Saturday Night Blogging (part 2)

Part 1 closely followed by part 2. This is a story that has been edited a couple of times, various bits added and subtracted until I was happy with the end product because when I looked at it until that last time it just felt it wasn't right.

I felt after what I've been doing and talking about today that two examples of different ways I write, the first totally unplanned, unedited, uncut, this was submitted to a short story thread on a writing website after it had been edited a couple of times were appropriate for me to share.

Now a little of the back story of Gabriel and Susie's reality has changed since I finished this story, but I haven't edited that because it's fiction and fiction is fluid, when it get's published in a book then it'll get fixed, but now it's just this a case of this is something I've written, enjoy it and let me know what you think, this story is only about a thousand words.

Fury of the Ages

 

 

Gabriel of Alba’s fist met flesh and the Sorceror rocked back. The Gabriel grabbed his opponent by his collar and landed a headbutt upon the foul dark magic user’s nose. Blood and cartiledge exploded from and he ducked down. The War Master of the Magi’s free fist met the recidivist’s neck and smashed his spine.

His partner Susie Owens, Wizard of the Sydrian School, fought her opponenets Magic for Magic, shields being pummled with spell after spell. She faced three Priory members at once and was just about holding her own, when a lightning bolt shot from Gabriel’s hand and exploded two of the dark magic shields.

His own shield was being peppered with spells as he stalked towards the Mistress of the Priory, her people and the Daemon’s that they had conjured using the life force of a Magi child protecting her like a living shield.

He caught two of the Priory by their coat tails as they tried to flee from him, his own hand wreathed in flames and sparks igniting the cotton of the men’s coats. He knocked the men clean out so they were incinerated by the flames enveloping them.

Gabriel refused to allow the remaining children of his people to die at the hands of these soulless wretches share that first boy’s fate. Lightning bolts and fireballs flew from his hand as Priory member after Priory member fell to his fury.

The Mistress saw the fire in his eyes, white hot and filled with the fury of the light. She directed the half-ton eight foot, almost reptilian, Cordisangui daemons to either kill him or at least weaken the furious War Master.

A feral roar issued from his mouth, almost like the roar of a lion, as a double headed axe, wreathed in white flame appeared in his hand, for him to swing at the first Daemon that came into reach.

He bisected the daemon, groin to head, and then sliced the next in two, he beheaded a third and transected a fourth, each with a single stroke of the weapon.

“I am Gabriel, Son of Galdanis and Shiona, War Master and Warrior of the People. I am Death Incarnate.” He bellowed at the top of his lungs in the Warrior tongue of the Magi

His axe clove left and right, taking arms, legs and heads from human and Daemon alike. Susie had dispatched the last of the three Priory members in her path to the children, slamming him into a wall with a sickening thump. She unshackled them, but they all stared in awe of the de facto leader of their people.

The Magi War Master was like an engine who wouldn’t stop. Lightening bolts, fireballs and shards of ice flew from his free hand as the axe took apart yet more of the Priory.

He reached the Priory mistress and grabbed her by the throat, his eyes had changed into those of pure white light, and his accent was no longer that of a man born and bred in Glasgow, she had never heard the accent before.

“I am here to serve justice for the life you have taken and those that you would end.” He told the Priory Mistress who’s eyes were full of fear. “I name thee Omnino diabolus incarnatus inredux by the ancient laws of the Magical world, I cast your rotten soul back to your Dark Masters in hell.”

With a single twinge of his wrist he snapped her neck and threw her lifeless corpse to the ground, then launched the axe with eery accuracy so it decapitated the last of the remaining Cordisangui daemons.

His hands dropped, along with his head, then were lifted up to the sky and a bolt of lightning struck him. Using his body as a conduit it began forking into every living member of the Priory, electrocuting them on the spot.

Another roar issued from his open maw, the power surged through the body of the War Master and it would be awe inspiring if Susie wasn’t sure that he was no longer in control of it. She ducked and dived in order to avoid the forks as they continued to keep aloft the desiccated and charred remains of the Priory.

She reached him and tried to shake him to awareness.

