Redemption, p.9
Redemption, page 9
part #1 of Earth Sorcerer Series
At that reassurance that he wouldn’t be mad about a pack being wiped out on behalf of vampires, I went into further details.
I figured out in short order the eight others at the table set the tone and direction of the pack, the other six taking their cues directly from Jared and Reah. Jared ruled the pack as alpha, but the mystic was responsible for the tone and spiritual health of the pack. A little like a chief and shaman would be for a tribe, I imagined.
I didn’t exactly feel welcomed with open arms, with the exception perhaps of Reah and Miku, but nor did I feel like an unwanted invader on their territory. We just had to earn each other’s trust. I got the impression that even this limited welcome was mostly credit to Miku’s opinion of me. In truth, my kind weren’t all that trusted in the supernatural world. Sorcerers I mean. Her words on my behalf had helped with the vampires and Katy as well, I was sure.
To be fair, most of my kind weren’t that trustworthy either.
It would take time to bring us all closer, and I was sure when I stuck around even after the cabal was dealt with, it would help a great deal. Of course, their sensitive noses and a few well-placed questions would help with that too, no doubt. Vampires could sniff out the truth, and shifter noses were even more sensitive.
It was a good night, and the barbequed steak and chicken was fantastic. Shifters loved food, and they didn’t settle for second best. All of the meats were obviously restaurant quality. I thought it went well enough, and I made a few more connections that night, but as Reah told me it would take time before they’d be willing to ally. For me… I had nothing against the idea, but I’d be more than satisfied with just being a friend of the pack, and welcome on their land. There was no critical need on either of our sides to make that alliance. If we ever did, unlike the witches and vamps, it would be purely for mutual defense without other side benefits for unseen future threats.
Still, not everything was about alliances and security, and it felt good to make personal connections with no strings attached. In fact, I think a part of me even preferred it that way. If I won their friendship and trust it would be because of who I was, not what I was.
I took my leave when the long dinner finished up, and they all got up to shift and go for a night run before bed. The pack wasn’t body shy at all, and they wouldn’t have minded if I stuck around longer. Nudity wasn’t a taboo in a shifter pack, but all things considered it seemed wise to take my leave before they all started to strip.
After all, I didn’t want the job of suppressing my latent attraction to Reah to become any harder, and I wasn’t sure if I could’ve resisted the urge to look if I’d stayed.
Chapter Ten
It was later that night and I was in the guest condo at the coven building, when I felt a familiar surge of air magic and presence enter my room.
Kas grinned, and practically tackled me on the couch. I’d be lying if I said my best friend’s soft feminine flesh, warmth, and lovely scent wasn’t a bit distracting, but at the same time the romance between us was definitely in the past. Despite the fact she burrowed into side.
“Hi.”
Kas giggled, “Hi yourself. Not quite an emergency yet, but the cabal knows where you are. I don’t expect it took their agents long to find you, considering your new license and bank accounts.”
“Not quite?”
Kas nodded, “They’re wary of Melody. No doubt it will take them a day or two to come up with a plan or approach. I also have a gift for you, since I consider you family, and you’re ready for it. You did good today, I’m proud of you.”
I sighed, “I don’t suppose you’d tell me if I ask how you know all that.”
Not only what the enemy was up to, but me as well.
Kas winked, “Family magic secrets, ones I won’t share.”
“You know Ceara?”
Kas tilted her head, “We’ve met, before I knew you. I got her out of a tight spot once, a while back.”
“How long a while?”
Kas just smiled mysteriously, and more than a little impudently.
I laughed, and gave up, “Fine, a present?”
Kas said, “I need it back after you read it,” and pulled out a diamond the size of a fist.
The diamond had a pinkish cast to it, and I could already feel it was packed with information. Not history, but information, like another earth sorcerer had imbued the gem with knowledge and facts. Much like the warning Melody left on Pulse’s foundation, or the cabal’s claims on mining deposits. I gave her a curious look.
“Go ahead, take a look,” she urged with a teasing smile.
My magic reached out and read the diamond, and as the information flooded my mind I felt shock. It was the knowledge of an earth sorcerer, techniques and possibilities with our magic. Most of it I’d already figured out on my own, but there was also a lot of it that was quite new. Some of it was even currently beyond my ability, given my reach of three hundred feet, but which I’d be able to take advantage of in a year or two depending on my continued growth.
The most shocking information was the third thing we could do with earth. Not just manipulate it, or read and write to it, but to change it. I’d already figured out how to mimic certain metals in my raw elemental non-physical magic, like to conduct and contain electricity. I could even use my magic to create coils and transformers to change the frequency of the electricity I used to knock out and erase the short-term memory of humans.
That mimicking was the first step in changing earth on the most elemental level. In short, I just learned how to turn clay into gold, or a ruby into a diamond, or… so much more. It took a lot of magic to accomplish, and it hadn’t been so long ago that my magic had grown to the three-hundred-foot reach.
