MagiStream

More? I really like it.

Thanks everyone! Here's the next bit!


Five. The Sorcerer's Tale

Red grinned at Nikko and shook her head, laughing. Elansa looked from Red to the young man, who narrowed his eyes at his new companion.

"Oh, you're funny, too! Well this changes everything," she said. A bright eyed, happy expression danced across her face. "Maybe, when those crazy stalkers hunt us down, you can humour them into submission! Gee, I'm so glad you got me involved in this!" Nikko's eyes narrowed to slits.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you," he grumbled. He walked a few paces away from Red, running his hand through his hair again. "I figured, 'Hey, maybe if I tell her the truth, she'll trust me a little!'. I guess now you just think I'm a liar." Red placed her hands on her hips and smirked.

"Not necessarily. I think you're a liar that slept with some diplomat's daughter and infuriated a city and a half," she said brightly. He stared at her with a deadpan expression. He ran his tongue across his top teeth and sighed. He brought his hand up and lifted up the necklace that hung around his neck, a piece of jewelry that was unnoticed by Red until now.

"Do you see this? See the stone in the marble? It's a stone of malachite. My power comes from this stone, my life is in this stone. I have a small amount of innate magic - somewhere in my family line there were a few magi, but most of my magic comes from the pact I made with the soul trapped in this stone," he said. His words started harsh, and by the end of his speech, his words were softer as he looked down at the necklace. A crescent moon of carved marble hung from a black leather thong. Between the points of the moon was a small round stone of malachite. He looked back up at Red, whose expression was now torn between mild amusement and curiosity. Nikko sighed and beckoned her to him.

"Here, take a look at this," he said quietly. Red stepped closer to him. He was taller than she was by enough that she only had to look down a bit to get a good look at the necklace. He held his hand out away from him and allowed a small ball of fire to spring to life in his palm. Red glanced sideways at the flame, then looked back at the amulet.

"Oh, my," she murmured. The light green swirls in the rock began to move and dance as the flame in his palm flickered. A very faint green glow encompassed the stone. He fisted his hand; the flame vanished, and the stone stopped glowing, the swirls stopped moving and became stationary once more, but in different places. "Oh my. The legend... is true, then." Red looked up at him and he had a look on his face that told her that he was no stranger to this kind of reaction. She looked down and bit her lip. "I'm sorry... for not trusting you, and for laughing at you."

"It's okay," he said gently. As he looked down at her, he realized their proximity to each other. He grinned and lifted a strand of her hair between his slender fingers. "It's good to see your pride doesn't get in the way of admitting when you're wrong. How about a kiss to soothe my wounded feelings?" Red backed up and glared at him.

"You're pushing it. Do you even know my name?" she returned smoothly, folding her arms across her chest. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. Red chuckled. "You're gaping like a fish."

"Well," he said, spreading his hands before him. "You've got me. What is your name, lady, that I may sing it to the hills?" He bowed low, his hair falling forward. Red laughed and shook her head, causing her hair to fall into her face. She hated to admit it, spirits forbid show it, but she had the faintest blush on her cheeks. He was, unfortunately, very charming. Red batted at nothing in the air and turned on her heel, walking away from him.

"You can call me Red," she called back to him.

---

They found a room that was clearly used by magi who stopped here on their travels. There were two soft beds in the room covered by old, but not tattered, blankets. This room, fortunately, had no windows, so the light from their lantern would attract no one. They sat on their separate beds, with Elansa sitting on the floor next to Nikko's feet.

"You're a sorcerer, but why are they after you?" Red asked, braiding a loose end of her hair.

"I've been in hiding for a long time. They've never been able to find me. They're Black Hunters, a group of dark magi and foul non-magic users who have formed this... sect to wipe out sorcerers. Because of the powers my kind is capable of possessing, they see us all as a threat and a danger. Originally, they formed as a kind of figurehead that sorcerers answered to - they set rules for restricting our powers, and they controlled us," he said. As he spoke, he gazed into the fire of the lantern and toyed with his necklace. "We finally wizened up, realized we didn't need their rules to not kill and/or enslave the masses. We overthrew their leader and fled. That rankled them a good bit, and they began to hunt us down and kill us." He stopped and sighed dramatically. "It's not a pretty history."

"I've heard stories from 'round the campfire about sorcerers, but are you really that powerful?" Red wondered. Nikko set his lips in a grim line.

"It's a blessing and a curse. You know the legend of the Lost Race, right?" he asked, looking up. Red nodded, eager for him to continue. "The soul in this stone is ancient; the older the stone, the more magic it can hold. The amount of energy, which I then convert into magic through my body, I can store in this is phenomenal. Unreal, almost," he said quietly.