“Gabriel, stop it you are going to die if you don’t stop it.” She said, almost crying at him, she realised she wasn’t getting through with his own name. “Michael, Stephen, Liam, Angus, Shaemus…”

She continued on using the names of his ancestors until she reached back almost a million years. His eyes returned to their normal colour.

“How long?” Gabriel asked her, sagging and almost falling to his knees, his voice back to normal. “How long Susie?”

“Almost before Pythia.” She replied with a concerned look on her face. “It’s getting worse Gabriel, I don’t know if I can pull you back if you push before Pythia.”

“Don’t worry,” he said with a tight smile. “You will, at least the children are safe.”

“You are far too important to let yourself lose control like that. You must not let it happen again, you are magic’s future.” She said with a wet growl, she was almost sobbing.

“No, my dearest friend Susie,” he replied with a smile, holding her tightly, and pointing to the children. “They are the future of magic, I am but a conduit for that future to spring forth and I always was.”

“They Prophecies…” He interupted her with a hand.

“The Prophecies are vague and inexact, in due time I will fulfil them and you will see just how vague.” He let her go and walked towards the children. “Come let’s return these lucky ones to their parents and break the news to the ones who are lost, may they rest in the embrace of the Great Father and Mother until it is their time to walk the world again.”

Hazards of the Job (Fiction)

This is a little piece that I thre together to try and get rid of the writers block, so incoherent and messy it may be, but it's hard to do this when your brain doesn't want to play.

**************************************************

Hazards of the Job

Damien Ambrosius Caledonensis McCain, High Marshall of the Grey Council, grappled with the Majiesa daemon, both using thier supernatural abilities to keep the other off balance. The High Marshall tore free his huge right hand and formed a ball of ice smashing it against the face of the daemon, who let him go squealing in agony.

"That's what you get when you mess with me." He said, in his thick Scottish brogue, with a grin, throwing the pair of ice shards in his hands, piercing the heart and the head of the daemon, killing the demagogue human that it had inhabited, sending it back to the daemon realms. "Well, that was fun."

"Ah, the work of a Sheriff is never done is it." A figure said from the shadows of the alleyway. "That was but one of my many minions and eventually I will destroy you."

"Oh, really, let me see how much I'm shaking in my boots." He chuckled looking down and his size sixteen boots from the top of his six foot six frame. "Nope, nothin whatsoever."

"You dare insult Temorican the Terror?" The figure's voice began to tremble.

"Really kid, you need to get a better name." Damien said with a snicker. "My new born son could come up with a better one than that."

"I am the greatest terror of the nine pits of hell...." 

"Yeah, there are fifteen pits of hell, not nine, you've been reading too many fantasy and horror books kid, if you were a real power you would know that." Damien snorted and walked towards the alley exit. The figure jumped from the shadows in front of him, he was a foot shorter than Damien, and half his age and weight, in a purely physical confrontation the boy would get beaten to a pulp if he didn't get killed. "Seriously, come on I don't want to hurt you."

"I am the one going to be doing the hurting." The boy said, throwing a fireball at the Marshall, which bounced harmlessly off of his energy shield.

"Really, you really want to throw down?" Damien said with a shake of his head. "Fine, I'll throw down."

"Come meet your doom." The young man said with a snarl, as he moved and slipped on a banana peel as Damien unleashed a bolt of magical energy, exploding his shield and burning the boy's first layer of skin off. "Stop, stop, I yield."

"Boy, you just attacked the High Marshall of the Grey Council, a Wizard of the 1st order no less." Damien growled at him, as he grabbed the boy by the collar and slapped his cuffs on the skinny arms, pulling the teenager towards the alley mouth. "You are going to the cells at Caerleon and you will be found guilty."

"What are you talking about?" The boy said with a whimper.

"I am the leader of the Sheriff's kid, I'm the guy you don't want to be messing with." The Scotsman replied as they got to the mouth of the alley. "You mess with one of us and you best be willing to deal with the consequences Caerleon is the home of the Grey Council, where Merlin started it all, we hold prisoners there awaiting trial for acts that break the laws of magic, don't worry you didn't break any of the Primary Laws, so your ass isn't grass but you're not going to be seeing the light of day anytime soon."

