Chapter 21

“Russo… Russo…” A voice gently called out.

            “Ugghhh..” Russo moaned as his ears registered the soothing tones drifting into them. “Just a few more minutes master…”

            “I thought you reserved that title for Varun?” The voice softly said as it began to chuckle.

            His eyes still closed, Russo furrowed his brows. “Dammit,” he curtly responded.

“Good morning to you too, child,” Nadie cheekily responded as she grabbed Russo by collars of his tunic and long sleeved shirt and hoisted him up off the mattress. The human’s eyes shot open as he felt his body being lifted off of the mattress and dangled in mid-air. Nadie raised her eyebrows and smiled at him in smug satisfaction as she held him out in front of her.

            “Have a good sleep?” She asked as she showed him a toothy, but genuine, grin.

            “You could say that…” He slowly responded as he got a good look at Nadie. Clad only in a form fitting long sleeve shirt and some worn pants, Russo couldn’t help but notice how ripped she was. From their brief meeting yesterday Russo had already come to mentally label her as utterly imposing, but it was only now he realized how all-encompassing and accurate that description was. “So uh…” Russo’s eyes glanced up and down her body, noting her impressive six pack abs, her toned arms, and her generous breasts, “You’ve aged well.” He began to ponder whether or not that shirt was even supposed to be that form fitting.

            She smiled as she lowered him to the ground and set him on his feet. “Why thank you!” she happily replied as she scratched at the graying fur on her chin. “But don’t go thinking you can use flattery to get me off topic.”

            “You weren’t just here to harass me and wake me up?”

            “Of course not! If I’m going to see if I can even try to help you with your demon problem, I’d like you to bring me up to speed on the situation as quickly as possible. Go wash up and grab yourself a meal like I told you to last night. I’m fairly busy today and I’d prefer it if you informed me of your plight nice and early before I get too bogged down with work.”

            “R-right. Can do,” Russo replied as he looked up at the looming panthress.

            “Good. Meet me in my office when you’re ready, we have much to talk about.” With a gentle smile and a swish of her long black tail she turned her back to Russo and strode out the door of the guest bedroom. Russo felt his cheeks burn slightly as he got a good eyeful of her posterior. He shook his head to preemptively stifle any unwanted thoughts and quickly made his way out of the guest room and back towards main floor. “No need to keep her waiting…” he shyly thought to himself as his footsteps padded against the stone stairs as he ascended to ground level.

             Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he opened the basement door and made his way into the main hall, Russo was surprised by the utter lack of people. His eyes glanced over a window and he noticed that instead of sunlight pouring through, there was only darkness.

             “Nice and early indeed,” he quipped to himself as he meandered about, looking for the kitchen. He eventually found it, and an older gentleman inside who was just beginning to prepare some breakfast for the guild for the day. Unfortunately the guy didn’t have much to offer at this early of an hour but he did manage to scramble up some hot oatmeal for Russo. It was better than going hungry for the day and the mage thanked him for feeding him on such short notice. Bowl of oatmeal and spoon in hand, Russo plopped down at an empty table and ate in silence in the empty hall. The only sounds to be heard were the occasional clinging of the spoon against the ceramic bowl. Once he had finished he slunk back inside the kitchen and dropped off the dirtied silverware and resumed meandering about in search of some baths. The end result was that after half an hour or so of being hopelessly lost he went right back to the kitchen to ask the older gentleman for directions.

            With trepidation Russo pushed open the door to the baths, and thankfully found that they were empty. He let out a sigh of relief as he undressed and tossed the clean clothes he’d retrieved from his room in the corner. While packing he hadn’t had the foresight to pack two towels, one for drying himself off and one for wearing while bathing in public. He quickly slid into the bath, doing his best to relax in the heated water. The thought that someone could walk in at any moment and see him in the nude effectively cancelled out the soothing influence of the water however.

            “Thank god she did end up waking me so early…” Russo gratefully thought to himself as he slid under the water completely and washed himself as quickly as he could. Once he was good and clean he clambered out  and dried himself off as hastily as possible. He hurriedly made his way back down to the basement after he was fully clothed, tossed his dirty clothes and damp towel into his guest room as he passed by, and shortly thereafter made his way towards Nadie’s office. As he was about to knock on her office door Russo quickly performed a heel turn and ran back to his guest room when he realized he had forgotten to grab Umbra’s horn. After that slight delay he was right back at Nadie’s door, knocking gently to grab her attention.

