The Lost Mage

  The Lost Mage

  Amy Difar

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to events, places, names, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2011 by Amy Difar

  All rights reserved.

  Chapter One

  Wispy clouds drifted across the full moon. A group of dark robed figures stood in a circle, their murmurs barely audible from a distance. The gentle breeze gained in intensity as the chanting of the figures reached a crescendo.

  The leader continued to chant in some unknown language, his entreaties to the sky echoed by his followers. With a flourish, he sprinkled his sacred concoction on the small flame in the brazier in front of him. The flames leapt high enough to make him jump back and small streams of light started to shimmer in the lines of the occult symbols drawn within a circle on the ground.

  The group moved back to watch in awe as the light grew brighter, seeming to emanate from beneath the ground. The lines of the symbol became actual cracks as the seal began to crumble and break apart. The ground was shaking and the supplicants ran for cover. With a bright flash and a rumbling sound, the drawn symbol exploded, showering the area in dust. Only the clear center of the rune remained intact. As the dust cleared, the supplicants left their cover to gaze in wonder at the lone figure standing in the center of the rune.

  The leader of the group stepped forward. “Demon, your masters wish you to step forward and do our bidding.”

  The tall, muscular figure’s green eyes narrowed as he looked at the group in astonishment. His long, silver hair blew in the remnants of the breeze. “Kwok?” he said.

  “Kwok?” The leader echoed. “Um, yes, Kwok. Is that what we should call you?”

  The figure’s eyes narrowed in agitation. “Kyda dane lo-patall?”

  “What?” the leader turned to his followers. “Does anyone know what he’s saying?”

  “No, don’t you? I thought you spoke the demon language.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I do. I mean that’s what I used to summon him. But I don’t know what kwok means … or that other thing he said. I think Kwok is his name, though.”

  The supplicants all shrugged.

  The figure in the circle said a short incantation in his strange tongue. Then he turned toward the group and spoke. “Excussse me. What language isss this you isss speaking to me?”

  The group turned and looked at him in astonishment. With relief, the figure realized that his translator spell seemed to have worked.

  “Demon, I am your master, Howard. You may call me Master.”

  “Massster? What is you speaking about? I have no Massster.”

  “Yes, Demon. We have called you forth from hell to do our bidding.”

  “Hell? I iss not from Hell. I is from Kwagl.”

  “Kwagl? Where the hell is Kwagl?”

  “Isss not in Hell. And I isss not demon. I isss Kakdali.”

  “Kakdali? What are you talking about?”

  “Kakdali, minor wizard, of the elemental mages of Kwagl.”

  “Well, great … minor wizard. We have called you forth to do our bidding.”

  “I isss not servant. Why would you asssume that I would serve you?” His speech improved as he got used to the feel of the strange language on his tongue.

  “Because we did a summoning spell to bring forth a demon from Hell to help us spread anarchy.”

  “Have you ever sssumoned a demon before?”

  “Well, no, you were our first.”

  “But I isss not a demon. And if I wasss, I would do my own bidding, not yours.”

  “No, see, as your summoner, you’re bound to me.”

  “You’re not my sssumoner.”

  “Yes, I am,” Howard said in a petulant voice. He tried for a more commanding tone. “I did a summoning spell to bring you forth from hell and here you are.”

  “What you did isss to take me from my meal, not from hell.”

  Howard became indignant. “I … I’m sorry, spawn of hell. Are you actually complaining that we interrupted your dinner?” he turned to give his followers an incredulous look.

  “Tea, actually. I wasss having tea.”

  The followers turned to their leader in agitation. “Is this some kind of joke, Howard? ‘Cause I thought we were summoning a demon, not some dude who was having tea.”

  “We did, I mean, that’s what the spell was for.” He turned back toward the strange figure and addressed him in a commanding voice. “Demon Kwok, you will do my bidding.”

  “I will not. Sssend me back.” He took a threatening step towards Howard.

  Howard took an involuntary step back. “Er … I, that is we, can’t. It was only a way to summon you here. And you’re stuck inside that rune symbol, and unless you agree to do our bidding, we won’t release you.”

  “What isss you talking about?” The mage put one foot across the line on the ground.

  “No … you can’t do that!” Howard shrieked. He tried to regain his composure and said in an authoritative voice, “You must do my bidding!”

  The figure eyed Howard with distaste. “To hells with thisss.” The mage stepped over the rubble of the destroyed runes and walked out of the park and onto the city street, leaving the stunned supplicants behind. Once on the sidewalk, he stopped in fear to stare at the tall buildings and possessed mechanical beasts running on the street.

