Mage Magic

by Lacey Thorn

  Serenity reached out to touch it and he grabbed her left arm and turned it over. There, on the inside of her wrist, was the same symbol, save one difference. The three-sided shape was grey on her.

  “Attentive, aren’t we?” He sighed.

  She laughed. “I think we had other things on our minds this morning.”

  “I’m sure Theron noticed.” Thedan shook his head and she knew he was disgusted at himself.

  “Well, he is the seer,” she replied, and Thedan laughed as she’d intended him to.

  “As much as I love looking at your gorgeous body,” Thedan said, coming to his feet beside her and holding his hand down to her to help her rise as well. “I think maybe we should get dressed. More changed last night than we realised and we still have a way to travel before we reach the castle.”

  She nodded and reached for her robes. Her mother had told her that everything would change, but nothing about a mark. What exactly did the mark mean? Theron was a seer blessed by the hand of the goddess. She was the daughter of the goddess’ chosen priestess. Theron and Thedan were royal guards, or at least had been before mating with her. What did the different colours mean? And how did it play into everything that was going on right now?

  She and Thedan were dressed and ready to go when Theron appeared in front of them. They were both more attentive this time.

  “Where’s your cape?” Thedan asked. “How did you do that?”

  “Apparently I don’t need the cloak anymore to blend in shadows,” Theron said. “I can just will it.”

  Thedan shut his eyes and then opened them, shaking his head. “Doesn’t work for me.”

  “Did your mark change?” Theron asked.

  Thedan held up his arm to show the new symbol.

  “White,” Theron commented then held his up. He too had the same mark, only his three-sided shape was etched in black.

  “Serenity has the same mark in grey,” Thedan said.

  Theron reached for her hand, squeezing her fingers before lifting her arm to see the mark she wore. “I’m not sure what the colours represent.”

  “But you recognise the symbol?” Serenity asked.

  “It is an ancient symbol, one of incredible power,” Theron said. “I was shown it in a vision last night. It has been used throughout time to invoke the powers of the goddess. But in my vision the three colours are braided together. I don’t know what they represent individually.”

  “When the time is right we will know,” Serenity said and smiled up at him. She stepped closer, reaching her hand out to touch his cheek and tilt his head down more towards her. “Your eyes are grey,” she said softly. “The black is entirely gone.”

  He nodded. “My visions are different. More focused than ever before. It is as if there is a more definitive link now. Our triad has strengthened them.”

  “My mother told me that our magic would merge and strengthen,” Serenity replied.

  Theron nodded and pulled her closer to him. He dropped his forehead to rest against hers and lightly brushed his lips along hers several times before slipping his tongue inside her mouth. His kiss was silky, slow and deep, thoroughly pulling her under his spell. She had to blink several times when it ended as if she were awakening again.

  “Every morning should be greeted with such sweet nectar,” Theron said.

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “Are we ready to head out?” Thedan interrupted the spell and Serenity wondered at his tone. Surely he wasn’t jealous of Theron?

  “I need a few moments of privacy, please,” Serenity stated. Her mind was spinning, her emotions wild, but she had physical needs that could not be denied.

  “There is a place just beyond the trees there that can be used,” Theron pointed the way out to her. “Take the time you need.”

  “Thank you,” she said and could have almost laughed at how she was shy about letting them know she needed to relieve her bladder and clean up a bit when they had both seen her naked, been inside her.

  Theron watched until Serenity disappeared. Although out of sight, she wasn’t that far away and they could reach her quickly if the need arose. But her absence was required at the moment as he could feel the tension radiating off Thedan.

  “Spit it out,” he told his best friend, the man he’d always thought of as a brother.

  “What?” Thedan asked.

  “What is it exactly that has you twisted in knots?” Theron wanted to know. “And don’t even pretend that you don’t know what I am talking about,” he warned.

  “It is nothing but my petty selfishness at play,” Thedan said.

  “So tell me,” Theron said.

  Thedan walked away, turning his back to Theron before he spoke. “I’ve always known you were special, always accepted that you were more that I could ever be. Your visions, your ability to react with calm while I rush in with weapon drawn. I’ve always envied you a little.”

  Theron was surprised, but sensing that Thedan wasn’t done, he didn’t interrupt the disclosure.

  “And now this,” Thedan said, turning and holding his arm up. “Our marks are different now, where at least we always had this in common before. And your new ability to blend into shadow without the use of your cloak. I can’t do it and it makes me wonder what is so wrong with me that the goddess grants all her gifts to you.”

  There was such anguish on Thedan’s face that Theron felt his pain like a physical blow. “And I have always envied your ability to live in the moment and not constantly analyse. At times I have hated the visions I am sent, the interruption of them into my life.”

  “And yet look at our mate,” Thedan said. “You are here but a moment and she is so under your spell that it was as if I didn’t exist.”

  “Yet, I am the one who greeted her with only a kiss,” Theron stated, making Thedan aware that he knew exactly what had taken place while he was gone.

  “I have been jealous of you before but I have never begrudged you or wished you weren’t there,” Thedan said.

