“Let’s search the area for more bandits,” Wolfe whispered to Stephanie right as the cracking of a branch let them know they were not alone.
He didn’t see anything, so Wolfe set [Detect Hidden] to its maximum settings and finally caught a vague outline through the trees of two figures coming into the clearing from the opposite direction.
“Come on out then. I don’t want to have to use Hellfire to find you.” Wolfe instructed.
“Calm down, Demon. We’re from the Wilderness Protection detail. Where is your Witch, and did you find the ambush party?”
“I roasted the ambush, but there are bodies underneath them. My Witches are back up the road waiting for my signal.” Wolfe replied.
‘Waiting on his return’ turned out to be an extremely optimistic timeline. Wolfe could sense them moving closer to the clearing already, as well as their concern that he was injured.
“Excuse me a moment. They got tired of waiting, and my spell worried them, so they are currently headed for the zombie trap.” Wolfe explained and turned toward the clearing while keeping the self-professed Wilderness Protectors in his peripheral vision.
He didn’t need to worry. The Witches had a plan. Each of them picked a zombie and cleanly decapitated it with a [Wind Blade], then set the head on fire so they could harvest the hearts in safety.
Once the whole group was in sight, the two new arrivals dropped their invisibility spell and walked past Wolfe to greet them.
They were in crisp military uniforms, coloured to match the dirt and leaves of the forest, but Wolfe didn’t recognize the city pin in their uniforms. He had heard from Reiko that keeping the Wilderness regulated was a joint effort, but he hadn’t thought they would be transferred so far.
Or perhaps the pin was for a village that they were assigned to or born in. Wolfe wasn’t familiar with any of them or where they were located, so it was plausible.
All students learned that they existed, but they were supposed to be more in the nature of defensive military positions than actual villages, according to Coven Schools inside the Fortress City. It seemed to be yet another fact that turned out to be false, intended to keep anyone from trying to leave the city.
“Greetings, students of the Royal Academy. Who is the owner of the Demon that you assigned to take point?” One of the Wilderness Protectors asked.
Both Cassie and Ella raised their hands while the new arrivals looked at them in confusion.
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“It’s a long story, but we both cast the Familiar Summoning at the same time and got the same Familiar. He’s bound to both of us.”
That made the Wilderness Protection Detail Witches do a double take before examining Wolfe more closely.
“I only see one bond, but it’s a strange one. The Familiar Cat is also part of it, as are these other two Witches.” The Wilderness Protector confirmed after a moment’s confusion.
“I have chosen to protect and include all of them in a form of communal bond. What you are seeing is most likely that power-sharing link, not the original summoning bond.” Wolfe explained.
“I will let your Headmistress deal with the ramifications of that. We just needed to know who was his Witch so that we could give you credit for his bandit kills.
There is a bounty on them, and the items left in the ashes are enough for confirmation to claim the reward.” The other protector explained.
Reiko excitedly began asking them about their jobs and the village they protected, so Wolfe edged over to the SUV and began to look it over for signs of damage.
From up close, it was clear that the vehicle was bait. The windows were the only thing damaged, and the keys were in the ignition, but Wolfe’s [Detect Hidden] found a number of Spell runes that he couldn’t identify inscribed on it, so he didn’t touch anything.
“How is the vehicle, Demon? Destroyed?” The friendlier of the Wilderness Protectors asked while the other entertained Reiko’s enthusiasm for being outside the city.
“I think it belonged to the bandits. Only the windows are broken, and the keys are in the ignition. But I can’t identify these markings. They’re magical, but not Elemental, and not arranged in a circle.” Wolfe explained.
“That’s Witch magic. A curse of some sort. Step back while I break it.” She explained.
Wolfe gave her room to work while carefully watching what she did. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a type of magic that he could use, and he couldn’t decipher it well enough to teach it to his witches. All that he could be certain of was that it was a Witch Charm of some sort, and as it settled over the vehicle, the curse began to fade.
A few minutes later, the spell was complete, and the two of them inspected the vehicle for more traps.
“Oh, a classic. Landmine under the driver’s seat. They left some guns in here as well.” Wolfe chuckled as he loaded his backpack with a few spare magazines and the two pistols.
“You recognize firearms and land mines?” The Witch asked, startled.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Wolfe asked.
“The curse wipes the memory of past summons from a demon’s mind. I didn’t expect you to have seen one at the Academy.” She shrugged.
“Common misconception. I became their Familiar as a living person while being held in the Academy waiting trial. I was cursed to become a Demon after I became a Familiar, and both weapons are common enough in the lower levels.”
“Sorry about your luck.” She replied, with true sympathy in her eyes.
“It’s fine. I could use magic, to begin with. That’s how the Coven detected me, I think. So the Familiar bond wasn’t painful, even before my power grew from the curse.”
Now she looked positively scandalized. “By the rulebook, the maximum punishment for being a mutant is exile. The Familiar Summoning might have been out of their control, but the Demon Curse is going way too far unless you did something heinous.”
“The death penalty is the usual punishment for being able to use magic as a man. The Demon curse is better than the alternative.” Wolfe corrected her.
“What are they doing in the city? Or do they seriously think that you are an actual Magi?” She asked with a chuckle as if such a thing was preposterous.
“That was the charge, yes. Not that I was a magic-using mutant or monster, but that I was an actual Magi and capable of casting spells. I was granted leniency since I was already a Familiar before my trial.”
“The ways of the Coven are too deep for me. To think, they really believe an extinct species had returned and could be found right under their noses inside the Fortress City.
But I will warn you not to use the word Magi around others out here, and don’t tell them that you were cursed to become a Demon after being accused of being one.
The memory of the war is still alive and raw outside the cities, and the average person doesn’t know that the demons created by the curse are in any way related to the witches. They think they’re truly summoned from hell, and the Coven just reveals their true nature.
The mundane humans might hold a grudge against the Witches for how the war ended, but the Magi are especially reviled by the people living out here, and it could get everyone around you killed.”
“Thanks. There’s a lot they keep secret in the city, especially about history. I just assumed that everything was common knowledge among those outside the Coven’s sight.” Wolfe replied.
“Nothing is truly outside their sight. They’re Witches. But we should rejoin the conversation before the others miss us. We will take the vehicle back to the village, but you’ll get some credit for helping recover it.”
Damn, he had been hoping they could drive the rest of the way to their destination.
