Chapter Four

Three Masters of The Mystic Arts gathered in the Relic Room of the Sanctum Sanctorum, New York, prepared to pass judgement on smeocan. All three stood in the circle of sunlight on the floor, which blazed in thru the huge round window.

Stephen swirled his Curtain Of Night spell aside, which left the creature still imprisoned in Jades.

Once it realized how much light was outside its prisons' three dark walls, it shifted nervously back into a corner.

Jade, in her astral form, her Staff gripped tightly, her expression tight, looked to Wong, then Stephen, who nodded.

They had agreed, earlier, that, given her familiarity with the beings native speech, Jade should be the main interrogator.

Stephen had speed studied what he'd had available, and felt he had a grasp of the language, but both he and Wong would have to rely on Jade for an accurate translation.

Stephen, Cloak on his shoulders, holding a rigid stance with its collar, stepped forward. Jade on one side, Wong, the other, and addressed the captive, formally,

'Smeocan, I am Doctor Stephen Strange, Master of New York. This is Jade, Master of London. This is Wong, Master at Kamar-Taj.

'We are here to decide your fate.

'Do you understand?'

Jade repeated, in the harsh edged dialect, what Stephen said, and, when she did so, the black cloak swirled closer to the front of its cage, clearly intrigued.

It looked toward Stephen, then back to Jade.

'Do you understand?' Stephen repeated, and, before Jade spoke, it nodded its collar,

Yes.

Stephen gave a satisfied nod, pleased that he'd been right. He stole a glance at Wong, but, of course, he was wearing Wong Face, which never revealed anything.

Jade couldn't suppress a faint smile. It hadn't been too difficult to convince her of the need to learn more about this being before making any decisions.

'You served Sable for a very long time,' Stephen observed, waiting for Jade to translate, and black cloak bobbed, agreement.

Brow lowered, Stephen took a step closer, asked,

'What will you do, now that your Master is dead?'

As Jade spoke, the cloak replied slowly, deliberately, No.

'You will do nothing?' Wong asked, sharply, but Stephen shook his head, disagreement, realizing,

'Its not answering what it will do. It's clarifying something else.'

Jade nodded, agreement, but, before she was able to speak, the black cloak swung, faced Stephen, floated up to eye level, hung very still.

Stephen took a deep breath, another step closer. On his shoulders, Cloak trembled, gripped tighter.

'Sable is dead,' Stephen stated, his tone low and powerful, 'Was he not your Master?'

The black cloak came up, touched the glass, swirling, as Jade repeated the question.

It hesitated, then shook, firmly,

NO, NO, NO, then slammed smokey fists against the glass.

Startled, all three Masters stepped back, and Cloaks edges instinctively curled to protect its Chosen.

The black cloak jerked away, spun angry loops around the prison, then stopped, hung, facing them, its form roiling like a bubbling cauldron.

Stephen glared at the creature, Jade was clearly shaken, and Wong wore a fierce scowl.

After a few moments of shocked silence, Wong observed, flatly,

'Perhaps it was unwise to spare this being.'

Jade shot Wong an angry look, as Stephen shook his head, eyes focused on the ebon cloak.

'I don't know about that, but I do think we should keep it. See if anyone shows up looking for it.'

'It's true Master?' Jade offered, deliberately, watching the cloak closely for a reaction to her words.

'That would be me,' a voice crackled, as a billowing black cloud formed opposite the trio of Masters. A slate grey portal opened, revealing a tall, lean figure, wearing soot black clothes, standing within.

He had a shock of raven black hair, coal black eyes, and pointedly didn't step out of his aura of self made night.

Immediately, Jade dropped her Staff into a defensive angle, Wong pulled up eldritch shields, and Cloak threw its edges up, preparation.

Stephen, however, stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest, fingers curled, ready to attack, or defend, whichever he deemed necessary, depending on the newcomers intent.

'And, you are?' he sniped, and the fellow smiled.

He had ridiculously bright white teeth, and didn't seem at all intimidated by their aggressive stances.

'Cwellan Leoht,' he replied, with a slight bow.

'Killer Of Light,' Jade whispered, an edge of fear in her normally confident tone.

The fellow scowled, made a wry face, corrected,

'Well, that's a very literal translation, but not super accurate. I prefer to be thought of as a Creator Of Darkness.'

The three Masters exchanged confused looks, and Cwellan sighed, exaggeratedly, rolled his eyes,

'Just call me Wisp. It's much less terrifying.'

Surveying their expressions, he shrugged,

Ok, I admit, its not the greatest moniker, but, hey, what can I say? Modern times call for updated definitions.'

Cautiously, Stephen lowered his hands, not quite certain how to react.

Wisp narrowed his gaze at Stephen, and the humor went out of his demeanor,

'I've come to collect my cloak.'

All three glanced toward the cage as he pointed.

The ebon cloak threw itself tightly against the glass, then broke away to race around the case in excitement.

'Your cloak?' Jade repeated, and Wisp nodded, clarified,

'Yes. I created it.'

'It served Sable,' Wong retorted, pulling a frown to Wisps brow.

'Sable stole it from me, centuries ago. Enslaved it, hid it.

'Now that he's dead, I'll become its Master, again.'

'What Master do you serve?' Stephen demanded, drawing a flash of anger from Wisp.

'I do what profits me, in service to no one, but myself.'

He paused, clarified,

'For the record, I define my alignment as chaotic neutral.'

'This creature of yours has been party to much evil. Did you create it, so?' Wong snapped, still holding his shields up.

