Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  Cage also noticed the mage’s hand where there was a white string pointing right at Brooke. It was magic he knew and used often enough. A grin spread as Cage stepped to meet the six charging guards. But before he could take another, Brooke grabbed his arm and said “No, Cage. We cannot fight Lord Doyle or the guards, especially when so many can get hurt. We must flee.”

  “We will slow them down, Priestess of the Utala.” One of the tribal women said and the three drew knives. The little girl moved far away.

  Cage heard gasps and yelling, but he read the lips of the one named Lord Doyle as he said “Make sure they don’t escape.”

  The mage began to whisper and the standard tingle of magic grew. A spell settled over everyone except the six guards that would arrive in ten seconds. Cage yelled as his muscles bulged with his own magic attacking the hold placed upon him. A huge blast shattered the restraints, sending everyone in the open market except him to the ground. The explosive shockwave destroyed the other mage’s concentration, freeing everyone from his control. Cage picked Brooke up as the mage sat forward after being slammed down and showed wide eyes at such a brutal way to overwhelm his spell. The horse somehow also remained standing as Cage placed Brooke atop. Since he couldn’t have his fun he knew the only option is to drop off the radar.

  Brooke looked down at him and the many trying to regain their feet. Cage raised his hand to create a black archway in the same direction as Lord Doyle and his mage looked. He remembered Megdline making a yellow light to disappear and also Brooke’s earlier account of how the mage magically appeared from a light. It formed as he intended, pure black and seven and a half feet in height and five across. He then said loud enough for even Lord Doyle to faintly hear “Let’s get out of here before we get into anymore trouble. Go through first. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

  Brooke made her horse go forward, trusting her mate with whatever he had planned, even moving headfirst into a black wall. Cage threw up a shield around them and the horse as he walked right behind. As he made it into the darkness he altered the properties into becoming invisible and dropped the dark illusion. Brooke looked around, finding nothing had happened as they were still on the streets and was about to speak until she saw Cage cross a finger over his lips and gestured to follow. The horses clopping became muffled as everyone began yelling or crying. Cage quickly led them to an area void of people.

  “Where did the whore go!?” Lord Doyle yelled as he glared at his own struggling mage. “Find that mage too!”

  The man shook his head to clear it and grabbed his staff as the crowd yelled at him. The white string appeared and Cage knew he had to do something subtle to avoid notice and gently added a pain spell when it found its target. Cage knew it couldn’t be seen and the strength is less than what the other mage felt. The moment the light snapped straight the mage cried out as the pain shocked him and dropped him to his knees. What a wimp! Doyle shouted “What happened you useless fool!? I pay you well and I expect results!”

  “My Lord, I’m sorry, but that mage has somehow broken my spell. I cannot follow her anymore, he has made it impossible.”

  “How can anyone do that?”

  “I know not, but I got the feeling if I were to fight him I wouldn’t be the one to walk away. That binding spell was my strongest and yet he broke it and sent a magic shockwave powerful enough to knock everyone down. When I felt it hit me I knew then he is no average conjurer. That harlot must have hired protection for herself. At the moment you must set aside your revenge. If he could repel my spell so effortlessly then he could have done so much worse. If you would like I can try again?” The nobleman glared with a redness only outrage could exhibit and that is all the mage needed to try again.

  Cage again made the mage cry out in serious pain as he tried searching for Brooke again. Brooke remained quiet, understanding her mate is keeping them from following her and giving a warning that it would be unwise to follow. Lord Doyle threw his head back and yelled to the sky to vent his outrage.

  “Brooke, should I screw with him?”

  She looked down to see his mischievous smile and excited eyes to whisper back “Oh yes, Love. Oh yes.”

  Cage sent over some magic as Lord Doyle turned around to un-belting the man’s pants. The pants suddenly dropped around his ankles and caused him to trip. He then lifted one of the cobblestones in the road an inch a moment before the man slammed head and crotch first into the ground. The man howled in pain, one hand on his bleeding forehead and another cradling his manhood. He rolled on the ground and Brooke covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

  It wasn’t enough to knock the man down another peg. Yet.

