The Mage of Dockside

I stood there in that warehouse office in shock. Vellanova was the magi who had, just for the fun of it, tried to slowly tear away at the mind of Oskar Wain with magic.

After my initial surprise wore off, I became angry, furious. I had assumed that this insane woman had already faced justice. But here she was, standing in front of me.

Maximus had told me that I was given an opportunity to correct a mistake, and at that moment I fully agreed. If this was a test to see if I could bring myself to kill someone, with my own magic, then I was fully prepared to pass that test.

"Actually, I never did get your name... pretty boy." Vellanova said to me, turning her head at an awkward angle.

"You would do well to stay silent." I warned her.

Her response was to lunge forward, to bite at me.

Maximus pulled on her chains, yanking her back with such ease it was like he was reeling in a small puppy.

I let the dark parts of my mind take center stage, trying to decide how to kill this woman. Would it be best just to snap her neck? Or would I want to watch her burn? Treat her like the witch that she was.

"What did the Wain boy tell you?" She snarled at me. "I bet he didn't tell you how he happily stuck his tongue inside me, licking me from the inside. He wanted everything I did to him."

I could remember being absolutely furious. Both at her and at Will Stone, whom I had left her with. I had trusted the man, and now she was here, how?!

Then the part of my brain that wasn't a mage, that wasn't a woman chasing Norsta, the part that was a thief, began to actually think on that. WhywasVellanova here? It didn't make any sense. I had expected Will to take her to Allen Wain to face punishment. Or maybe to keep her quiet, by simply having her killed. At the very least I thought he might have taken her to a constable to stand trial.

Then, suddenly, I remembered where I was. What I was doing there. I looked at Maximus and everything just clicked. There was no chance they just happened to have Vellanova nearby, ready to pull out. This had been planned. I understood what he was really testing me on.

"Can I be assured that this is actually Vellanova?" I asked him plainly.

"Hmmm, well, if I didn't know for certain myself, how would you find out?" He asked in return.

"Like this." I said with grim determination.

I conjured up the same long wooden staff that I had been using as a walking stick. I considered for a moment telling Vellanova to not resist, to accept my spell. Instead I simply walked up to her and slammed the end of my staff across her face.

Blood shot from her mouth, splattering onto the floor, but I wasn't done. I took another swing to her stomach, then another across her face.

"Hold her up." I told Maximus as she began to collapse.

The large, well built man held her up by the chains like she was a caught fish.

Dropping my staff I cast a quick enchantment spell to muddle her mind, taking advantage of the pain she was in to prevent her from resisting it. Then, I took my time to craft together a proper enchantment spell for her, the strongest I had.

I could tell I finally had Maximus curious as he saw just how complex the spell I was weaving together was. It took several minutes to properly create.

Then I put my hands on Vellanova's temples and held her head in place. It helped me focus as I went in, cutting away. I would say my magic was like a doctor's knife, cutting away a festering wound. But in reality I was more like a farmer with a torch, burning away a plague infected crop before it spread.

I could have done this all without her feeling a thing. Instead I relished in feeling her almost unconscious mind causing her body to shudder. I lost track of time, of how long I was in there, burning away with my spell. But as I got to the end I knew I had hit what I really wanted, the core that I wanted to destroy.

When I did so Vellanova let out a scream of pain, something so primal that it gave even me a moment's pause. It even caused Maximus to shift away ever so slightly, like she might explode.

Then it was done. I pulled away, already feeling drained.

"Take her chains off, let her free." I told Maximus while leaning on the desk.

He looked at me in surprise, then at Vellanova in curiosity. He waited a moment, then did as I asked, pulling out a wrench-like device from his pocket that let him remove her shackles.

It was a relatively easy thing to do, as Vellanova was still in a state of shock, tacking a long while to even find her feet. When she finally did so, she was obviously confused, looking around the room. When her eyes focused on me, they narrowed in anger and she spit out a wad of blood.

With an angry snarl she held up her hands in the air in front her. But then she simply stood there, looking at those hands in betrayal. She grew afraid, then angry all over again as she realized what had happened.

