The Fool 25

"Hunter, bind the book. Cut your hand and place it on the inside of the front cover," Orison said calmly over 'Snow White's shrieks as she tried to rush across the ritual room to be tripped by an 'invisible' key shaped object.

Personal desire won over dubious approval of one of the objects of his affection as the budding wizard bound the book. With a huff of displaced air, it was no longer to be seen. The young black man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out by the time she had reached him.

Turning back on Orison, her eyes bloodshot and not nearly as attractive as usual, she said as she stalked towards him, "You vandalize it and now you give it away as if it were yours! What agreement? You've clearly broken it after killing our grandsire!"

Eyes blazing like a sun kissed ocean, the young mage responded, "Is that the position you wish to take? A few sweet words and he'll hold it while turning the damn pages for you but if you want to see our agreement as being broken... He won't be here for you and your father to twist around your fingers til you get what you want.

"The thing I killed was going to sacrifice Hunter to a devil along with Cole. It was going to steal your body and kick your a** to the astral curb. Choose your next words carefully. My goodwill is... used... up."

On the verge of attacking him, 'Snow White' arrested mid pounce as 'Silent Beauty' sauntered in with her son. After looking around, she dismissed her son and granddaughter with a wave of her hand. The sheer command presence exuded a palpable force as she approached Orison.

Once her family was out of view, however, she veered past him to the brazier that was still crackling and sputtering out the occasional blue spark. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she bowed her head and a single scarlet tear fell down her face. Afterwards, her face twisted into a mask of pure hatred. With a gesture, the fire within the brazier blazed so hotly that the basin sagged and took on a dangerous reddish orange glow towards the center.

The soul core that had been meandering over to where Hunter rested defenselessly, slipped into the astral plane without so much as a pause. The very last stubborn vestige of soul hiding in the depths of agony granting coal could no longer withstand its dissolution. Orison thought it was a waste. The last bit of remaining soul wouldn't have been able to put up much of a fight but it would have given the young wizard a good scare, possibly a little magic know-how once Hunter defeated it.

A few minutes slipped by that Orison wisely used to recover a bit of magic juice and take a bite out of one of the special ration bars that Lily had left them. He broke off a small piece for Hunter as well. The immature young man may have jumped up and down on his last nerve but that didn't change the fact that Hunter was a kind of kindred spirit. One that was quite a ways from gaining what he needed to lose the last excuse for irrational actions Orison occasionally still indulged in himself.

Silent Beauty reached out a sliver of spiritual intent that Orison readily met with his own. "He is to be the bearer of my late husband's grimoire?"

Orison nodded and mentally responded, "And there is plenty of time for him to share whatever of its contents you and your family require."

She nodded. "You are either a far more generous soul than I or you are weary from your battle and wisely err on the side of caution. In either event, you have earned a modicum of my esteem... Do you desire to tour your defeated foe's lair, peruse its spoils?"

There was a seductive challenge to the offer that Orison knew better than to accept. "The only greed I harbor at the moment is a hasty return from which I came. One I will shortly be able to fulfill on my own accord. Out of curiosity, why did you lace the brazier with a lick of hellfire? You don't strike me as a sentimentalist."

She stared into the dying flames amid mostly consumed incense soaked coal. ��The pages you burned, one among them would have affixed itself back into the book. It would have sent Hunter's soul as a proxy sacrifice allowing his pitiful spiritual remnants to gather within your student. I would have dispatched him with all due haste but would have had difficulty responding to your ire, I believe."

Holding cold sweat from surfacing, the young mage regretted only giving a cursory glance at everything. His 'controlled risk' challenge was almost a deadly gambit with a devil for Hunter. He wanted to believe it wouldn't have ended that poorly for the budding wizard but Orison wanted to spook the young man, not traumatize him. The resulting drainage of remnant power his key had after its snack would have meant a long walk back home too.

The young mage offered, "A favor returned, it seems. Don't let your granddaughter hog the bottle of spirits she weaseled out of me. I can't believe how audacious she is. Your hands must constantly be full keeping your family out of trouble."

The bland, commonplace sympathy had unexpectedly almost undone her cool demeanor. A nearly hysterical sob of unleashed emotional relief rolled out of her before the lid went back on. "That, they are. I thought I had lost her today, lost them both really. Steeped in sin as we are, I love them no less.

"There was a time when I adored the man and monster that enthralled me, equally. Somewhere along the way, the monster grew, the man was lost and all that love was given to my son and then to his daughter. One careless moment of inattention and my husband was awakened to roam this place once more."

Grimly, Orison said, "How many more like him remain out there? I would have thought the greatest of threats wiped from this land."