  Then Cage noticed something profoundly devious someone was selling from a wagon. His grin grew as he spotted a cactus that looked more like an eight inch dildo. Lord Doyle rolled over and went to stand and eventually managed to accomplish it. He then bent over to pull his pants up, leaving himself spread wide open. Cage used his magic to fire the cactus right for the brown eye. Lord Doyle’s head snapped up for a moment from shock as the cactus entered his ass and he yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Brooke laughed so hard she feared they would be found, but everyone watching laughed loudly and some so hard they fell over. Even the soldiers who were sent to apprehend Brooke broke down and laughed at the man rolling in pain with a cactus shoved where the sun don’t shine. The mage stood in shock before finding himself laughing too. Not one was unable to help it. It was perfect entertainment and justice. The personal mage stopped as he realized the situation and went to help. Cage grinned and said “Ah now that was fun.” It started Brooke laughing all over again. “We better get ahead while everyone’s distracted.”

  She followed.

  Several minutes later they were far enough away that he dropped the shield and they reappeared when none were looking. They made way to the northern gate and left Castle Emroc behind. Cage began to run and would laugh every time he thought of what he did to a man who deserved getting raped by a cactus. Brooke too would burst out laughing all day long at remembering the expression Lord Doyle had just before he fully realized what slammed inside him. She thought he asked himself this ‘Did I just get a thorny lance shove up in my ass?’ and every time she thought of it she couldn’t help herself. When they made camp in the woods and away from the road she asked “Will he be alright?”

  “Not for a very long time. He finally had a stick up his ass that could be seen.” He grinned. “He has to now get out every splinter and the only way to do that on this world is by magic. That mage will have his work cut out for him and Doyle will never be the same. I know it was cruel and dishonorable, but I couldn’t help myself. Getting his manhood crushed on the stone wasn’t enough and I wanted him to feel what it was like to get the shaft for all he did to you and that poor young girl he knocked up.”

  Brooke moved into his embrace with a delighted chuckle and stared at the fire with him. “It wasn’t dishonorable, but he cannot blame anyone he couldn’t see. I don’t know which was more funny your monkey-attack you did during our first mating fight or him getting a plant to make love to him.”

  They both laughed over and over, enjoying the man’s overdue torment.

  Chapter 5

  Early the next morning Cage and Brooke moved north, sometimes making way for men rushing on horseback, messengers usually. Sometimes soldiers marching. They weren’t really bothered. They made up a lot of ground and camped by a lake before swimming together to cool off their hot bodies. Cage’s new leather attire worked wonderful. He did get hot in it just not for long, but not much more than cotton fabric would have held heat in. The tiny holes in the leather acted like pores as when he began to sweat, the shirt and pants would express the accumulated moisture and the wind created from the run cooled the black leather and felt much better than one would imagine. And to wash it, all he really needed to do is throw it around in the water and the smell wasn’t clinging either.

  Cage conjured image
s periodically to find Meeka tired from walking all day, but from the look in her eye she remained as firm as a mountain of cold steel. The Utala tribe also remained together and were strong. Frequently at night, the two watched as the tribe continued working the wood into yew bows that still needed time to be fashioned into a proper weapon, but lances were more abundant and every adult had one to replace what had been burned in the wyvern attack. Even Rena looked well, but Cage canceled the spell when he found her busy kissing and cuddling up to another girl her own age. Brooke smiled approvingly while Cage got mildly embarrassed.

  Before going to sleep he took out the map he received from Corbin of the Laqura Empire and studied it, burning the image into his mind so he wouldn’t have to rely on it if there is a situation where it is either lost or it cannot be taken out to decide if time becomes a problem.

