Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 17
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Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"
Chapter 1- "The big game."
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There were several tomes of magic locked away in a secret compartment of the Ancient Library. The author of these books wanted to hide their identities, so they used only their initials to mark them. Many of these Mages had the same letter for their surnames, so initials like A.B were very common. However there was another reason why the initial were printed on the cover; it was a written form of magic to mark ownership. ~ An extract from "Proper Writing as a Mage" by J.M.
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30 April, 1886.
Quill.
Spirit world.
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"What manner of madness would prompt someone to act as you have?" The succubus yelled. Her guise had started to break; she looked more like a demon than a young lady.
"Do I have to f*cking repeat myself? Get out of my property!" Quill raised his voice. His hand was bleeding; his right pinky finger was missing.
'Damn these spirits!'
"Who's property is it, young Mage?" A loud voice spoke. The sounds echoed around the entire Sanctuary like thunder.
'The souleater. It's either that guy or the Lich making this racket.'
Quill shivered.
'It's time to do this.'
"Mine. This Sanctuary belongs to me!"
"Then who are you?" The voice asked.
"I am Jordan Elyas Middlesworth, son of Lloyd Middlesworth and grandson of Arthur Middlesworth. Need I say more?"
"You play a dangerous game, boy. Naming yourself with a Name that is not your own, in front of all the local Greater spirits. Do you not know who has inherited that Name? You will eventually have to face them in battle for what you have said today."
'I know that you numbskull! I know what I'm doing.'
The voice went silent..
"Can you all hear me? If you can't, I've written it on all the walls so you can. My name is Jordan Elyas Middlesworth and I own my soul. I also own the Sanctuary. Whosoever inherits my soul will also inherit my sanctuary and my name. And all the woe that comes with it."
There was a short awkward silence.
'Did they get it? Did it work?'
The succubus Lady laughed.
"I hate the fact that you pushed me. But I love how daring you are,Quill. You really think you'll survive this one?"
"I'm not planning on surviving, I'm planning on winning."
"Good luck, pretty boy!"
Then the succubus turned around and strutted away. Jordan kept his eyes away from her, sighing when she was finally gone.
'Alright. It seems my plan is working. Now for all these other stupid pieces of soul what-not to get the heck out of here.'
Jordan stretched a bit, and walked out of the bathroom.
'I just kissed an evil spirit; I'm good. But then again, for the first lady to kiss me to be a two-faced demon kinda spells out what I'm lacking. I need a better haircut. Or maybe there's a spell to make me more handsome.'
Journal, what do you think? Yeah yeah. I know. She forced me to kiss her. It wasn't romantic at all.. I think.
The other spirits were already leaving. They were filling out of the Sanctuary. The Gremlins- the 2 to 3 ft tall red abominations -were the first to scram. The undead army simply vanished. The Fey- I didn't even meet them, I only know about them because Mrs.Red dress told me- were gone.
The moment the Greater spirits started to leave, the lesser ones followed.
Now only the Vampires and the Imps remained.
And they were also getting ready to leave.
'My plan has worked.'
"Hey Vlad! Didn't you promise to do whatever you can to get my soul? Why, you aren't even trying anymore." Quill taunted.
Vlad and the other Vampires were already at the front door.
"I want that cheeky kid dead." One of them said.
Vlad turned around to look at Quill, then he pointed his rapier at him.
"I will obtain your soul, or whatever is left of it after the gods have dealt with you. I do not break my promises.."
'Somehow, I have the peculiar feeling that he's saying the truth. It's just like it was the Crown saying this. Words of Power, huh.'
"...as it is not the way of a king." After that utterance, the vampire king left. And his followers trailed behind him. Some of them were hurling verbal insults at Quill.
'I don't give a damn.'
For the first time, Quilk got a proper look at the fiends who were responsible for almost driving him insane. They looked like black children with horns.
'Kids?'
Yes we are. Do you have a problem?
'Wow, you can read my mind. Just like Desire.'
What were you expecting? We have psychic abilities, and we can manipulate minds.
'Can you guys, like umm have a spell with me, or something? Your power is dope.'
We almost drove you to suicide, no-name. I suggest you leave us alone. Also, we want nothing to do with you after what you just did. I reckon, no-one in their right mind would.
'You're all saying the same thing at the same time. Are you all just duplicates or what?'
We are not obligated to answer.
'But you did?'
The child Imps sprouted out wings from their backs in unison and flew oit through the open door.
'Now not a single local spirit would enter my Sanctuary even though the door is wide open. They are just too scared. By claiming the name of Jordan Middesworth, I've stolen from the Higher spirits, the ones outside that have my name. These High spirits are even greater than the Greater spirits. According to the Knowledge, they're pretty much gods.'
'Now I have to fight that. The wrath of the gods.'
