The Arwain Chronicles Book I

Chapter Two

The Arwain Chronicles; A Lost Bloodline...

A groan of pain escaped Dan's lips as he slowly drifted back towards consciousness. "He's waking up." The voice sounded distant, as if he was hearing it from the other end of a very long tunnel. His face contorted as the pain in his head worsened. It felt like somebody had knocked him over the head with a sledge hammer. Blinking a few times, he forced his eyes open. His teeth gritted as he tried to ignore the pain.
Immediately the image his eyes were receiving came into focus, Dan jumped backwards from his lying position. He pressed his back hard against the head board as if trying to push through it. All thoughts of the pain long he was in were forgotten. His heart beat madly within the cage of his ribs as he looked on at the new occupants in his room.
On either side of his bed, were two very large snow white tigers silently surveying him. Only a very small part of Dan's mind paused to wonder how two full grown tigers had managed to get into his room... a very, very small part.
Dan couldn't help but feel as if he was seeing the same thing, in two places at the same time. He noticed that the two tigers looked exactly the same. This fact however was made irrelevant by the fear that had coiled itself tightly around him.
"Relax, they won't bite," a voice reached him from the corner of his room.
Dan felt chills run throughout his body at the sound of that voice. He could feel his dick getting harder simply from hearing it. It was soft yet commanding, sweet and dripping with a seductive undertone to it. His head turned to the side from which the voice had originated. His cock immediately sprang to full hardness at the sight of her.
She definitely wasn't human, that much was clear at first glance. Her long tail swayed leisurely through the air, the sharp tip end of it moving behind her head. She had long, curly, blood red hair that reached the half of the way down her back. Her gleaming yellow eyes seemed to be part reptilian, part feline. They fixed him a conspiratorial gaze that though relaxed in appearance Dan was sure were quite as keenly assessing him as he was doing her.
At the sight of her succulent pink lips, a picture of them wrapped around the head of his cock as she looked up at him with that defiant gleam in eyes, flashed through his mind. Dan gritted his teeth forcing his mind to come back to the present. He was barely aware that his dick had visibly jerked at the thought that he'd just had and was now leaking precum on to his sheets.
The sight of her breasts which were exposed to his view unhindered by any clothing made him involuntarily groan. This time he was acutely aware of the way his dick jerked hard as if giving a nod of approval. His gaze travelled further south. Though the subject of his scrutiny was seated, the way her hips flared out from her narrow waist was very much evident.
His hands unconsciously gripped the pillow behind him hard, as his mind tried to visualize how that big ass would feel in his hands. Dan had always had a weakness for big asses. Not the excessively big ones that sagged and had excess fat that made them look droopy. The kind he loved were the tight well defined ones that looked like he could bounce a quarter off. Very much like the one he was looking at now.
The fact that both her fingers and toes were tipped with two inch long razor sharp claws did not escape Dan's notice. This however did nothing to down play the absolute sexual aura that surrounded her.
She sat relaxed in the chair in the corner of the room. She had an air of arrogant confidence about her as she regarded him with a smirk. Given the way she was eyeing his erection, was most probably because she had so easily made him the hardest he'd ever been without having to move a muscle.
"Hallo master," another voice came to him from the side of his bed.
Turning to it, Dan came face to face with what was probably the largest bird he'd ever seen. It was perched on his bedside drawer calmly observing him. How he had missed it, was beyond him. It had brilliantly coloured orange yellow feathers that very much reminded Dan of the colour of flames. Its eyes were of the same exact colour as her feathers.
Dan couldn't shake the feeling that the bird bore a lot more knowledge that he would ever garner in a life time. Its eyes reminded him of the look in gurus and sages. Not that he'd ever met one but if he were ever asked to imagine of one they would have the same exact eyes.
"Well, at least he didn't pass out like the one before him," Dan's head jerked in surprise to look at the tiger on his left. Had it just talked? No, no way, tigers didn't talk.
"Or the one before that, who pissed himself," This time there was no doubt in Dan's mind as his head jerked to the one on the right. Dan had clearly heard the words yet the tiger's mouth had made no visible movements.
"Still, they all react the same to me," came the smug voice of the one who was at the corner as she rose from her seat and moved over to the edge of the bed. Her hips swayed from the simple walk in ways that would the most skilled of belly dancers green with jealousy.
The fact that the one who'd just been in the corner replied to what the tiger had said, made Dan feel a bit less insane... only just a bit.
Dan watched as she slowly crept onto the bed. Her eyes fixing him a gaze that very much made him understand what it felt like to be prey under the gaze of a predator. Every cell in his body wanted to throw her down on the bed and fuck her harder than she had ever been before. I mean she was practically offering herself to him.
"W... Wait, Stop!" Dan managed to stutter through gritted teeth as he fought back the urges that were now battling to take over. Dan watched the look of surprise cross her features. Dan somehow felt this very same surprise in the other three creatures that stood in his room. She stood back from him a small smile crossing her features. She surveyed him with an expression, very much like the expression Dan usually had when faced with a challenge he knew he could easily tackle. Though she made no further attempt at him, Dan knew he'd just become a target for her.
