by Sariah Skye
Finnian stepped forward and peered at one wing, flapping languidly at my side. “Ever notice the colors?”
I shrugged. “They’re… like iridescent.”
He nodded. “True. But they’re made up of just about every color. I see just about everything. Blue. Yellow. Black. White. Purple. You know that a dragon’s color determines his—or her—magical ability, yes?”
I nodded slowly, not sure what he was getting at.
Kiarra snapped her fingers behind me. “Oh! Are you thinking that since her wings are made up of all colors—perhaps she has abilities to perform all forms of magic?”
“Yes!” Finnian clapped his hands together, triumphant at his revelation. He looked at me expectantly. “What do you think?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know.”
Gabriel spoke up. “Remember that first time we met, I summoned the wind in your apartment?”
I nodded slowly, recalling. “Yeah…”
“You didn’t just amplify magic. You added some of yours. I could tell—the magical signature in the wind wasn’t all mine. I thought it was perhaps just the amplification magic, but after seeing that storm you summoned…” he let out a low whistle.
Finnian nodded in agreement, though I was still unconvinced. “Gabriel what do you feel is the easiest magic to summon? Wind? Water?”
Upon the suggestion of water, I felt my fingertips tingle. It was a somewhat cool sensation, like running your hand over the surface of a stream. I lifted my hands in front of my face and watched with a sense of foreboding as they twitched slightly. “Um… I’m thinking water.” And almost on cue, my hands shot water out from the fingertips. One jet shot Kiarra in the face. She sputtered and gasped as she struggled the wipe the water from her face with a sleeve of her shirt as I involuntarily shot another stream out at her.
She yelped again and so did I. “Sorry!” I squeaked. I tried to hide my hands behind my back, but it was difficult over the wings and they lay on my sides instead.
My fingers—and hands—felt like I had them shoved into a cold waterfall and water continued spraying out of them. I cried out as the ground under me softened to mud under the constant stream of water.
“Don’t panic!” Gabriel—who’d been fairly silent until now—darted in front of me and artfully summoned a mass of earth between his hands. He rolled his hands around each other a few times and the cluster grew larger. Satisfied, he pulled his hands apart with the intention of throwing it at the rapids gushing from my hands, but instead was visibly mortified as the chunk grew larger and larger instead. He tried pushing it away from him towards my feet, but instead it just kept growing.
I cursed. I tried waving my hands—thinking that it might shake the water out of them like it was only a few droplets but it didn’t.
Finnian—dodging a stream of water—ducked in nearby, and whispered amongst the shouts and curses of both myself and Gabriel as our magic shot out of control. “Will it to stop!”
I gave him an odd look. “Just will it?”
“Give it a try!” Gabriel shouted in frustration. He’d pushed the mound of dirt in front of him—just out of his immediate reach. The mound had slowed down its growth, but was still growing. Cursing, Gabriel tried summoning a gust of air between his hands, but it ended up in a ball of lightning instead. It shot out of his hands and squealed right past me, bouncing off the invisible magic ward behind me. It was zooming straight for Kiarra who had her back turned and wasn’t watching.
I cried out. I reached out like I was going to grab it, yelling, “No!” in a state of panic. As I clasped my fingers shut, the lightning snuffed out in a small puff of smoke and sparks, like a sparkler firecracker being diffused.
Kiarra jumped, feeling the heat of the snuffed magic behind her and spun around. “What was that?”
“Lightning ball,” Finnian explained. He turned to me. “Leo—do that again.”
I swallowed nervously.
“Pretend it’s like the storm outside the truckstop, Leo!” Gabriel instructed. He waved his hands at the mound, but nothing came out.
“I’ll help.” Kiarra jumped right into the path of the mound as it grew, standing only a small distance from it. I gasped.
“Kiarra!” I scolded. In my mind, I pushed her aside with one hand, and smothered the mound with the other. My hands tingled and felt heavy as the magic released. For good measure I exhaled my mist and with my wings, fanned it toward her. Kiarra involuntarily stumbled backward—Maxxus leapt up to catch her before she fell back—and the mound crumbled to the dirt floor.