"But is it worth your soul?" Red asked, staring at him intently. His head snapped up and he looked at her, taken aback, for just a moment. Then he smiled.

"Someone's done their research. As long as this stone stays intact, I'll be fine. I just can't ditch it, or be too far from it. If I'm too far from it for too long... well, let's just say I lose my fabulous charm that has wooed you this far," he said with a wolfish grin.

"Ha!" Red barked, turning and lying back on the bed. She rested her head on her hands. "I'm this far because I'd rather be here, fending off your cheap advances than being tortured." She patted the side of the bed, and Elansa trotted over.

"I think we're safe for the night. Will you do me a big favour?" she asked. Elansa tucked her head against Red's side, emitting a small whimper of consent. "Run, as fast as you can, back home." Red sat up and pulled a scroll and a piece of string from a pouch on her belt. "Take this note to Ronan, he will know what to do." She attached the note around Elansa's neck. The Shaa put her paws on the bed and licked Red's face. The magi wrapped her arms around her companion, and whispered safe travels into her ear. Settling back to the floor, Elansa moved over to Nikko. He bent to pet her, and she licked his hand once, then trotted off downstairs to exit through her little crack in the wall. With a barely noticeable sigh, Red turned to Nikko.

"We should get some sleep. I want to be out of here and put as many miles between us and those goons as possible, as early as possible. Lightfoot and Hollywood will get a good rest tonight; they'll be able to get us to at least half way to home by nightfall tomorrow," she said. Nikko nodded, and pointed his hand at the lantern. Blue and white magic crackled softly around his hand, and the lantern-fire was extinguished, dousing the room in darkness.

"Good night."

"Good night, Nikko."





AHHH WHO ARE THESE CRAZY BLACK HUNTERS? They are not very friendly, it seems

Moar. Scary Black Hunter people. *hefts a dictionary* Where are they?

Nikko and Re-ed sittin in a tree...

Oh dear. SeaCrest had too much sugar!

Oh my I love Nikko lol what a hound!

are they Brotherhood? Are they someone else? MOAAAAR

MadameRed wrote:A bright eyed, happy expression danced across across her face.

Spotted that when I was reading. Otherwise, everything was fine.

I really enjoy this story and I'm rather fond of Red. She's spunky and sarcastic. I'm glad I stumbled across the Tea House because there are a lot of good writers here. I'm just slowly making my way through the stories. Keep writing!

Nikko is a dog, a scoundrel, and kind of a whore. But if I were as sexy as he is, I probably would be too Right now he sees Red as a challenge. She's showing no interest in him and that irks and confuses him, as he usually has women flinging themselves at him.

Or she could just be playing hard to get.
Is THAT what you're going to do to me? Turn me into a coy little wench? Hush!

The Black Hunters aren't affiliated with The Dark Brotherhood. I wanna make them compete for evilness, but I need something that isn't totally corny.

Dark Brotherhood: We push old ladies down!
Black Hunters: Yeah? Well we kick puppies!
Dark Brotherhood: We force creatures to do our dirty work for us!
Black Hunters: We enslaved an entire race of people for hundreds of years!

Not anything totally lame like that. I have an idea, but I've got to work it through in my head a little more ;D

@ Dragonkiss, thanks for pointing that out! -scoodles off to fix it-

Hehe I dun have much experience with boys (I'm 14 ), but Nikko seems like one of those typical God's-gift-to-women guys to me But Red really does sound like she's playing hard to get.

ROFL that Black Hunter/Dark Brotherhood fight made me laugh

kind of like what I'm doing the the Brotherhood they're only the path Rynu took to GET to Demetre, not the actual evil itself.

poor Nikko- being played like that But he must realize that after playing others for so long, karma can bite you in the butt.

That's exactly how Nikko is. He's pretty worldly, arrogant, and slightly narcissistic. Red seems like she's playing hard to get, but she just doesn't have a whole lot of experience dealing with men like Nikko. And yes, with Red in the picture, karma might be biting a little more than Nikko's butt

I'm not sure if I'm even going to involve the Dark Brotherhood. Perhaps to an extent where Red & Co. try to see if they're involved. Or maybe they'll team up with someone else There is, after all, those weird temperature changes....

I like this so far. There's a few instances where you have passive voice, and you need to vary your sentence structure a bit to keep up the tension. Too many of your sentences in some parts have the same "He or she verbed" form. I have the same problems too which is why they jump out at me.

Also, if you're going to pursue romance between Nikko and Red, I would work on their banter. Right now it comes off very stereotypical and forced, and Nikko just sounds like a clown, not like the suave scoundrel I think you want him to be.

Other than that, though, I like this one, and I appreciate that you go right into the plot without wasting a lot of time.