"Well, there goes your perfect record," the teasing voice of the bird on his bedside drawer was heard.
"How the fuck am I hearing animals talking?" the question left Dan's lips his frustration at the situation evident in his voice. Dan's logical mind hated situations that he couldn't understand, very much like the present one.
"Because genius, that's how this works. You summon us from the other side, we present our other forms to you first for your approval, you either take us on as guardians or send us back. Though it was an accurate description of him, Dan heard the sarcasm that dripped off the word ‘genius' as the one with the tail said it.
"S... summon... forms, approval... What other side?" the confusion had not left Dan's voice, as the information only served to confuse him further.
"He doesn't know anything, does he?" the voice was from the tiger to his left. Everyone in the room turned to the bird perched on the side of Dan's bed so he too did likewise. The bird regarded him for a while. Though he didn't know how he knew it, Dan knew it was deciding what course of action was best to proceed with. Now that it was apparent that Dan did not have a clue what was going on.
"I should have known this would happen," Dan heard the bird say mentally. Without warning, the bird took to flight. Despite its enormous size, it somehow managed to move through the air without knocking over anything in the room. It is only as Dan watched the bird move through the air, that something clicked with his mind. There was a trail of bright yellow and orange flames behind it as it moved.
The realizations came to him like a hammer repeatedly being hit on a nail. The figures on the box, the little old Asian man called them guardians too. The figures in the puzzle he'd solved by remaking their jumbled forms, the box opening, blinding light, four forms....
Dan's logical mind was torn between arguing that, four fully grown creatures could not have come from the small box and believing what seemed to be the illogical yet actual sequence of events. Dan's mind was about to stamp its ethereal foot down in accepting no other argument other than the first. But then the bird that was in mid flight descended. In the distance between the ceiling to Dan's room and the floor, it morphed into one of the most beautiful chicks Dan had ever seen.
By Dan's estimation, she stood at the same height as he did. She had long straight jet black hair that reached the small of her back. The last two inches of it was a vibrant yellowish orange colour just as her feathers had been only a moment ago. Her eyes were this very same colour of flames. Though Dan knew that the colour wasn’t normal, it still looked more beautiful than any other eye colour would have on her.
She had the perfect hour glass figure that rivaled that of the one with the tail one. But unlike that of the one with the tail, whose body oozed of seductive sexuality, the body of the one who'd transformed right before his eyes oozed with grace, class and sophistication. Even as she stood naked in front of him unabashed by this fact.
She, by all looks of it, was the same age as he was. Her soft featured face smiling at him. A smile that made Dan feel both like melting inside and for some reason like puffing out his chest with pride. "You will have to forgive me master. For transforming to human form without your say so," she said in a voice that Dan could have died happy just listening to. "But the situation necessitates it."
The statement shook Dan out of the fantasies his carnal mind had been cooking up as he surveyed her with unbridled desire. Dan's mind was at a loss as it ran out of arguments. It was struggling to accept the fact that science was no longer able to explain everything.
He'd been about to rest his case on the simple argument. Living beings especially vertebrates such as the ones he was seeing before him, could not change size or shape so drastically. They therefore could not have come from the box. But then the girl standing before her had soundly disproved the argument. "Why do you keep calling me master?" Was the only thing Dan managed to let out.
"The answer to that is a very long tale," she informed him. "The telling of which, will require a good amount of time. May I please sit down?" she asked eyeing the side of the bed yet not making any move towards it as if waiting for his say so. Dan felt odd at being treated as if he ruled them. He simply nodded 'yes'.
The one with the flame hair smiled gratefully at him before bending over to smooth out where it was that she planned to sit down upon. However in doing so, she also brought the glorious orbs that were her breasts closer to Dan's face. Dan bit down on his lip hard fighting back the urge to moan at their sight as his hands itched with the urge to grab them.
Once again she rose to inspect what she'd done bringing her full feminine form back into Dan's view. Dan's already steel hard dick gave another hard jerk as it continued to leak precum onto his sheets. She smiled, pleased with what she had done as she looked down at the bed. She seemed to be unaware of the torture her body was putting him through.
When she once again looked up at him after taking a seat on the side of the bed, her expression had gone from smiling to contemplative. "About fifty millennia ago," she began, her voice immediately catching all of his attention. Mercifully pulling it away from her tempting feminine form. "Humans were on the brink of extinction."
Dan's scientific mind immediately kicked in ready to refute this claim that was inconsistent with every account of history he had ever read. However the part of him that was still trying to reconcile that he had just witnessed a bird transform to human subdued it.
"Back then the planet wasn't overrun by humans as it is now. Magic wasn't something done for amusement at the birthday parties of children. Magic was then, as science is now. Magical creatures if all kinds filled the earth, large and small, harmless and lethal, weak and powerful, good and evil."
"The weak however, did not survive long in that world. Justice in those times only favoured those who had enough power to get around it. 'If you could do it and had enough power and resources to deal with whatever consequences came after, then damned be whoever got hurt in the process.' This was the code that everybody lived by back then. It was a vile and toxic society that, no doubt, was headed to only one end, self- destruction."