"But, but..." The boy started to whine, but stopped with a whimper.

"So pitiful." Damien said as he dragged the boy towards the portal to Alfhiem, and the leylines which would take them quickly to Wales and the council gaol. The portal itself was covered by four figures and the Marshall sighed, taking his cuff key from his pocket. "Kid, it is your very lucky day, I'm going to let you off with a warning, I'm not going to be responsible for your life if I have to fight a quad of Thenrdak."

"I won't argue with that." The boy said with a nod, and hopped off to let the Damien deal with the underworld's assassin daemons. 

"So, what do you turds want?"

"By the order of the Black Hand, we have been charged with your end." The leader of the hulking, reptilian beings, their skin cracked and oozing lava, informed him. The Black Hand where the Dark ones analogue to the Neutral Grey Council.

"Oh, really, well you're welcome to try." He said with a snort, he formed a pair of iceballs in his hands and launched them at the nearest of his foes. The creature wailed with pain as the water melted on it's skin, many daemons anathema being water. The rest of the quad moved swiftly to surround the Wizard. "Just four of you, really, I thought I would merit more than a single quad."

"Our masters do not rate you, despite your position as a Wizard of the 1st order." The leader replied as he lunged at Damien, the Marshall redirected his shields energy to let the thing's rebound off of it and go flying into a car, crushing it. A second came at him from the opposite side and he blocked it with the bracer of Iron on his arm. He threw his power to the sewer and the filthy water from below exploded through the manhole the creature had stepped onto, engulfing it in the stink but killing it none the less. The two Thenrdak had distracted him enough that the remaining one managed to score it's blade across his right side, but it was just a glancing blow. The Wizard's staff of office appeared in his hand and from it shot a rush of water, engulfing the daemon that had caught him and the leader in a wave.

Damien breathed a sigh of relief as he headed towards the Alfhiem entrance when his mobile phone went off, he pulled it from his pocket and answered it without seeing who it was.

"Damien McCain." He answered chirpily, then realised it was his wife. "Oh, hello Fang, what's wrong.... no.... I'm working... well killing daemons and chasing down dastardly wrong doers.... No I did not forget the milk it's at the office, where I am headed right now... No, I promise... I promise, I'm right at the entrance to the Alfhiem right now, I'll be in Caerleon in half an hour and I'll be home in an hour and fourty-five. I promise, no more trouble tonight, straight to the office to pick up the milk then straight home.. yes, dear." He cut the call off and headed through the entrance to the lands of the Fae. As he stepped out he was confronted by a troop of Kilneir, spiderlegged humanoids with a nasty streak a mile wide, and even though he was an emissary of those of neutral allignment, the Kilneir followed the court of Winter and it's chaotic nature. "Here we go again."

********************************

Hope you enjoyed that little read, took a bit of time but I've got the old creative juices flowing again, even missing the second half of the football because of it.

If you haven't already got a copy of it Strange Tales of the Scriptorian vault is available on Kindle right now, I think it should be up on Smashwords now or very soon and when the paper copy is on it's way, all the profits goes to charity so please buy it.

Night of a Thousand Spells

Good evening to you all, just another little short story from the world of the Magi, this one coming from the day from the main character, Gabriel of Alba's, birth, it was written for a short story anthology I'm going to release sometime in the new year when I get around to finish writing all the short stories I started, got lots of others on the horizon. I will be posting the ones that have been posted elsewhere later, going to post one a week and then continue with the newer ones once they are finished thought there will be two posts next week, one coinciding with the release of Dark Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults on the 31st of this month, dwhich I'm fairly sure you will know if you read my blog often or know me at all, since I can't stop talking about it, I'm fuckin proud so sue me. details of how to purchase it and where to purchase it will be posted here when I find out how and also on my facebook page and also that week probably another short story from the Magiverse and maybe one from the rest of my many fantasy worlds or alternate realities, there are 30 odd so plenty to chose from.

