Shaman Chronicles Ch. 04

Author's Note: Hello dear readers! I proudly present you the fourth installment of The "Shaman Chronicles". I just wanted to thank you for the awesome feedback you gave me on the third chapter, although I have to disappoint some of you right at the beginning. There will be no sex in this chapter and as you will see Jarko didn't summon a succubus. I am still thinking about adding a sexual component to this story, since I also get mixed signals from you . Also I want to apologize for how short the chapters are. Sadly I am really not able to make it longer due to the time I have not at my hands. Anyway I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter. Again special thanks to A.L. If anybody criticizes my favorite editor again I am going to quit writing for sure :D

Sincerely WorldWarWalther.

Jarkos eyes went wide due to the sight before them. The whole clearing was covered in rings of purple flames the glyphs of summoning circles again shining bright like the sun. In the middle of it all the silhouette of a humanoid being with large batlike wings. Jarko felt a shiver run down his spine when a dark sinister laugh echoed from the trees around him.

"Blood magic! How refreshing little magus!" the voice of the demon rumbled in its deep and evil sound.

The smoke cleared the purple flames vanishing revealing the destruction to the eyes of the nine year old warlocks whose ritual had caused it. What once had been fresh and green grass was now black and burned stopping on the last ring of glyphs. Right in the middle of it stood the source of the evil voice.

The demon definitelylooked male. He had at least the same height as Thorus maybe he was slightly shorter. His wings had at least twice the span of his height and maybe even a little bit more. They were completely black in stark contrast to his pale chiseled body. Additionally he lacked all hair and on his fore-head two small horns protruded. His face though was had a perfection Jarko had never seen before and still looked completely mortal to him except for his purple eyes and his white shark teeth that were smiling at him. Somehow the demon wore pants although there was no way they could have survived the fire. His arms ended in human looking hands with not so human looking black talons.

Jarko swallowed. How was he supposed to fight this creature without being shredded to pieces?

"Now little Magus why have you summoned me, Caedes, hells prince of war?"

Jarko thought about turning around and running away but he was transfixed by the piercing gaze of the purple reptilian eyes.

"Tell him the planes shall be wandered again for Sharrus has a new son."The voice commanded Jarko.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' Jarko asked the voice confused.

"Do you see the look in his eyes? You either say what I just told you or he'll rip out your heart. Now grow some balls!"The voice yelled in Jarkos head causing him a slight headache.

Jarko took a deep breath and straightened his back before returning the demon's hungry gaze.

"The planes shall be wandered again for Sharrus has a new son." he told the creature from the pit. Caedes' smile vanished. Jarko was surprised that the demon actually knew what that meant.

"You're lying." The creature finally said. Jarko didn't move a muscle. He just kept staring into the demon's eyes.

"Try me." Jarko finally said dryly with false confidence.

Caedes' face became completely blank for a moment. One smile from him and Jarko would know his facade didn't work. Finally the demon sighed.

"Since I can't really disobey you, just tell me what you want."

At that Jarko had to smile.

The sun shone brightly into Jarko's room. The young boy opened his eyes, stretched and yawned. He looked at his arm where he had cut his palm the night before. The cut had healed, but the boy was looking at something else now. In his palm half way up to the crook of his arm were now the image of a sword, which looked like painted with black ink. Although it looked a little-bit strange. It started with the hilt in his hand and continued to the middle of his fore arm where it kind of split up into some kind of tentacles. Jarko had to admit it was beautiful although it was still scary and no one could ever see it.

"So you want me to train you in fighting?" Caedes had asked with a confused look on his face. Jarko had only been able to nod.

Jarko took his clothes from his small wardrobe, after he had washed himself. If he was going to spend more time in the Academy, which he certainly was he definitely needed more than one set of clothes. He put them on and spent a lot of time on making sure his shirt was covering his tattoo.

The demon laughed at Jarkos request. How ridiculous that would be! He ,the prince of war, teaching a youngling how to fight.

