God of Magic 6

by Logan Jacobs

  “Been busy,” Dehn replied shortly. I saw his fist ball up, and a small bounce came into his step.

  “Gabriel Vega,” I said as I stepped between Dehn and the stranger. I pulled Aerin to my side, effectively blocking Dehn from the man’s sight, and added, “And this is Aerin Vanynor. We were happy to help out today.”

  “Glad you were around, I’m sure,” the man replied. “Actually, I believe you know my distant cousin. Let’s see, third-removed or fourth-removed?”

  “Oh?” I said as I placed a hand on Dehn’s shoulder and pinned him in place.

  “Yes,” the man replied. “Yvaine Estrella. Quite a charming woman. Apparently, the urge to serve the greater good bit her as well.”

  Dehn made a huffing noise and squirmed in my grasp. Aerin took a step back and pressed her heel into his boot.

  “I’d be happy to tell her we met you,” I said civilly. “Whom should I say--?”

  “Ah, her cousin Raynald, of the Fairfield Weymouths,” Raynald replied. “It’s been some time since I saw her, and I only heard about her decision to join a guild, of all things, from my Aunt Pru. Let’s see, was that last week?”

  “Well, it was a recent move,” I replied. “But it’s been a few mont—”

  “Quite remarkable,” Raynald continued. “The family is quite in a dither about it.”

  “So how did you end up in the guard?” Aerin asked. I don’t think she was all that interested, but it was driving Dehn nuts to have to listen to this, so Aerin was more than happy to ask questions.

  “Oh, I joined about two years ago,” Raynald replied. “I graduated from Balfour’s Military Academy, you know, and spent some time riding around on campaign. That grew dreary after a bit, and I decided it was time to find something more settled, and this opportunity presented itself.”

  Dehn huffed again, and Rufus was unable to hide his eye roll. Fortunately, Raynald wasn’t looking at him.

  “Strange that Yvaine never mentioned you,” Aerin mused.

  “Well, as I said, we haven’t spoken in ages, and I myself only learned of her recent choice in employment,” Raynald replied.

  “But she knew you were here,” Aerin pressed.

  “Of course,” the man huffed. “Well, I assume she did.”

  “Sir,” Rufus interrupted, “if you would like to see the suspect--“

  “What?” Raynald sniffed. “Oh, yes, of course. Have her brought out.”

  “You don’t want to go to the cells?” Rufus suggested.

  “And risk these boots?” Raynald protested. “No, no, have her brought out.”

  Rufus nodded to a pair of soldiers, who quickly disappeared through the door to the cells. We waited for a moment, and then we could hear a scuffling sound, and a woman’s angry voice. The door flew open, and the guards dragged the ladona into the room.

  “This is the thief,” Rufus offered.

  “Hmmm,” Raynald said as he squinted at the ladona. He leaned in closer and then stepped back. Shock and then glee ran across his features. “By the gods, Rufus, do you know who this is?”

  “Er…” Rufus stammered. “She’s been refusing to answer questions.”

  Raynald strode to a table in the corner and started picking through a large stack of papers. The ladona women was still tense, but I could see a trace of fear in her eyes.

  “Here it is!” Raynald cried out triumphantly. “There, I told you to study and memorize those notices. If you had, you’d know that we’ve just captured Imogen Kurlew, one of the most notorious jewel thieves on the continent. She’s wanted in every major city.”

  Everyone was staring at the ladona woman now, but she held her head up high and refused to show the slightest ounce of defeat.

  “Let me see that,” Aerin said. She’d sidled up to Raynald and she snatched the paper from his head. She looked over the page, then at the ladona. “It sure looks like her. And there’s a reward. A big reward!”

  “Boy, this day just got a whole lot better,” Dehn declared as he finally squirmed out of my grasp. He joined Aerin and peered over her elbow at the notice. “Yep, that’s her.”

  “So,” Aerin said sweetly as she turned to Raynald. “That reward.”

