Chapter 12

Nate grabbed his chest in pain as his face screwed up in discomfort. “I-I think I’m having a heart attack!”

Master Andrea scoffed. “Come on now Grandmaster Oakley, the boy is obviously lying.”

But Andrea’s protests were ignored as the Grandmaster rushed out of his chair and hurried over to Nate to check up on him. His frantic movements did not go unnoticed by the rest of the council.

“Don’t stress your heart.” Oakley said in a soothing voice. “You’re still weak from your ordeal.”

Nate managed to calm himself which brought his heartbeat under control. Oakley straightened himself and turned to the council. He saw the looks on their faces, the question was there but they were waiting for someone else to ask.

It came as no surprise when the most stubborn of them asked the question. “What is your relationship with this boy, Grandmaster?”

Oakley sighed. “Some time ago I received a letter from Talia…”

“Talia? You mean…” Andrea butt in.

“That’s right.” Oakley cut him off. “Natalia Prescott. My daughter.”

The room seemed to grow darker. Nate noticed the members sitting on the council were displaying various emotions at the mention of his mother’s name, but the most prominent emotion was anger. They were angry at her for some reason.

“She says Nate is her son.”

The counsel men and women were all shocked but it was Master Andrea who grew red. His face shook with anger that was barely contained.

“That WHORE!” He shouted as his body exploded with lightning. The magical energy radiating from his body was so intense, Nate felt like he was drowning.

“You watch your fucking mouth!” Oakley shouted back as he erupted with magical energy of his own. Oakley’s form was shrouded in black energy that covered him like a cloak.

The other council members jumped up to suppress the two mages. “That’s enough!”

Nate felt small under the two mages pressure. Their magic was so concentrated that he could feel them pushing against each other. It was apparent that the Grandmaster was stronger and would overpower the other mage, but then the other council members intervened with their own magic, nullifying the two mages.

“I said enough.” The woman who spoke was a mature woman with fiery-red hair.

Grandmaster Oakley and Master Andrea ceased their magic, but the looks on their faces promised it wasn’t over. Nate was very confused. He didn’t know why his mother’s name would cause so much conflict.

“Grandmaster Oakley, please have a seat so we can discuss this quandary.” The woman continued.

“What is there to discuss.” Andrea said with a scowl. “You let this demon-spawn scum remain here and he will become a thorn in our backside. Just like his mother!”

“You bastard…” Oakley was about to explode again.

“Am I wrong?!” Andrea shouted back.

“Gentleman, please!” The red-haired woman shouted. “This is helping no one. If we must, we will kick you both out of this council meeting and discuss this amongst ourselves. In fact, I believe that will be the most logical decision in this case.”

The red-haired woman turned to the other council members. “I know you all have your allegiances, but this goes beyond that. I, Annabel Yep, as the Academy’s Chancellor and the thirteenth member of this committee vote that we exclude Grandmaster Oakley and Master Andrea for the hearing of Nathaniel Walker. All those in favor say aye.”

The council members were slow to react, but slowly they began raising their hands and voicing their agreements. Six members raised their hands. “Seven votes including mine. The motion passes. Grandmaster Oakley, Master Andrea, if you would exit the room please.”

Oakley clenched his jaws but remained silent as he exited the room. Andrea looked unwilling to leave. Annabel met his eyes with a steely gaze, “We can involve the Inquisitors if you’d like.”

“Ah!” Andrea stood up in frustration, pushing his chair off the dais and crashing to the floor. He gave Nate a death stare before walking out of the room.

The council members reseated themselves. Annabel sighed. “Now, what to do with you.” She said aloud as her gaze settled on Nate.

“We should banish him.”

“Banishing him will only drive him into the hands of our enemies. We should keep him here where we can keep an eye on him.”

“No, we should…”

The council members devolved into a heated debate where various ideas about what to do with Nate were thrown out. Nate sat there pondering the life choices he’d made that led him there. The past couple of days since his awakening feel so surreal that he wonders if this is not just another trick by that demon.

Not days, hours. It’s only been a few hours since I woke up in that hospital. He thought to himself.

“What do you think about all this? Mr. Walker? Mr. Walker! Your attention please!” Annabel shouted at Nate.

Nate shook himself from his thoughts and found the council was staring at him now. He tried to remember what they asked him. “What was the question?”

Several members of the council scoffed and showed their displeasure at his lack of attention, but Annabel showed patience as if she was dealing with one of her school children. “What do you think we should do with you?”

“Let me go?”

“We can’t just let you go, you’re a threat to us.”

Nate chuckled. “Are you serious?” He said with one eyebrow raised. He gestured to himself and the wheelchair he was sitting on. “What possible threat do I pose to you?”