"Alright little boy. If you want to be taught by me so be it! But be assured that I won't go easy on you!" Caedes said showing his shark like teeth in what was supposed to be a smile.

Jarko made his way downstairs to the dining hall since the students of the Academy had little time for breakfast as he was told. On his way there he met Broth. The noble boy was completely refreshed and awake.

"Well good morning! Wow you don't look like you have gotten a lot sleep. What were you up to last night?" he asked the farm boy in his untypical cheerful mood. Jarko wondered what Broth would say if he'd only know what he had been up to last night...

"I'll be there when you call me little boy. Just let some of your magic flow through my sign." With that Caedes vanished leaving Jarko alone. The boy stood there for some more time before heading back to the Academy. It seems breaking in was much easier if you broke out before. The two guards on the gate were still knocked out when he came back...

"Well I couldn't sleep." Jarko lied to his new friend.

"You're excited for your first day here, aren't you?" Broth asked with his trademark smile.

"Something like that..." Jarko answered with a small smile of his own. With him summoning a demon and everything he didn't have a moment to realize that he was indeed excited and nervous.

"Now what's our first lesson again?" He asked Broth who looked up from his plate.

"Ehh basic elementaristics I guess..."

They walked outside of their dorm to the Faculty of Elements when Jarko heard screams.

"What's that?" he asked Broth. His new friend could only shrug.

"Let's find out."

The two of them walked towards the source of the screams. On the training grounds of the guard two men were receiving a whipping. They were chained to a pole in the middle of the area a small group around them. It didn't take Jarko long to recognize them.

"Hey fella" Broth said to one of the guardsmen watching the procession "what have they done?"

The guard just grinned.

"They fell asleep on their guard. But they both swear they were attacked by a shadow!"

The man laughed and Broth joined in. Jarko had to force a smile.

'They are whipped because I knocked them out! I am the shadow!' Jarko thought guiltily.

"And that's how we want it! If someone came to know you broke out in the middle of the night questions will be asked. For example what you did out there."the voice told Jarko trying to soothe him.

"C'mon Jarks! We'd better hurry up before we miss our first lesson." Broth yelled over his shoulder already running to the Faculty of Elements.

Jarko was tired. Extremely tired. He sat in a large lecturing hall with hundreds of wooden seats. The lesson had barely started when he felt his lack of sleep. It wasn't that what the Master told him was boring or anything. He just felt tired and was nearly falling asleep.

"Do I bore you young men?" Jarko heard a voice say.

'Oh shit!'

He quickly straightened his back, but the Master was still going on about the different possibilities of using pyromancy. Jarko frowned in confusion when he heard a stifled laugh from next to him. He turned to see Broth holding his mouth so nobody would hear him laugh. Jarko had to grin. He was happy that he wasn't all alone anymore.

A group of twenty men rode through a forest. They all were mildly talking to each other and the only other sound . At first he thought he should feel honored, riding together with the kings guard to bring the crown prince to the Academy. Of course he had to leave Bella behind again and Jarko too this time, but he had been sure it would be worth it.

'And again you've proven to yourself what a dumb shit you are' the big man thought. The journey was a huge mistake and he wished he hadn't been so happy when the Headmaster told him about his new task.

The crown prince was an arrogant brat. A huge douchebag. An unbelievable annoying pain in the ass. For his ten years he couldn't have been more full of himself. He usually spent a big part of the day in the carriage yelling commands and whining about how long the journey was and how he was better than everyone else. At some point Thorus almost hit the brat. He just wanted to be home again.

"Ey giant!" a voice yelled and Thorus flinched. Again that voice!

"How long do we have to ride until we reach the Academy?" the beloved crown-prince of the empire asked leaning out of the carriage.

"Three more days... your majesty." Thorus said trying to sound as friendly as possible. He really tried to ignore the fact that the boy hadn't even bothered with remembering his name and just went on with calling him "giant".

"Hm" the little brat said.

