Chapter 5: The Sorceress Appears

            Mr. Ludwig clapped his hands excitedly as he put materials into a pot of green goo in the middle of a large ritual circle he had drawn on the ground. He had heard stories of how the Sorceress was so powerful that she had destroyed entire armies at the peak of her rule and so he had to make adequate preparation for her arrival. He spoke magic words, invoking dark spirits, and laughed as the ritual was complete. 300 death reaper-like druids appeared in the room, all under his command. The main demon he summoned was the DeathKeeper, which was twice as tall as any of the other druids. With bone-hands, it carried a chain that extended into its black cloak. Like the other druids, its face was in darkness, if it even had a face.

            Mr. Ludwig now placed the Dragon’s Eye talisman, containing the four human sacrifices, into a space on the coffin reserved for the talisman. When placed, it glowed a deep blue as the coffin opened and a flash of gold light escaped from the coffin. Red smoke seeped out of the coffin until the sleeping body of the Sorceress could be seen. She was a young woman with glowing, white skin and long, straight red-brown hair. She was relatively tall, about six feet in height. She was embroidered in gold and silk and her dress was a mix of gold and blue colors. Her eyes were closed and stayed closed even after she levitated into a standing position and settled down with her feet touching the floor. Then, her big, wide brown eyes flickered open. She looked around and saw Mr. Ludwig and his druids.

            “Allow me to touch your head so that I can speak in your tongue,” she said mentally to every soul in the room. Mr. Ludwig came forward and the Sorceress raised her hand to his head for a moment and then released it. Mr. Ludwig carefully pulled out the talisman from the front of the coffin as he stepped backwards into his original position.

            “So then, Joysha, I suppose you must have quite a few questions for me,” said Mr. Ludwig. Joysha nodded slightly.

            “How long have I been sleeping? How is my family?” asked Joysha.

            “Well, you’ve been gone for the last 5,000 years so I guess that means your family is long dead,” said Mr. Ludwig.

            “Oh,” realized Joysha, looking down sadly. “Well, 5,000 years is a really long time and I’ve always wanted to visit the future. How exciting!” exclaimed Joysha as her face brightened up. She stretched and cracked her joints, which had been long dormant. Mr. Ludwig’s expression suddenly became more serious.

            “Well, that’s the right spirit. Now, it’s time to get down to business Miss Sorceress. I woke you up for a reason,” explained Mr. Ludwig. Joysha smiled widely.

            “I see that you have many magical items. What could I possibly do for you, my fine gentleman?” asked Joysha, bowing slightly. Mr. Ludwig smirked darkly.

            “I have read much about you. According to the coffin, you were made eternally youthful with no side effects. I have lots of money and lots of magic but I’m a mortal man. I want you to give me the secret to your eternal youthfulness,” said Mr. Ludwig, drooling at the possibility. Joysha relaxed and ran her fingers through her hair, contemplating her past. Then, it hit her.

            “Oh, actually, I think there was this incident in my past where I became part-vampire, which is why the mystics who sealed me thought I was eternally youthful and recorded that. I’m probably not the right person to ask but I guess if you want to be immortal, you should get bitten by a vampire,” explained Joysha casually. Mr. Ludwig first glared and then his entire face twisted up and became as red as an apple because of his uncontrollable anger. He couldn’t believe that after decades of lost effort to secure immortality, he would yet again fail.

            “What!!!” he yelled. “You are not a vampire. It doesn’t say so anywhere on your coffin!” roared Mr. Ludwig loudly. Joysha smirked.

            “Well, the mystics didn’t know everything about me. As I said, I’m not a real vampire anyways. I’m no different from how I was before my incident. It’s just that the potential for vampirism and transforming into one exists in me,” explained Joysha. Mr. Ludwig then realized something.

            “Then, transform into a vampire and bite into me. Make me into the type of vampire you are,” demanded Mr. Ludwig. Joysha softly scratched her head.

            “I’m sorry. I really am. I just don’t remember and probably never even knew how to transform,” said Joysha quietly. Mr. Ludwig’s face started to look like it was going to explode when his expression completely relaxed all of a sudden and his characteristic smile became planted on his face again.

            “Then, I will have to make you my slave until I find out how to force you to transform, my dear. I am, likewise, so sorry,” said Mr. Ludwig smiling as if his mouth was endlessly wide. He swiped his hand towards Joysha and the DeathKeeper demon’s chain grasped through Joysha’s chest and locked onto her soul. Joysha was pulled forward by the chain to her knees. She looked back at Mr. Ludwig, taken aback.

            “You see, my dear, magic has progressed since your time. As a sorcerer, my name is the Dark Po and I’m sure you of all people should know what that means,” grinned Mr. Ludwig. “It means I am the wielder of the most magical items of any sorcerer in the world and the most powerful sorcerer of this class of all time.”

