Master mage ordained mag.., p.6
Master Mage: Ordained Magic: Book Three, page 6
“I’ll cast a simple ward on you before you leave. I imagine if nothing happens for three days it won’t, but I’ll know immediately if you’re attacked and where you are.”
He said, “That is less invasive than commune.”
Commune was a great and simple glyph spell, but it was like a video call, only more intimate, because you felt the person’s presence, and could see what they were doing. We’d used it before to watch out for each other, but it would be awkward to keep it going while getting ready for bed or sleeping.
I laughed, “Just a bit,” I said in understatement. “I was actually thinking of building a master communication spell, a very simple one that carries voice only, and only when the intent to pass it on over the spell is present. It could also communicate the knowledge of location bidirectionally. It could also include the ward I plan to cast, to notify me of your location when you’re under attack.
“I was thinking we could always have that on, the five of us.”
He nodded slowly, “Not much different than us all carrying walkie talkies with GPS.”
I grinned, “Exactly. A very succinct and good description of what I had in mind for the spell, yes. It will also cover the times we’re attacked by surprise when we’re not expecting trouble. We won’t have to take a second or two to call in the calvary, and we can just focus on surviving long enough for our friends to arrive. Most importantly, we won’t have to sacrifice our privacy for that safety net.”
I’d use it for family too. Well, that was my next project, after finishing the Restoration master spell.
“Anything else going on?”
He shook his head, “Nothing to worry about. We’re still working on a plan to get close to our counterfeiters, or at least ID them. All the other cases we get are pretty straightforward and simple. Crimes of passion for the most part, assault and such.”
“I have something.”
I took a moment to fill him in on Rachel’s visit, who she was, and what she’d said and demanded last night. Also, my conclusions that it put us next in line, after they’d finished absorbing Oklahoma there was little doubt they were coming for us. I suspected we had about a month to prepare for it, it took some time to absorb a city and fold it into their rules and authority. They weren’t exactly the Mongol hoard rolling over everything and leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake. They were systematically conquering, killing the old rulers, and then taking their place. A process that took time to do right.
As disgusting as it was, they were at least competent at doing it, and minimizing the horrors. Not that it put them on my Christmas card list, it was a grudging acknowledgement. If they were truly enlightened, then they wouldn’t be conquerors at all.
Regardless, they needed to make sure they had a firm grasp of a city’s mage population before moving the occupying army out of it to their next target. Otherwise, there’d be no end to problems. Mages after all, would be a total nightmare using guerrilla and terrorist tactics in a resistance.
He said, “You need to find a de-aging spell after that.”
I laughed, “Sure, all that would need to happen would be turning back time, while preserving and reinserting memories. I mean, if you were de-aged, you’d literally forget everything that happened to you past the age of your regression point.”
I blinked, where had that come from, and holy crap! I could totally do that.
An ethical way to extend life, without sacrificing others. Apparently, I’d already figured it out in my subconscious, I just hadn’t consciously grasped it until Brett asked his question and my mind had answered it.
He said, “I was joking.”
I nodded absently, a little in shock. I so needed to go talk to Gabriella about this. It wouldn’t be true immortality, I could still be killed, but I could regress my body’s age for a year, once a year, and stay where I was. I also didn’t think it could be used to resurrect someone. The spirit or soul would be long gone, and restoring the body to an earlier age would not recall it. They’d just… be a younger and prettier dead person.
The problem was, I wasn’t sure I wanted it, or what ramifications it would have if I dared to share it, or if I dared to keep it to myself. In the latter case, people would eventually notice me and my family never aged, and most people would kill for that master spell. I’d also have to watch all my friends die, and what I loved turn to dust with the turn of new ages.
I’d be hated for keeping it for myself and called selfish. Which to an extent would be true, but the reason I might take that route was to prevent the chaos that spell would have on human society and culture. It could even be argued only the master mages that learned from the gods will have earned the right to an extended life. I didn’t owe anyone a longer life, just because I had the knowledge to do it.
If I gave it to everyone, well then no one would die if they managed to become a master mage and got access to the spell. I could after all, make the spell only work for the caster of it, and not be able to be targeted on others. People would also grow more paranoid and afraid of death, if they had the potential to live eternally. Life was like money and power that way, humans would go to any length to keep money and power if they had a great amount of it, and life, time, was the most precious of the three. The one thing that could never be replaced. Until now, anyway. A glut of time would make people crazy in protecting it, and perhaps ironically, a lot of people would stop living, stop taking risks in life.
It would transform what it meant to be human, and not necessarily in a good way. I’d said it earlier when this subject and possibility had come up. An intrinsic part of the precious value of life was its finite nature.
The magicless would also hate us, if we didn’t share that bounty.
I wasn’t at all worried about overpopulation, there were already twenty ships out there looking for new worlds to settle, and we already had one. That problem had already been solved.
