Magic InkChapter 28
- 2 years ago
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I awoke the next morning a very satisfied and rested kitty. I instantly knew that it was morning even with no windows to see out or the fresh air of dawn to sniff. The remains of last night's meal, about twenty pounds of meat, were still there and I wolfed it down in short order before starting to clean my muzzle and whiskers, which I had neglected to do last night due to tiredness.
Following cleaning up, some of last night's meal was anxious to depart, and I deposited my cat scat in the waste container. From the scents there, the others had made good use of the container after I had been asleep, and I sent all of its contents to a nearby sewer to be rid of it.
There was currently little to do until the others awoke, and I looked over at them in the opposite corner. Celeste was snuggled up against Frank. They had moved their sleeping pads together, and it was obvious that Frank had an arm around her under the large blanket covering both of them.
Since there was little that I could do in my present Were-form, I returned to my Human-form after passing through the Defensive Shell and my wards to sample the air in the corridor. I didn't detect anyone in the immediate vicinity and returned to the room through the Defensive Shell and my wards. As Margie K, there was work that I could do until the others awoke.
The first thing that I did after transforming was to change robes and underwear. The used clothing was returned to the house, and I brought more food plus additional vegetables and tea here. With that accomplished, and a nice hot cup of tea to sip, I set about sending my Magic Senses out to look for more areas where the Magic canceling spells could be active.
It was slow, exacting work requiring deep concentration and was quite trying, but I eventually located several such dead areas, beside those that we already knew about. It was apparent that the underground area was a real maze of corridors, tunnels, and rooms or chambers. I was also sure that these areas were not here or active by chance, but that they all held someone or some thing that the Wizards didn't want anyone else to know about. I was determined to find out what or who they were hiding.
The others eventually awoke and were a bit embarrassed on seeing me sitting there on the floor in my Human-form. It seems that they were both naked under the blanket, and I giggled at their predicament.
"I'll turn my back while both of you get dressed," I informed them, and turned to look away from them while they dressed and used the waste receptacle. They seemed surprised that it was empty.
"You emptied the waste can?" Frank asked after he finished.
"Yes."
"Where did it go?" he asked puzzled after looking around.
"To a sewer near here," I replied.
"You can do that?" he asked in surprise.
"Certainly, I detected its presence easily and sent the waste there."
"I've never known anyone who could do that without actually having been to the location," he told me.
"It isn't difficult when you know how and have a sufficiently strong Talent," I replied before telling them, "There is food and tea for breakfast. Please enjoy yourselves while I finish my work." They ate while I continued my search for more hidden locations. We all finished at about the same time.
"Can we go home now?" Celeste asked, as I joined them for another cup of tea.
"There are things that I still need to check on here before we can go home, Dear," I told her, as I warmed the remaining tea in the pot.
"Will it take long?" she asked in a frightened voice.
"Probably most of today at least," I told her to a look of surprise, as I poured my tea.
"Will Frank go with us when we finish?" she asked then.
"That is entirely up to Frank, but it may be wise for him to go with us. The Wizards on the Council are sure to be very unhappy with him by now," I told her looking over at Frank while my tea cooled.
"Yes, I would be very interested in leaving here with the two of you," he responded to my questioning look. Celeste seemed very relieved on hearing this, and I sipped my now cool tea.
"Celeste, dear, come over here and allow me to check on how you are doing. I want to be sure that all of the effects of the drugs you were given are gone," I told her putting down the tea cup. Celeste moved over and took a seat on the floor beside me. I took her hand, as if to check on her condition and stopped time for everyone but the two of us.
"I've stopped time for everyone but us. Now tell me why you are so worried about Frank accompanying us," I asked.
"I don't want to lose him," she began in a desperate voice. "He's a very kind and generous man as well as being good looking. Last night I was still afraid and worried about the Wizards finding us, especially after you went to sleep in your Were-form. He calmed me down and dried my tears. He was so nice, and he held me for the longest time until I was better," she continued.
"And how did the two of you happen to lose your clothes?" I asked with a smile.