Still, I could destroy economies with that ability, if I abused it, and I wondered if that’s why she’d withheld this information until I wasn’t on the run anymore. It wouldn’t be wise at all to start churning out gold bars from buckets of dirt for instance. On the other hand, it would allow me to provide those few precious gems and metals Katy and Tina would no doubt want for their spell craft. Limited use for spell craft wouldn’t hurt the economy at all, because those gems would never enter the economy.
I could not only change it but organize it on the molecular level. I could literally create a sword out of dirt, that was made up of three different carbon allotropes, to make it far sharper, lighter, stronger, and more flexible than a steel sword could ever be. That was a simple example for something with almost endless applications.
It was so cool I almost regretted the fact I didn’t use weapons besides my magic.
Changing and organizing earth related matter at the atomic level was just two of the new concepts I learned that night that struck me as important, though there were many other things too. They all added to my modern human scientific knowledge of material sciences from reading a library, and I wasn’t even sure where to start on the possibilities.
The information Kas gave me on that night was absolutely priceless.
The other new information while not as far reaching, was still useful. While it was impossible to travel through the realm of earth, I had to slog through the actual Earth below the surface at great speeds, that didn’t mean there was nothing I could do with that separate realm or dimension.
Earth sorcerers weren’t able to do things outside of their immediate reach, any magic or shields created would fade and die when leaving the area. Which is why I needed the witches for wards and such. But, it was possible for earth sorcerers to create a distant connection through the realm of earth. Or I should say, it was possible to connect two pieces of earth through the realm in my immediate globe of influence, then leave and continue to maintain that connection to the second through the first which would be carried on me.
My aura would partially be in the two places at once. Similar to the scientific theory of entangled particles, but not that.
Of course, as soon as I stopped maintaining it with magic, that connection would drop, and I’d have to go back to that place to reestablish it. But I could think of a handful of possibilities where that would come in useful. Not least of which was as a weapon from outside my range. If I practiced holding that connection long enough, it would also become as second nature and as subconscious an act as holding my shields had become.
Another thing I learned about the earth realm and accessing it through my gateway element was it was my soul doing it, not my mind. My soul is what made me an earth sorcerer, not my physical body. I wasn’t sure how or if that helped me, but it was interesting information.
There was much more, far too much to list here.
It was pretty clear to me all the new information would also take me to my full potential. Even if I learned nothing further about my magic for the rest of my life, all that I needed to do to reach my full potential was to practice and gain experience to finish growing. It’d still take me another handful of years to reach six hundred feet, and another sixty or so to reach a thousand, but the information cut out the other requirements.
Another advantage is I now knew what those very powerful sorcerers after me were capable of, as well as their limitations. Not that it would stop them from stomping me flat if I faced them alone in that moment, but it didn’t hurt to have that added slight edge.
“This is incredible, Kas,” I said in an awed voice.
For just a split second, I saw a look of pity on her face, but it was gone so fast I questioned what I saw, and it didn’t really make sense to me given the context of the moment. There was so much other stuff on my mind I just dismissed it as unimportant, and possibly just my imagination. Plus, I was used to mysteries around my Kas.
Kas grinned, and then put the diamond away.
“Thanks for sharing that,” I said softly.
She said, “I hope it helps you.”
I also wondered what an air sorceress was doing with a diamond full of earth sorcerer knowledge that she couldn’t even read, much less use. I did know she wouldn’t answer me if I asked, with anything but quoting family secrets, so I just swallowed the curiosity. Maybe she had an earth sorcerer in her family tree? Plus, I was feeling far too grateful in that moment, not to mention my mind was spinning with new possibilities, so I let it go.
She changed the subject, “So… Katy?”
I grunted, and played stupid, “What about her?”
Kas gave me a penetrating look. She was quirky, shameless, and a bully, but I wasn’t all that sure that I wanted to discuss it with her. Still, I reluctantly relented.
“I like her, enough to date her at least, but I need to get my new life settled and straight in my head before I complicate it.”
Kas looked almost wistful at that admission.
I asked, “Does that bother you?”
I knew we were over, but then I hadn’t dated anyone or been interested in anyone since we’d broken up. Possessiveness wasn’t something that only men felt, or so I believed.
Kas shook her head, “Not really. I love you. You’re cute, and you’re a wonderful man when your head isn’t up your ass, but we made a horrible couple despite the way you curled my toes at night. You deserve to find someone. Don’t put it off too long, connections are what makes the complications of life worth it.”
I ignored the head up my ass part of her comments, and I took the rest as a compliment.
“What brought this up?”
Kas smirked, “I know you too well. Life will always be complicated, and you’ll be happier if you do as your told. Otherwise you’ll wait too long and keep putting it off. We’ll deal with the cabal when they show up, don’t let them put your life on hold.”
“I will?”
She nodded, kissed my cheek, and laid her head on my shoulder.
“Of course, you’ll be happier. I’m very wise, you know.”
I laughed.
