The Lost Mage

by Difar, Amy

  Darakin didn’t want to drag out the unpleasantness, so he strode in and asked, “Ready?”

  “Yes,” she sniffed.

  “You can stay here, you know. You don’t need to come with me.”

  “I have to make sure that disgusting thing is dead so I can stop having nightmares about it. I’m coming with you.”

  “Okay.” He bent over, picked up Mrowley and headed to the door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Huh?”

  “What are you doing with Mrowley?”

  “I, uh, he’s coming with me. I promised him I’d take him home with me.”

  “Is that what he wants?” The stricken look on Nora’s face nearly broke his heart.

  “Mrowley? Have you changed your mind? It’s okay to stay.”

  No, dude. I want to hunt mousies. And I promised I’d keep you company, remember?

  “I remember. He … I’m sorry, he wants to come with me.”

  “Sure, fine, whatever. Let’s go.” She brushed past Darakin and led the way out to the street where she hailed a cab.

  “Are we not taking the subway?”

  “I’m not going to take the cat on a subway. I don’t think he’d like the noise and I don’t want him to get hurt.” Her voice broke as she said it.

  The group piled into the cab and Nora gave instructions to the driver. Mrowley ran back and forth looking out both sides of the cab. Darakin and Nora sat unmoving without speaking.

  When they arrived at the park, Nora paid the cab driver and exited. Darakin picked up Mrowley and followed.

  Dude, is she mad at me?

  “Not you … us.”

  She’s mad at us?

  “No, not really it’s just that she’s going to miss you, and sometimes it’s just easier to pretend to be mad rather than sad.”

  So, she’s pretending?

  “Yes, I think so.” At least I hope so, Darakin thought to himself.

  She’s good. I was totally fooled. My tail always shows exactly how I’m feeling.

  Darakin laughed. “Yes, I suppose it does.”

  Nora turned. “Move your stupid arse, Darakin, we don’t have all night.”

  “On second thought, she might really be mad.”

  Yeah.

  The sun had almost set by the time they reached the edge of the zoo construction site. Darakin put Mrowley down. “This is good.”

  “Here? But the demon is like fifteen minutes away from here. Shouldn’t we be closer?”

  “I can’t risk the krekdapop realizing what I’m doing. This will take a bit of time and I don’t think she’d just sit there and let me finish if she found us.”

  “Fine.” Nora sat on the grass without another word while Darakin set up his herbs and started a very large fire.

  “Don’t you think that fire is a little on the wide side?”

  “Nora, I need the space to create my runes and perform the ritual.” He began to dance around the fire.

  Nora watched in wry amusement. She’d turned her sadness into a front of rage and derision. “You know, they’re saying we’ll have clear skies this evening. Doesn’t exactly bode well for your rain dance.”

  He continued his dance. “Good, then I’ll know if my ritual is working.” He began chanting and drawing runes in the air with the smoke from his incense.

  Nora marveled as the smoky runes stayed frozen in the air, instead of dissipating, as she’d expected. She was so intent on his ritual that she didn’t notice the sound of footsteps approaching.

  “Whoa! What’s he doing? How’s he making those things in the air?” It was Howard and a group of young men.

  “What are you doing here?” Nora demanded, pleased at having found a new target for her anger.

  “Hey, you don’t own the park. We’re just, um,” he looked sideways at his companions, “we’re just taking a walk.”

  One of the men in his group stepped forward, “What do you mean? I thought we were going to take care of the demon?”

  “What do you mean, take care of the demon?” Darakin stopped his dance and came over to the group.

  “Don’t get your tights in a bunch, Baryshnikov. It’s none of your beeswax.”

  “Tights? What’s a Baryshnikov? What in the hells is he talking about?” Darakin turned to Nora for help.

  “A famous male dancer. Ballet dancers wear tights when they dance,” Nora answered.

  “Oh,” Darakin laughed. “I’m no dancer. In fact, I’ve no schooling in the performing arts at all. They don’t teach that at mage school. What I’m doing is performing a shamanistic ritual.”

  “Well, la-di-da,” Howard’s belligerence seemed bolstered by the presence of his seven companions.

  “La-di-da? What’s he talking about now?”

  “Well, I’m not going to miss having to explain everything to you, I’ll tell you that,” Nora snapped.

  “Look, Kwok, we’re just going to look at the demon, that’s all.”

  “Really? Then what’s that you’re hiding behind your back?”

  “Just my backpack,” Howard said, bringing the bag around front. “And I wasn’t hiding it. We’re, I mean I’m not afraid of you.”

