The Butcher of Souls

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

My eyes widened. At first, I hadn’t recognized the guy, but now that I looked at him more closely, I could tell that he was indeed Master Adam, the current Master Mage of North America. I had seen pictures of him before, but I couldn’t remember where I had met him. My grandfather, Fred House, had been the previous Master Mage of North America before him, though that was well before I was born.

The Master Mages were the highest magical authority on the planet, as well as the strongest and most powerful mages. They were a small group of powerful and experienced mages chosen by the Oracle to carry out and defend the Ancient Laws, a set of old laws that had governed magical society for as long as anyone could remember. They rarely intervened directly, however, preferring instead to let local Magical Governments deal with local issues, but every now and then a big enough problem would come up that would force them to step in and deal with it themselves.

That Master Adam was here was both alarming and comforting. Comforting, because he seemed to be here to save me. Alarming, because if he was here at all, then that meant something big was about to go down or had already happened. I wasn’t sure what could have happened here that would attract the attention of a Master Mage, though. It wasn’t like the Crimson Silvers were a particularly big or dangerous criminal group, despite the pretensions of their leader.

Oscar must have had the same ideas as me, because he stood up and said, “What brings a Master Mage, of all people, out into this little Texas town in the middle of nowhere? Don’t you have a Demon Lord to kill somewhere?”

“My reasons for being here are my own, Oscar,” said Master Adam. “As a Master Mage, I have full discretion to go where I please. I do not need to justify my behavior to a lowly criminal like you.”

“Lowly?” Oscar repeated indignantly. “I will have you know, Master Adam, that I am a proud son of the Acton family, one of the most respectable families in the American magical community. Perhaps you should show me a little respect.”

“Respect is earned, not given,” said Master Adam. “So far, you haven’t given me any reason to respect you. I know all about your family, Oscar, and far from being respectable, they’re quite the cowardly bunch. I can see that the Acton family tradition of cowardice has passed down to you.”

Oscar’s face flushed red with embarrassment. I couldn’t blame him. Not every mage got dressed down by a Master Mage in person, after all.

“As I said, let Noah House and his familiar go and I won’t have to use force,” said Master Adam. “A reasonable deal, no?”

“Reasonable?” Oscar said. He scowled. “Not after you blew a hole in my ceiling, which is on top of the Butcher almost blowing up my whole business. I am not in the mood to make any ‘reasonable’ deals with anyone. Silvers!”

The Crimson Silver members who had ducked when Master Adam appeared suddenly all stood up and pointed their palms at the Master Mage. Dark energy began curling around their hands as they prepared to fire their spells at Master Adam. Master Adam, however, seemed perfectly at ease, despite being outnumbered and surrounded on all sides.

“Anyone who crosses the Acton family dies,” said Oscar, his voice shaking with rage. “That includes Master Mages like yourself, Master Adam. Now die!”

But before any of the Crimson Silvers could cast their spells, Master Adam raised his hands and snapped his fingers.

Without warning, the Crimson Silvers’ energy dissipated around their hands. The Crimson Silvers looked down at their hands in shock, but that was all they got to do before Master Adam snapped his fingers again.

Stone hands suddenly rose from the floor and wrapped around the Crimson Silver members, wrapping tightly around each one of them before they could react. The Crimson Silvers struggled to free themselves, but then the hands raised them up into the air and slammed them down, hard, onto the floor. The Crimson Silvers immediately stopped moving, though they looked more unconscious than dead to me.

“What?” said Oscar. “Impossible. What did you to do to their magic?”

“I drained them of their Mana,” Master Adam replied. “As a Master Mage, I can do that, though I will admit it isn’t easy, especially in my old age. And don’t expect the cavalry to arrive, either. I took out the rest of your men before I came here, so you are the only member of your little gang who is still conscious.”

Oscar stepped backward, although it seemed to be more out of instinct than thought. He spun around on his heel, clearly intending to teleport, but instead, he just lost his balance and fell over onto his behind.

Master Adam chuckled. “I wouldn’t recommend teleportation, either. I cast an anti-teleportation spell on this place before I entered. That means that no one can teleport in or out of this place unless I say so. And, because I don’t want you teleporting anywhere, you are effectively stuck.”

Oscar rose to his feet. It felt great to see him trembling like a puppy that disobeyed his owner as he realized just how screwed he was. I would have been afraid, too, if I hadn’t known that Master Adam was on my side, although I still didn’t know why he was helping me. I just hoped he took out Oscar quickly because the ropes were starting to get uncomfortable and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would remain conscious.