Unless a violent death came to call, then at the end of all of our lives we would grow corrupt to the point of needing to be put down. Corrupt, cynical, and downright tired of living. Corruption eventually would get everyone, if we lived forever. Even my principles and morals would be worn down over millennia. Not that I was better and more determined than anyone else, it’s just for anyone that didn’t want ruling power as an ambition, it was a lot easier to keep to our principles.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, was a truism, not just a cliché. It was human nature.
I really wasn’t sure I wanted to open that Pandora’s box.
So, of course I wanted to speak to Gabriella about it, since she was the only one that I could get advice from. I also wasn’t in a hurry, I had a whole lifetime to figure it out, and at any point I could be young again in an instant.
Being a master mage was hard, and I let myself wallow in that self-pity for a moment, the responsibilities on my shoulders just kept growing. Then I threw it off, life wasn’t meant to be easy, and I could handle it. Even if it meant taking that epiphany to the grave.
Often in magic, what you should and shouldn’t do, were far more important than what you could and couldn’t do.
On a smaller scale, I could create a second chance spell. One that turned back time a minute or two and moved a mage to a safe location, should the mage be killed while enchanted with the spell. The soul or spirit didn’t move on in an instant, so in that case it should work fine to even reverse death.
Unless of course, it was dispelled along with the mage’s protections, before the mage died.
I finally noticed Brett was looking at me in a kind of sick hopeful fascination.
I laughed, “So, do you know how to turn back time in a localized area? I’ve got the memory part covered.”
His shock turned to annoyance, “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
I snickered, and I gave him a teasing look. I thought I’d covered well enough even as I felt guilty for doing so. He clearly thought I’d faked my reaction to wind him up. I hadn’t lied, I just asked him if he knew how, I’d never said I didn’t. He’d just made assumptions from that statement that weren’t true at all.
I wasn’t a fan of secrets, and especially deception even through misdirection, but sometimes they were necessary, and it was the reason I had a private master spell book to begin with.
When I talked to her later that morning, Gabriella was just as gob smacked as I’d been, on how simple it would be to extend a life indefinitely. She wasn’t sure what to do either, save the one thing we could do, stuff the knowledge back in the box and forget it. A master spell that I would title Life Extension, if I ever had the guts to build it. I mean, technically, from a universal standpoint, my life would still be finite and a little over a century long at best.
It’s just, I’d keep moving backwards on that limited timeline, while transferring the lost memories to keep my present self and personality preserved. Just, not anytime soon. I already looked too young to my eyes, in my late twenties I looked to be in my early twenties thanks to all the daily healing and maintenance spells. If I did do it, I’d aim for the late twenties as a forever spot.
Still, I moved on, put it out of my mind and I’d let my subconscious chew on it. I had Restoration to finish, and the GPS walkie talkie master spell on deck. There was plenty of time to figure out all the pitfalls and advantages, and to make a decision.
Of course, magical walkie talkies were better, since the technological ones couldn’t gulf the stars.
Chapter Seven
It was late afternoon, and Carlos and I were watching a movie. Well, we had a romantic comedy going on the television, but more than half the time we were chatting or paying attention to Liam who was running around and getting into everything. He was adorable, but also a handful.
That was when my ward on Brett warned me that he was under attack, and it gave me his location.
I stood up and activated the teleport enchantment. Which was faster than the elemental, by a second or two. A precious second as it turned out, since I arrived to watch three Cartel mages and their elementals completely overwhelm Brett’s protections. Clearly, they planned to overwhelm both him and Violet in succession, which was the smart way to do it, honestly.
I hated to say it, but these horrific examples of humanity were probably the most intelligent I’d faced in a mage duel or skirmish, almost none of my opponents had ever fought smart before.
Brett may have been incinerated on the spot, if cartel mages weren’t known for horrific deaths to make an example of what happened when they were crossed, so Brett was merely heavily burned from head to toe. Not good, but at least he was alive for me to drop a master protection spell on him, along with a heal at the same time.
I had surprise on my side, and the three of them hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to focus their attacks on me or their second primary target first. Which allowed me to get in an extra attack before they acted on a contingency plan they probably hadn’t had to use much before. They had to think it through before acting because it wasn’t reflex for them yet.
Brett also needed that moment to recover his senses after being healed.
Violet was attacking one of them, so I joined her and sent out a potent dispel enhanced by elemental fire, even as my air elemental bombarded that target with elemental air magic to strip away his protections.
That one moment of advantage, a split second, was long enough to turn the battle as Violet’s sleep spell broke through with my and both of our elementals’ aide. Essentially switching the odds from the beginning, it was now three to two in our favor.
Both of them attacked me with spells and elementals, but my master protection spell made that the worst choice they could’ve made.
At the same time, the three of us targeted the second one in flawless teamwork, and we took him down hard. No need for a sleep spell, the mage was knocked out by Brett’s earth elemental.
The last one tried to run, but our elementals took down his elemental so fast he’d barely moved fifteen feet when he fell to the ground, and our spells broke through and knocked him out.
