The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit) (22 page)

“Really?”

“Yes. Even if this Roger character is as useless as I think, it would still be worth visiting him just to get my hands on some vellum. At the very least, I could write down the spells I still have memorized and make a temporary spellbook. That’s worth a few days delay.”

Chapter 13

Second Best

They were trudging through the forest away from the river. There was no path and they were walking through bush and high grass. Waldo’s eyes kept darting about the underbrush and the branches overhead with ever ‘chirp’ ‘squawk’ and ‘caw.’

“What an
savage place this is.”

“There’s nothing to be scared about darling. This close to Stratford there are no wolves or bears.”

“I am not scared.” Waldo said with great dignity as he stepped around a tree root. “I am a Corpselover and I fear nothing.”

“Of course.”

Though I’d rather not run into anymore of those horrible creatures with those deformed long ears.
“I wish I still had my map. Are you sure this is the way to get back to the road?”

Alice nodded. “So long as we keep going away from the river we’re sure to run into it.”

Waldo grunted. So far the quest had been very much a mixed result. On the plus side he had actually succeeded in making a contract with a Great Monster. Something almost unheard of for a First Quest. Were the circumstances normal he would have turned right around and headed home. Returning with a succubus in tow would be plenty to cover himself in glory.

On the negative side he’d very nearly been killed by a bunch of commoners and lost practically everything, including his spellbook and wand. Almost as bad, he’d needed Alice to save him. A Dark Mage’s servants were supposed to fight for and protect him, but he was never supposed to be vulnerable.

He tried to imagine his mother under similar circumstances.

What came to mind was a picture of a whole lot of skeletons and zombies munching on raw peasant. That was how a Dark Mage was supposed to deal with things.

Whenever he tried to compare himself to his mother it made him feel utterly unworthy. His mother had always said he had great potential. She had actually told him that of all her children he was the strongest raw talent. The ability to use magic was a rare trait in human beings; perhaps one in ten thousand were born with it. Each individual blessed with that precious gift was also born with the capacity to wield a certain amount of mana and with a particular ‘talent.’

Mana was a measure of magical energy. Every spell required a certain amount of mana to be worked. The greater the effect of the spell the more mana it required; no different than the amount of muscle needed to move an object. The amount of mana needed to lift a feather was less than that needed to lift a book which was less than what was needed to lift a boulder. Though the spell remained exactly the same different results required different amounts of energy.

The amount of mana a magician could wield varied from one person to the next. There were some who would never be able to do more than work the most basic cantrips and minor spells. While very few had the potential to work the deeper magics. A magic user could recover his strength with rest. He could train and study in order to reach his full potential. But in each was an inborn limit that could not be passed. The amount of mana a person could wield was determined at the moment of your birth and there was nothing you could do about it. Magical items like wands and staffs could strengthen the effect of your magic; much as a lens could focus light. Rings and scrolls could help you cast a particular spell. But the blood in your veins decided where your limits were.

Along with a limit, each magic user was born with a particular ‘talent.’ There were always certain spells that just came more naturally and easily. His mother’s talent was in necromancy. His brother Walter’s had been in summoning.

Waldo’s was in healing and protective magics. In other words, his talent was in white magic.

The Dark Powers have a sense of humor,
Waldo thought. He was born into the Corpselover family with massive mana reserves and powerful talent. He should have been a prodigy, recognized as one of the strongest in his generation. But his own talent ran counter to everything that was valued by his people.

He was useless at necromancy and barely competent in most of the other schools; elemental, summoning, illusion, evocation, invocation, and divinization. For all his potential he had always been viewed as a failure.

XXX

Alice was walking alongside of Waldo.

She saw a faraway look in his eyes and could sense he was brooding about something. Not only her eyes but the feel in the back of her head told her so.

“You don’t need to worry you know.” She said quietly.

“What?”

“I said you don’t need to worry darling. Things may seem bleak right now but everything will work out fine. So please don’t be gloomy.”

“I am not being gloomy.”

“It’s all right if you are, just so long as you know things will be all right.”

“I am not being gloomy.”

“Of course.”

Waldo picked up his pace slightly. Alice had no trouble keeping up.

“Uh, darling?”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I was wanting to ask you about.”

“What?”