  “Oh, well, yes,” Raynald agreed. “Rufus, draw up the chit, will you? You’ll have to take that to the City Comptroller’s office to get paid.”

  “Of course,” Aerin agreed as she licked her lips.

  Rufus signalled to the soldiers to return the ladona to the cells, and this time, four soldiers dragged her through the doors. Raynald was muttering to himself about promotions and better job opportunities as he wandered off in the opposite direction. Rufus pulled out a form, filled in the blanks, and stamped it with his seal and the seal of the city guard.

  “Congratulations,” he said as he handed over the chit.

  “Thank you,” Aerin said graciously as she accepted it.

  We were in a good mood when we returned to the guild hall, as was the rest of the team. The store had been so impressed with our capture of the jewel thief that they had given us six of the starter bracelets, one in each of the available options, and had offered to supply free charms and links for the lifetime of the recipient. Maruk and Yvaine had settled on a charm of a small dragon that they had attached to the dragon-blood treated gold bracelet for Lavinia’s child, and were debating what to do with the remainder.

  Merlin, my puca ally, had emerged from his nap and was staring at the bracelets that were on display on the coffee table. Maruk shooed him away, but the lover of all things shiny would not be deterred. He finally snagged a bracelet in white gold and snuck under the sofa before anyone else noticed.

  Lavinia was still under the effects of whatever Lena had given her. In between bouts of cursing Lena’s name, she would slump helplessly in her chair, caught up in another fit of giggling.

  “Is she okay?” I asked Lena. The elf had a concerned look on her face as she watched Lavinia nearly slide to the floor during a particularly intense bout of laughter.

  “I didn’t think it would last this long,” she replied. “Maybe it’s more reactive with ladona blood.”

  “Damn it!” Lavinia yelled out as she pulled herself back into the chair. “How much longer do I have to put up with this?” She snorted and, though she nearly broke the arm off the chair in an effort to restrain herself, she started giggling again.

  We made it through dinner, and a round of cards, before Lavinia finally recovered. Worn out, and more than a little frustrated, the ladona turned in while the rest of us were finishing the last of the whiskey. One by one, the Foxes disappeared to their private rooms, until it was just me and Yvaine.

  “I met a distant cousin of yours today,” I announced.

  “At the police station?” she asked in surprise.

  “Raynald of the Fairfield Weymouths,” I replied.

  “Raynald,” she murmured as she furrowed her brow in thought. “Hideous child. His parents sent him off to one of those wretched boarding schools that promises to turn your juvenile delinquent into the perfect offspring.”

  “Sounds about right,” I said as I thought about the man we’d encountered.

  “I had no idea he was here,” she mused.

  “Apparently, he’s some high muckety-muck with the city guard.”

  “His parents are happy, I’m sure,” she sighed. “At least he’s not back at the estate, blowing up the gardener.”

  “Did you say blowing up the gardener?” I repeated.

  “Among other things,” she replied. “Though it was when he sold his father’s prized stallion for a package of Hespic Cigars and a bottle of whiskey that finally landed him at Balfour’s.”

  “He didn’t mention any of that,” I said.

  “I’m not surprised,” she noted. “I’ve heard through the family grapevine that he’s been working hard to improve his public image. Of course, he’s still the same, obnoxious person underneath.”

  I drank the last sip of my own whiskey and lo
oked at Yvaine. She gave me a knowing smile as she set her own glass down on the table. Then she stood up and walked slowly towards me, giving me a chance to enjoy every curve of her body. She slid into my lap and took the glass from my hand. I watched as she set it gracefully on the table, and then she leaned in and kissed me, a long, lingering kiss that tasted smokey and spicy, and sent shivers of anticipation through my body.

  “Now, about that baby,” she whispered.

  “Lavinia’s baby?” I asked.

  “Our baby,” she purred as she kissed me again. “I’ve stopped taking the moon weed.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed as she kissed my neck. “I remember you saying that.”

  “So, shall we adjourn up to a bedroom?” She asked.

  “Are you sure?” I sighed as she ran a hand under my shirt and across the bare skin of my chest.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything,” she replied.

