Confessions of the Magpie Wizard Book 3: Dissolution (Prologue, Chapters 1 & 2) (Patreon)

Prologue 

From the Desk of Soren Marlowe

Thursday, November 25th, 2123

Now we turn in my confessions to the first incident that would make the history books, the Tower Attack of 2050. Everything I have described up to now would have been, at best, a minor story buried in a news feed. I doubt many would read past the headline English Survivor Found Off the Cliffs of Dover as they scrolled by on their phones. A few more might have read Assassination Attempt on War Hero Asahi Maki Foiled by Nagoya Academy Students, given the fame of the so-called Divine Blade.  “How nice,” they would have said after reading, and then gone back to being enraged by celebrity gossip or politics. I had picked up the moniker of Magpie Wizard, but I wasn’t yet a household name. 

That was to my benefit, given the layers of schemes I had to navigate. I gone from being an exiled devil spy to a triple agent. To the Grim Horde, demonic conquerors of the Earth, I was Captain Malthus the Younger. Well, the former Captain. I had been court martialed for stealing from General Girdan the Fair and seducing his daughter. For this, I was banished to the human realms. They called it a spy mission, but the powers that be meant it as a one-way trip. However, I had received word that I would be welcome back if I could strike a major blow against the hated Anti-Demonic League and their lackies, the Wizard Corps. 

That order had brought me into the service of Maggie Edwards, a teacher of spellcraft at the school. She had her own secret, being a major player in the terrorist Holy Brotherhood of Mankind. The Anti-Demonic League, being made up of the surviving island nations of Earth after we drove them off the mainland, were no fan of my race. They only stopped nuking us because true blooded devils and our orc chattel are not overly bothered by radioactive fallout. Now meditate on what one would have to do and espouse to be driven underground for being too extreme for their tastes. That was the Holy Brotherhood in a nutshell: too Machiavellian for a humanity struggling with all her might to survive. To Ms. Edwards, I was simply the newest recruit, dedicated to advancing their cause of regaining legitimacy after their dismissal from the League’s political life. 

And to my lover, Kiyo Jones, and the friends I had made since arriving at the Nagoya Academy of Magic, I was Soren Marlowe, the strange British refugee with the long nose and Danish name. They called me Magpie, sometimes to annoy me, but also as a sign of affection. There was a part of me that wished that was my only loyalty. It was the foolish, soft part of me. Some might call it the inheritance of my human mother. Those who say that never met Aleksandra. 

Regardless, if I looked at the situation rationally, they were at the bottom of my priority list. After all, they were all loyal Wizard cadets, training to fight me and my countrymen once they graduated. None of them would have spared me if they had a hint of my true self. 

Maggie Edwards would have disposed of me just as quickly, but she believed that I was simply a demonkin, a traitor to humankind too interested in the ways of the Dark Lord and the Grim Horde. I had fought against them, but Maggie and I both knew things about the other that made us uneasy allies. Mutually assured destruction is a powerful tool to force peace, as the pre-Horde nation states had discovered. She had a use for me, just as I had of her little club. We had a shared enemy, and I would use them as my ticket back into polite devil society. 

My true loyalty ought to have been to the Grim Horde. Humanity had all but lost the war already. The fighting was all over but the crying, and I would be safest back home in the Horde’s capital, Pandemonium, with my military title and honor restored. If I played my cards right, I could have gotten a cushy job in the demonic bureaucracy and spent my days in debauchery and diversion.

Shame that I was never one to be rational. 

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. The tale of the Tower Attack truly begins a month prior, on a day that no historian would recognize: the day Haru Obe awoke from his coma.  

Chapter 1

Nagoya, Japan

Sunday, July 17th, 2050

“Kiyo?”

“Yeah, Magpie?”

“When you invited me out into the woods to do something, and I’ll quote you, ‘exciting in private,’ I wasn’t exactly expecting this.” I lay prone on my stomach in the still moist grass, holding Kiyo’s beloved rifle in my arms.

“That’s ‘cause you have a dirty mind, Magpie.” Kiyo was sitting to my side, plugging away at her GoSato portable console. 

“Oh, come now!” I worked some mock outrage into my voice. It was a challenge; I always did enjoy her nonsense more than not. “You chose those words on purpose. False advertising is a crime, you know.” 

“What’s wrong with target practice? And loosen up your grip. Lucile’s a delicate flower.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Lucile’s a high-powered rifle that can pulp an orc at half a mile.”

Kiyo didn’t look up from her game. The fact that she could still criticize my shooting spoke volumes about her peripheral vision. “She can be both. You can be more than one thing at a time. You should know that better than most people being, y’know, a demonkin and all.”

She had me there, though it took a moment to sink in. Kiyo had an amazing talent for making me forget my cover. “Let’s not use the d-word if we can avoid it? One never knows who might be listening.”