So if you like it let me know if you don't feel free to tell me and if you read it and like it pass it along to some friends,

*************************************

 

Night of a Thousand Spells

He was not your typical baby, even for one of the Magi. His tufty down of hair was dark brown and his eyes already a piercing blue. Gabriel his parents had named him, bloody idiots, he thought to himself, hardly a Magi name, it was the name of the Christian texts, messenger of the gods indeed.

He could already feel the Dark ones gathering, always happened after the birth of a Magi child, when their magic was bound until puberty, not that it was always so, and this time they were in for a bloody great shock.

He growled to himself and wove shields around the other babies and the nurses in the nursery, only fair that they be protected, it was subtle but it meant they would be protected against just about anything that could happen during the coming fight.

He felt the first one come through the door of the nursery, a dark mage on his own, dressed in a ceremonial black robe, he backhanded the nurse who was looking after the babies at that point, she had been cooing over the grimaces and gripes of the children.

That was not a nice thing to do. Gabriel growled to himself, it didn't sound like a growl it was a squeak. A white fireball appeared in his tiny hand and it exploded forward at the dark mage incinerating him instantly.

A little grin appeared on his face. Come to take my power did you, wretched little toe-rags, the baby though. I'll bloody show you why I was feared by the Dark Lords in my previous life.

Another of the Dark Ones entered the room and a lightening bolt shot from the crib and Gabriel's hand, it shot through her and impacted off of the ceiling and the plaster began to fall, bouncing off the shields of the babies below the impact point onto the floor.

Gabriel tried to roll himself but his little muscles just left him flapping, he was trying to do what he did in his previous life with his body. I hate reincarnation bloody already. He grumbled to himself. Not even twenty-four bloody hours old and I'm already being attacked.

A number of Werewolves entered the rooms with a pair of sorcerers. A phantom hand from the baby grabbed one of the Were's smashing it into another and then another which cannoned them through the glass viewing window and off the wall. The remaining Were's looked around to see where the attack had come from, only to be set on fire by the baby. The sorcerers imploded with his asigation spell.

What has the world come to that I can't be left in peace for the day of my birth and leave the chuffing mundane hospital, they start trying to chuffing kill me. He growled away to himself as he launched a pair of whitefire balls at a group of warlocks who appeared in the room before they could get their bearings and they were killed instantly.

The baby magi was struggling to roll himself again but was getting absolutely nowhere and it was starting to annoy him greatly. The next Dark One who appeared, was ripped apart by Gabriel's phantom hands, taking the full brunt of the baby's frustration.

More of the dark ones appeared through the corridors, each shielded and ready for a pack or two of the Magi Hunters protecting him, As there bloody should be. His father was a Pack Master, commander of the Fifth Circle, the most elite hunter packs of the entire cadre. Damn well nearly as powerful as the Huntmaster himself, or the Triumvirate, his son should be protected by the best.

If these bozos are teleporting in here the bloody Hunters or some bloody Guardians shouldn't have any problems with it. The baby's squeaked out loud since he couldn't vocalise his frustration in any other way.

The sorcerers were fighting with each other now to get at him, to tap the power from his tiny little body, a battery they would feed off until he was spent of all that power, Magi children were at their peak of power during the day of their birth, and every five years on that day until their fifteenth birthday, their day of ascension, when they become adults in the minds of the Cadre and they chose their path, and for most the day they are filled with the most power. Many of his kind never reached the day of ascension because of the likes of the men and women trying to take his power from him.

The baby cackled away to himself as he launched white fireball after white fireball into the hallway, making sure that he instigated a full on brawl between the different factions, and keeping his tiny little backside alive.

He was sure some of them weren't there to drain his power, some of them, especially the demon thralls were probably just there to kill him. The children of the deep knowing full well who he was and what he was reborn to do.

His coming was prophesied, by one of his own siblings no less, he really didn't like the fact that he got screwed by his own sister. It was one of the side effects from being who he was, always got screwed by good intentions and bad mistakes.

He could hear the war cries of the Magi as the Hunters finally appeared. The little baby Gabriel giggled to himself in triumph, but it was short lived. A dozen of the Midnight Heart, a Cabal of Dark magic practitioners entered the nursery filled with their power and surrounded by their own powerful shields.