There was a warmth and intimacy in her actions, but it was one of deep ties and affection, not romance. Of course, I was hardly a stone, and she was an exquisitely beautiful woman, but there was no true heat between us anymore. I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not, I had nothing to compare it to.
I asked, “Were we that bad together?”
She giggled, “No, we had a lot of fun, and your more than attractive enough, but you’re not the one for me, nor me for you. Great sex and intense chemistry aren’t enough. You’re like a rock above the waves, storming my weather, confident and strong but reserved. My equal in that way, but I need someone that pushes back as hard as I push. It’s why we fought so much, I kept pushing you further and further hoping you’d push back, but you just stood strong and immovable. You need a strong woman that will stand content on your foundation.”
“And you think Katy is that woman?”
She shrugged, “Nothing is perfect, but yes. She’s strong but not nearly as tempestuous as I am. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll grow from the experience, and it’ll be a good thing.”
I asked, “Lisa?”
She grinned, but then shook her head.
“Lisa is just nice to everyone, someone that takes joy in life, and she’s a huge flirt. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that your so damn attractive, but she wants and needs a vampire mate who will never age with her. She also isn’t interested in short term fun, and neither are you, so make friends with that one. As cruel as this last point will sound, you also need a woman who can have your child.”
Ouch, that was rather pointed, even for Kas. Women vampires couldn’t have kids, but hard or not she had a point. Lisa was a sexy woman and fun, but even if we were compatible in every other way, I’d never live forever, and she’d never give me a child. Deal breakers for both of us.
Kas knew that was something I wanted, a family I mean, and successor, but only when the time was right. I wasn’t in a hurry. I was still very young for a sorcerer, with just under four centuries of life ahead of me, if I managed to avoid being killed that is.
Still, patient or not, what was the point in starting something we could never finish.
“How do you know all this? About them I mean.”
She smiled pointedly, and we both said in stereo, “Family magical secret.”
I said, “Someday you’ll have to share.”
She grinned, “Maybe. Maybe even sooner than you expect, but not tonight. Still, you don’t think I’d let you out of my sight with these people, without being sure of them first, do you?”
It was my turn to change the subject.
“What about you, anyone special? You’re gone an awful lot lately.”
I pushed down a surge of wistful jealousy at that thought. We weren’t together anymore, and I didn’t think of her that way, but I’d always love her and see her as mine to a certain extent. Even while realizing that was wrong. The second part I mean.
She said, “Not at the moment. It’s complicated.”
“Well, if you need someone stubborn that pushes back, you should meet the shifters next time I go out there.”
She laughed, “That’s truer than you believe. I’ll consider it, but I might drive a wolf shifter crazy because I would never submit. I’m sorry, Tony. I’ve not been around as much because you don’t need me to be. I realized after we gave up on a romantic relationship, that not only didn’t you need me so much, but that my constant presence was holding you back from finding a real life instead of being on the run all the time. I was keeping you from reaching your full potential, and I do love you, so continue to be bossy even though I know I should butt out. You will always be family to me, and I’ll always be here when you need me.”
She was probably right. The loneliness of my old life was part of the reason I took a chance and stayed. While she’d been around, I’d been relatively happy. It was us two against the world, and I hadn’t felt a lack. At the same time, I felt annoyed that she made the decision on her own, and she was manipulating me and pushing me by her very absence.
She was a bully at times, but that didn’t mean I gave into her either, not all the time. In a lot of ways, she’d finished raising me from a shallow sixteen-year-old boy on the run and scared out of his wits. She’d played the friend and bossy older sister, and for a short time, lover. A lot of my beliefs and morals came from my mother raising me, but I’d be lying to myself if I said Kas hadn’t made a significant mark on me that way herself. Especially when it came to the morality of my power and how I used it.
It was hard to be mad about any of that. I knew she cared for me, but I wished she’d have told me why and discussed it first. Call it… exasperation, anyone with a sibling would probably get it.
“I have a second room that’s always open for you.”
She nodded against my shoulder and sighed in contentment.
“I miss these moments, but life is change. What do you think of Miku? I mean that she’s different. Human being her second form?”
I shrugged, “That doesn’t bother me, and she seems nice enough. The form change is absolute though, isn’t it?”
She wiggled her hand, “Yes, in the same way a shifter turning into a wolf is an absolute change of race. They become wolves. They have all the same instincts as a wolf, the need for pack and close family. But at the same time, they take their human intelligence and values with them in the shift. Similarly, a spirit sorcerer is fully human in human form, but also more, and therefore different.”
I shrugged again, “It is what it is and doesn’t change my opinion of her. Why?”
Okay, call me thick if you want. There were certainly enough clues in my time with her over the last six years, that she was different. Her power to know things an air sorcerer shouldn’t have been able to know, the diamond of earth magic knowledge, her quirks, her blunt bullying and loving personality. In my defense. At the time the idea that she herself wasn’t human, and that she’d just been fishing for how I might feel about it, never even occurred to me. To me she was just my Kas, my family, and I really hadn’t had much to compare her against as far as mature grown women in my life and how they acted.