  By the failing light of the fourth day Cage felt glad he had so much endurance as small dots of lights appeared a league to the northeast. They at last reached the city of Dalaran. The city had a thick wooden wall surrounding much of the city and with enemy forces likely to take the city they weren’t taking chances to build defenses. About a quarter mile of the wall is all that remained unfinished. A lone guard stopped them for only a moment and wrote down their names saying “Dalaran needs to know who is staying and going, with all of the Empire’s men roaming everywhere it is our job to limit how long someone will stay and reduce chances of sabotage. It was how Kidi fell after all. Some of the refugees they took in turned out to be the enemy forces and they found it easy to breach the wall and overtake it. We aren’t going to take such chances here. Luckily the main army isn’t after us at the moment.” He thanked them for their cooperation and allowed the two passage.

  Only a small castle stood in Dalaran’s city and seemed reasonably fortified. Many men wore the green dragon insignia of an Emroc soldier. Both Brooke and Cage were tired from traveling so hard. They selected an inn, rented a room on the second floor and paid to stable her horse. An added three copper had someone else feed and water her. The owner took their order and they ate. Both were so tired that they ate and went straight to bed, unable to think about anything else.

  Sleep came to an abrupt end as Cage heard something land hard on the floor of their room. Brooke heard it too and both sat up in the darkness. He conjured a bright white light and found whatever bundle had been thrown in started smoking greatly. The smoke rose off the floor and Cage went to use magic to blow it away. As he did so he felt a stronger magic than his own slam the open window shut. Cage then tried to create a shield, but as he tried focusing he saw the orb in his hand begin to distort like that of a mirage in the desert. Cage feared poison gas, but found his magic didn’t rise to obey. His ball of light winked out as the whole room filled completely with smoke. Cage looked over to find Brooke unconscious and blurry. He tried holding his breath, but the effects only grew. As the smoke took a stronger effect Cage dropped headfirst into the ground.

  Outside the room stood Lord Doyle with two mages. His servant and another of a higher class he hired stood waiting. They heard the heavy thud of a body falling and Doyle’s satisfaction grew. “I think the bastards are out. Open the window and clean out the room.” The lord’s personal mage sent his magic beyond the door and opened the window. Each heard the howl of wind blow into the room and clear out all the smoke. Lord Doyle personally opened the door and one of the mages created a light. The cruel man grinned as he found the two who caused so much pain and spat on his reputation and social standing. He kicked the man sprawled out on the floor, only to hurt himself. He bounced on the uninjured foot and saw he kicked the man’s elbow. He kicked his ribs and got what he wanted. He turned and found the woman sprawled naked and though she is beautiful she had laid a hand on him.

  Both were his to deal with.

  Doyle pointed to the mages. “Call my waiting guards and have them come up and drag them to my estate. I want them in the dungeons and make sure the mage cannot do magic until we have him secured.”

  Moments later entered four burly hired thugs who drug the two victims out of the inn and to a wagon in the dead of night where their wrists and ankles were bound before heading to Doyle’s small castle.

  Groggily, Cage woke, chained up from the roof as his feet dangled less than five inches from the ground. He looked up to find his wrists shackled and he felt glad yet again he put on the gauntlets for the shackles couldn’t bite into his new skin or cause anything other than irritation. Everything swam slightly in his vision and suddenly pain exploded in his jaw as someone punched him. He swung slightly, groaned and heard a familiar voice. “Good, you are awake.” Cage then looked to see three men standing in a small stone room. One is a hired guard while the other two he remembered, Lord Doyle and his nameless mage servant. The moment he saw the man he had the memory and chuckled, even as his shoulders were sore from hanging for hours. “And just what do you find amusing?”

  Cage grinned to say “Is your brown eye still blue?”

  It took moment for the three men to understand such words. Doyle’s face flamed as it contorted and he punched Cage in the gut, but not before he tightened his stomach muscles. The man yelled as his fist connected on the solid abdomen and felt as if hitting stone. “Damn you, Bastard! So it was you! You realize I’m going to enjoy torturing you slowly until you die.”