She slowly shook her head. "Many sleep deeply to recover their losses. Simulacrum, constructs and phylacteries still dot the darkest and most secret corners of this ruined kingdom. The most zealously guarded treasures and inner sanctums, much like this one, are still relatively in tact.

"A silent winter war will take place for the rights to scavenge the remaining corpse of a country. The undead are resourceful and efficient, if nothing else. My family has an edge that most do not but that same edge will earn us nothing but spite and enmity. We have no choice but to prevail."

Confused, Orison said, "What holds you here? With whatever curse that held this place, weakened and a nature that places you only half within it, why not cross the pass and leave?"

Silent Beauty's face was smiling sadly, a heartbreaking portrait of tragic heroism but the mental voice underneath was laughing mirthlessly. "To where? Who would have us? Should we pass the shining wall into the Illuminated Lands as it seems you plan? We would be hunted like animals by paladins.

"To the west southwest, there are old enemies within the deep roads. Is that where you'd have us go? Naught lay there except forgotten horrors and demon lovers. Within a half year or less, they will come to raze the land and have their own hand at bone picking.

"Perhaps you'd advise us to the south? Should we survive past the shimmering tundra where magic wreaks havoc as if possessed by fiends and the monstrosities it produces, then we must deal with another secretive kingdom of the damned. The cursed kings of the dunes have their own unique understandings of life, death and what lies between and are no allies nor friends to those who walk the same shadowed roads."

The young mage rolled it around in his head. "Let's get through the winter and see how it goes. The Illuminated Plains doesn't sound like any kind of home for me and mine either. But there must be lands further still, places more accommodating. Power will always have the last word and if we show no signs of growing roots, even a zealot will think twice to borrow trouble if it is best left to pass of its own accord."

With troubled eyes, she projected, "They hunger for grace and the favor of their god. A great shame lies within them for failing to provide a champion capable of felling The Unborn, the entropic godling that sigil ward slew at the hands of its own minions."

The young mage's mind whirred. "Then they will have remains and relics scattered around. Try to collect them. If worst comes to worst, you might cross their lands as penitents. In a fanatic's mind 'act of contrition' is the acceptable term for bribery. They aren't of any use to us but they could act as an appeal to see the 'humanity' in you over what they desire to see to collect their grace."

In thought herself, Silent Beauty responded, "None of this would cloak our hellish dealings. We are tainted with the tools of our survival."

Orison nodded. "Slay some. Find and slay some of your formal rivals. Your family aren't the only ones steeped in the infernal. Destroy the items of their dark dealings. Soul orbs, books on fiend summoning and the like will grant karmic essence when they're destroyed.

"While you're at it, go on a devil diet. No dark rituals and sacrifices mixed with the destruction of others will grant you a lessening of their taint. It's a part of your power, true, but you and your family have plenty of classical magic at your disposal. And if you're declaring a winter war on your former allies before they inevitably turn on you anyway, you might find a few surprisingly useful new ones.

"I'll let you mull that over. But the faster you get started, hit some of the heavies while they're bleeding or whatever it is they do, the better of a snowball you'll have to roll over the lesser holds later. Either way, boldness is your friend and this land is not one you can hold and keep without great personal sacrifice. I don't see much around worth clinging to that hard."

Smiling faintly, she projected, "Are you one of those surprisingly useful allies?"

Orison laughed. "Am I not? If I were an enemy, I'd seem rather dizzy at this point, don't you think? There's soft hearted, gullible and just plain stupid. I kind of like playing around with being the first one every now and then to remind myself of where I came from. Anyone who makes me feel like the second one will see the very worst of me in quick order afterwards."

The silence grew as she didn't take the bate to ask about the third.

Feeling that she was about to withdraw her intent, he quickly asked, "How did the Rogers boy fare your late husband's brief visit?"

Silent beauty looked bemused. "As soon as his charges were settled and felt reassured it wasn't a slaughter, he volunteered to do a 'recon' into the heart of the empire. My husband's visit was far more brief than I think you are aware. Less than three hours.

"A whirlwind display of power and he was taking Hunter in as a disciple after draining a malcontent among the savages. Of course, it's all too clear why that was at this point. He owed souls or favors he was going to beg off WITH souls."

A sudden thought occurred to him. "Please tell me that malcontent wasn't the four year old girl. You and I can see that she's a vicious she-alpha waiting to mature again but her outward innocence is enough to sour Rogers. Believe me. He's worth buttering up a little... a little."

