Saturday Night blogging (part 1)

 Okay dokey folks, bit of a double header tonight. First up a brand spanking new adventure of Gabriel of Alba and Susie Owens, written in around 60 minutes, it's around 1100 words, I had no plan for what I was writing I just wrote, if you think it's any good let me know, let me know if you don't. I've not read it back, I haven't edited it, it's just going up. This is one of the ways I keep my mind on what I'm writing in the novel without writing the novel and getting writers block, which I hate and try and avoid at all costs.

You can't ever win.

"What?" Gabriel of Alba asked Susie Owens as she growled at him.

"You know fine well what." She replied, covered in the goop from a Layoch daemon, her brown hair caked in it. "You slice it's stomach open, it's insides burst out and I got covered in it."

"So what?" He was confused by the look on her face.

"Gabriel, I'm wearing a nice outfit, that cost quite a bit of money, because I was meant to be going on a date." She shouted at him, pointing to her short and muscled body and the mess that the dress and the shoes were in. "Now the outfit is ruined, and I'll have to phone my date and tell him that I won't be able to make it because my idiot of a boss dragged me into something he could have dealt with himself."

"He's a mage, he knows me, he'll get it." Gabriel said with a shrug.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT." She roared, slapping him on the back of the head. "I don't want him to have to understand that because my boss and partner is an insensitive, pig-headed, pain in the arse, I have to cancel my date. Gabriel, you could have come and did this yourself, it was a nest of Layoch Daemon's a Greenback on their first day could have handled this on their own."

"You are the one constantly quoting regulation 12.b to me, never take on any potential danger without your partner or some other form of back-up." Gabriel shot back with a smug grin.

"Your an ass." She growled at him. "More to the point, 12.b doesn't apply in this case, 12.b is for category five hazardous situations and above, 12.a applies, inform your partner of any potential hazardous situations category one to four. A nest of Layoch's is considered to be a Category three hazard."

"No, a single Layoch daemon is a Category three, a nest of Layoch's is a Category Five." Gabriel corrected her.

"There is also always regulation 12.c, Gabriel of Alba is exempt from the previous two sub-sections unless the Hazard is of Category 13 and higher as he is entirely capable of taking care of them on his own." Susie quoted and he couldn't think of a retort. "Ha, speared by the regulation sub-section you yourself had them add, bet you wish you hadn't now, you jackass."

In all the arguing the pair didn't notice the danger that was beginning to surround them. A pack of Werekin, evil and malevolent lycanthropes turned from human beings into what they were by Truewere's, the blood enemies of the Magi, Gabriel's magical race, and Hell's mortal soldiers, immune to most magic.Werekin despised the monsters they were turned by and in turn all magic users and tried to kill them when they came across them.

"It's not my fault you didn't change when I called you. I would have." Gabriel said to her.

"Gabriel you don't dress any differently whether you're on a date or not." Susie scoffed, waving her hand up and down at the Magi Warmaster who was dressed head-to-toe in black clothes, a hoodie, a greatcoat, a pair of combat trousers and boots which were not all black but mainly black. "I've seen you in something other than this all of once in the eight months I've known you. All you did was instead of a t-shirt, you wore a shirt, and you never wore the New Rocks, you wore plain black boots."

"I'm sure that's not right."

"Oh, no, it's right, believe me." She replied as a clawed hand reached out to grab her. Gabriel's reactions were however measured in nanoseconds as a ball of white flame slammed into the Werekin and threw it into three of it's fellows. "Behind you."

Gabriel turned and lashed out with a double-headed battleaxe of white light that appeared in his hand, taking the clawed hands off of two Werekin assailants.and ducked the sword of one of the few with human-like hands in it's turned form. Lashing out with his free hand he took it in the side, and his superhuman strength sent the beast flying.

 Susie was enveloped in a spherical force shield so none of the beast could touch her. Her chin sat on her chest as her lips moved, quietly mouthing incantations as her hands lashed out, sending bolts of lightening into Werekin, holding them on the spot and electrocuting them. A number of the beasts were hammering on her shield with claws and weapons but none were getting through. 

Gabriel was in about the monsters, laying about with his axe and flicking his wrists to send shock waves into unengaged beasts, snapping bones and holding them off of him. The largest of the beasts, almost as big as a True Werewolf, and most likely turned by one, broke through his defense and scratched it's claws down his chest, tearing fabric and flesh alike. The big warrior let out a feral roar of pain and anger. Letting the axe go, he grabbed the beast by it's hind legs and tipped it over onto it's front, when he had it in the position he wanted he roared, tipped himself back and snapped it's spine with such force the break could be heard a mile away.

With their leader dead, the remaining Werekin ran for the hills, but Gabriel would not let them go, he dropped his hands to his sides and began to shake vigorously, then when the energy he needed was gathered shot his hands out with a piecing howl, everyone of the Werekin exploded in a conflagration.

Gabriel dropped to one knee from the exertion the spell had wrote on him, and Susie helped him to stand, he shook his head to try and get rid of the dizzy feeling.

"You alright?" Susie asked him.

"I'll be fine." He replied with a sigh. "Just haven't used that spell in a long while."

"Yeah, well as long as you'll be alright." She sighed and slapped him behind the head again.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked incredulously.

"That's for almost getting me killed you moron." She replied as if it was obvious. "You bring me along for what you think is a Category five hazard for what was clearly a Category five hazard with the side hazard which was category nine, and I'm still covered in Layoch leftovers, but now it's covered in Werekin entrails and blood. This is never going to wash off."

"Alright, already, I'll buy replacements." Gabriel told her holding his head in his hands. "I can never win, why do I even try."

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,

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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.

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 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.