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  The mages walked out and left the mess for the guards to clean up.

  Chapter 3

  Traveling with such a large group of people was slow, but we enjoyed the conversations and the building of friendships. The weres talked about their hierarchy and discussed what ranks and positions they would hold within our tribe. Of course I let them know Cassie and Valencia were at the top, as was Sophia. My word was law, as were my mates’ words. No one had any problems with that since it was my land and my home. We talked about what would happen when we go to my home. Hmm… I guess it’s our home now. We had many meetings and discussions that went back and forth over things such as rules. One such occasion happened the night before reaching our destination.

  We were sitting around the fire, discussing how we would accommodate this many people. The first item brought up was obviously living arrangements. Barracks and quarters for families. That brought up how the buildings would be built. Obviously, mages and tradesmen would be involved. We would have to make a list and find out who could do what jobs and such.

  During that discussion, I remembered the quarry we found. I would need to show them where it was located. I didn’t bring it up yet, just listened to other problems brought to my attention. With this many people, the forest would have a major dent put into the trees around my home. I would need to talk with the Leshies. That brought me up short and I sighed, knowing the others around would need to know what was happening at my abode.

  Sigmus voiced his concern, ‘You need to tell them before arriving. When you’re close to home, the tribe will need to wait on the outskirts of the forest so we can discuss the changes and our plans for the forest around us.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Reaper butt in, ‘You also need to tell them about your bonds and what our way of life means to them. Especially about the dangers lurking and the impending traveling we’ll be doing.’

  ‘Traveling?’

  Herc replied, ‘Freeing those other prisons and finding your other bonds.’

  Sigmus responded right after, ‘Hercules is correct. I know that your mind is on the here and now, trying to get everything organized for your tribe, but with the clock ticking, we need to locate those elementals for you to bond with.’

  ‘I’ve been meaning to ask, what is our goal regarding the amount of bonds needed?’

  ‘As many as we have time to get before it’s necessary to focus on saving our world. Preferably one from all spheres; although we may not accomplish that goal, it is what we’ll be planning on.’

  ‘All right, that’s something to work towards. I noticed during my little skirmish with those wolves that I could change into one, you advised it was because of my bond with Sophia. Is that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What about the others in my life? They are all mages, except Val and now Tia if she wants to stay.’

  The three bastards actually started laughing. Reap voiced his opinion, ‘Max, that is a given. Tiatha isn’t going anywhere without you. She may not have magic, but you will need her skills as well as all the others here.’

  Sigmus was still chuckling but said, ‘To answer your question, yes, you’re bonding with the others gives you access to their magic. But those aren’t the major ones we need, even though the male elves are of the earth and water spheres. We will need to have access to more information and spells than what they can do. We are looking for greater elementals and they will need to bond with you like I did. I know that it will be difficult on your body, but that is what’s needed. The only ones that will have enough of an impact for you will be Cassie and Sasha. The lightning mage has an enormous amount of mana and is really rare to bond with. You did well bonding with her, that magic will help you in the upcoming battles. Healing as well, but you will need to delegate others for that job because you, my friend, are a battle mage and destruction is your middle name.’

  Sighing, I looked around to make sure the others didn’t need me. Tia and Soph just smiled. They were listening to Sean making suggestions.

  ‘That’s just great, more scars and tattoos on my body.’ Taking a breath, I shrugged. ‘Although, come to think of it, a bond with the shadow sphere would be awesome.’

  Sigmus grunted. ‘Yeah, but the one we would need to locate is a creature called Night Terror. Some call them Night Bane or Night Scourge. Listen, any sentient being from this sphere is very difficult to bond with, to say the least, and they are devious. Some are downright evil, but if we come across one, then by all means, if we can get them to work with us it would be a tremendous help. It would be difficult to find even a lesser elemental in that sphere. If, and that’s a big IF, you wanted to locate a greater elemental, then we would need to find a shadow-wolf, one touched by Fenris himself.’

  That brought all my thoughts to a halt. “Fenris? The Wolf God?’

  ‘Yes. Think about that for a moment, the forty-foot god giving his blessing to a wolf. It would make that creature very dangerous. Not many have seen one, let alone fought one. They usually hang around Hell with Cerberus and hellhounds to deter escapees.’

  Shuddering, I croaked out, ‘Fuck, let’s hope we don’t fuckin run into one then. What side are they on?’

  ‘Not sure. Last time we heard, they were neutral. But who knows what’s going to happen? Your guardian will be able to answer questions like that,’ Sigmus answered.

  ‘When is this guardian arriving? Can you tell me about him or her?’

  He immediately replied, ‘No, I’m not permitted to answer any questions regarding them, so don’t ask.’

  I grunted and nodded. Discussion with my bonds was cut short when someone tapped me on the arm. I glanced over to see Tia looking at me, “What’s up?”

  She looked at the others before answering. “Gordon asked you a question.”

  I nodded and turned to my friend. “My apologies, I was preoccupied. What was the question?”

  He smirked. “No problem. We need your final say on creating an Inner Circle before we vote on the leaders.”

  I was immediately confused over that. “Can you describe to me what that is again?”