All around them they felt shields around the babies, each of the shields identical in construction and with the same stamp of the Magi who created them.

“The little bastard is here somewhere, just check every one of them for the Mark.” The leader, Anastassia Andolfo ordered her people, she was a most powerful Dark Wizard, apprenticed by they Grand Necromancer himself, Adjustier Namock, Dark Lord of Hell. “Only one with the Mark could weave this many shields at once and hold them. We must find him before the Hunters break free.”

“Did our lord give you any idea how to break his shield?” Jared Dalmuir, murderer of Gabriel's parents first born daughter asked her. “He may be a baby but he's got the power of a Magi Warmaster.”

“Ah, but you can see he left his mark, not too subtle.” She said with a snort.

“Since when have the Magi Warrior Caste done anything subtle, they're brute force incarnate, they don't need to be subtle when they have all the power they do.” Dalmuir said as he felt his robes go on fire. He hurriedly pulled them off and began stamping on the robes to put the fire out, it wouldn't and it started to consume his trouser. His eyes went mad with fear. “Fuck, it's whitefire, the little shit can use whitefire, somebody help me.”

“No, Dalmuir, I think you can be of use for something else.” Anastasia said with a wicked smile as her ceremonial Athame went across his throat and his blood spilled into a ceremonial bowl, she put more and more ingredients in the bowl and began chanting in Sumerian. The Sumerians had been expert practitioners of magic and those that did follow the dark arts were very good. When she was finished she blew the contents of the bowl out into the air. Locator dust, fueled by death energy, not a good combination. Gabriel shot his little arms into the air firing brimstone charges everywhere, sending the Cabal flying away from the babies.

Every baby except from Gabriel was crying by this point, which didn't go unnoticed by the locator dust, which coalesced around his shield. Oh crap on a crap stick.

“Thought you were clever did you.” Anistacia said with an evil grin. “Brimstone charges, very naughty, I thought all you old ones never used such naughty spells.”

“We need to begin.” Heirmandier Wulfen growled to her. “The night is almost up, his power is at it's strongest right now, even with all that he's used to repel us.”

“There's something different about this one Anastasia, I think we should leave him be.” Gillian MacCord told her, the youngest member of the Cabal was actually a Council of Magic plant in Midnight Heart.

“Go watch the door, McCord,” Anastasia growled at her, and she did as she was told. The numbers of their circle was made up to thirteen, and they began their ritual to take down his shield and then his power. The little baby Gabriel, clenched his little fists almost to the beat of their chant, He was trying to think of a spell to rid himself of all of them, but he was being drained with every chant.

Gabriel started to convulse and foam from his little mouth, almost drained of the will to maintain his shield he was suddenly filled with the power of his ancestors, all the Magi of his line who had came before him first son to first son, his eyes glowing the bluey white of whitefire, his baby hands shot out into his shield which exploded with such force it literally shattered every bone in the bodies of those that touched it. And the white fire consumed their bodies leaving not even ash.

Anastassia & Hermandier had split seconds to realise their folly in following their master's orders. They felt for that instant the pain of being burned alive and having their bones shattered. It was in that final second that the Hunters broke through the lines of the Dark ones and into his room.

McCord nodded to the first of the Hunters Saluting him before teleporting away with a wink to the baby.

About fucking time you losers. Gabriel thought as he relaxed the shields.

His father stepped into the room, and imposing man towering over his pack mates, he scooped his son under the arms and raised him like a winning captain held the Scottish Cup.

“Behold my brothers and sisters, my son is who was prophesied in the Pythian Scrolls,” the Warrior Caste leader shouted to them, and they dropped to their left knee, right fist on their hearts and left fist planted in the ground, heads bowed.

All Gabriel could do was ineffectually try to kick out his tiny little legs, and think to himself.

Here we go again.

                                             ******************************

 Just as a little addition if you haven't read anything I've written then you probably get lost by the references, it can happen even I get lost in some of my own, but don't be to worried at some point I'll through up a Glossary of terms from the Magi Universe, mostly it's changes from our reality to their reality or references to organisations that while central to the mythos aren't essential to read the stories.