Warlock Ch. 07

"Wait," Artesia hissed. "One wrong move and we're done."

John narrowed his eyes and nodded. He pulled the magic back inside of him, absorbing the flames as fast as they appeared. He traced his hand through the air instead, drawing a pattern and then summoning magic to fill the spell form and create a single glowing ball of light. This light was real. So brilliant it show a full thirty feet and chased away the shadows. John held it high over his head while the tiger ducked and leapt back several feet in surprise.

"Hold!"

John twisted at the new voice. It was a woman's voice, but it held power to it. A voice that was accustomed to being listened to. He strained to see now that the magical light interfered with his demon-sight and witnessed a figure emerge from the darkness.

"Call this beast off and I'll hold," Artesia shout back.

"Sasha," the woman snapped. She followed the great cat's name with a growl.

Sasha shook her head and let loose a growl. Then, as though a torch had been plunged in water, she relaxed and stopped snarling at them. Her path altered, bringing her in a straight line past Artesia towards the newcomer. She passed within ten feet at the nearest and then kept moving until she brushed against the woman's legs and then circled her and sat beside her.

The woman stroked the cat between the ears and then reached around to scratch behind her cheek. If a tiger can be said to grin, it looked like it was doing so.

"I'm sorry to frighten you. Sasha found your snare while chasing a rabbit. She ruined it."

"The rabbit or the snare?" John asked.

"Both."

Artesia stared at the tiger and lowered her blade. She did not sheath it.

"Are you hunting rabbit, or us?" John asked.

"Merely walking," she said. "May I approach?"

"You've got a pet that would frighten a dragon and you're asking me if you can approach?"

"You're a wizard, I learned at a young age to respect wizards. I know one, he's a family friend," she said.

"Please, approach. Artesia, put away your sword."

"My lord—"

"It's okay, isn't it..."

"Jennaca," the woman called from the edge of the light. "My name is Jennaca and my friend is Sasha. We mean you no harm as long as you mean us no harm. There's too much harm in this world as it is, I think."

John smiled. "My thoughts exactly! The world could do with more kindness and affection."

Artesia snorted and sheathed her blade.

"You know, this is the second Sasha I've met in recent history... though I dare say this one is prettier. The first was a sailor. Decent enough woman, but she never really liked me."

"It's a shame how some people are so afraid of magic that they think any mage they run across is going to steal their soul and turn them into some terrible creature," Jennaca said. "I know better, so you don't need to fear that sort of thing with me."

"Tell me, Jennaca, why—" John's words escape him as the young woman stepped fully into the light. She wore hide sandals with straps that wrapped around her foot and ankle. Above that she wore a belt with a loin cloth the fell between her legs. The belt held a small pouch on the front, a hatchet on her left hip, and a quiver with a brace of six arrows on her right hip. She had a short dagger strapped to each of her forearms but her shoulders and belly were bare.

Jennaca also wore a... half shirt? John wasn't sure what it was called. The front of the shirt from her breasts rose to two straps that tied behind her neck. It had laces in the front holding her breasts tight to her chest while the rest of it wrapped around her back. Under the shirt she wore a cloth sash that went from her right shoulder and was threaded between her breasts. It wrapped around her side and John could just make out the hilt of another blade sheathed upside down on the sash as it ran up her back. A short bow was hung across her body opposite the sash, save the bow's string was outside her half-shirt instead of beneath it.

Jennaca looked down at herself and then back up. "Sorry, I seldom talk to people. If I do I try to wear a little more."

"No, no, it's fine," John said. "I'm a traveler and these are your lands, I did not mean to offend, I... well... I was stricken dumb by your beauty."

John heard Artesia suck in a breath through her nose. Shock? Disapproval? Disgust? He wasn't sure and he didn't bother to check.

Jenna bowed her head. "Thank you... oh my, but I don't know your name. She said you are a lord? Do you live in one of these cities? These are not my lands, as you must know if you're a lord. I'm— oh my, I'm sorry. I don't run into people often. I'm talking too much, aren't I?"

John chuckled. "Not at all! My name is John. As I said, I'm a traveler. I'm not a lord of these lands. Would you care to join us at our campfire?"

Jennaca looked down at Sasha and then up at John. She blushed and smiled. "I would... if we're not imposing?"

"Not at all!" John insisted. "We don't have much to eat, but you're welcome to share it with us. Some bread and cheese and sausage. Perhaps some nuts as well."

"We've eaten, thank you. Especially Sasha... she didn't need the rabbit but you know how it is. The rabbit runs and she can't help herself."

"Um, yeah," John said.

Jennaca grinned and walked past them, heading straight for John's wagon and the fire on the other side that couldn't be seen with his magical light shining down on them. He confirmed the sash sheathed a sword, but the blade looked curved and only a little over a foot long. Her dark blond hair was braided tight and still fell to her just below her belt.