"He had been rubbing my back to make me feel better while holding me, and by the time I had calmed down, I was very aroused. So was he, and ... and ... well one thing led to another. He kissed me and I cuddled up against him even closer. We kissed for a long time following that. Before we knew it, we were both removing our clothes. He is a very gentle and caring lover, and he made me feel so good with what he did. We made love twice with a lot of hugging and kissing in between. I just had to have him a second time," she whimpered in tears.
"It's all right, dear, Frank is a very fine fellow. I could see that yesterday when I healed him," I told her.
"You healed him? What happened to him?" she asked in shock and fear. "Is he all right?"
"Yes, he's fine now," I assured her before explaining our encounter with the Magic-stealing creatures. Celeste was more than a little shocked by this revelation.
"These people really are terrible!" she said in disgust when I had finished, and I had to agree with her.
I restarted time, but still sat there for a bit with Celeste while I checked on how she was doing. She was fine and all of the effects of the drugs were gone as was their residue. I was a little jealous of her though. She had found a man to love her, even under these conditions, and I couldn't begrudge her that, as we all need someone to love us.
I had spent much of my life in the study of Magic in its various forms to fit my wide array of Talents, and I'd had little time to look for a lover. Oh, I'd had my share of fun and more than enough sex with various clan members, but I had never considered them as mates. They had only been someone to spend a few quiet and enjoyable hours with when I could find the time. There had been none of the spark of real attraction between us.
Now I was twenty and would soon be twenty-one, and I yearned to find someone special who would be my mate for the rest of our long lives. It certainly didn't look like I would find him down here in this maze of corridors under the Wizard's Council headquarters or even in this Reality since I didn't envision being here that much longer. Certainly not with what I'd seen so far of those in charge of the Government, the Military, and the Wizard's Council. I released Celeste's hand then, and we both stood.
"It's time that we were about the business of the day," I told them, as I sent the sleeping pads, blankets, and extras back to the house with a spell. We still had the canteen and the remaining food which went into a backpack for Frank to carry.
"And just what is the business of the day?" that worthy asked with a grin.
"Why checking on the new sites that I've located while you two were asleep and then getting up to have a leisurely breakfast," I returned before canceling the Defensive Shell around the room. Frank already had the backpack on and indicated for Celeste to take her place between the two of us.
We set out at a brisk pace and were ready to take the left hand corridor from the chamber with the trap when Celeste caught sight of it. An amazed expression appeared on her face on seeing it.
"How did you ever escape from it?" she asked in wonder. "I can feel the Magic-canceling spell from here. It's just like the one in the cell where I woke up," she added with a sniffle before Frank moved up to comfort her.
"Rittenhouse boasted that neither human, nor demon could escape his trap. I simply changed into Macha once the guards were distracted and walked out without any problem," I explained again.
"Someone has been here over night," Frank observed. "The bodies and the blood are gone."
"It was probably some of the guards or security people. It has gotten a lot more dangerous to be a guard for the Council over the last twenty-four hours. Four guards here, and another four at the new cell where Celeste was kept plus surely some of those who responded to the alert. Additionally there was the need to remove the bodies. I believe that some of them may be considering a change of jobs," I told them before we turned and started down the only corridor that we hadn't checked yet.
We traveled for quite a long distance before coming to the first location with a Magic-canceling spell. It had been slow moving as we had needed to check for additional spells and bobby-traps in the corridor. The first cell was empty, but even my Human nose could detect that it had been occupied until recently.
"The prisoner was moved from here recently but within the last day," I told the others before we moved on.
The next location was even farther away. The corridor had been curving for some time, and we were now headed at something more than ninety degrees to our original course. A short time after leaving the empty cell, we came to an intersecting corridor and stopped just before it. Using my Magic senses, I checked what was down this new corridor and smiled at the results.
"This is the far end of the center corridor where we rescued Celeste," I told the others.
"This really is quite a complicated maze then," Frank observed.
"Yes, but if we could see the plan for this underground area, I don't believe that it would be all that complicated," I told him.
"Why don't the two of you take a little break while I re-scan the area to get a better idea of the locations of the remaining spells," I told the others.
