Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles

Chapter 12: Warlock Business

"I must admit, Deusdedit. You're the last Guardian I'd expect to show up at my doorstep."

"Well, strange times call for stranger actions, sir. May I come in?"

Gaius trod the marble floor gingerly, pretending to marvel at the lush interior architecture of Vulcan's house as though it was his first time visiting it. He walked to the lounging hulk of a man and sat down on the couch opposite him. A maid scurried over briskly, carrying a golden pot and poured out two glasses of sweet smelling wine.

"So, what business brings you here?" Vulcan asked. The glass looked tiny in comparison with his rugged hands, but he was stirring his drink with a surprising amount of gentleness. Gaius ignored his glass of liquor for the moment.

"Warlock business," Gaius said simply, watching Vulcan's eyes sharpen for a brief moment. "I believe you've heard of General Theodore Faustus and his numerous titles?"

"Strategist, Warlock, Commander. Yes, I have."

Gaius leaned forward. "How about first magi, founder of magic?"

There was a tense pause, but both parties kept their expression neutral.

"Be careful, boy." Vulcan broke the silence and sipped his wine. "Tell me more, and I might just have to arrest you for sneaking around in restricted libraries."

"Don't worry, sir." Gaius laughed politely and took out a golden stamp from his coat pocket. "The means to my knowledge are completely sanctioned."

"Looks like I'll have to re-evaluate my take on you, Guardian." Vulcan leaned back against his expensive looking sofa. "I'm impressed. Not many people can win the trust of the President, let alone gain access to his personal library."

"What can you tell me about Warlock pacts with demons?"

"You'll learn this in college if you take Dark Magic classes, but I suppose there's no harm in telling you now," Vulcan said. "A pact goes two ways. For every spell that binds the magi to a deity, there exists a counterspell to break it. Since the deity takes something from the magi, this counterspell usually works in the magi's favour to balance out the power play. The greater the power granted to the Warlock, the more powerful the counterspell needs to be."

"Does every Warlock need to make a pact with a deity? Won't you run out of deities to use?"

"A deity can serve multiple patrons. So no, we won't. And it is entirely up to the Warlock to choose to make a pact. I have a lot of friends who get along well enough without the support of a deity. You have to understand; some of these pacts really take a toll on the magi."

"What did you have to sacrifice?" Gaius asked curiously.

"I was one of the lucky few who got off the hook easily," Vulcan said. "All I had to do was renounce my father's surname and take on the name of my deity. So as you can guess, I had chosen Vulcan, one of the gods of fire."

"I guess that explains your proficiency with fire magic," Gaius muttered. "This counterspell, does it have to be inscribed somewhere?"

"Now that you mention it, yes." Vulcan nodded emphatically. "In fact, I was tasked by President Benedictus to search for General Theodore's counterspell. As you... probably already have read, his pact was for Abaddon to grant non-metas the power of magic in return for the worship of the demon and eternal superiority of magi-kind. A pact so powerful obviously needed an equally potent counterspell. In fact, this spell was so long that it required three tomes to completely inscribe it in its entirety."

"How did that task go?" Gaius pressed eagerly. He could not believe his luck. Vulcan was willingly giving out the information he sorely needed, and he did not even plan for that to happen.