"Are you sure we are on the right path? I mean if I remember correctly you said we would take one week. And we're on the road for one week now. Couldn't it be that you're too stupid for reading maps?"

The ten year old smiled when his guard broke out into laughter. Thorus had to suppress the urge to kill the little piece of shit. Instead he smiled and said:

"No surely not. I just hadn't considered that you had to take a carriage. In my mental absence I had thought your mother would let you ride, but how could I be so wrong? Of course a ten year old girl is far too delicate to ride a horse for seven days straight."

The laughter that erupted from the guards was much louder this time. The little prince's face went beat red from anger and he pulled his head back into the carriage. Thorus sighed. Only three more days! He was sure he could deal with that.

As the lesson was over and Jarko and Broth sat under one of the trees next to each other leaning against the trunk. The summer was starting and it was pretty hot. Not extremely hot ,but hot enough for Jarko who was used to colder climates. Broth laughed at his friend's demeanor.

"Man it's not even that hot." he told Jarko.

Jarko looked to his new friend smiling.

"It is pretty damn hot. You're just so dumb that your body is becoming numb."

Broth laughed at the good natured teasing.

"Maybe you're right." he said.

"Yeah probably. Now seriously, how come you have no problem with this heat?"

Broth laughed.

"Well, my family lives on one of the islands of the state of Aestoria, the most eastern state. This is as hot as a winter in my home. I think you'd die when you were there in summer!" Broth laughed.

" Aestoria, hm?" Jarko thought. He had heard of the State of Aestoria where the winter never ruined the crops and the sweetest fruits as well as the most beautiful flowers grew. For him it always sounded like paradise.

'I wonder if I will ever go there...' he thought to himself.

He looked over to his friend, seeing a thoughtful gaze on his face.

"You miss home, hm?" Jarko asked him.

"Of course I do" Broth answered, breaking out of his day dreaming.

"Don't you miss your home?"

Jarko was completely caught off-guard by the question. Did he miss home? Of course he did but he knew he didn't want to go back. Here, at the Academy, he had more freedom he ever had at home. Also somehow all memories he had from home were bittered, when he thought to the day his parents sold him to Thorus.

"I don't miss home." he finally said to Broth. " I am not here for long, but somehow I think this will make a nice home."

Broth smiled at that although it was kind of a sad smile.

"I don't know whether I should be envious or if I should pity you... "

They were silent for a short time. Jarko nearly fell asleep on the tree when Broth told him that they needed to hurry for their next lesson.

'Hey you there buddy? You've got some explaining to do.' Jarko said in his head as he walked away from his last lesson of the day to his room.

"Huh? What?"the voice said sounding ... sleepy?

'You're a non-physical presence in my head... why would you even need sleep?' Jarko asked partly amused.

"You wouldn't believe if I told you... Now what do you wanna ask me, your wise and allknowing guide?"

'For a guy without a body he has one hell of an ego.' Jarko thought to himself.

"You know that I am in your head, right? I hear what you think."the voice answered.

'Yeah whatever...' Jarko thought back, opening the door to his room.

"So what do you want to know?"

'You promised to explain this watch thingy to me.'

"You mean yoursight?"

'Yeah that one.'

"Alright... How do I start..."the voice pondered, while Jarko sat down on his bed.

"You know there are planes, right?"

'You mean like heaven and hell?'

"Yes, there are a bit more, but yes. You live on the physical plane, and with your normal eyesight you can perceive the on layer of this plane, of this reality."

'A layer?'

"Yes. Every plane consists of different layers and sometimes they share one layer. Just imagine it like a pile of books, each book a plane and every page a layer. It tells you something about the book but not everything."

'Okaaayy...'

"Now thesightgives you the ability to see different layers of this reality. For example when you went outside the door and used the sight for the first time you were able to see the magical layer. You could see magical structures and of course the alarms. Do you understand everything so far?"

'Yes I do, but exactly how much of these layers exist?'

"Countless."

'And I can see every single one of them?'

"Only if you're moving on the plane they are a part of."

