Cast A Spell (Mages and Mates #4)

19. Otto

Otto

T he house was eerily quiet as we waited for Percy to speak. No one touched their tea or cookies, and I forced myself to breathe. We sat on the edge of our seats for what was barely a second but felt like minutes.

“When I had control of Jalen's mind, I found the source of the corruption spreading across the land. As we believed, it’s hidden in a cave in the mountains. Although it’s still hidden from our senses, I learned its location from Jalen’s memory.”

My heart pounded harder in my chest. I could feel Thal's relief and trepidation. Finding it didn’t guarantee we could reach it, much less destroy it. “What exactly is it? And won’t it move now that its whereabouts are compromised?”

“No. It cannot be moved.” Percy picked up his tea and took a sip. “It's an ancient sword, driven into a rock. Imbued into the metal is the soul of a mage and a demon.”

“How is that possible?” Lysandor turned toward Owen. “Can you do that?”

“No,” Owen said, shaking his head. “And I wouldn’t. No sane being would do such a thing.”

If Bart hadn’t told us about the Orme Seaux, I’d wouldn’t have believed such a thing possible. Then Leo and Gund found the Dreki Seaux, and we thought those were the only two. The others were in nearly identical states of shock.

“Two very sane beings already did it,” I said. It was clear Percy and Gio already knew about the Orme and Dreki, so I explained them to the others.

“It’s puzzling,” I said at the end of my elucidation. “The other two were made by the same smith. He wove his mate’s soul into the Dreki and his into the Orme. This blade has two souls. That might explain why it’s more proactive than the other two.”

“Does that matter?” Thal asked. “It’s evil and must be destroyed.”

I agreed with his conclusion, but the difficulty was in the how. “Something else bothers me. This one artifact can’t possibly infect the entire earth. It must have a different endgame in mind.”

“We should call Bart,” Owen said. “This is just his jam.”

Calling a sword with a demon soul in it a “jam” probably wouldn’t impress Bart. “It is, but let’s see if we six can work some of this out before we call him. Bart is going to ask a million questions, and I’d like to think this through so we can answer some of them.”

“Agreed,” Gio said. “Your brother’s talent is indisputable, but Percy and I have the greater knowledge of what we face.”

Gio might be defending his mate’s talent, but Percy didn’t seem ruffled. Like Bart, he was the smartest mage in the room and didn’t need anyone to stroke his ego to do his best work. He’d also been here for centuries. “You two living here isn’t just good fortune, is it?”

“Well said,” Percy smiled. “This evil was here before the Demon War ended. It was a rallying point for demons and their allies. Some hoped it was destroyed when the Great Ward was created. Our fellow guardians didn’t believe that to be the case. Gio and I volunteered to search for it and be on guard should it return.”

Their presence this close for so long would be useful, but Gio’s bravado notwithstanding, we’d need Bart. “Can I assume you didn’t know it was a sword until today?”

“That’s correct,” Percy said. “As you surmised, we’ll still need your brother’s help to destroy this evil. But before we can do that, we need to reach the cave. To do that , we must find a way to keep it from corrupting us.”

Percy looked at me—a not-so-subtle reminder of how close I’d come to falling under its influence. “

“This thing gives me the creeps. What does it want?" Owen asked, his face etched with concern. “When it probed me, it felt like it was excited for a few seconds, then I felt its frustration.”

Removed from its influence, Owen’s words explained what I’d felt minus the frustration. “It wanted me.”

“Not you,” Percy said. “I believe it wants to be free. You two are the pieces it needs to achieve its goal.”

“And you want them to go back and give this thing a second chance to claim them?” Thal’s anger bled through our bond. “There’s no way we’re going back.”

Thal’s resolve to keep me out of harm’s way was sweet, but the emotions swirling between us made it hard to concentrate. There was something important I’d been on the verge of understanding just before his burst of fear and anger flooded me. Why was it excited by my presence when it already had Owen?

“Did it want one of us or both?”

“Owen didn’t have his stone, so he wouldn’t be able to free the demon,” Percy said. “Jalen didn’t have all the particulars, but he knew he needed two mages. The plan had been to capture one and draw the other close enough to be corrupted.”

The pieces were slowly starting to fall into place, but there were more than a few we still didn’t have. “Why capture one and not both? Wouldn’t it be easier to draw us in and corrupt me and Owen?”