  “And now you do?” Theron asked. “You wish that I wasn’t here, mated to the same woman with you?”

  But Thedan didn’t answer. He just lifted the cowl of his cloak and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Theron waiting alone and wondering just how much had changed when they’d mated with Serenity.

  Chapter Seven

  Serenity could tell that something was different between Theron and Thedan but she didn’t know exactly what it was. She prayed that she wasn’t the cause of what was obviously a conflict between them. They spoke to her, but rarely to each other, and when they were forced to, it was with as few words as possible.

  Thedan was surly and his mood was starting to grate on her nerves. Theron just looked sad, as if he knew something was coming, but couldn’t share it with anyone. She wouldn’t be able to handle this tension much longer. She’d known something was amiss when she’d returned to find Theron waiting alone for her. He’d said Thedan had gone ahead to scout but it had been close to noon before Thedan had joined them again. His attitude made her wish maybe he hadn’t.

  Finally it was enough. “That’s it,” she said between clenched teeth as she pulled the cloak from her head. “I don’t know exactly what was said or done while I was gone this morning but this tension has to end.”

  Thedan removed his hood as well while Theron just appeared. She noticed the tightening of Thedan’s lips as Theron did so.

  “Is that what this is all about?” she demanded, walking up to Thedan and glaring at him. “Your dark mood is because Theron can blend without a cloak now?”

  Thedan just glared at her while Theron sighed behind her.

  “Leave him be,” Theron said.

  “I don’t need you speaking for me,” Thedan replied, glaring over her head at Theron.

  “So this is what it means to be mated,” Serenity said. “No wonder my mother chose a different path.”

  “Well, good for her,” Thedan said, his hard gaze bouncing back to her. “
But you are mated.”

  “Oh, and what a lucky woman I am,” she sneered. “Barely a day and my mates are already feuding over something.”

  “It has nothing to do with you,” Thedan dismissed her.

  “Oh, that is where you are wrong,” she said, stabbing her finger into his chest. “We are a triad now, the three of us as one. So anything that affects the two of you affects me as well.”

  “It will pass,” Theron said.

  “Are you sure about that?” she demanded, turning her ire onto him as well. “Did you see that in one of your visions?”

  Thedan barked out a laugh which only brought her anger back to focus on him.

  “I thought I mated men, not little boys who let jealousy rule them,” she said. “I knew everything would change when we mated but I never expected this.”

  “Deep emotions change everything,” Theron said softly behind them. “None of us can control how we feel, only how we express it.”

  “I never want to be a cause of problems between you two,” she said, shaking her head. “You were together long before I entered the picture.”

  “You’re right,” Thedan said. “Which means that what is between Theron and I existed long before you arrived.”

  “But I must have been the catalyst that brought it all out,” she said. “I need you both, beside me. Not at odds with one another.”

  “How touching,” a voice mocked off to their right. “It looks like we’ve interrupted a lover’s spat.”

  Theron and Thedan moved to stand in front of Serenity, weapons flying easily into their hands, and she took a step back, unknowingly forming for the barest of seconds the three-sided triad they all now wore. Then Theron disappeared and Thedan shifted his feet wide, preparing for battle.

  Her eyes adjusted quickly to the torchlight that lit the men facing them. There were seven men with weapons drawn, spread out in a semi-circle around them. Three others stood just behind the one who’d spoken and were holding torches. As soon as Theron disappeared they were on the move.

  “Quick,” the one who had spoken earlier said. “Keep the girl alive. Wilhelm wants her.”

  They were upon them before she could get a spell off. She found herself using her Staff as a defensive weapon to keep them at bay. Thedan had four men on him and she knew from his grunts that they were not giving an inch as they tried to take him out of the picture. Three had headed straight towards her, one of which was the one who seemed to be the leader of the group. He’d given her the advantage though, by letting it slip that Wilhelm wanted her alive. They would go easier on her than her mates.

  A cry filled the air beside her. She glanced towards Thedan just in time to see Theron appear behind one of the four men attacking Thedan. Theron buried a blade deep into the man’s side, taking him out of battle. “Help Serenity,” Thedan yelled as he continued to fight.

  Blood slicked his arm. She didn’t know if it belonged to him or one of the men he was fighting, or maybe both.

  Theron disappeared again and she was snapped back to her battle by a sharp hit to the side of her head. It dazed her for a moment but that moment was long enough for the leader to jerk her to him. The hard press of metal against her throat brought her back and she knew that he held a blade there. Her Staff was on the ground at her feet but she didn’t need it for spells.

  She closed her eyes, placed a hand over his as if trying to tug it from her neck, and whispered a spell that was one of her favourites. As soon as the last word left her lips the leader gave a yelp and dropped the now burning-hot weapon from her throat. He stepped back to cradle his burned fingers and palm against his chest.

  “What the hell?” he said.

  Serenity moved, scooping up her Staff even as more words formed. As she turned there was already a ball of fire in her open right palm and she sent it flying at one of the other two men coming at her. It hit the one she’d aimed at square in the chest, knocking him back to land hard on his ass. He screamed and slapped vigorously at his shirt to put out the flames there.

