Shadow Dagger Ch. 02

"Then I suggest you improve your skill," Raynolt replied coldly. "Jon Laurent wouldn't have even needed my help."

Sanje's hand squeezed into a fist and moved toward his dagger. Raynolt smiled, clearly winning some sort of victory. "Regardless, the job is done. It's time for you to be gone. I warded this area of the Emporium so nobody should have noticed anything. But you can never be too sure."

Sanje did not turn to leave. "One last warning Raynolt; you better be a man of your word. I am not risking war with the Magi just so you can betray me."

Raynolt waved his hand. "We have been over this. I need you for this plan to work. It would make no sense to betray you." Raynolt glanced down at Evelyn and smiled. "Now leave us. I have some rather unpleasant business to take care of."

Evelyn felt her robes flutter. She glanced back at the Magi Victus and was shocked to discover that he was already gone.

"Fast, aren't they?" Raynolt asked. He held out his one good hand. Evelyn spat on the floor and stayed where she was. Raynolt smiled and turned around as the sound of boots crunching on the floor announced a visitor.

***

No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, Sophina just couldn't stop from worrying. She had a hunch something was going on and her instincts were usually right. Still, the threat of abandoning her post and getting docked a day's pay was enough to make her stand at her post, no matter how much she itched to see if her beloved Evelyn was all right.

She leaned back against the wall and sighed. I am getting too jumpy lately. All of these blasted assassinations have everyone on edge around here.

Lately, she found that she couldn't walk into the guard barracks without people putting a hand to the hilt of a sword before they realized who walked in. There was very real feeling of danger in the air.

Sophina had just managed to convince herself that there was nothing suspicious going on tonight when she saw another Magi walk past the hallway toward the Grand Master's office. She recognized him. It was the Master of the 5th Tier, Darrius Northwood. He, too, appeared very intent on his destination as he jogged down the hall.

Alright, now I know something is wrong! Sophina stood against the wall in painful hesitation. She put her hand on the hilt of her sword and considered the situation for several minutes. My instincts had never led me astray. Something is wrong; I can feel it. Evelyn needs my help.

She unsheathed her sword and took a step forward. She struggled for a moment with her duty and her instinct. Her instinct won out. She walked quickly to the hallway leading to the Grand Master's office. She was just about to turn the corner when she heard footsteps coming toward her.

***

"Ah, Darrius, you are just on time," Raynolt said, turning toward his visitor. "I need you to take our friend Evelyn to my office for questioning."

Darrius Northwood, the Master of the 5th Tier, glanced down at Evelyn. Evelyn felt another blow to her stomach. My own Master is involved in this betrayal? How deep does this go?

"Can I have a few minutes alone first?" Darrius asked.

Raynolt glanced at Evelyn and smiled. "Ok, but make it fast. I need to announce soon that the Grand Master has just been murdered by the Magi Victus. But first I need Morgana to heal this shoulder." He strode quickly out of the room.

Darrius stared intently at Evelyn. She felt a slow horror creep over her mind. She remembered suddenly how Darrius would leer at her during social functions. Once or twice she had to stop Daminus from going over and saying something. Now she wished with all her heart that Daminus was here.

My love, wherever you are, please protect me...

Darrius' eyes glowed silver as he quickly cast a spell of binding. Ropes of runic symbols tied themselves around Evelyn, pinning her arms to her sides. She was not advanced enough to cast spells without hand movements, so he knew she was stuck. She watched in horror as he walked toward her.

He was a physically imposing man. He was pale with dark brown hair that curled tightly to his head. His robes stretched around his impressive frame. The female Magi would often joke that if Darrius paid more mind to his studies than to his body he would be a 10th Tier mage already. Evelyn didn't feel like laughing now.

"I have dreamed about this moment for so many years. To have a chance to make love to a woman who is soul-bonded...it is beyond my imagining."

Evelyn felt her body tremble in fear. Darrius stopped in front of her and grabbed his robes around the neck. He pulled it over his head and dropped it to the floor. Evelyn was shocked to see that he wasn't wearing any under garments. His stomach was heavily muscled. His thighs were thick. His cock lay nestled in a thatch of black hair between his legs. It hung down farther than Evelyn thought possible.