"Yes, a good idea," Frank agreed, but he had instructions for Celeste.
"Celeste, you keep watch on this new corridor while I watch our back trail. If you sense anything coming this way, alert us," he told her. We all sat on the floor then and took up our respective duties. I found it fairly easy to locate the remaining Magic canceling spells and triangulated their locations now that I had two points of reference for each one. After about a half-hour, we were ready to set out again.
We came to the second cell after a short time. Its occupant was long dead, and we had smelled the decay from quite some distance away. All we found in the cell were some rats chewing on bare bones. The Magic cancellation spell had no effect on the rats as they had no Magic. I, however, did have my Magic and used Magic Fire to burn out the cell, the rats and the remaining bones. We would never know who had died there.
I had noticed a slight difference in the spells used at the last two cells. The original spells that we had encountered yesterday had all been the same. These others appeared to have been cast by different Wizards, all of whom had differing levels of Talent, and who had spoken the spell or traced its glyph just a bit differently, but enough so that one well-versed in Magic was able to recognize that the spell had been cast by separate individuals. It would appear from this that many on the Wizard's Council knew the Magic-canceling spell and that we were dealing with multiple opponents.
"Poor bastard to have died like that," Frank said as my flames died down. Celeste hadn't said anything but looked very pale.
"Let's continue on, the day grows older, and we have several more to check on yet," I reminded them. After a time our corridor dead-ended into another corridor.
"Which way," Frank asked, as we looked down both ends of the new corridor, "right or left?"
"Let me scan both directions," I told him, and was busy for several minutes.
"There are spells in both directions, but the corridor to the right appears to be shorter," I told the others.
"Let's check it out first then," Frank agreed, but Celeste didn't appear to be ready to check out either one.
"Can't we just go home?" she asked near tears.
"Not for a while yet, dear, we still need to finish checking on what is down here," I told her before starting down the corridor to the right.
We hadn't moved down the new corridor more than fifty feet or so before it made an abrupt turn to the left and we shortly found ourselves at the entrance of another large chamber. This one was presently poorly lit so that it was a bit difficult to estimate its size, and the entire chamber was covered by a Magic canceling spell. We stopped for a few minutes to evaluate this new threat.
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Characters returning from the previous story: Mark Kent O'Connell The children's Father, 5'-9" tall, 165 pounds, 39 years old, brown hair, hazel eyes Mary Kathleen O'Connell (Katie) Mary Margaret O'Connell (Margie) Mark's wives and the children's Mothers, 5'-3" tall, 124 pounds, 36DD-25-37, legally 38 years old (actually 196 years old), long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, a sprinkling of freckles, very cute Edana and Gale O'Connell Margie's daughters, 5'-4" tall, 105...
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We sat on the porch with our thoughts for a long time after that. Eventually our thoughts were interrupted by a high flying reconnaissance plane flying over our property. Its various probing beams and spells created pastel colors on the wards of the spherical Defensive Shell, as they touched it in the morning light. "Don't worry," I told Celeste. "They won't discover anything other than that we have a Defensive Shell over our property. They won't be able to see inside of it." Celeste...
The following characters appear in the first two chapters: Kennard Curran O'Connell (Ken) Mike and Clare's Son, 5'-10" tall, 142 pounds, 17 years old, red hair, green eyes, dual Talents Kellen Conroy O'Connell (Kell) Pat and Cathleen's Son, 5'-10" tall, 144 pounds, 17 years old, red hair, blue eyes, dual Talents Mark Michael O'Connell Mike and Shannon's Son, 5'-10" tall, 140 pounds, 17 years old, red hair, green eyes Seamus Patrick O'Connell Pat and Sheena's Son,...
I was awakened from a sound sleep some time later that night by the sound of someone attempting to get through my wards which rang like a bell from the attack. Robert sat up beside me at the noise, and the lights had come on when we moved. "What was that?" he demanded sleepily. "That was probably the owner wanting access to his hideaway," I told him. "We've been discovered." "Can he get in here?" he asked in a worried voice. "Not if that's the best that he can do," I assured...