“Jalen didn’t have that information,” Percy said. “The images in his mind showed one bound and the other to follow.”

We were missing something important. One bound, the other coming to the rescue was a very specific plan. “Why?”

Everyone turned toward me. I didn’t have the answer, but the question was the key to our mission. “Jalen’s unicorns stood no chance against me alone. Owen and I together would’ve destroyed the entire camp in a matter of seconds.”

“That presumes he got his stone back,” Lysandor said. “Without it, he couldn’t free us.”

“No,” Owen said. “I’m close enough with Otto that I could’ve used his stone while he held it. He’s onto something important. They were pleased they’d capture us, and even more so that Otto and Thal were following. Percy disrupted their plans, but what was the plan if he hadn’t taken control of Jalen?”

“I can only speak to what I saw in Jalen’s thoughts,” Percy said. “His goal was to capture one of you and get the other to follow.”

As plans went, Jalen’s was suicidal. His plan to capture me and Thal by threatening our brothers’ lives had little chance of success. Had we not encountered Percy and Gio, we would have ridden around the town and caught them before Jalen could’ve set up his trap.

“Assume his ill-conceived plan worked. What then?” I asked. “Unless he separated me from my stone, I could easily reach Lysandor and Owen.”

“Perhaps,” Gio said. He kept his eyes on me while he took a sip. “But at what cost?”

I felt the weight of his gaze pushing me to look beyond the obvious. The urge to kill and make them suffer still tainted my soul. If not for others, I would’ve given in to the hatred and anger. “Agreed. I think I see the purpose of Jalen’s actions. The endgame still eludes me, but the goal was to draw one of us close enough for the demon to turn us. Had we charged in as planned, we would’ve been gradually turned before we knew what was happening.”

“But we were on their ground for a full day,” Thal said. “I didn’t feel anything until we drew closer to the camp.”

“You were too focused on saving your brothers,” Percy said. “And you were still at the fringes of its influence.”

“Something I don’t understand,” Owen said. “Why did Jalen come here looking for Otto and Thal? He’d seen what Otto could do to unicorns. Even if you’d turned them over, my brother would’ve fried them.”

Owen made a good point. Jalen didn’t have great leverage over me. If he killed Owen and Lysandor, I’d kill him. I’d been taught to think like my opponent. Diplomacy wasn’t much different from war. They were different means to achieve the same goal. The problem with trying to think like Jalen was he didn’t act rationally or of his own free will. I needed to think like—“That’s it!”

Everyone stared at me. I’d have been embarrassed but I didn’t have time. “We’re trying to figure out what Jalen wanted, but he’s a pawn. The demon didn’t care if Jalen succeeded. In fact, it probably hoped I killed him. Such an act would’ve made me easier to turn.”

“Right, but his plan had been to kill Owen and me if you didn’t come peacefully,” Lysandor said. “He must’ve hoped to control you by threatening us.”

I caught Thal watching me and leaned into our bond. “Thoughts? Am I off base?”

“No,” Thal said quickly. “The guardians already figured this out, but for some reason wanted us to reach the conclusions on our own.”

I glanced at Percy and Gio. They were watching us intently. “Am I really that stubborn?”

“Not you, love. The boys. They are rash and need to feel like they helped find the solution.”

“You’re correct,” I said. “That was Jalen’s plan. But he wasn’t in charge. The demon wanted two mages. It wouldn’t have allowed the others to carry out the order. At least, that’s my opinion now. I’m very glad we never tested that theory.”

“Me, too,” Owen said with a rueful laugh. He looked at the guardians. “What do you two think?”

“You four are doing a fine job unraveling this mystery,” Gio said. “Percy and I agree with your logic. Unfortunately, knowing what the demon wants doesn’t explain why it wants you.”

I could think of a few reasons. One, the demon wanting to recruit mages was the least likely. It could find other mages more easily turned. “The demon either wants us to free it or help it open a rift to the demon plane.”

“Or both,” Percy said. “Let’s discuss a few more things before you contact your brother for his help.”

Percy waved his stone over the table and a three-dimensional image shimmered into existence. We zoomed over a nondescript wall of rock and earth until we stopped in front of an irregular opening. There were lights flickering in the cave, but I couldn’t see inside.