“Because I am generous, I will give you one—and only one—more chance to surrender,” said Master Adam, holding up one finger. “Give up now and you won’t have to go to the Shadow Prison in bandages.”

Oscar’s eyes suddenly became huge. “I will never go to the Shadow Prison! Not after what happened to my grandfather when he was sent there. You’ll never catch me alive!”

Oscar turned and ran toward the staircase. Master Adam, on the other hand, didn’t even try to run after him. He just watched Oscar’s spindly form making a break for it with a disappointed frown on his face before he shook his head, put his thumb and index finger against his mouth, and whistled loudly.

Without warning, the door at the top of the staircase burst open and a giant black Labrador retriever flew out of it toward Oscar. Oscar tried to change course at the last minute, but he was too late. The Labrador tackled him to the floor, growling and snarling all the while, its weight enough to know Oscar flat off his feet. Oscar vainly tried to beat off the giant dog, but the Labrador smacked him in the face with one of its paws, which seemed to knock out Oscar, who went limp underneath the dog.

Yet the dog did not get up off Oscar. He just lay on top of the unconscious mage, as if to make sure that Oscar couldn’t escape without him knowing. He rested one of his paws on Oscar’s neck which, based on its size, was probably strong enough to break a human’s neck.

“Good boy, Roger,” said Master Adam as he walked over to the dog and rubbed the back of his ears. “Your timing was perfect.”

“You’re welcome, Master,” said the dog, whose name was apparently Roger. His voice was surprisingly deep. “Can I tear his face off?”

Master Adam shook his head. “Sorry, Roger, but Oscar must be handed over to the Government in one piece, who, I imagine, will probably banish him to the Shadow Prison for his crimes. Ripping off his face would make it hard for him to stand trial for his crimes, I think.”

Roger’s eyes drooped in disappointment, but he didn’t argue the point. “Very well, Master. I’ll stay on top of him just to make sure he doesn’t wake up and escape, though.”

Ah. Roger must be Master Adam’s familiar like Simon was to me. It made sense. Nearly every mage in the world had a familiar to call their own, from the lowliest newbies to the Master Mages themselves. I never would have guessed that Master Adam’s would be a Labrador, of all animals. Perhaps he just liked dogs.

“Good idea,” said Master Adam. He turned toward me. “With that out of the way, I think it is time I helped Noah here. Those ropes don’t look very comfortable. Here, let me help you.”

Master Adam held up his hand and snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, I was standing upright again on my own two feet next to the ropes which had once bound me. Simon was also free, standing outside of his cage with a surprised but pleased look on his face as he looked around at his surroundings to make sure he wasn’t in his cage anymore.

“There you go,” said Master Adam. “How do you feel, Noah? Were you hurt by these gangsters?”

I put my hand on my head. “I feel a little lightheaded, to be honest. All of the blood went to my head while I was hanging upside down, but now it’s rushing back through the rest of my body. I should be okay.”

“Good to hear,” said Master Adam. “If you had been seriously injured, I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to help me with a problem I have.”

Rubbing the spots on my arms where the ropes had dug into them, I said, “Do you mean you didn’t save me just because you’re a great guy like that?”

Master Adam chuckled at my little joke. “Unfortunately, you are correct. The Crimson Silvers are more of a problem for the American Magical Government to deal with rather than a Master Mage myself. I only stepped in to take care of them because I need your expertise to solve a particular problem of mine that I cannot solve on my own.”

I frowned suspiciously. I didn’t distrust Master Adam, per se, but I did find it a bit suspicious that a Master Mage would need the help of a lowly exile like myself. “What problem do you need help solving, exactly?”

“A very serious one,” said Master Adam. “So serious that I am not sure I feel comfortable telling you about it here.”

“It’s fine, Master Adam,” said Simon. He gestured with his head at the fallen Crimson Silvers. “They’re all unconscious, so they probably won’t hear whatever confidential information you have to share with us.”

“Plus, if this involves hiring my services, I prefer to have at least an idea of what a client wants me to do before I do it,” I said, “even if that client is a Master Mage.”

Master Adam sighed. “Very well. The problem—which is really a vast understatement, because it is closer to a catastrophe than a problem—is that an infamous criminal has escaped the Shadow Prison. And we have no idea where he is.”