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Everyone was still excited about the upcoming move to the O'Connell Realm on Tuesday, the 18th of October, when they resumed work at the printing plant. The excitement was soon replaced by shock. On Wednesday morning, the 19th, just before 8:30, as everyone was just getting to work, Uncle Will noticed a black Humvee and several black Suburbans pull up across the street from the plant. The hair on the back of his neck stood up in premonition, and he instantly reacted by reciting the spell...
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We returned to Hickory Hill much earlier today than we had yesterday, and took care of our horses ourselves, but allowed the stablemen to take care of the pack horse. After cleaning up, we went to look for Mark and Seamus. Sererena and Gwyn were already here. We finally got everyone together in the den. “What’s so important?” Seamus asked. “There are things that we need to discuss,” I told them. “It couldn’t wait until after dinner?” Gwyn asked. “No, we’re going to need to make an...
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The meal that evening was much more festive than our afternoon snack had been. Everyone wore their best clothes, and there was even music at the meal, which consisted of seven courses and finished with wine and ale. The twins did try some of the ale which was very good, but only a little, and none of the wine. They had learned their lesson. That night the Sisters wanted sex, which was all right with me. Both of them wanted the long, slow, and passionate variety, but separately and with a...
We found Red Cloud, Jason, out by the bunk house giving instructions to a number of his ranch hands. A couple of them seemed greatly surprised to see me with Robert as we approached them. He waited until his Brother had finished before approaching him, but I could feel Robert's eagerness in my mind. "Brother, it has occurred to me that the Council of Chiefs and Elders needs a reminder of just who they are dealing with and trying to take advantage of," Robert told him. "And how would you...
The sun was well up when I awoke the next morning. I was indeed loved. Gretchen was still in my arms, and Clare and Shannon had moved up against me. Clare was pressed against my back, and Shannon was pressed up against her little blond friend. I lay there for a time thinking about what had happened last night. It had indeed been an exceptional night, but I was worried. I had three women in love with me. Somewhere along the line, I had already decided to marry two of them. This, of course,...
Kell and his twins arrived an hour, or so after we had gotten back. He knocked on our door when they got upstairs. They looked tired. "Anything?" I asked, after they were seated on the bed. "A morning's ride, some nice scenery, and time spent at two ancient sites, but no trace of recent Magic use at either of them," he told me. "There were still some traces of ancient Magic at the well. Kell told me that the goddess Airmid was one of the ones that created the healing well, and that...
"Oh Dear!" the Smith groaned in distress at the table. "What is it, my Sweet?" he asked, as he quickly rose to see what was the matter. He never did make it to the bedroom, as his wife led a small boy and girl out into the main room. She was followed by a girl a few years older than the pair of youngsters, and Clare and Cathleen. "Look at them, Henry!" the wife demanded, excitedly. "This morning, they could hardly hold their heads up, and now they are as well as you, or I. How could...
The following new characters make an appearance: Mary Margaret O’Connell (Margie) Katie’s twin Sister, Margie and Robert’s Daughter, Born on the 18 of September 1907, 7 pounds, green eyes, flaming red hair, Siberian Tiger cub Mary Kathleen O’Connell (Katie) Margie’s twin Sister, Margie and Robert’s Daughter, Born on the 18 of September 1907, 7 pounds, green eyes, flaming red hair, baby Dragon Patrick Owen O’Malley O’Connell Grace and Owen’s Son, Born on the 15 of October 1907, 7pounds 8...
Characters returning from Grace and Owen: Grace O’Malley, Heroine, former prostitute, 5’-2’’ tall, 110 pounds, 34D-22-34, 21 years old, alabaster skin, long flaming red hair, bright green eyes, some freckles, very cute, has a large but untrained Talent and little knowledge of Magic Owen O’Connell, Blacksmith, Grace’s lover and soon-to-be Husband, 5’-9’’ tall, 150 pounds, 25 years old, light auburn hair, gray eyes, quite handsome, has a large but untrained Talent and little knowledge of...