"YOU!" She shouted, lunging at me.

"Sit." I told her, casting a magical enchantment command.

Vellanova fell to the floor.

"Don't move." I commanded, walking over to her.

Her eyes were a mixture of terror and fury as she looked up at me.

I stood there for a long moment, simply looking down at her. Then I said to Maximus:

"There, I fixed my mistake."

Maximus now knelt in front of the woman, and I could feel him reach out with his own magical animus, inspecting her.

"How strong is the command?" He asked me, looking at her.

To answer I simply stepped over and placed my finger in Vellanova's mouth. I held it there for a moment, confident that she could do nothing to it. I had told her not to move and she had to obey.

"Your spell, what did you do to her?" Maximus asked me, still inspecting the woman.

"I took the one thing that was most important to her. I took her magic."

*****

Morgan the Mage stopped the telling of his story for a moment, looking to Hera and telling her:

"I was curious if you would question that. It is generally accepted that magical talent can neither be given or taken away."

Hera nodded, then replied:

"If I may, can I guess what you actually did?"

"Please, go ahead." Morgan told her.

"You have already made it clear that you have the capability to erase memories with your enchantment magic. I would think then, that if you spent the time and energy, you could do a lot with that. You could, in theory, erase every memory she had of ever using her animus. Erase every bit of knowledge that she had learned to cast and control magic."

"Very good." Morgan told her. "Not only did the holes in her memory prevent her from burning me with fire as she had attempted, but it also devastated her ability to resist my command spells. Maximus had lifted her like she was nothing, I could now control her very mind like it was nothing."

There was a moment of silence between the two magi at that. Morgan wondered for a moment if this would be when Hera might comment on the morality of what he had done.

But Hera just remained patient and silent, an attentive audience.

*****

Maximus told me that, after consideration, maybe Ididhave some talent that the cabal could use after all.

More than that though I knew I had earned an amount of respect from the man. The real test was to see if I was the kind of man thatwasn'tthe idealistic hero. That I was the kind of person who could go in and tear out a person's mind with magic, but leave them still themself.

Vellanovawasstill herself. She didn't forget who she was, her mind was not broken like Erica's had been. I had simply gone in and cut away the problem, taking only the memories that gave her power.

If nothing else I proved to Maximus that I was not some spoiled socialite, only interested in sticking my cock into new and exciting holes. I proved that Morgan the Mage was not only a capable magi, but a dangerous one.

*****

I was quite thankful that the next day I got to simply relax, getting for the first time to enjoy some time at a bathhouse together with Ellena. We went to one calledIntrinsa, which I think simply translated to Bathhouse. It was Ellena's preferred bathhouse because they had an extensive spa service, including massage oils and skin treatments.

As we both received a back massage at the same time, I felt quite jealous of Ellena. Because she had gotten a cute, lithe young woman to be her masseuse. While mine was built like Maximus, and worked my muscles like he was kneading bread.

"You've been quiet." Ellena said to me, apparently not counting grunting as speaking.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something while we were here." I said in response. "But since it has to do with my business, I wanted to wait for some privacy."

"Hmm, okay. I think I am ready to wash off, if you want to head into the bathing room."

The private baths at Intrinsa were similar to the ones I had taken Jared and Erica to, but these ones were stone instead of wood. As Ellena got ready to lower herself into the water, I found my gaze lingering on her.

There was something about watching the water flow down her body that I found intoxicating to look at. The way it drew the eye to just how perfect the curvature of her breasts were. How the water would linger in droplets around her stomach, draining down into the V shape of her pubic valley.

"You know, I might conjure up some steam. Are you okay with that?" I asked her.

"Sure. Did you want to go to the sauna instead?" She asked with her head tilted.

"No. I just think if I can see you so clearly like that I won't be able to focus on anything else."

Ellena sent a playful splash my way but I conjured up the steam anyway, making the room a little foggy. I actually wanted to focus, and it helped.

"I've been mulling over something in my head." I said, getting into the bath as well.

