The Witch and Her Second Chance

3 | Times and tribulations of a warlock

"Master Verin," a surprised voice sounded from behind the man.

Verin arrived early as he usually would, and was setting up his presentation. He wasn't the first person on the agenda, so he wanted everything ready for his turn.

"Grandmaster Main," Verin turned into a bow in greeting, immediately itching to get back to his set-up but waiting for the Grandmaster to allow him to come out of the bow.

"Stand," the Grandmaster said breezily, "Did no one tell you we are discontinuing this project?"

Verin fought not to show any emotion. "No Grandmaster. May I be permitted to ask why?"

"We need a solution to a different problem. You should have received the missive," he grumbled under his breath and called over his shoulder for his assistant.

Verin stood awkwardly, waiting while the Grandmaster berated his assistant. The assistant stood, head bowed, agreeing to the horrible terms the Grandmaster used to describe his intelligence. Once the assistant was dismissed, Grandmaster Main turned back to Verin.

"Can't get good help these days," he spoke across the back of his hand conspiratorially to Verin. "My sister's youngest. Why she had so many is beyond me. Well, she did find her mate–that seems to do something to your senses. Anyway…"

"Grandmaster, I request I still present." He gestured to what he had laid out. "The prototype is ready–you can choose after if you want to use it…"

The Grandmaster had already started to wander away from him, heading to his place at the large table that was the focal point of the room. Four others' places were vacant.

"Mmmm," Main mused as he sat back, his chair creaking. A large fat man, his bulk was made indistinct by his black ministerial robes. He regarded the younger man. He had a lot of time for the artificer. He felt Verin did great work, but sometimes his ideas were too lofty. "Go wait outside, if we finish early, I will call you in."

Verin bowed in thanks and quickly adjusted the items so he could get straight into the presentation when he was brought back in.

~*~

Skewer. Dunk. Chew.

The buzz of talking in the large room grated against Verins's nerves more than provided a soothing backdrop. He stabbed at the food on his plate, dipping the pieces of meat into a sauce before angrily chewing them. He was up at the communal dining hall having his dinner, the large tavern–like, bustling building at peak dinner time. All meals were provided on a credit basis, with food falls like this in densely populated parts of the city. He could use credits for food at home, but he foolishly thought eating out would make him feel better.

The Grandmasters hadn't called him in to present. He hadn't even got a message that he was dismissed until he'd loitered around the door and realised the meeting room was now empty, the Grandmasters leaving via their chamber door at the back.

He'd waited for three hours, and he still hadn't received what they wanted him to work on instead.

Now, he gulped his drink and wished for the sweet oblivion of drunkenness. As he set his glass down, he was already indicating to the barkeep to serve him up another. Libations cost credits, too, but he felt it was worth it.

"Hello gorgeous," Celeste crept up and hugged him from the side.

Verin jumped slightly, grumbling at the jolt of surprise. He was a grumpy man at the best of times, but after his day the last thing he wanted was Celeste's games.

"Spare me, Celeste."

Sliding onto a stool next to him, she popped her chin on her fist, her elbow on the bar. "Oh, Rinni poo, what's got you down?"

He twisted to look at her, asking, "Shouldn't you be torturing that human boy?" Then, he purposefully turned back, returning to eating and drinking, his eyes straight ahead.

Celeste gave a tinkling laugh, completely unphased by Verins curtness. "Oh, he needs a lot of rest. You weren't the only one that had a piece of him last night. Your sexy ass practically drove everyone to have a go when you left."

Verin dropped his cutlery, turning his face away from the woman. He felt bad for the man. f**k. His treatment hadn't worked at all.

"Where do you even find them?" He asked, his voice containing the exhaustion his mind felt.

Celeste leant closer towards him, her breath tickling the side of his face. "Promise to keep it a secret?"

He swivelled his eyes to her. Her hair was out, falling in waves over her shoulders, resting on her impressive breasts. A low-cut waistcoat with no undergarments and high-waisted pants adorned the voluptuous form, as tantalizing as always.

"Sure." Who else would he tell anyway?

"This needs to be more than a sure, Verin. I could get in trouble.”

She spoke seriously and it piqued his interest. “Okay. I promise."

She glanced around and reached into her jacket, which she had slung over the back of her stool. A flat black device sat in her hand, the top clipped into what looked like an artifice. He tilted his head and reached his hand to take it. She held it back briefly and then placed it in his waiting hand.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "It's a human device."

With his hands cradling it in his lap, her fingers alighted on the glass surface, lighting up a display showing the time and weather–neither matching their location. She swiped it, and the screen changed to a colourful backdrop with a few circular icons across the top half. "They call it a mobile phone."

Verin tilted it so he could look at the artifice she had attached to it while keeping it from prying eyes. Very quickly, he could ascertain that the artifice she had attached was a time bubble– the method of fixing it was amateurish. He wasn’t acutely aware of the rules of bringing human tech back into their world, but he knew what magics were not permitted. She could be punished for the use of a time bubble. It was a volatile magic, though in such a small artifice, it was low risk. Many still used them if they were skilled enough not to draw attention to themselves by the fallout of such a device.

"I've heard of that, but of what use is that here?"

She grinned and batted her lashes at him. "That's what the bubble is for," she said, taking it back off him and bringing up a screen that had text and numbers on it. She continued when he looked at her quizzically, "They use energy channels in the air, they call them radio waves, to link all devices so you can locate information and communicate with people via a thing called WiFi on an intangible information plane called the Internet."

Verin nodded along to show he was understanding. They had a similar concept here with how magic travels. He vaguely remembered something about the internet. They had access to basic human knowledge but that wasn't his specialty. Celeste had more exposure with her work.

"And they have these things called apps–"

"Aps?" Verin asked.

"Short for application, where you can connect with people who, you know, are looking for a good time."

"So, you used the time bubble to capture the Wi-Fi used so you could use it here… how long?" He took it from her again, pressing the screen and playing around with the navigation.

"Only thirty seconds, but that's all it needs. It just resets back so I have the same amount of access as I did in the thirty seconds I captured back in the human realm. I then just top up the bubble when I go back there to combat the bleed."

The bleed was what warlocks called the inevitable loss of magic. Over time, any stored or looped magic dissipated, and any container used was semipermeable to magic. Verin had yet to find a way around the bleed, not sure he would ever achieve it where so many other warlocks had failed.

"I'm impressed," he saw her light up at praise from him. "I mean it was done inelegantly." He continued, 'cause he is an arse. He glanced away from her, annoyed by the regret he felt at how her happy face fell with the criticism. "But very inventive. So this app, helps you find your next sissy sub?"

"Where would the fun be in that? No, I like to find a sweet little thing that thinks he wants to take charge and show him my way is more fun," she chuckled and showed him the app she used by clicking on a small bubble on the home screen. "It's real fun Verin," she had inched her stool closer to his so she could more easily direct him how to navigate through, swiping right or left to connect or dismiss the would be suitors.

"Hmmm…" he flicked through some, reading the bios of a few profiles. He sniggered slightly at the wording used. "Boden… and then you go meet up with them?"

She nodded. "Want to set up a profile?" She looked back down the bar, raising her hand to get the barkeep to settle the bill. "Come over to mine."

Verin thought about refusing, but he was intrigued. "You got something to drink?"

"Of course." She gave him a pointed look, like she was saying who do you think you're talking to?

~*~