Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification

  Chapter 41

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  Arc 2 – “The hunter and the beast”

  Chapter 25- “Approaching dawn III”

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  The crowd of monsters was divided into two. A girl with silver blonde hair, sped across them effortlessly.

  However, her eyes weren’t exactly full of life.

  If my pact is broken, I will die.

  ‘I get it. But you’re doing exactly what I say. So technically I’m in control of you.’

  No. The god of Order probably has no sway in whatever happens here. We are in a chaotic domain after all.

  ‘I don’t get it. Just force my body to move faster, alright?’

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  1st May, 1886.

  The shapeshifter’s domain,

  Woods belonging to the lord of beasts,

  Pridon.

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  It was still dark.

  He was alone, and he felt as though he was unable to move. Unable to breathe too.

  The air was dry. So was his throat. His eyes were wide open, and he hadn’t blinked for a long time.

  He was like a lifeless corpse.

  Jordan didn’t realize exactly how much time had passed. His mind was fixated on one thing. Death.

  Why hadn’t it come? Why wasn’t he dead yet? Is it still torturing him? He wasn’t feeling the claws on his body anymore, but based on what he knew, Lycan was able to kill him from anywhere, and at anytime. He wasn’t safe. He would never be...

  He was still busy mulling over it in silence when he felt it. Pain. He wondered why he hadn’t felt it before. His skin was still burning because of the acid. His headache wasn’t gone, and the wounds from the teeth of a certain hand monster were still present and bleeding. Maybe the fear dulled the pain. Made him feel absolutely nothing. And now all the pain was coming back, because of whatever he felt on his face just now.

  Was it a slap or a punch?

  William?

  Jordan panted heavily, as though he had been running for a long time and he was out of breath. He finally managed to bring himself to look at William and what he saw wasn’t the same person he saw a few moments ago.

  The hunter stood tall, but was more than just battered and bruised. His weapons were nearly exhausted, only a single gun and a few explosives at his feet. One of the swords was tied to his back. All of his wounds seemed to have worsened, though the gun wound Jordan had made had disappeared. Cracks were forming in his deadpan demeanour. His breathing was still even, but his eyes spoke of some kind of deep seated rage or frustration. Jordan wasn’t a good judge of people, but he thought he saw something akin to sadness in his eyes as well. It seemed as though the exhaustion had gotten to him too.

  ‘Yeah. And he’s been the one fighting the entire time.’

  Jordan stared down at his own hands, the tears finally escaping his eyes. The tears clouded his vision, but he made no move to wipe them away. He just let them fall, in droplets into his mildly blistered hands. He clenched them, tightly.

  ‘And I’ve been standing around, doing nothing.’

  “Jordan. Pick up the gun, or die.”

  He shook his head, smiling all of a sudden.

  ‘But I can’t shoot. I’m not you, William.’

  What the heck am I doing? Journal, I’m crazy, aren’t I?

  His hands were still trembling when he put one of them inside his pocket.

  He took a glance at the monsters surrounding them.

  The sword-fence was gone. His back was touching William’s back. There were monsters on all sides, each one scarier than the last. Their only saving grace was that the monsters had formed a perimeter 3 ft away from the two mages. Jordan knew it was Hunter’s doing. Currently, William was busy blasting them to death, but they were simply too many. Too much for one man with a gun to handle. The monsters were steadily advancing, inching closer and closer towards them.

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  He coughed a few times, before finally breathing in and out. His facial expression was completely calm.

  I became so mad that I forgot how to breathe. How to move. Did one bitchy werewolf scare you that much, Jordan?

  He rolled his neck, exercising the joints a bit. His grip on the quill in his pocket became firm.

  “I don’t need a gun.”

  The diagrams had almost entirely faded from his memory. Though, Journal knew. Unlike Jordan, his trusted companion couldn’t forget.

  “William! Just, hang in there!” Jordan screamed over the noise of the approaching monsters and William’s gunfire.

  “What the fuck are you saying?”

  ‘William, cursing? Damn. This has to be the first time I’ve heard that.’

  He opened up his bag, and got the Journal out. The bag fell out of his hands, as he frantically searched through the Journal. When he glanced at the ground, he found that the bag was gone.

  Cineres et pulvis. Fingere et rubiginem. Reliquiae oblitae, in inanimato mari ablutae. Sanguis innocentium, qui in solo bestiarum devorantium effusus est. Surge et redde oppressores tuos!

  It was William’s spell, not Jordan’s.

  It was also his biggest, most powerful spell yet. Or rather, the biggest most powerful spell Jordan had ever seen.

  Crimson light had surrounded them but not consumed them. The monsters were bathed in it. The red light intensified and burned them before they could get any closer. In seconds, dozens were reduced to ash. But it appeared that the spell didn’t just burn it’s targets. Many of them were moving far slower than they would normally, after being affected by the light. Their bodies appeared to be, decaying somehow. The skin peeling off, and mysterious cuts appeared all over their body before they burnt and died. And even after they were dead, their bodies were still burnt until only ash and black bones remained.

