Sorcerer: Witch's Woes: Power of Air (Book 3) (4 page)

Thursday, June 2
^nd
, 2016, 6:53 AM

My uncle was working, which as far as I was concerned was
good enough for me.  We had an understanding, he hated but tolerated me while
lying to my face about how good it was to see me whenever I stopped by. 
Actually, maybe I was the only one with the understanding, I’d never let him
know I could feel the lies, but regardless I was happy he was stuck working
tonight.

Amy and Aunt Mary had met Sierra over a week ago, a couple
of days after the full moon ally ritual, and things seemed to go well.  They
had liked her, but I could also tell a part of them was uneasy, their hind
brains could sense the predator within Sierra.  I also wasn’t looking forward
to telling them I was moving in with Sierra and the rest of her
family
. 
In the human world, it was all too fast, without a proper context, I wasn’t
sure it would go over very well added to that uneasiness.

I was more worried about my Aunt though, since Amy was still
a self-absorbed sixteen-year-old.  She might give me a hard time, but she also
wouldn’t pick up on the subtle things that wouldn’t appear to fit.  My cousin
was far from stupid, and I had no doubt she’d be perceptive enough in a few
years once she got over her egocentric phase.

We just made it to the house before seven, and we’d hardly
finished the obligatory family hugs and greetings before my aunt hustled us
into the dining room to eat.  I usually tried to get there early to talk and
spend time, but… between the impromptu meeting at Tara’s store, and Sierra and
Ben time in the shower had taken a blessedly long time, we came in too late for
that.

My aunt asked, “So how is everything?”

I took a moment to really think about that instead of reply
with the kneejerk programmed response of fine, and I realized I had a lot
better stuff going on in my life than my troubles with my friend Mike, and the
tentative friendship I’d forged with Diana taking two steps back.

“Great actually.  The business is doing better than ever,
thanks in part to that interview I did, maybe reporters aren’t so bad after
all.  I also have good news about Sierra and I, I’m going to move in with her.”

I left off the part about my magic, knowledge, and
understanding growing by leaps and bounds.  The last week or so I’d taken time
to just absorb information about things that interested me, as well as the
magic practice I’d done in both fire and air, both separately and combined. 
Medicine, physics, botany, computer science, business, and a more complete
understanding of the races outside of my own.

As far as sorcerers and the elementals, well those were
still mostly blocked, although some small stuff came through on occasion.

But vampires, werewolves, the cat shifters who I hadn’t met
yet at all, and witches I was gaining a good handle on, beyond the basics that
Diana had taught me.

Sierra gave me a sideways panicked glance at the casual way
I’d dropped that conversation bomb, but seemed to relax when my aunt just
looked thoughtful.

Mary asked, “Congrats, though I’m surprised your moving out
of the city, and into her family’s house?  Didn’t you just say things were
going well?”

I wasn’t all that surprised by the question, how could I
explain that I couldn’t make Sierra move from her pack.  For a human it would
make sense for Sierra to move out and in with her independent boyfriend, and be
more independent of her family.  After all, I left my house for similar reasons
when I was eighteen, it had been time to get out and be independent.  She was
twenty-four now, and successful in her family’s business.  Any excuse I could
think of to explain it away would make my aunt think it was a cult of some
kind, now that I thought it out better.

Amy was caught halfway between shock and delight.  Surprised
her older brother who she depended on but thought of as a geek was moving in
with the beautiful woman next to me, and delighted that I was probably about to
get the third degree.  Sisters…

I shrugged and knew I was reaching when I said, “I don’t
have to be in my office every day, and she’s quite involved with her family’s
businesses.  It seemed to make more sense for me to commute.  We may get a
separate place built eventually, but it seemed like the best way in the short
term.  Her family are very welcoming of me as well.”

Aitheria chuckled in my mind, she wasn’t helping very much. 
I still hadn’t figured out what it meant when she showed me her true self, the
information was blocked and she wasn’t talking.  Not that I’d asked her about
it, but we seemed even closer than ever.  Connected somehow, beyond the close
ties of family and friendship we’d had previously.  The only reason I worried
about that was because I knew she was… upset that I didn’t, although she didn’t
take it out on me.

I’d come to the conclusion ten days ago that Aitheria’s
presence was to protect me from my enemies gaining knowledge of me.  It was her
primary task.  It made me think about why she wasn’t able to tell me anything
about other stuff.  It occurred to me that for the element of air, knowledge
was power, and power needed to be earned.  If she just told me everything I
wouldn’t have the wisdom or power to truly understand, and in the long run it
would probably just get me killed.

