The Lost Mage (44 page)

“No, I went to mage school to be a mage.”

“Then why do you want to be a shaman?”

“Because I need to defeat the krekdapop.”

“The … what now?”

“Krekdapop. It’s a demon. Looks kind of like a cross between a man and a lizard.”

“I see. And you believe that being a shaman will help you defeat the demon?”

“I know it will. And I need to be a shaman because my mage spells don’t work here.”

“Why not?”

“Because nobody’s enslaved the elements here.”

“Huh?”

“In my realm, the elements have been enslaved and mages are able to summon them at will.”

“So you can’t do that here?”

“No, but as Mrowley pointed out –”

“Who’s Mrowley?”

“My cat. He pointed out that I could use shamanistic rituals to summon lightning the way they did in my realm before we enslaved the elements.”

“The cat told you that?”

“Yes. He’s very insightful for a cat. You’d be surprised.”

“I imagine I would.”

“So, can you help?”

“Uh … would you excuse me for a minute?”

“Okay.”

Doctor Woodworth went back out to where Ravenwynd and Nora were waiting. “This guy’s nuts!”

Nora turned angrily to Ravenwynd. “I thought you’d bring in someone who was open-minded to Darakin’s situation.”

“I did. That’s why I called Dreamwalker. I just assumed she’d call someone like-minded to substitute for her.”

“What do you mean – his situation?” the doctor asked.

“Listen, I know this will all sound off-the-wall to you, but Darakin was brought here from another realm by a group of kids playing at some sort of black magic. They also summoned a demon and Darakin’s the only one who can kill it. And I don’t give a rat’s ass if you believe him or not. I’ve seen the demon and it’s all true.”

The therapist turned to Ravenwynd. “And you? You believe him, too?”

“Well, seeing is believing,” she answered with a smile.

“So, this is some sort of mass hysteria,” the doctor said under his breath. He looked back at Ravenwynd. “You’ve seen this so-called demon, too?”

“Oh no, I haven’t seen the demon.”

“But you said seeing is believing.”

“It is. Darakin has the most incredible magical aura I’ve ever seen!”

The therapist rolled his eyes.

“Listen, you jerk, we asked you here for one reason. To get him to remember some stuff he learned at school. And we’re paying you a pretty penny to do it, so I need to know – are you willing to do that or not?” Nora snapped as she took a threatening step forward.

The therapist retreated a few steps and shrugged. “Fine. It’s your money.” He started toward the back with Nora following.

Ravenwynd ran to the front door, locked it and hurried to catch up to the doctor and Nora.

The doctor turned to face the women. “Do you mind?”

“In fact I do. I’ll be coming with you this time.” Nora’s brogue had thickened and the gleam in her eye scared the doctor. She muttered under her breath, but loud enough to be heard, “And you’ll be behaving yerself or it’s a Belfast handshake you’ll be getting.”

The doctor didn’t know what that was, but he didn’t like the sound of it.

Ravenwynd tapped Nora and mouthed, “What’s that?”

Nora didn’t bother to whisper as she answered. “It means I’ll punch him in his privates.”

The doctor turned a few shades lighter as he sat opposite Darakin. He said nothing as Nora took a seat along the wall. Ravenwynd sat next to Nora.

Nora leaned close to Ravenwynd and whispered, “Do you have anything that will make the doctor forget that he thinks Darakin is crazy?”

Ravenwynd frowned. “I could do a spell, but it would take time. He wouldn’t forget right away.”

“Then we’ll have to hit him over the head.”

“What?” Ravenwynd’s barely whispered response was shrill and Dr. Woodworth turned to look at the women in suspicion.

Nora waved her hand at him to indicate that he should pay attention to Darakin. The doctor’s voice was still shaking as he instructed Darakin to relax.

The women continued their whispered argument.

“I’m thinking a blow to the head might work, right?”

“You can’t assault someone in my shop!”

“Well, maybe we can hypnotize him to forget.”

“If we could hypnotize, we wouldn’t have needed him in the first place,” Ravenwynd pointed out.

“Oh, right. That just leaves bashing him on the head, then.”

“You are
not
bashing him on the head.”