“There isn’t another person for a kilometer around,” countered Kiyo. “You’re just deflecting ‘cause you don’t want to admit I’m right.”

“Deflecting? Me? Never. Though, I will grant that there are worse ways to spend an afternoon. Certainly a better sight than my bedroom.”

The grounds around the great Nagoya Tower, home of the Nagoya Academy of Magic, were surrounded by a large pine forest. Headmaster Yosuke Tachibana had a magical affinity for promoting plant growth, and he had filled a circle of bare countryside with trees that looked centuries old. It made for a fine training ground for us wizard cadets, and an even finer spot to get away from prying eyes. 

The area we had commandeered was a shooting range where Kiyo spent most of her field days with the other shooters. It was set in a picturesque meadow surrounded by pine trees that nearly blotted out the sun. It really did feel like there was nothing in the world but me, her and the row of magical targets we had created. They floated idly in space at the end of the field in front of a high, stainless steel wall that was covered in dents and carbon scoring. She had mentioned they had repurposed the section of a battleship’s hull. Its poor state of repair spoke to the destructive power of the wizard cadets.

“I know, right?” She finally put away her game console and gave me her undivided attention. “I mean, I love hanging with you anywhere, but we’ve been cooped up so much lately.” 

“Seems like a bit of an overreaction,” I replied. “Confining us to the school grounds until ‘we know things are safe?’ That’s a bit of a vague timeline.” I looked up from my task, being sure to keep my finger well clear of the trigger.

Kiyo bit her lip. “Headmaster Tachibana’s just worried after… y’know… what happened at the Serving Wizard’s House.”

I rolled my eyes. “The Holy Brotherhood isn’t going to attack again so soon.”

Kiyo raised an eyebrow at me. “You sound pretty sure.”

Considering I knew their local commander’s plans? I could be confident. Still, I couldn’t exactly say how I knew. It was time to be vague. “They have us jumping at shadows which, I’ll remind you, is exactly what terrorists want.”

“I guess. We just got pretty close to getting killed. Haru would’ve gotten us if you weren’t… y’know…” She trailed off. “We need a codeword.”

“For what?”

“You being a dem… a y’know. What should it be?”

I shrugged. “Whatever pleases you, my dear.”

“Anyway, Haru would’ve had us if you hadn’t been a cutiemuffin.”

I shot her a glare. “No! I refuse! That is not the codeword!” 

She stuck her tongue out at me. “You said I got to choose. Anyway, if you weren’t a cutiemuffin, I don’t think you’d have had to magic to stop him.”

I stopped. I couldn’t let her see that it annoyed me. That’s how I’d been stuck being the Magpie Wizard. “It’s a dangerous topic, regardless. Someone could overhear and put things together. Let’s get back to shooting.”

She shot me a smirk. “Alright, we won’t talk about you being a cutiemuffin.” I couldn’t resist flinching at that. “And now you’re too loose. If you pull the trigger now, you’ll hurt your shoulder.” 

I let out a frustrated grunt. “Well, how about you show me the proper way?”

She got on her hands and knees and crawled over, taking my hands in hers. She was a delicate girl, but the calluses on her fingers reminded me she’d been a markswoman since long before I met her. She guided me this way and that, until she declared my grip and posture “acceptable.” 

I shot her a sly grin and decided to pay back her teasing. “Funny, you’ve never complained about my grip before. You always seem satisfied.”

Her face, normally pale as the moon, flushed a bright red and she shook her head, sending her black hair bouncing. “Why do you always have to spoil nice things by being dirty?”

“Because it’s so fun making you blush,” I replied with a smirk. “Oh, could you fetch our ear protection? I don’t want to move and spoil things.” Before we had started dating, she had fired Lucile in a tight space, and I’d learned a valuable lesson about firearm safety. The sound cancelling earmuffs she slid over my ears were a nice human invention. Back home, I’d always just used my hands when the goblins fired their cannons. I’d have to introduce them when I went back. 

I forced thoughts of home from my mind. I was enjoying a nice day with Kiyo. The future didn’t exist, for a little while, at least. I remembered her advice from the War Games. I checked my scope, adjusted as best as I could for the light breeze, exhaled and pulled the trigger. The boom of Lucile’s report was still audible through the noise dampening material, and just like then, its stock jumped into my shoulder. One of my magical targets, a thin sheet of magical energy known as Svalinn’s Mercy, shattered into a hundred glittering shards. 

I let out a triumphant war whoop. “Did you see that, Kiyo? I got it on my first shot!” 

Two things struck me in short order. One, Kiyo was wearing her own ear coverings, so she wouldn’t be able to hear me. 

Second was a gallon of water that soaked my head. I shot up onto my knees and looked for the source of the attack. Kiyo lay there, laughing uproariously, and I could just sense the dissipating remnants of her spell.

