Blue Mage: Apprentice Omnibus: A Fantasy Romance Adventure (Books 1 - 3) (Blue Mage Series)

by Eden Redd

  “You keep playing hard to get.” Aznara said with a burning heat.

  “I didn’t know I was playing hard to get.” Trystan smirked playfully.

  “The more you resist, the sweeter the prize.” Aznara’s hands grabbed Trystan’s ass and gave it a squeeze.

  Trystan looked to Nia. The fire mage danced with her eyes closed, swaying to the music. When she opened her eyes to see Aznara practically on top of him, she gave a gentle smile.

  The mage knew she was being understanding. There was no jealously in her eyes, only a pure love that made the mage’s heart soar. The flashing lights and loud music made Trystan dizzy as his emotions centered and he finally began to understand his relationship with his dear friend.

  A cold chill rained down on Trystan as an explosion ripped through the party. The shockwave was enough to knock everyone to the ground and the music stopped. Dust and ash clouded everything as the mage tried to shake it off. A ringing filled his eardrums and hands grabbed at him. Looking around, Nia took hold of him, mouthing words he couldn’t understand. Aznara was also holding him but her head was turned in the direction of the billowing smoke. People and monsters were stumbling to their feet. Some began to run while others made silent screams.

  The DJ booth was half destroyed and the DJ was hanging over what was left, not moving. Behind him, things moved in the cloudy fog. Trystan was on his feet, sound returning. Moans and screams echoed as bodies moved toward the entrance. Some people were on the floor, dazed and confused.

  “Trystan, we have to go!” Nia shouted.

  Eyes on the smoke, thin figures moved. When one of the dead emerged from the fog, fear gripped the mage. More emerged and the undead were rapidly marching toward them. Trystan was frozen as the dead groaned and stepped in his direction. The fear in his heart slipped into a fire and Trystan decided what he would do next.

  Graceful hands moved, forming signals. Words whispered as streams of alcohol leapt into the air. The mage’s eyes narrowed as colored fluids formed into thin, razor sharp disks. The mage whipped his hands with arcane knowledge and a dozen disks bolted toward the marching dead. The edges of the disks moved faster than their centers. Disks sliced through decayed flesh and neck bones. The first group of undead fell to the ground in heaps while more marched over them.

  “Get everyone out of here!” Trystan shouted.

  One hand controlled several disks, slicing and cutting down the dead as fast as they came toward him. Trystan split his concentration. A few disks turned into streaming water and wrapped around the unconscious DJ. Lifting him up, he moved him to the exit and laid him down. The mage stood his ground as the streams let go and flew to others hurt or moving slow.

  Splitting his concentration was taxing, causing the mage to use more and more mana. Razor water disks missed some of their intended targets. The dead were closing the distance and Trystan was having trouble doing both. Mist burst from his arms. Sylk formed, flipping through the air and caving in a skull with her heel. Bella was on the floor, arms separating into four tentacles with razor points at the ends. With cold precision she sliced through dead bodies.

  Trystan couldn’t keep up the pace. The razor disks faltered and fell to the floor with a splash. Sylk and Bella moved back as the flood of undead continued their relentless march toward them. The mage could smell their stink as boney hands reached out and rusty swords rose.

  A fireball streamed passed the mage and his familiars, striking three undead and burning them to ash. Trystan looked to see Red Fang marching forward, spitting another fireball and another. Reeko was helping a man to his feet while mist flowed off his back. A large female ogre burst from the mist. Trystan watched as the ten-foot ogre with blonde hair and a single horn protruding from her forehead hefted up a club and began swinging at undead bodies. The dead burst into dust with each swing.

  Taking a stand, some student mages turned and unleashed a volley of spells. Others helped wounded party goers toward the exits. The troll leapt over the bar and joined in on the fray, massive fists swinging and shattering corpses. Despite the valiant efforts of a few, the dead marched on, filling the main floor from all sides.

  Trystan and Nia made a line with their familiars at their sides. The place was nearly cleared out of the living. The ogre charged, crashing and smashing anything close to her. When the last of the wounded was through the exit, Trystan made hand signals and water leapt into the air again. Forming disks, the mage changed up the signals and slowly froze them.