Final characters introduced in the story: Wolfgang Patrick O'Connell Mike and Gretchen's son, born 7 November 2053, auburn hair, green eyes Carl Michael O'Connell Pat and Petra's son, born 7 November 2053, reddish blond hair, blue eyes While Pat and I had been busy with our Wives and Sons, a bit of a brouhaha had developed at the University. It seems that some of the other Faculty members were jealous of our Parents and Aunts, and their position in what had become one of the...
We had just finished taking our seats and Lady Caoilinn had signaled for the first dish to be served when everything was interrupted by a long, loud, high pitched, agonizing scream that was suddenly cut off. I immediately sent out my Magical senses to determine what had happened. I didn't like what I found. "What on Earth was that?" Lady Caoilinn demanded in the sudden silence that followed the scream being cut off. Captain Sean Og was already on his feet and calling for the guardsmen,...
Seamus continues his Narrative: The following new characters appear in this chapter: Sarah MacKenna, Chandra Duncan's Sister, Seamus's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 100 pounds plus, 34C-20-30, 18 years old, long lustrous black hair, brown eyes, beautiful Duncan MacKenna, Oconostota Chandra's Brother, A & A's Husband, 5'-10" tall, 145 pounds, 16 years old, dark auburn hair, gray eyes, a very handsome young man I transferred Black Bear, the Ranger Lieutenant, and myself back to the...
The following new characters are introduced in the next two chapters: Savannah Collins Shannon's twin, James's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 105 pounds, 34C-22-34, 17 years old, blond hair, gray eyes, very cute Shannon Collins Savannah's twin, James's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 105 pounds, 34C-22-34, 17 years old, blond hair, gray eyes, very cute James's Narrative of his trip to Boston: I went north with Gwyn, Glanda, and their soon-to-be lawyer Husband plus a number of other Representatives to...
Grace takes over the narrative: Margaret O’Connell and her Husband returned that evening after supper. As promised, she brought the wedding dress and a box of books, but she also brought two lamps with her. “These are Magic Powered lamps, which don’t require fuel or electricity to work. All that you need to do is activate the spell in them with your Talent, and then you can adjust the intensity of the lamp to the level that you require,” she told Owen and me, before demonstrating how to do...
It was just after 4:00 that afternoon when the radio broke the silence. "Attention all O'Connell teams! We have just received word from the Intelligence Corp that the Persians have landed a short distance down river from Frankfurt. Keep a sharp lookout for their arrival. That's all for now," Grandfather Mark finished. Pat and I used the small pair of binoculars that we had been issued to search the area west of the city, but could only make out the top masts of several ships down the...
On arriving at the Hall for the evening meal, we were surprised to see a larger table set up and that several other guests were already there for the meal. The current conversations all stopped when we entered the Hall. "These are my house guests," Lady Feidhelm told the others. "The young man is Master Kellen O'Connell and the young ladies are the Mac Sweeney Sisters, Airmid and Almha, his Apprentices," she finished. "Kellen, these are my guests for the evening meal: Master Murchadh...
We materialized in the Duke's apartment on the second floor of the Manor house. The lamps there ran on Magic and they were lit. There was a fire in the large fireplace, making it much cheerier than the cell that we had just left. Of course the four girls couldn't see any of this, but they could feel the increased warmth. A large sumptuous dinner had been set out on the large table in the dining area here. It appeared that the Duke and Duchess had been interrupted as they prepared to have...
Mark's Narrative Continues: We didn't see Seamus or most of his people for ten days following dinner that night. Meagan and Maureen did appear for dinner a couple of times during that period, and they borrowed Dymphna for a time as Seamus and Carl had taken Dealla and Cessair with them. Having three Mages in the Ohio country put a strain on our one remaining Mage, Coleen, who was rather busy with two locations to take care of. Things on this side of the Ohio River had not slowed down or...
June slipped into July, and we still hadn't found time to return to the Other Reality to visit the girls still there, and to see how they and the Daughters they were carrying were doing. We had planned on returning several times, but every time that we had, something had come up to prevent us from leaving. Aside from the normal work in the fields on the growing crops, and our work in the printing plant, several emergencies had developed to prevent us from leaving. The first was one...
