Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 12
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Opening Arc- "Crow and Quill"
Chapter 12- "Companion."
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The brilliant sunlight illuminated the beautiful sunny day.
Emeralda was at the terrace again, still annoyed and weeping.
The old wise sage walked towards her with a warm welcoming smile.
"Life is sometimes a lonely journey. It's good to spend it with other people."
Emeralda turned to look at the elder. She quickly cleaned her tears.
"What if you hate other people?"
The old sage smiled wider.
"Then learn to love. Life will be a lot less difficult that way."
~ An extract from the Mushroom. The tale written- but not completed- by Jordan E. Middlesworth who unfortunately has no friends.
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April 30, 1886.
9:00
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The Middlesworths were still mourning the death of Lisa. But the bakery had to open - it had been two days already after all.
After spending most of the night planning for the ritual to regain his name and his Sanctuary, Quill wasn't well rested when he woke up the next morning. But he believed he was ready. It was finally another day.
' Today, I'll deal with all my biggest problems at once. My inner demons as well as my worst enemies. '
'...Maybe not the latter one, but I have to kill Hunter sooner rather than later. I have seven days to get it done. I have to try..'
"Jordan, we have customers to attend to. Freshen up , get your lazy arse up here and get to work!"
"I'm coming, dad."
Quill reluctantly got up from the bed. He stretched his stubby legs, and moved towards his wardrobe to pick up some clothes.
' I'll go with the brown T-shirt. It's my best one. '
Jordan Middlesworth.Jordan Middlesworth.Jordan Middlesworth.
"What are you?"
You responded. But that isn't your name.
"What the hell are you?"
'Obviously not the demon. Must be one of those parasitic spirits - my inner 'demons' - that's trying to possess me or something. Thankfully, I have a rune or two for situations like this.'
Quill quickly inscribed the words of magic meaning - Will. Power. Mind - upon his chest. It glowed for a moment as Quill recited the chant.
"Spirits of the mind, grant me willforce and strength of the mind in exchange for Power, and under the authority of the book of magic."
The spirit's voice faded away.
And it was done. The simple spell consumed ½ of his Power, but conveniently forced the parasites away to continue to be bound for a short period of time.
Quill had realized that the spirits attempted to possess him like that in regular intervals - the moment they obtain enough Power to do so. And since he unconsciously supplies them with Power every moment, he had eventually calculated the timing of their attacks.
'The last failed attempt at possession was six hours and twenty five minutes ago. So it takes them about six hours to charge up a mental attack. I have to be prepared to chant this spell every six hours. No problem.'
'After all, it's not as if I'm actually using Power for anything else, right?'
"Jordan!"
"Coming, mom."
Quill felt as though it was pointless. What was the point of doing day to day chores when his life was on the line, and every moment he could use to improve himself counted towards his eventual victory or death?
Will selling a few loafs of bread to a few people purge the evil spirits living inside him? Would it kill the bastards that killed his sister?
'No. It wouldn't. So it's a waste of time.'
But he believed he had to do it.
'To make sure that my family doesn't get mixed up in this mayhem, I have to hide it from them.'
Quill brushed his teeth. While he did so, he imagined how his life would have been without magic.
'It would have been boring as usual. I would still be working on my novel, my life would'nt be under threat. Come to think of it, maybe Lisa wouldn't be gone...'
'No. I shouldn't think like that. It's not magic's fault, it's just power. Lisa died because of The Crown and Hunter. They killed her...'
He rinsed his mouth, and began to rinse the rest of his face with water.
'But why? The question keeps coming up over and over again in my head.'
'Why would anyone do such a thing. Brutally murdering an innocent little girl for no reason, other than some bullshit magic.
Unbeknownst to him, tears had started to stream out from his eyes.
"You're thinking about Lisa, aren't you?" Risa's voice startled him.
"Umm..yes."
"You have this angry look on your face, but you are crying."
"I guess I am."
"You haven't cried, since the day she died...I think it's a good thing that you can let out your emotions."
'You're not letting out anything though. You're putting up an act, trying to sound as if you don't miss her. But you do, and you should. Stop acting brave infront of me...'
Quill didn't know what to do. He left the bathroom, and went to the bakery.
"Jordan, Stop stinking up the place and go and bathe." Lloyd ordered.
'I don't have time to spend on thinking about magic. For now, I'll focus on what's most important- washing the dishes and serving the customers. Maybe I'll take the afternoon break to handle the problem that may or may not kill me at any time..'
Yes, Yes. As if it was that easy.
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Meanwhile,
Still in Weidson.
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"Lancaster Speindel. You are a genius."
He stared at his mirror amd what stared back was a white lanky twenty-four year old with blonde hair and brown eyes.
"But you're lost. Your soul is still floating above Crow, not quite landing there. The Sanctuary is doing the same and your little friends are sucking away your magic Power once in a while - leaving you with almost nothing."
"What do you do?"
He continued to stare at his mirror as if he wasn't looking at himself but was seeing someone else.
