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

“Attacks will not be tolerated.” It said and I saw long stone spikes sprouting from its free hand. As Penny swung at it the arm lifted, preparing to sweep down. The force alone would crush her, the spikes were overkill.

A quick word and I created a shield around her, the room shook as the massive arm impacted the shield. My knees buckled at the strength of it. Uttering several more words I thrust my arm out and an invisible fist drove it back to slam into the bookcase behind it. Rose screamed as she swung violently back and forth. “Stop!” I yelled.

The creature froze in place. Well hell… if I had known it was that simple I would have tried that to begin with. “What is your name?” I asked.

“Magnus, master,” it replied.

“Why are you here?”

“I guard the library,” it answered.

“I hate to interrupt, Mordecai, but do you think you could have it release me before you continue your interrogation?” Rose said.

Why hadn’t I thought of that? I took one more good look at her legs… no sense wasting the moment after all, “Magnus please release the woman. She is a welcome guest here.” It let go of her leg immediately, dropping her unceremoniously on her head.

“Ow!” Rose landed hard, forming a confusing pile of skirts and lovely female limbs. I moved to help her up but Penny beat me to her.

“Back off hero...” she said as she helped Rose to her feet. She gave me a hard stare, “I saw that look.”

I was deeply offended by her lack of trust but I figured now wasn’t the time to profess my wounded innocence. “Magnus, what are you?” I turned my attention back to the library guardian.

“A golem,” it answered simply. That helped, I had no idea what a golem was.

“Please return to your station, you will not be needed further today,” no sense admitting my ignorance. “The two women in the room with me are both guests and have my permission to use the library,” I added with an afterthought.

“Yes master.” It walked ponderously across the room and stood in the corner. Once it stopped moving it looked like statue, a particularly ugly and uninspired one. Its ancient creator obviously hadn’t taken many art classes. Then again maybe its creator had been an impressionist. I had never cared much for what they called ‘art’.

“Are you ok Rose?” I asked. She was sitting on the floor rubbing her injured leg. The calf and ankle were forming an ugly bruise. “Here let me see if I can help.” I knelt down to put my hands on her leg.

Penny whispered in my ear as I passed her, “Careful now, I’ve got my eye on you.” Women! You’d think I was half goat by the way she acted. I gave her a wink to put her at ease.

Placing my hands on Rose’s leg I closed my eyes and focused my attention inward, first within myself and then within the leg I was holding. Broken blood vessels and inflamed tissue were the main problem. I repaired as many vessels as I could but the general inflammation was beyond my skill. Hopefully I had limited the extent of the bruising but I couldn’t be sure. I also used a trick I had learned the year before, putting the nerves transmitting pain signals to sleep, numbing the sensations from that area.

“How’s that?”

“Better,” Rose replied, “Thank you.” She put her hand on my shoulder and used me as a support while she got to her feet. “Doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would,” she mused.

“I numbed it a bit. It will start to hurt more later, but with luck the worst will be over by then.”

“I think perhaps I’ll stay closer to you while we search. Most of the magics here seem to recognize you as their master.” Rose was a wonder. She had just been shaken within an inch of her life and she was already calmly reasoning out the best course.

“That does seem wise,” Penny put in, nervous now that it was clear how dangerous the house could be.

A random thought crossed my mind. I wondered how Penny would look hanging upside down. Her legs were easily a match for Rose’s. I considered suggesting we test the theory, but I doubted she would take to the idea. Maybe if we used pillows in Magnus’ hands, so that it didn’t bruise her...

“I don’t like that evil grin on your face Mordecai. What are you thinking?” Penny asked.

“Nothing,” I replied innocently. “Did you find anything interesting in here Rose?” See, I’m learning the fine art of misdirection. Penny pursed her lips, she wasn’t fooled.

“I was just walking around, reading the titles on the spines. I saw one over here titled, ‘The History of Illeniel’, but when I reached up to pull it down your rock monster took offense,” Rose responded.

“And that was when Magnus inverted you?” Something about the word inverted just sounded funny to me. I’d have to find more ways to include it in future conversations.

“I’d like to know who perverted you Mort,” Penny commented dryly.

“Actually I think it meant to warn me away at first, but I was so startled I kicked at it and... well you saw the result,” Rose looked almost embarrassed. That was new to me; normally she was rather like a cat, devoid of shame.

I reached up to pull down the volume that had started all the trouble. I had to admit the title was intriguing. The book was inscribed with runes to preserve it against age and decay so it was difficult to judge how old it was, but I had the feeling it was incredibly ancient. The secrets of ages might lie within its pages. Considering the depths of my ignorance the contents of the library were daunting.

Opening the cover I scanned the first few pages. It had been penned by someone named Arador Illeniel. The name was unknown to me,