The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit)

by Nelson Chereta

  “What do you mean? When you say make a contract I know you can’t mean…”

  “I am going to try and find two more familiars who will help me with the rest of my quest.”

  Alice did not look happy. “You’re not going to do the same thing with them that you did with me are you?”

  “Yes, I am; I will perform the binding ritual with each of them. I am going to make a contract with them and make them my familiars.”

  “You can’t do that! You’re not allowed to have more than one wife! I definitely won’t share you.”

  “Alice, I can’t return home without three monsters bound to me. There are also other conditions to my quest; having three Great Monsters serving me will make achieving them easier.”

  He didn’t intend to tell her about those other conditions for a while yet.

  Sitting next to him by the fire Alice began to fidget just a bit. “I don’t see why you need anyone else. The two of us have done pretty well haven’t we?”

  “Except for my almost drowning, yes.”

  “You can’t have other wives.”

  “I’ve already told you that the binding ritual is not a marriage ceremony, and I promise I will not give anyone any flowers this time.”

  Alice slowly nodded, that did help. It meant he was not going to marry these other monsters. But that didn’t completely satisfy her.

  The truth was Alice was really enjoying this strange new life of hers. Despite the bad moments she found she really did care for her husband. He accepted what she was, and made her feel normal in a way she had never had before. In the short time they’d been together they’d been on the move constantly, traveling and having adventures. She still thought he was very, very strange, but he was a good husband. In his own peculiar way.

  What worried her was the thought of things changing with strangers joining them. She did not want other people coming between them. She most particularly did not want his attention wandering to any place it shouldn’t.

  “What sort of monster is waiting for us in Middleton?”

  “I don’t know.” Waldo replied as he took out Roger’s wand to give it an inspection. “All I know is that there are two more Great Monsters out there for me to claim, and one of them is in Middleton. Until I met you I wasn’t even sure that Enver’s map was real.”

  “Are either of them women?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Could one of them be a succubus?”

  “It’s possible I suppose.”

  “I don’t care how beautiful or willing she might be. You better remember a man only gets to have one wife.”

  “I will keep that in mind.”

  He slowly rotated the wand in his hands. There were fifteen words of power carved into it, and all of them looked to be names. He hadn’t seen that before. In his family words of power tended to reflect the ambitions and desires of the caster. ‘Death,’ ‘power,’ ‘strength,’ ‘cruelty,’ and ‘mercilessness’ were all good examples of what his family would use. The thought of using the names of the people who mattered to you was a radical concept.

  With a flick of his wrist he tossed the wand onto the fire.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Wands are very personal magic items. Even if I had real skill I doubt I would be able to get it to work for me. All magic users know how wands work so it wouldn’t even be worth trying to sell.”

  “Then why did you steal it in the first place?”

  “Because Roger could use it. Why would I leave someone I just robbed his wand?”

  “Good point.” She began fidgeting again. “So, what will you do if it is another succubus we meet in Middleton?”

  “I will bind her to my service with a contract, like I did with you.” I will also try and make this one work properly.

  “Does that mean you’ll kiss her?”

  “That is part of the ritual.”

  Alice looked at the fire.

  When she imagined her precious husband kissing another woman it made her feel surprisingly sad. She didn’t want anyone else to ever kiss him.

  Without even realizing it she began to cry.

  When Waldo saw that he quickly tore open his backpack to pull out the glass vial and stopper.

  XXX

  In Castle Corpselover Lilith stood before her bedroom mirror and watched as her son tried to capture the succubus’s tears as she threatened to hit him.

  Lilith couldn’t keep herself from laughing. “My son, you really do need to learn how to handle your women.”

  Chapter 24

  A Day At The Office

  Lilith had watched each of her children when they had gone out on their First Quests. None of them had ever known, it was important they believe they were on their own. (Which they were, all she could do was watch.) She had seen her eldest and strongest Roland die with a sword through his chest. Watched as Gwendolyn had her throat cut. She had begun watching one day to see Kara’s body lying stiff and abandoned on the side of a road. Her daughter had been murdered sometime in the night, who had done it and how Lilith never knew.

  She never tried to avenge her murdered children, that was not her way. If someone died on their First Quest it was a sign they had been too weak or too careless.

  When she had sent Waldo off she held hope that he would return. Despite what most people believed Lilith had always understood that Waldo had strength in him, and a great deal of talent. Hope was not certainty though, and she could not pretend that the odds were set very heavy against him.

  She had been watching when he was thrown into the river and had feared it was the end. Lilith thought she was about to see her last child die. Then she had witnessed the miraculous rescue by his succubus. Since then she had been watching his actions with even greater interest.

