The Lost Mage

by Difar, Amy

“Oh. You can just call me Kwok. It’s okay.”

  “Fine, Kwok. We’re coming with you.”

  “We are?” Howard’s companions asked, their voices full of apprehension.

  “Yes. It’s supposed to be our minion, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “How are we supposed to break in? I mean, I’m pretty sure the zoo has security,” Howard asked no one in particular.

  One of Howard’s companions spoke up. “Oh, we don’t have to worry about the zoo security. They haven’t connected the annex to the zoo yet. All they have is one guard and he spends the night sleeping in the office trailer they set up.”

  “How do you know that?” Howard asked him.

  The young man turned red, then puffed his chest out in pride. “It just so happens that I have gone up there a few times with Maryann Gelis.”

  Both Howard and the other young man scoffed, “Maryann Gelis went alone into the park with you?”

  The man became indignant. He put his hands on his hips. “Yeah, she did. Why is it so hard to believe?”

  “Because it’s Maryann Gelis, that’s why. She was the head cheerleader in high school. Why would she go out with you?”

  “I was tutoring her. We have a college class together. But she wouldn’t let me take her anywhere; she only ever wanted to make out in the park.”

  “Ah, so she was ashamed to be seen in public with you.” Howard sneered.

  The man got angry. “Take that back.” He took a step closer to Howard.

  Darakin broke in. “This is all well and good, but can we worry about finding the demon? How do we sneak in?”

  “There’s a path that goes by the trailer.”

  Darakin commanded, “Show us.”

  “Fine.” The young man said with a sign and strode off into the darkness with the rest of the group following close behind.

  Chapter Thirty

  The group crept past the construction trailer. The silhouette of the guard could be seen through the cloudy window, clearly leaning back in deep slumber. Once out of sight of the trailer, they relaxed until they recalled that they were looking for a violent demon.

  “Do you have any idea where that bear cave is?” Darakin asked.

  “No. I wasn’t exactly looking at the scenery when I was here.”

  “Great,” Nora said, “now we get to wander around aimlessly.”

  They had been walking around for a few minutes when Howard stopped.

  “Yuk, I think I stepped in something.” He pulled his foot up, revealing an unknown gooey substance hanging in threads from his shoe. He started to wipe his shoe on the ground, but Darakin stopped him.

  “Wait! I think that’s the demon’s trail.”

  “What? It leaves a trail?”

  “It always leaves a little slime, but it only produces this thick slime at certain times.”

  “And those times are?”

  “Well, mainly when it’s trying to attract a mate.”

  “Gross!” Howard ran around, frantically dragging his shoe through the grass to clean it.

  “That also means that we know our demon is female. It’s the females that release that.”

  “Great, so some demon is gonna think I want to mate with it?” Howard’s voice had taken on a panicked shrillness.

  One of his friends stepped forward. “Dude, maybe we could use you as bait.”

  “Oh, ha ha,” Howard responded.

  “Well, unless you summoned another one that you’re not telling me about, I think you’re safe since she’s the only one that’s here and she’s looking for a male, a male demon, that is.” Darakin stared at the young men for any indication that they had summoned more, but there was no reaction other than Howard’s continued efforts to clean his shoe.

  “Crap, it’s so sticky that I can’t get it all off,” Howard lamented.

  “Just walk, it’ll rub off as you go,” Nora said irritably.

  “Easy for you to say, you don’t smell like a horny demon.” Howard’s friends laughed at his complaint.

  Darakin bent down. “Well, we can try to follow the trail. Of course, we don’t know which way she came from and which is the direction she’s heading in. Any suggestions as to which way to try first?”

  “Yeah, that way,” Howard’s crony said. “It leads further in, instead of toward the gate.”

  “Fine.” Darakin walked slowly, stooping every few feet to look for slime.

  After a few minutes, the trail led them to the cave they’d seen in the picture. Darakin signaled the group to be quiet before crouching and heading toward the cave. The reluctant group followed behind. He stopped at the mouth of the cave and listened but there was no noise from within. He crept forward carefully, holding his dagger in one hand and the stun gun in the other. When he reached the inside wall of the cave, he stood. “It’s empty.”

  “Ugh, it smells horrible in here,” Nora wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “Demons are not known for their hygiene.”

  As if to emphasize that point, a squishy, splat sound could be heard behind them.

  “Craaaaaap!” Howard whined. “What did I step in this time?”

  “Oh, dude, I think it’s poop.”

  The other of Howard’s cronies took up the cry. “Demon poop! Gross.”

  “Dude, at least you won’t smell like a demon in heat anymore.” The two laughed and poked each other in the side.

