Chapter 4
After supper was over, and Vostich said 'no' to me about the sword, there wasn't much more to say or do. I had Mariel teleport us back to the palace. Mirwanna decided to stay and talk with Both Vostich and Fithian about something to do with the upcoming coronation.
Mariel did a good job. She was getting better at some of the more mid to high level spells. I was proud of her, and told her so. She beamed at me, and kissed me. She had teleported us to our apartments in the palace.
It seems that fighting demons and excitement gets my little Mariel's sex motor running. She was very enthusiastic for about the next hour. When we were finally spent, and I rolled onto my side, looking at my wife.
Later, I eased myself out from under her head. I dressed, and went to my office. I wanted to write down the spells for fighting demons I now suddenly knew, before they drifted out of my head or back into my subconscious.
I stretched and put down my pen. I never did get used to writing quills, so I kept a supply of pens handy. Those had a habit of disappearing too, for some reason. I chuckled as I remembered finding a stash in Mirwanna's apartment, a couple weeks ago, along with a few of my candy bars.
I am not sure when I first noticed it, but there was a drifting little point of light. I actually waved my hand at it, thinking it was a fly or something, before it registered on my consciousness. I frowned and looked at it.
It was moving independently from any light source in the room, and it was dark outside still. I put my pen down, and extended my senses to the little point of light. As my mind touched it, I was startled when I began to be drawn into it!
I fought and tried to withdraw, but it was no use. I was in a pattern of some sort, spiraling around, and ever downward. I was panicking! Finally, I was dumped out at the bottom of the pattern, and into a... place.
I looked around. Patterns were all around me, arrayed in symmetrical displays. I started moving towards a particular pattern. Try as I might, I was unable to stop. I found myself at a glorious looking pattern, glowing with power, and opening to admit me.
PRESENCE is what I felt as soon as I stepped through. I bowed as I found myself in the presence of Pejoru, the God of Magic.
(Greetings again, Paul, and welcome, ) Pejoru said in my mind.
"Thank you, Lord," I said, unsure of how or why I was here.
He chuckled. To look at him was to see a being eight feet tall, wearing a golden robe. He had long waist length silver colored hair, and a beard of the same color. His eyes were also a golden color.
(I have brought you here to advise you. At your wedding, I gifted you and your bride with abilities you have not yet touched upon. Vostich has gifted her and you with items that you really don't need.
(While it was sincerely done, you and your wives connection to the magical field make his gifts redundant. I have given you both the ability to touch the magic field at a deeper level than most mortals, ) he said looking at me.
I listened, and was surprised. I remembered him doing something to me at the wedding, but didn't know what it had been.
(Come, walk with me, ) he said, and we were off.
We stepped through the portal? pattern? doorway? and back into that place of patterns. Seemingly endless rows and rows of patterns, going on beyond my comprehension.
(This is what you would term, 'My Library', of magic. Every spell known to anyone is here, including spells yet to be known. You and your wife have been granted the power and the ability to access my library, yet niether of you use it. Do not waste this time, as it is beginning to run out, ) Pejoru said with a warning in his mental voice.
I looked around, and studied a pattern at random. To my complete astonishment, it resolved itself into a spell of quietness. I saw how to power and cast it. This was definitely a new way of looking at magic!
I looked at other spells. As I studied the pattern, it resolved itself into a specific instruction on how to do the spell it represented! I also remembered it perfectly! I heard a chuckle.
(Now you know. I suggest you bring your wife here next, and both of you study. Just coming here will arm you with spells and abilities that most of your world have not seen, or will not see for years to come, ) he said with a gesture.
Another little light was there before me, but I knew it for what it was. Pejoru's traveling gate to and from this place.
(Yes. Now just the gods, and you two humans, have access to my library. There will be others from time to time granted limited use. Leave these others alone. Most are harmless, but some will be dangerous to you. Just ignore them, ) Pejoru said, and I found myself spiraling upward this time, totally out of control!
I found myself back in my office, and I heard a gasp. I turned to find my wife looking at me.
"What happened? Where did you just come from?" she asked.
So I sat her down, and told her the story. I then pointed at the tiny mote of light, and took her into it. We found ourselves in Pejoru's library of magic. She was in awe at first, but then started studying spell after spell. I opened and memorized a few, then pointed to the exit spell. We found ourselves back in the study. She was excited at what had happened. She now had five new spells that she had never known before, and a very deep understanding of them.
It was like you got to know the spell, and it got to know you. Magic in that place was, well, alive! It was a part of a whole that was separated out to do a specific function. I had never realized this before.
Mariel and I got something to eat, and discussed what we had seen. Obviously, whatever Pejoru had done to us, had changed the way we saw and used magic. Armed with this new information, Mariel wanted me to try to take down her shield again.
Sighing, I watched as she put up her shield. I looked at it with my second sight. It was altered a bit from the previous shields she had put up. This one, while different, was basically the same, yet I could not crack it for a long while. I had to put a new twist on an old spell, to cause her shield to collapse!