  “What’s in the backpack?”

  “Never mind that, Kwok. What are you doing?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s getting ready to kill the demon,” Nora interjected.

  “How? By boring it to death with bad dance?” The group laughed at Howard’s joke. “Come on, guys. Let’s go.”

  “Don’t come running to us when you get into trouble,” Nora turned her back on Howard.

  The young men laughed and left.

  Nora sat down again. “Well, go ahead, finish your dance.”

  “You know, it’s not really a dance. You all make it sound so … so …”

  Lame? Foolish? Girly? Mrowley spoke up from his spot near Nora.

  “Yes, thank you, Mrowley,” he looked at Nora. “You make it sound foolish.”

  “Whatever, Darakin. Get cracking. We don’t have all night.”

  Darakin returned to his ritual. A few minutes later, a low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

  “Holy crap, you did it!” Nora cried in surprise, realizing that she hadn’t believed it would work.

  Mrowley leapt up and ran to Nora. He jumped in her lap, his fur on end. Thunder boomies, he said in a hushed voice.

  Nora stroked his fur and reassured him. “It’s okay, Mrowley. It’s just noise. We’ll protect you.”

  Not just noise! The ground moves. The thunder boomie giant is coming. The cat couldn’t stop the involuntary shaking of his body.

  Darakin had stopped his dance and was sprinkling another concoction of herbs on the fire while beginning a new chant.

  Nora didn’t want to interrupt so she waited until he was done. When he’d finished chanting, he took a stick and fished out the remainder of the demon slime he’d saved. He threw the stick on the fire. A puff of greenish smoke arose.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I did a spell to bring the demon here.”

  “Why here? Why don’t we go to her cave?”

  “First of all, there’s no way of knowing if she’s there right now. Second, I need her to come here, where I’ve got the runes drawn.” He pointed to the smoky symbols floating in the air.

  He looked around as if unsure what to do next.

  “Now, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m trying to figure out how to do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “How to kill the krekdapop.”

  “Have you gone daft? I thought you’re going to hit it with lightning.”

  Darakin turned to Nora. He put his hand on his hip. “Nora, it’s not like anyone’s ever done this before.” His tone indicated that she should know better.

  “What do you mean? I thought you said your combat mages used lighting to kill these things.”

  “They do, but I’m not a comba
t mage, in fact I’m not much of a mage at all in this realm. And there was no such thing as a combat shaman.”

  “Great, what are you trying to say? That you don’t know how to do this?”

  “I have some thoughts.”

  “Oh well, if you’re having thoughts, I guess everything will be okay.”

  “There’s no need to be obnoxious, Nora. I’m doing the best I can.”

  “Fine, let’s hear these ideas you’re having.”

  “Well, each of these symbols,” he pointed to the floating runes, “corresponds to an aspect of the storm. This one’s for the thunder, this one’s for the type of rain.”

  “So you can tailor the storm to your needs?”

  “Yes, to an extent. Although, I don’t really know the exact meaning of the runes, so who knows how the storm will turn out. Anyway, they’re not specific to the exact location, but this rune I drew on the ground underneath the lightning rune is – how do I say this – like a conductor symbol. It’s an ancient way of specifying a spell target. I’m thinking if I can try to do some kind of a spell on the storm – specifically the lightning aspect of it while the demon is on the target, I just might be able to hit it with the lightning.”

  “Great, so all we have to do is get the demon, who already knows you mean it harm, to stand still on the symbol you drew on the ground, conveniently located near all these funky smoke thingies, and wait for you to do some unspecified spell that will hopefully call down a bolt of lightning to strike the demon. That sound about right?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re screwed.”

  “Screwed?”

  “We’re in trouble.”

  “Have a little faith, Nora.”

  “I don’t understand why you have to make this so difficult. Just call the lightning on the demon. Or make it like a lightning rod or something that will attract the bolt.”

  “What’s a lightning rod?”

  “You know, like a metal rod that will attract the lightning.”

  “You want me to turn the demon to metal?”

  She laughed. “Well, that would certainly take care of it, don’t you think?”

  “I can’t. Magic isn’t that easy. First of all, you’re talking about an alchemy spell and I have no knowledge of that at all. Second, you can’t just go around doing spells on people or creatures.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because interfering with free will is forbidden.”

  “Really? Because I’m thinking that your combat mages are interfering with the free will of the creatures they kill.”

  “That’s different, Nora. That’s war.”

