Chapter 021: Magic and Queen Era's Bet

Queen Era sat up and looked around the Cathedral. "Where is Carter? I needed to give him his last lesson," said Queen Era. She could have been angry, but that seemed like her usual demeanor.

"Here I am," said Carter as he staggered in with a smirk. Delila-Ella popped in behind him and tried to keep a smile off her face.

"How did he perform?" asked Queen Era.

"What?" asked Delila-Ella, as her face turned red.

"How long will he take to learn your magic?" asked Queen Era with a puzzled look.

"Oh, he's finished. He learned them all," said Delila-Ella.

"That doesn't seem possible," said Vulture Nigh as he walked over and looked at Carter. He took his knife out and cut Carter on his arm.

"Heal it," said Vulture Nigh. Carter lifted his finger, and out came a spell of white. He then pointed at his wound; a white glow surrounded and healed him.

"A quick learner? Good, that will make things easier," said Vulture Nigh, and he walked off.

"Am I able to show him my magic, Ella? Or did you wear him out," said Queen Era. Delila-Ella let out a little laugh as Delila's face turned red a second time.

"I'm ready," said Carter, grabbing the bow and arrow off the ground.

Ella Landers left Delila's body on a pew.

"That dress is hideous," said Queen Era as she walked up to Delila and looked back at Heltorn. "Put me in there," commanded Queen Era.

Heltorn walked off and said, "I need to rest."

Carter grabbed Queen Era by her spirit neck and threw her inside Delila. He cast the Possession spell Heltorn had used on him earlier. A dark-blue colored spell surrounded Queen Era, and she took control of Delila's body.

"What do you think you're doing, manhandling me?" asked Delila-Era as she swung her fist at Carter. He quickly moved out of the way and moved back a few heads.

"No fighting Era! That body is delicate, remember?" said Ella.

Heltorn turned around and smiled. "Someone else that can be at the beck and call of these ingrates," said Heltorn as he sat down on his pew.

Queen Era saw she was in Delila's body, and a small smile appeared. "Good, good. Very good," she said. She grabbed Carter by the hand and dragged him outside.

Delila-Era stood a few feet from Carter as he launched a few hundred arrows and hit ninety-nine percent of the targets.

Delila-Era unexpectedly grabbed the bow and arrow from Carter's grasp and pointed at a tree one thousand heads away. "Do you want to bet I can hit that tree?" asked Delila-Era.

"No, I don't have any money," said Carter.

"Fine. Go stand in front of that tree and don't move," said Delila-Era as a look of anger crossed her brow.

Carter ran and stopped in front of the tree. He let out his Detect Area spell and saw no spirits around.

Delila-Era placed her spell on the arrow, sending it flying towards Carter. Carter saw it coming, but he didn't move. The arrow made a loud noise as it sank its tip into Carter's left eye. He let out a small scream and instinctively grabbed the shaft and pulled it out. A small spell entered his stomach. A new spell, but at what cost?

"Damn, that hurt!" screamed Carter. He healed his eye socket, but his eye didn't come back.

"That's what you get when you manhandle me," said Delila-Era as she walked up to Carter. Carter just let out a little "Yes, ma'am." Delila-Era grabbed his head and looked at the hole where his eye was. "Oh, that's revolting," said Delila-Era with a grimace.

They walked back a thousand heads back to where they started. Carter watched Delila's butt sway back and forth. He noted that he had no physical attraction to that body anymore. It was a weird feeling. Delila-Era stopped and turned around. She looked at him and asked, "See this haversack?"

"You mean that bag," said Carter.

"Haversack!" said Delila-Era.

"It's a little fuzzy," said Carter as he squinted with his good eye. "It is a type of bag of holding. A magical haversack that holds more than what's outside. This one is extraordinary. It was made long ago and passed down from generation to generation until it got to me. Not only does it hold a lot, but it also can convert magic mana into more space. This thing can grow to hold a small city!" said Delila-Era.

"What does it have in it?" asked Carter, hoping for gold and silver.

"Nothing as of right now. It's empty," said Delila-Era with a sad look. "Wars aren't cheap," she added.

"The Great War," thought Carter.

Carter rubbed his eyehole with his fist, letting out a pitiful noise. Carter looked at the face and frame of the woman he had just made love with. He now found it repugnant with the current occupant controlling it. Who knew that Amazons, who are beautiful and hate men, could be so mean?

She looked at the pitiful Carter, grabbed him around the neck, and said, "Cheer up and don't worry, Heltorn can replace your eye. He can do it when we are done," said Delila-Era as she released his neck while pushing him backward.

She pointed at the tree again and said, "How about another bet."

