Chapter Four

The girl smiled and then frowned.

"I'm really the one that threw the fire ball," she confessed, and stepped out from behind her friend. "Im sorry. It was an accident, I promise!"

Her head was down and her voice wobbled as she tried not to cry.

Nahmeh laughed again. "Its fine, just be more careful. Anyone caught off guard would certainly have a hard time deflecting that magic. It was really good though," He complimented and bent into a squat to pat the girl's head. "I imagine that took most of you magic, huh?"

The girl nodded and peaked out from her blush colored hair. "I'm Peonie, but most people call me NieNie. That's my brother," she said with a finger in pink haired boy's way. "His name is Elliot," NieNie pointed with her other hand to the boy behind her, "And that's Kas."

The witch nodded. "Thank you, Peonie. Would you like to take a quick lesson from me?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

"Alright. Do you know what type of magic you just used?"

Peonie nodded a third time. "Yes. It's attack magic."

"Well, yes, thats true," Nahmeh agreed. "But it seemed to lean toward an explosive, and powerful type. Meaning you'll get tired quickly after releasing it. If you're not careful you will damage your body, especially if you release more than your body can handle. I don't feel long range attacks like that will suit you well by acting recklessly."

Peonie looked down at her hands then back up at him. "How do I fix it?"

Nahmeh straightened, happy that she was curious and listening.

"My suggestion to you is for you to use your body to help release your arcana instead of forcing it out. By building up the pressure of your magic and releasing it at the right moment, the damage will be stronger and even though its less, it'll be more effective. You will also exhaust yourself less quickly that way."

Peonie frowned. "Ok, but I like casting spells from far away...I'm afraid of getting hurt."

Nahmeh nodded. "Understandable," he validated, "But there are many ways to protect yourself from getting to hurt."

There was also the option of using crystals and items to store arcana, but those only held so much and at lower levels they were only helpful to an extent. Not to mention expensive.

"Have any of you chosen your school of magic?"

The three children looked at him confused.

"Of course we have," Kas said alittle aggressively.

"I was choosen by the School of Astrology," Elliot said with pride.

"I'm trying to get sponsored by the Elemental Manipulation," Peonie said quietly.

"What about you?" Nahmeh asked Kas.

"Undecided, " he said with a scowl and crossed his arms. "I'm exploring my options..."

Nahmeh had a feeling that these kids were indeed geniuses. It usually took a years of training to figure out what kind of magic one was proficient in but there was a small chance that as these children developed both their physical and mental understanding of magic, things could still change.

The witch nodded. "Well, seeing what Peonie can do, I have no doubt you'll do well in whatever you choose-" he was cut off by another elbow from Croix.

'Please show me your magic! I love seeing all sorts!' she clapped.

The trio looked skeptical. Delacroix just smiled at their hesitance.

'Alright, alright! I'll show you mine first!'

She backed up alittle and opened up her palms. From there she made three balls of fire about the size of oranges and began to swirl them around her.

The kids became transfixed as the three balls combined and expanded to the size of a watermelon. It looked like a small sun.

"Wow!" Peonie gasped as Croix changed the color of the fire to a fluorescent blue and then to white before letting it up into the sky to explode into a quiet shower of harmless sparks.

Elliot and Kas were wide eyed and the three gathered around Croix, no longer scared of her. Nahmeh snorted and felt alittle offended they were ignoring him.

He crossed his arms loosley.

'Are you very serious about this, Delacroix?' he asked in his mind.

She locked eyes with him over the children's heads.

'I don't think helping them alittle would hurt, Nahmeh.'

The pink haired mage sighed in defeat. 'Lets see what the Council has to say to us tomorrow before we make a decision, ' he replied with a small shake of his head.

Croix smiled. 'Okay.'

"Miss, are you a elemental mage?!" Peonie asked excitedly.

'You can call me Delacroix, ' Croix insisted. 'And I suppose you could say that I am.'

"That's so cool!" Elliot said and looked at his sister. "Imagine if you could do that Nie?!"

The little girl was clearly impressed now.

