Chapter Three- Influence
This cannot be happening, he thought as he headed for the Throne Room. The shadows have invaded my body and have placed an unbreakable gold band with a moonstone on me. They claim they have placed a curse on me and I suspect the band hold the curse that will activate and spread to me at some point. But, what kind of curse and when will it happen?
Mahad agonized over this turn of events though his agony was on the inside. He thought of Isis' words when describing the visions she received. She had spoken of darkness, a threat coming from within, and the pharaoh's reign coming to an end. A threat from within. We assumed the threat was among the citizens, but what if the threat is in the palace and what if I'm the threat? The problem is that I don't know what kind of threat I am and I doubt the Shadows will tell me in order to insure I don't take precautions to guard myself or others from it.
"Mahad."
The magician priest immediately snapped to attention at Atem's voice. He knelt. "Yes, my pharaoh?"
"There will be no patrols today. I want you to instruct your students. If this darkness is a magical threat, we will need all the magicians we have to combat it."
"Yes, my pharaoh."
Atem nodded before saying, "Dismissed."
The court dispersed and Isis watched Mahad as he left to gather the students and instruct them. He had gathered lots of criminals over two days and they've judged them all, but she knew that the man who attacked him weighed on his mind. He had been working hard to protect the city and the pharaoh. He fears he's infected with darkness, but feels no different. He certainly doesn't look or act different. His magic most likely did defeat it.
Mahad regarded his students before him before saying, "The pharaoh has ordered for me to instruct you to help protect the city and the people. He wants our magical defenses to be strong enough to repel any magical attack."
The students exchanged nervous looks before Mana piped up, "We will do our best, Master Mahad."
Mahad smiled. "That's the spirit, Mana. Let us begin by reviewing the basic protection spells before building on them with advanced ones." The students stood, eager to learn new stronger protections spells.
An hour later, the students were chanting a new advanced spell, having spent time pronouncing the words as well as the order to the words. Mahad strode among them, either listening to them or gently correcting one or two of them. He felt a wave of high protection wash over him and knew his students had succeeded.
"All right, enough," he said and the spell faded. "Well done, everyone. Take the rest of the day to practice the spell and tomorrow we will study more protection spells, perhaps ones that require the power of nature."
"Master Mahad," said one. "Can we learn a full moon protection spell next time?"
"I was thinking of using the sand and the sun for protection. Dismissed." He watched the students leave and felt relieved at quelling the question. He hadn't realized until now that he had no intention of teaching a full moon protection spell. The idea of teaching it sent his heart thumping painfully. Why would that be?
It's best to utilize the sand and the sun for protection as threats tend to attack in daylight. However, if the darkness chooses to strike at night, utilizing the fire from the torches would be a good idea. Wait…if the attacks were to occur on a full moon night, a spell to use that light as protection should be taught.
A laugh in his mind sounded followed by the voice of the shadows. "We wouldn't dream of striking during the full moon and besides we won't be attacking the city; you will."
"I told you before, I will not submit to you. I am dedicated to protecting everyone from danger."
Again that laugh. "Believe us. You will do our bidding. The curse will see to that, but we will try to influence you to act dark before that happens."
"No, you will not. I will use my powers to resist you." He cast a mental spell to seal the shadows to a distant part of his mind. He couldn't dispel them from his body as they had entered him through his Item. I will need to study, practice, and cast a spell to expel the shadows and their influence from my body and my Item.
The shadows willingly allowed themselves to be sealed. It was all a part of the plan. They could have blasted their power through Mahad's mind to make him dark and evil, but a sudden change in behavior would have looked suspicious. Instead, they needed to be subtle. One example was the resistance to teaching full moon protection. They couldn't have their servant teach such a spell and planted the idea of darkness preferring to strike under the cover of dark nights.
We can be patient. Let him think he can resist us. We will make our moves while he sleeps. His defenses will be down at that time and that is when we will begin to influence him to think dark thoughts while making sure he believes he came to these ideas on his own. Then, the curse will strengthen those thoughts and he will eventually revel in his dark, evil nature.
Mahad studied and meditated without further commentary from the shadows the rest of the day. It was with the fall of night that the court agreed to a duel scrimmage in three days. He retired to his chambers, removed the Ring and his other jewelry except the band, of course. He stared at it in the mirror. It was firmly attached around his neck and looked a lot like a dog's collar. There were no places in which to get a finger hold in order to attempt to break it. He ran his fingers over it, feeling the smooth solid gold. Perhaps I should use a heat spell to melt it off. Yes, that could work. And if not, perhaps the freeze spell. He placed his fingers on either side of the collar and murmured the heat spell. He felt his fingers grow warm as they heated up and did not cease his spell until his fingers were in danger of melting themselves. He waited for his fingers to cool before feeling the collar; no sign of melted gold was felt and a look in the mirror showed it was completely undamaged. Frowning, he moved on to the freeze spell, but got the some results. There has to be a way to remove it. There has to be. He went to bed and fell asleep amidst other spells that might remove the shadow charm.
The shadows sensed Mahad falling asleep and his defenses coming down. They flowed forward to seek an appropriate place to begin influencing. They eventually chose to target his dueling skills. They found that Mahad tended to have his monsters and spells assist his friends instead of helping himself. That will not do. He needs to be more aggressive and selfish. They came across a memory of Seto's dueling style and liked what they discovered. Yes, perfect. We can manipulate Mahad to consider Seto's style and by the scrimmage he will duel like Seto only more vicious and aggressive.
Mahad went through the next day, unaware that he was being influenced. He ran a quick patrol before holding a spells class. The students had indeed practiced since yesterday and were eager to learn to harness nature to act as protection. Their eagerness made him happy and just as eager to teach them. Training lasted longer today, but rather than tire out both students and teacher, they proceeded to continue to learn and teach, respectively.
At one point, Mahad checked on his mental sealing spell. It was still in place and strong despite the shadows pushing against it. He smirked. They will never break my spell. They will stay locked away and I will never become a threat.
Mahad ended class and turned his attention to the scrimmage. He reviewed his monsters, spells, and strategies and came to the conclusion that maybe he should be a little more aggressive, like Seto. His style is harsher than my own, but if we hope to defend the city, we can't go easy on each other.