Chapter 5

            The forest of Graymalkin loomed around them with its thick tangles of branches, and its lurking shadows as the small party of men carried on further through the thickets on their journey to the north.  Logan was growing more and more concerned as they journeyed on, his senses were telling him they were not alone in the forest.  "I'm pretty sure we're bein' followed," he quietly uttered to the nearest man, who happened to be Sean.

            "You're not the only one who thinks it," Sean replied in little more than a whisper, as to not draw attention and cause panic within the party.  "I've become quite aware of badly covered footprints beneath the leaves," he admitted.  "Someone has been walking in circles…as if they're waiting," he stated softly.  "They move strangely…as if on all fours…the footprints are so close together…"

            Logan glanced quickly at his travelling companion, noticing that one hand always remained on the dagger in his belt.  He admired a man who was always prepared for danger at any given moment. 

            "Maybe it is just the ghost stories of this forest that give you cause for concern," spoke up Piotr who had heard from where he'd been walking slightly behind.

            "Ghost stories?" Logan scoffed, "what wet nurse told you stories of here to get you to behave, kid?" he asked with a smirk, he stopped, and the party stopped with him.

            Piotr frowned, "it is true.  There are stories of a demon who wanders the woods at night, and appears when shadow is thick with silvery yellow eyes that glimmer in the blackness."

            Logan and Sean both laughed heartily, holding their bellies, and the rest of the party joined in loudly, it had been the first light moment of the past nine days.  The concept of this was far too hard to believe.  And besides which, what proof did the boy have?

            "Kid, I've been passin' back and forth through this forest near all my life – and I've NEVER come across anything remotely resembling a demon.  Thieves…beggars, the occasional wolf…but no, no demons.  I think whoever told you this is pulling your leg."

            Piotr glowered at Logan, in the light from the moon that broke through the trees, he almost looked menacing in his anger.

            "Lad, that's just a rumour, there is no demon, trust me," Sean slapped Piotr on the back playfully.  "It's just not possible."

            Piotr did not seem impressed, "Is it not?"

"Never mind believing in non-existent demons.  You better start focusing on what really COULD be in here with us…the armies from the north, those who oppose us – their weaknesses we know NOT," Logan reminded.  "Stop tellin' wild stories and concentrate on the task at hand."

Piotr grumbled something in another language under his breath, and walked off on his own, disappearing into the thickets.

            "Hey!  Pi-o…Pete!" Logan tried to pronounce the name but found the nearest best thing, "don't go runnin' off in your own in a huff, we need to stick together!!"

            "I think you hurt his pride," Sean said sadly.

            Logan shook his head, "We better go after him…"

"Uhm…my friends?" Hank asked softly, he tapped Logan on the shoulder.

"What?!" Logan asked, spinning around, he turned to check with the rest of the party before continuing but they were no longer there, no signs of struggle or any distant sounds of footsteps suggested what could have happened to them.  "What the—"

            "Where the hell did they go?!" Sean asked, looking around confusedly, "they were just THERE!  I saw them!"

            "Nuuuuuuuuugh!" came a strangled cry from deep inside the thickets.

            Sean put a hand on his dagger, jumping in surprise, "Piotr!" he cried, rushing towards the thickets.

            Logan grabbed his arm, "Wait!  We can't just run in without knowing what we're up against!" he cried at him.

            "We're under ambush, we've lost our men, we might still save Piotr!" Hank suggested.

            Logan grumbled, "fine."  With that final word, the two rushed into the thickets, unaware what lay ahead.  They had barely gotten ten feet into the tangled trees and branches when they were ambushed with tangles of steel wires, hundreds of lines of it, almost like a spiders web pulsing around them.

            "What is this magic?!" Sean gasped, trying to free himself, the hand that had drawn his dagger from the sheath had let go of the only weapon he had.

            Hank tried to use his incredible strength to free himself, but barbs were appearing on the wire and it was slicing into his hands and arms as he tried to move it.  Barbs pierced his legs, his neck, his cheeks, blood begun to pour from every wound, his wrist sliced easily, and blood was spurting from the wound.  "It is as if it LIVES on its own!!" he cried. 

            "Not quite."

            The voice had come from above.  Silhouetted against the full bright moon, the figure of a man was floating, he raised his arms, his hands seemed to beckon the slithering wires, his fingers twirling them around the men. 

            Logan took quick notice that Piotr was there, and the others from their party.  He winced as one of the razor barbs sliced into his arms, he would not allow himself to cry out in pain.  "Who are you?!"

            "The enemy, of course," was all the silhouette replied in a smooth calm voice.

            Logan turned to check on Hank, but noted that only wires with their barbs dripping with blood remained.  He'd escaped.  "Hank…" he uttered.

            "He won't get far as wounded as he is, I assure you," the silhouette stated, "he'll bleed to death, be eaten by the wolves."

            Sean's eyes were blazing with anger but he could not seem to muster up the power to speak nor scream.

            Logan could already feel each wound that had opened up by the barbs begin to quickly heal, this had not seemingly been noticed by the men of his party, he was thankful for this, if they'd known about his magical healing powers, he'd have been abandoned, outcast, and never be able to return to Bayville, not even to get Rogue.

            A short fellow, with filthy matted brown hair, pale pasty skin, eyes a strange shade of green that almost verged on yellow, and a strange hunch to his posture scurried over, "this one, yes?" he asked of the silhouette above, he seemed almost thrilled.

            "Yes, Toad, that one.  Take his sword…arrange for it to be taken back to Bayville…have the village advised that their best warrior is dead, and that it is futile to continue sending their pathetic soldiers.  If they know what is wise they will comply."

