Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 19:04:43 -0500
From: Tommy KnightHawk <alpha_wanderer@hotmail.com>
Subject: Alpha_Wanderer: Chapter 7 Daemon

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Review of Chapter 6
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"He was after our Diamond of Age," The lady explained.  "He believes that
it is a object of great power he can bind to his own."

We talked long into the night. Lady Cristiana told us many things of the
land we were in.  We promised to help in their fight against Belroth and in
return she and her people promised to share their wealth of knowledge and
experience.

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End of Review
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Chapter 7

I was still under the watchful eye of Lady Cristiana, and she had me
sleeping by the fire.  For the first time sense Borak and I had run from
Korison I was sleeping alone.  It was also the first time I had trouble
sleeping.  I opened the connection between Borak and me and found that he
was dreaming about some childhood experience.  I didn't want to wake him so
I closed it again.

The camp was virtually dead.  Only a few guards were awake patrolling
around the camp.  I sat up and stared into the fire.  I allowed myself to
slowly drift into my inner plane but continued to watch the fire.  The
individual tongues of flame slowed and I could see between every log and
every coal.  I focused on the logs and coals and many symbols for fire swam
into my vision.  With a little concentration, I combined them and pulled
them above the fire.  I watched amazed as the symbols split in half and the
wood continued to burn but the flames were above it.  With a small flick of
my hand the flames disappeared but the heat was still there.  I changed the
remaining symbol a little and the light reappeared, but without the flames.

I continued to play with the fire, making different combinations of heat,
light, and flame.  After I tired of that, I picked up my sword.  I now knew
something I wanted to change on it.  I looked very closely at the magic
symbols placed on it and removed the locking spell.  I made sure to
maintain the other spells that Borak had place on it like extra strong
steel, but added a spell of my own.  Instantly bluish flames burst out of
the blade.  I passed my hand through them and felt that the heat, while not
enough to burn, was enough to fool someone.  I replaced the locking charm
and slid the sword back into the scabbard.

I was about to set the sword down when it shot out of the scabbard and
landed about six feet away.  I was about to get up to retrieve it when I
remembered that with the new spells I should be able to summon it to me.  I
stretched out my hand and said, "Maciltul!"

I felt something stir in the sword and it jumped away from the ground and
arced into my hand.  Looking pleased with myself, I removed the lock and
played with the spells some more before locking it again and re-sheathing
it.  This time it stayed in the scabbard, but I had to adjust the spells on
the scabbard to make the flames and heat contained by it.  After that was
all done, I felt exhausted and lay back down to sleep.

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 The next morning Shawn awoke me early.  "Come," He said, "There is much to
learn before confronting Belroth."

"What do you mean?"  I asked in a tired voice.

"Sorcery my good friend.  Belroth is a mage in such magics.  It is time the
Lady and I teach you the basics."  He nodded behind me.

"Sorcery is very different from other magics."  Lady Cristiana said as I
turned.

"While she has practical knowledge, I have the passed down knowledge of my
family."  Shawn said.

"Don't you have practical knowledge? I thought your family was..." I
trailed off.

"Fate, it seems, decided my destiny was better lived out without my
family's magic traits.  Yet my father demanded that I learn of the arts for
my children will have the ability and will need instruction."  He said.

"Sorcery is different than other magics," The Lady said again.  "Because
once the caster can tap into their source the instruction is done.  For
each caster the magic is different and is used at a different charge.  It
is a unique human magic trait.  It creates endless possibilities."

"Come!" Shawn said and led the way toward the forest.

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The training in sorcery was different from how I had learned Orcish magic.
They had me remove all my weapons and sat me down in the middle of what
they called a fairy ring and took positions at the north and south.  They
told me to meditate but directed the meditation through song and sounds.  I
soon found myself standing in the ring of mushrooms and a path that wasn't
there before leading both north and south.

I slowly turned to face north and extended my natural senses.  A blast of
power came back and I shielded my eyes from the bright light.  I turned
again, this time to the south and again extended my senses.  Again I was
greated by a blast of power but this time it was darkness.  Both spoke to
me of power, that was sure, but the means of power were different.  With
the light came healing and a sense of wholeness.  With the dark came death
and destruction.

I knew that both ways would bring me power, that was not what I was
concerned with.  I wanted means to defend myself.  Both supplied that but
to only some degree.  So I did the first thing that came to my mind.  I
reached out to both sides of the fairy circle and grasped both powers.

"Noooo!"  I heard both the Lady and Shawn scream.  My eyes snapped open and
I saw in my hands were the two spheres of power like in my "dream".  Out of
both shot a beam of many colors.  Where these collided was a daemon.

My thrust out my hand and cried, "Maciltul!" and instantly my sword was in
my hand.  At the same time I sent out a mental call to Borak because
daemons were his specialty.  I could see that Shawn and Lady Cristiana had
been knocked out, but I could tell that they were physically fine.  I
extended my sword in front of me and squared off with the monster.

"You shall not harm them!" I cried as it took a step toward us.  "I know
not why you're here but your business is with me."

"INDEED!" The voice of the daemon was somehow hypnotic, "MY BUSINESS IS
WITH YOU!"

He paused for a moment and then glanced around.  "WHERE IS YOUR SOURCE?
WHAT ART DO YOU CARRY?"

I stole a glance toward my hands and found that the orbs had absorbed
themselves into my hands and caused the flames of my sword to glow
brighter.

"I know not the art of sorcery." I paused at his smirk, "Or even the theory
there of.  Somehow my guided meditation took a turn for the worse and now
you are here."

"HA! A BEGINNER! I SHALL ENJOY CONSUMING YOUR SOUL!"

"You shall do NO such thing!" I heard Borak bellow from behind me.

"AH! THE SOURCE! TWO SOULS FOR ME NOW!" He had a satisfied grin on his
face.

I ran over to Borak while talking to him through my mind.  "I don't know
where he came from but I think he is the guardian of these powers." I
raised my hands and Borak glanced at the orbs still surrounding them.

"Well you summoned him, banish him." Borak almost looked exasperated.

"What?"

"When you attempted to wield both powers the guardian was summoned, but
through your magic.  He survives off of you. Because of that you can banish
him."

He sent me a burst of information about daemon banishing then stepped away
from me.

"WHAT?" The daemon said with a smirk, "WILL YOUR SOURCE NOT HELP YOU
FIGHT?"

My mind raced with the information Borak had given me.  I knelt in the
middle of the fairy ring and began speaking in a low voice.

"By the power of one I call this spell done..."

"HA!"

"By the power of two I will banish you..."

"WHAT?! WHERE DID YOU LEARN..."

"By the power of three you cease to be..."

"STOP!" Be bellowed and charged toward me.

"By the power of four I create the door!"  I clapped my hands four times
and a dimensional door opened before me and the daemon charged straight
through it.  I collapsed from the drain of the spell and darkness filled my
vision.

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End of Chapter 7
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Sorry about the long wait and the short chapter.  I finally finished finals
and started writing again.  Remember that you can find this and other
stories I'm writing at my yahoo group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alpha_wanderer

Thanks for reading.  Please send feedback at alpha_wanderer@hotmail.com Thanks