“I’m afraid your physical condition doesn’t garner our sympathies, Mr. Walker. We’re mages. We’re long lived. And to let a threat go un-answered in it’s infancy, regardless of how minimal that risk is, would be foolish considering the future threat you pose towards us.”

Nate felt his throat go dry. As much as he thought this whole situation was absurd, these mages were dead serious. They would really banish him if he wasn’t careful.

“Look, I didn’t know I was a demon… or half-demon. Whatever. The point is, before I was locked up for the shit that happened ten years ago I was just a normal teenager going to high school. Then that demon came and fucked my whole life up.”

Nate paused to wet his throat. “I don’t care for my demon side. Quite frankly, if you sealed away that part of me I would be grateful. But, to banish me because I’m not human? Really?”

Nate was angry at these hypocrites. That’s what they were, hypocrites. They sat back and did nothing as the events of the Asylum carried on, not to mention the experiments carried out by Mendell. The fact that Mendell was still alive gave credence to the likelihood that the man was still experimenting on humans. Yet they wanted to throw him out?

In his mind’s eye, in a place surrounded by darkness, Nate became aware of his inner demon. That part of him wasn’t gone, it was in the deepest recesses of his mind, locked away in chains and covered in darkness. But the anger that was beginning to stir within him was getting a rise out of the demon.

Nate shook in anger, his arms clamped down on the wheelchair’s armrest. The demon within him howled as it strained against the chains. A part of him wanted to let the demon out, but another part of him was afraid of it. Not only would it likely kill him, but the mages here would probably blast him to smithereens if he tried anything.

He exhaled deeply and calmed himself before turning back to the council. “You do what you gotta do.”

…

Kiru entered the mage’s tower to find Nate. He went to the reception’s desk to find out where the Grandmaster was. He reasoned since the Grandmaster wanted to see him, the two of them would be together.

“Grandmaster Oakley has left the tower.” The receptionist told him.

“Left? Does it say where he went?”

“No, sorry.”

Kiru sighed. “Thanks anyways.”

He left the desk and was about to exit the tower when he saw Master Andrea headed for the exit. The man was fuming, his skin red with anger. “Hey dad, what’s up?” He said as he pulled alongside him.

Andrea stopped in his tracks and turned to his son. The worried look on Kiru’s face softened the anger in his heart. He didn’t want to tell his only son about what happened back in the courtroom. How devastated would his only son be when he found out his ex-wife had run away into the arms of another man?

Not only did she run away, but she had a demon’s child. The shame! Andrea felt his anger rising up again but he quickly calmed himself. “Nothing you need to worry about. Your father will take care of everything, don’t you worry.”

Andrea would not let this embarrassment stand. Oh, how the other council members must be laughing at them. They made a cuckold out of Kiru. Oakley and his demon loving bitch of a daughter. He would payback this insult in blood-for the sake of his son, and for the sake of their reputation.

…

Aiden stood in front of a large building with an enormous crescent moon attached to the top. There were hundreds of students all around him walking to and from class, but Aiden stood outside the building amazed at what he saw.

The Academy was like a city within itself. There were restaurants, bars, and many other service industries all located on the academy grounds. He was under the assumption that there would be a small group of qualified students that went here, but he was wrong.

The campus was filled with people. Not just people either, there were other races there as well. Orcs, dwarves, elves, and many other fairy tale creatures.

“First timer?” A curly-headed cutie appeared beside him.

“How can you tell?” Aiden asked still looking at the imposing building before him.

“You look like a doe-eyed country bumpkin who’s seen the city for the first time.”

Aiden turned to the girl who grinned. “Not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s actually kinda cute.” She chuckled. “Just be careful, I know some people who would prey on that innocence of yours. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

The girl pulled on his hand and dragged him towards the building. “Wait, I don’t even know your name.”

“Lindsey, but my friends call me Kat.” She said over her shoulder as she pushed against the throng of people.

“Kat? Why Kat?” He had to get closer to be heard.

Suddenly he felt something crawling up his shirt. “What the fu…” Aiden jumped backwards as he beat on his chest to dislodge whatever had crawled up there.

Nothing dropped out. He lifted his shirt to where he felt that fuzzy thing climbing on him, but couldn’t find anything there. That’s when he heard laughter that can only be described as the cackling of a witch.

He looked up and saw Kat pointing at him with the other hand over her mouth. “What’s so funny?”

“The way you jumped.” Kat continued to laugh despite the annoyance Aiden showed. Slowly a white and brown tail rose up brushing underneath her cheek.

Aiden did a double-take then followed the tail to the base where it disappeared underneath her clothing. Kat waved the tail in front of his face mockingly. “I told you someone would prey on that innocence of yours.”