            “It’s unlocked!” She called out. Russo slowly opened the door and closed it behind him. He timidly sat down at a chair seated before her desk and was slightly relieved to see she had tossed on a cloak in the meantime. At least he wouldn’t be unduly distracted while retelling his embarrassing tale.

            “So… want me to start from the beginning?” Russo asked as he sighed and made himself comfortable in the chair as he prepared to retell the tale for the third time.

From there he proceeded to give Nadie the long version of how he went to the fictional medieval version of New Orleans to get laid, but then wound up unintentionally asking for the services of a demon. Russo tried to rush through the parts where he described how he ran like hell, nearly pissed himself, assaulted the demon bitch with a toilet seat and proceeded to run some more until the local water goddess gave him some backup and wound up giving some credence to the phrase “holy shit.” Unfortunately for him, Nadie wanted all of the details and was adamant about making sure she was told everything. Much to the human’s chagrin he was asked to retell and elucidate certain parts of the story.

“And that’s all there is to tell…” Russo said feeling somewhat drained as his tale came to a close. Much to his surprise, Nadie’s response wasn’t to stifle a chuckle or laugh uproariously.

“So the only magic she used on you was that magical drain of sorts, correct?”

“Uhhh… yes, that’s right. I’m sure she knew other spells but she didn’t decide to use them, luckily for me.”

“Hmm…” Nadie pondered loudly as one of her clawed fingers tapped on the desk. “You also said that you acquired a horn of hers. Do you have it on you?”

“Yes.”

“May I see it?”

“Sure.” Russo fished out the horn from a cloak pocket and handed it over to Nadie. She examined it closely as she channeled magical energy into it and observed the dark aura it gave off. “Varun has told me you know a veritable plethora of spells…”

“Right…”

“Could you do me a favor and try hitting this horn with some spells of yours?”

“Okay. Just set it down in the corner and I’ll have at it.”

“My apologies, you misunderstand me child. I meant that I want you to cast your spells on it while it is exuding dark energies.”

“You mean while you’re holding it?”

“Correct.”

“…You’re sure?”

“Heh, are you worried you may accidentally hurt me?”

“You’re asking me to cast any number of spells on something held in your hand at point blank range. Yes, I’m a little worried about your well-being.”

Nadie chuckled as the energy dissipated around the horn. She set it on the desk and gently ruffled Russo’s hair. “Such a kind and thoughtful child you are.”

“And such a reckless guild master you are.”

Nadie stuck out her tongue playfully and pressed down upon Russo’s head and tussled his hair beyond repair. “I assure you Russo, I’ll be fine. I’m not saying you couldn’t hurt me if you tried… it’s just that it would require a great deal of effort on your part. I’m not asking you to hit me with all you’ve got. A simple thunder or fire or blizzard spell will suffice.”

Russo sighed as he concentrated magic around his fingertips. “You’re absolutely certain about this?”

Nadie responded by picking back up the horn and channeling magic back into it.

“Fine.” A white aura surrounded Russo’s fingertips and cold wisps of air tumbled down from around his fingers and quickly disappeared as they were warmed by the ambient temperature. Russo snapped his fingers and a small beam of white light shot out from his hand and connected with the horn, as well as some of Nadie’s fingers. A frost formed on the panther’s furred fingers and the horn as well. The dark aura weakened slightly and became less noticeable. The frost quickly melted and water dripped from the panther’s fingers, yet the frozen moisture persisted on the horn. Nadie hmmed in understanding and ceased channeling magic into the horn and wiped the frost off with her cloak. She immediately channeled magic back into and the dark aura returned, back at its full strength.

“Again.”

Russo shrugged as a blue aura surrounded his fingers and small sparks of electricity crackled along his skin. He fired off a bolt of lightning at the horn and there was no noticeable effect. The dark aura wasn’t affected in the slightest, although the fur along Nadie’s fingers and forearm was standing on end due to the residual static electricity that lingered behind from the spell. Nadie frowned slightly after seeing the result.

“Again.”