            Lady Katherine flicked her wand towards the rat that was scurrying around inside a wooden box on the floor, she recoiled slightly and hissed "Somnus celeriter , somnus iam!"

            Her wand quaked a little within her grasp but did nothing more than slightly smoke at the end, she despaired, "I can't do this…this rat is vile and disgusting!" she cried.

            "If you can't use the spell correctly on a rat, Lady Katherine, how are you going to ever use the spell on anyone else?" the Magus Xavier stated, his voice always became all the firmer when he was tutoring her on the ways of magic. 

The Magus was passionate about magic, very clever and cunning, and he took it seriously, which meant when it came to learning the spells, he was not as patient as Katherine might have liked.  But it was all part of the learning process, and besides, he was so much more bearable than half of the teachers for history and etiquette she'd had as a child.   He was kinder, too.

Katherine sighed and sat folded legged upon the floor, not caring if she got the dress she was wearing dirty, it wasn't hers after all, and besides, it was stained anyway.  "I just…I don't understand this spell…"

"Then it is no surprise that it is not working," the Magus Xavier responded, and folded his arms neatly, hands disappearing beneath his long sleeves, "you must have an understanding of magic…" he pulled his hands out of his sleeve, revealing his fine wand. 

The Magus had a beautiful wand carved purely from frosted crystal.  It had a prominent crooked shaft, but when it caught the light it was almost like an icicle and seemed to glow white when the Magus's hand was around its silverwired handle.  The faceted amethyst on the handle glimmered, catching the light.

Katherine watched as the Magus raised his wand and pointed it towards a silver drinking chalice upon the table.  "Ver Unda," he whispered softly, and the chalice rattled, and then, water began to rise within it, spilling over from the sides, dribbling over the table and falling onto the floor, absorbing into the stone.  He flicked his wand again and it stopped.  "Tell me the form of magic for the spell I just used…"

Katherine paused, "Uhm…I…don't know," she winced, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this."
            "Katherine…you'll never be a great sorceress until you begin to understand the magic around you…water…fire…earth…wind….air…those spells all require nature magic…understanding of nature is essential, respect for nature is essential – it is from nature your wand will draw it's energy and magic.  I have told you this so many before times before…you MUST respect nature if you are to succeed."

Katherine sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly, "I do respect nature," she lied, actually she hated nature, hated the buzz of the bees, smell of cut grass and the dust that would flow in the wind.  How could she be expected to respect these things?

"The somnus spell is perhaps too advanced for you, Katherine," the Magus sighed, "I had hoped after your first year of my tutoring that you'd be talented by now, but you are failing terribly…I feel I might not be working you hard enough."

"You are, Magus," Katherine assured, "I'm just…maybe I don't have it in me," she sighed.  "Maybe I don't have the talent."

The Magus sighed, "if you are to ever make any of your magic work correctly you must remain focused, have an understanding of what you're doing, you must focus all the right energies into your wand."

Katherine sighed, "I don't think I can, Magus."

"I think you underestimate yourself sometimes, Lady…" he said, he gestured his wand towards a large wooden chest against the wall, he twirled it in the air a little and chanted, "turpis manuum."

The chest lid swung open at the command, and a rattling came within, then, a long mahogany wood box bracketed raised from the chest, and began to glide as he gestured his wand to Katherine. 

Katherine raised her eyebrows as the long wooden box dropped into her lap.  "What is this?"

"Call it a gift," he said, "I do not think you are ready…but...I feel that great things are coming your way soon, and you will need it."

Katherine raised an eyebrow, "it's locked…" she said softly.

The Magus reached within the inside pocket of his robes and retrieved the tiniest silver key, "here…" he leaned over slightly to hand her the key.

Katherine unlocked the box and raised the lid.  She let out an audible gasp at the sight before her.  It was a wand, so much more grand than the plain wooden practise wand she'd been using for the last year.  This was made of frosted crystal, a shade clearer than the Magus's wand but still as beautiful.  The wands shaft was carved into a spiral, and the handle ended in a fine large Amethyist sphere, several different coloured stones lined a quarter of a way down the shaft.  The very tip of the wand seemed to glow as she touched the handle with her fingers.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered, "I've never seen anything so intricate before…"

"It's made from Selenite," the Magus stated, "very difficult to get, and very expensive," he explained.  "But I have faith you're going to make good use of this wand."

Katherine drew her breath, "I'll try."

"Now…use the Somnus spell again, my Lady, and THIS time…focus."

Lady Katherine stood up, drew her breath and stared in the box, the rat was still there, scurrying to all four corners of it looking for a way out.  She swallowed nervously, raised her new wand.  In her hand, it seemed to become lighter and swifter, and the Amethyst sphere upon the handle, which pressed upon her palm, seemed to grow hot to the touch.  She could feel the energy from the wand.

            She did as she was told.  She focused, focused so much her head hurt with the strain.  The room grew cold, she dared not take her eyes off the rat even though it repulsed her.  Around the room the candles flickered, the fire began to die.  The room grew dark around her, yet, the wand began to light up incredibly bright, her eyes widened.

            "Now, Katherine, now!" the Magus called to her.

            Katherine flicked her wand towards the rat as she cried out the words of the spell.  The words echoed around the room, bouncing off the cold walls, "Somnus celeriter , somnus iam!"

            The light shot from the wand, hitting the rat and disappearing as if absorbing into the foul rodent.  The candles stopped flickering and the fire roared back to life, the room came back to life around her again, but as she stared down into the box, all that remained was a rat lying on its side, as if it had fallen in death.  Yet, as Katherine peered in closer, she could see its tiny body pulsing with its breath.

            The Magus smirked, "I think you're ready now."