"I could tell you have been thinking, you tend to stare at things when you do." Ellena told me, washing off the massage oils from her skin. "But you didn't seem worried, just thoughtful."

"Hmm, I suppose that is true." I said. "I am actually thinking back to my classmates back at the academy."

"Oooh, I haven't heard any academy stories yet." Ellena responded hopefully.

"Well I will certainly tell you some. But right now I was thinking about them because they were all members of Avaloche aristocracy. Several of them are likely to end up rich and powerful. So I, as you can imagine, tried my best to be friendly and sociable with them. Even though in reality, some of those same magi were just terrible, awful people."

Ellena simply nodded her head slightly, indicating she understood as I continued on.

"I made my peace with that, it honestly didn't bother me all that much. So much of my youth was spent being taught how to behave properly in polite society. Smile, don't grin. Laugh, don't snicker. Be mindful of your betters, never speak back to them. It was just part of life. So I could deal with a few rotten apples, could even be friends with them."

"But lately?" I said, shaking my head.

"Lately I have been meeting the rich and powerful of Dockside. And for the first time in my life I am beginning to wonder, just how far am I willing to go? How rotten of a person am I willing to mingle with if they are someone I need?"

"Well." Ellena said, shifting in the water. "I can say that I have some similar feelings about Captain Traun, who is the head constable of Dockside."

"I don't know anything about him. You have had to deal with him?" I asked.

"Not personally." She answered. "But his reputation is well earned."

"Which is?" I asked.

"He is absolutely corrupt. He cares not at all about helping people, just lining his pockets. He will gladly let even murderers free, if paid enough. I could understand if he was just letting the well connected go, if he was facing political pressure. But you can honestly walk off a ship here with no connections at all, murder a man, and get away with it if you have enough money to give Traun."

"Then there are the executions." Ellena added.

"I would think executions in a place like Dockside are necessary. They are in Avaloche." I told her.

"The problem ishowhe executes people. People ripped apart by horses, others killed by having their intestines slowly drawn out. I've alwayshatedthat my father has to work with him. But what are you going to do? Even someone as powerful as my father cannot defy the Baron, and Baron Holt wants Traun."

"Well, I am glad to know you will not judgemetoo harshly for having to associate with such people." I responded with a smile. "But I am honestly more concerned with my own reactions. I'm worried that I will forget all that training I got to hold my tongue growing up and tell the wrong person what I really think of them."

"Anything you can tell me about?" Ellena asked, moving next to me, so we were shoulder to shoulder.

"No. But that is more because I am hesitant to accuse people of certain things, not without proof. I am almost certain that one of the men Balin has introduced me to is bad. Maybe not Traun bad, but certainly not someone I would enjoy being associated with. But until I know forcertain, I will keep those suspicions to myself."

"I suppose you have spent a good deal of your life growing up, thinking about this." Ellena said, putting her head on my shoulder.

It took a moment for me to realize what she was saying. "You mean as a future lord, as someone who will be in a position of power myself."

I could feel Ellena nod, then she asked:

"I know father has had to do some terrible things himself, in order to keep the family safe. Does it concern you? Do you think you can make the hard choices?"

I felt a rare sense of guilt for lying to her in that moment.

"Yes and no." I responded. "I have always felt that making hard choices comes easier to me than others. Like when I had to kill that slave trade captain. It wasn't easy, but I knew even before coming to Dockside that I was capable of killing, of passing that kind of judgement. Does that make me sound arrogant?"

I felt her laugh, just a little.

"Lord Morgan? Morgan the Mage? Arrogant? Oh, not at all." She said, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm.

"Point taken. But I guess what I want to ask you is, if I had instead chosen to let that captain live... If I spared his life because I had to, because he was too well connected, would you hold that against me?"

"No, like I said I know my father has had to make hard choices like that. It isn't about doing what is always right all the time, it is about doing what you can."

She really did know what to say to make me feel better.

"It sounds like you are more concerned about how you view yourself." She continued. "Doyouview yourself as an evil man Morgan?"

"Of course not. I have seen true evil. Even at my worst, with my darkest thoughts, I am not that. Although all this does make me wonder."