Gabriel grumbled. “Why is this affecting me, too, so much? Now I can’t summon a thing. Not even a little fireball!” He flicked his hands in front of him, disappointed when nothing happened.
Finnian crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his chin. “I have a theory, but… I can’t say anything yet.”
Gabriel groaned. “More of your damn theories.” He grumbled under his breath.
Finnian frowned sympathetically. He turned to me and motioned for me to step forward.
I tiptoed towards him hesitantly. “Are you sure… I mean with this crazy magic I might just kill you.”
Finnian smirked. “I’ll chance it.” Finnian made a wide flourish with his hand and I looked around as everything became silent.
“What the—” I said, glancing around at everything and everyone totally motionless around me. The leaves hanging on the branches were completely still; not a breeze to make them twitch. “What’d you do?” I waved my hand in front of myself to make sure I was still alive.
Finnian patted my shoulder. “Just some Loremaster magic. I slowed time down so we could speak privately.”
I raised a brow. “You couldn’t have just pulled me aside? Spoken to me later?”
“I could have, but I wanted to talk to you alone about whoever cast this spell on you—to forget Maxxus, to forget your magic… it had to be someone close to you. Is there anyone… anyone at all—that you can think of that might do this?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really have many people close to me. My brother. My grandfather. There’s my parents, but I’m not close with them—at all.”
Finnian paused. “Well, whatever magic this was had to have been cast upon you every time you interacted with Maxxus. Something about him…” He reached out his hand towards my face, but hesitated. Knowing what he wanted to do, I just rolled my eyes and nodded.
“Go ahead,” I said reluctantly. He brushed his fingers over my cheek and squinted his eyes shut momentarily.
“Well? See what you needed?”
Finnian opened his eyes, and nodded earnestly. “Your first encounter at school with Maxxus—you used magic. Do you realize that?”
I scoffed, then recalled the memory again. “I… I did, didn’t I?”
He nodded slowly. “You compelled the teacher—and the other students—to leave Maxxus alone. That was probably the first time you ever used magic. You didn’t even realize you did it because spirit users just—well, it’s different than earth or water magic. Everyone has intentions… spirit users can actually act on them, though. That and many times after it seems you used magic either in the presence of or because of Maxxus. Which might explain why so many memories of him were wiped out; to make you forget about your own magic usage. But… who…? I cannot see who would have done it…”
I frowned. “Had to of been my mother. She didn’t have nice things to say about Maxxus when Grandfather was mentoring him. She was very disdainful about my magic usage. But…”
“If that’s the case, why hide your magic?” Finnian shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Finnian’s forehead wrinkled thoughtfully. “I’d think, perhaps Maxxus was the culprit, but… I am not sensing any dishonesty. There is a magic block, and I do not think he’d incorporate the block on himself unless, somehow he was acting on someone else’s behalf—”
I inhaled a worried gasp before Finnian finished his sentence.
“—but I do not think that is the case. I can’t explain why, but… just trust me on this,” Finnian said.
“More Loremaster ‘Magic’?” I said the word with a mocking tone.
Finnian smiled sympathetically. “Something like that,” he said with a wink. “Just… well please believe that although I cannot tell you everything, I have your best interests at heart. What’s good for you is going to benefit our world—the mythological one—and the regular ol’ earth one and help keep things in balance. That’s my job as a Loremaster to keep the balance. But,” he paused to glance at me earnestly, “as a friend, I would do what I could anyways. You’ve gotten a rough shake at life, it’s not fair. Something I’ve seen… well, too many times in my days,” he trailed off, looking away, his tone becoming bitter.