Dr. Woodworth turned back to them. “Ladies, please. Your whispering is very distracting.”

“I’ll give you a distraction,” Nora started to stand.

Ravenwynd pulled her down. “Please, doctor, continue.”

Dr. Woodworth turned nervously back to Darakin. After a few minutes, he calmed down enough to issue soothing instructions and Darakin relaxed enough to be hypnotized.

Nora watched in fascination as the therapist took Darakin back to his school years, going back only a few at a time in order to find the age at which Darakin had studied shamanism. It seemed that the mage had learned about it at the age of seven.
No wonder he’s forgotten it all
, she thought.

Darakin began reciting lessons he’d been forced to memorize in his native tongue. After more than an hour, he stopped reciting and sat waiting.

The therapist, who’d stopped trying to listen and could only think about getting away from the new age wacko; the crazy man who spoke in strange tongues; and the semi-homicidal Irishwoman, jumped when he became aware of the silence. With great relief, he began giving Darakin instructions that he was to remember all of the lessons when he regained full consciousness.

Darakin nodded and the therapist clapped his hands, saying, “Awaken.”

Darakin blinked a few times and looked around the room. He saw Nora and smiled. “I remember.”

“Excellent,” Dr. Woodworth said and stood. He walked quickly to the front of the shop. Nora followed.

“Oh doctor,” she said as he reached for the doorknob.

He flinched and turned to look at her. “Yes?”

“Don’t you want to get paid?”

“Oh, uh, yes, please.”

She handed him the money, grabbing hold of his hand as he took it. Through clenched teeth, she warned, “I know you think he’s crazy and you don’t believe in all this,” she indicated the New Age paraphernalia in the store. “And maybe he is crazy, but maybe, just maybe, he really is a mage from another dimension and there really is a demon here.

“And perhaps you think spells don’t work, but if you tell anyone about this or do anything stupid, you’ll find out that you were wrong the hard way. Do I make myself clear?”

“Lady, I’m not going to be threatened.”

“No threats, love. Just lots of promises. I protect what’s mine and you’ll not be getting in the way. Now, do you understand?”

The doctor blanched at Nora’s cold delivery of the ultimatum. “Yes,” he choked and ran out of the store.

Nora turned back and jumped when she walked right into Darakin, who was standing directly behind her.

“What was the about?”

“Nothing, love. Just paying the doc.”

“He thinks I’m crazy.”

“No, no, he said you were –”

“I heard what he said. He said ‘nuts’. Everyone here thinks I’m crazy.”

Nora’s heart was breaking at the sad look on Darakin’s face. “Don’t you be fretting about what some stuffed shirt, stupid arse thinks. It doesn’t matter.”

Ravenwynd came up to stand next to them. “Listen, I’m real sorry about Dr. Woodworth. I don’t know why Dreamwalker would’ve sent him, except that I did tell her it was an emergency. I guess I didn’t have a chance to tell her that Darakin was a mage, but I still can’t believe she sent him. I would never have recommended that guy.”

“It’s all right. We’ll just be going now, though. I think Darakin needs to rest.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Darakin turned to leave and then turned back. “Oh, yes, I’ll need some nettle, sage, mahogany, and goldenrod.”

Ravenwynd nodded in approval at his list.

“What do you need these for?”

“I need to petition the elements for protection. I’ll have to meditate and achieve a state of piousness in the eyes of Nature and the elements.”

“Then we really need to get a move on, don’t we?” Nora just wanted to go home and all these delays were annoying her.

Ravenwynd bagged the herbs Darakin wanted and handed it to him. “Again, I’m really sorry about the doctor.”

“What’s done is done,” Nora said. She took Darakin’s arm and led him out of the store.

Darakin was quiet during the trip home. Nora tried to start several conversations with him, but each time his only response was a sad smile, so she gave up.

When they got to the apartment, Mrowley was on the bag of herbs in an instant.

“Oh, no you don’t, little kitty. This stuff is no good for you. Darakin, hide the herbs, please.”

Darakin took the bag from her and went to put it in a kitchen drawer.

“I have to run to the grocery, we’ve nothing left for dinner. I’ll be back in a little while.”