"Simple question. Simple answer. I fight."
Have you gone mad, Bird?
"Get lost, demon. I don't need you."
What if I don't want to get lost? What if I want to stay and watch my Powerful wizards fight, and you just so happened to be the third most interesting of all of them.
"Third. Just third?"
Yes. What were you expecting? You haven't exactly made any big moves. Your Title switch was nonsense that didn't work out. Your encounter with other Mages was fruitless because for some reason they do not want to kill you yet..and you are not willing to kill them either, are you, young man?
"How many times do I have to tell you to get lost!"
No more. No #1 appears to be cooking up something interesting.
"Interesting how? And who is.."
Goodbye....
Lancaster slammed his fist against the mirror, cracking it a little.
"Trashy demon."
The pianist stood up and walked across his new one-roon apartment. After Hunter burned his old house, he had to rent a new one. Some of the locals called what Hunter did an unfortunate accident, while others openly blamed it on Lancaster's laid-back, lackadaisical attitude.
Lancaster grabbed his green jacket and strolled out as if nothing had ever happened. As he left, some of his neighbours where giving him strange looks.
"Isn't that the man whose house burnt to ash yesterday."
"Yeah. It's him. He lost everything. Poor guy."
"You are right about that. He is a poor person, if I've ever seen one. My nephew who lives near his former house said he overheard his conversation with his landlord. As it turned out, he could barely pay for his rent before. Now after burning the old woman's house, he runs away without even paying anything. I'm completely sure he's going to get kicked out from this house.."
"And that won't be the first time that happened.."
"What a useless person.."
They continued to chatter.
'Do they know I can hear them? Yes. Do they have no shame? Ofcourse they don't.'
Lancaster took a look at his palms.
'If they knew I could break their necks without breaking a sweat, wouldn't they stop this? If they realised that I could use fantastical powers to curse them to death, would they continue this rubbish?'
He clenched his fists, and then shaked his head.
He didn't have time to waste on trash like them.
'I have to fight. That is what I have to do. If I want this nonsense to end, I have to put in the effort.'
'The main problem is... how?'
While he trekked to his job at the dreamer's alehouse in Dale's, he took the time to think.
'At first, the demon told me was to latch myself on to someone. To find another Mage for support while on the journey to Crow, while somehow figuring out the building of the new Sanctuary on my own. This time though, I won't need a new Sanctuary since I already have one. If I find a Mage support, All I'll need at that point is a spell that can help me destroy the darkness residing in Crow.'
'The plan is ~ step one. Find and dominate/control a Mage, so as to fix the Power problem. As far as I have an extra supply of Power from another Mage, it shouldn't be too possible to keep Sanctuary flying. I could try landing on somewhere else other than Crow, but Knowledge says it might be difficult to ever get to Crow again, with such a messed up connection. So the only option is the one I am going for.'
'Step two. Discover and learn - or craft - a spell that can dispell the darkness inside Crow.'
'Step three,kill Mage to buy some time from Crown, so I have more time to figure out how to skip this whole battle, so I get to enjoy magic.'
'Alright. I think I can do it.'
By the time he had reached his work place, he had already oulined the steps he had to take to fix his problem.
'This is work. I hate doing this. But I have to.'
He strolled into the pub, waving his co-workers and getting comfortable at his seat in front of the piano.
Lancaster had been working as a musician for the pub ever since the first day he played for them two years ago and they had loved him. The audience's approval and the prospect of earning an actual living out of doing what he lived, made it sound like a nice decision to work there.
He had long since changed his mind.
'Routines, and rules. I hate them both.'
"I need a drink."
The waitress dropped a mug of ale for him, smiling.
"Thanks."
'I genuinely mean that. I hardly ever do. A free drink, is one of the greatest things anyone could give me.'
"No problem."
And she walked away while Lancaster stared at her.
Then he picked up his mug and started drinking.
'Now. Which Mage can I go after. Hunter is out since he's too powerful. Just by being around him, I could feel that beating him would prove to be a problem. So the only option...is a Mage weaker than me. The problem is : which Mage is less powerful than I am? I don't really know any other Mages apart from Hunter, Crown, Seer and Clock - because Hunter talked about her..'
After Slamming the mug on the table, and grinning at Annabelle aa she picked up the mug, without asking for anything, Lancaster stretched his fingers, and started playing.
As he did so, he forgot about magic again, opting to simply enjoy the moment.
I will give you a good target, If you will do I favour for me, anytime I ask.
'Why is it that you turn up at such a convenient moment.'
I can't help it. It's the art of temptation;give them exactly what they want most. Bonus points if its what they think they want most.
'You sound like a human.'
Now you notice?
'I agree. Give me information on my weak Mage.'
Quill. He is 17 years old and he is your cousin Jordan.
'My cousin is a Mage?'
Is it too surprising?
'No. I'm not that excited. Thanks for the information. Now leave my head.'
I have a few more things I could tell you.
'Don't want it.'
Okay.
'Quill. I think we might become friends. I'll stick to the plan though...'
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