“Does anyone have a ball or other toys?” Mac asked.
Idris lifted a hand and within seconds, an indigo sphere appeared. He tossed it to Mac, who bounced it in Greggory’s direction. When the familiar used his head to return it, Roger flew off his shoulder and landed on the floor, so he could play too. Two of the young men Mac was sworn to protect were sitting at a round table placed in the office designed for Delaney and Idris. The sorcerers were painstakingly going through the two boxes of warlock books and scrolls found in the Arch Lich’s library. Dra’Kaedan insisted the two get first crack at everything since they were still seeking research ideas. Duff was presumably in his room working on his own studies.
It left Mac with barely anything to do. When Mac discovered how little he knew of sorcery, he went to Aleksander and explained his problem. He wasn’t content to spend his days sitting around. If he was going to oversee the protection of two wizards, he needed to be able to assist them in some way. Aleksander agreed and called the Prism Wizard. Vadimas was receptive to the problem, and Mac was expecting his own box, full of basic magic books, to arrive soon. He might not be able to cast but he could learn, and he was determined to be an asset to Delaney and Idris. If they weren’t trying to reach the pinnacle of their education and power, he would’ve asked them for help, but Mac wasn’t going to get in their way.
In the meantime, Mac could be close to them and entertain the cute dragons who were taking to playing with the ball Idris provided with enthusiasm. He tossed it again and cringed as the two familiars crashed into each other and wiped out. “Sorry, guys,” he offered. Growls were hurled in his direction, but they allowed him to help them off the floor and both waited patiently until he threw their toy again.
“I think I might’ve found something interesting,” Idris announced.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“It’s written in archaic warlock. I need Dra’Kaedan to translate some of this. It’s a language I’m still learning, but what I can read is really intriguing.”
“Are you going to tell us why?” Delaney inquired.
“Not until I’m sure I am reading this right,” Idris remarked as he stood. “I’m going to go find him.”
“I’m coming too,” Delaney said.
“We’ll play ball later,” Mac told his scaly friends. Roger soared up to his shoulder as soon as Mac was on his feet, and Greggory flew behind them all as they headed toward the office down the hall which housed the Coven of Warlocks. Inside they found Dra’Kaedan, his twin, and his familiar.
“Do you have a minute, Dra’Kaedan?” Idris asked with the scroll held protectively in his hand.
“For you guys, always. What’s up?”
“I found something I can only read parts of. Can you translate the rest?”
Dra’Kaedan took it from Idris’s hand. The small blond’s eyes grew wide with shock as they moved down the parchment in his grasp. When he was finished, he handed it to his brother. Dre’Kariston’s reaction was the same as his twin’s; then it was passed to Renny.
“This can’t be real,” Renny declared when he was done. “I mean really. This can’t be fucking real. How’s this possible? Because if it is, my brain’s going to explode.”
“So, it does mean what I think it does?” Idris asked. “I was pretty sure I translated most of it, but the main word is foreign to me.”
Dra’Kaedan’s navy eyes were as serious as Mac had ever seen the exuberant warlock’s. “Immortalis.”
“It’s a spell for immortality,” Dre’Kariston explained.
“Powerful sorcerers are already immortal,” Delaney said.
“This reads as a spell for those who lack that power,” Renny clarified.
“I want this as my research project. Not only that, I want to make this potion,” Idris stated.
“It says it requires an entire coven. There are only three warlocks,” Renny replied.
“I’m going to call Vadimas and Chand. I think this would work perfectly as a research project, but I’m with Idris. I want to know if this shit could be done for real,” Dra’Kaedan said.
“I want to figure out how to make it without a full coven. We could make all of the D’Vaires immortal,” Idris suggested.
Their discussion was blowing Mac’s mind. They were casually discussing creating a potion which could give a person an endless lifespan—then it hit him. “Idris, are you already immortal?”
“Yes, of course,” he responded, obviously distracted by the scroll. Mac could hardly believe Fate had paired him with someone who, when they exchanged blood, would grant him eternal life. Dra’Kaedan and Dre’Kariston both fished out their cell phones and spoke to whoever was on the other line. They hung up almost in tandem.