  “You guys suck.” Howard was using the rough edges of the cave to try and wipe the mess from his shoe, making gagging noises. “I need grass to wipe this off. I’m going outside.” He shuffled out to clean his shoe.

  Darakin looked around, hoping for some clue that would lead him to the demon. Even though he had no idea what he might be looking for, he was still disappointed that he found nothing. “Well, I guess the krekdapop’s gone out for the evening.”

  The words had no sooner left his mouth when a scuffling noise sounded behind the group. Howard’s ear-piercing scream followed.

  “Dude, what are you screaming for? You sound like my sister,” his companions turned, saw the demon and let loose their own shrill screams.

  Even in the darkness, they could make out the silhouette of something approaching very quickly. The krekdapop lumbered in dragging Howard, who’d been grabbed on his way out of the cave.

  “Quick, the stun gun,” Nora cried.

  Darakin leapt forward, pressing the stun gun against the demon. Nothing happened. The krekdapop let go of Howard and the demon and mage stared at each other in surprise for a few seconds. Then the krekdapop backhanded Darakin with a powerful blow. Darakin flew backwards through the air and landed on his back.

  “Nothing happened!” he shouted as he shook the stun gun, which he’d managed to keep hold of.

  “Turn it on!” Nora cried.

  “What?”

  “For heaven’s sake, hit the power button on the side and turn the thing on!” she screamed.

  The mage turned the box around in his hands and found the power button. He pushed it and the device sparked to life. Meanwhile, the demon, which now stood in between the group and the cave entrance, had turned its attention to Howard and his friends. They were shrieking and running around erratically. The demon’s head moved back and forth in confusion as she reached out, trying to swipe at the hysterical figures in front of her.

  With the demon distracted by the frightened men, Darakin tried to approach undetected from the side. He managed to get very close before the demon turned on him. Simultaneously, Darakin pressed the sparking stun gun to the demon’s skin and the demon gave him a kick with one of her powerful legs. Darakin smashed against the wall and the krekdapop staggered back and fell to the floor.

  Darakin, who’d hit the wall of the cave with sufficient force to knock the wind out of him, gasped, “Is she dead?”

  The rest of the group turned as one to look at the demon, whose body lay unmoving on the floor. Howard took a cautious step toward her. As soon as he got
close, her eyes opened and flashed angrily at Howard. Howard screamed again. The krekdapop let out a low growl.

  Howard jumped back. “No, but she’s definitely pissed!”

  “What does pissed mean?”

  “She’s mad, dude, you made her really angry.”

  The demon was starting to regain some of her senses and growled again, reaching a slimy claw out to grab a weak hold of Howard’s leg. With yet another scream, the man pulled his leg free and sprinted toward the opening of the cave with his cronies on his heels.

  Nora grabbed at Darakin, trying to lift him to his feet. “Come on, then. She’ll only be stunned for a minute or two.”

  Darakin let her help him up and the two of them ran out of the cave, giving the stirring, angry demon a wide berth.

  When they were clear of the cave, the entire group ran back to the opening through which they’d entered the construction site. Once back out in the park, everyone fell to the ground, gasping from their frenzied run.

  Howard lifted a pant leg to expose his ankle. Several scratches were oozing blood from where the demon had grabbed him.

  Nora looked at his leg and reached in her bag to find some tissues. She tried to take a step toward Howard but Darakin grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  “It’s too late. He’s infected.”

  “What?” Howard, his friends and Nora all shrieked at once.

  Howard’s friends backed away from him. “Oh my God, dude, it must be like a werewolf scratch.”

  “Is it, Kwok? Am I gonna turn into a demon now?” Howard’s eyes filled with tears.

  Darakin had wanted to scare the young men but seeing how upset they were, he couldn’t do it. “No. I was just joking with you.”

  Howard’s friends sighed in relief.

  “Dude! Not funny. I thought we were gonna have to stake Howard!”

  “Stake? You idiot. Stakes are for vampires. We would’ve needed a silver bullet,” the other said.

  “You’re calling me an idiot? Silver bullets are for werewolves, dumbass. We’d need …” He turned toward Darakin, stumped. “What would we need to kill him with?”

  Howard stood and took a few steps back. “Hey! Nobody needs to kill me with anything.”

  Darakin sighed. “Lightning. That’s the only thing that will kill the krekdapop. But the real thing. Apparently, this boxed lightning isn’t good enough.”

  “Well, duh, what part of stun gun did you miss?” they mocked.

  “The krekdapop has a particular sensitivity to lightning. I was hoping that even a small dose would be enough.”