"Could you teach me to do that?" she asked.

Croix nodded with a smile. 'Eventually, yes.'

"Awesome!" the twins exclaimed together.

It looked like they wanted to ask more but a sharp bell sounded and it seemed that it was a call for the children to head back to the castle.

'You'll have to show me your magic next time!' Croix said with a wave good bye to the children. The trio returned the wave with some of their own.

The two adults watched them go, and Nahmeh rubbed his face when they were out of sight.

"Wow is right," he said, imitating the kids. "And here I thought this was going to be a boring trip..."

'Have you ever been bored?' Croix teased, taking her friends arm.

Nahmeh gave a wry smile. "Can't say I have. But maybe all the monotony recently has made me complacent. Youths are scary..."

****

The next day, heading down to meet the Council.

Nahmeh and Delacroix meet Leela the next day to have her lead them to the Council Chambers on the bottom floor of the castle. He knew where it was, but it was a formality more than anything. Plus he didn't want Leela to think he was upset with her, and he already irked one council member, he didn't need to add anymore grievances to the list.

Leela paused at a enormous set of wooden doors. On the doors was a carved symbol of two hands cupping a tree. The tree was gnarled and crooked and had ten branches sprouting from the trunk. It was very beautiful, and Nahmeh had always admired the craftmanship of it as well as its meaning.

The whole carving was the crest of the Crimson Council. The tree's ten branches stood for each seat in the council, and the hands represented the Coexistence Pact that was forged between the many races of four worlds: Otherworld, the Celestial Plane, the wild forest's of the fey called The Shroud, and the human's world known as Earth.

The Otherworld was a multilayered plane, its descending layers more feral and dangerous the deeper one went. It also housed all sorts of creatures such as demons, devils, werebeasts, and monsters that residents told horrifying tales about but most had never seen.

Vale was on the upmost layer of the Otherworld where it was relatively peaceful and order was kept. It was also where seventy percent of the Otherworld's population lived.

It was much of a mirror of Earth in its feudal era in Europe. This was due to the Otherworld's lack of technology and limited resources. While Earth contraband was forbidden and anyone caught with it was imprisoned or worse, that didn't stop the influence of the humans culture on the fiends who resided in the Otherworld. Knock off contraband was high in demand these days amomg the masses, and while the products were changed to fit in with the Otherworld's resources, they were still expensive and required permits for legal use.

Nahmeh himself had been born in the Otherworld's surface as a varient of human. Somewhere along the line his ancestors found their way into the Otherworld, and through marriage and copulation, eventually warped the human genome to be compatible with the Otherworld's naturally toxic atmosphere.

Human lifespans would be critically reduced after inhaling it for a period of time, but thanks to the genes of the natives from the Otherword, a varient race was made to withstand the miasma, which resulted in stronger, longer living and more magically adept beings.

Croix was orginally from the Shroud, as were most familiars, but little to nothing was known about it since the spirits and the fey that resided there kept their secrets close to their chests. Even Croix wouldn't describe her life there to Nahmeh after all the years they had been together. Her reason was that it was dangerous to talk about since there was always someone listening.

Nahmeh chose not to pry since he didn't see it as his business, but he couldn't say he wasn't curious...

Leela's gentle knock brought him back to the present, and the doors slowly opened without sound.

The three entered the chamber. It was large and in the center of the room was a enormous, crescent shaped table.

Around the outer curve sat nine of the ten council members.

"Please recognize the wiccan, Nahmeh Orion and his familiar." Leela annouced with a deep bow and then stepped aside to let the two of them enter the room.

Sconces were bright, and the air was slowly flowing through the room as auras from the different members clashed.

Nahmeh and Delacroix walked into the room and each bowed respectfully to the table.

"The Council recognizes Nahmeh Orion and his familiar," the middle of the table annouced.

Nahmeh straightened and glanced over until he caught sight of Freesha. His former student was in ceremonial robes and he looked imposing sitting amongst the powerhouses at the table.

"I came in regards to the Summons. It breifly mentioned the Black Circle."