  He nodded and explained that it was a group consisting of individuals that were the appointed leaders of their factions. The chosen representatives from each race would be in control of certain areas of our home and making sure to keep the peace. They would be the speakers of said factions and would take care of their needs when they arose. They would also be advisors to me and mine.

  I decided it was political shit. Something I didn’t know much about or really care about, but this was in direct connection to my home so I would okay this.

  “I will give my blessing in regard to that, but before you vote on anything, I have some things that need to be discussed.” Everyone turned their attention to me, “Let me tell you what my life and actions will be from this day forward. After that, then everyone needs to make a decision on whether or not they want to stay.”

  The surrounding people looked confused and concerned now. I continued, “As you all know, a demon is trying to create chaos in our world. It hasn’t been said, but if a demon lord somehow gets through the veil, then you can bet your ass that hordes of demons will be following it. Think about that for a moment, then think about this. I am charged to balance out said chaos.”

  Everyone was glancing at each other; some already knew what was going on but for others this was news.

  “Yes, you heard me right. I will be directly in their path and taking the fuckers out. My life, and whoever joins me, will be in danger. My fierce duo is bonded to me. We discuss things within my mind because Reaper is a telepath as most of you know.” They all nodded. I continued, “Well, when we get things settled, my next path to take is to discover creatures that have magic in different spheres and bond with them.”

  Sophia asked, “What will be the outcome of this? What will change? Will you become like them?”

  Sigmus advised me, ‘Tell her your appearance and skills will change
, but nothing else.’

  “I was just told that only my appearance and skills will change.”

  They looked confused over my statement.

  “Who told you, Max? No one said anything,” Tia asked.

  “Had to be Reaper,” Gordon said.

  I shook my head. “No, it was Sigmus. He guides me with my magic.”

  “Who’s Sigmus?” Sophia asked.

  Sighing, I got up and took off my tunic, then pointed to the tattoo on my chest. “That is Sigmus, he’s an elemental.”

  Frank scoffed and Jacob chuckled. The former said, “No way, boss. In all my years of practicing magic, bonding with an elemental is rare and they are fickle to say the least. Some are timid, others are temperamental. I’ve never heard of any tattoos being a link to one. They may contact you when needed or if you need them, usually they keep to themselves even though you have a connection to their magic and mana. Jacob, can you back me up on that?”

  Sigmus chuckled at his statements.

  Jacob stated, “I agree, that just doesn’t happen. Boss, I’ve never heard of any of them speaking to their bonded regularly either.”

  I could literally feel Sigmus roll his eyes. ‘Tell them to not freak out. I will prove it to them so we can get on with this little discussion.’

  Reap and Herc laughed. I didn’t know what to expect, but definitely not what happened.

  “All right. For those of you who don’t believe me, he will demonstrate his proof. Everyone, stay put and don’t freak out.”

  Everyone around my fire and others that came over who wanted to know what was going on, looked puzzled. At least they were, until Sigmus showed them his proof.

  My chest shot out a bright, white light and the tattoo glowed. Intense heat flowed from it. I trusted the bastard not to go overboard, but he did. The tattoo began oozing; it ran down my chest and onto the ground. Everyone around yelped and gasped, then started backing away wide-eyed. Not sure how long it took, but it felt like forever.

  Reap and Herc cackled loudly in my mind. I didn’t know what was happening but those two evidently knew. The liquid started forming into the bastard’s obsidian form, I sighed and shook my head. He had to do it this way. After a few more moments, he was complete but didn’t stop his demonstration there, no, the prick started glowing. His body started heating up and it turned orange. I had to keep myself from laughing; it was very hard not to.

  People started screaming and moving further away, they had to be at least a hundred feet away from me now and I gazed over to the other fires. They were doing the same thing. Sigmus was six feet long now, bright orange and had intense heat flowing off him. His eyes were on fire too. Suddenly, he made a hissing sound and split apart, multiplying himself.

  The elemental was showing off now. Although, it caught me off guard when he completed his transformation. Instead of any loss of his height or width like he did when we met in that fuckin mine, he stayed the same shape. Huh, I would have to ask why when we got a minute to ourselves.

  ‘Are you done scaring the shit out of everyone?’

  Sigmus laughed and his response was to blow fire out his mouth.

  ‘I was just having a little fun. Don’t get to do that anymore. Man, you should’ve been there when I scared the shit out of some dwarves. They were in that mine shaft—’

  I stopped his story. ‘Can we get back to where you're not scaring anyone?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah. Spoilsport. At least let me stretch my legs and go hunt!’

  I thought about that. ‘How have you been existing if you need to eat?’

  The fire elemental scoffed, ‘Magic, dumbass. Your mana pool and mine are connected. It feeds me what I need to survive. I don’t have to eat but would like to now that I’m here.’

  ‘All right, just let me know when you come back so I can meet you. We don’t need to scare them again.’

  He cackled again and asked, ‘Reap, Herc, you want to go hunt?’

  They were laughing as well and agreed to go. The three chuckleheads ran off into the woods after Sigmus shut off his fire and heat. I watched where they entered the forest for a few minutes to make sure the bastards weren’t going to cause any more chaos.