“I plucked this from Jalen’s mind. Obviously, I’ve not had a chance to vet it’s accuracy, but the location roughly matches the epicenter of the blight.

“The sword lies inside this cavern. The entrance has been masked by powerful concealments, but since Jalen was drawn to it, we can see it using his memories.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as we all absorbed the task ahead. Jalen’s attack proved we could handle his physical attacks, but the demon had twelve centuries to prepare magical defenses. My gaze drifted to Thal. The thought of him imperiled by this ancient evil made my stomach twist into knots.

I considered suggesting he not go, but he’d never listen. Neither would Lysandor if Owen suggested he go without his mate. It would also be a mistake. The earth chose two pairs for a reason. I didn’t know how to combat this evil yet, but it involved all of us.

“Let's assume we're able to make our way through the cavern and locate the sword.” I tried to keep my tone even and analytical, projecting more confidence than I felt. “How do we destroy a sword infused with the power of a demon and a mage?”

“The simple answer is by using an opposing force of primal energy,” Percy said. “Unfortunately, the demon has made that difficult. Summoning pure, unspoiled earth magic through its barrier will be hard.”

“That just tells us what tool we need,” Owen said. “How does earth magic destroy the sword?”

“For that you’ll need to ask your brother for help,” Percy said with a smile. “Let’s discuss how you can get there without being corrupted. We’ll need greater protection than I had when we arrived in Jalen’s camp. The effect will likely grow stronger the closer we get to the sword.”

I heard several things in his statement. First, Percy hadn’t expected the demon’s ability to subvert our will to be so formidable. His control over Jalen had come close to failing, and I don’t think he expected such a struggle. The second was he planned to come with us again. “Are you sure it’s wise for you and Gio to come with us? Not that your wisdom wouldn’t be a big asset, but the world can’t afford to lose you.”

“Left unchecked, this aberration will hasten the demise of the Great Ward,” Gio said. “Your point is, however, well taken. Percy and I will help ensure you make it to the cave. We won’t take unnecessary risks.”

Any risks felt unnecessary, but we wouldn’t have saved Lysandor and Owen without them. “Understood. I’ll defer to Owen on how best to protect us.”

“Me?” Owen sounded as surprised as the others looked. “Are you kidding, Otto?”

His reaction confirmed my fear the events since Wyoming had shaken his confidence. We needed the Owen who scored higher than every mage other than Bart in the last two centuries. “There’s a reason you were picked, Owen. Grandpa Hollen said you have an instinct for magic that reminds everyone of Bart. What you lack in experience you make up for with natural ability. We need you to be that mage.”

Owen might not believe me, but Lysandor nearly burst apart he was so proud of his mate. Nothing I said was a lie. He was the best mage in the house and maybe for a thousand miles.

“No one’s asking you to single-handedly come up with a solution,” Percy said. “But you see things in a different way than most mages. Don’t hold back your insight. Even if it doesn’t work, your ideas will help us find something workable.”

Color painted Owen’s cheeks and he opened his mouth to speak, but then he quickly turned toward Lysandor. The rest of us laughed, and Owen appeared uncertain again.

“You two need to work on your mental communicating skills,” I said. The others nodded. “There’s no point speaking mind-to-mind if you let the world know you’re doing it.”

“Fine.” Owen huffed. “We’ll work on it. As for my ideas, I have a few. Grandpa and I talked a lot about infusing objects with protection. The key’s going to be finding a way to block the influence from reaching us but not cut us off from each other.”

I smiled at how given the responsibility, Owen pounced on it like a starving man being fed.

“Nicely done” Thal said. “Now we need a task to occupy Lysandor.”

The unspoken implication was Thal wanted to contribute to this as well. “Thal, can you work with Lysandor and Gio to find exactly where this cave is located? We’re probably going to fight our way there. It would help if we knew exactly where ‘there’ is before starting the trip.”

“Sure, give us the easy job,” Thal said with mock sarcasm.

There were no easy jobs in this mess. The possibility one or more of us wouldn’t return might be small, but it was still real. Our plan needed to be smart, tight, and as safe as possible. One of us couldn’t handle it alone. “To each according to their talents, love.”

Thal swooned inside. My stoic and burly mate had a soft side and melted when I used that term of affection. It was a wonderful surprise.

“Well,” Percy stood. “Since we have our tasks, let’s get to them.”