"We didn't bet the last time, and I have no more money now than I did then," said Carter, a little upset.

"You don't need money for this one," said Delila-Era with a wicked grin.

"If you hit the same tree as I did from here, I will give you this haversack. If you can't, I get your rucksack," she added.

"I'm not sure. If I win, how do I know you will give me the bag?" asked Carter.

"Nature's promise," said Delila-Era. A glow appeared on Carter's and Delila-Era's hands as something magical happened. He looked down at his hand and found two symbols had appeared on it. A tiny symbol of two dragons chasing their tails and a small bird with a worm in its mouth. She walked over and touched his hand where the symbol was.

"What was that?" said Carter. He was a neophyte at everything.

"That is a promise to Nature, the force that surrounds us and guides our morals. If you bet on a promise to Nature, you better not renege, or she will make your life, or death, a living hell," said Delila-Era.

"But we are already dead. How can it get any worse?" asked Carter.

"Oh, it can get worse. Just look at all those lost souls wandering around the woods," said Delila-Era as she pointed everywhere.

Carter looked at the tree that was a thousand heads away. He started shaking his head, knowing it was an impossible shot.

Down the field, a spirit wandered onto it. Delila-Era walked up to Carter, grabbed an arrow in the quiver he was holding, and placed a spell on it.

"Here is a Banish the Dead arrow. Use it to kill that spirit and warm up. I'll give you that advantage," said Delila-Era.

The spirit was six hundred heads down the field. This was outside his normal target range. He felt the new spell hit his stomach again as he released the arrow. It hit its target quickly, and the spirits blew up into dust.

Carter looked at Delila-Era, and she shook her head and said, "Good! See, it was easy."

"I'll throw in the bow, arrows, and the magic quiver. The quiver has thousands of arrows already inside it," said Delila-Era.

Carter was starting to get tempted. A quiver that held thousands of arrows. "That could come in handy," thought Carter.

Delila-Era saw she had Carter on the line but had to reel him in.

She pulled her spellbook from her haversack, turned it to a page, and said, "As a good faith gesture, I'll teach you a magic arrow cantrip that was passed down from generation to generation."

"Was it one of the ones you already used?" said Carter.

She looked at him funny for a second. She then realized what magic arrows he was talking about, and a dubious look came to her.

"Nature, no! Those are my tribe's secret spells handed down from generation to generation. I was going to teach you Invisible Arrow. You'll need to learn to use arrows. It allows your arrows to disappear as soon as they hit your target. You don't want anyone to find out you use archery, or they would arrest you immediately," said Delila-Era.

She was under the impression that Carter would eventually leave this Forest. That made him feel a little bit happy.

She grabbed an arrow and read the cantrip out loud. She then handed the arrow to Carter. When he touched it, he automatically learned the spell.

"Now say the words out loud. It usually won't work the first time, so you must repeat it for a while," said Delila-Era.

"Now that I taught you the magic cantrip of Invisible Arrow, will you bet me?" asked Delila-Era.

"Fine," said Carter as a bright glow appeared on his hand.

He placed the disappearing arrow into the quiver and grabbed a normal one. A slight magic release covered the arrow as he notched it in the bow. Delila-Era had a great big smile on her face. He pulled the bow back and held it briefly as he adjusted his aim.

Carter wasn't sure what the spell Queen Era used on the arrow that hit him in the eye, but he wanted the same advantage.

He released the arrow, and it flew across the field. The tree greedily accepted his arrow as it hit dead center in its bole.

Delila-Era's mouth fell open, and she fell to the ground. Her face contorted into anger and sadness. "You cheated!" said Queen Era as she evacuated Delila's body, and it slumped to the ground. A little whisp of white flew back toward the Cathedral, leaving the haversack tied to Delila's body. He bent down, picked up the haversack, and placed it on his belt.

It was a square, brown leather bag with a little buckle to hold it closed. It had a small emblem of a snake on it.

He opened it and placed his hand into it. He touched the bottom, and it was empty. His head started to get dizzy while he fished around inside the haversack. He pulled his hand out just in time as his head began to black out. He sat down for a moment and contemplated what just happened.

"Oh yeah, she said it can grow bigger with magic," thought Carter. He didn't know it would suck that much up that fast. He sat down next to Delila's husk to rest for a moment.

She had left her spell book on the ground, and Carter grabbed it. He opened it up to the spell page she was on. It only contained four spells, three of which he already knew. The fourth spell was for a flame arrow. He read it to himself, and the spell hit his stomach. He dropped the book back down.

Carter stood up, grabbed Delila, and walked back to the Cathedral. He carried Delila back into the Rectory and laid her on her bed. He turned around and banged a table. A jar of light started to shake back and forth. Carter grabbed it before it fell off.

