Dao Divinity Book 1

by Bruce Sentar

  Looking at the spirit, he had a serious urge to just rip off the lock and free it, but he didn’t have a strong plan after that. And they weren’t ready to leave the town yet.

  Really, he wanted to tear the entire lab apart. It made his skin crawl. This man would do anything to uncover secrets that would benefit him.

  “Enough about the experiments,” Golum said, setting everything down. “We must make sure that you have control of your spirit in the city. Not only will it make you a better ally during a conflict, but we also will not give the nobility any additional reasons to think us weak.”

  At least Dar could get behind those ideas.

  “Your spirit has something it is bound to?”

  “Yes. The tree that caused the incident that landed me in this training. She’s bound to the tree, which is why she overreacted,” Dar explained.

  “Oh yes, that’s a terribly inconvenient thing to be bound to. I do hope you don’t expect to cart that tree around for the rest of your life?”

  “No. I had hoped to settle down somewhere and plant the tree.”

  “Ah. That makes more sense. Keep the tree under lock and key, use it as incentive for their good behavior,” Golum commented. “Do make sure you use it as leverage when you start tying your spirit up in oaths.”

  Counting to ten in his head, Dar really wanted to kill Golum before he left the city.

  “Take this spirit here. Not only is it all tied up in oaths, but if you killed me like you did Henry, he’s oath bound to run straight to the duke and tell of the crime. As a spirit related to wind, he is incredibly good at escaping.” Golum’s eyes fixed on Dar, a clear warning within them despite the casualness with which he shared the information.

  Dar tilted his head, a slight smile on his face. “What an interesting fact to share.”

  “You aren’t going to ask if Henry had something similar?” Golum asked, surprised. “Maybe you didn’t kill him after all.”

  Screeching to a halt, Dar’s mind froze. Was Mika sworn in similar oaths? That would be problematic, to say the least.

  “No, I’m mostly thinking about whether I should swear my own spirit into something similar. I don’t have to worry if Henry had something like that or not.”

  Golum squinted at him and pulled out a tomb that he started leafing through. “Let’s go over the guide of how to get proper oaths from your spirit today, and maybe tomorrow you can bring her over. I’ll get the pokers all warmed up for you ahead of time; I have a set of irons that will hold even a demon still.”

  Dar shifted in an instinctual desire to get away from the man and bumped one of the cages with a gremlin. The little devil lashed out, catching Dar’s shirt, and when he pulled away, the cage came toppling down.

  “Careful!”

  But the cage landed on a corner and warped just enough that the door popped free of its hold. The devil launched itself free, swinging wildly with its small, clawed hands.

  Golum had already snatched up a medallion, shoving it forward. A blast of air slammed the gremlin against a different wall, knocking contents off a nearby table in the process.

  “Don’t just stand there! Hold it down and let’s get it back in the cage. Grab it by the back of the neck; there are some skin folds that if you pull tight will restrict its head movements.”

  Dar jumped on the creature before it could recover and did as Golum instructed. The creature thrashed towards Golum as Dar held it, and the wizard righted the cage and put it back on the stack.

  A momentary thought went through Dar’s head. He might be able to let this thing go. It seemed to be more interested in attacking Golum than himself. Maybe it could kill the wizard before he had a chance to pull out a medallion and not be responsible for the death.

  But the moment passed, and Golum turned around holding the cage open.

  Realizing that the opportunity was gone, Dar continued to help Golum re-cage the devil. Besides, two deaths in one day would definitely look suspicious, regardless of what the spirit said.

  The cage clicked shut and Golum surveyed the mess, a frown on his face.

  “You are a clumsy oaf. Take the book and read up on it for tomorrow. I’m going to have to clean his whole mess up,” Golum huffed. “Make sure to send a servant down when you head out.”

  Dar sidestepped the mess and picked up the book, practically running out of the creepy cellar. As he stepped out of the stairway, he met a small group of servants. “He needs one of you to go help him.”

