Chapter 12
While we won at Fenoris, I was a little disturbed at how I had been unable to defeat the demon outright. I know, I know. I had done well. Ishla said so, as did Fithian. Still, it seemed to me that I had been getting nowhere, when the Goddess had shown up and finished the battle for me. Well... for us.
True, Fithian had not really gotten into the battle itself. He had opted to call in the Goddess, which I thought was a good idea at the time. It also left me feeling like I had failed at my part of the job.
That was why I was back in Pejoru's library. I was studying demon spells, and learning more and more bindings. I had totally left bindings alone, as I had not known about them! Even Mariel had learned and memorized several of them.
I was also doing something I had not considered doing before. I was trying to create spells. That's right. Make a spell. I decided that I knew enough magic to figure out how to make a spell.
Ok, it isn't as easy as it seems. How did they create all the spells that they used today? I had to visit the school of magic. They taught it, so they should be able to tell me about building a spell, right?
Unfortunately, my getting away to go to the school of magic was not that easy. People were showing up in droves. The town was bursting its seems with refugee's. The other demon gate was well protected. As we could not even get near it, the Gods could not go in and close it. So the people were fleeing to what they thought of as a safe place. Landkur.
It gave one pause as to what exactly the Creator had been thinking. This was a severe limit, and I knew the Gods could, if the Creator would just let them, take care of this situation.
The problem was, the demons were firmly in charge of the only remaining area they were at. The first gate they had opened on the western edge of the desert to the south. The demons had taken over the small city state of Thestus.
Scrying was blocked, and we could get no information about what was going on in the city. Also, demon controlled humans were raiding the surrounding area. Salvadi, being closer, had sent in troops to try to stem the raids, and lost some of his men to the demons. They just walked away.
Salvadi had finally called for help, and Vostich had gone to his aid. Together they had cast some heavy spells, and for the most part, the demons stayed away from his lands. Humans under demon influence on the other hand, were raiding other humans.
Humans were not affected by the defensive spell, and so Salvadi had to keep soldiers close to the border to fight off raids. I shook my head at that. When I first came here, we were fighting him. Now he was an Ally. Go figure.
One thing all the displaced people did, was to remind me of the slim margin people had for survival. I had already authorized the city treasury to buy some tons of extra food, just to cover the influx of extra people.
I was walking down the corridor of the palace leading to Mirwanna's rooms, when I met the chief wizard. An idea occurred to me.
"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" I asked him as we drew close to each other.
He paused. "Yes, Your Grace. What may I do for you?"
"I am curious about how to go about creating new spells. I know what I want to do, but all I have are spells that have already been made. I just memorize spells. How do I make a spell from scratch?" I asked him intently.
"This is something that can be dangerous. If you would tell me exactly what you wanted, perhaps I could help?" he asked me in a worried tone of voice.
So, it was dangerous. Well, I could live with that, especially if I could come up with demon specific spells. So we talked. We started going back to my rooms, with the wizard explaining that creating new spells was best left to researchers.
I admitted that while I had not really done research as such, I had made great strides, plus I had 'other world' magic to draw on. Svedra had seen to that. The wizard was interested when I told him I wanted to blend Svedra's type of magic with our own type.
The more I talked, the more excited he grew. So it was that he agreed to help me in my quest for learning, and creating new spells. He told me he would have a place readied and we could start tomorrow if I wished. I agreed.
The next morning dawned very rainy, and I grumbled as I got out of bed. Mariel was very cheerful and perky for some reason, and very playful. She made coffee for us. I had corrupted my young bride. She was now a coffee-holic.
"Good morning. Isn't it a lovely day?" She asked me in a cheerful voice.
I looked out the window at the rain. Lightning and thunder punctuated hr statement.
"Why is today a good morning? It's raining cats and dogs for god's sake," I grumped at her.
"It is only a month till our sister's coronation! I have my final fitting for my gown, and I already have a present picked out! What could be more perfect?" she burbled at me.