Wisp tilted his head, a curious twist to his features,

'I guess that depends on your definition of evil. Left on its own, this one,' he pointed toward the captive cloak, 'Would be more like a mischievous child.'

After a second, he amended, with a devious smile,

'Perhaps, a naughty child.'

Ebon cloak drew back, an offended huff of smoke flicked from its shoulders.

Despite the situation, a tiny grin twitched the corner of Jades lips, and she dropped her Staff tip to the floor.

'What is your intent, Wisp?' she wondered, looking at the dark cloak with a strangely sad expression.

'As I said, I've come to take my cloak to a safer realm.

'Once, this dimension held enough darkness that we could survive here.'

Wisp scowled,

'Now, its become a world full of lights. Your kind doesn't even allow the nights to be dark. There's never time to rest, to embrace that beauty.'

Stephen lowered his hands, bemused by Wisps odd behavior. He certainly didn't appear to offer any threat. His affection for the smokey cloak was obvious, as was its attachment to him.

Stephen recognized the strength of such a relationship.

He also recalled how he'd felt, when Cloak had been lost in the Gyve, and that memory clinched his decision.

Wong and Jade both looked at him, awaiting his verdict.

'If you will agree to leave, peaceably, with this creature, I will allow it,' Stephen decided.

Cloak gave an annoyed twist along his shoulders, but it was half hearted.

Wisp looked at him, for a long moment, with a completely astonished expression, then exploded into hysterical laughter.

His outburst was so boisterous it shook dust from the ceiling beams.

Stephen, Wong and Jade had no idea how to take that.

'My dear Masters,' he finally managed, wiping away a tear or two, 'You aren't in a position to allow, or deny, me anything!'

To demonstrate, he gave a wave of his arms, expanded his cloud of blackness so it enveloped them all, nearly filling the room.

Protected from the sunlight, he stepped up to Stephen.

'Master Strange, I respect you. A mortal, who faced, and defeated, Dormamuu, but that's the extent of my tolerance. Don't attempt to interfere with me.'

His tone was matter of fact; a warning, rather than a threat.

Stephens brows lowered, a twitch of annoyance, but he said nothing.

Wisp turned his attention to Jade, flicked a quick glance toward her physical form, which rested across the room in the tall backed chair, and his expression seemed to soften,

'Master Jade, I appreciate your kindness in sparing my cloak, when you could easily have allowed it to be destroyed.'

Jade tilted her head, smiled, acknowledgment.

Wisp looked to Wong, spoke a short sentence in an unfamiliar language, which Stephen realized must be Wongs native tongue.

Wongs response was a curt nod, accompanied by a slight bow.

Stephen met Jades eyes, gave a nod of approval.

The three Masters stepped away, and Jade dissolved her Curtain Of Night, freeing the ebon cloak.

It tore past them, a whirlwind, to twine onto Wisps shoulders, pulling a broad grin to his bold features.

He spoke softly to the smokey companion, shared a gentle touch, then tightened his expression.

With a casual wave, he recalled his cloud of night, collapsing it into a narrow gateway, where he stood, a moment longer.

Contemplating Stephen, and Cloak.

Wisp chuckled when his cloak wobbled its collar, mockingly, at Cloak; Stephen imagined if it'd had a tongue, it would have stuck it out.

Cloak stiffened its collar, followed by a dismissive snap, directed toward the ebon cloak.

'I see I'm not the only one with an unruly partner,' Wisp observed, and Stephen deadpanned,

'You have no idea.'

Cloak gave a fluff, feigned offense, and Stephen smiled.

After a long pause, Wisp said,

'I wish you well, Master Strange,' offering his hand to Stephen, who, after a brief moments' hesitation, shook it.

'Perhaps our paths will cross again, one day.'

Stephen agreed,

'Perhaps they shall.'

Then Wisp, his black cloak curled on his shoulders, took a step back, closed his dark gateway, and was gone.

The sunlight, still streaming in thru the giant window, suddenly seemed exceptionally bright.

'You may regret that,' Wong said, but Jade tapped her Staff, disagreement.

'Given our complete lack of knowledge of Wisp, I think cooperation was a good choice.

'I mean, seriously...'Killer Of Light',' she reminded, with a brief shiver.

Stephen, still staring at the spot where the gateway had closed, concurred,

'There's certainly no reason to make an enemy, without cause. One never knows who might be a valuable ally, some day.'

All three stood, quietly, for some moments, before Stephen cast a sharp eye toward Wong, asked,

'What did he say, to you?'

Wong straightened, tightened his jaw.

Wong face.

No surprise, there.

'I have students waiting, at Kamar-Taj,' he informed them, briskly, and headed off towards the Portal.

Stephen shook his head, shrugged, sighed, looked to Jade.

'Well, that may not be exactly the outcome you'd hoped for, Master Jade, but at least the smeocan is freed.'

Jade shot him a confused scowl, and he clarified,

'Or, am I wrong, thinking you were hoping the smeocan might become yours?'

She pulled back a bit, surprised, then an amused smile shaped her features,

'Doctor Strange, you are, indeed, a very perceptive man.'

Stephen laughed, then, admitted,

'Not as often as I'd like to be.'

Once again, I find myself apologizing for the long delay between chapters! I hope to get back on track pretty soon. On a side note new pix are up on the Instagram page.

An epilogue will follow for this story, then I have a few other ideas to explore for our dynamic duo.

Please please R&R I love to hear all your thoughts!