  The group looked at each other, considering who had to go.

  But that wasn’t Dar’s problem, so he moved on, retracing his steps to get out of the wretched wizard’s home.

  Chapter 28

  “Cages?” Cherry looked disgusted.

  “Yes, he had the gremlins and his spirit in the same type of cages,” Dar repeated.

  Sasha looked uncomfortable. Though she looked extremely human, he knew that she was often closer to a spirit than a human in her beliefs and dao journey. No doubt this news, plus the treatment she’d felt in the city, made her feel extra vulnerable.

  The only big difference between her and Cherry was in how her life had first begun, which he didn’t know much about. But this didn’t seem like the right time to ask about it.

  “Can we do anything for that spirit?” Dar asked, hoping one of the girls would have an idea.

  But the girls shook their heads. “No, it’s a bad situation, but if they wait long enough, they’ll get out of it,” Cherry said. “I will say though that this is further than I’ve seen wizards take it in the past. I am concerned for how it will escalate from here.”

  Sasha nodded along with Cherry. “It does seem to be getting worse, doesn’t it? Yet another reason for us to plan to head out tomorrow.”

  A knock interrupted further conversation, and Amber spoke from the other side, “I’ve returned from my trip.”

  Glancing out the window, Dar saw that the light was dimming in the sky. He realized that during his busy day she’d spent the entire day working on her tasks. He hoped that meant she had something great to show him, and her father was prepared to leave.

  “Come in.”

  Amber opened the door and poked her head in to check who was there before pulling a heavy sack to her shoulder.

  “Let me get that.” Dar strode over, taking the sack from her. It clanged with heavy metal as it shifted in his hands.

  He felt like a kid with new presents. He didn’t even make it back to a seat. He plopped down on the floor, opening the sack and beginning to pull out the weapons from within. First, he rummaged in it and pulled out a heavy ax.

  The thing had to be twenty pounds, a mean feat for any soldier to swing for any prolonged period of time, but it suited Dar well. The metal was an iron marbled with dark impurities, but he kind of liked it.

  The striations in the metal broke up its color, not to mention the thing hadn’t been polished to a shine save for the edge that looked sharp enough to split a hair. The shaft was a heavy, dark wood with a reddish hue that looked like old blood, capped with several heavy-duty metal straps to hold the oversized blade firmly in place.

  “It was too heavy for them to sell, so I got a good deal on it and figured it would be exactly what you were looking for.”

  Dar grinned, happy with the weapon.

  Still holding the ax, he began absently rummaging in the bag to see what else was in it, but Sasha came over, intercepting his search. “You are going to end up with a spear in your arm if you dig around in there distractedly.”

  She sat down next to him, arranging the bag so she could pull out and pass him weapons as he was ready.

  Chuckling, Dar gave her an appreciative kiss. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

  “Boys and their toys.” Cherry rolled her eyes with a smirk. She had moved forward on the bed, sitting as close as she could to see the new weapons as well.

  “You could get weapons if you wanted, too,” he said without taking his eyes off hi
s new ax, hefting it a few times to get a feel for its weight.

  It was light in his hands, but by the quality of the metal, he could tell that it was a solid blade.

  “My father says you can see how many times it was folded over on itself by how heavy the marbling is. More folds, the better,” Amber commented.

  “It looks fantastic.” Dar stood up and swung it in the air, eliciting another eye roll from Cherry. Feeling a bit defensive, he commented, “I’m being careful.”

  He held it straight out and used the heavy dao on the ax; it wobbled as he held it out. He continued to feed the dao into it, and it grew heavier by the second. Soon, Dar was sure it weighed at least ten times the initial weight. His single arm was having trouble holding it out.

  Releasing his dao, he counted. The extra weight disappeared over the next ten seconds, and he was glad to see that the weight dao allowed for some room to play and wouldn’t just be gone in an instant.