"This code of life did not favour the humans who were at that time, the weakest beings that walked the planet. They were at the very bottom of the power chain," at this point, she paused a smile slowly crossing her lips as if she was enjoying a particularly good memory. "Or so we had so wrongly thought." she added her smile widening.
"At the time, the world was not divided into countries as it currently is. Back then, there were only territories, nine in total. Each ruled by one of the nine Lords and ladies of the time. These nine were the most powerful beings to walk the earth.
There first territory was the arctic of Lord Karzen, the second the Antarctic of Lady Kastya. The third was Australia belonging to Lord Gervon. Africa was divided into two territories the north ruled by Lord Azerell and from the equator south ruled by his brother Lord Rowen. Europe and Asia jointly were divided into three territories. The most westerly side ruled by Lady Cienna, the middle rule by Lord Brenithan and the most easterly part belonging to Lady Aisha. The last territory covered the whole of north and south America, all of which was under Lady Eldrid."
"Being the weakest, humans were naturally treated with little more regard than one would show filth. They were nothing more than slaves, to be used and disposed of at the pleasure of their masters. As such, humans sought out the strongest and most powerful masters so as to protect themselves from the less powerful one.
Though this smart in theory, it proved to be a blade that cut at both ends. Yes they were untouched by the weaker beings, however the more powerful the master they found the more harshly and cruelly they were treated. Humanity as we know it would have ceased to exist, had it not been for a small group of humans led by a man called Arwain."
"How they managed to do it remains a mystery I will forever contemplate." she said thoughtfully. "Ten in total, was the whole mass of the group. Ten humans sworn to silence and secrecy. They slowly and carefully right under the noses of their masters collected epic amounts magical knowledge and powers. Back then it wasn't even known to anyone that humans could even hold let alone control magic. These ten were the first to prove that they could. The ten loathed the state that the world had come to under the influence of the magical being, so they swore to change it.”
“The what, where, when and how of whatever they did before they made their first open attack is a hole in history that will forever remain unfilled. As I said, they operated in complete silence and secrecy, never letting on that anything was going on. However in that time, they became increasingly strong. Strong enough in fact, to rival with the Lords and ladies themselves.
Even with all this power however, I do honestly doubt they would have succeeded had they been led by any other except Arwain. As he proved many times in the period that was to follow Arwain was a shrewd and cunning man with a mind for strategy in combat."
"When they made their first attack they had two advantages playing to their favour. The first was surprise" the smile that had faded as she continued to relate the story slowly reformed on her lips. "And the second was that their enemy had so badly underestimated them! Two advantages, which they used to the maximum. The whole world," the smile turned into a slight chuckle, as she added. “Myself included admittedly, stood in absolute shock at what the humans were capable of."
"We all watched unbelieving, as in fourteen days Arwain and his group swept through Aisha's territory through to Lord Brenithan's and finally ending in Lady Cienna's territory. The destruction the ten left in their wake was of immense proportions. The bodies of magical creatures were piled in pyres by the hundreds of thousands. The absolute raw power that they displayed, left in one fortnight; three territories conquered two ladies and a Lord dead and a barrier that spanned the whole of the two continents erected.
This barrier was erected by siphoning of the power of all the magical creatures that they had killed. The barrier killed any magical being that tried to get through it on contact. The barrier would then drain all the creature’s magical energy, which it in turn only served to make it stronger. Humans were however, unharmed by it and could pass through it unscathed."
There was a stretch of silence in the room. Dan could tell the events were once again playing in their minds, as they all seemed to stare empty into the space.
"In one move, they had managed to create a strong point that was unreachable even to the other Lords and ladies. To create a safe haven for all the humans that managed to reach it and make it crystal clear that humans were by no means to be underestimated.
The fallout from this was also just as chaotic. Magical beings from around the world, turned on the humans who had not crossed the barrier. They did this from both fear that they could and surely eventually would do same as had been done in the three territories. And also retribution for those of their own that had been lost in battle.
However after that first move made by Arwain and his group, the humans were no longer a complacent lot that feared any confrontation with the magical creatures. Suddenly they all had a new force that drove them, a force stronger than any magical power or being that walked the earth... Hope." she said after a small contemplative pause. "Hope that even if they themselves never lived to see it, that one day their sons and daughters would live in a world where they never had to live in constant fear of the magical beings.”
There was another bout of silence before the girl finally stopped staring blankly in the air and turned to look him in the eye. "The actual account of events of how the war progressed from then on would take me whole days to divulge," she said. Dan had no doubt that she actually had the whole version of events hidden and locked away in her mind.
"The shorter version is this. From there, Arwain made no other move for another two years. A period through which, the barrier still managed to hold strong. It also allowed the magical creatures on the outside of it to once again gain a false sense of confidence and lower their guard."
"However unknown to them, Arwain and his group had now trained a whole army of humans on magic and war with those who knew how to use it. Which was us, the magical creatures. The army was also taught on how to obtain and use magical powers themselves. After two years had passed, the barrier went down. It was later found out that it hadn't actually gone down on its own but that the army had drained all of the power from it into themselves. Thus, the final battle for either the fall or the rise of humanity to absolute freedom followed."
