Hex, Din and Owen were called by Zlyena to meet up somewhere. They arrived, and they were worried because of the concerned look on Zlyena's face.
"I don't know how to tell you this, but… You three need to be careful, there's someone very dangerous going around today, I was told by Elaine that the evil warlock Turbuk is in the area, he is extremely dangerous. Do not fight him if you see him, you aren't strong enough yet to even hold a fair fight against him." Zlyena shook her head.
"I can take him, you let me handle this." Hex was feeling very powerful after realizing his new powers.
"No, you can't, not yet, please listen to me, he's way too dangerous," she said.
"I'll be fine, I swear, he's fucking dead." He made a throat slitting gesture with his thumb.
"I warned you, if anything bad happens, I don't know if I can be there for you. I told you to go a specific route because that's the safest one, please don't go looking for him and take the same route home," she said.
"I can't promise that," he said, and started to walk away.
"Hex, please listen to her, he seems pretty scary from what we've heard." Din tried to reason with him.
"Nah, I got this." he smiled.
"We should go back the way we came at least, and if we run into him, we'll have to keep Hex from fighting him." Owen shook his head.
"I've got superpowers though, really good ones, I can beat him," Hex said as they walked the path they came in from.
"If even Zlyena is worried, I think he's too powerful for any of us, including you." Din pointed to him.
"She said she never saw anything like it, including herself, so I should be fine," he said.
"I don't think it's a good idea, we should just-" before Owen could finish his sentence, Hex bolted into another street.
"Wait!" Din shouted.
He heard the shouts of his best friend and girlfriend fade into the distance. He knew they wouldn't follow him, it would be too dangerous for them, but not him, he thought, he was fine. He was looking for trouble, to test his power. He didn't know what the warlock looked like, he imagined a hooded man with a giant gray beard. He could take an old coot like that.
He was so deep in thought he didn't notice the person coming from an alleyway. He and the man bumped into each other.
"Ah shit, sorry," he said
"Oh my, what's this? A small magical creature of a boy, what kind would you be?" the man asked.
He looked up at the man, and his stomach dropped, he felt an immense evil energy coming from him, something so sinister he couldn't describe. The man looked to be in his thirties, with short hair buzzed at the sides and a goatee. The man also had a black robe with red sigils lining the corners.
"Oh… Oh shit." He knew at that moment he had fucked up.
"I asked you a question." The man seemed to get angry.
"I uh… I'm a new kind?" he awkwardly answered.
"You're adorable, I don't think I'll kill you yet, but give me a second to think of something else to do to you." The man smiled.
"I uh… I gotta go." He slowly turned and tried to walk away, but the man teleported in front of him.
"Where do you think you're going?" The man looked at him with an extremely scary and serious look on his face.
"Nowhere, nowhere." He flinched, it seemed apparent that he couldn't escape the fate that he unknowingly thrust upon himself.
"Now what should I curse you with? I'm having troubles choosing. There's so many interesting curses out there, I could make you bleed from your eyeballs, or make you act like a frog." The man smiled again, but more sinister.
"Neither of those sound very appealing to me," he said, trying his luck.
"Oh that's cute, you believe that you have a choice in the matter." The man laughed a little.
"Well if you're going to do it, get it over with," he said, accepting his fate.
"I have an idea, what about cursing you with a demon? That sounds pretty good, I think I'll do that." The man raised his hand, and red sigils sprung from his palm.
He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. Time passed, and he didn't feel any different. He opened his eyes to see the man just standing there.
"Don't worry, you'll meet him tonight," the man said.
"Are you that Turbuk guy that I was warned about?" he asked.
"Ah, I see I've made a reputation for myself. Yes, that would be me," Turbuk said.
"I was worried about that," he said.
"Do you know any other black magic warlocks?" Turbuk asked.
"I know someone who uses black magic, but she's a girl. I thought she was the worst, but now that I'm standing face to face with someone like you, I'm realizing she may not be that bad." He felt that Elaine was the be all end all of bad people, but he was wrong, very wrong.
"Oh, do you mean that small demon girl Elaine? I was the one who cursed her bloodline," Turbuk said.
"Oh, so you're that asshole," he said.
"Don't get snippy with me, I might change my mind about killing you," Turbuk said.
"Alright, alright, can I go now?" he asked.
"I have nothing else in mind, but don't think we won't meet again. I have plans for both Cluster and Earth," Turbuk said, and walked back into the alleyway.
He peeked around and into the alleyway, Turbuk was gone. He met back up with Din and Owen, who reprimanded him for leaving. He told them about his encounter and about how sorry he was and that all his power got to his head. He dreaded the encounter with the demon Turbuk cursed him with, but he knew that it would arrive that night.
Read the rest of the book here: https://www.moonquill.com/book/113