  He played with shifting its weight as he swung a few more times in the air.

  “Will it do, milord?” Amber stood off to the side, watching his movements.

  “Yes, you did well.” He beamed at her before sliding the ax back onto the bed.

  Amber grinned at the praise before hiding it with a stiff bow and putting a leather thong over the blade to protect it.

  An ax was just the brute force weapon that would work well for Dar.

  “Let’s see these spears.” Sasha pulled one out. “We’ll need to get you some way to hold them.”

  “Pa says that the guard usually leaves them in barrels nearby, or maybe we can find a heavy quiver to hold them. I wasn’t sure what you wanted and didn’t see anything sturdy enough to carry them.”

  “It’s fine; we’ll figure it out later.” He took the bronze-tipped spear from Sasha. It had a large, heavy tip to it, with plenty of bracing holding it to the wooden shaft.

  Hefting the spear, he mimed throwing it several times before handing it back to Sasha. “Should work. I’ll have to practice before I’m much good with them.”

  As Sasha went to add it back to the bag, a singsong voice emerged from just outside their door. “Oh Darius, I heard you came back.”

  Margret opened the door without knocking, her eyes immediately looking disappointed.

  He frowned. She was clearly testing his limits for his personal space thinking she could just open the door to his room. He knew she had been after some sort of pervy peek.

  “How can I help?” he asked.

  Lady Margret flashed a coy smile. “I do hope you haven’t forgotten about our dinner plans tonight.”

  “No, I haven’t. But I just got back and needed to check in on my household...”

  “No excuses, come have dinner with me.” She moved across the room and dragged her nails on his arm in a futile attempt to pull him along.

  Dar gave Sasha a pleading look, but all he got back was a sympathetic smile and an encouraging nod to go with Margret.

  It was only one dinner before they’d be on their way. He was glad they weren’t going to stay as long as they had initially anticipated when they were going to find a house in town. He wasn’t sure he could politely put her off that whole time, and he certainly wasn’t going to entertain her in the way she wanted.

  He was learning to handle multiple dao companions, but he had no interest in the cougar. She could get her fix somewhere else, but for now, one dinner he could do.

  “I guess I’m yours for dinner then.” Dar did his best to give her a smile.

  “Fantastic.” She pulled him along, and this time he let himself go with one last look back to his girls.

  Margret led him down her richly furnished halls to a dining room with one long table.

  He smiled seeing it, hoping they’d be on opposite ends. But that hope only lasted for a moment as servants came with freshly cut roses and candles, putting them all on one end.

  “Please, come sit at my second.” Margret stepped away, her fingers trailing along his arm before a servant pulled out her chair for her.

  Another servant popped up, waiting to pull Dar’s own chair out for him. Dar suppressed a grumble about doing it himself and sat down, trying not to laugh as the servant struggled to push the chair in. He took a small moment of triumph at doing it himself.

  “Oh, you are going to love dinner. I asked them to cook up roast lamb.”

  Clearing his throat, he looked around. “Is your husband going to eat with us?”

  “Oh no, one of the maids will serve him in his suite… unless you want him here?” As she asked it, a small devious smile curled at the edge of her lips.

  Yep, no thanks.

  “I just figured he was the man of the house and should be here,” Dar said, leaning away from a servant who came over his shoulder to fill his goblet with wine.

  Margret waved his comment away. Her own servant deftly dodged the hand while pouring her wine. “He’s been like that for years at this point. I’ve taken over everything in the household. It’s just a shame that we have no heirs.”

  Her hand played with her hair as she leaned forward, her chest pressing against the table.

  Dar did his best not to look, instead studying the pictures along the wall. There were stately images of her husband with her supportively behind him. “You must have loved him. The two of you look close in the pictures.”

  Dar intended to keep her husband in the conversation for a while. It seemed like a great way to keep it from becoming about them at all.

