Chapter 3

“No, what you did won’t kill him, but what you did hasn’t been done in centuries. I think we should go to the council,” the spirit said.

“NO! I will not have someone telling me what to do with my body or powers anymore!” shouted Tom, knocking the spirit off balance.

“I apologize, but you know that if you do this enough times, it will gain notice. The short battle drove your shield power to 30%—unheard of in a new mage. From what I can feel, your powers are only at 15%. You defeated the other like you were at 50 or 60 already.”

The spirit was excited. Maybe this one could stop this war; it had claimed too many.

“Let’s go home. I am exhausted,” the spirit shook its head affirmatively, and they started walking to Tom’s new home.

Staring out from the bushes not far from them, a soft flutter of wings sounded, then a brief flash before all was quiet. Back home, Tom made sure the blanket was over the house before he made dinner appear. Eating like a starving man who hadn’t been full in years, Tom finally began to feel better. Checking, the spirit saw that Tom was up more on his total power. She was glad; he was going to need it higher soon, she felt. Things were stirring in the air, and they weren’t good. Damn it! He needed help, she thought, and soon, or the dark mages were going to eat him alive.

The next day, Tom and the spirit he had now named Frilly were at another place practicing. Frilly was awestruck. His power was increasing faster than she had ever seen it grow in anyone. She should know—she’d been doing this for well over 3,000 years now.

Suddenly, there was a soft glowing ahead of Tom. Bringing his shields up to full, he waited.

“Ah! There you are! I—” an older man started to say. Amazed, he found that he couldn’t move. “Oh my! Try as he could, he couldn’t move. I am not your enemy; please release me.”

“I do not know you, therefore you are an enemy till I know better,” Tom replied.

“I see,” he said, “very wise for one so young.” There was a flash, and two others appeared. They too were astounded when they found that they couldn’t move either.

“Young man, we won’t hurt you,” the oldest of the three said.

“Uh huh,” Tom grunted. “As I said to the first one, I do not know you. Till I do, you are the enemy.”

You were right, Azel, he is wise for one so young.

You know, thought Tom, it’s rude to talk about me with me here. All three of the older men’s mouths dropped open.

“We apologize,” the one called Azel said. “We didn’t know you were that advanced, but you need to release us.” With that, three more older men appeared, starting toward Tom.

Each in turn’s mouth dropped open. Holy shit! Who was this young man?

About that time, Frilly appeared next to Tom. A gasp rose from her. Good God! Tom had half the mage council immobilized! She tried not to laugh. Maybe next time they’d listen to her when she gave a warning.

“Frilly, come here!” he shouted. “We’re gone.” With that, they vanished. Back in his house, he doubled the strength of the blanket on the house. Turning his own powers down, he could feel them looking for him. Telling Frilly not to leave or reveal where they were, he took one last look and passed out, his dreams filled with strange visions of the older men.

Damn it! They haunted him in sleep too!

Three days later, Tom awoke. Though this time he wasn’t that hungry. Okay, that was odd.

He was still drained from the encounter with the old men. He had barely been able to hold them. He was surprised that they hadn’t seen him sweating bullets. He looked for Frilly. She was still where she had been when he passed out. Strange, she seemed frozen.

“Okay, you can move, Frilly,” stretching, she looked a little miffed.

“I didn’t think your power had increased that much in just a few days,” she said. “It’s been a long time since anyone could freeze a spirit.”

“Remember today, no more running off. They almost got me. Had I not left when I did, I was sure they would have killed me,” Tom stated calmly.

“Uh, Tom,” she started, open-mouthed, “those were the good guys. As a matter of fact, you froze half the council.”

Oh shit! Tom suddenly felt like his ass was grass and they were the lawn mower.