"You giant cyclops, be careful where you walk!" screamed Leahtrix. Leahtrix was still wearing her tight lab coat and glasses. She moved the bottle over to another table.

"What was that?" said Carter.

"That is the spirit of that pretty lady you just brought back in," said Leahtrix.

"I thought that she had lost her spirit?" asked Carter.

"In a sense, she did. She was one of the volunteers from before you came. Her body rejected her spirit almost immediately, and she fell into a stupor. Sometimes, the weaker spirits give up and stop moving. They are prone to being eaten all the time. We saved this one, and Heltorn has been trying to reattach the soul back into her body, but it just doesn't work," said Leahtrix.

Carter gave a little frown, and Leahtrix noticed it.

"If you save the spirits, we might be able to put it back, just like your mothers," she added.

Carter touched Delila's face and walked out the door. Carter laid down on his pew and fell asleep. He needed to recharge his battery. He awakened to the sound of revelry and light. Ella's spirit face came into view as he slowly opened his eyes.

"It's our turn to give you something!" said Ella as she grabbed Carter's hand with her spirit body. She pulled him over towards the burning fire. He could see everyone there, even poor Queen Era, with a frown on her face.

She grabbed Carter first and said, "You won our bet fair and square. By passing the test of a thousand paces, you have earned this symbol of the Amazons: The archery symbol. She pulled an arrow out of Carter's quiver, and with a face of pure anger, she jammed the arrow almost through his body. Carter loudly screamed as a new symbol appeared on his chest.

Queen Era had a look of satisfaction at Carter's pain. Carter grabbed the arrow and pushed it through. He allowed the wound to bleed a little and then healed it. Queen Era had a smug look on her face. "It wasn't as if I was going to be able to use the haversack anyways!" laughed Queen Era. Carter forced a slight smile on his face as Ella walked up and stared at him.

"I, too, have a gift for you. I forgot to teach you the last cantrip I know," said Ella. She pointed her wand at Carter's chest and started whispering to herself. Her eyes closed as her wand started glowing.

"Ah, oh," said Carter as he remembered Ella's words: "I use a wand 'cause it hurts like hell."
This was going to hurt like hell.

She sat there for a moment, frozen stiff, reciting her cantrip's words. Her eyes opened, and she pushed her wand into Carter's chest. His chest lit up as a hot sensation came out of his back. It smelt like burning skin and hurt like a red-hot poker was thrust into him.

"Sunburst," said Ella as her eyes rolled into her head, and her spirit blew up and disappeared. Another symbol appeared on his chest. It was of a cleric's symbol. You couldn't see it well, as the skin was burnt off where it applied itself.

Queen Era and Red had giant smiles as Carter fell to the ground. He placed his hand on his chest, and the white light poured out of his hand. He had almost healed it before he passed out from pain and mana exhaustion.

"She never did have enough mana to utilize that spell fully," said Heltorn.

Carter felt slaps on his face as his single eye slowly opened up. Red's spirit was floating above him and slapping him hard.

"Okay, okay. I'm awake," said Carter. Red let out another full laugh as he moved away.

Heltorn looked at Carter's face and said, "Let's get that eye back. I'm going to use a black magic spell to clone that eye. You don't mind that, do you?"

"My eye or the black magic? I don't mind either," said Carter.

"Good, keeping an open mind is the first step to learning different magic. He placed his black-lit finger into Carter's eye cavity, and a cantrip came to his lips. Carter's eyehole started to itch and hurt badly, and he forced his hands down to his sides. Heltorn pulled back his hand and said, "Try that."

Carter opened his eyes, and he could see through both. "Thank you," said Carter, and he felt the clone command enter his stomach. His eye itched terribly, and it felt like it was starting to get infected.

Vulture appeared, and a red light exited his hand and entered Carter's face. A sharp pain rebounded through his head and then went away. The cantrip that Vulture cast alleviated most of the pain and itching, and his eye started feeling better immediately.

"Now, get up, and let me teach you what I know. It probably won't help you, but I've got nothing better to do," said Heltorn.

"My race is the Leshay, a combination of Elves and Fey. They usually hate each other, but once in a while, they reproduce, and then you get me," said Heltorn as he floated off into the woods. "Leshays are usually reclusive, but I decided to walk among Weakmen."

"You are very respectful, Carver of the Eternal rest. Unlike those hooligans," said Heltorn as he flipped his spirit head toward the Church.

"Thank you," said Carter.

"My spells are of the Darkness. They are made up of two categories: Clone and Possession," said Heltorn.