I know, Journal. I'm making the exact same mistake, aren't I? First I sacrificed my name and got myself in this mess. In order to get out, I'm pissing off some really Powerful spirits which are far more powerful than what I was just struggling with. From the frying pan to the fire, am I right?
But I'm doing it differently this time. I know what risks I'm taking, and I know what I've sacrificed to get here. And I know the consequences of what I've done. Last time I damned the consequences. But this time, I'm staring right into the consequences' faces and spitting on it.
And I don't care. I will win: I'll figure it out somehow..
Signing out for now, Journal.
'Finally I can do this.'
Jordan Elyas Middlesworth.
Jordan grinned when he was done Inscribing that into his journal. Then he ran to his room and fished out his Journal.
Jordan opened the Journal up to the latest entry.
'Magic. I sometimes forget how cool it is.'
"You must be having fun, Jordan?"
A young man strolled in through the open door. He wore a green suit and a brown hat.
.
"Lancaster."
"You said my name as if it was a curse. Are we enemies already?"
"No. But why did you desert me? Why did you leave me alone?"
"You sound... never mind. I had to leave the spirit world because I didn't have enough Power to stay there. Oh..and I was about to die."
Jordan looked shocked.
"You were about to die?"
"Yes. I don't believe I ever agreed to die for you, Quill. We were never that close. I don't suppose you would do the same for me either, and even if you would, I don't give a crap."
'He's not joking. Well, He was in mortal danger. It makes sense.'
Then he remembered what the demon had told him. He shook his head.
"I just thought that you might have wanted me dead or something. Since, you know, we're supposed to kill each other and all."
"I haven't tried to kill you yet. Although I was planning to kill you when you had stopped being useful to me. But I've changed my mind now."
'He wanted to kill me. His own cousin..'
"Why did you change your mind?"
"It might be that Willy is rubbing off on me, but when I look at you, I get this feeling of excitement."
'Damn, they are both queer. I should've known!'
"I just can't stop thinking about it. Quill, you are unpredictable. I want to understand why you are like this...and I want to see what's going to happen next. Simply put, I want to witness the outcome of what you just did."
'Ahh, so he might not be gay. Whew. Those hipsters are strange as heck.'
"You don't seem bothered about the fact that I was planning to kill you." Lancaster sat down and rested his back on Jordan's chair.
"I...am also trying to kill a bunch of strangers too. It's not a good thing, but I have to do it, or they'll just kill me... I mean you didn't just plan to kill me because you knew I was Jordan. You planned to kill Quill, right?"
Lancaster did not answer. He just started and grinned.
He wiped the smile out of his face a moment later.
"Any ways, I'm here to make our Agreement official. We'll sign a spellbinding contract."
Lancaster produced a folded paper from his pocket.
"Write the details of the contract on it."
Jordan took the paper from his hands and squinted at it.
"There's nothing written on it. You should write it yourself. You'll learn better that way."
"Yes, teacher." Jordan quipped.
'How the heck am I supposed to write something like this? I'm only used to writing storybooks and poems.'
Jordan picked up the quill anyways.
"You can write it with your mind, right? Why are you holding a quill?"
He dipped the quill in an inkpot just lying around in his room.
"It helps the magic if I have ink. It helps the visualisation if I have a quill in my hand. It's like I'm imagining myself writing it. So I.."
"Enough. I don't need you rambling. I need you working. Now write exactly what I say, alright. It makes things faster."
'But you said I have to write it myself. I guess I'll learn from your example then, schoolteacher.'
"I, Lancaster Speindel will not kill you or attempt to put you in any kind of dangerous position that may be life threatening. I will not plan to do so, or conspire with your enemies to bring forth your downfall. Your death or failure will never be consciously directly or indirectly caused by me. All of these statements are valid until you say so or until all other Mages are dead or incapacitated. Under no circumstances am I to force or trick you into doing so. I will listen to you and do as you say as much as it is possible. I will willingly receive the death penalty if I breach the contract."
"I really won't tell you to kill me, man... And don't you think the death penalty is a little bit extreme?"
"Just write it."
'He told me to write this because he wants to trust him. He knows he messed up by admitting that he was trying to kill me, and now he's making up for it. He must really need my help....but this is Lancaster! He's like my brother! Why will he even think about killing me to begin with? Why?'
"Now do the same for yourself. Then draw two lines at the bottom so we can sign. Then all that's left is the infusion of Power. Go on."
Jordan did as he was told.
"It's done."
'Maybe his motive for doing this is to protect me. He doesn't want things to get down to us killing each other. He's a good guy..'
"Good. Now we can't betray each other even if we tried to. Quill did I tell you that I was planning to tear this fight down? I don't want to have to fight to the death, I just want to enjoy these magical powers. You will help me do that, right?"
"That might be a problem, because I want to win this fight."
Lancaster just laughed.
'What's so funny?'
"We might as well get on with things. I'll tell you all you need to know about me. You will do the same. Then we get to work. Does it sound good?"
"Yeah, it does."
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