The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit)

by Nelson Chereta

  “On the lips?” He shook his head. “We only ever kissed on cheeks or on foreheads.”

  “That’s all right then.”

  “Though when we bathed together she would give me little kisses on my neck some times.”

  “Grrrrkkk.” Her mouth was twisted and she was making a half wheezing half choking sound.

  “Alice are you all right? Did you swallow a bug or something?”

  “You, you took baths with this girl?”

  “Yes I did. Normally I would have slaves bathe me, but Gwendolyn enjoyed washing with me.” He smiled fondly. “I miss those times.”

  Alice’s jaw moved but she couldn’t say anything.

  “So you saw her naked?”

  He glanced at her in confusion. “Well of course, do people here take baths with their clothes on?”

  Alice shook her head.

  “So what else did you do? Did you sleep with her too?”

  “Every once in a while.”

  “What?”

  Waldo nodded. “Sometimes when I had trouble sleeping I would go visit her bedroom. She was always happy to let me slide under the covers." He sighed wistfully. "I always slept peacefully when I was in her arms."

  Alice put both hands to her face. “I really need to stop asking you questions about your past. So just who was she? A slave? Another magic user?”

  “She was my sister.”

  “Wait a minute! She was your sister? Your sister!”

  “Did I not mention that?”

  When she smacked him in the back of the head and stormed off muttering to herself Waldo couldn’t begin to guess what the problem was.

  XXX

  After the little exchange their evening was routine. They made a fire, had dinner, Alice assaulted his virtue to satisfy her appetite for male lust, and then they went to sleep.

  Despite the occasional punches and head slaps Waldo was getting used this new life. With a new spellbook and wand he was feeling more at ease. Granted the spellbook has little useful magic in it, and he didn’t expect his wand to work any better his others had. Still, just having them made him feel like a proper mage again.

  And, despite her constant defiance, he was glad to have Alice by his side. She provided his meals, acted as guide, and gave him a sense of security. No matter her appearance, she was a succubus, a Great Monster, just having her with him meant he was protected.

  Things had not gone as he had originally planned, but now they looked to be back on track. He went to sleep easily, looking forward to the next day.

  XXX

  All magic users had the ability to sense magic.

  It was something they were born with along with the ability to access and shape mana. A mage would always know a magical item when he touched it or sense a ward. Mages could sense each other as well. It was impossible to hide what you were from a fellow magic user.

  Waldo’s ability to sense the undead was different. It was a unique trait that he had received from his mother. When undead were in the area Waldo would get a sense of cold. Whenever Walter would try one of his ambushes it was as if there were a chill breeze blowing. He would be able to sense him and about how near he was based on how strong the cold was.

  As he was sleeping he felt a sudden freezing, like plunging down into ice water. His body shook with the frosty chill.

  Waldo came completely awake and sat bolt upright. He tossed off his blanket and scrambled to his feet. Grabbing his spellbook and rushed over to Alice and shook her roughly awake.

  “Huh, what?”

  “Quiet,” he hissed. “Hurry and get up.” He grabbed her arm and got her to her feet.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” She blinked and looked around. “Why are you so scared?”

  “We need to run.” He took her by the hand and began to lead her through the darkened woods.

  “Wait, but our things…” she had her purse always on her, but everything else was being left behind.

  Waldo was carrying only his spellbook and the various magical items in its many pockets.

  There was a half-moon out and the stars, but it was still very dark. He dragged her through the bushes and tall grass, ducking beneath tree limbs that he could barely see. He was stumbling, tripping over the uneven ground, trying to keep his balance and keep going.

  “Darling what is going on? I can feel your fear.”

  “There is something behind us.” He kept running, praying he would not trip and fall.

  “What is?” She glanced back over her shoulder but there was nothing.

  “Something very bad,” he panted.

  Alice did not understand, but she held onto his hand and ran with him.

  As he tried to lead them to safety Waldo could feel the icy presence keeping up with them. They had gained a little distance, but not much, and it was following. It would not stop chasing them until it caught up. Waldo knew well that the dead never tired.

  As they ran he caught his foot on a tree root. Stumbling, he lost his balance and fell.

  “Darling are you okay?” Alice quickly got him back up.

  “This isn’t going to work.” Waldo panted. “We can’t run away.” He looked at her. “Alice I need you to transform and fly us out, as far from here as you can.”

  She hesitated, he knew she didn’t like to transform in front of him. Alice could sense his fear through their bond though, and had to know how desperately he wanted to escape.

