Chapter 6 Part 5

"What are the chances that you can locate them," Morteous asked Tyson. They were discussing the possible location of Armegon and the others.

"You said that your last detection was a powerful burst of alien magic on the ice, west of the Twin Cities," Tyson reminded. "I’d suspect that they’ve gone west."

"Our intelligence service is weaker in that area than we would like, due to the distances involved. It will be difficult to keep track of their movements."

Tyson understood. "I suspect that the magic you detected was Avery's. During my stay with them, Ultrecht admitted that he had learned how to disguise his and Armegon's powers to mimic that more commonly used by the local magic users. But Avery is mainly a healer and that’s a very different kind of power."

"Do you think that they will realize it is traceable?" Morteous leaned back and inspected the ceiling.

Tyson considered the question. "Actually I think that we can bet on it. It will or may have already occurred to them and they’ll curtail its use until they can mask it or it becomes imperative that they use it."

Morteous was silent for a long moment. "If we can locate them," he said, "could you lure either of the two mages into a battle without getting killed in the process?"

Tyson did not hide his displeasure at the idea. "I’m not sure," he admitted. "I’d rather not take the chance."

"Oh, I quite agree," Morteous assured him. "We won't be taking risks like that, but if the opportunity arises where we can lure one of them into a fool proof trap..." Morteous left the suggestion hanging.

"What are you after?" Tyson asked. The time to be blunt had arrived.

Morteous blinked in surprise then laughed. "Tyson you are a mage after my own heart. You would have made an excellent Blackheart."

"I'm honored," Tyson replied dryly. "But you’re up to something, you need my help, and you are keeping too many secrets to get it."

Morteous smiled thinly. "You are right of course; you need to know." Tyson was right. For what Morteous was planning, he needed Tyson's total committed aid.

"Let's hear it," Tyson urged.

Morteous unrolled a scroll and showed it to Tyson. "There are many forces in nature, but each has it's own limitation. The physical natural forces require set conditions in the environment. Lightning and rain do not naturally fall from a clear sky for example. The magical force, on the other hand, must be set in motion by the living, and although inanimate objects or the dead may contain or use magic, it must first be imparted to them by the living."

Morteous pointed to a series of calculations and formulas that Tyson could vaguely follow as a power transference necromancy. "I call this the Dark Wind spell," Morteous announced. "It is my plan to trap one of your friends and personally absorb all the knowledge, magic and life from his body into my own."

Tyson's jaw dropped. The warlock was insane.

"You think it cannot be done," Morteous interpreted Tyson's reaction. "I tell you it can, and in fact it has already been done several times."

"Let me tell you a little about myself that only my father, Serpent, and Miguel know." Morteous leaned close and whispered. "My mother gave birth to me on the altar of the Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. He is a god highly worshiped in the dark reaches of the western lands. That was a time when Set and Serpent sought an ally in that family of gods. My mother was an elf to be sure, but in actuality she is a vampiress. I have studied the vampirical abilities and applied them to my magic. That’s how I derived the formula on this scroll."

"How often have you used it," Tyson asked. There was more to his question than casual curiosity. He had caught a whiff of Morteous' plans.

"I’ve used it five times. Of course I haven’t used it on any mages or warlocks of significant power or popularity; their disappearances would have been detected. The spell works. It works very well and it’s more than capable of consuming your two friends."

Tyson closely examined the formula. "Some of this stuff is beyond me," he said. "Don't think I question your knowledge, but where did you get it?"
Morteous laughed. "I derived some of those equations from the material in the Tome of Creation."

Tyson nodded. Spells from that book could very well be perverted to a devastating purpose and effect. "I am humbly impressed," he said with genuine awe.

"Thank you," Morteous beamed. He went on to explain how some of the equations worked--carefully pointing out that only a warlock can make use of the spell as it is set up--but Tyson was not really listening. Morteous' plan was getting clearer. He had often expressed his dream of controlling all magic. It seemed as if he now held the tool necessary to do so in his hand and had been nibbling at the bounty of magic quietly for some time. Now he was ready to begin the smorgasbord by tearing into the main course of the meal: Armegon and Ultrecht. Tyson paused to wonder if he himself was on the menu somewhere.