"The battle lasted for one and a half years. Africa was the first to be claimed by the humans, as they subdued and killed both Lord Azerell and Lord Rowen alongside every other magical being in their path. Soon after, the Antarctic fell. It followed by both the arctic and Australia, which fell at the same time.
It was at this time that the one true weapon that the humans had over the magical beings proved to be the one thing that assured their victory. The humans unlike most of the magical beings were not afraid to die! They had seen a life worse than death at the hands of the magical beings. Death was a price each and every last one of them was willing to pay to see that they were free of the magical beings. They never stood down, turned back or retreated even when it was plain to see they were marching to their own deaths. They all lived by the same law 'for every one of us, take ten of them'."
"With Arwain at the head of an army like this, it gave the Lords and ladies very little time to prepare for, or regroup after battle. All these first five territories were subdued within the first six months of the battle. The territory under Lady Eldrid however proved to be the hardest to subdue. The battle for it stretched for another year and both sides having suffered heavy losses. No doubt the humans would have continued and eventually broken through its defenses and brought it down had it gone on much longer. Lady Eldrid however called for an end to the war by way of a truce"
"So a truce was made, the humans would stop the war against the magical beings only if they agreed to forfeit all their powers. This was the only condition under which the humans would let the magical beings live. Lady Eldrid however managed to talk them out of it, in the promise that the magical beings would help the humans rebuild their towns societies and whole lives."
"Arwain, now known as supreme Lord Arwain, relented at this point. However, what he did next though in essence was what the agreement was about, was in no way what Lady Eldrid had in mind when they made the truce. He made these magical boxes in which he entrapped all the magical beings that were left. Each box had a total of three beings in it. The magical beings within a given box were bound to whomever it was that released them to do their bidding and see to their every whim. Many of the magical creatures that had agreed to the truce considered this a betrayal. They used whatever chance they got whenever they were released, to kill as many humans as possible."
"Seeing this, Lord Arwain modified the spells on the boxes. He made it so that the creatures inside had to on release, inform their masters that they were completely under their control. The magical beings were also made unable to harm their own masters in any direct way. Also, the magical creatures had to first present themselves in their magical form so that whoever had freed them had the chance to see and gauge whether they could take them on as guardians. If they doubted their ability to control them or feared for their own safety, then they had the power to send them back into the box simply by rejecting them."
"And that is why you thought you are talking to animals. What you saw, and still see," she said referring to the other three. "Is our true forms. She is a succubus," she said pointing at the one with the tail. "She is a weretiger, the version that existed before the great purge" she continued pointing at the tiger to Dan's right. "And I am a phoenix..."
"Phoenix?" Dan interjected, confusion evident in his voice. "I thought..."
"That we were simply birds that lived for a really long time, ate worms, build nests and died by burning and by fire and were reborn from the ashes?" she finished exactly as he'd been about to say.
Dan turned red, now that she said it, it sounded really stupid. "Well... yeah.." He muttered. From the smile on her face, Dan could tell it was a question she'd answered several times and that thankfully, she wasn't offended by his ignorance.
"It just so happens that, only the last part of that misconception is true. Every ten thousand years, I burn and am reborn from my ashes. The rest of it is all crap" she said smiling. "And lastly that is why we call you, master," she finished off at last.
Dan remained silent for long minutes as he surveyed the four before him. He hadn't at any point gotten the impression that they were lying and yet many parts of their story didn't hold up. "And so when was the last time you were released from the box?" He chose to ask before putting them to task to explain all the gaping holes in their story.
"Two thousand five hundred and twenty years ago. We stayed with our previous master for twenty years before he was killed and we returned to the box." the phoenix girl said.
Dan regarded them for a while before at last saying. “Then I'd have to say that, I don't believe a word you've just said."
The two weretigers and the succubus, seemed totally taken aback by this pronunciation. They looked at him both offended and angry. The phoenix girl however, showed no outward reaction as her eyes simply surveyed him with renewed interest. As if the reason to his disbelief was written somewhere on his face. The shadow of a smile tipped the side of her lips. "And why if I may ask, is that?" she finally questioned her voice calm betraying nothing but simple curiosity.
"First off, all the things that you have just described are things that would fill history books. And believe me I have read through every damn history book in this town. Which I should mention is by no means a small number. And a lot more history on the net. Yet no part of all that you have just said features anywhere in them. Secondly by your account almost, if not, all of humanity had magical powers after the battle, where did they all go?"
"Also, if all of this happened about fifty thousand years ago as you say, why do you all look like my age mates? And still, did you know that the English language was born about a thousand years after you went back into the box? Yet you speak it so fluently as if you've known it all your life? Next is if you really went back into the box when you say you did, then how can you so confidently compare modern day science with the magic that existed back then? " Dan rapid fired all the questions at the phoenix girl.
Dan watched as the smile fully took form on her lips. She surveyed him with new found respect. "Very astute observations," she finally said approval ringing in her voice. Nothing about her body language suggesting that she had been caught in a lie. "Well, it just so coincidentally happens that you have asked them in the exact order I plan to answer
them, however I fear not all answers will be short." she said.