  “Bloody hell.” With a flourish of his long cape, he headed down the street, oblivious to the stares of those he passed.

  Chapter Two

  The mage stepped off the curb into the path of an oncoming car.

  The driver hit the horn. Honk.

  “Honk, beep, toot!” the mage shouted back, attempting to mimic the language of the mechanical beasts as he leapt out of the way.

  “Get out of the street, you crazy bastard.”

  “I’m no bassstard. I know who my father isss,” the silver-haired man called after the car.

  He continued trying to cross the street, making honking noises at all of the passing cars as he darted between them.

  When he reached the other side of the street he paused and looked back, dumbfounded that the mechanical beasts had now stopped and were allowing people to cross the street without trying to attack them.

  He turned and walked in the opposite direction. He stopped briefly to gape at a streetlight, amazed that the candle inside burned without flickering.

  After being jostled by several people passing by, he turned and started walking with the crowd. He left the busy thoroughfare for a quiet side street. About halfway down the block, he sat on the wide steps of a brownstone.

  A gray and white alley cat padded lightly up the steps and sat opposite the mage.

  Hey, the cat said.

  “Hey yourself,” the mage answered.

  The two sat in silence for a minute.

  So, you can understand me?

  “It would seem ssso,” answered the mage.

  Interesting.

  “Not really, you sssee I did a spell to let me understand the first few languages spoken to me here because I couldn’t understand what anyone wasss saying.”

  Ah, the cat replied with a knowing nod of his head. Another moment of silence passed. Hey, do you think you could score me some milk?

  “Score?” the mage asked in confusion.

  Um, I mean, like, get me some.

  “I would love to, tiny friend but alas, I’ve ssseen no cows or goats, nor any likely places to find such creatures.”

  Um, yeah, no, dude. I mean could you, like, go to a store and buy me some?

  “Ah, you wish me to procure you sssome from a shopkeeper?”

  Yeah, sure. That would work.

  “I fear I have no gold, kind sir.”

  W
hoa, dude, I want, like, plain old milk. Nothing fancy, you know, no designer stuff. Just milk.

  “But would not a shopkeeper wish me to exchange gold for such goods?”

  Oh, you mean money? Well, yeah, but not anything as expensive as gold, you see.

  “Does this sssociety not use precious metals for currency?”

  Well, they use some shiny stuff, but it’s definitely not gold, the cat answered, fearing that he was not going to be able to get milk from this man.

  “Hmm. How does one go about procuring such currency here?”

  Well, one gets a job, I assume.

  “Common work? But I am an elemental mage! I barter my services in summoning the elements in exchange for goods and other ssservices. I’ve never had any need for currency.”

  Yeah, um, where are you from? ‘Cause there aren’t any what was it now – elemental mages? Yeah, we don’t have those here.

  “But how do the farmers water their crops? How do the bakers summon fire for their ovens? How do the ships sail?”

  Well, I don’t know about boats ‘cause I don’t like the water, but the rain comes and everything gets wet. Did I mention that I don’t like getting wet? And the bakers, well, they could use magic wood sticks for one thing.

  “Magic wood sticks?”

  Yeah, they’re these wooden sticks that start fires when you hit them on the box they come in.

  “What sort of treachery is this? Nobody but an elemental mage may summon fire. How could a simple stick start a fire?”

  Like I said, they’re magic. Where are you from?

  “I’m from, well, I was pulled through a portal, so that would suggest an alternate realm. Things are quite different here.”

  Damn, said the cat. He was very hungry.

  The two sat in silence for some time.

  Finally, the mage asked the cat, “Do you have a name?”

  Yes, replied the cat. You?

  “Yes, I do.”

  That’s cool. The cat licked at a dirty spot on his paw.

  “My name is Darakin.”

  The cat realized that the human wanted to exchange names. If he could, he would have blushed. It had been a long time since any human had cared enough to want to call him by his name. Oh, my name is Mrowley.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrowley.”

  You too, Darakin.

  “You don’t much like people, Mrowley?”

  I used to. Had a family once, but they left one day. Guess there wasn’t room for a massive creature like me in the car.

  “Car?”

  Those things, the cat lifted a paw to indicate a car parked at the curb.

  “Ah, the mechanical beasts.”

  Yeah, those.

  “Several of those tried to attack me in the street before. They seemed to become enraged when I tried to speak their language. Isss their language sacred or something?”

