Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 62

by Meredith Skye

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Anger came easily to the-Spawned-One.

He wasn't sure why he felt anger towards the human-named-Rian. The human had tried to kill him, but so had the others. Yet, the-Spawned-One felt little anger towards the other Unfortunates. He followed Molan from the crypt out to the meadow where the captives were being held.

"The desire for revenge is one of the purest emotions," Molan said. He intended to demonstrate it on the human-named-Rian. This one had gathered the villagers and led the attack against Molan.

He had tried to kill the-Spawned-One.

The human-named-Rian sensed them coming and managed to get up on his knees, though his hands were tied.

Anger.

The sensation of emotions felt strange to the-Spawned-One.

But other things stirred as well. An image of Lauretta came unbidden to his mind. The woman in the blue dress. What had happened to her? She was not in the crypt—but Molan had an inner sanctum, through the portal. He hadn't taken the-Spawned-One back there.

It disturbed him that he'd forgotten about Lauretta so quickly--She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Harmed. He couldn't seem to hold an image of her in his mind.

The human spoke. The-Spawned-One turned his focus back to the human and the revenge at hand. "I am so sorry, Kyran," he said.

Kyran. This was a human name. Had the-Spawned-One been human? And if so, did it really matter? Wasn't he a better being now? Stronger, capable of assisting in doing powerful magic.

"You know I would never hurt you," he began. From the ground beside him watched another generic Unfortunate. Unimportant. The-Spawned-One shifted his gaze back to the Inconsistency.

"And yet you tried to kill him ... your own brother," said Molan.

Was that a tear in the human's eye? "You've done something to him!" accused the One-Named-Rian.

"Have I?" said Molan. "He is a magic-spawn. This is what he was created for."

"You think you've won," said the human-named-Rian, "but just because you've overcome us--don't think it will be that easy! You'll never be able to hold this city. Where I come from we don't stand idly by while innocent people are attacked! The rest of this country will rally together to fight you--if you don't leave our world!"

"Do you really believe that?" asked Molan, with interest. It seemed like bluff on the part of the human. Nothing that they'd brought against Molan so far was of much consequence.

"Yes!" The human seemed desperate. The threat felt empty.

"I don't need to stay long on your world," said Molan, casually.

Again, the human-Named-Rian looked up at the-Spawned-One and spoke directly to him. "I didn't want to hurt you, but Molan is evil! And he must be fought!"

Evil was such an arbitrary word.

"Enough!" said Molan, no longer amused with the human's antics.

The-Spawned-One felt Molan preparing a spell. "This will silence him," said Molan. It was a simple spell and it went off quickly, taking the human's speech from him.

"Now, draw out his life-force," commanded Molan. The-Spawned-One obeyed, feeling a thrill as he reached out for a tendril of life, and drew it to himself. Fear showed in the human's eyes but now he couldn't speak. "Not all of it," warned Molan. "I don't want to kill him yet--for now, we'll just make him suffer." Molan began forming another spell, using the gathered life-force. Taking the human's lifeforce would weaken him enough; using it in a spell against him was doubly harmful.

Soon the spell was ready. This was a new spell, one that the-Spawned-One hadn't seen yet. New spells always fascinated him.

"I'll let you cast it," said Molan, as he shifted the spell over to the-Spawned-One. An odd phrase, as though it was the-Spawned-One's choice. Of course, he must obey all of Molan's commands--he was, after all, Molan's magic-spawn.

The spell materialized in his left hand. The-Spawned-One looked down at the One-Named-Rian, who looked back up at him miserably. He knew he was doomed, and perhaps he knew that he deserved it.

This feeling of power was strange--having the power of life and death over someone. Punishing someone who had wronged him was new to the-Spawned-one--unfamiliar--especially when they had no way to fight back. Such revenge felt heady.

Anger always made a spell more potent. The-Spawned-One allowed his anger to build for just a moment before releasing the spell. Lightening sprung from his hands and hit the human in the chest. He writhed in pain, unable to catch his breath. No sound came out as he tried to scream. The spell went on and on. The-Spawned-One had taken too much of the human's life-force. The spell had grown too powerful. Still, it went on. The-Spawned-One had no way to stop it, once it had been cast.

For a moment, he thought that the One-Named-Rian would die. Then all at once, it stopped. The human slumped forward, gasping for air. Still alive.

But the-Spawned-One knew Molan's mind. This human wouldn't live for long. He may even die later that night. And he would die in agony. This should have given the-Spawned-One immense satisfaction.

But something was wrong.

He wasn't sure why, but he felt sick inside.

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