Unfortunately, a side effect of casting spells in the palace, is that you will have visits from the palace battle wizards. Shortly after I caused Mariel's shield to collapse, the door burst open. Several wizards came in, followed by four men at arms.
It took a few minutes to calm the uproar our impromptu magical practice had caused. I apologized to the officer in charge for causing the problem, and assured them my wife and I were finished for the night.
My wife was still exuberant. After all, she had never lasted long against me before. She definitely had a new grasp and understanding on magic. It had taken everything I had to penetrate her shield.
It is amazing what you can do when your mind believes you can do something. She had this capability when she confronted the demon, and her self made shield had failed quickly. Now she had a firm shield that I would be proud to call my own!
We were still taking about the possibilities of the library, when Mirwanna burst through the doors without knocking, which showed the level of her aggravation.
"Well? What was so important that you two just had to alarm the night watch?" She asked with her arms folded under her breasts and tapping her foot.
It took us a while to tell her what had happened. She was surprised then excited by our revelation. But when she tried to access the library entrance through the mote of light, she was rejected.
I went though it, to test it, and came back. It worked fine for me, as well as for my wife. Mirwanna starred at it, fascinated. She asked hundreds of questions, and we talked through the night.
She had congratulated us, and told me that she had something for me to do. I should come and present myself to her officially, later this afternoon. With that, she swept out, leaving us alone. Mariel asked me what I thought it would be. I told her I had no idea. We had breakfast together, and since it was to late to go back to bed, we dressed and prepared for the days duties.
It was late afternoon, and I was waiting to see Mirwanna. She finally sent for me, and I went in to see her. She was standing before a map of the land of Landkur.
"Ah Paul. I have a problem... actually, you have a problem. One of your Barons is hosting a demon. Baron Slotfir. Vostich did a sweep of the land, and discovered three areas that are demon tainted.
"While you have no responsibility for the other two, Baron Slotfir is your responsibility. I expect you to handle this. You are Slotfir's direct lord, and he has sword fealty to you. Now, I am sure you can handle this. Vostich assures me you have the power," she looked at me.
"I am directing you to go to your vassal, and resolve this problem. Fithian is taking care of the other two for me. Vostich is taking what actions he can to safeguard the land. That leaves you to get rid of the demon in the Slotfir Barony," Mirwanna said with finality.
I nodded and waited to see if she had anything else to say. She went to the window, and looked out at the city.
"I'm sorry to have to send you, Paul," she said with a catch in her throat.
"I understand, Mirwanna. I will study the map of the area, and fly down there. Let's see, if they have a demon, I had better land short of the infected area, and walk in. Don't worry, I will prep spells, and have a few dragons as backup," I told her in a cheerful voice.
I left her shortly after that, and I wished I felt as positive about this as I sounded. I had never really fought a demon before. Sure, I had briefly encountered one on earth, but it had not fully made a gate to that world. I had been lucky. This time I was going to fight a demon that was in the land itself.
I decided to arm myself with spells from Pejoru's library. I went to my office, and entered the gateway he had set up for me. I looked at the spells arrayed around me. While interesting, none of these were what I needed.
I was trying to figure out how to find what I wanted, when I felt the surrounding spells respond to my wishes. With a blur, the spells arrayed around me now were all of offense and defense against demons!
I started memorizing spells. I also memorized a few spells that were combat related. I wanted the power to bring down walls, if I had too. Baron Slotfir had been a monumental pain in my side, since my ascension to grand Duke of Landkur, and his personal lord.
I don't know how much time went by, but I felt as if I had stuffed my head to bursting. I finally sought the exit. It appeared as soon as I wished for it, and I shortly found myself back in my office. I also noticed I was hungry. I went off in search of dinner.
This was fascinating, really. I now had a deeper understanding of magic and the way it worked. I knew my understanding of magic before Pejoru's gift, was as a child understands the world around him or her. Which was to say - not much. I wondered if this was the way people and beings like Fithian and Vostich saw magic.
With my new knowledge of magic, I could see how magic was woven into the very fabric of reality. How little I had known before! I thought about my abilities as a dragon lord, and saw possibilities I had never seen or noticed, before.
I was dreading what I was going to have to do next. Mariel would not be pleased with my having to leave her for a time. While she would understand; she was, after, all a young girl who was still a bit unsure of herself. Still, she had made great strides since our marriage, and I was confident she would cope well.
I shouldn't have worried about her. She was so caught up in the library of magic that Pejoru had opened to her, that she just nodded and asked when I thought I might be back. I chuckled and said as quickly as possible. She kissed me on the cheek, and disappeared into the entrance of the library to, 'study'.
I got a bit of money for living expenses, and then teleported to the outside of Vostich's castle. I reviewed the spells in my head, and was satisfied. I had the ring Vostich gave me, and I had my power ring, just in case. I concentrated for a moment, and turned into the dragon that I was becoming familiar with.
I walked over to the edge of the steep slope, and started the lumbering run. I was soon airborne, and climbing thermals for hight. I leveled off, and headed for Baron Slotfir's and my first encounter with a demon.
Edited By TeNderLoin