"After Lord Arwain had managed to secure the boxes to ensure that no one would ever be hurt by the beings inside," she started up once again. "They had finally done it, they were free of the magical beings that had for so long tormented and terrorized them. Lord Arwain appointed the other nine that had helped him in his first attack the new Lords over the nine territories and he the only one above them."
“The next few decades after this were peaceful. However as time went on the allure of power and desire for more strength and control slowly started to fill the hearts of men. The lust for power ate away at their hearts. And so as with the magical creatures before, the world slowly started reverting to the original system it had existed on. The system that only favoured the strong. Only this time, it was the humans that were creating their own pain misery and suffering."
"Lord Arwain refrained from interfering. He had hoped that the other nine that had fought beside him and that now ruled over the nine territories, would rise to restore peace and actual justice to the world. However, the nine that had fought beside him weren't immune to the corruption that too much power could bring. They too had lost themselves in the desire for more power and the pursuit for ultimate dominance."
"At last the other nine started attacking him in an attempt to get his power. Lord Arwain was forced to admit a fact that he had for so long tried to ignore and act blind to. That, perhaps he'd been wrong in entrusting all that power to the human race. That maybe, they just weren't ready for it yet."
"As I have already told you before, Arwain was indeed a cunning man. It was he that had started the group of ten by showing them how to acquire and use magical energy. However what he had never told any of them was that the spell he'd created for this purpose, he had slightly modified. It was this modification that enabled Lord Arwain to carry out what I came to call, the great purge."
"Lord Arwain being the smart man that he was, had not overlooked the possibility that at some point in the war even those that were close to him might betray him. So he tweaked the spell such that, it made him the anchor to any magical powers that was acquired through the use of it."
"In essence it created a bond between him and all those that had used it to acquire magical powers and abilities. At the time, this was the whole of the human race. This bond meant that at any point he had the power to draw on all the power acquired by them that had used it. Though he had never actually had to use it during the war, there was no way of avoiding it now."
"Lord Arwain was well aware of the uproar that would come from taking away the magical abilities from the humans. He also that they would find other ways to reacquire it. Ways that wouldn't allow him to strip them of it, if they once again lost themselves to it. So he decided that if he was going to do this, he was going to do it once and for all!"
"After preparing himself for three months, Lord Arwain was ready to begin the spell. This spell however wasn't just any other spell, Lord Arwain was going to cast a spell on the whole of mankind. Not only to strip away their magical abilities, but with it all memories that it had ever existed! The spell required a great deal of both strength and endurance. Lord Arwain however, was one man known to have a will of steel once he had set his mind on something"
"So for seven days and seven nights nonstop, he re-wove the very fabric of history. He gradually stripped the whole world of magic, all which he withdrew into himself. Knowledge of its existence, how to acquire it, how to practice it, all faded from the memory of humans. He led them all to believe that the battles they all remembered and the power they had for so long had, was only stuff of fairy tales and children stories. All magical creatures that had been released at the time were sent back to the other side and all traces of magic faded completely from the world."
"This power that Lord Arwain had drawn from the world was too much for his own body to handle. He knew he wouldn't last long, it would soon overwhelm him and like water spilling from opened flood gates, spill back onto humanity. He had to find a safe and pure vessel in which to put away all this magic."
"It just so happened that his wife was at the time nine months pregnant, and just about ready to give birth to their child. What vessel could there be safer and purer than a newborn child. So he cast another spell, this one directed the magic within him. He locked away all the magic in himself tightly, like wrapping the sun tightly in ones fist. The magic was safely out of anyone's reach, even his own."
"When his wife did eventually give birth, he passed the magic on to his son. The magic was however useless to the boy. His father had seen to it that by locking it away. His son would never be aware of it let alone be able to use it and the magic would never overwhelm him."
"Being by no means a stupid man, Lord Arwain knew that just like the stars, the earth or even you and I, magic was just as much a part of the universe as anything else in it. He knew that eventually, magic would once again rise to try and corrupt the world. So he made it so that the magic that was in his child would be passed on through his bloodline till such a time came. When there was both dire need for it, and the right person who had a pure heart that would not be corrupted by the power. Only then, would it would once again be released."
"After the locking away of the magic in his son, Lord Arwain left himself with only enough magic to cast two more spells. With it he wiped any memory of who he was from his wife and made her believe that she was in love with a farmer. He put the same spell on the farmer and left them believing that they were man and wife, and that his child was actually theirs."
"Without magic to sustain him, Lord Arwain withered and before the passing of a week, the last human link to the version of history I have just narrated to you died. So to answer both your first and second question, there is no record of the events I have just divulged to you, simply because it was erased from the memory of everyone present at the time."
"And as to where all the magic disappeared to, the answer is it’s not gone. It still is in one of Lord Arwain's descendants. It is probably still residing within an individual, who has no Idea that they have the kind of power that could subdue the whole of humanity and what is now the hidden magical world if they so chose it," the phoenix girl spoke her gaze contemplative.
"But then the magical beings that Arwain locked away in the boxes, they still remember it all. You can't honestly tell me that none of them have ever told anyone of what happened ever since?" Dan stated.