Because of our late start, there was no way that we could make the fifty kilometers to Gray before dark. We passed through the hamlet of Belleauve that afternoon, and had neared Mirebeau-sur-Beze before deciding to stop for the night. We looked for, and found, a wooded area with a pond nearby, at the edge of an open field. Pat and I had unsaddled our riding horses, unhitched the cart team, and removed their harnesses before we took them out to the pond for a drink. The women were preparing...
Monday started a week of discoveries and amazement for our future wives. While Pat and I hit the books, as the old saying goes, on Monday morning, our Sisters and female Cousins took our girlfriends shopping in Statesboro. They went on the small bus that makes regular trips to town several times a day so that our people can shop or run other errands. The first shock was the bus itself. It's one of the small types of buses that can carry 25 or so passengers, like those used by many churches...
Characters introduced in this chapter: Shannon O'Connell (Shan) Sheena's twin, one of Mike's future wives, 5'-4" tall, 104 pounds, 34C-21-30, 15 years old, long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, some freckles, and terribly cute Sheena O'Connell (She) Shannon's twin, one of Pat's future wives, 5'-4" tall, 104 pounds, 34C-21-30, 15 years old, long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, some freckles, and terribly cute Clare O'Toole Cathleen's twin, one of Mike's future wives,...
At home on Monday we all relaxed for a while except for the need to weed the fields and some maintenance on the new Tractor. Sean and I took Annie and Sara out to show them how to weed with Magic. They were surprised that they knew the spell, and at how easy it was to weed the large fields with Magic. Later our Moms took them out and introduced them to the herbal garden and weeding by hand because many of the herbs and other things growing there would be considered weeds by the Magic spell,...
"Shannon, what are you doing?" Savannah demanded, standing in the hall behind us. Shannon's head came up off my chest, and she turned toward her Sister in a more determined way than I had seen before. "It's all right, Savannah. He will take us with him and will marry both of us," she told her Sister. Savannah gasped in surprise. "Really? Both of us? Are you sure?" she asked in a doubtful voice. "I told Shannon that I would marry both of you. I will be glad to have both of you as...
Annie and I spent a troubled night with thoughts of Weres waking us from time to time, as I was sure others in our family did. We had all heard tales about them, but had always assumed that they were just that - tales, and not anything real. We were about to discover if they were real or not. Annie and I were up early for breakfast and were joined by Sean and Sara, who were up equally early. After breakfast there wasn’t anything to do at our houses, so we went over to our parents’ house to...
Mark resumes the Narrative: I didn't have a chance to return to the barracks room until sometime later. I had checked with all of the Platoon Leaders and the remaining leaders of Olive Hill. I had also created the permanent Portal to Hickory Hill to get supplies in here. Wolf came over to me as I entered the room. He had very hesitantly left the girl that he had rescued, who was asleep on one of the bunks. "I'm sorry that I let you down, Mark, but I ... I just couldn't leave Saoirse....
The sun was already up when we rose the next morning. It was dry and fairly warm in our defensive shell, and the fire that the Eternal Flame had left was still burning. While the women started on breakfast, Pat and I fed the horses. "We are going to take the horses for a drink," I told the women, as we prepared to move the horses through the defensive shell and our wards. They didn't like this, and were always skittish when we did it. "Breakfast will be ready in a bit," Shannon called...
The following Monday, the 4th of September, was Labor Day, and on Tuesday, the 5th, we all started back with our home-school studies. Pat and I were now Seniors in high school. Thanks to the work done by the 'Book of Dreams', Shannon and Sheena were now in their Junior year of high school, while Clare and Cathleen had started their Sophomore year. Gretchen and Petra, because of their late start with the 'Book of Dreams' were only on eighth grade work at present, but were advancing rapidly...
It was July before more checks showed up. It was Wednesday, the 13th, to be exact. On Thursday, the 14th, we returned to Nassau to deposit the latest checks and some excess funds from our parents' regular bank account in Georgia. Our parents were maintaining a large reserve of cash on hand in their house now. They had built it up over the last eleven months. This deposit brought them to over 225 million dollars in the two Nassau banks. It would appear that we weren't the only ones moving...