John frowned and cancelled the spell, plunging them into darkness. Jennaca let out a squeak but never missed a step, Sasha at her side. The tiger was longer than Jennaca was tall and that was within his tail that swayed back and forth between the grasses. Artesia snorted and started walking. Her hand was still on the hilt of her sword. John followed behind them, fascinated by the strange woman and her exotic pet. He also found his gaze drawn to her firm backside and the teasing flap of cloth that failed to cover both cheeks at the same time.

Corsa cowered on the wagon as Jennaca and Sasha walked through the grasses and into the firelight. Jennaca smiled and gave her a wave as she walked. Sasha looked at Corsa and then focused on Zynga. She greeted the disguised imp with a low rumble in her throat.

Zynga shrugged and giggled, earning a wide-eyed look from Corsa. The halfling shrugged and said, "John's a pussy magnet."

Corsa's frown caused Zynga to roll her eyes. "Another world, forget I said anything."

John and Artesia joined them and John waved Corsa and Zynga over. "This is Jennaca, she's... well, I'll let her tell you. Jennaca, this is Corsa. The halfling is Zynga, my... assistant."

She waved again. "Well met, friends! Or at least I hope we're friends. I'm Jennaca, like he said. This is Sasha. He's cuddly and nice in spite of how long his fangs and claws are, I promise. Well, as long as you're a nice person.

"Anyhow, I'm on a quest, I guess you could say," Jennaca added. She stroked Sasha's back said, "I met Sasha down here a few months back. Some awful people had her chained to a stake and they were making her fight. I set her free and we've been together ever since."

"Seems everybody's on a quest," Artesia muttered.

"Oh? Are you questing too? What for? I'm trying to find my calling... or something. It's hard to explain. We figured this might be the best way to do it since this worked for my mom. She's amazing now... and because I've followed in her footsteps in, like, everything we do, we figured I needed to try doing this too."

"Find your calling?" John asked. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, that's a bad way to describe it," Jennaca agreed. "Mom— my mom, not yours obviously— taught me how to track and fight and be a part of nature. Uncle Carson helped too, but don't tell mom I said that. As a matter of fact, he taught me the bow and swears I'm a better shot than he was at my age.

"Anyhow, mom's got such a tie to the forest and world that she's got some kind of nature magic. She can turn into animals... I mean take their shape and everything! She's still her, but she's not, you know?"

Artesia's eyes were starting to get glassy.

"Do you mean she's a lycanthrope, or a shapeshifter?"

"Oh, not a werewolf or werebear or anything, she's just a shifter."

"Huh," John grunted. "That's powerful magic."

"Mom's pretty amazing," Jennaca agreed. "She's done... well... she's a hero where we're from. I love her and all, but seeing the way people look at her and how they treat her and knowing I'm supposed to live up to that? Yeah... that's another reason I decided to go on this quest to see if I can find my magic."

John smiled. "Your skin and hair... you don't have the accent but I'm willing to wager you're a long ways from home. Shazamir?"

Jennaca grinned. "Close! Mom's from Mira. She was... well... she won't talk about it but I've heard enough from Uncle Carson and Uncle Garrick to put it together. She was a thief down there and that's where I was born too, but she left as soon as I was born and went north."

John tilted his head. The names sounded familiar to him. "Why north?"

"Because she knew. She just knew she had to. She had to meet up with the man that saved her life and set her on a better path. She wanted to serve him. Imagine, a woman, a girl no older than I am now, with a newborn hiking across deserts and swamps and forests and...well... a lot of places trained soldiers don't go! And she made it... she made it and found herself on the way. She says it's because of him, but I think it was her that done it all."

"Him? Him who?"

"Oh! Duh! King Alto!"

Artesia gasped and John jerked his head back in shock.

"He was the one that saved her in Mira. But she saved herself by heading up north and doing all she done. She proved she was worth him knighting her, but I guess it was still him that did the knighting and all."

John narrowed his eyes as he struggled to collect and connect fragmented memories that the king's name pulled out of the darkness of his mind.

"John, are you all right?" Jennaca asked.

John nodded. "Yes... sorry. I... what's your mother's name, Jennaca?"

"Jethallin. Sorry, Lady Jethallin... since she's a knight and all."

John nodded. That name didn't mean anything to him. The others did though. He'd heard them or... knew them? He shook his head and muttered, "Damn!"

Jennaca frowned. "You have a problem with my mom?"

"No," John said and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to remember... Hearing those other names almost reminded me of something. I was hoping hearing your mother's name might fill in more of the blanks in my memory."

"Oh! Well in that case, let me see if there's anyone else you might remember. Let's see, there's Queen Patrina, Lady Caitlin, Patriarch Karthor, he's the high priest of Leandor, uncle Namitus— oops, he's not really my uncle but they all like to call themselves that. Namitus is one of the king's closest and oldest friends. He's always been a great friend to talk to.

"Oh! Who else," she asked herself as she prattled on. "Did I mention Queen Patrina has a unicorn she rides? His name's Winter. He's old, but he's a unicorn so, I don't know if he just gets wiser as he gets older or if he actually gets old. Let's see... did I mention the Princesses, Aleena and Kenna? Those are the king and queen's oldest children, obviously! Um... oh, oh! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention Kar, he's a wizard, like you!"

