jacques had seen the error of his ways. “What’s on the parchment, William?” she asked. “Oh wait, do you need me to read it?”
I held it out toward her. “There are some words, but it’s mostly just a picture, and I think it’s a Lightning Rune.”
Amelia came closer and took the sheet from me, holding it near the light from one of the candelabra to get a closer look. “Yes, that does look like a Lightning Rune.”
“Oh, Jacques, thank you,” Veronica said. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Can you use the rune for Veronica?” Mistress Blossom asked as I handed the sheet to Amelia.
“I do hope so,” I said, looking at Veronica. “It would be such a shame if you couldn’t get a tattoo.”
Amelia studied the page for a moment, mouthing words to herself as she read. She looked around at everyone with a smile. “This will work. The design is a basic Lightning Rune. It’s like the flame or the snowflake runes you have, William. It will allow Veronica to generate lightning, but it doesn’t modify the casting in any way. This is the perfect choice for your first tattoo, Veronica.”
Amelia handed the page back to me. I looked at Veronica. She was beaming.
“Oh, thank you, William,” Veronica said. Then her face changed, and she looked concerned. “But are you sure it’s not too much to ask you to do it now? You’ve just done one for Mistress Blossom—are you sure you’re not too tired?”
“Not at all,” I said. “I’m just glad you decided you want a tattoo. Whether you journey further with us on our quest or not, it has been an honor to fight alongside you, and I’m happy to do this for you.”
“But I do want to join you on your quest, William,” Veronica said. “I have fought alone for too long.”
Hearing those words warmed my heart. I hadn’t known Veronica for long, but we’d shared a life-threatening battle, and that kind of thing bonded one person to another. There was also the matter of potentially gaining a new affinity should I sleep with Veronica. When Amelia and I had slept together, I had gained a Cold affinity, and I now suspected that I had gained my Fire affinity from my girlfriend Katlyn, who I’d left in Aranor. I wasn’t completely certain that my Ink Mage powers would always work this way but having sex with Veronica would be an excellent way of testing the theory. However, I didn’t want to use her sexually for my own gain. If we ever did make love, it wouldn’t be under false pretenses or because I just wanted to test my magic. It would be our choice, and there would be a deeper basis than just my personal gain.
I smiled at Veronica. “Well, let’s not waste any more time, then. Let’s have a look at this rune.”
We all moved back over to the big table, and I laid the design out flat on it as Jacques grabbed the biggest of the candelabra and brought it closer. As I put my hands flat on the table and leaned over the parchment to look at it, the others all gathered around me.
It was beautiful, and certainly much more complex than anything I’d attempted before. In the center of the page was a blazing ball of amethyst. Bright lines splayed out from the orb, zigzagging out from the center to fill the page. The lines were fine, like thread, dozens of them shooting across the parchment. The page almost seemed to light up, so bright was the color, and so intense the activity of the lightning bolts.
“That is a very intricate design,” I said. “I can see what you mea
nt about the runes being more expensive, Amelia. It’s going to take a lot of ink to complete this tattoo.”
“What book did you get this from, Jacques?” Amelia asked, stepping away from the table. “I can’t believe you destroyed it page by page.”
I turned to watch the two of them. I was also keen to hear the answer.
“Oh, I can scarcely recall,” Jacques said, off-handedly, then leaped back as Amelia leaped forward and stomped on his foot. “Ow! What was that for?” he exclaimed.
“Sorry, just seeing if that helped to jog your memory.” She smiled mischievously.
He had the grace to look a little downcast. “Sorry,” he said stiffly, “I don’t remember much. It had a Lightning Rune on the cover, and the author was someone called… Selwick, I think.”
“You sure you don’t remember the name?” she asked. I looked around at some of the apparatus hanging from the walls of the Mistress’s cellar. I wouldn’t like to see what would happen if Amelia got a taste for interrogation.
Jacques seemed to be thinking along the same lines. After a moment, he said stiffly, “I believe the name of the book, carved on a leather cover that I gambled away some time ago, was something like ’Beasts, Spells, and Items for Intermediate Mages,’ by Arcanist Selwick.”
Amelia gritted her teeth and waved her heavy spellbook at him. “That’s the volume after this book. I always wondered why I couldn’t find a copy in the library.” She menaced him with her book, and he stepped back.
She stared levelly at him for a moment. “Well, I hope you got a good price for the pages?” she asked, and there was a glint in her eyes.
“A fair price, nothing special,” he said. Then, catching the look in her eye, he asked sharply, “What do you mean?”
She leaned closer to him, enunciating her words very carefully. “It… was… priceless. If you’d known what you were doing, you could have walked up to the front gate and sold it right back to the library. They would never have known it was their own copy, and before they realized what they had done, they’d have bought it from you for enough coin that you would never have had to work again.”
There was a moment of silence, then everyone in the room burst into laughter at Jacques’ look of utter horror.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, don’t worry too much, Jacques,” I said. “If it hadn’t been for your choices, you’d never have been able to help us out now! You’re doing a great deed, and once we’re done with the page, you can have it back and sell it on for beer money, just like you planned. Looks like Loku was smiling on us this time.”
Jacques grumbled incoherently and stomped about with his hands in his pockets.
Amelia was glaring at him.
After a moment, he looked resentfully at Amelia. “My apologies,” he said. The look on his face told me that the apology had not come easily to his lips.
“Well, it’s too late now.” Amelia sighed.
“It certainly is,” he said regretfully, and I guessed he was thinking about his missed fortune more than the intrinsic value of the spellbook. Well, that was certainly a punishment that would go to his heart.
“Enough of this,” said Mistress Blossom. “Will you be able to draw this tattoo for Veronica?”