  “What kind of spell is that?”

  “Shut up and help, I’m only slowing them down like this. Theses souls can only fight for me for so long before disappearing forever. In about five minutes this spell would be ineffective. Enough time for you to set-up your shit, right?”

  “Yeah. I guess so.”

  ‘He’s scary. Like Lancaster but less mad, just angry.’

  He found the spell diagrams he was looking for. His slight smile turned into a wide grin.

  The diagrams were drawn in an instant. The chant was converted into written words of magic and added to the diagram. The same diagram was drawn multiple times every second. The exact same spell, compounded on itself countless times.

  Constructio magica

  Tormentum.

  All around the two of them, above each magic symbol, several cannons fashioned themselves into existence.

  These cannons were built (or rather magicked) into existence based on strict specifications laid down on the magic circles, written in words of magic. They each had barrels as long as 10 feet, and weighed about 4.75 long tons( 95 imperial hundredweight).

  Solidae iecit

  The moment he gave that command, cannonballs formed themselves out of thin air, right behind each cannon. The spell diagrams shone even brighter with each item that was materialised.

  “Nice trick. Hold your fire for a minute. Do it the moment I give you the signal; do it’s not wasted.”

  “Got it.”

  The crimson light continued to do whatever it was doing to the monsters. Looking closely, Jordan could see tiny wisps of crimson light hacking away at multiple monsters. The cuts seemed to be coming from those things.

  ‘So why are they decaying? Is the light making them sick? Can things like that even get sick?’

  “Now!”

  Ignis!

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  Margaret fired her projectile sword attack enchantment. But she was doing it blindly- Lycan was nowhere in sight. An innocent tree suffered his fate for him by losing half it’s bark and decaying almost a second later.

  Try harder. You have to want it.

  Margaret turned around and pressed the switch on the side of the clock without hesistating. Another tree crashed to the ground.

  You have to want to kill me. You have to desire my death. Do you?

  “Yes, I do.”

  Prove it.

  A powerful force tossed her to the side again. The pain was immense, so much so that she didn’t get up. She thought heard something snap. It wasn’t a tree. She shuddered at the thought of what organ or bone it could’ve been. Her abdomen felt like it was on fire, and she didn’t have time to cast a healing spell- neither did she have the runes for such a spell already drawn on her body.

  She grit her teeth, trying to ignore the pain.

  ‘Think happy thoughts. There’s no way I’m going to die on my birthday, right?’

  I don’t want to hurt you.

  ‘You already have.’

  Just stop this nonsense.

  ‘My line, not yours.’

  She forced herself up, resting her weight on a tree for support. She saw him. Human form, one hand gone. Eyes shone with a bright blue light. Inviting. Peaceful. Hospitable. Sympathetic.

  Against all of her instincts, she raised her right hand, and gave him the middle finger.

  Red eyes now. Giant scary wolf monster. The transformation was so instant that her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

  ‘That’s better... That way I’m not fighting my dad, I’m fighting this wolf thing.’

  She knew she was lying to herself, but she still hoisted herself away from the tree and swung the blade while pressing the switch down. Instead of dodging again, Lycan met the attack head-on. He charged at Margaret while she activated the weapon.

  He lost another hand, but managed to pin her down with his weight.

  “Those hands aren’t going to heal.”

  Why not sever the head. Go on. Use your tool.

  “I... haven’t killed someone before. And you’re my father.”

  So you believe I’ll call off the attack if you maim me? Is that it?

  “A bit of Power isn’t worth having your hands back. And I’m the only Mage in Pridon that can fix that.”

  I could kill you right now, and find another way. Time magic isn’t as scarce as you think.

  “Maybe. But you won’t kill me.”

  You’re right. I won’t.

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  Jordan stood tall, smirking.

  The smell of gunpowder was thick in the air. Charred carcasses littered the area. The trees were almost entirely cleared, due to all the dangerous spells. The beasts had been utterly annihilated.

  “We did good, didn’t we?”

  “Don’t pat yourself on the back, boy. There are more monsters approaching. Not a tide, but too many for us to handle; given our current condition.”

  Jordan nodded, frowning. He spent most of the Power he had left on that final attack. Now he only had about 10% left in him.

  “What do you mean by condition? I mean, you still have Power, right?”

  “No. I’m almost dry. Though I’m actually talking weapons here. I’m out of bullets.”

  “I can make more.”

  “They’re special. Your construction magic can’t handle them. They have to be made in a particular way or they’ll be useless against these monsters.”

  Jordan stared at the moon. He felt as though, it was all almost over. His heart was racing. He could feel it.

  “It’s almost dawn.”

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