The coronation! I had forgotten in all the excitement of the demon invasion. Surely I was not expected to attend a coronation when I was preparing for a war? Mariel told me in no uncertain terms that I would not only be there, but I was required to do a few things, as well.
She told me that she had commissioned a tailor to make a new suit of clothes for me, as well as ordering me new boots. My sizes were on record. She told me I was going to take part in the ceremony. This was the first I had heard this.
Two hours later, I finally met with the chief wizard, Vertwil. He teleported us to a location I had never been before.
"This is where we test new spells," he said as we went into a large room. The walls were reinforced from the outside. The inside was lined with spells of containment. The only other place I had seen that was better protected was in Vostich's underground treasury rooms and the room with the demon.
Vertwil explained that on some occasions, new spells went awry. The result could be, well, anything. So far, this room had survived for over two hundred years. It had only been rebuilt twice in its history.
Great. I hoped I did not have cause to have it rebuild it for a third time. For the next two hours, Vertwil taught me how to build spells from scratch. I caught onto it pretty fast. He had me practice several low level spells that he suggested, until I got the hang of it.
This was actually fascinating. I had never really considered spell construction before. I had actually done a few spells off the cuff, and now I realized how dangerous it had been.
It is amazing how we do things without really knowing what we are doing, if you know what I mean. Consider walking. Easy, right? Well, we put a lot of effort into learning to do it, but at such a young age, we don't remember the trails and tribulations of learning it. But the result is we walk upright, and don't even think twice about it.
Learning spells was sort of like that. We learn easy spells first, then more and more powerful and complicated spells, as we go along the road of magic. Constructing spells from scratch was different, yet similar.
The day passed, and I stretched. Vertwil was pleased with my efforts. I was very hungry, too. I invited Vertwil to my apartments for dinner, and he accepted. Mariel was already there, and the cook had made us a very good dinner. As usual, there was plenty to go around.
Ok, I admit it. Mariel is not the best person to try to cook. She had not been raised learning cooking. I was slowly teaching her, but in the meantime we needed a cook. So who better than Trayla's mom?
Tonight was roast beef, carrots, peas, mashed potatoes and gravy. We all retired to the main sitting room for wine. It was very pleasant really. We were almost ready for a refill on the wine when there was a disturbance in the air before us. I jumped to my feet, and crossed to my sword.
Vertwil was on his feet, his staff in his hands all of a sudden. Mariel was also on her feet and I felt her gathering power. We all looked and saw a picture form in the air. It was a communication spell, and it was not someone we knew.
It was also someone we didn't want to know. It was a demon. Even through the communication spell, we could feel the evil of him roll through and into our room.
"What do you think you're doing, evil one," I asked it sternly.
"Ah. The good Paul Landkur, Duke De Landkur and ruler of the city of Landkur. I am most appreciative of my accuracy in my spell. I must protest as to how difficult it was to push my spell through your defenses," he said with a disarming smile.
I pointed my sword at the middle of the circular opening of the spell that showed the demon. As a communication spell, it was doing its job. I just wondered how it had managed to break through all the protections.
"State your purpose, and withdraw," I gritted out at it/him.
Yes, it looked male, but to me, it was an IT.
"I am Elpor. I have chosen Paul Landkur to be ambassador to our world. I invite you to present yourself to any place past the border of the Lord Salvadi's environs. We are here to stay, and the sooner you humans accept this, the sooner all can get on with the business at hand... living," he/it said with a beautiful smile. I shuddered.
"Just who do you think you are!" My wife almost shrieked at the demon.
"Why, I am the go between from my world, to your world. Ambassador you would say. I must say, you're very lovely to look at. I will enjoy our association," he/it said to my wife.
I couldn't help it. I was furious. I sent my will through the sword. A beam of silvery light shot from the tip of my sword and struck the floating communication portal spell directly in its center.
With a scream, the demon and its spell vanished. I sighed feeling drained for a moment. My wife was shaking, and Vertwil was frowning. All in all, it was not a good ending to a previously good evening.
Edited by TeNderLoin