She was walking alongside him tugging at some of her long hair with both hands. Alice was trying to come up with the least embarrassing way she could to bring this up.

“What is it you want to ask me?”

Feeling uncomfortable she averted her eyes and spoke in a half mumble. “Before, by the fire, you saw them didn’t you?”

“Saw what?”

“My… my breasts.” She got her question out in a rush before she lost her nerve. “What did you think of them?”

“They were nice.”

XXX

He went another ten steps before noticing she was no longer at his side. Stopping he turned back around and saw her standing there, mouth hanging open, fists planted on hips, she was just glaring at him.

“Is something wrong?”

“NICE?!!” She exploded. “Nice? Is that all you have to say?!”

“What’s wrong with nice?” He asked not understanding her reaction. You would think he’d insulted her.

“My breasts are not nice! They’re wondrous! Amazing! Men have been staring at them ever since I was thirteen! I’ve had men come to the Inn and spend entire evenings just ogling them! They have ruined marriages! I once had a traveling bard compose a song for them! You are the first man to ever actually see them and all you have to say is that they’re nice?”

Waldo thought for a moment.

“They’re very nice.”

“Aaaarrgh!” Alice shouted in frustration.

She stormed off in a random direction.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”

“Away from you!”

“What are you upset about? It’s a compliment! If I said that to any of the sex slaves they’d have been flattered!”

Waldo saw her stumble and almost fall. She turned about to stare at him in disbelief.

“Sex slaves? You mean there were soiled doves in that castle of yours?”

“Soiled doves? The only birds kept in the castle were ravens.”

“I don’t believe it! I actually thought I was going to be your first and only and instead it turns out you’ve been with other women? Just how many women have you had?”

“If you’re asking me about sex the answer is none, I am a virgin. I had never even kissed a girl until I contracted you.” He didn’t bother to explain that the reason for that had nothing to do with virtue or a desire to remain a virgin. It had been the fact that any girl he picked out would have been killed by Enver. He didn’t understand why Alice was reacting this way. In his family sex was nothing more than a past time for both the men and women.

Alice was looking at him with obvious doubt. “Most men who have seen a woman’s breasts aren’t still virgins. Usually the one happens right before the other.”

Waldo shrugged. “If that were true in my case I would have stopped being one a long time ago.”

“Hearing that does not make me happy.”

“Would it make you feel any better if I told you they were the second best breasts I’ve ever seen?”

Alice’s jaw dropped.

“SECOND?!!”

“I’m guessing that was the wrong thing to say.”

“I am a succubus! My body is made to enthrall men! Who could possibly have better breasts than me?”

“My mother,” Waldo answered primly. “Hers are spectacular.”

Alice just stood there unable to even speak. Her mouth kept opening and closing without any discernable sound.

“If it makes you feel any better I’m not the only one who thinks so. My mother has had songs, poems, and entire stage plays dedicated to her.”

“Aaaarrgh!!” She stormed off into the forest and away from him.

“Alice! I order you to come back. Hey! It’s a compliment! If you’d ever seen them you’d understand!”

Waldo chased after her.

Chapter 14

Not That Obvious

She could run very fast and was quickly gone from sight. With their bond he knew exactly in what direction she was going. He ran after her as fast as he could
, even as he sensed her getting farther and farther away. He ran and he ran; following her even as he wondered to himself why he was doing so.

He finally came to a stop, doubled over and panting. Through their bond he could tell she was still moving away from him at full speed.

“Enough… of… this.” Without making hand signs or initiating a proper spell he just spoke a single word or magic. “
Concalo
.”

Instantly Alice appeared directly in front of him.

Running at top speed.

Her eyes widened in obvious surprise at seeing him but there was no way for her to stop her momentum. She plowed right into him knocking Waldo down hard.

“Ow!”

Despite knocking him over Alice was able to come to a halt without falling herself.

He stared up at her from his spot on the ground. “I’m starting to wonder if Enver was doing me a favor.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he grunted.

“How did you suddenly appear in front of me? Was it magic?”

Waldo slowly got to his feet and rubbed his lower back. “Well I certainly didn’t outrun you. I didn’t appear in front of you, that would require teleportation which is one of the deeper magics. I used a summons to bring you to me.”