  “I was young when I was wed to him, and I didn’t have much choice. I made the best of it, and now that he’s in his condition, I’ve taken over the house and his titles.” She smirked as she took a sip of wine. “Oh, you must try that, it’s fantastic wine.”

  Dar hoisted his goblet in cheers and took the smallest of sips he could manage. He wasn’t a lightweight, but he wanted to be safe. He didn’t trust her enough to get drunk with her.

  “I wanted to thank you again for your service in the battle.” She raised her goblet in another toast.

  Clinking them together and taking another sip, he realized she would just keep toasting to get him to drink more. She must think that getting him drunk would up her chances.

  “Margret, I’m not from these parts. Have you always dealt with devil attacks like these?” he asked, hoping to divert her from more congratulatory sips.

  She gave an exasperated sigh. “We normally have one or two raids a year, but this was the third in a month. People are getting worried, but they’ll calm down. The duke has said they won’t continue once winter comes here in a few moons.”

  It made sense that the creatures would likely hole up for the winter, working to stay warm and eat through their food. He hoped it was true for the sake of the town, assuming they were able to stock up enough.

  The wine had a bitter aftertaste creeping in, so he took another sip to push it back.

  Margret was watching him over her own goblet and downed it before calling for a servant. “Drink up. It’s very good wine.”

  He smiled, feeling a little looser already.

  “It is—” Dar started, blinking away as Margret split into two fuzzy projections.

  His head felt… slow.

  “Drink, drink.”

  He could feel someone help his hand lift the cup to his mouth, and he choked as he tried to talk.

  “How much did you put in there?” came her voice, starting to be concerned.

  “He’s a big guy. I wasn’t sure how much it would take.” Dar recognized that voice, a moment of clarity entering his brain. That was Count Tint’s voice.

  ***

  Dar groaned and shifted his head. As he found cool stone, he sighed into it, enjoying the coolness against his throbbing head. He shifted further into it, trying to subdue his raging headache.

  As he enjoyed the soothing feel, he tried to place himself. He realized that their bedroom didn’t have any cool stone, so that didn’t make sense.

  Becom
ing more alert, he blinked his eyes, working to adjust to the space. What he found was a rough stone wall inches away from him. He tried to turn to see more, replaying the last moments he could remember.

  He’d been at dinner with Margret. They had been talking casually and drinking the slightly bitter wine, and…

  He realized he’d been drugged. The realization hit him like a gut punch, and he pushed through his headache to turn and figure out where he was before things got worse.

  It was dark around him, with only a little light spilling in from the heavy metal, reinforced door that seemed to be the only entrance or exit to the damp dark room.

  Shifting, he realized there was a bed of dry hay under him. That made him feel the slightest bit better, at least they hadn’t forced him to sleep on the stone floor.

  His hands fumbled around the floor until he bumped a clay jug that wobbled with a slight sloshing sound until he caught it. Water maybe? His throat felt like it was stuffed with dry cotton.

  Sniffing the opening, it had a faint metallic smell that reminded him of well water. He tipped it back to get a taste and confirm it was only water. Once he was fairly certain about it, he tipped it back and chugged the contents.

  Setting it back down, the hollow thud rang out in the stone chamber, making Dar wince.

  It also must have alerted whoever was nearby. He heard movement as a body blocked the light coming from the panel on the door, then disappeared again.

  “Stupid,” Dar grumbled, leaning back against the wall and thudding his head. “Should have left the city the same day we got here.”

  He had known there was danger, but he wanted to prepare and set off with a full plan in tow.

  Wanting to be prepared for whatever was to come, he took a deep breath, feeling his mana sluggishly respond and cycle through him.

  The mana brought relief to his body. He continued to draw from the environment, nourishing his aching head and clearing his mind and body of the effects of the drug. He smiled to himself; they’d likely assume he was still somewhat sluggish.

  Seeing its effectiveness for his head, he focused on cycling mana through all the channels he had formed, letting it nurture each and every inch of his body.