  “All right darling.”

  Closing her eyes she breathed deeply. There was the sound of tearing flesh. Large leather wings ripped out of her back. Horns, claws, and tail all appeared.

  She wrapped her arms around him.

  “Hold tight.”

  Her wings stretched out then flapped down. Waldo felt the jerk as they lifted up off the ground. When Alice flew on her own she was as swift and graceful as a hawk. When she carried him her movements were more like a lame vulture’s. They rose sluggishly and topped the tree line.

  Alice was just starting to take them away when Waldo heard a sharp crack.

  From down below a bolt of lightning shot up and struck Alice right in her side.

  “Aaaaahhh!!” She howled.

  She lost control and they began to tumble out of the sky. Her wings spread and slowed their descent, but they still came back down to earth hard and fast.

  XXX

  His ribs and back hurt like hell, each breath sent a stabbing into his side. He got to his hands and knees, glad just to be alive. What worried him was what was in the back of his head; fear, confusion, and pain. Alice’s emotions were a jumbled mix and they were coming to him weakly. He knew what direction she was in. He staggered to his feet and went to find her.

  She had landed about twenty feet from him and was on her side, moaning. The air was filled with the smoke and the smell of burnt meat. He could see a horrible burn wound on her side. There was some blood, but the lightning had mostly sealed the wound. The danger was in how badly hurt she might be internally.

  “Alice.” he whispered.

  Her eyes were half open, and she struggled just to turn her head in his direction. She spoke just one word, but he heard it clearly.

  “Run.”

  Waldo took a deep breath that sent pain stabbing into his side.

  She could not even stand right now. In her present condition she was worthless to him. Waldo knew what any Dark Mage would do in a situation like this. If your life was in danger and your familiar could no longer fight or help you escape, you saved yourself and abandoned her.

  That was what his mother would do.

  If he did that Alice would definitely die. Their short flight had gained them some space, but it was coming. If he ran it might be satisfied with her and allow him to escape. In a sense this was what a familiar was for; they were supposed to serve and protect you and sacrifice themselves if necessary. She would simply be fulfilling her purpose.

  “Please… go…” she gasped. There were tears in her eyes.


  Through the bond he could sense worry, and it was for him. Lying there in the dirt, helpless and in such pain, she was thinking about him.

  “It’s going to be okay Alice.” He told her as gently as he could.

  Her tear filled eyes stared up at him.

  “After all, a husband has to protect his wife.”

  He could tell his words startled her. After the initial surprise though she managed a slight grin.

  There was very little time. He knelt down beside her and gently placed his hands by her wound. The flesh had been charred black, with the edges raw and tender. Despite being as gentle as he could she still winced and he took hold of her.

  “This will hurt but try and bear with it. I need you not to cry out.”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  With that he summoned up his mana and began a healing spell. “Noxtoros est corpus desral venti est dostri.”

  His hands glowed with a pale, silvery light.

  Alice gasped and twisted, he had to hold her down and keep his hands on her.

  As the energy flowed from him into her, the spell began to repair what had been damaged. Blood vessels were made whole, muscles reformed and knit back together, the body regenerated what had been destroyed or lost.

  “It hurts,” Alice cried, trying her best to stay quiet.

  “I know, and I am sorry, but it can’t be helped. Your body is doing something it shouldn’t be able to. The pain is part of the price. I can heal you, but I can’t make it painless.”

  She nodded and clamped down her jaw. Her claws dug into the earth.

  Waldo focused on the spell and set everything else aside. Alice’s pain and the approach of the being who was hunting them were unimportant. He needed all his concentration for the magic.

  This came naturally to him. The words spilled from his lips and he could feel the mana flowing easily through him and into her. This was the one thing he had always excelled at, his gift. No matter how he struggled with the more important magics, no one had ever doubted his ability to heal.

  So many times he had despaired because his talent was in an area that no one valued. How he had longed to be able to summon monsters or call down fire and lightning or animate the dead. Abilities that were prized.

  Right now though he was glad that this was his talent.

  His spell mended her from the inside out, repairing the most serious damage first. Alice was lucky that none of her organs had been damaged. He could have still healed her, but it would have demanded far more time than he had now. As it was she would be whole again without even a scar. The last thing the spell healed was the skin, the blackened flesh cracked and peeled away, leaving raw, tender, pink skin.

  “I’ve healed you.” He got up, wiping the blood and black bits from his hands. Taking his wand out he drew a large circle in the dirt surrounding her. “You’ll be fine.”