  “The terrible White Mage Waldo Rabbit.” She snorted with a laugh.

  Her son had certainly come up with some… unique solutions to his problems so far. The fact he was going about disguised as a White Mage would be looked down upon by the council and others. Ideally a Dark Mage was supposed to go around openly, relying on his intelligence and his magic to keep him safe. It had however been done before, and there was no rule against it. So far as Lilith was concerned, her son was entitled to use whatever trick he needed to survive.

  The fact he had already made a contract with a succubus was a tremendous accomplishment. If this were an ordinary First Quest that by itself would have been plenty. Waldo’s familiar had already proven herself extremely useful. She had saved his life, provided his meals, and helped him rob that fool of a hedgewizard.

  Lilith did have a few concerns about her though.

  Waldo had clearly not botched the binding ritual. The succubus was at liberty to refuse direct orders and even physically assault him. Normally that would mean instant disaster. Alice though appeared content to serve.

  Lilith found the fact the girl really believed herself to be his wife amusing. No matter what ceremonies Waldo performed in the outside world he would not be married under Alterothan law unless she gave consent. Her son was entitled to take multiple wives, and there was no stigma against taking a monster as one. If her son really wanted this girl to be his wife Lilith would permit it, but Alice was being quite presumptuous to believe a few words spoken in a whorehouse made her the wife of the Corpselover heir.

  All that was for the future though, for now all that really mattered was that her son was not only still alive, but actually making progress. Maybe there really was hope.

  In the mirror she saw her son rubbing his backside where his ‘wife’ had just kicked him after collecting some of her tears. With an amused smile Lilith waved her hand before the mirror. The image rippled and vanished, leaving her staring at her own reflection.

  “Stay safe my precious son.”

  XXX

  The following day she had business with the Council.

  Enver, as usual, preferred to stay hidden within his room during the daytime. Walt
er had been avoiding her for the past few days. No doubt he was roaming through the castle torturing and feeding on some of the slaves. She would leave him be until his mood improved.

  The only company she had before setting out were her servants. Most of them, of course, did not dare speak a word to her unless spoken to first. They bathed her, dressed her, and served her breakfast with an absolute minimum of conversation. Some of them were new; some had been in her service for years, yet none of them felt comfortable around her. Their movements were eager and swift, clearly longing to please, constantly anxious to escape her presence.

  They were always afraid.

  Lilith was happy to see that in the people around her. It was pleasing to know she inspired dread. So far as she was concerned it was the sincerest form of respect.

  When her breakfast was complete and the plates and utensils were cleared away her steward approached her. He had been serving the family for over thirty years. He had originally been in the service of her father, back when he was still flesh and blood. Hollister knew her as well as almost anyone, and had served her faithfully for the entire time she had been in power. She trusted him as much as she trusted anyone, which was not very much. Even with him there was no familiarity. He did not presume to joke or act in a friendly manner. He was respectful and formal at all times. He never forgot that no matter how useful he might be to her, he was never anything more than a servant.

  “The meeting of the council is scheduled to begin in half an hour’s time Mistress.”

  Lilith gave a slight nod. “Is my escort ready?” It was a pointless question. She knew they were.

  “It is Mistress.” He began going over the new business of the day. “We have received an invitation for a wedding to be held in Castle Wormwood in two months’ time.”

  She never attended the weddings of the other houses, they were painfully tedious affairs. The others all knew that of course, but an invitation was expected. Appearances had to be maintained. “Send them my sincere regrets. Who in that brood is getting married anyway?”

  “Sygor Wormwood, who is the third son of Gawreth and his third wife Ellen is to marry Tasha Wormwood, daughter of Adam Wormwood and his wife Natalia.”

  Lilith recognized none of the names. Gawreth was just marrying off another of his sons to some girl in one of the branch families. If you were a member of one of the Seven Great Families you either married someone from your own extended family or someone from one of the other houses. That was one of the ways the Great Families kept exclusive control over everything. If you were not born into one of the houses there was almost no chance of ever gaining entry. The exception was if you could use magic, in which case you could expect to be adopted into one of the seven.

  Lilith thought for a moment about her son and his pretty little succubus. Except for the Blooddrinkers, it was rare for an heir to marry a monster. They were obsessed with breeding though, and followed their own traditions. She laughed to herself just imagining the uproar it would cause among some of the more conservative families. It might be worth doing just for that.

  Her laughter caused Hollister to look at her questioningly; he did not however ask her about it.

