The Lost Mage (43 page)

Darakin pressed the button marked ‘phone’.

“Now, put it to your ear.” She waited while he brought the phone up. “Hear that sound?”

“Yes.”

“That’s called a dial tone. It means you’re able to connect to another phone by dialing their number.”

“How do I do that?”

“Just use the keypad to dial the numbers you see here,” she pointed to Ravenwynd’s store listing.

“How is that dialing?”

“What? Oh, I see. When phones were first invented, they used a rotary dial. Now we just press the button instead. But we still call it dialing.”

Darakin pressed the numbers as he muttered something about a silly society where doggy bags were boxes and dialing was actually pressing buttons.

When he’d entered the number, Nora said, “Now, hold the phone to your ear. You’ll hear her answer and you can talk to her by speaking in here.” She indicated the speaker part of the receiver.

Though she’d told him he would hear a voice, he still jumped when Ravenwynd answered the phone saying, “Pandora’s Box.”

Nora nodded in encouragement.
Not only is this good practice for him, but I don’t have to speak to that new age wacko. Win-win.
Nora smiled to herself.

“Hello?” the voice on the phone asked.

“Um, yes, um this is Darakin.”

“Darakin? The mage from another realm? That Darakin?”

“Yes. Do you know any other Darakins?”

Ravenwynd laughed. “No, silly, I was just messing with you. What can I do for you?”

“Um, Nora was wondering…” At the look on Nora’s face, he quickly changed his wording. “I mean, I was wondering …,” he looked at Nora with the phone still next to his head, “What do we need?”

“Huh?” Ravenwynd asked in confusion.

Nora sighed. “A hypnotist to help you remember those rituals, right?”

“Oh, yes. Do you know any hypnotists?”

“Me?” the voice asked from the phone.

“Yes.”

“Of course I do. What do you need one for?”

“I need to remember something I was taught as a boy, but have forgotten now.”

“All right. When do you want to see her?”

He looked at Nora. “When do we want to see her?” he asked into the phone.

“Are you asking me?” Ravenwynd asked, confused again.

“No, I’m sorry I’m … it’s just … Nora?”

Seeing how flustered he was, Nora told him, “It’s customary to take the receiver away from your mouth when you address someone other than the person on the phone.”

Nora took the phone and turned away to finish the conversation. “Sorry, it’s his first time using a phone.” She walked into the kitchen.

Dude, it’s just a phone. Why’d you get so upset?

“Have you ever used one?” the mage asked the cat.

Um, like, I’m a cat. So no. But I could. I know how.

“Really? You know how to use a phone?” Darakin asked in disbelief.

Sure, sure. You put your paw on those buttons a bunch of times and then you put your face next to the phone while you meow.

“First of all, I don’t meow.”

I know. But don’t feel bad. Humans are notably bad at meowing. Their intonation is all off and they use the wrong meows at all the wrong times. It’s quite embarrassing, actually, that something so simple is impossible for them to learn.

“Yeah? Well I may not meow, but you can’t speak the human tongue.”

Pfft. Why would I want to? I can understand it, that’s all I need to do. I can’t waste brain cells on an activity that gains me nothing.

“Nothing?” Darakin sputtered. “How about asking for food from someone other than me? That would gain you something, wouldn’t it?”

I can do that.
To prove his point, the cat walked over to Nora, wound himself around her legs and said, “Meow.”

Nora held the phone away from her ear. “Ach, Darakin, did you not feed the puir, wee kitty?”

See?
Mrowley gave Darakin a smug look.

“Why do I bother?”

Bother what?

“Trying to talk to you.”

What do you mean trying? We
are
talking.

“Never mind.”

Whatever, dude. Can you feed me?
He rubbed against Darakin and started to purr.

Darakin opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it and went to fill Mrowley’s bowl with food.

Nora hung up the phone and turned to Darakin. “Okay, we’re all set for tomorrow afternoon. The hypnotist will meet us at Ravenwynd’s shop.”

“What about work?”

“Not a problem. Bar’s closed tomorrow, remember?”

“Oh.” In truth, Darakin had lost count of the days since he’d been here. Back home, daily celebrations to the patron deity of the day helped him stay oriented. Here, one day seemed the same as the next.

“Anyway, we’ll go in the afternoon and see if she can help you remember.”

“Okay.” Darakin felt a little better now that they had a plan.

“Now, go get ready for work while I make us lunch.”

Though the rest of the day passed uneventfully, Darakin tossed and turned all night, his sleep disturbed by nightmares of trying to face the demon as a helpless shaman, rather than a powerful mage.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The next morning Darakin was so tired from his sleepless night, that Nora had to shake him awake.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re usually up early.”

“I didn’t sleep well.”

I know. You kicked me off the bed a bunch of times.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“I do to Mrowley. Apparently, I kicked him several times during the night.”

“Ah. So tell me, why didn’t you sleep well?”

“I think I had bad dreams.”

“About what?”

“I can’t remember,” he lied. He didn’t want to tell Nora how scared and insecure he was about their plan.

“Well, get up and get ready. We have to be at Ravenwynd’s soon.”

They dressed, ate a quick lunch and rode the subway uptown. Darakin was much calmer on the subway now, although he still jumped whenever the car lurched unexpectedly.

Ravenwynd greeted them as soon as they got to the store.

“Listen, there’s been a slight change of plan. Dreamwalker, the original hypnotist can’t make it, but I told her it was urgent, so she’s sending an associate of hers. She says he’s an excellent hypnotherapist.”

“He doesn’t need therapy. He just needs to remember some things he learned in school as a child.” Nora was annoyed.

“We’ll explain that to him. Don’t worry.”

“Have you ever met him before?” Darakin asked.

“No, but I trust Dreamwalker’s judgment.”

Great
, Nora thought.
If the guy was in the New Age community, wouldn’t Ravenwynd have met him before? The last thing we need is some shrink type getting a look inside Darakin’s head.

A few minutes later, a man entered the store. He looked at the group standing at the counter and selected Nora as the most normal looking individual to talk to.

He walked forward, extending his hand, “I’m Dr. Woodworth.”

Ravenwynd stepped in front of Nora and took the doctor’s hand. “I’m Ravenwynd, Dreamwalker’s friend.

“Ah. And you are?” He looked at Darakin.

Nora stepped out from behind Ravenwynd in annoyance. “This is Darakin. He needs you to help him retrieve some childhood memories. No therapy.”

Dr. Woodworth laughed. “No problem. Is there a room we can use?”

“Yes, through that curtain.” Ravenwynd pointed to the back of the store.

Nora started to follow but the doctor stopped her. “Please, too many distractions can sometimes inhibit a person’s suggestibility and make it harder to put them under.”

“I’ll be right out here, love,” Nora called after Darakin.

The doctor and Darakin went to the back room, where Darakin sank into a very comfortable, plush armchair. The doctor sat opposite him.

“Now, what is it you’d like to recall from your childhood?”

“School memories about how to be a shaman.”

“You went to shaman school?” the therapist asked in surprise.

“No, I went to mage school.”

“You went to mage school to be a shaman?”