John's head exploded. It wasn't the overload of names and information, it was the last name she mentioned that made everything snap together.

"Kar's a wizard!" John gasped.

"He's more than that," Jennaca said. "He's, like, The Wizard. At least to hear him talk about himself. Okay, okay, he really is powerful... but he likes to brag about it too. Still, he's sooo nice when he can spare a minute. Karthor's his son, did you know that? A wizard with a priest for a son! I guess Kar's really old too. Like, really old... He likes to talk about that too but he doesn't look that old. Grandfather old, maybe, but he's still pretty active. He— oh, did you want to say something?"

John held his hand up to stop her and he shook his head. "Just... a moment, please."

She shrugged and leaned over to rub Sasha some more. Sasha was glaring steadily at Zynga.

John nodded slowly. "I... I've met him, I think. Long ago."

"Long ago? You're not that old— wait! You're a wizard too! Do all wizards age really, really slow?" Jennaca asked.

"I... no. Magic is complicated. I'm learning to be a wizard," John said. "I'm a warlock too."

"A warlock?"

John nodded.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"My warlock powers come from a pact with a powerful being," John said.

"Like a dragon? It was before my time but I guess a dragon attacked Altonia. He was defeated by a another hero. Aleena. Dame Aleena. Not, like, the princess, but her namesake. She was a paladin. She rode her unicorn, Moonshine, on a rainbow over the city and attacked him. Can you imagine it? Fighting a dragon like that? She must have been terrified... but they did it. She hurt the dragon so bad he crashed and almost died. He limped away before the king could return from defending the north from the Order's armies. King Alto would have finished him off, I bet... a real shame. Still, we've got a statue of Aleena and Moonshine, which is nice I guess.

"I never thought of it until now," Jennaca said. "I whined about growing up in my mom's shadow... but imagine what it's like for Princess Aleena? Her dad is, like, the savior of the north and everything. Her mom's the Princess of the Kelgryn and the Queen of the north. And she's named after one of Leander's chosen that sacrificed herself to save the Queen and the kingdom! Geeze, I kind of feel bad for all the times I wasn't very nice to her because of how she acted.

"No, not a dragon," John somehow kept his train of thought through her barrage. "Perhaps a dragon might offer powers though, I'm not sure. My Mistress is... she's not of this world."

Jennaca's eyes widened. "She's not? Who is she? She's not a Saint, is she? Because then you'd just be a priest, wouldn't you?"

"No, she's not a saint. She's... she's an infernal lord. Well lady, to be precise."

Jennaca's brow furrowed. "Infernal? Like... a demon?"

John winced. "She's a succubus. They aren't demon's necessarily. More like creatures of lust."

"Oh! Lust... well... um... what does that mean for you, exactly? Are you evil? I don't feel like you're evil. But if you are, well, Sasha and I will be leaving. And, I'm sorry John, I was really starting to like you, but if you are evil and if you're hurting people or... or hurting these woman you're with? Well, we'll have to stop you."

John held up his hands to slow her down. "No, I'm not evil," John said.

Corsa scratched her dagger in the dirt and then jammed the dagger into the ground like an exclamation point. Or five. Jennaca and John both looked at the ground and read out loud together, "Savior."

Jennaca looked at Corsa and then at John. "That's good but... are you mute?"

Corsa hesitated and then nodded.

"Oh, well, that's okay. So is Sasha, kind of, but we understand each other just fine. I'm sure we could be that way too."

Corsa looked at Jennaca and then turned to John. John shrugged, he was at a loss. Even the revelation of knowing that he knew who Kar was— or possibly even knew him personally— paled in comparison to the bundle of raw energy that was Jennaca.

"So anyhow," Jennaca circled her wagons and asked, "what can you do, John?"

John blushed. "The magic I learn is like what Kar would know. I have a lot of studying to do— years and years worth, in fact. But the powers my Mistress has granted lets me do some small tricks. Mostly it helps me influence others... most specifically women."

Jennaca looked from Artesia to Corsa to Zynga before returning her gaze to John. "Influence women how? Have you used it on me?"

"Not on you," John said. "I haven't used it on Corsa either. Artesia... we met under conflicted circumstances and I needed her help. I believe she's happy with how it turned out?"

"My life seems to have improved," Artesia agreed.

"I'll take that," John said. "So, the influence? If you have any interest in me at all, sexually, I can enhance that so you'll be willing to do almost anything to be with me."

"Oh!" Jennaca said. Her cheeks flushed and John didn't need his magic to know that she did have some interest in him. He didn't need his magic, but his infernal magic provided the information regardless. He had to wrestle it back inside as it began to reach out for her.

She looked around the campfire again. "So, you're, um, not using it on anyone here?"

"No," John said while Artesia and Corsa shook their heads. Zynga grinned.

"Oh... okay, that's good, I think. So if it's not going to upset anyone, would you like to use it on me?"