When I was strong enough to face those enemies, I would be
able to get the information on my own.  Maybe then I’d also find out why I was
important enough to have her as a guardian, because I really didn’t have a
guess for that part.  I realized my mind had gone off on quite a tangent, and
got back to the conversation about my moving plans.

Sierra nodded, “I realize it’s a little fast.”

Amy blurted, “Am I going to be an aunt?”

I glared at her.  My aunt Mary looked scandalized, I was
speechless, and Sierra just laughed.

Sierra winked, “Not yet.  I know this seems fast, and we’ve
only been dating what… eleven or twelve days now, but we’ve known each other a
lot longer than that.  But no, we haven’t even discussed that or marriage yet.”

Not yet?  I didn’t want to think about that right now, so I
stuffed it to the back of my mind.  The rest of what she said was an excellent
answer, even if for most of the time that we knew each other we hadn’t been in
contact, but it still wasn’t a lie, even if misleading.  Still, it might calm
my aunt’s worries a little.

It was quiet for a while after that, and we all ate our
meals in a silence that wasn’t exactly comfortable, but was far less awkward
than I’d feared.  Dinner was good, leg of lamb, new potatoes, and asparagus
spears.  I was sure I hadn’t escaped my aunt’s interrogation at this reveal,
she was just too much of a good hostess to do it in front of Sierra.

After dinner Amy took off to a friend’s house, and the three
of us had an after dinner drink.  I could tell my aunt was bursting with
questions, but she kept them in well enough.  I supposed there would always be
things about my life that didn’t make sense to them, the supernatural world was
just different that way…

We were walking out the door when the vision hit me, all of
it at once, like a memory.  I was in shock for moment, both Ceara and Diana had
seemingly burned to ash before my eyes right in the alley behind Spirits, even
worse it was going to happen in just under a minute from right now.

“Sierra,” I said in a tentative voice, “Diana and Ceara are
about to die.”

She gripped my hand, and although from the wolves’ point of
view, they owed the vampires nothing, she knew I was friends with Diana, and
worked for Ceara and the rest of the council on occasion.

She said, “Let’s go.”

I hesitated a moment at the idea of putting her in front of
something that could turn Ceara, a nineteen-hundred-year old vampire, into ash,
but I knew she would kill me if I left her behind.  It wasn’t even an option.

Aitheria sent, “
This is it, the bad feeling from this
morning, be on your guard.”

We practically ran around the corner to where no one could
see us, and I raised a shield of fire and air over the both of us, and then
surrounded us and the shield in the power of air, I also slightly increased my
body’s speed, perception, and reflexes, and then moved us to the back of
spirits.

I opened my eyes and took it in. 

Ceara, with her bright red hair and wearing tight fitted
leather pants and a jacket, was faced off with a laughing male vampire, dressed
in jeans and a light shirt, who kept dodging and jumping around.  I doubted he
could take her, but he was managing to stay just out of her grasp and was
purely on the defensive.  Diana was there, and kept trying to help block him in
so Ceara could take him out, but she kept failing, Ceara and Christopher were
just too fast for her to keep up with.

Diana was incredibly strong compared to a newborn rogue, but
one that was close to the age of the council?  She didn’t have a chance and I
felt a twinge of annoyance at Ceara for even bringing her along.  Then I both felt
and saw the other presence appear, I couldn’t have missed it actually. 

The man appeared in a flashing pillar of fire, he was in his
late thirties or early forties, he was dressed in a gray business suit with a
red tie and shiny black shoes, and he was surrounded by a shield of pure fire
that made mine look ridiculously weak by comparison.  I realized then just how
far behind I really was, someday I was supposed to dwarf his power with air,
and perhaps match it with fire?

I was frozen in the moment, not sure what to do.  Surely
this sorcerer was who would burn Ceara and Diana to ash, but attacking him
directly seemed like a completely futile idea.  It would be like trying to take
down an air force jet with a nerf ball launcher, I wondered if he would even
notice if I attacked him.

The man raised his hands and a blast of fire shot at Ceara
which freed me from my moment of indecision.  There was no way I could block
it, but I called up a powerful wind gust.  His fire ignored the gust of wind,
ripped right through it, but his fire hadn’t been my target.  Ceara was blown
to the side by about ten feet, and the fire completely missed her, splashing
against the wall.  I could see the bricks start to burn.

He turned to me and raised an eyebrow, as if to say who the
hell are you.  Suddenly I was filled with an overwhelming rage, such that I
couldn’t even see straight.  I was in shock at the strength of the fury raging
through me, and it felt a lot like being set on fire.  I gathered fire and air
in my mindless rage, as much of it as I could and sent it at him in a torrent
of destruction that would have ripped apart the stone wall behind him if it had
hit.