  “There was a cave in at gold mine six last night. The entire work force was likely lost. Early estimates are that it will take at least twelve months to restore production.”

  Lilith frowned. The loss of the workers meant nothing to her. All the mines used undead; they could stand up to the conditions far better than living men and worked without rest. For simple physical labor like mining, the dead were always much better than the living. (Work that involved any sort of judgment or skill was best left to the living.) It was not even the loss of the gold production that annoyed her. She owned many other mines and Corpselover was far and away the wealthiest of the seven houses.

  “That’s the mine Poisondagger has been trying to lay claim to.”

  “It is Mistress.”

  “That little worm did this, Dante. He’s been trying to get me to share the rights. This is his doing.”

  “There is no proof of that Mistress.”

  “I didn’t think there would be, he is a competent little fuck.”

  “Do you intend to respond Mistress?”

  One of the few drawbacks to how things worked in Alteroth was that if she did want to respond it would mean acting on her own and perhaps intensifying the feud between Corpselover and Poisondagger.

  Alteroth was less a country than it was the private property of the Seven Great Families. They were the only authority, and the law was whatever they said it was. It was meant to apply to those beneath them, not to those who ruled. When it came to disputes among the families themselves there was no authority they could turn to. The uninvolved houses did not like to intervene, so as to keep their own freedom of action as well as avoid making an enemy. So what wound up happening was that whenever two or more families had a dispute they were left to solve it on their own.

  This tended to turn any problem into the cause for a long simmering vendetta. The families did not war on each other openly; that would lead to civil war and complete ruin. They would instead snipe at each other from the shadows. There would be smear campaigns, thefts, destruction, sabotage, and even assassinations. Often these feuds would stretch out for years.

  Knowing what was scheduled later today Lilith let a faint smile cross her face. “I already know what to do. I am going to get my pound of flesh from Poisondagger.”

  Hollister looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

  “I mean that figuratively.”

  Her steward nodded. “I would also remind you Mistress that your cousin Andris Corpselover will be coming to dinner tonight.”

  “Good, I need to talk to him about an important matter.”

  XXX

  In the courtyard a hundred armed skeletons waited. They moved in answer to her will. When the drawbridge was lowered they shuffled out ahead of her. Undead surrounded her, matching her pace as she set off for the Council’s Hall.

  The sky was the color of ash, and though it was mid-morning it was no brighter than twilight. As always the sun was hidden by an iron sky. As she walked Lilith breathed in the air, ripe with the scent of fresh sulfur. You had to try and notice it, it was a constant that people grew used to and ignored. As she and her escort traveled the people in the street very quickly cleared out of the way. Lilith saw their scurrying forms and smiled.

  When she arrived at the Hall the ten skeletons nearest the front entered with her while the rest waited where they were. Each council member was allowed to bring in ten guards, which was what they had all agreed to.

  Inside the guards from the other houses all stood apart. There was always tension when the Council of Seven came together, suspicions were plain on every living face. Among the other guards were mages, ogres, trolls, a vampire, and a half dragon. At the first sign of any sort of trouble they would tear into each other without mercy.

  When Lilith arrived with her escort all the others focused on her. Having only brought skeletons her force was easily the weakest of those assembled. The eyes being directed at her were cautious, not because of her guards, but because they all new she could summon hundreds more in an instant. Her wand was tucked into a hidden pocket, where it was in easy reach. A second was in a stocking beneath her robes. Even without bothering with a wand she could recite the necessary spell in just seconds. One always had to be prepared.

  She pushed open the doors to the inner chamber and then shut them after entering.

  XXX

  Five of the seven seats at the round table were already occupied. Elven maidens were busy serving wine and the quiet conversations were momentarily disrupted as attention was turned towards the door. Lilith noted immediately that Dante Poisondagger was at his regular place. The despicable, shrunken, old man with rotten teeth grinned at her and lifted his goblet in a mock salute. He felt safe to slight her because they were here inside the Hall. To strike at him here would b
e to attack openly and begin a war between Corpselover and Poisondagger.

  The day would come when blood would be spilled here in the inner chamber. Lilith was certain of it. They were all enemies, only their fear of the outside world held them together in their tenuous alliance. There was too much hate, too much distrust, too much anger for it not to happen one day.

  It would not be today though. Lilith returned Dante’s gesture with a wave and a false smile before taking her usual seat. She motioned to one of the elves and a goblet of red wine was immediately brought to her. Lilith looked about at the faces at the table.

  “I see Lothas is running late today. A little odd, usually Blackwater is among the early ones.”