  I heard footsteps coming up from behind me. Sighing, I turned around to sit back down at the fire. Eventually, everyone came back to their places but kept silent.

  Jacob broke the silence after a couple minutes. “Umm… we owe you an apology, boss.”

  I looked over at him, then to the rest of those near me. They still had fear in their eyes. “It’s okay, no harm done.”

  Gordon cleared his throat and spoke, “What the hell was that thing?”

  Frank answered his question. “That… was an Ignis Squamata Multiplicamini. A fire elemental that was supposedly extinct. A reclusive creature and very powerful, and as you saw, it can multiply itself.”

  I nodded and he continued, “What the hell is going on, boss? As far as I know, those creatures don’t bond with anyone.”

  “Well, I can’t tell you everything because I’m not sure yet, but like I said before, my destiny is to balance out and confront the evil that is coming.”

  Sophia shuddered and asked, “Anything else we need to know?”

  I nodded and replied with a grin, “When we get to the outskirts of the forest overseeing our destination, I will need to meet with someone before proceeding. That means no one should enter the forest until I come back.”

  Sean asked, “Why can’t we enter the forest?”

  “I’m not saying you can’t, but it will be frowned upon and the forest protectors will let me know about it. They may prevent you from going too far.”

  Tia blurted out, “Whoa! Forest protectors? You’re meeting with the Leshies?”

  Gasps could be heard near and far.

  Rachel asked, “Is that true? You’ve seen and talked with them?”

  I nodded. An arrogant elf known as Tasar that was standing behind Gordon yelled out, “Holy shit! Who the hell are you?”

  Gordon put his two cents in, “Our leader. That’s all that needs to be said, if you don’t like it then get the fuck out. Our world is about to encounter evil that hasn’t been seen before and Max will be front and center, facing it. All nations will either succumb to the wickedness or fight it. Which is it for everyone here? Fight or flee?” He looked around to the others. Nobody said anything so he continued, “Eventually, there will be nowhere to run. Remember that.”

  The surrounding people murmured things I couldn’t hear and some were blatant about saying they’re leaving tomorrow. Okay, suits me just fine. When things settled down, I had them vote on the ‘Inner Circle’ and it passed. I made them choose who would be in it and I just sat back and listened.

  After that, we decided to take it easy for the night. Anything regarding our home was put off for now. We would discuss problems and suggestions as they came up. Until the plan was implemented, we wouldn’t know what to change or fix, so they went to bed early. I waited for my jokester elemental to get back. He melted back into the thick, molasses looking liquid before slithering back up my body into his tattoo. It felt weird and to see it happen made it even freakier. After shaking my head and clearing my thoughts, I finally went to sleep.

  ***

  Dawn came early. We all ate quickly so we could leave. The tense atmosphere had everyone quiet, though that could be because we were all tired as well. It was a couple hours later that I suggested we send out the hunters and gatherers for collection of meat and veggies. Being in the forest reminded me that I would have to come up with a plan for making a new deal with the forest protectors. Hopefully, they won’t be pissed at me gathering up meat. Sighing, I looked over at the people around me, wondering what it would be like in the future. If we were going to be up to our necks in evil ones or somehow get ahead and be killing the pricks.

  I shook my head and told myself it wouldn’t do any good to worry about that right now. Eventually, we came up to the outskirts of the fo
rest that hid my abode and stopped. I had everyone move off the road to wait and make a temporary camp just in case. My Inner Circle surrounded me, awaiting my directions. Most of them hounded me about coming along but I stood firm. My furry duo were the only ones coming, I left them to it. The three of us set out into the forest to meet with the Leshies.

  When we were clear, I asked, ‘Sigmus, why didn’t you lose any of your form when you multiplied?’

  He snorted, ‘Realized that did ya? Well, bonding with you came with some perks. Your mana pool is directly attuned to mine, and vise versa. Therefore, we feed off each other and it lets me use more of my form and it doesn’t dwindle down any of my size. When you saw me at the mine, obviously I was using my own pool and it isn’t unlimited. The joint pool we have will grow even more when you bond with others.’

  That statement brought up another question. ‘From what we discussed last night and today, it would mean that I could multiply as well?’

  He didn’t answer right away, but relented, ‘Yes, eventually. Remember what I said about your injuries and mana flow? Until those are fixed it wouldn’t be wise to try.’

  I nodded and concentrated on my surroundings. We traveled for about an hour before I felt someone watching us. ‘Heads up, someone is near.’

  Sigmus responded, ‘They are here.’

  We stopped and waited for our landlords to show up. A few minutes later five beings walked into our view. They halted ten feet away and bowed.

  “Anointed one, brothers,” the Leshy said.

  I bowed to them as well. “Forest guardians.”

  “Thank you for taking care of the dark ones in our forest, none have returned since. It seems the wolf pack followed you, we haven’t seen them or any others around.”

  “Yes, they did. Has anything happened that needs to be mentioned before my news?”

  “No, your clan is safe. They have been taking care of your home. The creatures of the forest have been watching over them.”

  I nodded and relayed what had happened to us since we left until now. Sighing, I said, “Before we go on, can I ask your name?”