The Warlock Pt 05

Real life is getting seriously crazy right now. But it is all good. No sex in this chapter but I expect Xandra will want to be getting frisky with Martin soon. As always any feedback will be considered. I know the length of chapters has been brought up and I hope no one stops reading due to it being too short. This is what I feel I can do right now.

Ahaz

So a Warlock and a Paladin walk into a bar. It seems like there should be a good joke there somewhere. I was starting my second bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon (there is a story there) when I saw him enter the Red Horse Saloon. He looked a hell of a lot different in street clothes but then again I figured I did also. I gave him a wave and ordered a whiskey sour. Nights like tonight were very rare but very nice. A chance to sit in a bar with an old friend and bitch about women and work.

Gwydion hit the table the same time his drink did and we made a silent toast to our third member of the musketeers.

"Still drinking that swill? I thought for sure making a few bucks would improve your taste." he smirked.

"HAH, I will have you know I went through a beer snob phase for two years after I made my first 100 million. Turns out I just really like a cold PBR." I laughed.

"I am gonna need another one after this to get the image of that twit Jeffery going down on my sister. Thanks for putting that out there yesterday. How did you know?" he asked as he sipped his drink.

"Know what?" I replied.

"That the only thing she let's him do is go down. She won't even kiss him. I can't even feel sorry for him he is such a bootlicker." he laughed "The other guys were razzing him pretty hard when they thought I was out of earshot. You just keep making friends don't you?"

He slid a folder of papers over to me.

"New edicts for our Street Paladins. A nice letter explaining the process of apprehending unknown supernaturals. With a stricter enforcement of penalties for failure to comply. Looking into the case of your apprentice they could have apprehended her under the immediate public safety clause. Apparently there was a death shell released at a boarding house four stops west of the bus they located her on. Heavy necromancer magic residue and four people dead." He looked at me seriously.

"Yup, and if they knew more about what the hell they were doing I wouldn't have been able to stop them. Not my problem. We both know there is precedence for leniency when it involves unknowing use of power. I am sure you are also aware that I am in the process of making restitution to the families involved. The Council wanted to be very clear about my duties earlier today trust me."

If you haven't guessed yet Gwydion and I met at law school.

"HA! I heard about that. You introduced a potential Archmage necromancer and a risen succubus Warlock to the magical community. How did that go over?" he laughed.

"About as well as you would expect." I said. "They questioned Chloe's use of her death shell during her gang rape to try to break her. Then they hit her with her power usage during her attack and nightmare. She held up really well. I had to let her face it head on. She will be going through tougher than that before it is all over." I took a long drink of beer to let my face regain it's composure.

"I feel for the kid, I had heard they were pretty rough on her." He said slowly. Then he smirked again. "I also heard you took Xath aside afterward and had some words? Something about dueling him for head of the Mage's circle and giving him to some incubi for a week?"

"How many spies do you guys have in open council? Let's just say that he no longer sees the need to be unnecessarily cruel when dealing with scared apprentices." I smirked back.

"So you tell me. How did they take the addition of a risen succubus Warlock?" I asked turning the tables on him.

"About as well as you would expect." He grinned. "She definitely had them charmed quickly enough and there are a few who are willing to stand behind her due to her risen status. I checked the archives. There hasn't been a risen demon in over 800 years. You are even getting some respect from the Holy Templars for that trick. Although you are also getting some hate. Don't you know that us Paladins are the only ones who should be concerned about other beings souls? How on earth are you going to handle that anyways? I mean you in love is a joke. You in love with a succubus is downright creepy."

I finished my bottle of PBR and ordered another round.

"I am simply not going to worry about it. I have a law firm to run, a huge personal project I am working on, and have many different factions of many different organizations wanting me to go away. This love thing I am totally gonna put on Xandra and just follow her lead. I know my strengths and weaknesses and emotions are a definite weakness." I smiled at the waitress as she brought me my beer. "You remember how the last one worked out." I couldn't help the small tone of bitterness in my voice.

