Dan's Wheel of Magic Ch. 4

Tygan suddenly jerked up as she looked toward the south. "What is it? Are you feeling them coming this way?" Ella asked.

"Not sure they all passed us a short time ago. It feels as if one of them has broken off and headed this way," Tygan said.

"I think we should prepare for whoever this is," Tygan said as she turned toward me. "I know that you don't want to kill, though in this case you may have no choice."

Dan nodded as they heard someone approaching very fast. Dan's hands were glowing red ready for whoever it was.

A moment later whomever it was stopped short. Dan and the others weren't fooled as they waited quietly.

Dan called out, "We know you're there, reveal yourself!"

For a minute nothing happened. A voice called out from the edge of the forest. "Dan? May I advance?"

Dan shook as if he'd been slapped. "En'tra?" he said.

A movement had them more on their guard as the sexy Dark Elf stepped from the trees.

She looked at all four before her and shook her head. "I had transported you an hour or so, and you drew attention of the clan. Though how," En'tra stopped her small mouth dropping open. "When did you develop Dark Magic?"

The other three females looked at each other and smirked.

"You might notice that he has all of our powers. Starting as strong as us, then quickly advancing. He already has more power than the fire witch," Tygan said.

En'tra stood there for a moment, looking at all four there, the females first, then Dan.

By all that is unholy! He was three to four times stronger than all of them.

Shaking her head, she looked at Dan only. "I was sent to make sure that you never attacked my clan again. This, of course, isn't about to happen. I also saw that your Shadow step has an almost unlimited range. Not many have I seen that could move as far as you did, especially with three passengers."

Dan nodded, finally getting a hold on what was happening to him. "Who are the others that are after us? I felt the Dragon and apparently another Light Elf."

"From what I gathered from them, they are after an outlawed human," En'tra said.

"Outlawed? By all? How in the hell did that happen?" Dan asked.

"From what we can tell, the Elfin King presented evidence almost six centuries ago. In it, all humans were branded as untrained, undisciplined magic users, a danger to all," En'tra said.

"Yes, I remember something about that in history lessons. Something about the humans killing his mother and queen. This was well over six centuries, as she said. A human Elf ensued. A war that spread to the Lychs, Dark Elfs, Golems, Mermaids, Harpies and Demon realms. Many of the races still haven't recovered fully, the Golems among the worst," Tygan revealed.

"Shit!" Ella said. "If it were true then I could see why he is so angry."

Dan was shaking his head, he'd heard a lot of things, though never anything like this. He had researched a lot of history and was well aware of the period Ella had mentioned. It appeared that he was guilty of just being of the race humankind.

Drawing a deep breath, he saw all the females looking at him as if he had all the answers. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered just what he could do. He had power, yes, though he still wasn't all that strong against a magical group.

He was about to ask more when Ella and Tygan looked around. "Shit it feels that the other two have noticed that you are gone," they said to En'tra.

"It appears that the two of them are far more sensitive than I first thought," En'tra said as she looked at Dan.

"Do you think that you can Shadow step all of us? I am unable to move as far as we need to. The forest near where my clan's mountain is."

"I can try. I've moved all of us a few times," Dan said.

He had all of them hold hands as he thought of the forest that they had gone to after being attacked. The surrounding shadows started to slowly advance upon them as they were wrapped, then they were gone.

They all stumbled out of the shadows not far from where the En'tra's Dark Elf clan was. Dan sat as he was suddenly feeling tired as hell. Then he got a message: {you have now earned the spell shadow shield.}

Dan tried to look up at En'tra, tried to ask her only managing, "What is shadow shei," then keeled over.

"Dear," En'tra said, "he appeared to use more energy than I thought. I also think that he just gained another shadow ability."

"Another?" Bell asked. "What makes you think that?" She said.

"I heard him ask what is shadow shei, then he passed out. If he has indeed gained this, then we might have a chance. Problem is he has to be conscious in order to cast it," En'tra said.

"I think that the last cast he made took more out of him than we thought. Moving four instead of three might have taxed him somewhat. I just he hope wakes up before the other two can catch up to us," Tygan said.

"We have almost a whole day, as far away as we are, I am hoping it dulls their detection," En'tra said.

A gruff voice came from below as Gre'ta to land beside the Elf assassin. "I have detected dark magic near where she left our company, though it was many times stronger than her power," the assassin said.