While I had been watching Amelia and Jacques, Mistress Blossom had been leaning over the design with Veronica. Now, I turned back and looked at the parchment with them, and Amelia joined me. Jacques wandered off to the other end of the room.
“I can draw the design,” I said. “But I won’t be able to do it on the wrist. The design is too big and detailed for that.”
“Where can you put it?” Veronica asked.
“It needs to be much larger, otherwise I can’t guarantee that the lines will be accurate.”
“Could you do it on my back?” Veronica asked. “I would like it there; it would feel like a protection to me.”
“Yes, that would be a large enough area.”
“Will the tattoo still work the same on Veronica’s back?” Amelia asked.
“I have as much idea as you do,” I said. “I don’t see why not, but I haven’t tried tattoos on other body parts before. Other than on Mistress Blossom’s. . . uh, lower stomach. We don’t know exactly what this tattoo does, anyway.”
“If it’s anything like the other tattoos we have,” Amelia responded, “It should be the base rune. As it is, it should simply allow her to generate lightning on her hands. But if you were to add a spear augmentation, Veronica would be able to throw lightning projectiles.”
“I don’t think I would be comfortable trying any augmentations right now,” I said. “Not until we’re certain the base rune works as it should. One thing at a time.”
Veronica nodded, her eyes wide.
“Don’t worry,” I said, laying my hand on hers. “I would never try anything that might put you in danger.”
She smiled and grasped my hand. “Thank you, William. Very well, shall we begin?”
“Yes, let’s,” I said. “It will be best if you lie down.”
“Sit yourself there, dear.” Mistress Blossom pointed to one of the benches. “Let me just get you a towel to lay your head on.”
Veronica sat down, removed her leather breastplate, then began undoing the straps holding her tunic together at the back. It didn’t seem as practical having a tunic that needed to be tied together, but then again, I’d never found women’s clothing very practical. Perhaps this style of tunic was more common where Veronica came from.
The Mistress came back with a towel and laid it on the bench beside Veronica. “Don’t you worry, that’s one of the clean towels. We never used this for anything ... scandalous.”
Veronica recoiled.
“I promise,” the Mistress insisted. “This towel is totally clean.”
Veronica held it up suspiciously and inspected it. Satisfied, she laid it down again at one end of the bench.
“Could you help me with these straps, William?” she asked me.
“Of course,” I said, sitting down beside her. “Amelia, could you grab the Lightning Core from my pack and prepare everything for me?”
Amelia nodded and fetched the Core. She laid it on the bench near me, with the parchment next to it. After a few tattoos, she was getting to know the routine as well. We worked well together as a good team.
I untied the straps at the lower back of Veronica’s tunic. Underneath, her olive skin was paler, where it hadn’t been exposed to as much sunlight.
Veronica slipped the tunic off, revealing the smooth curve of her strong but supple back. A strap was tied together across her shoulder blades, securing a leather garment that concealed her firm round breasts. She laid the tunic on another bench nearby and lay down with her face to the side against the towel.
“Uh, I’ll need to untie this strap as well,” I said carefully.
Veronica reddened slightly. “You can do that, as long as I can keep this on at the front.”
I undid the straps and carefully laid each one to the side. If I looked down, now that the garment was undone, I’d probably be able to see the side of Veronica’s breasts, but I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
I sterilized the tip of my tattooing dagger with a small flame from my forefinger, as before, then reached for the Lightning Core. The surface was smooth and slick under my fingers, yet somehow pliable. It was silvery purple in color, and inside the Core I could see a thick violet liquid moving. I felt the end of the Core with one finger, seeking for the thin spot which I knew would be there. When I found it, I raised the sterilized tip of the dagger and carefully punctured the Core. Light flashed and flickered for a moment as the tip of the dagger drew the magical liquid up from the Core into the inkwell, ready to begin the tattoo.
I could feel a strong pull from the ink, attracting my Mana.
“Can you sense the Core, Amelia?” I asked.
Amelia nodded. “After yesterday, I can sense the Cores more clearly. It’s becoming easier to manipula
te my Mana too.”
I looked down at Veronica. “I want to know if you can sense it now, Veronica.” I held the Core not far from her.
She focused her eyes on it. “I don’t think I can feel anything.”
“It will be a clear sensation when you feel it,” I said. “It will beckon you, straining your Mana, almost trying to suck it out from you.”
I held the Core a bit closer to Veronica’s head and tipped it, so she could see the ink moving within it.
She focused again. We waited in silence, her deep, steady breathing the only sound. Even Jacques, interested in what was going to happen, had come back over to join us.
Suddenly, Veronica’s eyes widened, and she sucked in a quick breath. “I can feel it. It’s pulling me toward it.” She raised her head slightly. “This is... this is incredible.”
I handed the Lightning Core back to Amelia to hold for me, took another look at the design on the parchment, and got to work.
I laid one hand on Veronica’s back. Her muscles were tense.
“This will hurt a bit,” I said.
Veronica nodded, her long, straight hair rustling against the coarse fabric of the towel.
I took a deep breath, reaching for that light trance state that always accompanied the tattooing process. My awareness of my Mana increased and, without me intending it, I felt the Mana slip from my pool to my fingertips, ready to aid me in the tattooing process.
I placed the dagger against the skin of Veronica’s back and began to work.
Chapter Seventeen
As soon as I placed the ink-filled dagger to the skin of Veronica’s back, I felt my Mana respond. I punctured the skin, and she gave a little gasp of pain. The ink flowed under her skin, and I guided it with my Mana as I withdrew the needle-thin dagger tip and settled into the rhythmic pricking.
This was a big, complex design. I would take my time to get it right. As I worked, I was looking forward to seeing how she would be able to use it.