Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (top novels of all time TXT) 📗

Dorian here to help with that,” I told them, gesturing to Dorian. He had worn his armor so he made for a formidable sight.

“I’ve seen him walking about in the early morning hours,” the man who spoke was David Tanner, the father of Sadie. I winced inwardly.

“That’s right; I couldn’t keep working on things every day and patrolling at night, so he generously offered to help,” I continued.

“I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley that’s for sure,” another man chimed in. I realized it was Joe McDaniel. Several people laughed at his remark.

I went on, “The fact of the matter is I think I have an idea, or at least some knowledge of what is going on. A few nights ago I was out, with Penelope, and we met something in the dark.” I paused, the next part was difficult.

“What was it? And why were you out there? I thought you were the new Count,” that was from a fellow near the back, I couldn’t see his face.

“I’m sure you have all noticed, but I don’t have much in the way of retainers yet. As your lord I feel responsible for handling this,” I could hear a few people muttering in agreement. “What I found that night… or rather, what found me... was nothing natural. I’ve never seen anything like it. It managed to sneak up on Penelope and me, despite my abilities. That shouldn’t have been possible.”

Joe McDaniel cut in, “You’re not exactly known as a hunter from what I’ve heard, no disrespect yer lordship.”

That took the wind out of my sails. The last thing I could use were doubts at this point, so I decided to put that to rest quickly. “I’m sure you all know by now that I’m a wizard. You’ve seen what I’ve been doing with the workmen’s tools, but I have other abilities you may not have seen. Joe, would you mind helping me for a moment?”

“Sure sir, just tell me what you want,” he grinned. He was an amiable fellow, even if he took more convincing than most.

“I’m going to turn around and when I do, I want you to do something… anything you want. I’ll describe whatever you do,” I turned my back on the crowd. Probably not the best idea when giving speeches, but I didn’t have any better solution.

“Alright, what am I doing now yer lordship?” he called out.

“You’re holding up one arm, your right one,” I answered promptly. That drew a hushed murmur from the crowd.

“How about now?”

“Nothing, except grinning from ear to ear and scratching your nose… now you’re gaping at me,” I replied. I turned back around. “I can see things with my mind, not the same way as with my eyes, but it’s something I do all the time. The thing that approached me that night… I couldn’t see.” The crowd was starting to look fearful, though whether it was because I seemed to have eyes in the back of my head or because of what I was telling them I couldn’t be sure. “It came on me unaware, and it reached through my shield as though it wasn’t there.”

“Shield? Like a wooden shield?” I couldn’t tell who had asked.

“No, here let me show you,” I made my usual shield visible, adding a blue hue to it. I was nervous since some people reacted badly to seeing things so visibly unnatural.

“Holy shit!” someone said. “Merciful lady!” called another. The crowd was shifting now, afraid. Not what I had been trying to accomplish.

“Calm down, I told you I was a wizard already. The important thing is that I’m your wizard, same as I am your lord.” That helped, I think, so I went on, “The thing that found us that night reached through my shield, and if Penny hadn’t beaten it back it would have had me. It eats magic and only physical force worked against it.”

“So what happened to it? Is it still out there? Does it have my Sadie?” That was David Tanner again.

“We killed it; or rather I cut it into several pieces, using plain steel. The worst is that cutting it up didn’t kill it. It was still moving. We had to burn it completely to be sure of things.” The crowd looked uncertain.

“So we’re safe now? What about Sadie, did you find her?”

It was Sadie, I wanted to shout. That would have made things worse, but my frustration was rising now. “We never found her. We killed that one, but there may be more, in fact I feel sure there are. That’s why I’m here now.”

“What did it look like?” Joe piped up. I had to admit it was a good question.

“Like you or me... it looked like a man. Once I had some light on it, it looked just like an ordinary person.”

“So how can you be sure it wasn’t just a man?” he replied. Obviously Joe wasn’t keen on the idea of monsters in the night, or perhaps he wanted to find a way to make things seem easier to deal with.

“With my other sight it looked like an empty hole, like something that didn’t exist. It ate my magic, my spells, as if they were nothing. When it touched me I felt as though it might suck out my very life. It was no man.” I stopped looking at them. This was the point that worried me most. Fear could undo us all, I had to offer them some hope or panic would break out. “I have found a way to fight them though, and a way to protect you.”

My father stepped up then and opened his box, preparing to pull out the new necklaces. I continued, “I’ve spent the last few days preparing these. Penny has one already, and it is the only thing that allowed her to fight the thing without being paralyzed by its power. So I’ve made more of them, one for each of you.”

“What are those supposed to do?” David Tanner