The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit) (42 page)

Chapter 30

What A Husband Would Do

Waldo blew the last bit of shaving from his wand.

Carefully examining his handiwork he gave a satisfied nod and put his knife away.

“It’s done.”

“It is?” She was at his side almost instantly, her head craning over his shoulder. “So can I finally see what you carved?”

“No,” he replied. “A mage’s wand is his most private… hey!”

Alice snatched it out of his hand and was looking it over.

“Give that back to me right now.” He tried to grab hold of it, but Alice simply held it up out of reach.

“I’ll give it back to you in a minute. I just want to see what you wrote.”

He tried to jump up, but could not get high enough. He felt like a child being denied a sweet.

“Alice I command you to give me back my wand.”

“In a minute.”

He tried jumping again, only to have her dance around him.

“You are the worst familiar! You are supposed to obey my direct commands.”

“I keep telling you darling, I am your wife not your familiar.”

Waldo silently cursed his botched binding spell and swore to get it right next time.

Alice managed to get a good, close look at the wand. There were three names carved.

Lilith. Gwendolyn. Alice.

She handed the wand back to him. “I know Lilith is your mother, but who is Gwendolyn?”

He slid it into one of the many hidden pockets in his robes. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious, it’s not like I care.” She paused a beat. “So who is she?”

“The only one I have ever loved. Besides my mother of course”

Her mouth fell open. “What? Loved? Seriously?”

“Is it really such a surprise?” He was annoyed by her reaction. “I am human after all.”

“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose not.” Alice shook her head as if to get rid of some bad images. “So what is she like?”

“Clever, sarcastic, and with a very dry sense of humor; she could see something funny in almost anything.”

“Could? You’re using the past tense.”

“She was killed on her First Quest, she’s mostly dead now.”

One of Alice’s eyebrows quirked. “Mostly?”

“She’s a ghost.”

Alice stood there for a long moment, perhaps expecting him to tell her he was joking. “You really mean it.”

“Why would I not?”

“So, what, does she haunt the castle or something?”

“No. Her soul is bound to a mirror. I can see her whenever I want, but she’s not as much fun as she used to be. She’s always complaining about how boring it is to be dead and trapped between worlds.”

Alice opened her mouth, and then closed it and gave a slight shake of her head. “Well I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

Alice began looking at her fingernails. “So was she prettier than me?”

“Why would you care about that?”

“I am just curious. So was she?”

“No, she was pretty, but you are a true beauty.”

Alice sent him a relieved smile. She might have stopped with that, but apparently felt the need to ask one more question.

“You never did anything with her did you?”

“What do you mean?”

“When you kissed me you said that was your first. So that means you never kissed her… right?”

“On the lips?” He shook his head. “We only ever kissed on cheeks or on foreheads.”

“That’s all right then.”

“Though when we bathed together she would give me little kisses on my neck some times.”

“Grrrrkkk.
”
Her mouth was twisted and she was making a half wheezing half choking sound.

“Alice are you all right? Did you swallow a bug or something?”

“You, you took baths with this girl?”

“Yes I did. Normally I would have slaves bathe me, but Gwendolyn enjoyed washing with me.” He smiled fondly. “I miss those times.”

Alice’s jaw moved but she couldn’t say anything.

“So you saw her naked?”

He glanced at her in confusion. “Well of course, do people here take baths with their clothes on?”

Alice shook her head.

“So what else did you do? Did you sleep with her too?”

“Every once in a while.”

“What?”

Waldo nodded. “Sometimes when I had trouble sleeping I would go visit her bedroom. She was always happy to let me slide under the covers." He sighed wistfully. "I always slept peacefully when I was in her arms."

Alice put both hands to her face. “I really need to stop asking you questions about your past. So just who was she? A slave? Another magic user?”

“She was my sister.”

“Wait a minute! She was your sister? Your sister!”

“Did I not mention that?”

When she smacked him in the back of the head and stormed off muttering to herself Waldo couldn’t begin to guess what the problem was.

XXX

After the little exchange their evening was routine. They made a fire, had dinner, Alice assaulted his virtue to satisfy her appetite for male lust, and then they went to sleep.

