Ultimate magic, p.1
Ultimate Magic, page 1
The Last Magus 6
Ultimate Magic
DB King
Copyright © 2022 by DB King
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
v002
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Contents
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Contents
Series by DB King
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
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Free progression Fantasy Novel!
About the Author
Series by DB King
Apocalypse Knights
Crafter’s Fate
Dragon Magus
Dungeon of Evolution
Elemental Mastery
Kensei
The Last Magus
Mage’s Path
Shinobi Rising
The Last Magus
War Wizard
Chapter 1
Alec Diamondspear stared at his mother.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, this was quite unusual. For his first eighteen years of life, Alec Diamondspear had lived believing he had no mother—or rather, that she had died shortly after his birth. As an orphan raised by the monks of the Archon Temple, he’d long since given up any hope that one of his real parents might come back into his life. Instead, he’d surrounded himself with chosen family, first among the foundlings he’d been raised with, and then with the students at the Royal Academy.
Now everything was different. As Alec stood at the entrance to the Inscribers’ hidden city, staring into the eyes of the elderly woman who bore such a striking resemblance to himself, he realized that his life would forever be separated into two halves.
Before this moment, and after.
“Mom?” Alec managed to get out, the single word issuing from his throat like a startled cry. “That’s not… it can’t be…!”
A few feet away from him, Alison Raleigh sobbed in the arms of her parents. Unlike Alec, she’d grown up with them. They were high-level members of the Inscribers. Leaders. Of course, from what he could tell, his mother was the one in charge of the whole city…
Tears flowed freely down the gray-haired woman’s face, as if a dam somewhere inside her had suddenly burst.
“It is me,” she whimpered, opening her arms for a hug. “Son, it’s me. Your mother. I’ve… I’ve wanted to see you for so long! I’m so sorry it had to be this way, but I’m so glad you’re finally here!”
Alec stared at her open embrace, tears coming to his eyes. Next to him, his betrothed Eleira stood as still as a statue, her jaw hanging open in shock from the revelation. The rest of their group filled the archway beneath the entrance to the Inscribers’ city, gathered around the small group of mages who’d come to the gates to greet them.
The old woman waited for Alec to hug her. When he didn’t, her face fell.
“My darling,” she whispered, the rest of the group falling silent. “Oh, my sweet boy. I don’t blame you in the slightest for being upset at me. I couldn’t take care of you, and you were sent away. It’s only natural that you should feel resentment toward me, son. Why, I wouldn’t even blame you if you hate me—”
“Mother,” Alec said, the unfamiliar word stretching his lips. “My mother. I have a mother!”
Then they were hugging, and all was right with the world. All of it—the fight through the Haunted Isle, the trials and tribulations Alec and his band of fellow students had been through since their flight from the Royal Academy—it all felt as if it had been leading to this. As if it had all been imbued with a sense of purpose.
At the touch of her long-lost son, the old woman in Alec’s arms broke down completely. He’d pictured this moment many times in his youth, fantasizing about it as he stared out the window of the Archon Temple late at night while the other foundlings snoozed around him. But in all those youthful daydreams, it had been him breaking down in his parents’ arms, not the other way around.
Far behind Alec’s head, the Titan’s Claw gleamed in the midmorning sun. The airship was a marvel of engineering, designed by the master artificer known as Maimonides the Shadebringer. The gnome was now one of Alec’s greatest friends, and had followed him along with the rest of his group from the Royal Academy to the Haunted Isle. Not long ago, keeping the Titan’s Claw at such an altitude would have invited it to be attacked by missiles—but now, the defense system around the Haunted Isle had been shut down.
He caught a glimpse of the sun sparkling off the port bow of the airship as his mother sobbed against his chest. When had he become such a man? Was it the Archon’s gifts that had transformed him from an ungainly youth into a stoic, stable adult? Or was this yet another aspect of his natural magic—his ability to absorb the elements around him and transform them into spells, turning the natural beauty the Archon bestowed upon humanity into powerful weapons?
A thousand questions filled Alec’s mind. “What’s your name?” he asked the woman clinging to him, looking down into eyes as gray as her hair. “What are you doing with the Inscribers? Why—?” His voice caught, the emotion within him welling up at last. “Why have you never tried to find me?”
His mother’s eyebrows furrowed together. “I did try and find you,” she said, finally pulling back though she continued squeezing his arms. “Uriel did a very good job hiding you, young man—too well, to tell you the truth. By the time I’d discovered you’d been taken in by the Archon Temple, it was too late to do anything but watch you from afar.”
The conversation had by now caught the attention of Alison Raleigh and her parents. Their happy reunion ground to a halt as mother and father gawked at Alec, their eyes going wide with shock.