Russo rolled his eyes as a red aura surrounded his hand and the air around it became distorted due to the heat. The human focused intently on putting just enough energy in the spell and managed to fire off but a single ball of flame. As soon as it made contact with the horn it was completely absorbed and the dark aura strengthened significantly. Looking on in alarm, the human scooted his chair back as Nadie looked on intently. With time the aura began to fade back to its normal size and Nadie ceased channeling magical energies into it. The panther nodded in understanding as a smile formed on her muzzle and she rubbed at the singed fur on her fingers.

“Find out anything useful besides the fact that fire spells are the worst possible things I could cast on Umbra?”

“Quite a bit actually, yes. Do you know any other offensive spells by chance?”

“I know some incredibly basic earth and wind magic and that’s about it.”

“You don’t know any dark magic or light magic spells?”

“I tend to stay away from those two considering the polarizing takes on morality that they both imply. I mean I know a barrier spell and a basic healing spell but that’s about the farthest I care to dip into light magic. As for dark magic, I’d simply rather not get involved with that can of worms.”

“Light magic nor dark magic are inherently good or bad, child.”

“Yet nearly every person who wields light magic is a goody two shoes and every person I’ve come across who wields dark magic is diabolical bastard.”

Nadie raised her eyebrows and a dark aura surrounded her fingertips. It grew in size and strength until her entire hand and forearm were covered with it.

“…NEARLY every person I’ve come across who wields dark magic tends to be dastardly.”

  “You do know that light magic can be used to protect and heal all the wrong people? Light magic spells don’t seek out and harm or heal people based upon whether or not they’re a good or bad person. It’s the person casting the spells who determines who to harm and who to heal. It’s much the same with dark magic.”

“Can we please just get back to the discussion at hand? What did you find out from that impromptu little experiment of yours?”

Nadie sighed as her tail lashed back and forth behind her. “So damned stubborn, just like Varun. Regardless, you noticed how it actually absorbed the fire magic you cast upon it?”

“How could I not have?”

“That would indicate that Umbra is a fire demon. She’ll have primarily fire and dark magic at her disposal with which to attack you. DO NOT hit her with fire magic of any sort. Not only will it not hurt her, I’m fairly certain it will actually heal and energize her.”

“Fantastic,” Russo said exasperatedly as he leaned back in his chair. “I know demons are big on darkness and such but fire too?”

“Different demons have different magical affinities. Kind of like how some people gravitate towards specific spell types, like wind or thunder, some demons behave the same way.”

“What, so you’re saying some demons are heavy on other kinds of magic like ice or thunder, and get healed when hit with those kinds of spells?”

“Precisely.”

Russo ran a hand through his hair as he grimaced at the thought. “Why the hell is that?”

Nadie bit her lip as she tried to come up with an adequate explanation. “I can’t really say. I’ve always heard demons are born in and dwell amongst the darkest of magics and have a much closer connection with magic than mortals do. Maybe they are aware of certain properties of magic that we aren’t and are simply able to use that to their advantage. Nevertheless, from what we’ve just seen and from what I’ve heard, some demons are able to absorb not only dark magic but certain other magics as well. It’s fortunate you came away with this little souvenir from your last fight, at least you learned all of this ahead of time rather than during the heat of a fight.”

“I still think it’s bullshit how they can absorb magic to heal. I mean I know that kind of the same process happens when you cast a healing spell on someone. The body absorbs the magic and uses it to repair and revitalize itself, but still it limits my options for attacking her. I’m really hoping this fight doesn’t happen period and that I’m just getting worked up over nothing. “

Nadie shrugged before continuing. “Lightning magic, as I imagine earth and wind magic as well, will have little effect on her. You saw how that bolt of yours barely affected the horn?”

“I saw…”

“Your best bet in fighting her would be to focus on using whatever ice spells you know. If you can actually hit her with a few blasts of that you should be able to dampen her powers, maybe even stand a chance against her head on.”

            “Wouldn’t water be a better counter against fire as opposed to ice? I never bothered learning water spells since it’s a lot easier to hurt stuff with shards of ice as opposed to huge globs of water.”

            “Honestly I would think the same, but maybe ice spells simply cool down and stifle her ability to use magic much more so than water spells. It is what it is.”

            “This is starting to get to be a little much to follow…” Russo groaned as rubbed his forehead.

            “Avoid using fire spells on Umbra and focus on ice spells if you ever do fight with Umbra.”

            “No no no, I got that it’s just… dammit I just like knowing why some spells work and others don’t is all. I guess I’m just a little frustrated that I don’t why or how she’s able to absorb some magic and she shies away from others.”

