Sorcerer from Another World

I awoke to screams. Not the nice kind, the people are dying kind.  

I cast my eyes into the dark to catch my companions, and at first I saw murky blackness. Through a veil of shadows, I caught a warrior tearing at their throat. Their jaw dangled ajar and dislocated. The whites of their eyes pulled me with their rapid darting movements until the pupils came to a halt meeting mine. The warrior’s body hung limp and collapsed to the dirt. A second later, I realised that I witnessed a hanging by shadows taken form. 

I tried to stand upright, but was held still to the cold earth. Constricting chains stronger than steel pulled me down, the sensation, as opposed to cold metal, felt like slimy seaweed running across my skin. My feet pressed against a wagon wheel, and I gazed in horror at the row of bodies all chained to the earth. As with the others, my whole body was tied down by these chains made of a type of magic I did not immediately recognise. 

A magic devoid of life. 

I conjured floating blades of magic and with a flick of my fingers I cut myself free. The slimy shadow bindings scattered to shreds at my side. I stood up ready to fight when a song rang clear in the air, and a deep drowsiness took me, “Ah, no.” I swayed, hit the ground and my eyes closed shut.

I awoke to scalding pain. I lurched forwards violently coughing and choking on smoke. I looked up with watery eyes singed open by grey smog and burning red fire. My hands grasped and found nothing but dirt and air. A bright orange smear obscured all other sights. 

I staggered to my feet. The burning sensation at my throat flared anew. I almost fell over, but I called my staff to hand. A steady grip on the strong steel kept me upright. Dizzying swirl of thoughts emerged from the bizarre circumstance. 

I had been forced into a deep slumber. What can I do against sleep-inducing songs? It was humbling and terrifying to find a weakness. But, I didn’t have time for it. The light of fierce flames drew my eye. 

At the outer side of a whirlpool of scorching flames stood a tall, robed figure. They conjured light and drove back what I could only describe as Wraiths: clad in black robes and emerald green skulls poked out from long hoods. The light producing figure drove a group of wraiths towards the flames with blinding incandescence. 

The weakened wraiths were caught between melting heat and searing light. A reckless few dared to charge against the light and were burned straight through till there was less than dust left. A desperate Wraith dove into the fire reducing themselves to ash. They were perhaps the lucky ones. The figure’s jaw opened wide and consumed the remaining wraiths. 

The last of the spectral undead fled before the magics of the figure after a dozen of their number were extinguished from the land forever.   

The immediate danger had passed.

My first move was to look for Iris, Morgana or Umbra. Where sight failed, I let my mana sense extend across the valley. I found Iris within the whirlpool of fire. The magic poured out from her and conjured a maelstrom of flames. A small hurricane of fire that surrounded Morgana and herself in the eye of the fire wrought storm. It burned hotter than a furnace and fried everything within a metre of it.

Where was Umbra? Her protection spells must have failed. She was hidden, in some kind of magic anti-necromancy shell covering her that the wraiths could not penetrate. They had her trapped. She seemed to be in no immediate danger. 

I groggily shuffled toward the flames. I activated my enchanted ring and the magic shield popped into existence. I took a deep breath and walked through the fire. The shield frayed and fried. On my last step into the eye the shield failed. It was surprisingly cool. 

Iris frantically gestured in an attempt to control the fire. Morgana held the flames back through sheer telekinetic force forming a barrier between them and the scorching heat.  

“I can’t hold.” Morgana wheezed. 

“It is too much!” Iris screamed back.

I tried to cut the spell off. It was like dropping a twig on a raging river. The magic surged out from her and blossomed into fiery carnage. It was beyond her power she channelled a greater power. She needed to control it, and for that she need to face it rather than run away; I knew better than anyone that running away wouldn’t help. 

“Iris, you have to push into the fear.” I shouted at her. “You can’t run from it.”

But she did not process. If only she could control it. She needed help for she could not face such fear alone without my support. I ran to her, letting my staff drop. I cast magical protection around my hands and then placed them before the raging torrent. The forceful fire pushed my back at first. My fingers bent and waves of fire soared past. I gasped with grounded teeth. My hand shook. I gradually strained my digits into a claw-like grip. I grabbed Iris’ hand. 

“Listen!” I screamed. 

She looked up with wide terrified eyes. She breathlessly and helplessly begged for help with not but a stare. 

“Listen to your heartbeat. Follow each breath. Your body, your magic.” 

She nodded meekly.

My hands glowed oranged over the blue fields of protective magic. Power for power I met the vengeful, unnatural entity that fed her a river of magic. A Malevolence be it foe or rival to the Wraith. A slice of hate preserved, burnt into the current moment had reached out from millenia past like a great pupperting hand. The rancorous force tried to exert its will over the present through Iris.  

I can’t say where the inspiration came from; I was looking back on the ruins of my past as I was being pulled towards a conflagration, the consequences of which would shape not only my life but this very planet. I birthed a magic that had never existed on this world nor would it ever have a name for. My sentimental image of the earth was my weapon. My place of origin: a lush, wet desert filled with bountiful beauty from serene pools to the epic oceans and landmasses sprawling with life. 

I overwhelmed the Malevolence. It abated. The flames were hers alone to snuff out.

“Feel the flames. Do try to change them. Be with them. It is your magic, your fire that is burning.” I told her. 

The flowing fire flattered then faded. 

I pulled her in for a hug and held her close. I breathed deeply and steadily. “You’re okay. I’m here.”