I stripped off my ear coverings. “What the devil… what the heck was that for?”

Stifling her giggling, she sat up and pointed to her earmuffs, making a show of being unable to hear me.

“Oh, going to play it that way, are we? Very well. If you wish to make this a wizard duel, have at you! Water Orb!” Red runes of magical energy danced around my hand, ordering the moisture from the air into a sphere. A flick of the wrist sent it flying towards Kiyo, striking her square on the nose. 

She let out a confused squeak and fell back. I set aside Lucile and charged in. I was on her in a moment, pinning her arms down. Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I hadn’t taken off my ear protection in my rush to attack. She looked distressed, and thanks to the school’s translation magic, I couldn’t be sure if she was speaking English for me, or her native Japanese out of panic. 

“You can’t think I’ll fall for such an obvious trap!” She persisted and writhed in apparent agony. I knew she was playing. She had to be. I just needed to outlast her. 

Though she looked convincing. What if she had landed on a rock?

My resolve folded instantly. I removed our earmuffs as quickly as I could. “Kiyo? Are you alright?”

Her grimace vanished in an instant. She thrust her hand at me. “Water Orb!”

Unlike her, I kept my balance, straddling her on my knees. She giggled all the while. “Why you little… stop laughing, blast you!”

“You should’ve seen your face, Magpie. I wish I’d had my phone ready.”

“Well, I’m grateful you didn’t. What would they think, seeing a military cadet carrying on like that? For shame.”

She puffed out her cheeks. “Hey, you did that to me months ago! You were a cadet too! Fair’s fair.”

I shot her a cocksure grin. “Sure, but I’m a known cad. People expect more from you.”

“That’s a lie and you know it. We’re in the class for screwups.”

“Maybe. But, it seems to me that we’re in a compromising position here. I propose that we forget shooting and make you live up to the spirit of your promises.” I braced myself over her, giving her just a moment to realize the truth of my words and, if she were so inclined, object. I had learned my lessons about human girls; they prefer that you get permission first. 

She didn’t, of course. She did vanish from sight, a quirk of her magical affinity, the Death of Light. I could still feel her, though.

“Feeling bashful?”

“Y-yeah. I mean, we’re outside. What if somebody catches us?”

“That’s half the fun, my dear. Now, let’s see that pretty face, hm?”

She shimmered back into view. “Yeah, you don’t know how my face works when I’m invisible. Half the time, you end up kissing my ear. I mean, it’s cool that you’re into that…”

“Slander! It’s just harder to hit a target you can’t see.”

She giggled. “Alright, alright. You ear fetish is not the weirdest secret I keep for you. I’ll meet you halfway.” She levered herself up and our lips met. “Love you, Magpie.”

“I know.” Her smile slipped a little when I didn’t return her sentiments. It was hard not to, as much as my devilish common sense railed against the idea. A devil doesn’t give voice the Enemy’s great lie, that you can love another as much as yourself. It went against everything I was taught, even if Kiyo had induced some temporary insanity in me. 

I didn’t give her time much to be disappointed, though. I cupped the side of her face and kissed her again. I took my time. After all, we were in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday afternoon, and we were ahead on our homework. We had all day to ourselves. 

Because the Enemy, or perhaps simply karma, loves to spite me, I heard a feminine voice behind us. “Oh, my.” 

Chapter 2 

The downside to being as pale as Kiyo is that she had no way of hiding her humiliation.  She clung to my arm, keeping me between her and Mariko. As if finally remembering that she could, she belatedly vanished from sight. 

I stood, coughing into my hand. “Ah, Ms. Yamada, how lovely to see you. Kiyo had slipped, you see, so I went to help her up and, darn the luck, I slipped too.”

Mariko had turned away from us. I was sure the uptight woman was at least as flushed as Kiyo. Where Kiyo and I had opted for our summer training uniforms, she was wearing a long-sleeved dress that made me feel overheated just looking at it. She always did prefer to cover up, given the choice, but it was far too much for an August afternoon. 

“S-slipped? Yes, that must have been it.” She spun about on her heel, confirming my suspicions about her blush. She smiled a crooked little grin. It was clearly forced, another classic Mariko maneuver. She reached up and played with her brunette hair, which she always kept in a braid slung over one shoulder. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your… rescue attempt. I was out on a walk and I heard a gunshot.”

Kiyo shimmered back into view at my side. “And you made a beeline for it because…”

“Well, we have been on high alert,” she replied. “I was worried it might have been another attack.”

Kiyo shook her head. “But you don’t fight. What did you think you were going to do by yourself?”

“Oh, I’m not alone,” she replied. “Paul, we’re over here!”

Paul Wilson was an American refugee. Even twenty years after the nation’s destruction, the Japanese locals had stereotypes about Americans. They were all friendly, but rude, or they were all golden-haired giants. Well, the dark-skinned Paul didn’t fit the blond part of the stereotype, but he towered over us all. He emerged from the tree cover and put an arm over Mariko’s shoulder. 