"I have also thought about the distance they moved, it is not a normal dark magic power. I believe that we are dealing with a power that puts most of the world to shame. A power that few could fight against," Gre'ta said.

"This is very bad as we are the strongest that can go against it. I believe that we need to be advised before we proceed further," the Elf assassin said.

Gre'ta thought about it a moment, then nodded her ascent. Both moved away from each other as they thought, connected to their rulers.

"Queen Ad'ella," called Gre'ta. "I had joined with an Elf assassin and a Dark Elf priestess. We were closing rapidly when I felt one of the four use Shadow step. As far as we know, there are two witches, a fire and a water user. There is a Light Elf with them. I have felt all their power double. I am afraid that the human is a four caster. Am I still trying to capture him, as I am afraid that the assassin has orders to kill him."

"It sounds much like the Elf King's reaction to the situation. A four caster? Hmmm, then he is indeed far more powerful than we thought. Yes, still proceed to capture, do not allow the assassin to kill the human. Hmmm, this is along the lines of the legend," Adella said, then cut the communication.

The assassin was having a much harder time than Gre'ta. The Elf King was practically screaming at her.

"I do not care if he is a four caster. I want that human piece of filth dead! Do you hear me? Dead! I don't care if you have to sacrifice your life, kill him before he gains more power. You have enough tricks to destroy him. It is your destiny to destroy it, so do it!" The King was yelling then cut the communication.

The assassin wasn't sure about the mission anymore, as insane as the king was acting. She shook her head as she walked back to the clearing. She had heard the prophecy, and it was far different than she knew.

As she approached the clearing, she saw that the dragon was a little uncertain also.

Taking a chance, the assassin said, "all this talk of prophecies is troubling, isn't it?"

Gre'ta, still a little shaken, said, "it can be yes. Though, as I have learned, prophecies and legends are oft' are not interpreted correctly."

The assassin almost smirked, as she had figured, that was why the Dragons were interested. A smile, a rare thing, came to her features. Perhaps this would help her to free herself and fulfill both of the tellings of the Elfs and Dragons.

It could though she'd have to be extremely careful. As it stood now? She was an insect to the power of the Dragon before her. Yes, she thought, careful and manipulative as hell.

All the females were shocked as hell when the other two hunters stalled in their search for them. A few hours later, Dan tried to sit up, not a good thing as he fell back into the chest of En'tra.

"Well," she said with a seductive smile, "if you wished to get close, you should have told me" The Dark Elf giggled, causing the other three females to stare at her hard.

Tygan was especially shocked; she had never seen or heard of a Dark Elf laughing. She shook her head at the look of seduction on En'tra's face.

Why in the hell was she getting jealous? True, she was only three hundred, she guessed that En'tra was about six hundred an older adult. Still, she was trained in seduction also.

None of this lost on Ella and Bell. They kept switching between the two Elves as they started to pay attention to Dan. Damnit! They had known him far longer and deserved him!

They both looked at each other as they realized that they were having the same thoughts. Shit they thought, what in the hell was going on?

Dan quickly came off En'tra's chest as he blushed. "I am sorry En'tra," he said.

Another seductive smile came to En'tra's features." Oh, I don't mind!"

"Uh yeah. Well, I wanted to ask you what Shadow Shield is," Dan said.

"Ah! I had thought that was what you meant. It is a dark power that can hide and protect against a lot of attacks. I have heard that all magics have one. If you do gain them, we should be well protected. They are higher abilities though. The fact that you have reached it in dark magic is fortunate," En'tra said.

"Yeah, I have four in Dark and Fire magic. I guess I need to use the others to strengthen them," Dan said.

Dan then tried to cast the Shadow Shield when a small Dark Shield appeared. Dan cursed as he tried it a few more times, managing to get it to cover twenty feet in front of them.

Dan stopped feeling a drain upon his magic. En'tra was shocked that Dan had made a shield that fast and large.

"See if you can surround us all. It should make us almost undetectable to all but someone with major power." En'tra wasn't as sure as she'd only seen this performed a few times.

Dan tried a few times as En'tra watched as the shield covered first him, then her. It then rapidly reached out to Tygan, Ella, then Bell.

All of them looked at Dan, wondering just what the hell he had done. All of them were staring at the covering that was on them.

Finally, Ella asked, "What in the hell is this?"

"It is part of Shadow Shield, we are now harder to detect than before. I figured it might keep us hidden more," Dan said.