  “Keep them back. The alcohol is slowing down my freezing spell.” Trystan shouted.

  “We can’t keep them back. Everyone is out. We should pull back!” Nia shouted.

  Trystan was about to agree when his eyes caught a disturbance in the undead horde. A group had descended on a lone figure. Blue hair whipped around as Sunara kicked and punched. The succubus tried to hold them off long enough to crotch down and jump. A skeletal hand caught her ankle. Energy draining shock ran up the succubus’s leg and she screamed. Her body falling, undead caught Sunara and began pulling back.

  Aznara witnessed the moment. Launching herself into the undead, the succubus fought with razor claws, slashing at everything, moving slowly through the rows of dead. Decayed hands grabbed at her and draining shock ran through her body. Screaming, she pressed on; fighting with everything she had to get to her sister. Trystan sent partially frozen disks toward the fighting succubus, slicing undead left and right.

  Aznara fought on but the energy drains were too much even for her. Falling to one knee, she huffed and slashed as Trystan’s water blades sliced at others. Something green flashed through the undead encircling the succubus. Reeko took hold of the weakening demon and launched into the air. The ogre dropped her club and with outstretched hands caught both goblin and demon.

  The mages and their familiars began to back pedal as the undead moved toward them. A whisper of a song touched everyone’s ears. The undead halted their attack. Staring with empty eye sockets, the undead turned and marched back to the destroyed floor where they came from.

  The dust settled. Trystan and Nia darted to Reeko, Aznara and the ogre. The ogre put them down the on the floor but her hands went to the goblin, caressing his head.

  “It’s okay Wendy, I’m alright.” Reeko said as his green hand clasped onto hers.

  Aznara sobbed as she fell to her hands and knees. “Sunara.” she whispered.

  “We have to alert the magistrates.” Reeko said.

  Trystan knelt down and put an arm around the crying succubus. Aznara took hold of his hand for a moment before pushing it away.

  “I have to go after her.” The succubus said as she was standing up.

  “We barely held our own. Something called them back. I heard some singing.” Reeko said turning to them.

  “We all heard it.” Trystan stood by Aznara. “We can’t go after her. Let’s go back and get some help.”

  “No! We don’t know how long she has. The magistrates will do nothing because we are monsters. It’s only me and my sister here and I will not abandon her.” Aznara growled.

  Trystan reached out but the succubus pulled away. Walking with determination, the succubus headed straight for the gaping hole in the ground. The floor had caved in, forming a ramp. Stepping down, the succubus descended into darkness while the others watched, knowing what they had to do.

  Eleven

  “You don’t have to go.” Trystan said to Nia.

  “I’m not leaving your side like last time. Besides you can’t take them on all by yourself.”

  Reeko stepped closer to the mages. “We should all go, safety in numbers.”

  “This isn’t your fight Reeko.” Trystan said while trying to not sound harsh.

  “They destroyed my party and took one of my guests. Don’t tell me it’s not my fight.” The goblin fumed.

  Trystan looked down at the goblin and put his hands up. “Look, I’m sorry but this is dangerous. The more we argue, the farther away Aznara will be
.”

  “Then stop trying to be the white knight. We all are going.” Reeko said.

  Wendy the ogre towered behind the goblin with her arms crossed. Trystan looked up at her and sighed.

  Nia stepped close, arms hugging the blue mage. “Let’s go get Sunara back.”

  “Alright.” Trystan knew he could not dissuade them.

  The mage walked over to the trashed bar. Reaching over, he picked up a few bottles of water. Nia raced back to coat check and gathered their robes. Reeko spoke to the troll bartender and informed him to be honest to the magistrates when they arrive and to help anyone who may need it outside. The troll nodded his big green head and walked off toward the entrance.

  Nia came back and handed Trystan his robe. The mages put on their robes with Trystan stuffing his inner pockets with water bottles. Sylk was standing by the hole, eyes scanning the darkness.