His shield simply ate it, and I screamed in rage and started
to build another one, as he raised fire to send at me.  I felt two little
cooling hands against my cheek, and the rage fell flat, and I was filled with
dread.  I hadn’t even noticed, but somehow he’d gotten through my shields like
they weren’t even there, and had manipulated my emotions, making me angry and stupid
enough to get myself and everyone else killed.

He launched the fire at me, and I jumped straight up,
letting the wind carry me and Sierra a hundred feet straight up in a second at
the same time as I released the futile storm of fire and air I’d gathered.  He
looked up at me and growled in annoyance.  Then he launched fire at Diana, in
my panic of the remembered vision of her turning to ash, I surrounded Ceara,
Diana, Sierra, and myself with power, and took us to my office, fleeing the
fight. 

Ceara growled at me, “What the hell!”

I frowned, “It was a trap, and we were off balance, and
outclassed.  We’ll get them both, just not right now.”

Diana looked shaken, “Do you think they can track us?”

I shook my head, “I doubt it, unless he can sense my magic
from miles away.  Looks like you were set up though, I’m thinking the whole
reason Christopher is here, is to take out the council itself, and he hired a
bad ass fire sorcerer to help.  The reason I came was I saw you both burned to
ash, so… your welcome,” I added a little angrily at Ceara, who was still
pissed.

Ceara took a deep breath and nodded briskly.  She still
looked angry as hell, but I didn’t get the sense she wanted to tear my throat
out anymore.  Yay for small favors.

“Will you return with us, we must discuss it with Alexios
and Charis.”

I nodded reluctantly, and looked at Sierra with a question
in my eyes, I wasn’t sure if she’d want to come or not. 

She said, “Go ahead, I’ll be at the apartment, I have no
wish to meet the rest of the council.”

She kissed me then, a little more thoroughly than was
warranted, and I wondered if she was sending Diana a message by doing it…

Thursday, June 2
^nd
, 2016, 8:12 PM

Most of my interactions with the council over the last nine
months have been through Diana.  Ceara was kind of alien, and her aura was
insanely strong, so much so that her good looks just didn’t matter in the
least, but at least Ceara seemed to have a sense of emotions, a small
connection back to her humanity.  Alexios and Charis were another few centuries
older than Ceara, and they had that same powerful aura going, but they felt
colder as well, as if all that were left to them was cold calculation.

I wasn’t looking forward to being in their presence again. 
I raised a shield of fire and air.  I’d have to look at it later and see why it
had failed earlier, but I was fairly sure if the council decided to kill me
they wouldn’t get through it.

When we arrived in the conference room, with a Ceara that
had finally calmed down, Alexios was waiting for us in a dark pinstriped suit
with a yellow tie.  Charis was also there in a skirt and loose blouse, she was
cute, and petite, and absolutely terrifying.

I had no doubt if I wanted to I could kill one of them, but
I also had no doubt they could kill me if they chose, which is why I had the
shield up.  That made these little face to face meetings tense.  I knew they
wanted me around for my power if they could trust me to work for them, and not
against them.  I also knew if they ever decided I could no longer be trusted,
they would strike without warning.  The level of air power they had after two
millennia of being vampires was unreal, I had no doubt I wouldn’t see the
attack coming before it was too late, unless of course, my power picked it out
of the future.

To be honest, I was kind of depending on that last part,
that and prudence with my shield.  But I wouldn’t always have the shield up,
and there was no reason they couldn’t pick me off somewhere else.

I had no intention of starting a fight, I didn’t like some
of the things they did, or the absolute power they wielded over the vampire
race, but I also knew without them things could get a whole lot worse.  It was
the threat of their power that kept all but the stupid in line.  I still
couldn’t see where Christopher was at the moment, the fire sorcerer must be
blocking with his magic.  I also wasn’t having any luck figuring out how to
defeat or even simply block the fire sorcerer’s attacks.

Alexios turned to Ceara, “What happened?”

Ceara summed up what happened, even so much as giving me
credit for saving her and Diana’s lives.  She’d gotten over her annoyance at me
taking her away from her prey, and didn’t even look bothered when she got to
that part of the brief explanation.

Charis shook her head, “Christopher must want to take our
power and position, I wonder what he offered to the fire sorcerer,” she turned
to me, “You will help us end this threat?  We’ll pay you double the normal
amount for assistance.”

I thought about trying for more money, but they payed
generously when I actually participated in the hunts, about ten times the
amount offered for information alone.  Double that would be enough to pay the
rent on my office for a few years, and then some.

