P I and Magic Book II: The Gods Return
Copyright© 2005 by Volentrin
Chapter 26
On the whole, my life had taken a drastic turn. It was up in the air if it was for the better. For over a hundred years I had lived alone, unmarried. I was my own boss, worked when I wanted to, and in general had few responsibilities.
Now I was the Duke of a large city, and an even larger county! I was married with a child on the way. I had a wife who was determined to endanger herself, and the baby. Could life get any better? True, I was enjoying being married... mostly.
I guess all married couples went through this, but not on this level or scale! I was almost sure that this was at the max-end of the unusual. According to a message sent me via courier from my sister, my wife and I would be departing for the 'Gate of Demons', as it had become known.
My wife was off studying spells in the library provided by Pejoru, the God of magic, and her family's patron God. I had been wondering about my last trip into the land of demons. I had seen no souls being tortured. If they had been there, they were in a different area. Still, it was nothing like the 'hell' described by the bible, or Dante's Inferno.
Of course, these demons might not be the demons of the bible. Actually, you could drive yourself crazy thinking this through! It was like a never ending loop. Once you're caught up in it, you keep thinking: ok, if this is a demon, then shouldn't he/she/it, be/act this specific way? See what I mean? Nothing is as black and white as when you were a child.
I looked over everything I could find in the palace library about demons, but the "pickin's" were slim. Vostich had a couple books on them, but they were mostly written by people who heard it from a guy who knew someone... well, you get the idea. He did have one old volume that was informative, but hard to believe.
While it dealt with demons, the demons it talked of were the demons born to this world, long ago. After reading that book, it left me cold and scared witless. The things that were attributed to the demons back then, were of such a horrendous nature that I still have nightmares!
I had tried to convince my wife over and over to stay behind, but no luck. I had her read this book, but even that did not convince her. What was it about woman that seemed contrary to logic? I guess it was that age old war between men and woman, the battle of the sexes.
Still, she was powerful, and getting more powerful by the day. She diligently studied her craft, and had a good memory for spells. I wished she would stay behind, but there was no stopping someone who thought they were right. History is full of such people, and right or wrong, they set out to do what they would do.
The young are very idealistic and their world view is usually very simplistic. The world is divided into right and wrong, with no shades of gray. Unfortunately, as you age, you become more sophisticated and you start to think and complicate things. Maybe the young have it right, after all.
I went up to the roof of the palace, and changed to my dragon form. I did not assume my full dragon size, though. It was a chilly morning, so flying would be difficult at best. I launched myself into the air, and pumped my wings furiously, trying to gain height.
Maybe this was a mistake. Ever so slowly, I gained altitude, but it was hard going at first. I reached an altitude that gave me time to soar and rest my wings. Damn! I had always thought flying would be a joy. While it was, it was also hard work at times. Still, it was worth it, though.
I soared through the air, looking with my enhanced dragon sight at everything below me. I guess I had been flying for about 20 minutes, when I noticed a very large hawk circling me. I gave it a cursory look with my mage sight, and it glowed with power!
It was also larger... much larger than a hawk should be! I was immediately suspicious. I mean, come on! Hawks are not that big, nor do they glow with power like this one was. I was about to send a thought its way, when it folded its wings and dove at me!
I had thought I recognized the glow of power, but the dive drove all thoughts of anything except dodging, out of my mind. I dropped one wing, and started a dive, the hawk plummeted past me, missing by several feet.
It opened its wings with a snap, rolled, and started climbing. I was on its tail. I pumped furiously, but it continued to pull away. Hawks were much lighter and more maneuverable than dragons.
So we dodged and dove and turned through the sky. I was getting angrier by the minute. I didn't know this hawk, and it was playing childish games which I found annoying. I sent an angry thought its way, but got nothing in return. Hawks just did not mess with dragons for god's sake!
I let out a roar, which seemed to startle it, but it redoubled the dives on me. I simmered and then started getting to my boiling point. While I hated killing indiscriminately, this hawk was going to be toast.
I inhaled, zeroed in on the hawk, and sent out a jet of flame. Missed! It dodged and started to dive towards the ground. I followed it, not flaming it, but giving it notice that I was seriously annoyed.
It finally landed on the ground, and started to shimmer. When the shimmering was done, my wife stood there, looking up at me with wide eyes! I started at what I almost did! I landed close to her, and changed back into my human form.
To read this story you need a
Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In
or Register (Why register?)
$3.99
$6.99