            Joysha had a bored expression on her face as she tried to get up but a pain in her chest forced her down again. “That’s right. The more you struggle, the tighter the grip of my DeathKeeper on your soul,” said Dark Po smugly. “Oh and if you try anything, I’ll use this to take your soul,” said Dark Po, bringing out the Dragon’s Eye talisman. “It derives its power from Ra, the same being whose power sealed you away long ago. So, I suggest you be a good girl and cooperate by transforming. I have many druids here that are dying to eat up your existence,” chuckled Dark Po. Joysha laughed along with him. Dark Po suddenly stopped laughing, narrowing his eyes as if they weren’t already narrow enough.

            “For a practitioner of magic, your arrogance baffles me,” observed Joysha with her eyes closed as Dark Po’s teeth gritted tightly and shook. “I’ll give you a crash course on magic. To practice magic is to tamper with the unseen aspects of existence beyond the normal and the logical. As a result, most if not all sorcerers are never fully aware of what they are dealing with and are not capable of comprehending it. Most magic is dark magic, involving invocation of spirits or demons the way you are doing now. So, the magic and power sorcerers use are not from themselves but from these unseen dark forces. Very few humans are born with innate mystical energies that they can learn to control using their emotions but most are unremarkable. I, however, don’t actually use magic, despite being called a sorceress,” explained Joysha.

            “I don’t believe you dear and if you keep talking but don’t transform, I will have the DeathKeeper crush your soul,” said Dark Po deceptively slowly and kindly with a wild smile on his face. Joysha smiled.

            “See, now that’s just it. My power comes from my core, my heart and soul, and I’ve managed to decently increase the size and strength of my spirit energy, a type of energy associated with souls, with intensive martial arts training. I can manipulate the outward manifestations of my spirit energy in a way that resembles magic,” explained Joysha.

            “Well, unless you have the spirit energy of one hundred human souls, my DeathKeeper will crush you,” said Dark Po.

            “I thought you’d never bring that up,” chuckled Joysha as a white light emanated from her. “Here is the power of one hundred human souls,” said Joysha. The chain’s lock began to loosen as the DeathKeeper bent down and held tightly onto the rope to push it towards itself. Joysha stood up and lightly held onto the spirit chain. Dark Po had a shocked expression on his face.

            “T-There is no way you have that much power. DeathKeeper, kill her immediately!” commanded Dark Po, evilly. The DeathKeeper pulled hard on Joysha’s chain, forcing Joysha to lose her breath for a moment and get pushed forward by one step. Dark Po chuckled smugly, realizing the struggle. Joysha smiled again as she pulled out a sword from her side as if by magic making it appear, raised it, and used the blade edge to cut through the chain in one strike. She quickly returned the sword to its sheath on her side and it disappeared again as if by magic. The chain, DeathKeeper, and druids all disappeared in an instant with a collective undead moan. Dark Po was dumbfounded.

            “I will become immortal! I will be worshipped as a god in this world and all will bow before me. You transgressing, wicked girl. I will now take your soul with my Dragon’s Eye,” exclaimed Dark Po, with a wavering confidence. Joysha laughed out loud.

            “You think that little toy can take me. Your demon magic is powerful but my spirit power, however unusual, is more than you can take on,” said Joysha casually jumping to sit on the edge of her coffin playfully. With a red face and gritted teeth, Dark Po whispered an incantation and the eye of talisman glowed red. The white light from Joysha was getting sucked into the talisman. Soon, Joysha no longer emanated any light and the talisman stopped glowing. Dark Po was surprised but then realized the outcome.

            “I’ve absorbed all of your energy. You are nothing but a regular girl now and your only hope for survival is to transform and make me immortal, hehe,” remarked Dark Po, relaxed suddenly. Joysha looked bored and stood up with her hands on her hips. Then, she raised her hands out in front of her and to the sides. With a buzzing, the light began to emanate from her again. Dark Po was shocked. “H-how?” he asked in disbelief.

            “As I said, I don’t use magic, my power is from my trained heart and soul, and unless you can change who I am, you can never extinguish my power. I can just renew and recharge my strength from the core of my being,” explained Joysha. Dark Po trembled and sweated fearfully, dropping his talisman to the floor and taking steps away from the Sorceress. Joysha quietly walked up to Dark Po. “I will make you forget our meeting. It will be better that way,” said Joysha swiping her hand across the face of Dark Po. Dark Po fell to the floor unconscious. Joysha put her hand on her hips and smilingly said, “Now, I get to explore this exciting new future world.”

Reviews

[Eliezer]

The story seemed very top heavy on the exposition, although I still enjoyed it. Even though it was only introduced near the end, I especially liked how you went into the theory behind magic itself. I'm always a sucker for that kind of thing.

[Azmain Nisak]

Thank you for your constructive review! I'm glad you enjoyed the story and liked that aspect.