“Vadimas will be here in five minutes,” Dre’Kariston said.
“Chand is going to be here in ten—he needs to hunt down Alaric,” Dra’Kaedan replied.
“There’s a big table in one of the empty offices,” Renny stated. “We can all meet in there.”
Within several minutes, the entire group was assembled in the room Renny decided would do perfectly. When the guest sorcerers arrived as well as Alaric, Dra’Kaedan translated the entire scroll for everyone involved.
“Idris, I’ll approve this as your research project,” Vadimas said. “If you want to try to actually make the potion, I feel that needs to remain private. When you write the paper, no matter what we achieve behind closed doors, it should state that the potion requires many descendants with warlock blood. For your project, you can focus on this original potion instead of the one we’ll need to recreate the results.”
“A potion’s interesting. Modern warlocks don’t work with potions—only wizards do,” Dre’Kariston observed. “This scroll must be before wizards.”
“We know from history that wizards come from warlocks. It’s thought a group of individuals became enamored of alchemy and focused on it exclusively. Fate changed them as a result, and their children were born as wizards,” Vadimas said.
“I’m happy to do this as a research project, but I really want to make this,” Idris stated. “I’ll work hard to make the potion a reality, but do you guys think we can manage to do it?”
“What’s interesting is that it requires both dark and light magic. We have sorcerers of both sides in this room. Together we’re all exceptionally powerful. I happen to believe where there’s a will there is a way,” Chander replied. “I agree with Vadimas, though. This should not go past this room.”
“I have to tell Brogan,” Dra’Kaedan argued.
Chander cocked his head to the side. “I know that. He’s your mate. I’m surprised he’s not here.”
“On more than one occasion, Brogan has grumbled about the fact that Aleksander isn’t immortal while he is. Then he goes on about each of the other D’Vaires we’ll have to lose at some distant point in the future. I wanted to get your feedback on whether this could be a real thing before I get his hopes up,” Dra’Kaedan confided.
“I’m going to do all I can to help Idris accomplish this,” Delaney said. “I’m with Brogan. I don’t want to lose the D’Vaire dragons.”
“Is it fair to put that kind of weight on Idris’s shoulders?” Alaric asked.
“He’s only a research paper and a potion away from being High Arcanist Idris the Indigo. Those are just scholarly obstacles. He already has it in him to be part of the leadership of our people. Idris can handle any sort of pressure, and I believe he’ll be perfect in overseeing this project for all of us,” Vadimas replied.
“I’m happy to coordinate this. I’m just glad Chand had the scroll in his stuff.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys finally got me to sort through all the shit in that room. I can’t even imagine what else is hiding in there. I’d be thrilled to help make your family immortal. It says it only takes a single drop of this stuff to live forever. An entire potion will be enough to be used on a lot of people. You should have plenty in reserve as D’Vaire grows,” Chander said. “Plus, we can always make more.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We all have a great deal of work to do to make this a reality. We’re going to have to figure out how to convert the three distinct types of magic we use into one cohesive potion,” Vadimas retorted.
“I’m excited to get started,” Renny responded.
“So am I, but I also have my own project to worry about, and I still don’t have a topic,” Delaney said.
Chander took a deep breath and exchanged an inscrutable look with Alaric. “I had an idea that could work for you, if you were interested.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
“You mentioned that you wanted to showcase dark magic in a positive way. I’d love for necromancers to have the ability to resurrect souls with their beasts. We can bring back a former shifter to life but not with the animal they shared their soul with before death. For most of them—like fallen knights, for example—they have no recollection, so they aren’t truly missing anything. If it were something we could do and Drystan and Conley were okay with it, I’d love to bring forth fallen knights with their beasts,” Chander confessed. Mac couldn’t imagine the Reverent Knights would be against having their people resurrected with their animal counterparts. Unlike their brethren, they had their memories and the pair were dragons in their previous lives.
