Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 21
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Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"
Chapter 5- "Evil eye"
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"There are those who use their words to place curses on their enemies and there are those who would rather just use their eyes."
"Which one of them are you?"
"Neither. Curses are for wimps who aren't prepared to outright kill."
~ Exchange between the witch of the Heated Cauldron and one of her regular customers. An extract from "The Witches' guide to malicious magic."
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Still 30th April, 1886.
Weidson, Pridon.
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6:43 PM
Inside the small warehouse, Jordan was shaking in his boots.
"That dog.... isn't it the same one?"
"What dog?" Lancaster's gaze followed that of his cousin and landed on the black dog. The dog stayed at the front entrance, but it appeared to be watching them carefully.
Quill was silent.
"I... didn't expect this."
"Do you sense anything from it, Lan?"
"No. It's not a spirit. It's just a dog. But It might've been sent by Hunter. The wards outside block magical beings , but they're completely useless against a regular animal."
'And here I thought you were some kind of genius.'
"Umm... It's not attacking. That's good, right?"
"It's like you aren't using your brain anymore. It can't fight us, it won't stand a chance. But I bet Hunter might have a way to follow this thing. Mr. Black here will most likely lead Hunter to us."
"We can kill it, then."
"Good luck at that. I don't think William is so stupid to leave this thing without any protection whatsoever; I mean it might prove useful later. Also, killing it might trigger something. I see spell diagrams drawn on it's body; they're small but they're there. It might be an explosive.."
"I get it. Hunter must have countermeasures. Attacking it just might be exactly what he wants us to do. So we run?"
"That's the only good call you've made. We'll try to lose it, see if we can secure a better location."
All of a sudden, the dog started to bark viciously. It barked and barked, and Jordan could have sworn those eyes were full of bloodlust.
"Umm, are we running yet?"
"There's no back door, Quill."
"We'll use the damn windows then."
"No sudden movements, Quill. I think it would bite if you appear to be afraid of it."
'Sorry, dude. But I'm pretty sure this dog here doesn't care. It already wants my flesh."
The canine rushed towards Jordan. It's movements were faster than ever any dog he had ever seen before and it's eyes were fixed on it's target.
Jordan was so scared he was petrified; stuck on that spot and unable to move.
"Wake up! Jordan!"
But Lancaster's words were useless.
The only thing that brought him back to his senses was the intense pain after the canine bit into his right calf. Blood gushed out of the wound and Quill's eyes widened.
'Damn it hurts.... I've been shot before, I'm supposed to be a bit more tolerant to pain by now, right? Why does it still hurt so much?'
"Wind scythe." Lancaster spoke calmly.
Jordan could barely understand what happened next. Everything felt like it was moving too fast. The dog became a blur of black, while Lancaster had summoned something that resembled green lightning.
'But lightning isn't....oh, right. Magic.'
He was scooped up into his cousin's arms, princess-style.
"Are you alright?"
"No."
"Well, suck it up. You are a man, Jordan. Don't complain about your problems."
'You just asked me, you numbskull!'
In Jordan's vision, the room was still spinning.
"What happened to the dog?"
"I sliced it out of you. For some uncanny reason, it's wounds healed up rather quickly. Hunter's enchantments. We're heading out, we'll see if we can find a safer place."
He could hear the dog growling behind them...or rather, beneath them.
"What's going on?"
"You can't tell? We're flying."
'Flying? How? How are we not getting caught? No. That doesnt really matter. Let Lancaster have his secrets...The most important thing here is...I'm actually flying!!!'
The breeze brushed against his body, and his hair appeared to be billowing in the wind.
'I could get used to this.'
"I'm already running out of Power. Also, you bled out quite a bit back there. You'll probably faint soon due to the blood loss. I'm going to land infront of a place with lots of people. Don't worry, I'll be careful so they don't see us."
The two wizards floated to the ground. The dog was hot in pursuit.
"Inside the restaurant. That's where we're going. I'll be dropping you. You'll have to try to walk on your own. Use rejuvenation if you can't, alright?"
'Why does he talk like he's my mom? Eh. Doesn't matter. I just flew like a bird today.'
The biting pain reminded him that it wasn't a dream. It also reminded him that there was still a blood thirsty demonic black dog that wanted them dead.
Crow landed on the ground with Quill cradled in his arms. The moment his feet touched the ground, he gently let go of Jordan who caught himself to avoid smashing a few bones on the journey to the ground.
Jordan got up and followed Lancaster into the restaurant.
The dog was right behind him.
"We're in. Now I guess it won't attack us."