"Yeah brother I know." He finished his drink and grabbed the next one. "you know she still loves you right?" he said cautiously.

I laughed.

"It has been over 5 years now and she broke up with me. If there was any man worth pining for I am sure I am it, however, she has had to have moved on by now." I replied.

"Nope. Despite everything she is carrying a torch for you. She is just too damn stubborn to admit she screwed up." he said as he gave me a careful glance.

I changed the subject and we continued to talk and bitch about life and work. I only do this once or twice a year and really enjoy it. This may come as a shock but I am not exactly the touchy feely type. I learned long ago that my job and my status required me to act a part and truthfully it is not much of an act. I really don't lose sleep at night over getting a drug dealer's conviction overturned. I feel no responsibility for his actions. He does his thing and I do mine. When my firm helped break the nurses strike at Oakland General Hospital I felt nothing but happiness that the check cashed. I put a daycare in my office building, not because I am a nice guy but because over half my paralegal staff are women and it is a great retention tactic. Xandra once said I would rather poke my eye out with a stick than examine my feelings. She was completely right. The last thing I wanted to do was think about my ex. Especially now that Xandra was taking care of this whole relationship thing. I reached for another beer and found that somehow while we were talking I had downed 2 more than I thought. On the heels of this realization was the fact that I was in no shape to drive back.

I am sending Chloe to get you boss.

Xandra sent.

I can call a cab

I sent back

She wants to drive the GTO, apparently her dad had one. Plus I think she needs to get out of the tower for a bit.

she sent

Something wasn't adding up but I was feeling no pain and could use the time to sober up a bit.. Gwydion was trying to recall the the name of the T.A. with the huge tits who always wore the tightest shirts. (Gloria) He only had three drinks but was a much lighter weight than I was. We were both feeling no pain as we watched an attractive little brunette enter and make her way toward us. It took me a second to realize that it was Chloe. I had seen her in her homeless garb along with the sweats and t-shirts that she would wear during the few times we trained. This was the first time I saw her made up. She was really quite attractive with the fresh faced girl next door look. She did a double take at my companion and if this were a cartoon her eyes would have bugged out and her jaw would have hit the floor. For his part Gwydion had no problem admiring the lithe form that was walking up toward us. I felt an emotion and being slightly inebriated I decided to examine it. It wasn't lust or jealousy. It was .... protectiveness? is that even an emotion? There was no way on earth that Gwydion would do ANYTHING to hurt this girl but I found myself thinking that he better not. Time to start sobering up and putting a lockdown on this thinking stuff.

AWWW that was cute boss. Want me to buy you a shotgun for when her date asks her out to the prom?

Xandra sent.

HA! She is my apprentice and will be one of my greatest magical legacies. Of course I want to protect her. Besides we need her for the Keychain Project. Nothing to see here.

I sent.

How are you in my head so much now? We are far enough away you shouldn't be able to read me so easily.

I sent

I don't know.

she sent

But I blame you. My powers are all over the place. It was your undying devotion and lovableness that allowed me to rise from the decadent demon sexpot to the decadent risen sexpot.

she sent. I could feel the smirk in my head.

I asked for one last water and closed out our tab. While the waitress was ringing us up I headed over to the bathroom. That is the problem with beer. You don't buy it you just rent it. I chuckled at the bad joke as I relieved myself and washed my hands. I was at that tipping point now where I could feel myself sobering up. As I left the restroom I couldn't help but notice that all the attention seemed to be focused on the dance floor. As I wandered past I saw some guy holding Chloe trying to dance with her while what appeared to be a couple of his buddys moving to intercept a stalking Gwydion. There was something not right about Chloe as she had her eyes shut tight and was trying to get away from the guy grabbing her. As I pushed through the crowd I noticed one of the cowboys stand right in Gwydion's path. Without breaking stride my friends hand hand shot out and caught the interloper right in the throat. As the goon rocked back grabbing at his neck Gwydion reached around to the back of the guys neck and shoved him back behind. Goon number two was a step behind his buddy and received a headbutt that caused an almost audible snap as the goon dropped to the floor. Our resident dance master had his back to the enraged paladin and never saw the blow to his kidney that sent him to the ground. Gwydion gently held Chloe as she started sobbing. All three thugs were on their knees in various stages of pain. I put my hand in my pocket and summoned a pair of brass knuckles. Quickly weaving a spell that would make people not notice me I went around and threw a right cross into every one of those motherfuckers faces. From the outside I was hoping it would look like they just fell over. Next I conjured up a 30 second mass memory wipe spell and threw it across the entire room.While everyone was disoriented I shifted myself and the three unconscious goons outside. About a minute later Gwydion came out with his arm around Chloe.