Despite the occasional punches and head slaps Waldo was getting used this new life. With a new spellbook and wand he was feeling more at ease. Granted the spellbook has little useful magic in it, and he didn’t expect his wand to work any better his others had. Still, just having them made him feel like a proper mage again.

And, despite her constant defiance, he was glad to have Alice by his side. She provided his meals, acted as guide, and gave him a sense of security. No matter her appearance, she was a succubus, a Great Monster, just having her with him meant he was protected.

Things had not gone as he had originally planned, but now they looked to be back on track. He went to sleep easily, looking forward to the next day.

XXX

All magic users had the ability to sense magic.

It was something they were born with along with the ability to access and shape mana. A mage would always know a magical item when he touched it or sense a ward. Mages could sense each other as well. It was impossible to hide what you were from a fellow magic user.

Waldo’s ability to sense the undead was different. It was a unique trait that he had received from his mother. When undead were in the area Waldo would get a sense of cold. Whenever Walter would try one of his ambushes it was as if there were a chill breeze blowing. He would be able to sense him and about how near he was based on how strong the cold was.

As he was sleeping he felt a sudden freezing, like plunging down into ice water. His body shook with the frosty chill.

Waldo came completely awake and sat bolt upright. He tossed off his blanket and scrambled to his feet. Grabbing his spellbook and rushed over to Alice and shook her roughly awake.

“Huh, what?”

“Quiet,” he hissed. “Hurry and get up.” He grabbed her arm and got her to her feet.

“Hey, what’s going on?” She blinked and looked around. “Why are you so scared?”

“We need to run.” He took her by the hand and began to lead her through the darkened woods.

“Wait, but our things…” she had her purse always on her, but everything else was being left behind.

Waldo was carrying only his spellbook and the various magical items in its many pockets.

There was a half-moon out and the stars, but it was still very dark. He dragged her through the bushes and tall grass, ducking beneath tree limbs that he could barely see. He was stumbling, tripping over the uneven ground, trying to keep his balance and keep going.

“Darling what is going on? I can feel your fear.”

“There is something behind us.” He kept running, praying he would not trip and fall.

“What is?” She glanced back over her shoulder but there was nothing.

“Something very bad,” he panted.

Alice did not understand, but she held onto his hand and ran with him.

As he tried to lead them to safety Waldo could feel the icy presence keeping up with them. They had gained a little distance, but not much, and it was following. It would not stop chasing them until it caught up. Waldo knew well that the dead never tired.

As they ran he caught his foot on a tree root. Stumbling, he lost his balance and fell.

“Darling are you okay?” Alice quickly got him back up.

“This isn’t going to work.” Waldo panted. “We can’t run away.” He looked at her. “Alice I need you to transform and fly us out, as far from here as you can.”

She hesitated, he knew she didn’t like to transform in front of him. Alice could sense his fear through their bond though, and had to know how desperately he wanted to escape.

“All right darling.”

Closing her eyes she breathed deeply. There was the sound of tearing flesh. Large leather wings ripped out of her back. Horns, claws, and tail all appeared.

She wrapped her arms around him.

“Hold tight.”

Her wings stretched out then flapped down. Waldo felt the jerk as they lifted up off the ground. When Alice flew on her own she was as swift and graceful as a hawk. When she carried him her movements were more like a lame vulture’s. They rose sluggishly and topped the tree line.

Alice was just starting to take them away when Waldo heard a sharp crack.

From down below a bolt of lightning shot up and struck Alice right in her side.

“Aaaaahhh!!” She howled.

She lost control and they began to tumble out of the sky. Her wings spread and slowed their descent, but they still came back down to earth hard and fast.

XXX

His ribs and back hurt like hell, each breath sent a stabbing into his side. He got to his hands and knees, glad just to be alive. What worried him was what was in the back of his head; fear, confusion, and pain. Alice’s emotions were a jumbled mix and they were coming to him weakly. He knew what direction she was in. He staggered to his feet and went to find her.

She had landed about twenty feet from him and was on her side, moaning. The air was filled with the smoke and the smell of burnt meat. He could see a horrible burn wound on her side. There was some blood, but the lightning had mostly sealed the wound. The danger was in how badly hurt she might be internally.