  “I think we better hurry. The succubus is getting farther away.” Sylk looked back.

  “You can sense her?” Trystan asked while he walked to her.

  “I’m sending low sonic vibrations through the tunnels from my throat. I can tell when the sound bounces back but there is a range limit. We should go now before I lose her.”

  Trystan looked back to Nia and Reeko. They nodded in agreement. They began their descent down the ramp when the ogre made a sound. Looking back, they could see she was much too big and tall to fit.

  “It’s okay Wendy. Return to my skin.” Reeko said lovingly.

  The familiar nodded her head and melted into mist, streaming into the goblin’s shirt. Sylk led the way as Bella slid next to her master.

  “Master, I will slow you down. I too should return to your skin.” Bella said.

  “Okay but be ready for anything.” Trystan said.

  “I will master.” Bella faded into mist and flowed back onto his left arm.

  Red Fang was silent as he took his place by Nia’s side. The group continued their descent. Nia made a quick hand signal and an orb of light appeared hovering in midair. Lighting the way, tunnels stretched out in different directions. The siren moved to one tunnel and began walking. The group followed as a creepy feeling blanketed their minds.

  The tunnels held musty air. Coolness wrapped around feet and ankles and they marched forward. In the distance, a lone figure walked on. The group picked up the pace to the succubus. Aznara turned to them, tears running down her cheeks. Silently Trystan and Nia hugged her and they moved on.

  Sylk’s oval eyes stared into the darkness. Low vibrations in her throat sent back signals of small creatures scurrying in the darkness. The glow of Nia’s light created a bubble they could see but the darkness beyond was nearly impenetrable.

  “I can still sense the dead and Sunara’s heartbeat.” Sylk said not taking her eyes off the darkness.

  “Is she okay?” Aznara asked while wiping away a tear.

  “I think so. Her heartbeat is calm and steady. She may be awake.”

  “Leave it to my sister to be the calm one. The world could be crashing down around her and she will be as peaceful as a statue.”

  “I think the important question is what will we do when he reaches her? I spent about a quarter of my mana already and we barely held them back.” The goblin said looking to Trystan and Nia.

  Trystan sensed his own mana reserves and he could tell he spent more than half. Sylk and Bella will be okay as long as they have some mana but if he kept spending it like he did in the party, they would get weaker. Even now the mage could see Sylk’s mana glow in her body. The blue siren walked forward with courage as the shadows danced a little closer to her.

  The mage stepped forward and walked alongside his familiar. “Are you okay?”

  Sylk kept looking forward. “I’m fine master but I will be happy when we are out of here.”

  “I really had a great time yesterday.” The siren said in a low voice.

  “Me too.” Trystan smiled.

  “If anything happens, you know I…..”

  Trystan cut off the siren. “No talking like that. We will be fine. Besides we told each other how we felt yesterday. It will never change.”

  Sylk turned to her master and gave a shy smile. It was the first time Trystan ever saw his outspoken siren seem so small. A webbed hand touched his hand and gave it a small squeeze. Trystan squeezed back.

  “I have the most mana. Red Fang and I could distract the undead while you all save Sunara.” Nia said and her words echoed down the tunnel.

  “Fire would be the best weapon against them but you can’t do it by yourself. Wendy and I can assist keeping the dead at bay.” Reeko smirked.

  Aznara looked to Trystan. “We could save her.”

  “It might be difficult. I can’t keep doing combination spells without draining a lot of my mana.”

  Aznara whispered and mist flowed from her back. The mages watched as the mist took form and a beautiful woman emerged. Wearing nothing but a black bikini and a cloak, the pale woman turned to the succubus and bowed her head.

  “Vossa, can you sense them?” Aznara asked the alabaster skinned woman.

  “I can mistress. I detect about two hundred and maybe another three hundred further down in the tunnels.”

  “How can she detect them?” Trystan wondered.

  “Vossa is a vampire. She has certain abilities that may help us with the undead.”

  The vampire turned to Trystan. “I can sense something is controlling them. I might be able to wrestle some of that control.”