  She stood up and held a hand out towards me. I took her hand, and she led me upstairs to her bedroom. When the door closed behind me, she began to strip off my clothing, slowly, her fingers teasing as they moved across my skin. I moaned and tried to grab her hand in my own, but she smiled that secretive smile of hers, and leaned in for another long, languorous kiss.

  Somehow, we were both naked, and she dragged me to the bed. For the first time that night, she became more frantic. Her dark hair rippled around her shoulders, and her gray eyes narrowed to mere slits. Her heat spilled outwards in waves of energy, and I felt my erection respond. I pulled her on top of me and felt her moisture envelop my penis. It was almost too much, and I thrust upward to go deeper.

  And deeper.

  I wanted to give her a baby.

  “Oh gods,” she cried out as she grabbed my shoulders. Her fingers dug in, and I knew I would have scratches in the morning.

  “Yes,” I growled in response, and started moving faster.

  She moaned, and for a moment, she swayed on top of me, like a dancer. But then our rhythms synced, and she moved with my thrusts, her body wrapped around me, feeding my hunger and driving me onwards. I felt her own orgasm nearing, and I held on until that perfect moment. I saw her mana surge, and then I was filled with her pulsing light.

  She whimpered as her mana receded, and my own vision cleared. She arched back, drawing in deep, gulping breaths. She was still balanced on my erection, and with a growl, she began grinding against me. I moved to her rhythm this time, letting her set the pace. She was hungry, and I could feel her tension as she moaned.

  “Damn,” she cursed as she dug her nails into my chest. “Oh gods, that feels so good. Please, Gabriel. Please give me a baby.”

  Her mana was building again, and I pushed back, hard. I was on my elbows, and I watched as her face lit up with pleasure. She sank back against my knees and let my seed pour into her as I cried out her name.

  “Yes!” we both groaned as I pumped into her, and our climaxes were both mind and body numbing. It felt different and more intense knowing that we both wanted the same result from this session of love making.

  She dissolved against me after our orgasm, and I pulled her in tight against my body. She felt so good there, like she had been designed to fit in exactly that spot.

  We lay quietly for a bit, until she finally perched herself on an elbow and ran a finger slowly along my jawline. Her eyes held a speculative look as she studied my profile.

  “Like what you see?” I teased.

  “Very much so,” she replied with a smile. “Are you happy?”

  “I am very happy,” I said as I folded my right arm under my head and looked at her own beautifully sculpted face.

  “You’re excited about having a child?” she asked.

  “I am,” I admitted. “I never thought about having a child before. Too busy, I guess. But, now that it’s happening, I’m really excited.”

  “I’m excited, too,” she said. “We all are. Even Lavinia, no matter how grouchy she seems to be.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “Are you looking forward to having a child?”

  “I am,” she said with that mischievous glint of hers. “And like our fair ladona, I just need the right mate.”

  I leaned up and kissed her nose, and then her lips. Yvaine grinned, and I rolled over on top of her, soaking up her scent. My hands roamed freely across her breasts, and she squealed as I nipped one with my teeth. Her own hands slipped down to my penis, and she played with the family jewels for some time. I found myself on the point of bursting once more, and I slipped inside her pussy again. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she nuzzled against my shoulder. Her breath came in hard gasps as I pounded inside.

  “Gabriel,” she moaned. “Oh, Gabriel. Work me. Fuck me. Fill me again.”

  I nipped at her breasts, enjoying the friction and the moisture of her clit. Her breath was wild and ragged, and she finally looked into my face. She was sweating heavily, her chocolate hair plastered against her forehead, but that secretive smile was back. I pushed my tongue deep into her mouth, enjoying the double sensation. She wrapped her legs around my back and held on for dear life.

  When I finally found release for the last time, I sunk into the sheets with her body pressed against mine. I drifted into a pleasant sleep, the scent of her sex still filling my nose.