He touched Carter, and a weird feeling of splitting happened to him. He looked to his right, and he saw another one of himself. The clone looked at him and smiled. "You're me?" asked Carter to the clone.

"No, I'm a clone of you with all your powers!" said the Clone.

"A clone will only last for a short amount of time. It all depends on how much power you use. It will have all your thoughts and only answer to your commands. It knows it's a clone, so you don't have to worry about it trying to take over your life," said Heltorn.

His clone looked at Heltorn and then lifted his finger into the air. Another clone popped up, and they both started laughing at each other.

"Am I that weird?" asked Carter.

"Yes," said both clones in unison. The Clones lifted their hands and high-fived each other.

"Neat," said Carter, holding his hand for them to hit. He moved it at the last moment and said, "Too slow!"

The three of them laughed, and Heltorn let out a little noise. "Ahem. Clones will have a limited amount of spell power that you give them. Be careful of how many clones you make. It will use up your mana fast," said Heltorn.

One of his clones pointed into the air again, and nothing happened. "You're too low on mana," said Heltorn.

Heltorn looked at Carter and said, "You've already learned to clone a part, right?"

"Yes," said one of the clones. Carter looked over at him and smiled.

"You can use this by itself, or in theory, use it with healing to regrow a lost leg. You felt how much that eye itched and hurt as it grew back. Healing would alleviate that problem," said Heltorn.

Carver held up his hand, and white light pulsed from it. His eye felt much better.

"Vulture will teach you the cantrip: sanitize. The cantrip kills germs and foreign objects from the wound so it won't get infected. He used it on you earlier," said Heltorn.

One of the clones held up his finger; a white light and black light intermingled, and he grew a sixth finger. "Nice! Give me six," said his other clone.

"The last cantrip in the clone series is Clone Object. Hold one of your arrows in your hand," said Heltorn.

The clone pulled an arrow from his quiver and said, "I have one!"

Carter looked at the clone and said, "It has to be me if we all want to learn it."

"Oh yeah," said the clone.

Carter held the arrow up, and Heltorn released black energy at him. A duplicate arrow appeared in front of Carter and fell to the ground.

"Cool!" said one of the clones as he picked up the arrow and looked at it. Carter was about to grab it, but the clone was so excited he dismissed his anger.

"Do a gold piece!" said the other one. Carter's right eyebrow raised.

Heltorn looked at the clone and said, "It takes a lot of mana to do objects and body parts. Gold is complex and probably would take all your mana all at once" said Heltorn.

Heltorn shoved a small dagger from his waist into one of the clones.

"Hey! Why did you do that?" said the clone that got stabbed.

"He stabbed you, and you're bleeding?" said the other clone.

"Ow!" said Carter as he buckled over and tried to endure the pain.

"Any wound they receive, you'll feel the pain at first, they won't. When they disappear, the wound itself gets transferred back to you. So be careful with this spell," said Heltron.

"I don't feel so good," said the clone that got stabbed. He disappeared, and Carter let out a loud groan as he covered the new stab wound that appeared on his chest. He healed it.

"I've been doing a lot of that lately," said Carter to himself.

"The other spells are possession spells. You already know the basic one, Possess, and how it works," said Heltorn.

Carter shook his head up and down.

Heltorn aimed his hand at Carter and started to chant the cantrip. It entered his body and left it. "Speak with the dead," said Heltorn. Carter remembered the feeling of that spell and placed it into his stomach.

He did it two more times. "Animate the Dead and Raise the Dead," said Heltorn. None of these spells worked because Carter wasn't technically dead.

"Do you have them?" said Heltorn with what looked to be a smile.

"Yes, thank you. Um, will Raise the Dead bring someone back?" said Carter.

"Yes, as long as they aren't dead for too long. A few days," said Heltorn, "The longer they have been dead, the more mana it takes."

Heltorn started to wobble as he stood there. Carter and his clone grabbed him and walked him back to the Cathedral. They sat him down on his pew, and he fell asleep, or whatever spirits do.

Ella floated up to him and his clone, and a big smile came over her. "Who's your cute friend?" asked Ella. His clone smiled and turned red.

"Oh, oh," said his clone, and then he disappeared.

"Was it something I said?" asked Ella.

Carter laughed and then saw Vulture Nigh coming at him. "Looks like it's my turn," said Vulture.

Vulture was a dark spirit with bird-like qualities. You could see an outline of wings and long legs with claws.

Vulture decided not to use Gabe, as did Heltorn. It was easy to teach magic whether you're in spirit form or alive.

"Are you fey, too?" asked Carter.

"Yes. Believe it or not, I'm what you call a Songbird," said Vulture, " and don't ask me to sing."