En'tra was nodding her head as she examined it.

Back where Dan and his companions had been, Gre'ta was examining the burnt area. She was shaking her head at the excessive heat it would have taken to cause such destruction.

Gre'ta thought that Queen Ad'ella's assumption had been correct. The human was indeed far more powerful than they had at first thought. Capturing him might be getting close to her power level.

If he was indeed a four caster as the Dark Elf had said, she might need more help than she had. At the rate the human's power was growing, there might not be any that could stop him.

Gre'ta was deep in thought when she heard the assassin gasp. She looked up and opened her senses. She almost gasped too as she felt almost all detection of the human fade.

What was worse was the fact that next to him his companions nearly faded completely. The last reading she'd gotten on the now four companions with the human, showed their power increase.

Gre'ta shook her head again, what was going on? Normal magic users didn't increase this fast; it just didn't happen. It usually took years of training to get levels this high.

She was wondering if she should call the Queen again when she shook her head. No, this was her mission, she would complete it for the honor of the Red Dragon clan!

Then she thought of all that she knew, this mission had just increased in its danger and urgency.

Then there was the fact that the human was using an advanced Dark Elf spell. Not even she was completely immune to Dark Magic, nor advanced fire magic.

The assassin was watching the dragon for signs of distress, as of, yet she hadn't detected any. She knew that if her superior was half as bad as hers, then there would be distress.

Still, things were going to get far more interesting with their prey doing a near-vanishing act. As far as she knew, she didn't have that much luck against a four caster.

As far as she knew, no one had ever defeated a four caster with less than three abilities. She was starting to see now just how insane the king was. Perhaps the human could help free her. That or free her through death.

She and the Dragon set out to make camp as flying and running in the dark wasn't advised. Well, that and being able to see clearly.

The assassin set all her tells, alarms and early warnings. She might appear to be lax, but she was one of the best killers out there. She shook her head, if the king had his way, this was her last mission one way or another.

The assassin had to think about it, as something wasn't making sense. The Dark Elf had been in agreement with them about catching the four.

Why in the hell had the Dark Elf now joined with them? It was almost as if the Dark Elf owed her loyalty to the human. Was it possible? She wasn't sure, but she was going to find out.

The next day, they were preparing to set out, when Ella and Bell asked, "So where to?"

"That's the thing. I have felt a compulsion to go directly toward a certain point. At first, I fought it, running into enemies that wanted me dead. I'm not so sure that it is a good thing," Dan said.

"What do you think it might be the Elf king trying to kill you? Ella asked.

"I'm not sure if it's him or not. It seems mighty coincidental that every time I follow directly, there are enemies. From what I've seen and heard, there are at least three that want me, dead or otherwise," Dan said.

Both his witch friends nodded their heads, so far the only one that they wanted was him.

"Perhaps you need to garner more power to fight this," Bell said. "It appears that the more you use your abilities, the stronger they get. Plus, you gain new abilities."

"That seems like a great idea. I mean you have two very powerful attacks. Who knows what you might gain as you grow stronger," Ella said.

"Also, I think that we three need to keep the location of the portal a secret. No need to put others in peril about this," Bell said. "I think that it is where the Earth is that most are looking for.

Dan was agreeing with his two friends. For all intents and purposes, it appeared he almost wanted him dead. He released a sigh; he was it seemed the most wanted in this place.

"Yeah, Dan started, "I think that's a good idea. I'm not sure how I can tell the other two, and we be safe, especially as strong as our opponents are," a worried Dan said.

Dan decided to try and practice as he had almost no use of the light abilities. As with the others, he had to use them more than a few times before they were easier.

It was the next day when Dan decided that he might see what the compulsion was pulling him toward. They were headed straight north, the strongest that the pull was from.

They were going for almost two days, those following seeming to lose them from time to time. The whole time, Dan tried to use his abilities a few times.

Dan figured he'd gain another very quickly, then was frustrated nothing happened. He thought he should go as hard as he could, he didn't want to pass out again.

They had entered another area of thick forest when they heard a snarling, howling. The further they went into the forest, the louder the noises got.

They were almost to a clearing when there was a rushiung toward them. Dan's hands lit up as two large wolves darted from across the clearing toward them.

Dan released a fireball almost as large as he was, striking the foremost wolf square in the chest. This stopped the attack as the smaller of the two dropped beside the larger as it howled in pain.