“If you were a friend, you'd give me some idea of how you know all this stuff. A friend wouldn't keep secrets.” I cocked a brow. I raised my hand to push my wing back resting on my shoulder and I accidentally shot a fireball out of my palm. I yelped, feeling the brief heat that pricked my hand. It didn’t get far and I moved my hand away before I could burn. Finnian assured me that the fireball was moving just so slowly it would take about a day to get to the other side of the magical containment field. He’d “unfreeze” Kiarra before that and have her put out the little fireball.
“So,” I said, shaking my hand, trying to get the hot sensation off of it. Finnian calmly placed his hand over mine and pushed it down on my leg.
“Might want to hold them still for awhile, huh?” he suggested, with a chuckle.
I snorted, resting my hands in my lap. I nodded back towards them and willed them away. “Will that even work?” I asked, but got my answer when they slowly retracted under my shirt into my back. “Huh… I’ll be,” I muttered to myself. “So,” I continued. “Seen a lot of things in those days… just how many days are we talking?”
Finnian grinned, but remained silent.
I stared him down defiantly. He just chuckled.
“What do you want to know?”
“I mean besides this Loremaster business… what are you? How old are you? And why do your eyes do that little… enchanting thing?” I asked, making a weird spinning gesture in front of his face. He smirked.
“Long story short… I was born in 1130 in what is now present-day England,” he began.
“No shit? Wow, that’s old as dragons!” I was awed. “Loremasters’ live that long?”
He shook his head solemnly. “No. I was born a human—well, a sorcerer, much like Gabriel. I was a pretty powerful conjurer. I assisted royalty with accumulating riches, jewels, things of that nature.” He frowned. “Eventually I got too big for my britches and greedy and selfish. I ruined relationships with other people, other peoples’ relationships with adultery; it’s not something I’m proud of. Then I made the biggest mistake of my existence.” He paused. “I have never told anyone else this—even Kiarra—so I please request that you don’t tell anyone unless you deem it absolutely necessary.”
I nodded slowly and waited for his explanation expectantly.
He sighed. “I was approached by a dark source—not like the Shadows but… a rather, an Underworldly source. I do not know his name, perhaps it was Hades himself. But because of my deeds, my penchant for greed, I was approached to become a Demon—an Incubus, to be precise.”
My mouth fell open. “Demons… they are real? You are one?”
“I was,” he corrected quickly. “You know what an incubus is, right? They feed off the sexual energy of the opposite sex. That is why I am able to bespell women. It was a lingering effect. It’s not a Loremaster thing—though the eye changing thing is. It's just a weird effect of the magic churning inside us, basically.”
“How about when Ceceline came in that day we first met her… she made the boys pretty uncomfortable? I thought—”
He chuckled. “Sicilian makes everyone uncomfortable, but not because she’s a demon, because she is a very intimidating woman!”
I snorted. “Okay, I can see that. So… you were an Incubus? Why?”
He shrugged. “I wanted more. I could conjure pretty much anything anyone wanted—out of thin air. It was a very rare gift, has only been seen maybe a handful of times since myself in those times long ago. But, I never knew if anyone cared about me for my skills, what I could bring them or because they actually cared about me. I’m pretty sure it was the former. I fell in love with a woman—Elizabeth—she was a commoner, of all things.” He laughed shortly. “Just like a fairy tale. But she wanted nothing to do with me.” Finnian’s demeanor switched to shame. “She was my first conquest when I turned demon. The problem is, as long as you’re Incubi—no one can ever love you. Ever.”
“Did you… kill Elizabeth?” I gasped.
He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work that way usually. You will just drain them of all their energy, leaving them in a rather vegetative state for a few days. After that, they have no recollection of what happened. But it also drains them of their ability to love as well. As long as I was draining energy, I was safe; but, if I didn’t, that’s when I would go on destructive sprees.”
I swallowed. “Oh? That… that isn’t good.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not. I razed a whole village one time. So it was, destroy a handful of womens’ lives for love or destroy entire villages. I had to make the choice.