Carter laughed and said, "Wasn't going to."

They stopped in the woods a few hundred heads away from the clearing. This area's trees were relatively thick, giving them ample hiding spots.

He pulled out a book and handed it to Carter. "Read these cantrips and memorize them, and I'll be back," said Vulture.

"Ah, Mr. Vulture, um, I learn cantrips differently. I need the spells to be cast at me," said Carter.

Vulture stared at him momentarily, grabbed his book, and started reading the first cantrip.

"Sanitize," said Vulture. He said a little chant and sent an orange magic ball at him. It hit him and stung a little. Carter already knew that one.

"Firebolt," said Vulture. "Wait! I already know that one," said Carter.

"Oh, okay," said Vulture as he shook his head up and down. He looked back into his book.

"That could have hurt," thought Carter to himself.

"Wall of Fire," said Vulture. There was a little pause as he read the cantrip and added enough mana.

"Maybe I can learn it by reading," said Carter, but a little too late. A giant wall of fire, ten heads wide and eight heads tall, went through him. The trees caught on fire around him, and so did he. He fell to the ground and started rolling himself over, trying to extinguish the fires. Half his hair was missing, and he had burnt spots all over his clothes. He began to heal himself where blisters had popped up on his skin.

"I commend you on your learning process," said Vulture with a little laugh.

"Thank you," said Carter sarcastically. He stood back up and shook the dirt off of him. His hair turned black, and it started growing back.
"Clone spell, nice," said Vulture as he shook his head in satisfaction.

Vulture pulled out a little ring and handed it to the burnt-smelling Carter. "What is this?" said Carter.

"Ring of fire protection," said Vulture.

"Where was this ring on the last spell?" asked Carter, staring intently at Vulture.

"I forgot I had it," said Vulture. Carter frowned for a second, placed the ring on, and said, "I'm ready for the next one."

Vulture turned around and walked away from Carter. Carter stood there with a perplexed look on his face. "Did I do something wrong?" he said quietly.

Vulture turned around about one hundred heads away and started to chant loudly. The sky began to turn orange above Carter as he continued.

"Um, this ring works, right?" said Carter.

The chanting stopped, and the last words he heard before hell rained down was, "Fire Storm!" An orange light flew out of Vulture's hand and hit him in the chest. It hurt for a few seconds, and then the pain went away.

"That didn't hurt that much," said Carter.

Large piles of dirt blew up around him as falling fire globs hit the ground where he was. He looked up and saw hundreds of fire globs heading for him.

He looked over at Vulture, and he was already chanting another cantrip. He aimed his finger at Carter, and a purple light flashed across the field at him. It hit him dead in the center of his forehead. He felt it go in, and everything slowed down around him. He looked up and saw a fire glob about a head away from him. He walked forward away from it, and it harmlessly fell on the ground. He then ran towards Vulture as globs of fire slowly fell around him. Everything had slowed down except for him.

He stopped next to Vulture as the cantrip's duration ended. "Haste," said Vulture, still staring at the Fire Storm. Fire Storm shook the whole area, and Carter could barely hear anything. It finally died down, and Vulture smiled at Carter.

Vulture was starting to wobble back and forth. He was pushing his limit here. He sat down on the ground as best as a spirit could.

"Give me a few moments to gather some mana," said Vulture.

Carter went to take the Ring of Fire Protection off, and Vulture held his hand up. "Keep it. I have no use for it," said Vulture.

"Thank you. I'm sure it would have helped with that Fire Storm to protect me," said Carter with a smile.

"No, you would have died," said Vulture. "It would keep you from burning yourself on a campfire thought," added Vulture, and then he started laughing.

"Let me see the next cantrip in the book. Maybe I can learn that way," said Carter, looking at the giant hole before him.

Vulture handed him the book. "It's the last cantrip I have, called Time Stop. It's a powerful spell and usually drains you dry. How much mana it takes is how long it lasts," said Vulture.

Carter started reading it in his head. It was a weird dialect of this world, but he got the gist of it.

"How much Mana did Ella tell you had?" said Vulture.

"She didn't," said Carter.

"Well, the spell will use whatever mana you have left and stay active for that time," said Vulture.

"Okay, I'm ready," said Carter as he read the spell out loud. The words floated on the wind as the mana seeped out of Carter to feed it. The book glowed bright. Carter felt the spell drop into his stomach as he ended the words. The book kept absorbing power and radiating brighter.

"Something's wrong. It's not supposed to last this long," said Vulture.

Carter started to get scared and tried to stop the cantrip. The spell drained him down to zero.

"Good night, Vulture," said Carter as he dropped to the ground and time stopped.