"Some of them don't, seeing as it's not such a good memory for them. Others however do, and I suspect, probably have more than once. But let me ask you a question," she said regarding him with a smile. "How many people do you plan on telling this story I've just told you to?" she asked.
It dawned on Dan that he would probably never repeat the story to any other person for as long as he lived. He smiled. "Touché" he said simply.
"The answer to your next question is quite simple and much shorter. When Lord Arwain made the other side, he somehow made a pocket outside of time. While we still can sense the passing of time and tell how much of it has gone by while we are in there, we ourselves don't exist within it."
"So while fifty thousand years have passed since Lord Arwain locked us in the box. We have only existed within time for less than half a millennium. We are magical creatures, not humans. We age very differently from your kind. The passage of time has barely any effect on her," she said once again referring to the succubus. "One life time for a phoenix lasts something close to two hundred and fifty thousand years, so five hundred years are really just a moment to me."
"And lastly she," the phoenix girl said this time pointing to the tiger on Dan's left. "Is the kind of were that existed before the purge,"
"What do you mean by saying the kind that existed before the purge?" Dan interjected.
"She, unlike the weres that came after the purge and still exist in present day, is able to acquire and use magic," the phoenix girl explained. "She probably still has about fifteen thousand more years to her life. By all intents and purposes, she would have still been a cub, if she was still among her people." she said then paused as if waiting for another question from him.
"Now the last two questions," she started up once again, when it became apparent that no more questions were forthcoming. “Are simply the ingenious works of Lord Arwain. He put a spell on the magical beings, that whenever they were released from the other side. Their minds would automatically connect to that of their master to be. If that is, they were to be accepted. So that through his or her mind they might be able to understand and interpret the world as they found it and be able to serve their masters to the best of their ability..."
"Wait, what?" Dan interjected his voice betraying his uncertainty.
"To put it in terms that you would more easily understand, think of us as you would a Network. Your mind is like the server and ours are like other computers in the network. Except that our files outdated and therefore need to be , and through the spell, are updated using the files in the server, which are the most up to date," the phoenix girl said smiling at him seemingly pleased at the analogy she'd come up with.
Dan was silent for a while for a while as he battled with conflicting emotions. “So you all can read my mind?" He finally asked both his expression and voice clearly showing that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of total strangers going through his mind.
"Not really," the phoenix girl answered. "As I've just told you, your mind only serves to update our minds. Like for example, though I understand what the internet is through your mind, I do not actually know what you did on the net. Though I would be lying if I said I can't..." her eyes dropped down to Dan's cock that had somehow managed to stay rock hard all this time. "Hazard a guess..." she said a sly smile crossing her lips. Dan could feel himself turning red at the suggestive note in her voice.
"Besides," the succubus spoke up for the first time since the phoenix girl had started talking "there isn't much interesting in there to actually wanna see," she said.
"Hey, I thought you said you couldn't read my mind," Dan asked alarmed. He knew perfectly well that she was talking about the fact that he was still a virgin.
The succubus let out a scoff rolling her eyes. "I am a succubus, I can practically smell it off you," she said causing another rise of colour in Dan's face.
"Now allow me to ask you a question," the phoenix girl started keen interest lighting in her eyes. "You have learnt that if you accept it, you are our master. That we are practically ready to serve your every whim and desire. She is a succubus, so by nature her very presence is enough to cause most men to go crazy and try and fuck her brains out." she said.
"I, on the other hand, have tried to subtly seduce you," it suddenly dawned on Dan that she was talking about the time she had been smoothing out the bed as she prepared to sit down. "Yet for some reason, despite all... uuh... evidence to the contrary," she said dropping another teasing glance to his dick. "You seem to be resisting us, how? And more importantly why?" Despite the coy smile that was playing on her lips Dan could tell she was genuinely curious.
"Honestly," she went on " I'd feel insulted, if not for the fact that your..." she dropped another glance to his dick which stood unashamedly hard. "Pheromones are soo…  thick, in the air" the way she said the word thick, sent chills through his spine that ended up making his dick give another jerk.
"I... I... I'm human, I don't produce pheromones," Dan managed to stutter.
"Correction, you're human you can't smell your pheromones. We on the other hand can," the phoenix girl said with a smile. Dan could tell that she was thoroughly enjoying putting him through all this torture.
"Dan, Jim, dinner's ready." Hearing her mother's voice saying something so normal after all the things he had just spent the last few hours learning, felt almost bizarre to him.
"That's my mother," Dan said rising from the bed. The call from his mother did however, provide him with an excuse to get away from them. He wanted to think all he had just learnt through with a clear head. He wouldn't be able to do that round them. All the blood in his body would be in his other less logical head. "Stay here, I'll be back," he said quickly pulling his clothes on and making his way out of the room before his lust for them won out against rational thought.
“What the fuck," Dan heard Jim's voice from behind him as he locked his door, Jim's room was on the opposite side of the hall to his. "Since when do you lock your door?"
The question would have seemed odd to many, but in this particular case it was actually a relevant question. Dan usually never locked the door to his room with a key. Seeing as he never had anything in his room that would interest Jim, and nothing that he hid from his mother. The most he ever did was to pull it closed.
