The Lost Mage Read online

  “Well we started on the full moon and then …” Howard’s shoulders drooped in defeat. “Yeah, all right, fine. We – my family, that is – were going through my grandfather’s things when he died and I found the book. It looked really cool, so I memorized a bunch of the words and told my friends I could speak this demon language. From the pictures it looked like the book was full of spells to summon demons so we tried it a few times.”

  “So you can’t really understand the language but you recite the spells anyway?”

  “Yeah.”

  Darakin couldn’t contain his outrage and interjected, “I can’t believe that you would do the spells without being able to understand any of the other instructions. The timing and tools you use in spell casting are as important as the words, fool.”

  “Hey, relax. No harm, no foul, right?”

  “No harm? You took me from my realm. Now I’m stuck here in a place where everything is so different that I can barely survive without help from a friend and a cat.”

  “A cat? Do you mean, like, a dude or one of the furry, whiskered, meow-y variety?” Howard asked in confusion.

  Nora hurried to answer before Darakin could. “What he means is that he has only me and my cat for company. You’ve taken him from all his family and friends.”

  “Nora, I don’t have –”

  “Any idea about our technology … I know! That’s my point.” She gave the mage a beseeching look, hoping he’d drop the talking cat thing.

  “Oh, sorry,” Howard murmured and looked into his lap. The group lapsed back into silence.

  At that moment, a peal of maniacal laughter sounded in the dark. Darakin jumped up, drew his dagger and circled Nora in a crouched position, looking for danger.

  Nora laughed. “Seriously? That’s your ringtone?” she asked Howard with disdain.

  Howard, who had paled at the sight of Darakin’s dagger, turned red. “Yeah,” he leaned back and struggled to pull the phone out of his jeans pocket beneath his long, black robe.

  “Dar … I mean, Kwok. You can stand down. It’s just his phone.” Nora jerked her head in Howard’s direction.

  Darakin stopped circling and straightened up. “But … but I thought, I mean yours plays some sort of music.”

  “Mine does. But you can personalize your ringtone to almost anything. This moron chose evil laughter.”

  Howard finally managed to get his cell phone out and held it in his hand as if unsure what to do.

  “Go on,” Nora prodded, “answer it.”

  Howard did as she asked and held the phone to his ear. After listening for a minute, he said, “A-ha, got it. Wait there for me …” he looked questioningly at Nora and Darakin. When they nodded, he said into the phone, “Yes, wait for me, I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone.

  “Well? Where is she?” Darakin asked.

  “By the small lake a little north of here.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Darakin and Nora stood and followed Howard into the darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The trio walked for some time in silence. As the brush got denser, they began stumbling over unseen obstacles. Darakin kept a close eye on Howard in case he tried to run and leave them in the middle of nowhere, but Howard, secretly a little frightened of the dark woods, had no intention of taking off by himself.

  “I know we’re in a park, but how on earth can it be so dark in the middle of a city?” Nora said in frustration after tripping over yet another tree root.

  “I know, right?” Howard agreed. Darakin, accustomed to traveling through unlit forests, said, “It reminds a little of home.”

  “Just one more reason to stay in this realm,” Nora whispered to him. Darakin made no reply.

  She jumped as an owl called out in the darkness. Scurrying rodents, bugs and other unknown creatures added to the night’s chorus. Nora took some quick steps to shorten the distance between herself and Darakin.

  A short time later, the sound of small waves hitting a shore could be heard over the calls of the night creatures. They walked further into the brush and then stopped and listened. New unidentified noises were joining the crickets’ song.

  “What is that sound?” Nora whispered.

  “It sounds like two men fighting,” Darakin answered.

  Nora listened again. Some moaning and grunting accompanied the muffled sound of slaps and punches. “You’re right. It does sound like a fight.”

  “It’s coming from over there,” Darakin whispered back. The group headed in the direction he’d indicated.

  When they’d managed to claw their way through the rest of the thick brush, they found Howard’s followers in a small break in the trees, silhouetted by the moonlight that streamed into the clearing. They were engaged in battle, not with the dryad, but with each other. The group watched fascinated for a minute or two as the young men slapped each other. There was enough squealing and hair pulling to remind Nora of a schoolyard fight between girls. She giggled.

  Darakin couldn’t help himself either and burst into laughter. The two men stopped hitting each other and turned toward him.

  “Is this how you fight here?”

  “Kwok?” The two said in unison. Then they saw the others and said together, “Howard?”

  “Hey,” Howard said in a dejected voice.

  “What’s Kwok doing here?”

  “Never mind that, why are you two fighting?” Howard asked.