Jarko thought about that for a moment. It was a lot to swallow. He wondered how he could change the layer he was seeing. He thought back to the first time he used his sight, concentrating on it. Suddenly his vision change. He saw everything with the blue filter of the magical layer everytime he thought about it Jarko's vision changed.

"Wow." he said out loud involuntarily. Then another thought struck him.

'How many people are able to do that?'

"Except you? No one I know of, so I guess no one at all."

Jarko fell back on his his bed. Less than ten days ago he was just a little farmboy. Now he had already summoned a demon and did things other people didn't even dream about. A smile curled up the corners of his mouth, one moment before he finally fell asleep.

Jarko hated his life right now. Well it wasn't really hate but he sure as hell wasn't ok with the way it was going right now.

"Stop the whining you wanted to do this."the voice scolded.

It was the deepest night again and Jarko stood in the middle of the burnt circle he had left in the clearing the night before. He had broken out of the Academy again, although this time he didn't have to knock the guards out. They were sleeping by themselves just fine.

'Of course I wanted to do this but I'll be tired tomorrow regardless if I want this or not.'

With this Jarko tapped into his magic and let it flow through his body. It was still an overwhelming feeling even if he was able to control it now. The young Magus lifted his right arm and pulled back his sleeve revealing the pitch black tattoo to his eyes.

'I wonder if it's going to stay there forever...' he thought to himself when he started to concentrate his magic on it.

At first nothing happened. For a short moment Jarko wondered if he did something wrong when the hilt of the sword began to glow purple. The glow wandered down Jarko's arm filling out more and more of the tattoo until all of it was glowing. When that happened Jarko saw something in front of him appear out of thin air. It was a ball of light, glowing in the same color as Jarko's tattoo. Slowly it became bigger and bigger until it stopped at the size of one of the gates back at the Academy. Out of it stepped Caedes, again naked from the waste up with two swords hanging at his sides his predatory grin still on his face where Jarko had seen it last.

"Hello little Magus!" he said showing his shark like teeth, stretching his arms and with them his huge batlike wings.

"Hello Caedes." Jarko said trying to show no fear or any other emotion although failing miserably. Of course Caedes looked right through his masquerade. Smiling he took another step forward. Always one to be dramatic he timed a snap of his fingers with the moment the portal vanished completely.

"Soooooo" he asked Jarko, "ready for training? Or are you going to chicken out?"

Jarko hesitantly shook his head.

"Alright." the demon said taking of the belt which held his swords. "I guess you don't want to start with swords right away, or do you?"

Jarko shook his head again, but more forcefully this time. Ohhh how Caedes enjoyed intimidating this little human! He felt like a cat playing with a mouse and like a cat he grinned again when he took in his first fighting stance. Of course Jarko knew the training had officially started and took in his stance in too. Then they started circling each other both of them waiting for the opponent to make the first move. They were slowly nearing each other. Caedes was just wondering if the boy would attack at all when Jarko struck. He aimed a kick directly at Caedes' front foot. That actually caught the demon off guard but not for long. Quickly he pulled his leg back causing Jarko to miss and lose his balance. From there it just took a blow to the boy's ribcage to send him flying. Although he was a sadistic evil being from hell he retracted his talons not wanting to damage his new toy.

Jarko lay there in the ash for a while. The demon had moved so incredibly fast! He didn't even see the hand before he felt it. Feeling it he was! It hurt like a motherfucker. Groaning he stood again and took in his stance. Caedes face was a mask his trademark grin washed away and replace by stone.

"Never underestimate your opponent!" he said coldly his face showing no emotion at all. Jarko thought he was afraid of the demon when he was grinning like a cheshire cat but he had been wrong. This cold, calculating and emotionless expression was much worse. One could nearly see how Caedes pondered about the best way to attack and destroy. He got up anyway. He wouldn't show any fear. Like the voice said he chose to do this by himself and he would not back of from his decision. Raising his arms to take in his stance again he took Caedes into focus again.