  Alice slowly sat up, she cautiously rubbed her side. “You’re amazing.”

  “No I’m not. If I were we wouldn’t have had to run away.”

  Inside the circle he was drawing arcane runes and symbols from memory. There were ninety nine arcane symbols, each one with its own specific meaning and significance. Just as putting together the right combination of letters would create words and sentences, if you wrote out the correct combination of symbols you could create permanent or long lasting magical effects. But only if you had the exact formula. Protection was a word, portection was nothing but the same letters in the wrong order.

  He thought he had the right formula. At that moment Waldo would have gladly traded five years of his life to have his old spellbook again. Of course he wasn’t sure he had five years to trade.

  When he finished he stuck two fingers in the circle. “Loratos.” He sent a flicker of mana into it. Before his eyes there was a subtle glimmer from the runes and circle and he could sense the ward now active and radiating magic.

  He gave a satisfied nod. There were a few things he was actually good for.

  “What are you doing?” Alice asked.

  “This circle will hide you from what’s chasing us. Stay inside of it until I summon you, or until the sun rises. If I haven’t summoned you by then, you’re free.” It was a rather unnecessary point, the bond would tell her.

  She drew a sharp breath and tried to reach for him.

  “Goodbye Alice.”

  He ran from her, careful not to step on what he had drawn.

  “Waldo!”

  Ignoring her he ran towards the thing that had come for him.

  XXX

  As he ran towards the danger, rather than away from it, Waldo understood just what he was doing. Every step was likely bringing him closer to his death. His mother would have been very disappointed in him. Not necessarily for what he was doing, but for the reason behind it.

  When he could feel the presence growing near he stopped and looked about for a patch of clear ground. When he saw some he hurriedly drew a circle with the same runes and symbols inside of it.

  “Loratos.”

  The ward activated. Standing inside the circle it would give him some protection. He took out his wand and faced the direction it was coming from.

  It would not be long now.

  XXX

  Only a couple minutes later he saw a figure step out of the darkness and into the pale moon light. Tattered black robes fluttered and swayed with the evening breeze as it detached itself from the shadows. The hood was pulled up, but Waldo caught a glimpse of what was there.

  A grinning skull with yellowish light emanating from its eye sockets.

  He was able to make out the hands at the end of robe’s sleeves, they were skeletal with greyish, mummified skin.

  The being came to halt about twenty yards from him. It simply stood there.

  After a slight pause the robed head nodded. “Hello grandson.”

  “Hello grandfather.”

  Chapter 31

  Grandfather

  Waldo was surprised when he heard a chuckle.

  “You know I kept track of all of you, and I know what people said about you in particular Waldo. I assumed it was all just meaningless venom. Yet hear you are, dressed in snow white robes. Maybe you really are a White Mage as others say.”

  “I am wearing these because of circumstances. My original robes were lost and these were the only replacements I could find.”

  That produced a soft rasping laugh. “So you had no choice? Yet the first time you leave Alteroth you are in white. If it was not your will then the Dark Powers are playing with you.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  Waldo saw the hood shake as there was more scratchy laughter. “Well, whatever your nature you do have courage. That pleases me. You have no idea how disappointing it is to discover one of your grandchildren to be a coward. Just standing there you have already surpassed your brother Walter.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I dare say you may actually have some real talent. I was most surprised to find you had a succubus in your service. Had you been just a little further away you might have escaped me. Did I kill your pet?”

  Waldo couldn’t keep from snarling at the mocking tone. “Yes, she’s dead.”

  There was a momentary pause. Waldo could see those sickly orbs staring out at him. They made him feel defenseless.

  “How interesting,” his grandfather stretched out the words. “You are lying.”

  It extended a boney hand and pointed in the direction Waldo had come from.

  “I cast detection spells before coming here grandson. I know she is alive.” There was another pause. “Could it actually be you are trying to save her?”

  Waldo said nothing.

  “Are you certain you are not really a White Mage?”

  “She doesn’t matter.”

  “True, but I’ll eat her anyway after I am done with you.”

  “Leave her alone, she has nothing to do with this!”

  “Such anger. Your lifespan can be co
unted in minutes, yet you are worried about your little succubus. Tell me, is she your familiar?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why are you trying to save her?” There seemed genuine curiosity. “There is never any reason why a master should put his own life in danger for the familiar’s sake. Didn’t your mother at least teach you that much?”