  As if they suddenly recalled what they’d been doing, they resumed their slapping contest. “Because she’s mine,” one said as he attempted a more manly punch at his opponent, only to hold his wrist and howl in pain after the blow landed. His opponent took the opportunity to get in some undefended slaps and the fight resumed.

  “No, she’s not. I saw her first.”

  “What the hell are you two talking about?” Howard demanded.

  “The succubus. She’s mine.”

  Darakin interjected, “She’s not a succubus. She’s a dryad.”

  “A what?” one of the combatants asked between slaps.

  “A dryad. A divine creature that lives in the woods.”

  “Whatever, dude, she’s still mine.”

  Howard tried to get in between them and got slapped in the face for his troubles. “Ow!”

  “This is so sad that it’s funny,” Nora whispered to Darakin as they watched Howard join the fray.

  “Mage, why have you brought me here?” asked a voice from the brush behind Darakin and Nora.

  Neither Darakin nor Nora had heard the dryad approach and both jumped at the sound of her voice.

  “I didn’t.”

  “She speaks English?” Nora cried in surprise.

  “I speak all languages.”

  “She’s a divine creature, Nora, as in god-like,” Darakin whispered to her. “She speaks and understands all languages.”

  The dryad turned back to Darakin. “Well, if you didn’t summon me here, who did?”

  “Those idiots, I mean those men.” Darakin pointed to Howard and his two friends, who were all now engaged in the slapping melee, which had expanded to include kicking, as well.

  “Those fools?”

  “Yes. Are you responsible for this … fight?”

  A slight smile lit the dryad’s face, making her even more beautiful. “I do find it amusing.”

  “Can you make them stop?” he asked.

  “Are you making them fight with magic?” Nora interrupted .

  “If by magic, you mean a wink and a secretive smile at one but not the other, then yes.”

  “Oh.” Nora wanted to hate the beautiful creature that could make men try to kill each other over a smile, but she found herself completely captivated by the dryad.

  “As for your request, mage, I am not compelling them to fight.”

  “But you can compel them not to.”

  “I could.” The dryad didn’t move, indicating that she had no intention of stopping the fight.

&nbs
p; Darakin continued, “But while they’re fighting we’ll never get answers about the portal from them.”

  The dryad looked at the mage in confusion. “Why would I need answers about the portal? I know exactly what it did. It summoned me from our realm to this one.”

  “Yes, but don’t you want to know what they did so we can create a portal to return? For you to return, I mean?” he added as he felt Nora’s elbow in his back. He could almost feel her glare burning a hole through him.

  “Mage, I travel regularly between realms. Returning is not a problem. I am simply curious as to why I’ve been brought here.”

  “No reason. Those young men came upon a book of magic and performed the summoning spell without knowing the language. We’ve been brought here by mistake. They thought they were summoning demons from a hell dimension.”

  “Ah. Well then, no reason for me to stay.” She turned and started to walk away.

  “Except that they also summoned a krekdapop.”

  The dryad stopped. She looked over her shoulder. “A krekdapop? Here?”

  “Yes, and there are no demons native to this realm. The people here have no idea how to fight it.”

  “And you, mage? Can you take care of this demon for them?”

  “Well, I’m not a combat mage. And the elementals have not been enslaved here so I can’t use my elemental magic.”

  “That is disappointing.”

  “Yes, it is. Especially since I know it’s susceptible to lightning, but I have no way of summoning any,” Darakin agreed.

  “How do you propose to kill this demon, then?”

  “Well, this is a land of great technology. They have a device that harnesses the power of lightning, I mean electricity, as they call it, in a small box. I’m going to try that as soon as I locate the krekdapop. Nora, show her the lightning box.”

  Nora held up the stun gun for the dryad to see.

  The creature looked at the small device with doubt. “Very well, I shall remain here until you return to tell me the krekdapop is dead.” Her statement left no room for failure.

  “Then I will see you soon,” Darakin said with a confidence he didn’t feel. He took Nora by the arm and started leading her away.

  “What about them?” Nora asked, pointing at the Howard and his two cronies, who were all still involved in a heated slapping contest.

  “Oh, all right.” Darakin headed over to try and stop the combatants. He got close to them and said, “Okay, gentlemen, she’s not looking for anyone’s company, so why don’t you just stop fighting and part as friends?”

  “Get lost, Kwok. We don’t need your advice.”

  “Even though you’re all so harmless that you could probably keep this up all night without inflicting any serious damage, you need to stop.” Darakin strode right into the middle of the group, hoping that they’d separate rather than confront him, but they all turned on him and gave him a shove. The mage fell back a few steps before tripping over an exposed and falling down.