“I like the idea. I can’t cast the spell myself, but I could certainly do the research,” Delaney commented. “What do you think, Vadimas?”
“Wizards have always focused on how to help magickind, and I think this is a way we could finally start giving back to the shifter communities. We have potions to help living shifters but nothing to help the dead ones who’ve been brought back from the other side of the veil. I wouldn’t limit myself to thinking it’ll be possible with a simple spell. It might require a potion for either the necromancer or the person just as they are summoned, so a beast can be added back to their soul. I’d be happy to approve this idea as well,” Vadimas said.
“I have visions in my head of fallen knights shifting into dragons as they hunt down someone,” Renny enthused.
“I’m curious to see if an undead dragon would differ from his living counterparts,” Mac wondered aloud.
“Something I hope we’ll find out in the future,” Delaney said. “I’m interested in whether it’ll be possible for all necromancers or only the more powerful ones.”
“I’d suggest if you find yourself stumbling into obstacles, you can try to personalize it for Chand. It may be that you need to have his specific combination of demon and necromancer to literally resurrect a person and an animal simultaneously while uniting them. That’s a big ask,” Dra’Kaedan remarked.
“Would that still count, Vadimas? If I discover it’s only possible for Chand since he’s the only demonic necromancer?” Delaney asked.
“Of course. It’s a research project. You don’t have to come up with the results—you’re simply exploring the possibilities. Not every previous project you’ve turned in has been one where you found a new spell or potion. In more than one, you discovered your theory was outside the realm of magickind,” Vadimas replied.
“I just wondered if it was different because this is High Arcanist, as opposed to the other levels,” Delaney responded.
“It’s the same premise no matter what power you hold,” the wizard leader stated.
“I have only one question for Idris,” Renny said. “When do we get started?”
Idris’s bright smile appeared. “I’m going to start working right away, and I want to thank everyone in advance for helping me.”
“Delaney, I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can as well. I have notes and some theories already if you want some jumping off points,” Chander told him.
“Great, I hope everyone knows I’m helping Idris too.”
“I suspect it’ll be impossible without all of us,” Dre’Kariston commented.
“I hate to call an end to the enthusiasm, but I do have to get back for a meeting. Chand, are you returning with me?” Alaric asked.
“Yeah, I have a busy schedule myself, but I’m glad I dropped everything to come here,” the leader of the necromancers replied.
“Mac, I should be sending your box of books over this evening,” Vadimas offered as he stood.
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
Idris glanced at him with a puzzled expression, but he turned his attention to Vadimas. “Del and I wanted to ask if you could set up a meeting between us and the vampire scientists.”
“That’s not very specific. They have many of them,” Vadimas replied.
“We were hoping to speak with the men and women who took part in crafting the synthetic blood. It had a profound effect on the lives of their people. I’m insanely curious about how they came up with the idea and were capable of crafting something like that. I feel like they could teach us a thing or two about ingenuity,” Delaney explained.
“I’m not sure it’s applicable to wizards,” the Prism Wizard said.
Idris’s face was baffled. “I know it doesn’t directly help wizards, but you’ve always taught us that we can learn from others. I think they could shed some light on looking at a subject in a new and creative way.”
“I won’t make promises, but I can talk to someone over there. Vampires are very private, and this would have to go through their leader. I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I need to get back to work. I’ll talk to you both soon,” Vadimas replied, then shimmered out.
“That was odd,” Delaney remarked.
“Can I ask what Vadimas is giving you?” Idris asked.
“I told you. You can ask me anything. I decided if I was going to be protecting two genius wizards, I need to know a thing or two about magic. He’s going to send over primers, so I can learn some of what you guys know. When you’re part of Council leadership, you’ll need help and I want to be an asset to you both.”
“Your mate’s awesome,” Delaney said. “Now, let’s get started on these cool-ass projects of ours.”
“Agreed,” Idris called out as Delaney raced back to the wizard’s office. Mac followed at a more leisurely pace and hoped he could be of some assistance as well.