Modern Mage – Chaper 5

Another Chapter down, hope those of you who like the story are continuing to enjoy it. I got a little more character development done and brought another important player for the direction I have in mind for the story into play. I know the story is going slowly, however I’m writing that way because I want it to unfold properly and keep the quality of writing up. As always please leave feedback or Message me with questions. Thank you all again for reading.



I turned and put the envelopes into one of my bags before heading to the Valet with Sindee to retrieve my car. We drove back to Sindee’s and moved my bags in. Besides the two from my room there were 4 more bags in the trunk of my car. When I decided to move to Las Vegas, I packed up my clothes and personal belongings, sold everything else. Traveling is a lot easier if all you have to carry with you are 6 bags. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting my stuff organized and relaxing. My mind was on the letters sitting in my bag. I didn’t know which one worried me more, the one from my brother or the one with the old wax seal. I hadn’t seen or spoken to my brother since I was 16 until chance brought us together at the hospital a few weeks ago. We barely said anything to each other at that time either. It was unlikely that the letter contained good news.

The one with the wax seal presented a different issue. The archaic seal could have been used by almost any type of supernatural being or even a mortal with a flair for the overly dramatic. The first thing that concerned me about it however was that among the Supernatural races the ones most like to use such a seal were Vampires. While there are many younger vampires in the world; they are usually the foot soldiers and modern face of the species. The older Vampires are much more dangerous than the young lady I fought with. The older the vampire the more time they’ve had in order to gain in strength and abilities; and to make matters worse they have the patience to play the long game. Marcus taught me to avoid Vampire politics at all costs; to not reveal what I am to them. Thinking back to the night I fought the bloodsucker in my hotel room; I had yanked the curtains open to give me light to see by meaning someone could have seen the fight if they were watching her. There were too many possibilities; I needed to stop speculating and do some research.

I also had to tell Sindee about my world and soon before we moved any further in our relationship. If I was going to try to awaken Sindee to the greater reality I needed to prepare a few things and make a couple of calls. I wanted to make sure that if and when I did this, it had the highest chances to succeed without having a detrimental effect on Sindee. What scares me about doing this is simple to explain. Most Mages I’ve met are singular beings. While some Mages form cabals, basically a group of mages working together sharing knowledge, they are still disparate individuals. I have yet to meet a Mage is a relationship other than casual hook-ups. This concerned me when I first thought about why that would be and I came to an answer I didn’t much like. Because as Mages we had the ability to impose our will on the world, including on other people, we tend to do so without thinking about if we should do so. This idea bothered me because of what I did the first night here in Las Vegas. I didn’t actually change her mind as much as lower Sindee’s inhibitions leaning her in the direction of doing what she felt like over what she thought was best. I always saw the distinction as a gray area before. Now, if I knew a Mage or other supernatural being used a power on Sindee I would seek their destruction with the full measure of my abilities and willpower. It’s strange how emotional ties can alter ones perception easier than Magick.

The first call I made an attempt to get ahold of Marcus again. Many Mages, including myself, tend to stay on the move. It gives us more opportunity to learn and makes it less likely that someone will come to know us and accidentally discover our secret. The longer one stays in one place the more complacent and relaxed they become. The measures taken to keep our secret become lax. There are so many dangers in our secrets getting out that we are very protective of them. I’ve spoken of Hunter’s briefly before, I’ll go into a little more detail now. I had been staying with Marcus training for 9 months and was learning how to manipulate the Spheres at this point. Learning to Sense each of the Spheres comes quickly as once you understand that while they are each different, sensory magic is very similar no matter what you’re trying to detect. We had gone into the woods outside of town so he could teach me how to manipulate Life so that I could learn to heal myself and others. He was showing me how to speed up growth and regeneration on plants before we moved up to complex life forms. Never perform Magick on anything unless you understand what it is you are trying to do. While we were working a man stepped out of the woods into the clearing. He was around 6 feet or so, looked to be in his 60’s though he could have been older; it was hard to tell in the shade of the trees. He wore a pistol on his hip and had an old Winchester rifle aimed at Marcus. “Been a while Marcus, you aren’t an easy man to find,” he spoke loudly from across the clearing. “You gonna try to hide from me forever?” There was a trace of southern accent in his voice but I couldn’t place it exactly.

Marcus turned to face this man and spoke clearly, “I told you last time Jackson, stop following me or it will end badly for you.”

“That was 30 years ago, and I didn’t have a clue as to what you could do then. I know now and you’re going to pay for what happened.” I looked closer at Marcus closely when Jackson said this. Marcus looked like he couldn’t be older than 25, even when using my senses with the Life Magick we were practicing today I wouldn’t put him any older. Marcus stood about 5’8” and weighed in around 180. “You’re all abominations and shouldn’t be allowed to live in this world.” As he said this he pulled the trigger, I felt Marcus pull Magick and knew he was doing something. I immediately turned to dive behind the closest tree. As good as my reflexes were, they were no match for that old man’s speed with a rifle. Jackson worked the lever on the rifle as he swung it towards me; guilt by association I assumed. I was in the air as I felt intense pain in my left shoulder from the back. This being the first time I’d ever been shot, I was unable to focus past the pain to help Marcus.

“Jackson stop now or I stop holding back,” Marcus was back on his feet staring down the older man. “You have no idea what happened or why I left. It happened before you were born, and all you’ve been told are the memories of a bitter man.”

Jackson swung the rifle back at Marcus firing as soon as he was lined up in the sights, “You’ve been too long in the world and it’s time for you to die!!!!!!” he screamed as he worked the lever firing 4 shots in quick succession.

They each stopped about a foot in front of Marcus as though they hit a wall. I felt and saw Marcus throw a crackling bolt of Prime energy itself at Jackson. He screamed and fell to the ground curled in pain as Marcus walked over to him. Marcus tossed Jacksons rifle and pistol away and placed his hand directly on the man’s forehead. I had no idea what Marcus was doing and couldn’t concentrate enough to read the Magick he was performing. A few minutes later Marcus stood up and walked over to me.