This was the first cock she had seen outside of Daminus. The size of it scared her to death.

"Do you know what my area of study was?" he asked her softly.

She shook her head. She could feel tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. Daminus, please where are you...

Darrius grabbed his cock and stroked it absently as he gazed down at her. "I studied the human body. More specifically, I studied all the ways magic can pleasure the body. Would you like to experience my results?"

Evelyn shook her head frantically and struggled against the invisible bonds. She knew it was pointless but she did not want to think about what was going to happen. Daminus! She willed the thought across the soul-bond.

Darrius gestured with his fingers and magic runes that were shaped into hands picked her up from the floor. She was forcibly turned around, facing away from him, and was bent over at the waist. More runic bands were cast to hold her in this position.

She heard him approach her. Her heart sped up as fear made her clench her teeth. She felt the bottom of her robe flip up onto her back. The shift underneath the robe quickly followed, exposing her bare ass and legs to the monster behind her.

"Magnificent," he heard him whisper. She felt his fingers caress her ass. The fingers trailed down her thighs and back up. She felt her skin tingle. No...no...NO! He is using magic!

He was using the same technique Daminus would often use on her. She bit her lip as she tried to deny the feeling rising up in her. It was magic; her body was defenseless to its power.

"You were with Daminus your whole life, weren't you? You have never had another man do this to you? The thought is...intoxicating. Sadly, I only have a few minutes to spend with you. I better get started."

She felt a finger plunge inside of her. She screamed. God, why is this happening? She sobbed as his finger, alight with magic, quickly got her juices flowing.

"I'm sorry we don't have more time to spend together," he said sadly. "I would love to take all day with you. Perhaps after Raynolt has all he needs from you he will let me have my desire."

She felt his finger withdraw. Seconds later a greater pressure was being applied to her opening. She knew it was the head of that enormous cock. She cried harder.

"I can't believe I am about to penetrate-UGH!"

She felt the pressure lift from her opening.

What was that?.

It took several seconds for her to realize that she could move freely; the spell of binding was lifted. She quickly pulled down her robe and whirled around.

Someone in the armor of a guard of the Emporium was pulling a sword from the back of the Magi. The guard looked up at Evelyn and stared for several seconds. Evelyn felt sick from all the twists and turns of the evening.

Whatever game this is, just get it over with.

***

Sophina said a silent prayer to the God and flattened herself against the wall, willing herself to become part of it. The footsteps grew louder. Sophina sucked in her breath and held it. Raynolt Teryus strode right by her, never turning his head. He was too intent on holding his shoulder and muttering under his breath. Sophina's eyes widen in shock as she saw a blackened hole on the back of the Magi's shoulder.

Evelyn!

She waited until Raynolt's footsteps faded away before she started running in the opposite direction, toward the Grand Master's office. Her battle instincts had kicked in. All the fear and worry had vanished. She was no longer thinking consciously; everything she did in this trance was on instincts and reflexes. She ran all the way down the hall and stopped before she reached the doorway.

The door was a charred ruin. She inched her way forward, silent even in heavy armor. She got her first glimpse into the room. A naked Magi was inserting his finger into another naked Magi. The sight was so ridiculous that Sophina snapped out of her battle trance.

What in the nine hells is going on?

She moved sideways into the room and saw that the female Magi was Evelyn. Tears were streaming down her face. The sight shot an arrow of pain straight through Sophina's heart. For the first time in her life, she felt a murderous rage fill her heart.

She recognized Darrius Northwood as she studied his face to focus her hate. "I'm sorry we don't have more time to spend together," he told Evelyn sadly. "I would love to take all day with you. Perhaps after Raynolt has all he needs from you he will let me have my desire." He withdrew his finger from Evelyn.

Sophina's hand squeezed the hilt of her sword as she sneaked closer. The rage inside of her made her bit her cheek to keep from screaming. She felt warm blood fill her mouth.

Darrius was lining up his cock to shove into Evelyn. Sophina was within a foot of his back. He was too preoccupied to hear her even if she had charged in. She raised her sword.

With all of her might, Sophina drove the blade toward his exposed back. "I can't believe I am about to penetrate-UGH!" Darrius couldn't continue, as a foot long blade drove through his spine and out through his chest.