“Hey Mags, Kiyo.” He glanced over the two of us and gave me a sly grin. “See you had the same idea we did.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh ho, did we now? Well, I certainly can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”

Mariko’s eyes widened. “I d-don’t know that we quite  hadthe same plan that they did. We were just going on a picnic.” She pointed at the blanket and basket Paul carried almost frantically. 

“And Kiyo and I were just enjoying a little target practice.” I gestured at the far end of the firing range at the floating energy constructs.

“Oh, is that what they’re calling it now?” Paul gave me a wink and turned away. “C’mon, Mariko. I don’t like interrupting someone’s game. We should get going.”

“Y-yes. The game of sharpshooting. We really should get going. For the picnic. We are taking a hike and having a nice picnic lunch, Magpie.” She put special emphasis on my name, as if daring me to make something of it. 

I didn’t. I’d already had my fun watching the motherly woman squirm. I’d wondered how she and Paul were getting on. I don’t know why she felt the need to hide her romantic intentions, though. They had been dating for a few weeks, and it was only natural for them to indulge in a little outdoor loving in the only private place left to us after the security crackdown. 

Ah, well. Some people are shy by nature. I was happy for them, after the efforts I’d put in to solve Mariko’s romantic troubles. Paul wasn’t Hiro, but he was a fine enough chat. 

We bade out goodbyes and, once I was sure they were out of earshot, I turned to Kiyo. “So, shall we pick up where we left off?”

She covered her face with her hands. “I knew we’d get caught! No way, Magpie. What if it had been a teacher? They know I reserved this spot!”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “What are the odds that they’d come out to check on us?”

“What were the odds that Paul and Mariko would stumble by? No, we’re going to actually shoot, and then we can go back to your room and … y’know.”

I rolled my eyes. “I swear, you’re all prudes. We’re all adults here. You and Mariko should just be frank about it.”

She shook her head. “No, and if you keep it up, we won’t have any f-fun.”

I knew it was a hollow threat, but it was best to play along. I let out a forlorn sigh. “Very well. I’ll find solace in the arms of Lucile, if you insist on spurning me so.” 

She cracked a grin at me. “Running away with my rifle, huh?” 

I shrugged. “What can I say? She has a nice stock.” 

Kiyo chuckled at that, finally getting over her embarrassment. “Hey, dude, I’m not the curviest person out there, but I think I’m sexier than a gun.”

I gave her a saucy wink. “That we can both agree on.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns with target practice. By the time we were done, Kiyo declared me a “halfway decent” shot. 

“By your standards, halfway decent is quite the compliment!”

She nodded. “We’ll have to do this again next week.”

“I still think we could make a little outdoor lovemaking work. Maybe you could use your Death of Light to keep us from being found out again,” I suggested.

“We’d still make noise,” she replied with a firm shake of the head. “Nope, we’ll use a bed in a private room. The natural way.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her nonsense. She’d blossomed in the time since I met her, but there were still signs of the strange, ill-kempt girl I’d met back in May. She whipped out her GoSato, and I served as her eyes, taking her by the shoulders to guide her down the hiking path back to the school proper. 

“Really, this school is a death trap,” I said. “There should have been a sign telling people to stay away from the firing range.”

She shrugged. “Whatever, man. We’ve got all the time in the world for… fun stuff. Just enjoy the weather and the breeze.”

“Says the girl buried in her game console,” I said. “You won’t see anything that way.”

“I’m enjoying the weather and the breeze. I don’t need my eyes for that. I technically didn’t say to enjoy the view.”

“If wizardry doesn’t pan out, you should be a lawyer.” 

Whatever she said in response was cut off when my phone rang. It ran through its ringtone, some catchy pop song that Kiyo had chosen for me. 

“Aren’t you gonna get that?”

“No, it can’t be anything important.” 

We didn’t get twenty feet before the blasted thing went off again. “You should answer, Magpie.”

“I don’t know who could possibly…” I reluctantly fished the phone from my pocket and trailed off when I saw the caller ID. 

I was a hundred feet away before Kiyo called after me. “Magpie? Where are you going?”

“It’s urgent,” I cried over my shoulder without slowing down. “I’ll explain later!” I put the glass square to my ear. “What is it, Maggie?”

“Don’t you ever make me dial twice again.” She spoke in a refined accent that I was convinced was put on.

I kept up my pace and waited a moment in silence. “Well? I swear, if all you wanted was another demonstration of my demonic magic, I’m going to hang up!”

“He’s coming out of it,” she replied. “We need to prepare a strategy.”

“Who…” My guts froze. “Haru?”

“Who else,” she asked with more than a touch of disdain. “Meet me at the base of the Tower. We don’t have much time!”

*********

Next Update:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/41038173