Alison’s mother—Alec vaguely remembered her being referred to by a guard as ‘Kirsten’—looked from him to his mother, her surprise deepening at the resemblance. “This is your son!?” she gasped, her face paling to the shade of skim milk. “Gods, Hera, everyone knew you were keeping a special eye on the fledglings of the Archon Temple, but Alec Diamondspear!? That’s your boy?”
“Hera,” Alec repeated, the word even more unfamiliar on his tongue than Mother had been. “Mother, is that your name?”
Suddenly, Alec’s mother looked as if she wanted to move in three directions at once. With an effort, she calmed down, distracting herself from her worries by smoothing down the creases of her fine robes. “Yes, that is my name,” she said, beaming at Alec with maternal pride. “There’s so much I want to say to you, son—but very little of it should be said out here in the cold and damp, to be certain. Why don’t you and your friends come in? You are all very welcome here in the city of the Inscribers. And we have much to discuss!”
The group looked at each other with glee at the prospect. Alec’s familiar Trystara flapped her long wings, rolling her neck across her shoulders as if she’d just finished a strenuous workout. The two students Jolenta and Vodalus, both drama-loving peers from the Royal Academy, appeared to be keeping each other upright. Everyone could use a rest.
As Alec thought it, a presence appeared at his waist.
“My lady, it is with deepest honor that we enter your city,” Maimonides said, kissing the back of Hera’s hand. “Doubtless you know my name already—the deeds of Maimonides the Shadebringer are legion in the Kingdoms of Man, and nearly all are legendary. Bards in crowded taverns sing songs of my feats of heroism, and my inventions fill the history books with their contribution to human and nonhuman culture—”
“Yes, Master Shadebringer, we are perfectly aware of you,” Hera said. From the twinkle in her eye as she said it, Alec was certain that wasn’t all his mother had heard about the Shadebringer. Maimonides was a brilliant inventor and powerful magician, but also happened to be boastful, tactless, and an incorrigible flirt. Though his new paramour Viya, the dark elf who’d joined their band in the city of Job’s Bet, appeared to be working on fixing that last part.
“Excellent! And you would be the one in charge here, then?” Maimonides smiled broadly, his hands clasped behind his back. “The leader of the Inscribers?”
Alison’s parents shared a look with the old woman. There was a hint of hesitation in Hera’s eyes, as if she feared revealing too much. To be fair, Maimonides did seem even more headstrong than usual. Did the gnome not trust Alec’s mother?
“Indeed I am,” Hera said quickly, taking her son by the hand. “Please, come in, come in! We will get you all refreshments. We do not lack for food or drink in our city, despite the long blockades the forces of Chaos have lain around our little island. We understand the laws of hospitality quite well—and we have a most special guest.” She turned around as she walked, her eyes misting over once more at the sight of Alec standing next to her. “My son has returned to me. Today is the happiest day of my life.”
Alec felt much the same. He let his mother lead him by the hand down the sharp slope past the entranceway, the rest of his band following close behind. Just as he’d guessed upon the Titan’s Claw’s arrival, most of the Inscribers’ hideout lay beneath the Earth, with only a small portion visible from the sky. Considering how the island had been the target of frequent bombing campaigns from His Majesty’s Royal Sky Watch, this felt extremely prudent.
“Look at these battlements!” That was Viya, the dark elf, dressed in her work overalls and a shirt nearly the same color as her bruise-dark skin. The woman had been an engineer back in Job’s Bet, working the forge that enabled the Haunted Isle to perform the miracle of Alteration Magic. She loved machines and scientific inquiry more than just about anyone Alec had ever met—which was probably why she fit Maimonides the way a glove fits a hand. “I’ve never seen defensive structures with such an economy of construction! I bet these pillars could take a direct hit from one of the High King’s Dragonflame bombs without crumbling!”
“Archon forbid,” Hera replied, tracing a complicated symbol over her heart. “But we do indeed have some of the most talented stonemasons and architects in the kingdoms working for us. Our base isn’t just the hub for the revolution against Chaos—it’s a repository of learning, a center for education and progress. We have libraries near the bottom of our complex that are the equal to any of the imperial capital of Nessus—”
“Including grimoires, I’m sure,” Jolenta purred, arching an eyebrow. The dark-haired student had been clinging to Vodalus since they’d arrived, eschewing her traditional acid wit—but it appeared she’d found her second wind. “Since you send agents all around the kingdoms to steal everyone else’s grimoires, of course. Even the Royal Academy’s. Isn’t that right, Alison?”
Spots of color rose to Alison Raleigh’s cheeks. “I did what I did for the good of humanity,” the rebel countered, twirling a lock of her blonde hair around her finger. Somewhat shamefully, she looked at her parents as she said it, as if expecting them to come to her rescue. “The noble houses don’t have the right to hoard the Archon’s gifts to themselves!”