She replied, "I have the girl separated from the rest. She's under light control and being forced to educate herself. If he returns successful, I plan on giving them a suite to themselves. If not, I throw her back with the rest. My late husband's brutality may have been a small tragedy but those beasts have become meek in the aftermath. That's a good thing to come from the bad and he took that sin with him. Were this a hand of parlor cards, I would be quite pleased."

A few more shared pleasantries and she had collected herself enough to deal with her family. Left to his own devices, Orison went to check on Hunter. In short order, he had the young man up and lucid.

"And what have we learned today, dear student?" Orison asked with a smirk.

Hunter frowned but gave it serious thought and said, ���Not every old man with some power that offers to be your teacher is worth learning from."

"No, no, no. Everything and everyone has a kernel of something worth learning. Just don't be so damn quick to drink the Kool-Aid that most people try to push with it.

"I'm not a teacher monogamist. You have my permission to see other people. Use protection and don't bring any educationally transmitted diseases back."

Hunter quirked an eyebrow. "What did YOU learn?"

Orison smiled and said, "Vampires in this world have fiendish lineage. Just because it's a vampire doesn't mean it can't have a phylactery. And most importantly, a creature can technically have more than one type of phylactery at once.

"Also, double tap isn't sufficient and it's not over until the soul core crosses to the other side. That's not overly useful to you since you can't really see them? I don't need to know what sensitivity you may or may not be developing unless you feel like sharing."

A little troubled, Hunter said, "Thick and thin places. Some of it has to do with whether or not a place has wards or if summoning's been done there. I think magic traps and magically protected secret spots are going to be easy for me to find in the future."

"A good deal of curses too, I'd wager," Orison added.

Trying again, Hunter said, "Triple check summoning circles. I already knew that but now I understand why."

"Not a bad one but do you know who SHOULD be doing demon and devil summoning circles?" Orison said, trying to hold a serious look.

Hunter said, "Obviously someone with more knowledge than I have."

Orison said, "No one!... Outside of that, a person who possesses both conjuration AND abjuration specialties along with a wealth of ritual knowledge. Your side has all the neat 'stay put, don't come here, go home' stuff. My side has 'agreement before arrival, limited time offer, just borrowing your stunt double' stuff... Oh, and so it's not so confusing in the future, lets call what I do summoning spells and this summoning rituals."

Hunter looked at him oddly and said, "Don't conjurers have random grab gates? Isn't that like, ritual summoning short cut?"

Orison snorted. "In my hands, it might as well be called the Much Gooder Planar Travel spell because the other half of that SHOULD be called the 'I don't love myself' spell. Random use of 'Gates' is for people who want to die but can't make up their mind how to do it...

"That aside, I keep telling you because I never want you to forget. This is not an RPG. You will be unpleasantly surprised sinking too deep into the mindset that you know the rules because the rules change. The moment you think you know something pretty well, ball tag yourself because you don't... Chew on that for awhile. I'm going back."

Hunter had enough time to ask 'how' before Orison looked like he climbed through Hunter's head and popped out of Cole's. With a quick word of warning, the young mage re-locked the feline young man's connection. There was a low protest from his key, letting him know that it was a bad idea to use it again anytime soon. It had crap recharge rate for the time being.

"How long have I been gone. It felt like ages but I got into a fight with a mid boss literally hellbent on being a returning cameo villain," the young mage said, letting his repressed fatigue manifest.

Cray said, "I don't think I quite got what ya meant there but you been out a hair shy of half an hour. Glad you're alright."

Cole said, still a little shook up, "Are we going to pretend that he didn't just pop out of my head!? Orison, did you use me and Hunter like connected transporters?"

"Only one way. A devil pulled me through and I just dragged my body along for the ride, the first time," Orison said flippantly.

Seeing them get worked up, he cut them off and explained everything that had happened.

"And you left him there!?" Cole said in disbelief.

The young mage sighed and said, "I wanted him to have the book. The only way I could do that was to give them a chance to study it over the winter. Otherwise, it would have been a fight."

Cole looked deeply disturbed. "I hope you'll overwrite this mark soon. I think I see what you're doing now but I was accidentally gift wrapped for a trip to eternal damnation. It's one thing to die but..."

The conversation would have continued but Heath, who had been as equally stunned by Orison's disappearance, was no longer content to wait. He wanted to go see 'E Shama'. The boy lead them to a part of the floor that didn't look any different from the dusty rest of it but a glyph lit up. The section they were standing on began to raise.

But because of a slight tilt, a sense of fear gripped all of them when the platform shuddered. The dust acted like a non-stick surface, sliding them to an unrailed edge. Heath looked at their panic with an amused expression, letting himself slide the rest of the way, an invisible field of force stopped him from going over.

Once they reached the top, Orison took a look around and said, "Really!?"