The Autumn Mage

Chapter Eighteen

     Aki startled awake in the same dusty bedroom he had been in before sitting up in the bare bed, the dark haired young man standing at the open window with his hair fluttering in the hot dirty breeze with his back to him, his hands clasped behind his back. "Why did you bring me back here?" Aki demanded. The young man sighed before turning around to face him with an exasperated expression.

     "Because, being the moron you are, you got caught!" he sneered.

     "Yeah," Aki fired back, "I kind of noticed. What with being behind bars and what not."

     "And if you didn't get yourself stuck behind a cage we still could have found a way to save you!" he said getting his face closer to Aki's.

     "And why the sudden interest in saving my life?" The man sighed again in frustration.

     "Because I haven't had a chance to take over your mind yet. If you die, this part of me dies also. If my mind dies, my physical body becomes pretty useless."

     "Guess that's the risk you take when you try to hijack someone's brain, now isn't it?" The man let out a small chuckle.

     "You got me there."

     "Are you going to at least tell me who you are, or did you bring me here just to complain?" He shrugged indifferently.

     "No sense in keeping it a secret any longer, I suppose. The name's Dolos," he said with a grin. Aki stirred to his feet and balled his fists.

     "The Twilight Titan?"

     "Ah, you do remember. Or maybe just my reputation? I guess it doesn't matter one way or another."

     "What are you doing in my head?" Aki shouted confused.

     "When you tried stealing Midas' power, you got me. Which of course you were supposed to do, I did lead you straight to him." Aki walked over and took a turn at the window letting the warm dust wash over him as he mulled this information over.

     "What were you even doing inside of him?" Dolos chuckled harder.

     "Right. Okay, I'll play along," he said watching Aki's expression turn to confusion. "Midas was very well the most powerful Alchemist of our time. It's hard to judge considering they're all in hiding at this point, but he definitely showed a level of aptitude that hasn't been seen in years," he said walking over to the bookshelf and running his finger down the lonely spine of the only book lying there. "My Master learned of him; called him a bastard of the magical arts. I knew then and there he was a threat. Midas was attempting to forge the Járngreipr, and my Master would be terrified of such a thing." Aki's face fell into confusion.

     "I'm sorry, what's a, uh, Yarn Gripper?" Dolos breathed slowly out of his nose.

     "Járngreipr. It's a mythical set of gauntlets that is said to have belonged to an ancient deity of a lost tribe. It gives the wearer the strength to lift any object and no metal can pierce it." Aki turned to give him his full attention, his arms crossed cautiously.

     "What stopped him from forging them?"

     "He couldn't find a Philosopher's Stone."

      "What did he need that for?" It sounded familiar, but he just could not place his finger on it.

     "It's the cornerstone of Alchemy. It can do many wonderful things! Change any substance into any other composition; lead can become gold, enemy weapons can be changed into rock. A Hume can reach a higher state of being; gain the wisdom of the cosmos!" he exclaimed, his voice becoming more excitable. "It is said it can even make man immortal!"