“After… a millennium of this I tired of the conquest. I finally learned shame, and regret and dreaded my actions. It was around 1810 I was approached by the head Loremaster at the time—Piers Fournier—and was told in exchange for years of service with the Loremasters, to help correct the discord I’d brought upon the Earth, I could give up my demonic status. But I had to serve the Loremasters for 100 years before I could relinquish that status. I worked—hard. Piers saw that I could fight the violent urges, even while denying my Incubi nature. It took a lot of time, and very hard work. But I did it… and soon well…” he waved around us, “Well you see what happened.”
“Now you are Head Loremaster.”
He nodded. “I’ve been the Head for around fifty years—Ceceline was actually Head, but she stepped down when I was ready, knowing that I was being groomed for the task by Piers.”
“So… what happened to Piers?” I asked.
“Well, Loremasters live a long time but are actually not immortal. He passed on, finally. It’s only been a few years since he’s been gone, actually.” Finnian sighed, sadly.
“You miss him…” It was a statement more than anything else. Still, Finnian nodded slowly.
“I do, but I have great friends, Castle Danger is a fantastic community to live in.” Finnian grinned. “Speaking of… is it time to find you a new place? Get yourself your own house here? A one bedroom… two bedroom with a nice dragon's den in the basement for Maxxus and a wing for Gabriel?”
I laughed uproariously, throwing my head back. “Ahh… that. Yeah… I don’t know what to do.” I looked at him and raised my eyebrow. “How did you manage all those women, year after year? Century after century?”
Finnian laughed. “Well, it was a whole lot of liquor and not giving a shit… but you can have all the spelled liquor in the world, and you’ll still give a shit, huh?”
“Yeah…” I groaned, feeling my head get all dizzy at the thought of picking between Gabriel and Maxxus.
“This new… development as it were, with Maxxus? Does that change anything?” Finnian inquired.
I sighed. “How does it not? We were together for a long time, you know?”
“You cared for him deeply.” It wasn’t a question from the Loremaster.
I nodded once, simply. “I do.”
“What about Gabriel? You care for him too, but…”
I swallowed down the words, dreading what I was about to say. “I do—he’s amazing. How could one not? But, Maxxus… well shit lot of good it does me since he doesn’t remember anything,” I finished, with a grumble.
Finnian placed a hand on my forearm and looked at me with earnest. “Leorah, the fact that he doesn’t remember any of it, and loves you anyway… shouldn’t that count for… well… a lot?”
I began to speak, but stopped. My heart slammed into my chest. “Oh my…” was all I could say.
Finnian grinned sheepishly. “Well, you know… just give it time. The answer will come to you. Just be honest with them and things will work out as they should.”
“I don’t suppose you can give me some sort of hint….” I asked him hopefully.
He just winked at me but said nothing more on the subject. “Getting back to it—after this is over, are you staying? Should I situate an official living quarters for you? A nice house?”
I thought for a moment. “Well, it’s not like I can go back to my apartment or job. Not with Shadows and evil court members after me; I can’t put people at risk. So for now, I suppose… yeah, I'll stay. But you don’t have to get me a house or anything.” I turned around and looked over my shoulder at Kiarra, standing motionless nearby. “I’ve been staying with Kiarra for the past few days and it’s been fun. I think I’ll just stay there.”
“Cool,” he said. “Then when things work out how they’re going to...you’ll decide?
I nodded. “Yeah,” I snorted. “Yeah, the only decision I’ve really been able to make for myself so far, huh?”
Finnian half-smiled, with sympathy. “That will get better. I can promise.”
“Loremaster powers that be?”
“No. Friend. We’ll uncover the mystery behind the magic and make sure you can take control of your life now, all right?” he suggested.
“Cool,” I agreed, with a smile.
Finnian reached over and pat my leg in a friendly gesture of camaraderie. “Now that your magic is mostly unlocked, we should anticipate sending you and Maxxus out soon. Like forty-eight hours or less. I have some potions I want you to try beforehand to help with your compulsion, and you should try to disguise your appearances with your magic. But I think it'll be easy, relatively, especially with my options. You okay with that?” he questioned.