            A smug grin formed on Nadie’s muzzle. “Talk like that makes me think that you’d do well to help me study and learn more about demons.”

            “Considering all that I’ve learned so far about demons has either confused or frustrated me, I think I’ll pass.”

            “Think about it,” she said reassuringly as she gazed intently at him. She picked back up the horn and waved it about. “After all, you’ll be staying here a few days and I’d love a research assistant.”

            “Why would I be staying here for a few more days?”

            “I thought you’d want me to see if I could get some armor and weapons crafted for you using this demon horn? I’m sure if you gave me enough time I could imbue that cloak of yours with the same properties as Umbra’s horn.”

            “Which would mean that fire and dark spells couldn’t touch me… meaning that everything Umbra could throw at me would be rendered moot.” Russo trailed off as he marveled at the realization. Hell, the idea of some bitching armor and weapons had been half the reason he’d come way out here in the first place. “It wouldn’t kill me to linger around for a while…”

            “Wonderful to hear! I’ll just be holding onto this then,” she said as she pocketed Umbra’s horn. “And I’ll be taking this,” she smirked as she reached across her desk and dragged Russo off his chair and towards her by the neck of his cloak. She unceremoniously yanked it off over his head, disorienting him and sending him stumbling to the ground.

            “You could’ve just asked for it,” he mumbled into the ground. He planted both of his hands on the ground and pushed himself back onto his knees. “Hey uh… before you get too far ahead of yourself, could I ask a favor?”

            “You mean besides counseling you on how to fight this demon of yours and crafting armor for you?”

            “…Yeah. You know when you say it like that it makes me sound like I’m really needy and have asked a lot of you.”

            “That’s one way to interpret it,” The panthress replied with a toothy grin as she placed her elbow against her desk and let her chin rest in her hand.

            “Huh. Well… anyway… I was hoping that m-maybe if you’re not too busy, you could give a vest and another cloak that demon treatment? I was hoping to surprise some friends with them. I-if you’re okay with that!”

             With raised eyebrows and a smug grin the panthress replied. “I’ll tell you what. If you promise to stick around for a week and serve as my research assistant, I will gladly do you this favor.”

            A week was significantly longer than he had planned on staying here in Yash but the payoff was worth it. “Deal.”

            The Yash guild master extended out a furred hand to seal the agreement. The human mage from Tedrah extended out a hand in response and grasped the noticeably larger hand as well as he could. A firm (bonecrushing for Russo) handshake followed and the deal was struck.

            “Wait. Is there any reason why none of the guild members here have volunteered to be your research assistant?” Russo warily asked as he began to regret agreeing to her terms so quickly.

            “I imagine it might have something to do with the fact that the hours are terrible, it’s fairly reading and writing intensive, and the only payment is in the form of room and board.” She got up from her desk and patted Russo on the back as she walked by. “Thanks for volunteering so quickly by the way! Most of the people I ask to help usually ask about the work conditions first. It’s nice to see someone who’s eager to dive right into research for a change, no questions asked!”

            “Hooray…” Russo replied as his excitement morphed to dread in record time.

            “Come on, I’m sure the sun is up by now a good and a proper breakfast will be ready for all the guild by now,” She said as a large hand wrapped itself around the human’s arm and led him along the subterranean hallway. “We’ll grab something to eat and I can tell you more about what I have in store for you.”

            Russo groaned as he let himself be dragged along back up to the main hall. Much to his surprise, in the few hours that he and Nadie had been chatting the guild had livened up considerably. Well truth be told there were only like two dozen people loitering about but it was a significant improvement from zero people earlier on. Russo shielded his eyes as they drifted towards the windows and saw that darkness had been replaced by the glare of the sun as it just began to poke over the horizon.

            The panthress deposited the human by a table near the front of the hall and instructed him to wait there while she fetched them a proper breakfast. With a yawn Russo rested his head against his arms upon the table and began to wonder just what the hell he had gotten himself into. Though dwelling on his poor decisions was made somewhat difficult by the conversation he was unintentionally eavesdropping on, taking place at a nearby table. 

            “Tyr, when I said you should get out of the library more often this isn’t what I had in mind.” The raccoon girl said chidingly as she gently plucked a book from the fox’s hands.