We stayed close, our warm bodies pressed and clinging for each other even after the flames died and she had settled. Morgana joined our hug and we sandwiched Iris with our arms. She cried into the crook of my neck and spoke her fears freely. We assured her that we would always be there and that we weren’t scared.

“It’s a piece of pie for our Champion, sweetness. He was being gentle.” Morgana quipped.

I laughed in a good humoured fashion.

Iris stared at me with wet eyes and whispered something too quiet for me to hear with the racket of people behind us. Iris clung to me, and I wrapped my arm around her content to let her stay close after such a brutal event.

“Saved us again, Damian. I am losing count of the favours I owe.” Morgana said sincerely.

“You managed to keep safe from the wraiths at least. Better than I did.”

“Indeed.” Spoke a velvety voice. “I could use your help freeing the prisoners now that the fires have been quenched.”

“Ah, of course.” I said, startled. I encouraged Iris to move onto Morgana and said I would be back as quickly as I could. 

It took awhile to free the prisoners between the figure and myself. I smiled and said kind, encouraging words as any call centre worker learns on the job. Marius would not look me in the eye. Tara thanked me gratefully. I was glad they had both survived. Fresh from the warmth of Iris and Morgana, the frosty avoidance from the Warband leader rolled off my back. I understood his situation. But he made a poor call and it spoke worse for him that he wasn’t willing to take responsibility for it. 

Umbra began recasting her protective spells over the camp to ward off any stray undead or remaining ones. I wondered if the Malevolence or the wraiths had broken through her defences. I’d never know. 

After I freed the last villager, I picked her up and she was pulled into a warm embrace. I turned around and came face to face with the robed figure.

I smiled and gave a short nod of acknowledgement, “Thank you, by the way, I never said it before, but you saved all of us, including myself.” 

They pulled back their hood revealing an androgynous, angular face and the long ears of an Elf. Blue eyes deep and transparent as a clear spring pool. They were clad in brown and green with a long knife at their woven belt.  

“I have done nothing of importance, merely the work I am able to do for those that need my labour.”

My smile wavered but held, “I understand.”

“I can’t follow your group, do not try to sway me otherwise. I must tend to the land. We will not meet again, One Who Has Walked Across Worlds. Should you stray, be warned, another of my heart will end you.”

My smile faltered, “How do I know if I have strayed?” I asked sincerely. 

“When you let go of those who bind you to this land for your own enrichment.”

I bowed. When I looked up, they were gone.

“Well bye, then?” I questioned the air. I sighed. “It’s all up to me, I guess?”

Umbra darted over, “Was that an elf?”

“Think so.” I replied. “You see where they went?”

“No.” She shook her head. “You were talking and I spotted their ears and was coming over then they were gone.”

“Pretty cool.” I smiled. “Meeting an elf.”

“A shame they left.” Umbra pouted. 

I pulled her close and hugged her, “We’re alive that is what matters.”

“So clingy master… and hard. Do I make you excited?” She teased.

I blushed, what in the horny. Am I that easy? 

“Later, Master I’ll help you relax. For now, I’ve got some spells to cast.” She said and waved me goodbye with a mocking laugh. 

Shamed to my bones, I walked among the people. Though many still lived, there was a distrust growing between the villagers and the Warband especially when rumour spread that Morgana and by extension me argued that it was dangerous to camp at the ancient battlefield. I was a curiosity before, but now I had freed and reassured many of them myself. They stared at me with respect and rushed to extend their thanks.

One of the villagers, a young boy, came up to me. “Here.” He said and passed me a metal flute. It had a complex enchantment imprinted on it. One that was too obscure for me to understand with a quick glance.

“It should have been the Elf’s, but they had no wish for it, Master Mage. Perhaps you can find a use for it? It came from one of those shadows. We saw them use it to put you to sleep.” Said a young girl beside the boy. She was taller and looked a few years older.

“Thank you.” I said with a frown but shook my head and smiled. “Here.”

I conjured a metal toy horse each and gave them to the boy and the girl. They looked stunned so, I intimated horse noises and pretended to play. That got a chuckle out of them. I winked and passed them two small daggers each. “Play safe, okay.” They took them and ran off. It was a dangerous world. In a place of peace, no one should have to carry a weapon. But, better to have a weapon to protect yourself when monsters are attacking.

I pocketed the flute and joined up with the girls in the wagon as we moved on to our next campsite. I replaced Morgana as Iris’s human pillow as she left to guide Marius to a suitable camping spot. It was realistically a short trip but as we were sleepy it felt like hours as we lurched with every bump on the dirt path. The new camp spot was on a hill exposed to the elements but gave us a wide field of vision. When Morgana came back, she said it was a compromise with Marius. I looked out to see.

The majority of the camp was bedding down for the second time of the night, leaving a few of the guards wandering about. They looked stiff with shock. We were open, exposed to attack and had been hit every night so far. 

Many had just lost friends to creatures out of a nightmare. Many of the villagers slept on the earth with little to separate them from the cold earth. I thought about giving away my bracelet, but it seemed offensive. The villagers hadn’t asked for help, nor did it seem right to give away a gift. The excuse did not help ease the twinge of guilt that lingered.

Morgana joined us and was exhausted. We fell asleep together and I was pressed in the middle of two very naked, very beautiful women. I thought nothing of it at the time as Morgana whispered in my ear.

“Goodnight.”