Unfortunately, while that was happening the other two unconscious cartel mages were dragged away by their elementals which must’ve had orders to do so if they lost the battle yet still lived. They were long gone, before we could get off yet another spell. Still, we had one of them, and we were all still alive.
I cancelled the spell I’d put around Brett, even as he implanted a suppression implant in the cartel mage we’d caught and restored his own protections.
Brett said, “We won’t get anything out of him, his cartel buddies would kill his whole family and anyone else he’s friends with for such a betrayal, but at least he’s off the street and he’ll be in jail for a long time. Thanks for coming, that hurt.”
Violet nodded, “Yes, thank you. You also need to be careful, they’ll want revenge on you for ruining their plans to punish us. So, we’ll ward you too.”
I’d already gone there in my head, so nodded. Rosa had my master protection spell, and my mother had my old one which was still the best non-master protection out there. My husband and son were also protected by me, and I’d make sure to cast it on my young brother as well.
I was taking it very seriously, which is why I wasn’t too worried about it. Not arrogant exactly, just sure of my power and that I’d done all that could be done. Next time we’d know to take down the elementals of the ones we knocked down first, even if that meant taking more attacks on our protections. Next time, none of the bastards would escape and get to go home. Not until they’d served a jail sentence, anyway.
Brett said, “I’ll do what I can too.”
“I need to get back, just bailed on my son and Carlos without explanation. Keep me in the loop.”
They nodded in understanding, and cast those ward spells, before I teleported home.
Carlos took me in his arms, “Everything okay, baby?”
I nodded, “Just making enemies of the Cartels, and let’s not forget that despot in Louisiana. Almost makes me want to move to Cassiopeia, instead of just vacationing there.”
Carlos chuckled, “That’s all?”
I sighed, “Pretty much. I’m taking it seriously, so try not to worry too much.”
Two impossible problems to solve. The cartel would keep escalating, and the Louisiana guard was a juggernaut, if a slow one. I still wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with either of them, without going back on my word and principles and building offensive master mage spells.
Louisiana was the biggest potential threat of the two, but the cartel was far more ruthless, cunning, and lacking in humanity. I was worried what the Cartel might do once I’d truly proven myself unassailable, at least to their level of magic. I feared they’d turn to terrorist tactics, and hurt the people of San Antonio, then blame it on me and call it my punishment.
I’d figure out something.
I looked at the television, “You paused it.”
He chuckled, “We were only half watching it, but it seemed like the thing to do.”
I asked, “Up for some shopping?”
I needed the brain break, and to focus on something important to me that was lighthearted in nature. I usually dealt with pressure quite well, but when I was the focus of it, I got stressed. Despite enjoying mage duels, and admitting that to myself, I wanted nothing to do with a war against Louisiana or one against the cartels.
Add in the fact of immortality. I’d never looked for it, had planned to just be the best I could in my lifetime, and bow out like we were all supposed to. I mean, I never would have chased it, but now that it was in my grasp, I found I wanted it. Wanted it despite knowing how complicated it would be, and the trouble it would bring.
Point of fact, Carlos. I’d been looking forward to growing old together. To one day be that old retired couple still in love taking walks hand in hand down the beach. That was seriously one of my dreams. Some couples did go that distance, but would we be able to stand each other after two thousand years?
I kind of doubted it, and that disturbed me. That didn’t mean the time we had together would be an iota less precious, but it was still disturbing.
I just, felt like I had way too much on my shoulders that I didn’t want there. There was no stress in taking care of the health of San Antonio’s population, or in chasing after the next idea in magic, or even taking down a bad guy, which is what I loved to do. Yet, I couldn’t put any of it down, no one else could do what I could, and I suspected if anyone in the society was going to be like me and get the full teaching from the gods, it would’ve already happened.
I hit myself with a calm spell, something I didn’t like to do, but I was too close to a meltdown. I had less than a month to figure out what to do about the upcoming invasion, and dealing with a cartel would only be slightly less harrowing.
A week really. If I ended up making a master spell to make the problem go away, then it’s likely it’d take me two to three weeks to get it done.
Apparently, my plan to let my subconscious chew it over for a while wasn’t really an option and felt more like burying my head in the sand hoping the problem would spontaneously go away. I had some time to deliberate carefully, but I had to make sure I didn’t cross from that into the realm of denial and wishful thinking.
The spell helped to stop the spiraling, almost immediately. Like a fast-acting valium. It really was okay too, as long as I didn’t start doing it every day, or even more than once or twice a month if I needed it.
I mean, a mage couldn’t get drunk to blow off steam, so that spell was my best choice to take a chill pill from life and mentally recover, even while still being able to focus and perform spells. As long as I kept in mind it could also be dangerous, I’d be okay. Just like alcoholism was a danger to a nonmagical looking for strength at the bottom of a glass too often.
Everything in moderation.