  Cage tried focusing on his wrists and blinked when nothing happened. “Oh I forgot to mention it, your magic is useless. Oh, you do not understand why… Interesting.” Doyle grew a mocking smile of victory. “The smoke your breathing makes it impossible to focus correctly. Floranna flowers are the best to make you mages just like everyone else. You aren’t the first mage to die for crossing a man well above your breeding and status. You should have kept hiding the whore because the next day my mage servant found you running straight for my city. A very foolish mistake. You feel right into my lap and I can do as I well please here.

  “And to make sure you truly understand how helpless you are, the castle’s gems are sucking on your mana so even if you do somehow manage to make so much as a spark it won’t do any good. You will strengthen my castle as you are tortured. I wonder what will kill you first, my castle or the torture I have in mind. My mage says you are powerful and will maybe last two or three days and that is fine by me. It means I can repeatedly get revenge for a wrong done to me.”

  That phrasing infuriated Cage and he jerked at the chackles, startling Doyle. He fought with all he had, but he couldn’t do anything except rattle the chains. He couldn’t gain leverage of any kind. “Where is she! Where’s Brooke!”

  “Ah the whore you were in bed with.” The man grinned happily at seeing such a useless attempt at freeing himself and the impotent anger. “For the moment she is alive. I haven’t decided to fuck her and make her pregnant to give me a child she made me lose or to kill her outright. If you are quiet you can hear her calling your name.” the room went dead silent and there came a furious “I’m going to kill you! Stupid Man, you are going to die for that! Get back here you ASSHOLE!!!” yell from a room somewhere in a nearby distance.

  “What did you do to her?”

  “I chained her to a table for an hour and had my way. She is a spirit whore. She bites too.” His grin vanished as Cage grinned murderously.

  “When I get out of here I’m going to be merciful and not kill you myself. If you think the cactus hurt… it will feel like a cool breeze when I let her have her way with you.”

  The three men in the room shook involuntarily as his words chilled their very core. Eventually Lord Doyle grabbed a knife from the table and said “I wanted you awake when I started this.” He walked right up to Cage and went to cut his black arms. He blinked when the blade drug across and didn’t do a thing. He turned around and glared at his mage. “What is this magic?! You specifically told me his arms and feet were just flesh as reason it couldn’t be removed.”

  “It is, My Lord. I do not understand what kind of magic he ha
d done to himself to make his arms and feet like this.”

  “Want a hint?” Cage put forth. He looked around like he was about to tell a secret. The three leaned in instinctively. “You’re all too stupid to understand.”

  Cage laughed as the three were angered. Doyle cut Cage’s chest and he kept laughing as blood ran rivers down his front. Doyle proved to be a skilled practitioner in torture, but Cage was so accustomed to pain he didn’t cry out even once as he was cut or slowly stabbed where it hurt, avoiding vital areas. And just to humiliate Cage, Doyle had his leather pants lowered and a nearly identical cactus brought in. He smiled like a man gone mad as he said “Awe, for me? Oh you shouldn’t have. I’m so flattered you can come up with new and original ideas all on your own.”

  Lord Doyle left laughing after returning the favor. Cage had been through much worse and it was all that kept him from fainting. He hadn’t been left alone as another guard came over to keep watch.

  Down the hall and another corridor of the dungeon Brooke heard the door to her prison unlock. She ran at it and double kicked it, slamming it into the face of a unprepared guard. She got up quickly and opened it all the way to find Doyle backing away from her. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!!” She shrieked the moment she saw him and ran to do just that until she ran into a magical barrier and pounded against it with her fists. “COWARD!!!” Then her momentum ended as she had been lifted off the ground by magic and guided back into the room with a flat table used in torture. The chains rose, seemingly on their own, but she knew it was the magic-man. Shackles clasped to her arms and ankles and pulled her back on the table, knocking the wind from her lungs. The chains pulled tight, separating all of her limbs and spreading her nakedness open.