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more, love,” Jolenta agreed with false cheer. “That’s why we’re here to treat with the Inscribers in the name of House Igneous.”
“We’re here to form an Alliance, we are,” her paramour Vodalus drawled.
“That’s right, Vodie,” Jolenta said, nudging him with a sharklike smile. “But in order to finalize it, we’ll need to secure various concessions from your people. Such as forcing a certain blonde-headed prig to apologize for trying to steal mine and Vodie’s grimoires…”
Alison Raleigh rolled her eyes. “You’re just never going to get over that, are you?”
“Enough!” Alec said, lifting his hands.
The whole group—Inscribers and Titan’s Claw crew alike—fell silent. It never failed to surprise Alec when that happened. In addition to becoming a man, at some point along his journey, he’d become a leader as well.
“We’re all friends here,” he said, looking from face to face. The group striding into the Inscribers’ base couldn’t have been more different: humans, gnomes, high-class students, and brigands. Yet they were all bound by a common purpose. “There’s no reason for us to fight. Save that for the people who want to destroy magic.”
“Hear hear,” the demoness Trystara chimed in, flexing her claws. “Half the problems we’ve been through would never have been problems in the first place if you people would just listen to my Master!”
The further they walked into the darkness, the more the city around them began to resemble the one they’d just fought their way through. Job’s Bet and the Inscribers’ hideout weren’t exactly similar—the latter had far more intricate building qualities and defense mechanisms, for one thing—but a casual observer could have been fooled into believing the two subterranean towns were part of one large, endless sprawl beneath the Haunted Isle.
“A little light,” Hera said, glancing over at Alison’s father. The golden-robed mage cleared his throat, then whispered a few words and snapped his fingers. Torches sprang to life up and down the lane, lighting their path—and giving Alec and his party their first glimpse of the Inscribers’ inner city.
In contrast to the city’s exterior, the inner sanctum was a marvel. Though small, the Inscribers had clearly made use of their advanced technical knowledge to create something special beneath the Earth. Like Job’s Bet, the town was roughly cylindrical in shape, though instead of a creaky old paternoster, each level had been subdivided by sleek sets of stone steps. These moved back and forth at will, or by hidden mechanisms Alec couldn’t see, giving the whole place the impression of constant motion. The inhabitants of the Inscribers’ base made a great deal of noise as they went about their business, working and studying and eating and resting.
Next to Alec, Eleira snaked her hand around her waist. “Alec, this is so wonderful,” the elf girl whispered, clearly overcome with emotion.
“What, the city?” Alec asked. “It’s nice, to be sure, but it’s not that much different than where we came from…”
The elf girl scoffed. “No, Alec—your mother! I can’t believe after all this time, you’ve finally found her!”
“I can hardly believe it myself,” Alec said, glancing over at Hera. Suddenly he realized there was something he wanted to do sooner, rather than later. “Mom!”
Hera paused mid-stride, nearly stumbling. Like him, she hadn’t fully gotten used to this turn of events—the maternal moniker sounded strange in her ears, like an ancient memory. “Yes, son?”
Alec hugged Eleira tightly and stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder with his beloved. “Mother, there’s somebody I want you to meet,” he explained, glancing over with a very different sort of pride at the elf girl standing next to him. “This is Eleira Leafwalker. She and I are, well… we’re…”
For a moment, Hera’s expression was confused —then her eyes lit up like Midwinter Festival morning. His mother looked at the elf girl by his side as if she were seeing her for the first time, like she was far, far more than just another member of Alec’s group of rebels. Her lips formed a tight little line as she held back a squeal of joy, fresh tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.
“Say no more,” the leader of the Inscribers whispered. She came forward and clasped one of Eleira’s hands in two of hers, looking the petite, slender elf up and down. “Eleira. My goodness, my son is a lucky man, isn’t he?”
Now it was Eleira’s turn to blush. “I rather think I’m the lucky one, Miss…?”
Hera blinked. “Just call me Hera,” she said, in a tone that jangled against the good feelings of the moment. “My last name isn’t important, dear. I’m just so glad my son has found a nice young woman who makes him happy.”
“She does,” Alec said, smoothing over the strange catch in the conversation. What had that been all about? Clearly, there were things Alec’s mother didn’t want him to know about her—not yet, at least. “As soon as this war is over, Mother, the two of us are going to be married.”
Eleira held up the hand Alec’s mother wasn’t holding—which just happened to be the one on which she wore the Shield Ring. “No other woman in the world has an engagement ring quite like this one,” the elf girl said, watching with pleasure as Hera’s jaw dropped.