The smaller stood guard over the larger as other smaller wolves came out of the forest. They were all growling as they tried to move in on the injured larger wolf.

A few of the others headed toward Dan and the females. Stopping when Dan hit them with a light pulse. Knocking all there in front of him back with slight burns.

The females were also firing at the wolves, having almost no effect. The witch's blond hair seemed to glow bright as they fought. The light white hair seemed alive as she fired. The Dark Elf seemed to be sending the wolves away. Then it seemed they appeared a moment later, again.

Dan had hoped that his singing a few would have stopped them, though to no avail. Finally, he grimaced as he sent out a wave that had several suddenly vanish into ash as they cried out, then were silent.

This stopped the attack as the rest that were left turned and fled. Dan walked closer to the first injured wolf as the smaller snarled as fiercely as it could.

Dan concentrated as hard as he could before he could suddenly understand the wolf.

"You will not touch my mate; I will die before that happens. All of you will die no matter what, for this trespass on the clan's land," the smaller wolf said.

Dan looked at the hurt larger wolf and asked, "If I heal you, will you allow us to pass through your land?"

Both the larger and smaller jerked as they understood Dan.

"What are you, mage? It has been over five hundred of your years since a two-legged spoke our speak," the larger said.

"I am a human, my name is Dan," he said as the two again jerked, then the larger groaned. " A human two leg, we have waited for the prophecy that the human two leg would return to aid us," the larger wolf said.

The smaller prostrated in front of Dan, "please human mage, please save my mate."

Dan looked at the larger, "I can only, if he wishes me to, refuse, and I am afraid that I won't be able to."

The larger wolf looked at me, then sighed. "Yes, human mage, I do require your help. Had you not been here, I wouldn't have a chance to avenge against those that thought to end me."

I nodded as I used the light ability to heal. I sighed as I had to start it a few times before all the injuries started to fade. It took about twenty minutes as I had to stop and start so many times.

The large wolf got to its feet as it nodded its head toward me. "If you can follow, there may be more that will need your healing, though not that many. You took some of those, so my opposition won't be as much."

I and my now four companions followed as quietly as we could, though they knew that we were loud. As we approached the rest of the wolf pack, I heard a boasting voice.

"I am now the leader; the old one is now dead at the hands of the two-legs. You will follow me, the old leader's mate is now mine," the same wolf that had the attack against us was saying.

The large wolf that I had saved jumped in front of the younger wolf and growled.

"You, the leader, you who attacks the injured, then runs! I think that you should be put away for the good of the clan. You who disrespected the human of the prophecy, what say you human?" the large wolf said.

Dan stepped out of the forest," I say he needs to go!" The other wolves gasped, then the leader ripped the throat of the younger wolf out, howling his victory.

Afterward, I had stood there as the rest of the clan started to talk about this night. The large leader talked to all of them as I stood off from the rest waiting.

Almost an hour later the large leader led several over to me. "For too long a great many of the clan have been injured beyond the ability to hunt and produce cubs."

"You wish me to heal them, that the clan can survive, that it will be as it once was," I said.

The large leader looked at me and slightly nodded. I nodded back as I looked at the first female who had large ugly scars all over her stomach.

I extended my hands, feeling the light magic flow through them. A great many gasped as the scars and old injuries faded. The female's eyes went wide as she said, "I feel normal again I can have pups?"

I nodded yes to her as she yipped happily, then joined a happy-looking male.

I kept at it for the rest of the night, healing torn muscles, ripped open and scarred legs and paws. In all, there had to be at least twenty, some taking a long time.

I nearly feel as I finished the last. I was lifted by my four companions as they put me in a small hut they had made.

I looked at Tygan as I said in a very tired voice, "I got a message when I finished, {you have now earned the spell shield of light.}

Tygan nodded to him as they continued to the make-shift hut. "As was explained before, all forms of magic have a shield in the more advanced levels of that aspect."

"I can see now that I am going to have to train a lot more before I use that," I said.

"I agree," Tygan said. "As far as I know, it uses a lot of energy to maintain the spell. I have also heard that it is one of the strongest shields of all the magic aspects.

Huh, I thought so, I'd finally be able to protect all of us. The problem was that if it took a lot of energy, I was going to have to gain far more. No use having it and not being able to use it, I thought.

Yeah, I thought as I felt my body it felt drained. Why, I thought, did I always gain after I was so drained?