"What the fuck happened man?" I angrily asked my friend.

"I am so sorry brother." Gwydion looked horrified. "I was chatting with a waitress waiting for you and before I knew it this guy had decided to pick up Chloe and take her to the dance floor. It looked like he was trying to show off for his friends."

"I w-w-was just tr-tr-trying not to let loose with my power. I was so scared. I-I-I thought I was back with those pervs and was getting dragged back down stairs." Chloe sobbed.

I moved in to give her a hug when Gwydion shoved me hard to the ground. I heard a snap and saw a red spot appear in the center of his chest. It started to spread rapidly as Gwydion looked down then fell backwards.

My mind was still reeling when I heard Chloe shriek. All of a sudden the three of us were encased in a green translucent shield and Chloe was yelling. Outside the gathering shadows seemed to coalesce into a vaguely humanoid winged form.

"Find him, hurt him, hold him, but don't kill him." Chloe ordered the Wraith in a cold voice. It flowed away silently.

Shit, she just summoned a mid level undead while holding an active shield 9 foot in diameter. Insane.

I saw her look at Gwydion's body and get a horrified expression on her face. She made a grabbing motion and slammed her fist into the ground.

"I have his spirit Martin, It tried to escape from the body. If you can fix him I can put it back in." she said, obviously under a lot of strain.

I ran a spell over my friend's corpse and was told that a lung had exploded and shard of the bullet had ripped through his right ventricle. This body was dead. As powerful as I was even I couldn't create new tissue. I had one option but this was really going to hurt.

"Chloe you have to drop the shield, I am going to call someone but it is going to take a lot of juice and when he gets here I am going to be out of it. They probably won't speak any language you recognize so just point them at the body and try to get them to understand it needs repair." I refrained from telling her that I might be out of it permanently, no need to worry the poor girl.

"Chloe, do you understand?" when she nodded and dropped the shield I started prepping myself.

Chloe and Gwydion need help babe and I am going to be out of it for a while. I love you.

I sent to Xandra.

I felt her try to send something back but I had to block it out. This was going to take everything I had.

Gathering every bit of soul magic and regular magic I weaved them into the most complex summoning spell I had ever attempted. I knew the theory of what I was about to do but I had no idea if it would work. Summoning a demon with a summoning circle takes a lot of pressure off the Warlock because most of the binding spells are already laid into it. This allows the summoner to focus on the casting part of the summoning. The way I was doing it currently I was trying to lasso a horse while building a fence to keep it in at the same time. And the amount of magic I was going to need to pull an extraplanar creature against it's will and bind it to help was just a touch beyond what I was able to channel. It was time to roll the dice.

I focused my mage sight and started working my magic up. Twirling the lasso so to speak. As my sight filtered through various planes I locked on one creature that I knew could help us. With a mental heave I threw my spell across the planes and forced it to take hold on the creature. Then I "pulled" as hard as I could to bring this guy across multiple dimensions to the spot where my friend had just died. I felt the pressure release has the Angel I summoned popped into the plane. Then everything went black.

===============================

Well now, this was interesting. I knew I was gonna pass out when I summoned Raphael. I was expecting to either wake up to nurse Xandra and her lovely breasts or find myself getting a grand tour of the nether world and hoping I could move into an administrative position. This white featureless plane was not even considered. I tried contacting Xandra. Nothing. I tried summoning my mace. Nothing. I tried casting a simple location spell. Nothing. I tried calling on my soul energy. Nothing. Okay then I was going to have to get through this with my wits. Damn.