His legs jerked and fell from under him. Sophina held onto the blade as his body hit the floor. She glanced over at Evelyn and saw her pale, gorgeous ass staring at her. She felt her battle rage mix with lust at the sight.

She cursed herself for admiring Evelyn in this vulnerable position and turned her head. She put her boot on the back of Darrius' head and yanked the blade free. She was thankful for the helmet; she could feel herself blushing.

Evelyn was staring at her warily. Sophina's heart went out to her. I love you, Evelyn...

***

The guard removed the helmet. It was Sophina Crews. Her light blonde hair was matted to her head with sweat. Her cheeks were flushed red. "I'm sorry I took so long Evelyn. It looks like I got here just in time to stop this bastard from putting his cock in you." She kicked the body with her boot.

Evelyn dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands. She lifted her face after a few seconds and stared at her savior. She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "Thank the God for you Sophina! Now let's get the hell out of here before someone comes looking!"

Sophina nodded and put the helmet back on. "Follow me." She turned but then stopped. She stared sadly at the body of the Grand Master. "I can't believe they killed him," she whispered.

Evelyn glanced at the body and turned her head quickly away. "He died protecting me. He spent all his energy on defensive spells. If I hadn't been here, he would have probably won..."

Evelyn shook her head sadly and got up from the floor. She suddenly felt terror squeeze her heart. She was so used to the feeling that it took a few heartbeats to realize that it wasn't her fear. It came from the soul-bond. "Daminus!" she gasped. "Sophina, we have to get to Ashford Caulston's house right away!"

***

Everything clicked suddenly inside of Daminus' head. "You enchanted the King!" he told Ashford excitedly. "But with what...you said you wanted to protect him."

He stopped and stared at Ashford. He smiled and nodded at Daminus to continue. "You...cast permanent protection spells around him, didn't you?"

"Yes. Braxus, Christiana, Altus, and I cast our own protection spell on him. Do you see the beauty of it? The protection spell automatically resets when a spell penetrates the enchantment; only one spell can break a protection spell at a time. A spell also loses power when it breaks through. Normally, that doesn't matter because the spell kills the person who cast the enchantment spell. But if multiple protection spells are cast on the same target, the spell will not have enough power to breach the second layer."

Daminus finished for him. "And if you can cast 4 permanent protection spells, you could possibly get by the first layer but there is no Magi alive powerful enough to breach all 4 layers. That means that the King is...untouchable." His voice was filled with awe.

Ashford nodded. "Not even the Magi Victus with their Shadow Daggers can penetrate those layers. Nobody knows this, but several assassination attempts have been tried on the King in the last few years. But now 3 of us are dead...their spells are no longer protecting the King. It is just my spell now. It's a 7th Tier protection spell. That was the best I could do. The King still has his own 10th Tier spell so it will still be almost impossible to kill him. But it's very tenuous right now. I am all that's left..."

"I understand why you did what you did," Daminus told him, trying to offer some level of contentment.

"It was a very dangerous thing to do," Ashford whispered. "We didn't want to do it at first, but after the first failed assassination attempt, we knew we had to. You see, we bound our living essence to the King. That means if he were to die..."

"You all would die, too" Daminus said, horrified.

"Yes, we would. Like I said, it was a very dangerous spell. But Reynar was worth it."

Daminus stared at the rough stone under his fingers. "This is all about assassinating the King. But who would want to do that? King Reynar is the single most important person in recent memory."

"I don't know who would do this...but I am afraid we will never find out. He is here." Silver light poured out of his eyes and mouth. He must have sensed one of his wards went off. "Daminus, before you came here tonight I was resigned to my fate...I could have fled last night but I could not leave Reynar to the mercy of his enemies. But now...I want Jon Laurent to remember our names for the rest of his life."

Daminus smiled and opened himself to the magic. It always felt like a curtain parting from his soul as intense energy swept through. It used to be a mental exercise when he first started at the Emporium but now it was second nature to open himself up. He knew the silver light of magic poured from his own eyes. The power was, and still is, intoxicating.

Forgive me, Evelyn. I could not leave Ashford to his fate. I will love you in this life and any other. He hoped she didn't feel his fear across the soul-bond.

The door to the kitchen swung open. A figure dressed all in black stepped into the room.