Midnight Spirit

Chapter 23

I was expecting an ancient looking man with a long white beard. Instead the man who greeted us was a middle-aged man, one who still had all of his brown hair and was in decent shape.  He had a commanding presence and an aura that exuded confidence and strength, someone who would be easy to follow. He looked at both of us, evaluating what he saw. Under his powerful gaze I was close to taking on a submissive  posture but I  forced myself to remain in my spot with my weight on one foot, arms crossed, staring straight back into his eyes. I wasn’t going to back down no matter how intimidating the leader and the place was. I made it this far and I’m only going to push forward. The man seemed to be amused by my confidence.

“My name is Lazarus. Who are you and what business do you have with us.” The master mage’s voice boomed making him even more intimidating.

“My name is Midnight.” I replied remembering what Alpha said, names have power; never tell a mage your real name. “And this is my bodyguard. We have come to represent the Moon and Brown Paw Pack. Rogue mages attacked the Brown Paw Pack and we were told you could help.” Kaden remained silent during these introductions. Kaden wouldn’t be able to help me during this meeting, it was improper etiquette according to Alpha; but his familiar closeness helped give my voice strength despite my wavering will. It was strange that a person I’ve only known for a short period time could reassure me in this situation. Perhaps it was because he was the closest thing to home currently.

“Bah. That’s impossible. There are no rogue mages. We have captured and executed all the traitors.” One of the mages spoke out from the chair next to the leaders. His voice was arrogant and I could see him scowling under his hood. Mages were known for their pompous pride. If this mage is in charge for capturing and trying rogue mages, it would damage his reputation as a mage. If his reputation is damage, then there would be a chance he wouldn’t be in the council anymore. For mages, power and reputation is everything.

“Quiet Mortican. Why do you think it was a mage who attacked your pack?” Lazarus questioned.

“The Brown Paw Pack had been having difficulties with some rogue werewolves in the area. After a few skirmishes, members of the brown paw pack started becoming ill. When the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the pack members, they discovered that the rogue werewolves had hired some mages to cast a curse on most of the pack. When the mages Brown Paw Pack hired couldn’t discern what magic was being used, the pack then called me in to figure out what the situation was. After I removed the curse, I….” I started to explain.

“How would you have been able to remove the curse! Only mages can remove curses and its obvious you aren’t a mage.” Mortican interrupted in an accusing tone. “Why are you lying?”

“I will explain that later on.” I glared at Mortican my eyes glowing an eerily purple, my voice slightly hinting at my anger. My eyes unnerved him and he shut up, scowling at me with a hateful gaze. Lazarus smiled at this exchange which made me think I was here for a show to keep these mages entertained. “After I removed the curse, I was kidnapped by a mage who tortured me. He wanted to know how I could remove the curse. During our unpleasant conversation, I discovered that he was using old magic….”

“How could you have healed the members if you didn’t know what magic the mage used?” Mortican’s voice asked full of venom. This time it was the leader who glared at him.

“Hold your tongue Mortican or I will ask you to leave.” Lazarus commanded and I smiled. “Continue on Midnight.”

“I might not have known the exact spell he used but I knew the basics of it. I just happened to specialize in the type of magic he used. To be specific, he was using the trapped energy of the dead to suck the life force out of the pack members. Because I knew where the spell was gaining its energy, I was able to destroy the source of energy, thus the spell itself.  I was lucky enough that the mage was interested enough in me to pay me a visit or else I wouldn’t have figured out what the rogue mage looked like.”