Midnight Spirit

Chapter 23

“What you are trying to say is that this person didn’t use his own source of magic or a weapon filled with magic but tapped into another source, dead people.” Lazarus repeated.

“That is correct.

“Why would any mage attack a werewolf pack?”

“I believe he was using our packs as experiments. He also gained some werewolf partners in his little experiment. We believe he is hiding out in Florida.”

“Could you give us a description of this supposed rogue mage?”

“Of course. I even brought along a sketch for everyone.” Kaden handed me the sketches that Alpha had made for us and I passed along to the guards which floated the paper up to each master mage. There was a collective gasp when each mage saw the picture.

“This is impossible!” One of the mages that hadn’t spoken yet shouted. “He was killed thirty years ago by Mortican himself!” Everyone turned and looked to Mortican. His face full of shock.

“It must be someone else because I killed Dratomen thirty years ago after his trial. “ Mortican replied carefully, trying to mask his shock. Everyone else started to murmur that it must be someone else who looked similar to him.

“Quiet!” Lazarus commanded and the room fell silent once again. “Why should we help you?”

“There is a rogue mage that it looks eerily similar to a dead one that has attacked our pack. It is the mages responsibility to apprehend any rogue mages.” I responded shortly. As Alpha expected, none of them looked interested enough to take this assignment on. Yes the person looked similar to one of their own but they didn’t gain anything from capturing him. No one of the council saw it as an immediate threat since it hadn’t involved the mages yet. “Also, this rogue mage might have a book filled with ancient spells and when I met him the first time, I thought he might also have an artifact of power.” This little white lie sparked a bit more interest in these mages, after all they were spell masters and unknown spells are great motivators.

“We will open this for discussion.” Lazarus announced. At which point the mages started to talk as if we weren't there.

“I don’t think we should help.” Mortican started. “It sounds like a made-up story, especially the bit about a dead person and taking power using ghosts.” I tried not to look shock at his comment but some of it must have slipped onto my face because he smiled and the other mages started to bicker with each other. One was arguing about the possibility of new spells but the other sided with Mortican saying it was a hoax and that the werewolves were going to try to use them in a territory pack fight.

Lazarus stayed more neutral stating the pros and cons of each side. The only person who didn’t say a word was the female mage who sat on the end. Each time I snuck a look at her, she was just staring at me, smirking just the slightest bit. Her stares were causing me to shiver slightly.

After an hour of me standing there watching them debate but not allowed to defend myself, Lazarus called the room to order. “Shall we motion to continue the debate or continue onto voting?” No one motioned to continue the debate. “Onto voting then. Shall we provide assistance to the Moon and Brown Paw Pack? Mortican?” Lazarus started on the far right.

“No.” Was Mortican’s terse reply. His hatred shinning in his eyes as he glared at me.

“Sertmor?”

“Yes”

“Ashtigus”

“No.”

“Alice?” She smiled as if she was a cat and found an interesting new toy to play with. I felt hope rising in my chest, this might actually work and we can have help from the mages. I almost started to smile.

“No.” Was her flippant reply, her face turning into disinterest. My stomach dropped and I started to feel sick. I should have known not to hope. My effort was wasted coming here. I don’t know how I will be able to confront Dalton and Alpha.

“It is decided. We will not provide assistance. You are dismissed.” Lazarus announced.

“Oh, you guys are going to regret saying that in the long run.” I spat as some of the green stripped guards escorted us out of the headquarters. As we were approaching the elevator, the female mage was leaning on one of the Ioniccolumns.

“I have some business with them. You may leave.” Alice assertively told the guards. The guards looked at each other with unsure expressions, obviously uncomfortable handing us off to Alice. “Do you really want to go against me?” Alice’s eyes lit up as if planning all the horrible things she would do to them if they refused. Her mouth even twitched up into a creepy smile.

“What do you plan to do with them?” The guard to the left of me asked. Even though he didn’t show much in his expression, I could smell the fear rolling off him. This guard was only a third rank guard, he would be no match for a rank five and judging from Alice’s face, she knew he was frightened.

“Do you really want to know? Because I can always bring you with us to my tower.” The guard’s face went ghostly pale at the mention of the tower and Alice’s smile widen. “You may tell Lazarus that I plan to return them safely. Now leave.” The guards nodded and started to back away quickly. If it didn’t show weakness, they would have probably ran away. Once they were gone, Alice turned back to us. “Now let’s go.”

“Why should we go with you?” Kaden aggressively asked. All of us were getting the feeling that we were trapped in a corner. Kasey was even muttering to himself that this is a bad idea.

“Because you want help.” She replied in a coy manner.

“How do we know we can trust you?” I questioned firmly. Ignoring the small voice that told me to fear her, I looked at her challenging not caring that she was a master mage.

Amused, Alice smiled. “You don’t.” When she didn’t move to say anything more, Kaden looked at me obviously wanting to leave.

“We really shouldn’t trust her. She stinks of no good.” Kasey commented as he floated closer to me. “We should really go.”  When Kasey was near enough to touch me, I saw Alice shiver. Her face grew excited and she tried to look around the room without being too obvious. Her eyes stopped at the spot where Kasey was floating.

“It feels like she is staring at me.” Kasey whispered to me but I barely heard him. Alice might not be able to see ghosts but she could sense them. Perhaps I could convince her on my story and she can get the rest of the council on my side.

“Okay. Let’s go.” I decided, smiling in anticipation.