  “Still five hundred dead are a lot.” The goblin said ominously.

  “Can you tell us what kind of undead we are dealing with?” Trystan asked.

  The pale vampire woman’s brow formed a sharp V of concentration. “No. I can only sense their presence.”

  “So we don’t know what we are walking into.” Reeko sighed.

  Trystan looked to Nia. “Do you think you can create enough fire to hold them back?”

  Nia smirked. “I can create walls of fire and if need be, a storm of fire. The undead are weak to it so I think I can.”

  “I think we have a plan. Is everyone good with it?” Trystan eyed everyone in turn.

  The group shook their heads in unison. Turning to the dark tunnel, the group moved as one. Each mind worked to have a number of spells ready. Trystan could feel the cold stab of fear returning. He was no hero and this was crazy. They had no idea what they were really walking into. On top of that he worried that they were going to come face to face with whatever is controlling the dead. Each time they attacked, it was somehow connected with his presence. The mage knew there was a connection but he didn’t know why.

  At the end of the tunnel was a ghostly blue light. The closer they approached, the brighter it became. Trystan walked alongside Sylk as they took lead. The mage could feel his heart thump harder in his chest. Trying to keep his mind calm, the mage rehearsed spells over and over while keeping his eyes on the light before them.

  The group reached the mouth of the tunnel and they all stopped and stared. A cavernous room stretched out. Blue lights danced along the ceiling, casting menacing shadows in all directions. Thick pillars lined the room while the walls were covered in coffin sized holes. Broken and decayed tables spotted the room while ripped tapestries hung in between rows of holes. At the other end of the great hall stood a high backed throne with a lone figure sitting and a horde of undead on the lower steps reaching all the way to the middle of the room.

  A figure struggled to the left of the throne. Sunara was chained to the wall. The succubus pulled and yanked at her chains. Looking over, her eyes widened as she saw her sister with their friends.

  The undead horde turned and stared with vacant eyes. Stepping a little into the room, streams of mist flowed. Bella and Wendy appeared and took stances with the rest of the group.

  “Welcome!” boomed from the throne.

  Sylk squinted in pain and covered her pointed ears.

  “I would suggest you keep yourse
lves civil. My children hunger for your living energy. I am holding them back from taking it.” The figure stood up.

  Trystan stared and could see it was a woman. She wore a skin tight dress which accentuated her smooth curves. A plunging neck line ran down between her breasts and reached her exposed belly button. Long straight black hair ran down past her shoulders. White skin glowed in the ethereal blue lights of the hall.

  A lone skeleton in rusty armor walked over to Sunara. It unsheathed its blade and held it to her neck. Aznara’s fists tightened. Nia prepared spells. Reeko eyed the room. Trystan stepped forward with his hands out.

  “We don’t want to fight. We just want our friend back safe and sound.” Trystan shouted.

  “Come closer. I promise the children will not attack.” The woman smiled.

  “No thank you. We can talk from here.” Trystan shouted back.

  The woman’s expression turned to annoyance. “You are very rude coming to my home and not accepting my hospitality.”

  “I don’t think we want to get into who is being rude. You have our friend. Return her to us and we will leave immediately.”

  “I think not Trystan Song.” The woman smiled.

  Trystan took a step back. He had no idea how she knew him. The whole situation grew weirder and weirder. The mage was about to say something when a hand grabbed Trystan’s shoulder.

  “Listen to the Dead Mother.” Nia said in a deep voice.

  Trystan turned around and backed off. Something slipped into the goblin and his whole demeanor changed. Nia stepped forward with an evil smile, hands out. Wendy made sad sounds as she looked to the goblin. Reeko looked to her and said a command. The ogre bowed her head and turned to mist, returning to his skin. Aznara tried to swipe at another ghostly figure emerging from the floor. Claws passed through the image as it slipped into her skin. The succubus cried out and then her expression changed, evil grin twisting her mouth.

  Trystan and his familiars backed off. Undead soldiers moved from behind while his friends stepped toward him. The place was getting crowded. Mage and his familiars formed a triangle, their backs to each other.