  She moved to face the other one but he was too close. He swung one meaty fist at her, aiming for the same side of her head that had taken the previous blow. She leant back, raising her Staff and using it to deflect the swing. She could feel the power coursing through her veins and it was almost too much to contain. She formed the ball of energy in her right hand and tossed it to him. He did exactly as she expected and caught it, his eyes widening with shock as it soaked into his skin.

  Then his screams started. She knew precisely what he was experiencing. As the raw energy she’d formed was absorbed it would be like a lightning bolt or, more accurately, several of them, igniting beneath his skin. She turned her back on him knowing that within mere moments he would be dead on the ground. She should have sent a smaller jolt, just enough to incapacitate but not kill. But then she did have her father’s blood as well as her mother’s.

  The torchlight had grown dimmer and now the last torch blinked out and plunged them once more into a veil of blackest night. She vaguely saw Theron in the last whisper of light and knew what he had done. Theron had taken out the three men holding the torches. Instincts were key when you couldn’t see your opponent and that would hopefully give them the advantage with the mix of their magics.

  But how many were left? She had no idea. Theron had taken out the three torch holders and one of the four on Thedan. She had taken out two, although only one permanently. So that left the three with Thedan that she wasn’t sure of and two that she had left in play. Of course, both of her two were singed and the leader who’d tried to use her as a shield would only have one hand to use.

  Theron appeared beside her, stepping from shadow and taking her hand. With soundless steps he led the way to Thedan. The three of them eased away, both men keeping weapons at the ready in case of another attack.

  “I counted ten,” Theron whispered. “I took four out.”

  “I took three,” Thedan said.

  “I took one out and wounded two,” Serenity said.

  Her mates clearly thought little of killing the men who’d attacked them. She blamed her mother’s influence and blood for the guilt she felt over killing one, and her father’s blood for the regret of not killing them all.

  “We’re almost to the castle road,” Thedan assured her. “Just a little bit further and the king’s men will be on guard.”

  She nodded. She would have to guard her reactions if someone stepped out, as the last thing she wanted to do was injure or kill an innocent person. But from now on she would not view anyone who chose Wilhelm’s side as innocent. She’d never been a warrior before, never fought any life-or-death battles while living at the temple. Her mother had taught her to respect life, to do no harm. But the time had come for her to embrace the path of a warrior and understand that sometimes the only way to save a life was by taking one.

  “What was that?” she whispered, half turning as reality pulled her from her thoughts.

  “What?” Thedan softly asked.

  She couldn’t explain it. She had a feeling that she couldn’t ignore.

  “I don’t…” She shook her head, unable to finish her thought.

  She would remember the next few moments for the rest of her life. Thedan tensed beside her and grabbed her arm to pull her behind him. A whistle, that’s what it sounded like, and Theron shoved them, knocking Thedan off balance so that he fell, taking her to the ground beneath him.

  Theron’s body jolted as if taking an impact from something. Men flew out of the darkness around them and she knew she was screaming, yet she heard nothing. Theron turned slowly to face her and Thedan. There was a long black arrow buried deep in his chest and Serenity felt it as if it were in hers. She quickly whispered a spell to cast a protective barrier around the three of them. No harm could touch them as long as they stayed where they were.

  Thedan bellowed beside her as he scrambled on hands and knees to catch Theron as he fell to the ground. She screamed and crawled t
o them. Thedan sat, his arms wrapped around Theron, holding him against his chest, their legs sprawled out in front of them. And she could hear Thedan apologising to Theron. He kept telling him he was sorry.

  “I’m sorry,” Thedan said, and he and Theron grabbed hands, gripping each other’s palms tightly. “Brother, forgive me?”

  “Nothing to forgive,” Theron whispered then started coughing. “Take care of her.”

  Thedan was still talking but Serenity heard nothing. Theron turned his head and their gazes connected. She saw acceptance in his and was jolted back to when she’d first encountered them on the road from the temple. Thedan had told her they would give their lives for her, but Theron had looked her in the eyes and stated that he would die for her. She had replied that she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. It never once occurred to her that perhaps he was foretelling what would happen.

  “I won’t let you go,” she said, reaching them. “Do you hear me? I won’t let you go!”

  “Love you,” he whispered as she wrapped both of her hands around his and Thedan’s clasped hands. “Love you both.” He smiled softly at her then his eyes slid closed.

  “No,” she screamed, surging to her feet.

  People were running towards them carrying torches and she realised they had almost reached the castle. She also noticed that the torchlight made it easier to shoot at the newcomers. No sooner had the thought entered her mind than she heard the whistle of more arrows in the air. This time she was ready for them. The anger, the hatred flooding through her body had her power crackling at her fingertips.

  She swore she felt the Staff vibrate. A whisper and wave of her hand and the arrows disintegrated in the air. She had no damper on her magic this time, felt no need to control it. This time she wanted death, craved it for those who wanted to deal it to her and her mates. She reached out with her mind, eager to lock on to where they hid like cowards in the dark.