            “You never said I couldn’t study and read outside of the library,” The orange fox chuckled uneasily.

            “It was implied that you would socialize and actually get out and about Tyr.”

            “Out and about? It’s starting to get freezing out though Morgan…”

            “Tyr,” The white mage replied with a sigh.

            “B-but I did actually socialize yesterday! …A little.”

            “Really now?”

            “Yeah. See that guy over there napping at that table? I chatted with him a bit yesterday,” the fox pointed towards Russo, who was slumped over at a table.

            “Uh huh. So if I were to ask him about what all you spoke about yesterday he would be able to confirm that you said more than “hi”?”

            “Yep.”

            Morgan quickly glanced over at the human hunched over at the table. She was surprised to see the master approach and sit across from him, two plates crammed full of food in hand. The panthress placed one plate in front of the human and slammed a fist against the table to wake him up. The human jolted to attention as the table rumbled beneath him and the panthress pointed towards the plate of food and indicated for him to eat. He seemed vaguely familiar but she knew he wasn’t a member of the guild. “He asked for directions to the master’s office didn’t he?”

            “T-that counts!”

            The raccoon girl gently shook her head and placed a hand upon his shoulder. “Come on Tyr, let’s go socialize a little. I know that if you can handle chatting with the master and I, I’m sure you can strike up a conversation with that guy over there.”

            “Okay, okay,” Tyr said halfheartedly as he got up from the table. Morgan smiled at him in reassurance and his mood picked up a little.

            “Good morning master!” Morgan called out as she and Tyr approached the table.

“Good morning to you Morgan, Tyridia!” Nadie happily responded. Russo absentmindedly scarfed scrambled eggs into his mouth as he listened to the exchange.

“Morgan… Morgan… why is that name so familiar?” He scrunched his eyebrows as he tried to remember where he had heard that name and turned around to face the Yash guild members who were approaching. Russo’s eyes went wide and Morgan stopped dead in her tracks as they made eye contact. “Oh crap I remember now.”

“You…” Morgan quietly uttered as she stared at the human.

“Heyyyyyyyyyy,” Russo uneasily responded.

“Morgan, I believe you’ve already met Russo here.” Nadie stated as Tyr continued to approach.

“Oh! You and Morgan know each other?” Tyridia asked curiously as he sat down next to Russo, interested at how the human and his best friend were acquainted with one another.

“You might say that,” Russo nervously replied as his eyes followed Morgan as she slowly made her way over to the table. “We… worked together on a mission a few months back,” Russo slowly said as he warily kept an eye on Morgan, who was shooting him daggers from the opposite side of the table as she sat down next to the panthress.

“How’d that turn out?” Tyridia innocently inquired, oblivious to the hostile manner with which Morgan acted towards Russo. “This whole socialization thing isn’t that bad when there’s actually something to talk about,” the fox contentedly thought to himself.

“Not as well as it could have,” the raccoon answered for him.

“Given what Russo here found while on that mission, I’d argue that the results were the best we could have hoped for,” Nadie chimed in as she devoured some monstrous slices of ham.

“Wait, what?” Morgan and Russo asked in unison.

“Did you not tell your companions what you found deep in the heart of that mountain?” The panther asked surprised.

“There really wasn’t much of a chance to given the circumstances,” Russo admitted embarrassedly. “So wait. How do you know about what all went down in Peccamen?”

“I’ll take that as a sign that you did as you were told to and didn’t sneak a look at the letter you delivered to me last night. Such a loyal child you are,” She cooed as she patted him on the head.

Russo grumbled as he swatted away the panthress’ hand. “Stop that!”

 “Hmm, I really ought to get to work. Why not inform Morgan and Tyridia here about what you found during your mission in Peccamen, see if you can’t patch things up?” Nadie suggested as she got up from the table and gazed at Russo. “Judging from Morgan’s debriefing and mention of you, you didn’t make the best of impressions. Why not see if you can salvage that?”

            With a swish of her tail, Nadie left and made her way back towards the basement, leaving Morgan and Russo to cautiously gauge one another. Tyridia absentmindedly pondered what the hell happened to the flow of the conversation.

“So… you and Morgan were on a mission together?” The fox managed to work up the courage to ask.

The mage briefly looked at the fox but turned to the raccoon to ask a question. “…Want me to start at the beginning or should I just skip to the part where everything went to hell?”