"What the fuck are you hiding in there?" Jim said trying to push Dan out of the way. For the first time in his life however, Dan turned to confront his bigger brother. Dan pushed back against him. Though he hadn't expected this effort to achieve much, Dan found himself holding his brother against the door to his own room by the collar.
Fixing him with a deathly glare. Dan spoke. “Do you really wanna try your chances against me without the whole football team here to back you up?" Despite the fact that he didn't show it, even Dan himself was surprised by the low menacing tone that his voice had taken.
For the first time in his life Dan saw a shadow of fear cross his brother's expression. A supremely satisfied feeling filled him, knowing that he was the one that had caused it. "Pffft" Jim let out a dismissive breath. "I'm not interested in your stupid experiments dork," he said trying to mask all indications of fear in his voice, Dan however clearly heard the slight tremor in it. A smirk crossed his own face as he let his brother go and watched him walk away.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said audibly.
Dan was barely aware of the fact that he was spearing his food absent mindedly. A million and one thoughts raced through his mind. It felt like he had reached a fork in the road, a fork that went in totally opposite directions.
On one hand, he could take them up as guardians and throw his whole world in to chaos. Magic would become the new science that he’d have to learn. However, though they hadn't said it, Dan couldn't shake the feeling that, if he was to throw himself into the world of magic he'd have to come face to face with a whole myriad of magical challenges.
Man was a creature of habit. Dan wasn't naïve, so he very much doubted that others who already had magic had stopped the unending quest for more power. If he was to take this path, then he was signing up one battle after another against all those that would try to get his power.
But on the other hand. Dan couldn't explain why, but the thought of turning his back on it all and choosing to continue with the normal existence he'd always known just didn’t feel right. It felt like he was turning his back on his true destiny for what seemed like bleak and felt like an empty future to look forward to.
"Is it girls?" Dan snapped out of the thoughts that were crowding his mind and looked up at his mother, as she too regarded him awaiting his reply.
A snigger was heard, as Jim broke into a fit of laughter. “Good one mum, as if Dan has any idea what the word means," he said between laughs.
"Dan is capable of getting any girl he wants. And any girl would be lucky to be with him," his mother said sharply at his older who only laughed all the more. "Ignore him Dan," his mother said turning to him. "What's bothering you?" she asked.
Dan smiled at how ironically appropriate, her question was. “Actually, it just so happens that it is about girls. Well, sort of," he said. It did not escape Dan's notice that even his mother seemed surprised at his words.
"It is?" The words escaped her lips, even before she had could think them through.
"Yes, it actually is," Dan replied dryly.
"Sorry," his mother muttered turning pink at her reaction.
"I don't know what to do," Dan said deciding to ignore his mother's little mishap. "I can either decide to be with them and throw my whole life into confusion or I can turn them all down and send them back to a miserable existence." Even as he said it, Dan could tell that his mother was at a loss at his words.
"Them?" was the only word that came from his mother after a bit of silence. Dan clearly heard the note of disapproval in her voice. "I didn't raise you to be a cheat Daniel," her voice had taken the low tone it always did when either he or Jim had done something she did not approve of.
"They are all aware of each other," Dan quickly added. “They don't seem to be bothered by me being with the others," his mother regarded him skeptically.
"You are actually that desperate?" Jim finally spoke up.
"Making up stories about girls wanting you to mum, just so you can feel better about yourself?" The derisive spite in his voice was quite clear.
Dan sighed. "Forget it," he said rising from the table as it became obvious that he wouldn't be getting the kind of help he needed from them.
"Dan wait," his mother called to him.
"Forget it mom, I'll figure it out on my own," he said quickly ascending the stairs to his room. Dan closed the door behind him as he moved into his room. The two were-tigers now lay side by side on the floor. The phoenix girl was still seated where he'd left her and the succubus however was now lying relaxed in his bed her tail slowly moving through the air. Despite the fact that he'd only just met them, Dan felt oddly comfortable being around them. It was almost as if he was right where he belonged.
"Forgive me for this master," the phoenix girl began immediately, as Dan moved to settle beside the succubus on the bed. "But you have to decide right now. If you do not take us on as guardians for more than three hours then you have by default rejected us. We will be sent back to the other side," she said. Despite the fact that they all tried to maintain a calm exterior, Dan could feel the thick tension in the room as they all awaited his reply.
"If I take you on as my guardians, then I accept a life of constantly fighting for the simple right to exist, don't I?" Dan said looking her straight in the eye.
"You are already a wizard," she said nodding towards the leather bound book on his bedside drawer causing him to turn and look at it. “You are already living that life master," she told him.
Despite the fact that Dan knew she wanted him to take her on as a guardian, he also knew that she was telling him the truth. "But I only got that book this afternoon," Dan made the argument though he knew it was a weak one.
"Can you read it?" the phoenix girl asked.
"Yes, so?" Dan replied not sure why it was of such importance to everyone whether he could read the damn book or not.
"Then you are a wizard, how long you have had it is immaterial. Magic resides within you and so long as it does there will be those who either seek to kill you for it or kill you, simply because you have it," she answered.
