Black Magus

The Greedy, Mocking One.

***

"So, brother, it's been three days. What do you think of our... reincarnation?"

He drew in a deep breath; no doubt to take in the many aromas lingering like colored clouds before he exhaled a massive gray plume of smoke. "Part of me mistrusts magic still. It makes this…" he spun around on the spot in a gesture to display the many magic items he wore, "difficult. And the drow. Half of me finds it hard to trust him, even though the better half of me knows him well enough. And… I almost feel a… closeness with Amun."

"I understand what you mean. I feel like I've known him for half of my life. And I too was glad to realize we didn't need half the stuff given to us. But the weapons were nice." I smiled in remembrance of my bow. "It's hard to believe we're sorcerers, though. And… seasonal ones at that."

"Yes. And yet, I keep asking myself: 'What else did you expect to inherit from a celestial wolf?'" he shook his head, laughing in despair.

"Right!" I laughed with him. "And, concerning Etan." I tossed my head in a shrugging gesture. "I sure as Hells can respect his fighting ability. And, if anything else, I just picture him as Amun's cousin or something."

"Are you saying all drow look alike?" Freki laughed.

"Are you saying those two don't?" I barked, and he was forced to admit it.

"Their likeness is uncanny." He nodded. "That is an unsettling fact that seems to drift by them both. But… I suppose you are right. As for your initial question, all I can say is that I am joyous about this rebirth. What say you?"

"Amun can explain it better than me," I tossed my head. "But I can sincerely say our human sides are better off now than before. You are no longer imprisoned in that castle. I am no longer fighting to survive in the wild. We are no longer living trophies and pawns for our warmongering father and psychotic mother. We are no longer foolish enough to believe that honor is more important than living.

"We have real power now, brother. A power we must learn to control." I moved in front of him to look him hard in the eye, bright like the sun, though it was. "We will travel far beyond this realm, brother. We must do so."

"Control." He scoffed silently, bleeding heat into the air as he moved past me. "I was controlled before. No more. No, Geri. I have chosen to embrace this power. This life, I will embrace too. I will use it as I use my body and go forth where life- where Amun, takes me."

"Mmm," I swayed my head. "I suppose you have a point." But then again, we were polar opposites, and still are. He was rich and I was poor. I grew comfortable with being alone. He suffered from loneliness. He ate his fill every night and slept in warmth. I starved and wept in the cold. My hardship was through battle and licked wounds. His hardship was through torture and fast healing. He was paraded. I was discarded.

"Come." He grunted, pulling my thoughts astray. "Our prey is near."

I followed close behind him, focusing on the amber clouds trailing from downwind. They smelled of smoke and sulfur, spice and iron; a pleasant change from the foul-smelling goblins and the salty humans prowling the Rith Tribe's territory.

I grew ever-curious to what it could be, resulting in me bumping into Freki as he crouched low in the brush. Following the same motion, I peered over his shoulder, spotting a cloud of steam and a puddle of freshly melted water sizzling beneath the iron claws of some fire lizard.

Before Freki could begin to stalk the prey, I lunged down, diving into the snow to appear beneath the creature in the next instant. My maw made short work of the thin scales of its belly, piercing the simmering flesh with the deadly essence of winter. It froze instantly, remaining stiff-legged as I pulled myself out of the snow, toppling it onto its side. Laughing at the sight, I turned to see Freki standing- on two legs- frowning at my kill. In return, I smiled and ripped off a leg, concentrating on holding the power of my bite back so that it wouldn't freeze further, and dropped it at his feet.

Stepping back, I focused on the 'inner eye' we both had and lulled it to sleep. In turn, a wave of white and blue frost covered my body, invoking a deep shiver to shake the fangs, claws, and fur from the form of my other half. My human half.

With this sorcery, the transformation wasn't as painful as I remembered the first time to be. Yet, the aftereffect remained. I found myself ripping off the creature's leg before hoisting it over my shoulder and thought nothing of it as I dug into it, hardly even noticing the spicy hint of the frozen meat as I focused on the mix of smells that pointed to the den.

Flying remained difficult, if running through the air could even be called such, but we returned to our caravan- the Omni or Octo-Wagon- without hiccups. No, that only came when we entered, and Amun frowned sourly upon seeing the mangled corpse draped over my shoulder. With a hopeful expression, I held out what offered some of my meal and smiled once he took it and gave it a bite. Then, my face dropped when he didn't hand it back. He turned on his heels and walked away. With my food.

It was gone by the time I dropped the lizard in the freezer and met the others in the war room. Not even bones remained. Nor was there any sign that Amun even feasted on my offering. He only smiled to greet us as we entered, then pulled our attention to the center of the room.

Even after days of staring at it, I could not stop marveling at the map. I had never seen such a thing. A palm-sized button emitted a field of glowing lines that curved and molded to form hills, mountains, and valleys. The lines turned to shimmering sheets in parts, denoting frozen lakes and rivers. In other parts, it turned a brown shade, elongated, and broke apart to form a dotted line- a road. White pinpoints of light depicted bergs and settlements of the natives while black ones denoted the hides and holes Amun and his Legions had created. Other lights were formed into small triangles or squares and shaded blue, green, or red to show the positions of the troupe, allies, or enemies. And with a swipe of the hand, the counties and provinces of Shujen could appear in various shades of blue, clearly distinct from the shades of purple depicting the Knighilian borders to the west or the orange Earldoms of the Nevstan Principality to the east and the endless swath of green highlighting the Wild Territories of the Vrurian Empire to the south. I spent hours toying with it in my spare time, focusing on the streets of cities I'd never before heard of.

Dizzyingly, the map moved to Bakewia's western shores and hovered above a place called Winwell. Leaving the map distant enough to leave the city layout unseen, Amun began. "I have something for you all to see in here. We'll arrive within the hour and remain for the day. Come tomorrow, I have some business to attend to in Shavew, where we'll stay for another day. In either case, you can enjoy the sights, stay here, accompany me, or find people to work for you.

"Lastly, you'll find new deposits in your quarters. Wise rocks and, for you two." He pointed to me and Freki. "More gold. You've technically been with me for nearly a decade, after all."

I only nodded and of course, checked; then nearly fainted when I saw the number.

"And make sure you clean up before we get there."

Me and Freki retreated to our mounds with gaping maws. Silently, we pushed through the brush and entered our hole, arriving in a den more spacious than anything I could have ever dreamed of. It stretched throughout the undercarriage of this wagon. I occupied the left side and Freki the right. The rest was a common area of couches, tables, bookshelves, and a large 'entertainment screen,' but none of those passed by my eyes.

All I could focus on was my magical tome- my grimoire, and the numbers displayed within.

[Gold: 860,000]

"Heh." I heard myself laugh and decided to run with it. "All I need now is a pack of wolves. And… I guess, people to work for me. Whatever that means." I muttered that final part. And surprisingly or not, Freki answered.

"Workers." He said with a grunt. "I intend to find people to grow my food, brew my ale, and raise my livestock. We won't always be able to spend time on the hunt, Sister. There will be times when we must stand by Amun's side without rest.

"I refuse to go without food, even in those cases."