  I don’t know about that, but you have to watch out for them. I lost some good friends to them. And that’s what my family left in.

  The mage was silent for a moment, thinking about the cat whose family had been lost to one of the mechanical beasts. “Sssorry about your family, Mrowley.”

  The cat puffed up with pride. Hey, no biggie. Can’t keep a tomcat like me cooped up for too long, anyway. I’d have probably run away from them by now.

  Darakin let the cat’s obvious lie pass without comment.

  “I find myssself in need of a companion. I won’t try to ‘coop you up’ or anything. I’d just like some company.”

  Oh, sure, I mean, you know, if I’d be doing you a favor, sure.

  “Thank you. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.”

  Well, you could tone down those esses for one thing. Kind of makes you sound like a snake.

  “Snakes can speak here?”

  Don’t know. Never met one, but that’s how people say they would speak – lots of long esses.

  “Well, thank you. I’ll work on it. I guess I need to find someplace to stay. Are there any boarding houses anywhere nearby?”

  Well, yeah, but they wouldn’t let me in. But hey, I’ll help you find one. You do know that you’ll need money to pay for the room, right?

  “That’s a problem, then. Not only do I have no currency, but I won’t stay anyplace where my companion isn’t welcome.”

  Again, Mrowley did the cat equivalent of blushing. We’ll have to find a box then.

  “A box?”

  Yeah, we’ll find a big box that we can sleep inside for the night.

  “Why would we need to do that?”

  I don’t know, but that’s what all the humans that sleep on the streets do here. It’s just the way things are done.

  Darakin had his doubts about the box, but he followed Mrowley anyway. After all, he didn’t have any better ideas and he did want to fit in rather than draw attention to himself.

  The cat led him down an alley behind some retail stores. He stopped in front of a large box. This one will do. Would you mind? It’s a little big for me to carry.

  Darakin stepped forward and picked up the huge box, once again following the cat, who led him back to the park where he’d been summoned. Mrowley searched for a secluded area. When they found a suitable spot, Darakin placed the box on the ground.

  Not that way, silly. Lay it on its side, so you can lie down inside it.

  “You want me to lie down in the box?”

  Yeah, it will keep the wind and stuff out.

  Darakin stood tall and puffed out his chest in defiance. “I am an elemental mage, cat. I command the forces of Nature; I do not hide from them.”

  Yeah, well that was wherever you came from. Have you tried commanding any forces or whatever here?

  “Well, no …”

  Go ahead, give it a try. The cat sat back on his haunches and waited.

  “Very well, I will summon fire.” Darakin picked up a stick and began an incantation in some strange tongue, holding the stick out in front of him.

  After a few minutes, Mrowley spoke up. Not working, huh?

  Darakin’s shoulders slumped. “No.”

  Well, how is it that you commanded these forces at home?

  “The Elements were enslaved by the Kakdali eons ago.”

  Kak … what now? the cat interjected.

  “The Kakdali. The elemental mages of Kwagl.”

  Kwagl? The cat rolled on his back and laughed. What kind of a name is that?

  Darakin put his hand on his hip in annoyance. “It’s the name of my homeland and it doesn’t sound silly in my language.”

  The cat stopped laughing and sat up. Sorry, that was mean. Don’t be mad at me, okay?

  “I’m not. Actually hearing the way it sounds when spoken in this language, it does sound kind of silly.” He bent down and gave the cat’s belly a rub. “As I was saying, the Kakdali enslaved the Elementals and now we mages exchange our ability to summon the forces of Nature for goods and services.”

  Oh. Well, I guess nobody’s enslaved the elements here. And since it doesn’t work, lie down in that box, okay?

  “Fine.” Darakin crawled into the box.

  Mrowley waited until he was settled and then slid in next to him. I’ll just cuddle, ahem, I mean curl up by your belly here. It’ll help keep you warm.

  Darakin started to protest that he wasn’t at all cold as it was early spring, but realized that the cat was trying to keep his dignity while fulfilling some inner need for companionship. The two soon fell fast asleep.

  Chapter Three

  When Darakin woke up, Mrowley was nowhere to be seen. “Damn, I’m going to miss him.”

  Miss who?

  Darakin crawled out of the box and looked around. Mrowley was sitting there, using his paw to bathe his face.

  “You. I thought you were gone.”

  Nope. Boy, do you have a short memory. I’m helping you out, remember? You need a companion.

  “Right.”

  Well, I got up early to get myself a mousie. I’m
sorry, did you want one? Because I can go back out.