"I am here for a reason and too tired to wander around in self introspection, so why don't we cut to the chase?" I shouted.

Nothing. Damned if I was going to walk around like an idiot. I visualized a nice soft recliner and was only partly surprised when one appeared behind me. So that is how this works. I visualized a cold six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon on an end table.and sat down while twisting off the top of one of my beers. As I tossed the cap to the floor it disappeared. I took a drink and damned if it didn't taste as wonderful as I thought it would.

When I was sixteen my parents were killed in a car accident. We were a lower middle class family but they had life insurance policies that would fund my college. Nobody in my extended family was interested in taking in another mouth to feed but they were interested in selling the house and trying to split the profits. I pulled a rabbit out of my hat and got myself emancipated, allowing me to keep control of my family's estate such as it was. My uncle Burt was a lawyer with a small practice and helped with all the paperwork. He was already disliked by the rest of the family because he wouldn't loan them money when they wanted so he had a ball helping me stick it to them. He would check in on me occasionally and would always bring a six pack of PBR. We would talk about law, the Lions, history and everything else. Those visits were some of my fondest memories and the taste of a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon brought them back every time.

As I was finishing my first beer I noticed that now I was sitting in an exact replica of the den in my old house. Also there was a wizard of some sort staring at me from the chair where my uncle used to sit. Think Gandalf. He was staring at me through steepled fingers. I gave him a measuring look and offered him a beer. He smiled.

"I always thought the walk through the white plain for introspection was cliche also." he said as he grabbed the beer and twisted the top off.

"I also like the fact that you aren't asking the annoying questions of "Where am I?" and "What is going on?" he said and took a draw from the long neck.

"I figured someone would get around to me eventually." I replied

"Good thinking, I am Ahazurak or more correctly I am a projection of Ahazurak filtered through your subconscious. And I am here to offer all the foreshadowing you could ask for." he grinned.

"So I assume your delivery method is due to my subconscious being a sarcastic douchebag?" I asked with a smile.

"You have no clue, do you have any idea how annoying you can be?" he asked

"I can only guess, but it has served me well so far. So get to the cryptic hints and prophecies so I can turn my superior intellect on them and find that no matter what happens everything will turn out okay." I replied

"Nope, not today. Today you are getting some serious intel. With the return of Ajak to the lower planes the balance of power has shifted. The lower realms now have all the princes back in place. I can only assume that once the higher planes learn of this they will probably launch a preemptive strike. Your shackling of Ajak was brilliant and bought us some time but you only have six months to a year before we have an all out war. It won't take long to spill over to the Prime material plane. You are going to have to be the one to stop that." he said.

"Why me?" I asked

"Because you can. Warlocks were originally called Gatekeepers and Guardians. We are the ones who stop the upper and lower planes from spilling over to our world. Your Lanyard and Keychain projects are going to be paramount to stopping what the uneducated will call Armageddon. I can see that saving humanity is never going to be your strongest motivator. You really are kind of a dick. But there are people you care about that would be hurt and the power and prestige you would earn would put you above any single human that came before." he answered.

"Well I am glad that you didn't give me the Spiderman answer."

I saw he looked confused.

"You know, with great power comes great responsibility." I smirked.

"Meh," he replied, "it is a good thought no doubt but rather trite. Nope, you my friend get to be the savior of humanity and the ass kicker of demons and angels. I suppose that you can tune the project to block access from both sides?"

"The principles are all the same so yeah. The power requirements are going to be exponential though. I just figured I would block out the lower planes unless a trained summoner pulled them through." I answered

"I am only a projection here so I know my word counts for shit but I think you would be opening a way for the higher plane guys to come in and establish control or at least a forward camp. It might be better to block them all and start teaching acolytes how to summon higher beings if needed." he said as he shrugged and finished his beer.