A Sorceress From the Future

Chapter Thirty Nine

“This…this is disastrous…What have you done Daniel!”

Daniel was fighting a smarmy expression. He had been maintaining a stoic appearance a long time after his victory. He felt that this had been the wrong reaction entirely. He should have retreated to the privacy of his chambers and poured himself some burgundy or perhaps brandy to celebrate this occasion. Yes, that would have been an appropriate response rather than all this pretending. The new leader of the Ninth Order was not grim at all, he was elated.

“Spread the word of Tamara’s ill fate. Let there be a meeting this afternoon to discuss her position…”

“But Daniel, whatever am I to say? That she is…she is…Daniel what did you do to poor Tamara-“

“Poor Tamara? This woman is anything but fragile! She almost killed me! Her fate is as a result of her attack on me…I am the victim here, you all have seen her during her episodes, the woman turns into an animal!”

George was having a hard time bringing his gaze to face the two dire situations in this chamber. One body was covered with morbid wounds which oozed worms and pus, a body that seemed to be rotting yet the soul inside it was very much alive. The owner of the body was in constant pain. He moaned and shifted, sometimes he would release successive high-pitched screams. George was glad that he was not the man, that he was not the prince of Chi. He dreaded the day that the boy would finally give in to his suffering, he dreaded the results of his death. According to what he had gathered over the years, death by a vessel was far worse than whatever this human was going through.

George slowly averted his gaze to Tamara. She laid still at the corner of the room, eerily still. Her skin had paled significantly. She too resembled a corpse, a prettier corpse but a corpse all the same. George knew his kind would be furious. They would want to know what transpired between husband and wife. They would want to know why the most powerful mage was lying next to her dying brother, appearing dead herself.

“You are positive she is not… dead?”

Flashes of Tamara pouncing on him coursed through Daniel’s mind briefly. He let out a shivering breath and swiftly turned away from Tamara’s body. Daniel rarely felt fear. He could mimic it to serve his purpose but to actually experience it? Feeling as if you did not have any control over whether you live or die? No, he had never felt fear. Not until Tamara’s face contorted to form an expression of a predator. Daniel was certain that he would have died that evening if it wasn’t for the healer he had procured.

“She is not dead. She can hear us, perhaps she can even feel the sun rays piercing her skin. What she cannot do is wake up. Don’t you see? We are finally safe! You all should be on your knees thanking me. Tamara’s powers are damning. They are too feral for her to control. If she were ever to face any creature outside the walls of our temple in her wild state…She would kill them without sparing the action a second thought. She would then deeply regret this action but what would she do to undo her actions? Practice dark magic? The very thing she forbids?”

“You speak as if you have not indulged in the same. Dark magic reeks in this chamber. Tell me, Daniel, did you have a hand in the human’s fate? Did you employ the services of a healer to bring this boy immense suffering? If you did this to Tamara then you surely did it to the boy as well…You do realize that the Ninth Order would not overlook your breaking of the law right?”

Daniel cracked his knuckles one by one. George was gnawing at his nerves. The ploy had been simple. Find a weak member of the Ninth Order to spread the rumor of his greatness and as a result, be nominated as the new leader of the Order. It was finally his turn. He had waited to lead the realm for a long time only for a mere girl, a girl raised by humans at that, to amble in and take his place. Daniel had expected the leadership to be short-lived but…Now he had the perfect opportunity to assume leadership. No one was going to stop him.

“You want my advice? Help her regain her sentience before the realm is aware of her condition. The Ninth Order will never side with you especially since a majority of them are not even here!”

“Yes, you are right. There will be no witnesses…”

“Excuse me?”

“You know what I detest more than anything in this earth George…Even more than those wretched humans?”

George’s eyes widened a fraction when he spotted the beginnings of smoke wisps crawling along the skirtings of the wall. Daniel could not hurt him, could he? George was a member of the Ninth Order. Members were bound by the sacred duty of looking after one another. Unity amidst themselves would project itself to the creatures they led, it would ultimately project itself to their foes. But hadn’t Daniel cast a dark spell on his own wife?

“Whatever it is you are thinking of doing do not do it. My death will not solve your problems! I implore you, do not end my life…”

Daniel chuckled humorlessly. George was testing his patience and he did not own much of this virtue. Like fear, he could only mimic it.

“You dot know my problems…”

Daniel twisted his fist deliberately slowly. He did not just wish for George to die, he wished for George to die painfully.

“That thing that I loathe more than humans is cowardice and you George, you reek of it…”

George panted heavily as he struggled to breathe. He could feel the air thin around him, he could feel his body temperature rising. It was as if he was drowning only there was no water in sight. Daniel watched impassively as George dropped to his knees and began crawling towards him. At some point, the weak creature grew tired of the laborious task and chose to retain his position. He slapped the ground as he fondled his throat. When it dawned on him that this was truly his end, he lifted his face to regard his killer. His puffy red eyes, blotched nose, and purple face was a sight for sore eyes, at least to Daniel.

“You’ll never…”

Curious, Daniel crouched to George’s level to heed his final words. It was, after all, the least he could do.

“What was that George? Begging for mercy, are we?”

“You’ll never win against the humans…The war shall be the end of you…”

There it was again. That crawling feeling that quickened the pace of one’s heart; fear.

George had possessed the gift of foresight. Though some of his predictions had never panned out, a majority had. Daniel visibly flinched as George fell on the ground unmoving. Had he made a wrong choice? Was his fate sealed once he charged into the battlefield?

Nonsense. George probably wished to spark fear within him using his final breath. Yes, that was it. The weak mage had wished to rattle him before his body gave out, how pitiful.

If this then was the case, why was Daniel not convinced?