  My peaceful rest didn’t last long. I was dreaming, scenes that looked like my own childhood, but now I was the adult, and I chased a small, laughing child across a playground. There were other children and parents nearby, and even a few dogs in the mix. As we tumbled in the grass together, a bright silver light filled the scene. I held up my arm, trying to block the light, and a frightened child’s voice called out “daddy”.

  “Gabriel,” a voice called to me.

  I refused to look at the light. I groped blindly in the grass, trying to find the child that I could hear crying.

  “Gabriel,” the voice said again. “Gabriel, you must look at me.”

  I slowly lowered my arm and saw Theira standing in front of me. Her form was insubstantial, almost ghostlike, but I could still recognize her face, and the powerful eyes that held mine.

  “Gabriel,” she continued. “You must complete the quest.”

  “We found the Shodra,” I said. “We returned them to the Academy.”

  “No, Gabriel,” she replied as she shook her head. “The Shodra were never intended for the Academy. Only a manipulator may use them and only one manipulator truly has the power to control them. The new God has been born, and the Shodra are his.”

  “Where is this new God?” I demanded.

  She smiled but said nothing else.

  “The Shodra are in the Tower,” I moaned. “There’s no way to retrieve them.”

  “The Shadow Foxes have found their way out of many more difficult situations,” Theira said with a laugh.

  I looked around at the playground and the happy families.

  “I have a child on the way,” I whispered. And then I recalled Yvaine’s statement from Rena’s Revenge. “Maybe two.”

  Theira took in the scene as well. She smiled at the children who clambered over the playground equipment and chased each other in a game of tag. The sun was warm on my skin, and the scent of earth filled my nostrils. I felt like I wanted to stay in this perfect moment forever.

  “You already know that Maderel will use the Shodra, and if he does,” Theira finally said, “then the world as we know it will end. And I do not think the destruction will be just on Evreas.”

  The scene shifted. We were standing in the center of Ovrista, near the Tower. Or what was left it. Smoking craters filled the streets, and most of the buildings were in flames. People ran screaming from the destruction, and even as I watched, what looked like a meteorite burned through the sky and smashed into the city.

  The glass on the tower was gone, shattered into a million shards. I could see the bodies of mages inside, scattered and broken like toys. A few mages were still alive, trying to summon enough magic to prote
ct the city, but there was a mighty explosion, and I felt the ground ripple beneath my feet. I looked up and saw the sky over the city ignite.

  And then we were standing on a vast plain. The remnants of an army trudged past us, bloodied and bowed. In their wake, they left a sea of corpses. I saw the bloody bodies of children torn from their mothers, of young women put to death at the point of a sword, and men strung up from trees, hands bound behind their backs and crows pecking at their eyes.

  The scene shifted again, and we were in the great desert near the Canterrose mountains. Except the desert was gone. The sand, the rocks, the canyon where the river flowed, all gone. It was just a great, black mass of ash.

  Another shift, and we were back on the playground. But there were no people around, and the air was eerily still. The only sound was an emergency siren that blared in the distance.

  I knelt down and wept. Theira knelt next to me and took my hand.

  “You must stop this,” she said gently. “You must reclaim the Shodra.”

  “Gabriel,” another voice called. I tried to close out the voice, but I heard it call again, and then someone was shaking me.

  I woke up with a start, and Yvaine was staring at me in alarm.

  “You’re crying,” she said as she wiped tears from my cheeks. “And you yelled out.”

  I took her hand in mine and held it against my cheek. I had known when I’d read that passage in Murillo’s book that I couldn’t leave the Shodra with Maderel. But I had put off making any plans. I’d let myself get caught up in everything else. Theira had tried to warn me then, and now she had shown me the real danger if I didn’t act.

  “I have a new quest,” I said quietly. “Direct from Theira herself.”

  Chapter 2

  I called a meeting of the guild the next day. The Shadow Foxes gathered in the dining hall just before noon. I had hoped it would be quiet enough around our home at that hour that we could have the discussion we needed to have. I also didn’t want any prying ears overhearing what I was about to say.