Quill got busy Drawing the spell diagram for rejuvenation around the wound on his leg. When Jordan examined them, he discovered that the huge bite marks weren't really clean.
'That dog will give me some kind of disease. Damn it. I haven't learnt a spell that can cure diseases. I could use Body Replacement but I don't want to deal with the spirits of blood, flesh and bone anymore. That damned vampire would probably screw me over anyways.'
The spell diagram shone with a soft white light.
'And my pain is gone.'
Lancaster stood Infront of his cousin, obstructing his wound from others.
"You didn't exactly have to use it now."
The light exhausted.
"I'm done. It's not fully healed but I don't feel too bad."
The restaurant in the southern district of Weidson wasn't too popular. There were many empty tables and there were only a few waiters to serve the not-too-eager customers.
Lancaster boldly found a seat and sat down. Jordan decided to follow his lead.
Their table was the one furthest from the door. As Jordan took his seat, he looked around to see the other customers. Then he took a glance at the waitress who was attending to the table opposite his own.
"What are you doing, Jordan?"
"Trying to be sure that I'm not in trouble."
Lancaster raised a brow.
In a moment, that waitress came over to their seat to serve them. Jordan hid under the table.
"What would you like to eat?" She asked.
"Let me see the menu, please."
She nodded her head and walked away.
Jordan's head poked out from under the table.
"Why are you hiding from her?" Lancaster smiled.
"It's Veronica. She's a friend. If she sees me, it might complicate things."
"Great reason. The dog is still outside. It's head isn't fully healed, so I guess it's waiting to heal up completely first. It's a good opportunity to figure out a way out of this situation. Are you listening?" Lancaster spoke quietly, urging Jordan to do the same.
"Yes."
"Alright. The problem we have now isn't just that dog, but it's master. I'm almost completely sure that Hunter sent that thing after us."
"Almost?"
"I'm not eliminating the possibility that it could be the mutt of some other Mage. Remember, all of them want us dead... Anyway, Hunter knows where we are thanks to the dog, and he's probably on his way here. If that sentence was true, then it's just a matter of time. The moment we leave the restaurant, we die."
Jordan swallowed hard.
"Don't worry, I prepared an emergency plan just for this occasion. You remember that whole Anchoring thing? The way I can link myself to things by saying their names? What I want to do is close to being a spell. I just thought of it a moment ago while we were flying. It might be possible to incorporate the abilities from both my Titles."
'Is he getting even stronger now? Damn.'
"What I plan on doing is placing a curse on the dog that uproots it's spiritual connection to me and places it on someone else. If my hunch is right, that technique is all we need to escape Hunter's notice."
"Wait, you can decide what kind of curse.."
Jordan hid underneath the table again.
"Here's the menu."
"Thanks."
'Why is she smiling at him like that? She doesn't do that with all the other customers.'
"I think I'll have two hamburgers and a nice cold glass of water."
"Just water? Okay."
She left.
Jordan emerged again.
"Why would you order so little?"
"We aren't here to eat. Now, I assume you were about to question me about my ability?"
"How can you decide what kind of curse you can place on someone. I mean, you said that..."
"I said that I can only localise the curse to a particular body part, right? I lied."
"Why?"
"I didn't see the need to tell you. Now, I do. The more complicated the curse is, the more difficult it becomes to perform. As far as I make the words as simple as possible I can place a temporary curse on someone with my word of mouth. However, the curses backfire against me, and it is incredibly difficult to delay. Also, I have to take my time to spell out the curse using words of magic, and all of that makes it more like a spell than an ability."
'Why did he really lie to me? What's he trying to accomplish? Why don't I have any answers?'
"I'm going to connect to the dog's Evil Eye and curse it to change target."
"Evil eye?"
"It's a term I made up for the intent to harm someone, and the knowledge of the person's current location. If we change the target, It would think someone else was who it was after, not us. Hunter would think that person was us, and then we could just walk away."
"One problem. I don't want to drag in innocent people into this."
"The dog won't kill them. The curse would only be active for around one minute - enough time for us to escape."
'I'm not sure about this plan.'
"I don't know... maybe there's another way?"
"There may be. But do you know what it is?"
"No."
"Then it's settled."
'Siccing an evil monster dog on innocent oblivious individuals. Great.'
Lancaster got up from his seat, gestured for Quill to remain seated. Then he walked to the door.
Quill. There's a problem.
'Whatever could you mean?'
I'm positive that Hunter is in the area.
'Okay, so...'
A loud gunshot noise was made. The front window shattered.
Jordan. Are you alright?
Jordan!
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"William Sharpside. Veronica Duncan."
Lancaster paused for a moment.
"Curse."
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