  “That’s it,” Darakin said in annoyance.

  He jumped up and went back to the group. He grabbed the two original combatants by the collar and lifted them up off the ground. Howard’s eyes widened as he saw his companions flailing helplessly in the air.

  “You’re done now. Go home,” Darakin said to them as he dropped the two men to the ground. They jumped out of his reach and hurried to Howard’s side.

  “All right, Kwok. Calm down,” Howard said.

  Darakin rolled his eyes. “Leave and don’t bother the dryad again. You’re out of your element here.”

  “Hey, you’re not the boss of us.”

  “You know what? I don’t give a damn what happens to you. Kill yourselves. Let the krekdapop kill you. It doesn’t matter to me.” He strode back to Nora, took her hand. “Let’s go.”

  “W-wait. Why would the krek-whatever kill us?” they called to Darakin’s retreating back.

  “Because it is a demon. And that’s what it does. I thought that’s what you wanted. Isn’t that why you summoned it? To kill people?”

  “Yeah, but not us,” Howard’s voice shook a little as he answered.

  “Now’s a great time to think of that.”

  “Well, where is it?”

  “Where do you think it is? Out living in the populated city? It will likely be somewhere in a secluded place like this, although I believe they prefer dark caves.”

  “Well, um, do you think, I mean would you mind if …” Howard’s voice trailed off.

  “Would I mind if what?”

  “If we followed you out?”

  Darakin sighed. “I suppose. I mean, I can’t really stop you from walking behind me.”

  Darakin turned and led Nora back the way they’d come. Years of traipsing through dark woods in his home realm had given him enough experience to successfully find his way back.

  As they made their way through the thick brush, Nora gathered up her nerve and asked, “Does she affect you like that, too?”

  “Who? Oh, you mean the dryad?”

  “Yes,” Nora snapped. “Of course I mean the dryad.”

  “Do you think we could wait to discuss this?” he asked with a jerk of his head toward Howard and his friends.

  “No, I think we should discuss it right now. Does she affect you like that, too?”

  “Well, um, you see, I am a man. And she has this way of …”

  “Of what?” Nora stopped walking and refused to budge.

  “Of getting into a man’s head. I mean, she doesn’t do it on purpose, like a succubus would, it just happens because she’s, well she’s –”

  “A goddess?” Nora put her hand on her hip and waited for his response.

  “No. She’s not exactly a goddess. But she is a divine creature and I confess that it’s hard to resist her.”

  The anger in Nora’s eyes faded. “I know. I felt it, too. I wanted to hate her but I couldn’t.”

  Darakin laughed. “There’s a reason that the gods and minor deities are worshipped.” He pulled her tight to him. “But I love you. Nothing will change that.”

  Nora allowed herself to melt into his powerful arms.

  From behind them, Howard whispered urgently. “Yeah, yeah, lady. She’s hot, but he loves you. Do you think we could get a move on? The krekdathingy could be anywhere.”

  Darakin laughed. “You weren’t concerned about it thirty minutes ago.”

  “Yeah? Well, I am now. Let’s go.”

  Darakin and Nora started walking again. They emerged from the brush in front of a billboard advertising upcoming changes to the zoo. Darakin stopped short and stared at the board.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Nora asked.

  “There.” He pointed at one of the pictures. “That’s where the krekdapop is.”

  Nora looked at the picture. It showed an exhibit under construction. The photo showed a cave with a small exhibit sign in front of it. Beneath the photo, a caption read, “Future home of Gregor, the Grizzly”. The photo looked just like the drawing that Darakin had done after his last scrying spell.

  “The demon’s in the zoo?” Howard asked. “Why would the demon be in the zoo?”

  “No, the demon’s not in the zoo,” Nora snapped at Howard.

  “Yes, it is, Nora. See the picture? It looks just like my drawing,” Darakin pointed at the sign.

  “I know, Dar … Kwok.”

  “Well, is it or isn’t it in the zoo?” Howard demanded.

  “It’s not in an exhibit – well, maybe it is. What I mean is that the demon is hiding here,” she pointed at the advertisement. “But it’s not an exhibit that people would see.”

  “So, the big, bad demon is hiding in the zoo?” Howard asked.

  “It makes sense,” Nora said. “Dar … Kwok said the krekdapops like dark caves and that’s an empty exhibit with a cave.”

  “We should check out this cave,” Darakin said.

  Nora let out a heavy sigh. “Fine.”

  �
�Wait a second, Dar-Kwok, we’re coming with you.”

  “Dar-Kwok?” The mage blinked at them without comprehension.

  “That’s what she calls you,” he responded with a jerk of his head toward Nora.