"About?" She asked.

"About what the line is for you. What is something that a man like your father, a man like myself.... What could we do that goes too far? Aside from the obviously evil stuff like that slave captain and captain Traun take part in."

Ellena pulled away from my shoulder, and I felt I had made a mistake. The look on her face was one of serious concern. Like I had put an image of me doing something awful in her mind, and she did not care for it.

Looking at me directly then, she finally said:

"There is one thing. A thing where I do think there is a black and white answer. I will never forgive anyone,anyone, who has sex with children. It is just...."

Ellena shook her head before saying earnestly:

"I know it happens. I am sure there are powerful men, guild masters and family bosses in Dockside, that have their way with girls younger than Patricia. Even she is too young. But it sickens me, when I think about them getting raped. Even the ones who say they consented, I can never think of those men as anything but monsters."

With a small, gentle smile, I leaned over and kissed Ellena on the cheek.

"What was that?" She asked, confused.

"I just think you made me happy."

Now she was properly bewildered.

"I have spent honestly far too many hours chasing after women. I've been called some rather mean, hurtful things for it. I will never deny what I am, a lover of women. But I can tell you something I am not, Ellena Landon, is one ofthosemen. I have never for a moment thought such thoughts about a girl like Patricia Lennon. It just isn't who I am."

Now it was Ellena smiling, putting her head back on my shoulder.

"I didn't think you were. But...."

"You never know." I finished for her. "Pedophilia is such a universally hated thing, that such people always keep it hidden. And I'm sure you are right, that there are people all across the world that sleep with little girls because they have the money and power to keep such things secret. So really, if you are going to suspect anyone of possibly being one, it is the aristocracy."

"I am many things, but I am not a monster. And you were right to call men who do such things monsters." I said to her with a tone of finality.

We sat there together, naked, in the stone basin for a long quiet moment.

"I'm sorry." I finally spoke up. "I did not mean to drag things down like this when we started talking."

"Yes, it did get quite grim there, didn't it?" She responded.

"I think a change of subject is in order. What kind of story from my stay at the academy did you want to hear?"

Moving to the opposite side, clearly amused, Ellena asked:

"Did you have a girlfriend at the academy? Can you tell me a story about her?"

Shaking my head, not at all surprised that she was asking about that, I answered:

"I had two girlfriends actually. First one, then two, at the same time."

"Oooh, did they know about each other?" Ellena asked with a scandalous look.

"No. Or I should say, once they learned about each other I went from two girlfriends to none."

"Hmm, well it sounds like you deserved it."

I gave her a puzzled look.

"Don't give me that look." Ellena responded. "It is different when I tell you I'm okay with you sleeping with other women. I gave youpermission, those young women didn't, did they?"

"No, I have to confess that they did not. So in that regard I guess you are right, what happened to me was both predictable and well deserved."

"Just so." She told me, nodding her head judgmentally.

"In my defense though, I didn't set out to be a two timer. This may sound like the most feeble excuse..."

"Let's hear it." Ellena said.

"When the second woman and I got together, I had intended to break up with the first."

"You just didn't get around to it?" Ellena asked, perhaps the closest she had come so far to being openly angry with me.

"It wasn't that. The problem was, I had been given explicit instructions from my father when attending the academy tonotupset the other houses. But how do you break up with a young woman andnotrisk doing that?"

"Ahhh, so yours was a political problem, not one of the heart."

"Just so." I told her. "I know it doesn't make it better, but I had honestly intended to break up with Gretchin. I just had no earthly idea how to do it gently."

Ellena burst out with a single laugh, putting a hand on her mouth to hold it back.

"Her name wasGretchin?" She said through her hand.

"Yes." I answered honestly.

"I shouldn't laugh at that." Ellena said.

"I shouldn't laugh at that." Ellena said again, desperately trying to hold it in.

Together we waited several minutes as Ellena composed herself, visibly fighting the urge to laugh.

"So, ready to call it a day?" I asked her.

"Yes, we should." She responded with a neutral tone that reminded me of the woman who taught me table manners. That she was desperately trying to hold it together.