  Nora, who had had enough of the obnoxious youths, spoke up. “If you morons hadn’t summoned the demon here in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this position, so shut your yaps.”

  The two boys looked away, chastened. Howard continued to look at his scratches.

  “Am I really gonna be okay, Kwok?” Howard’s voice shook as he asked.

  “Yes, unless you die of an infection from the wounds. You should probably go get that cleaned up.”

  “Yeah, yeah, got it. C’mon guys, let’s go.” Howard limped off with the help of his two friends.

  Darakin turned to Nora. “Let’s get out of here before she comes looking for us.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  By the time they got home, it was well after midnight. Mrowley greeted them just inside the door.

  Dude! I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in weeks. If you were going to be away for weeks, you could’ve left me some food.

  “You ate this morning and we weren’t gone for weeks – just the better part of one day.”

  If you say so, the cat said, doubt evident in his voice.

  “I do. But don’t worry, I’ll feed you now.” Darakin went to the kitchen, managing to keep his balance despite the cat winding through his legs as he walked. “Why must you do that?” he asked the cat.

  What?

  “Try to trip me. It won’t get you fed any faster. In fact, it would delay the feeding substantially while I tended to my wounds.”

  Huh? the hungry cat asked.

  The mage sighed, frustrated at himself for beginning the conversation. “If I fall and I’m injured, I may not be able to get your food. What do you say to that?”

  Simple: don’t fall.

  “I … oh, never mind.” Darakin opened the cat food and dished it out for Mrowley.

  From the door to the bathroom, Nora called out, “I’m taking a shower. I can’t get into my nice, clean bed with the small of that demon cave in my nose.”

  Darakin went to sit on the couch. He had never felt so inept in his whole life. He had no way of defeating the demon, yet he couldn’t leave it to the authorities here. They had no idea that demons even existed.

  Mrowley, having finished his dinner, came in and sat next to Darakin on the couch.

  What’s wrong?

  “What makes you think something is wrong?”

  You’re drooping.

  “I’m drooping?”

  Yeah, when humans are upset, they droop. You know, their shoulders, their mouths, everything just droops.

  Darakin marveled at how observant the cat could be. “I can’t defeat the krekdapop.”

  Why not?

  “The boxed lightning device didn’t work. Now the demon’s really angry.”

  Well, what would you do if you were home?

  “Well, I’m no combat mage, but since there’s only the one demon, I think I’d be able to call upon the enslaved elements and summon lightning to kill it.”

  And you can’t do that here, right?

  “No, as you pointed out, the elements haven’t been enslaved.”

  So, before this whole element thing, was there lightning where you come from?

  “Of course.”

  Well, who made it lightning then?

  “Nobody, it just did – you know, the way it does here. That or the shamans would call for a storm.”

  Can’t you be a shaman?

  “A shaman? No, I mean, well, I learned about their rituals but I was just a boy. It takes meditation and worship and I’d never be able to … or could I? Dragon’s mercy, cat, you’re brilliant!”

  Mrowley cat-blushed. I am?

  “Yes, you are.” Darakin picked the cat up and gave him a big hug.

  Nora had just opened the bathroom door. “What are you so happy about?”

  “Nora, Mrowley just solved my problem!”

  “Really? The cat?”

  “Yes. He told me to be a shaman.”

  “Instead of a mage?”

  “Yes! Don’t you see? The elementals haven’t been enslaved, so I can’t use my mage abilities, but before we became mages, we were shamans. I learned about it in school. I just have to change my attitude from one of master to that of supplicant. The shamans used to worship them and had rituals and dances to bring forth the elements when they were needed.”

  “Do you know these dances?”

  “Well, I learned them when I was a boy at Mage School.”

  “Mm hmm. How much of them do you remember?”

  “Um … well, maybe I just need some time to try and remember it all.”

  “We don’t have time, Darakin. That horny demon is still out there and she’s pissed. We need to do something soon.”

  “She doesn’t have horns, Nora,” Darakin responded in confusion.

  “No,” Nora sighed, “horny means she wants to … mate.”

  “Oh. Yes, well in that case, she is horny.”

  I’m horny, too.

  “What? You can’t …”

  I assure you I can. Do you have any idea how many kittens I have out there?

  “No.”

  Well, me neither, but that’s not the point.

  “What’s his problem now?” Nora asked.

  “He says he’s horny, too.”

  “Well, that may be, but he’s not going outside. Don’t you know that’s the time a cat’s most likely to get in a fight? I’ll not have him
getting hurt.”

  “You’ve grown quite attached to him, haven’t you?”