Dan was silent for a while as he thought through it all. With this new information the better choice of the two became much clearer. Dan finally looked up smiling at them. “Well," he started. "If you are going to be my guardians, then I should at least know your names," he said. The tension in the room evaporated as the phoenix girl smiled at him. Dan watched the two tigers rise to their feet as they morphed back into their human forms.
Dan was momentarily stunned at their beauty. They stood at only a few inches shorter than him. They both had thick golden blonde hair, light caramel brown eyes and a soft
featured face that seemed to be well proportioned in all aspects. Dan had to use all his will to keep from looking lower than their necks. "Actually, that is the last part of your accepting us as your guardians. You are the one to name us," the girl with a smile on her face who'd just transformed from her tiger form.
"Oh... Uuh," Dan let out momentarily at a loss.
"Better be quick about it," the succubus spoke up. "We've got about five minutes before we go poof" she said making a gesture of vanishing into thin air with her hands.
Dan turned to the phoenix girl first. "You, remind me of fire," he said. "I think, 'Ember' suits you best," he said, taking the fact that she smiled as a sign that she liked it. Dan turned to the twins, for some reason Dan couldn't explain the first names that came to mind were. “Kirra and Karra," he said. Though the one to Dan's left showed no outward reaction but the one on the right's eyes glistened with tears. "They're that bad?" Dan asked his mind racing as he tried to find other names.
"No, they are our birth names," she said. "They are perfect," she added smiling.
Dan smiled back at her before turning to the succubus. "Athena," he said at last after a pause.
"Why? Did you always want to fuck a myth?" the succubus neutrally replied not showing any aversion or particular liking to the name.
"No because she was goddess of strength, wisdom and war," Dan said smiling at the fact that the succubus was trying to suppress the smile that was coming onto her face. "And you remind me of all three," he went on. He watched the demon smirk when it finally proved absolutely impossible to keep from smiling.
"You're the master," she said trying to sound neutrally disinterested despite the fact that Dan could plainly see she loved the name.
Dan's eyes widened as he felt what he could only describe as another presence invading his mind. His teeth gritted hard as pain seared through his head…
"Master... Master, wake up," with another groan. Dan opened his eyes to find both Ember and Kirra looking down at him, Dan wasn't sure how he could tell that it was Kirra now looking down at him and not Karra, but there was no doubt in his mind about who she was.
"Please all of you, call me Dan. Master sounds really odd in this day and age," Dan said rising from the floor where he'd fallen to. "What the hell was that?" Dan asked climbing on to the bed once again.
"Sorry master, I should have warned you, the bonding can be a bit rough," Ember said looking at him apologetically.
"Bonding?" Dan asked turning to her.
‘Yes, master bonding.’
"What the!?" Dan exclaimed his eyes widening. He’d clearly heard the words from Ember despite the fact that her lips had not moved.
‘Remember, that network. Well before you accept us it only allows us to update our files from you the server. But now that you have accepted us, it allows us to communicate with you and each other mentally. It's also why you are one hundred percent sure that I am Kirra and she is Karra,’ Dan heard Kirra's voice in his head.
"But I heard you talking mentally before?" Dan posed.
"True, but that's only because we are here. Had we not been in your presence, you wouldn't have," said Karra.
"How far can the link reach?" Dan asked.
"Well that depends," Ember replied once again talking with her mouth.
"On what?" Dan pushed.
"How powerful a wizard you are?" Ember answered.
The mention of wizard reminded Dan of the leather bound book. Turning to it, Dan picked it up from the drawer. Laying it on the bed, Dan opened the first page of it. Even before they expressed it, Dan felt the confusion of the others as they all looked down at it.
"That's odd," Athena spoke.
"What?" Dan asked looking down at the writings on the book.
"All I see is a sketch of me, in my full fledged demon form," she said turning to look at the other three apart from Dan.
"All I see are flames, around a bird" Ember said confusion marring her voice too.
"All we both see is a weretiger in full morph," Kirra said the same confusion in her voice too.
Dan's face contorted in confusion, as he looked down at the words clearly written on the page. “What are you talking about?" he asked looking up at them.
"All wizard books are written in what is called wizard script. It’s almost like a code. Only those whom the writer intended to, will be able to read it. In most cases it’s either their descendants or their pupils if there was another wizard they were teaching at the time," Ember explained.
"Normally, the link we have to your mind should have allowed us be able to read it, your mind being the translator for ours" Ember went on, explaining their confusion.
"Whoever wrote this book was powerful enough to mask it even from the link that joins us," Karra added her voice neutral.
"What does it say?" Athena asked.
"The grand book of wizards past, wizard present, and wizards to come, the..."
Dan paused, as blood drained from his face his eyes fixed on the page. Dan had been reciting the first part from memory as he'd already read it at the antique shop. His eyes had actually been reading onwards from the point where he'd stopped at back at the shop.
"The what?" Kirra asked the curiosity evident in her voice.
Dan's head slowly rose to the rest of them, as he repeated what he'd just read. “The bloodline of Lord Arwain rises once again...