“I will, but the fire sorcerer may be beyond my ability. 
However, if we kill the one that hired him, he may choose to just leave the
city and go home.  I can try but… he’s at the peak of his power, and I’m still
crawling.”

Ceara frowned, “How can we win then?”

I shrugged, “I can keep us alive and him distracted long
enough for one of us to take out Christopher, then… we hope he leaves.”

I left the part off about us all dying horribly if he
doesn’t just leave, but it was implied.

Alexios asked, “How will we find them?”

I frowned, “I can hook a spell into Diana if she’ll allow
it, in case you two are ambushed I can arrive in a few seconds.  Outside of
that, the only way is if they try and set up another trap.  So far I can’t see
where either of them are.  They’re shielded from my sight.”

The last thing I wanted to do was feel Diana’s feelings, but
I could keep the link at a minimum, and still feel it when she’s under
pressure.  As far as saying shielded from my sight, they didn’t need to know
how my power really worked.  If they did they’d probably kill me.  A stray
wondering thought would give me access to all their bank accounts.  Crap,
they’re really loaded after two thousand years.

Charis ordered, “She will allow it, get it done.  And if
we’re attacked?”

I frowned wondering how to phrase it, and decided just to be
blunt about it.

“Run.  Air is faster than fire, if you exceed the sorcerer’s
perception, he won’t be able to hit you.  I’m kind of counting on that
actually, for my distractions.”

I turned to Diana, she didn’t look happy at all with my
suggestion to tie us together with magic, and I gave her an apologetic look as
I reached out and touched her forehead, and established a link.  I could feel
her turbulent emotions in the back of my head, and hoped she calmed down or I
wouldn’t be able to tell if she was attacked or not.

“If your attacked, think of me and send out a strong
emotion.”

The anger that washed over me felt like a slap.

I frowned, “That will do it…”

The presence of anger faded but her face was still a mask as
I turned back to the council.  She was a lot angrier than I would have thought
or believed.

“Anything else?”

Ceara said, “We will deposit a bonus, for coming to our aide
unasked.”

I hadn’t expected that, but I wouldn’t say no.  They could
certainly afford it.

Diana escorted me wordlessly out of the building, the wall
and awkwardness between us was painful, and I started the walk home to my
apartment, and Sierra.

On the way my mind wandered a bit.  We had the dark coven to
deal with, now an ancient rogue along with a fire sorcerer, and I was concerned
about Mike and Aiya, I knew they had the raid coming up.  I was also worried
about how Mike was handling things, he hadn’t tried to contact me at all today,
and then there was the whole moving thing.  Let’s not forget about the vision
of Tara’s and my upcoming passionate lip lock, I was worried about that too.  I
had a lot going on all at once, things seemed to come in waves, I just hoped
the next wave, whenever it came, would be more than just a week away.

I also critically looked at my interwoven shields.  I
wouldn’t solve that problem by putting it off.

“
Did he get in so easy through my own fire?
”

Aitheria just looked at me, I didn’t think she’d answer, but
that thought felt right to me.  His mastery of fire was so much more than mine,
he probably used the fire interlaced in my own shields to waltz right through
them.  I used an interweaving shield, because fire supported air, and air could
support fire.  I also did it simply because I needed the practice with complex
magical constructs. 

I worked out a new shield that was much simpler and that I
hoped might work, instead of twisting the two powers together I encased the
fire in air, or layered them if you will, two layers of air with fire in the
middle.  The fire would support the air shield, which was on the outside,
keeping the fire encased in air.  Perhaps he wouldn’t be able to reach my fire
quite so easily that way, and even if he could, he’d still need to get passed
the second level of air. 

My biggest worry was him evoking emotions in me, I was
almost sure if I could prevent that, I could dodge brute force attacks of fire
quite easily.  I was faster, more maneuverable, and could move in all three
dimensions where he was stuck on the ground.

I wondered how big his radius was to connect directly with
the fire element.  He’d dwarfed even my air power, which meant it had to be way
over a hundred and fifty feet.  It would be hard to guess exactly how much more
though.

Air was manipulating physical air, intellect, and connecting
to minds and facts.  Fire was manipulating heat and flames, passion, and
connecting to and controlling passionate emotions.

I felt like my understanding of fire wasn’t complete.  After
all, air was also speed, healing, longevity, and pulling vast amounts of
knowledge from the ether.  Surely fire also had more to it than what I knew so
far, certainly air wasn’t more powerful, the elements were balanced, and that
lack of understanding was probably why I was so limited in it, because I didn’t
comprehend it, at least not completely.