  “Fine, then what about those witches you mentioned. You made it sound like they would hurt anyone who tried to hurt them.”

  “They would, but they’re not bound by the mage laws. Witches inherit their magic from their ancestors. Mages are born randomly and our magic is ruled over by the elder mages.”

  “I think you’re confused about the situation here, Darakin. You’re not in your realm, so why are you worried about their rules?”

  “Because, when I return, I’ll have to answer for my actions here. They’ll want to know if I broke any mage laws.”

  “So you won’t do any spells on the demon?”

  “No, except for the one to bring it here. Besides, as a traveling mage, I wasn’t taught much beyond summoning the elements.”

  “You did that translation spell so you could understand Mrowley.”

  “I did that spell so I could understand the languages being spoken here, not just Mrowley. That’s a skill that all traveling mages need to have so when they come across people who speak a different tongue, they can communicate. There are many different languages in my realm.”

  “Here, too.”

  “My point is that I was taught a few spells and combat skills that enable me to survive while traveling. As I said, very little is done with spells that target others, unless you’re a combat mage. The penalties for interfering with free will for a mage like me can be severe.”

  Nora sighed in frustration. “Why is nothing easy with you?”

  “It’s not just me. These are the rules for all mages.”

  “Well, I don’t know any other mages so I’m blaming you.” She turned her attention back to the shivering cat in her lap as another rumble of thunder indicated that the storm was getting closer.

  We need to hide. I need furniture.

  “Why would you need furniture out here?” Darakin asked in confusion.

  To hide underneath.

  “Don’t worry, kitty.” Nora stroked the cat’s back. “Wait … he wants furniture?”

  “He says he needs to hide underneath it.”

  She made a soothing noise. “Mrowley, you’re as safe as houses with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Yikes! the cat shrieked.

  “What’s wrong with him now?” Nora asked Darakin.

  “Mrowley? What’s wrong?”

  The cat sniffed the air. Something’s coming. A bad smell is coming.

  Darakin looked around in alarm. “The krekdapop must be getting close. Mrowley is picking up her scent. Take him and hide behind that bush over there.”

  Nora picked the cat up and stood as a group of dark figures came screaming into the clearing.

  “Sure and I told you not to run to us when you got into trouble, didn’t I?”

  “The demon … is coming … got Trevor …” Howard gasped trying to catch his breath.

  “What do you mean it got Trevor?” Darakin stepped closer.

  “It grabbed Trevor and took him into the cave. We ran.”

  “Pfft. With friends like you, who needs enemies?” Nora mocked.

  “I have to go back for him.” Darakin headed toward the zoo annex.

  “Darakin! You can’t go in there. Your stuff is all here!” Nora said in alarm.

  “Nora, I’m not leaving someone to die at the hands, I mean claws, of that demon.”

  “Who’s Darakin?” Howard looked around in confusion.

  “Never mind that,” Nora snapped.

  Darakin was nearing the gate to the annex when another figure came running out, covered in blood. Darakin turned and helped the young man limp toward the fire.

  “Trevor! You got away.” Howard and his friends called out.

  “Yeah, but it’s coming after me.”

  “How did you get away from it?” Darakin asked.

  “I played dead and when it turned its back, I ran,” he panted. Trevor and Darakin reached the group by the fire. Trevor’s black robe and the shirt underneath were torn and flapped open, revealing a large gash in his chest. Blood was gushing from a head wound and his leg was scratched, as well.

  Darakin turned to Howard and his friends. “Run, quick, take him to a healer.”

  “You guys take him to the hospital.” Howard instructed his friends. “I’m gonna stay and help get rid of this thing.”

  Howard’s friends grabbed Trevor and ran off into the distance.

  A sudden flash of lightning followed by an earth-shaking roll of thunder indicated that the storm had arrived. A roar from the direction of the zoo annex caused them all to turn and look.

  Darakin stated the obvious. “It would seem that the demon has arrived.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Nora, take Mrowley and hide.” As she hesitated, Darakin yelled, “Now!”

  His command was impossible to resist. Nora picked the cat up and ran. But before she could reach the cover of the bushes, Mrowley had clawed his way out of her arms. He leapt to the ground and crouched low to the ground, growling.

  “Nora, go!” Darakin yelled at her.

  “But Mrowley –”

  “I’ll take care of him. I need to know you’re safe so I can concentrate.” At her continued hesitation, he pleaded, “Please.”

  Nora ran, hid in the bush and peered back at the scene unfolding in front of the fire.