What was normal fire?  It was destructive, hungry, and yet
was life giving warmth, but would consume that life if allowed to run
unchecked.  It was an oxidation process, combustion, light and heat were
byproducts.

I couldn’t pull information about being a fire sorcerer, but
I could and had pulled the information on shifting creatures, like werewolves,
and werecats.  In their case, fire was transformative.  Earth was the grounding
force, when they transformed to a wolf, the earth magic gave them the ability
to solidify into one of their two forms, but before that happened, the fire was
what started the transformation, and allowed them to leave their other form
behind, to be reshaped. 

Fire was also responsible for the fierce emotions and
loyalty to the pack.

I also got the idea the amount of fire magic the werewolves
naturally held was the determining factor on where they fell in the pack
hierarchy.  A wolf with more of a connection to elemental fire would be able to
force the weaker one to submit.

The key was controlled fire.  A controlled fire was
beneficial, out of control, just allowing it to consume, was bad, in simple
terms.  Still, I was missing something, and I needed to figure out what it was,
how could I control something that was outside of my comprehension?

I stopped and stepped into an alley, and made sure no one
was around.  I took a moment to control my emotions, remove the fear and worry
about the danger to Diana and Tara, not to mention myself and the pack.  I also
removed my anxiety toward the future.  My new shields were active, and I raised
my hand and created a small ball of fire in it.  I studied it for a moment, as
if it held the answers.

It was making me warm, putting off heat.  I stopped that,
redirecting the heat back into the fire, turning the flames from reddish orange
to orange white.  The last time I had improved in air, was right after I lost
my temper.  I doubted that was the key, what had done it was stretching myself,
and my abilities due to that anger.

I reached out and focused all the heat into the fire, the
warmth of the concrete from the setting sun, and then I wondered what else I
could throw in.  It was then I thought maybe I shouldn’t suppress my fears and
worry, but instead control and channel it.  Control meant mastering and using
my emotions, not removing them as I’d done earlier.  It was a simple
distinction, but the difference was also profound.  When I did that the orange-white
flames flared to brilliant white, I smiled as I studied it, the magic, and the
flame.

Heat was really a byproduct of fire, as was light.  I could
control heat, so…  Then I laughed, and the fire in my hand disappeared, as I
fed the light back in as well as the heat.  It looked like I was holding a
black hole, of course it was still fire, and I wondered how strong it was.

I couldn’t right now though, I wasn’t going to find out on
the streets of Chicago, so I let out the light, and the heat, and then let the
fire dissipate.  I still hadn’t increased my range past twenty-five feet, but I
knew I was getting close.  I could feel it.  I was still missing information
though.  I had a slightly better understanding of the raw aspect of fire, but I
was missing one or more of the subtle aspects, such as knowledge was toward
air.

I finished the walk home and felt the warmth and passion in
my heart rise when Sierra greeted me with a heartfelt smile that made her eyes
glow.  Those emotions I had no intention of controlling.  Todd wasn’t here yet,
and it didn’t take much convincing to get Sierra to turn in early.  None of the
convincing was with words either, and as for sleep, well that took quite a
while longer…

I was only disoriented for a moment, before I realized that
I was in another dream with Aitheria.  This time we were in a duplicate of my
living room, down to the knickknacks on the book case and end tables.  Our air
clothes were also a little less transparent this time, which was a good thing
as I was sitting on the couch, and she was lying sideways, with her head on my
lap.

I looked down into the clear skies of her eyes and smiled.  I
really did love her, she was family, and I wasn’t sure what I would do without
her around.

Her head against my leg felt like a warm breeze, and she
returned my smile.

“Before you ask, I shrunk you,” she said in an amused choral
voice.

I laughed, “Fine, it is a dream isn’t it?  Plus, all the
furniture is shrunk too.”

She laughed lightly as she sat up, and then leaned up
against me.  My arm went around her shoulders almost of its own volition as she
answered, “I suppose it is a dream, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t completely
real.  But yes, your incarnate body is currently in your bed, entwined with
Sierra’s.”

“So why are we here?  Am I being a bonehead again?” I asked
with a certain self-deprecation.

She laughed again, a light choral tinkling that warmed me to
the core, “No Ben.  Power and wisdom come with time and experience, there are
no shortcuts, and you’re doing well and pushing yourself to learn more.  That’s
all we can do.”

“Then…” I trailed off in obvious question.

She tilted her head up and smiled at me sheepishly, “I
suppose I just wanted you to myself for a while.  I’m not jealous of Sierra, or
all your new friends, but I do miss our times alone.”