Past Tense (Schooled in Magic Book 10) (52 page)

Despite these problems, the magical community was starting to take shape. An experienced magician—a master—would often take a younger magician as an apprentice, teaching him magic in exchange for loyalty and support. Two or three masters, in fact, would band together for mutual support, forming the very first communes. Small villages would tend to form around these magicians, often trading their services for protection; magician-dominated villages tended to be safer in uneasy times, despite the risks of working too close to magicians who might explode with rage as they sank into insanity.

It was Myrddin the Sane who laid the groundwork for the second great age of magic, although later historians barely recall his name. Myrddin was the last student of one of the first DemonMasters, a man whose collapse into madness was brought to an end by his student stabbing him in the chest. Myrddin—correctly—blamed his master’s decline and fall on the hordes of demons he had summoned and bound to his service and resolved, privately, never to have anything further to do with demons. Although he assumed he would be doomed to remain a hedge wizard, Myrddin discovered that slowly testing and expanding his powers brought far better results, without the madness. Myrddin moved from commune to commune, teaching his spells to magicians who might otherwise have sold themselves to demons.

Myrddin’s teachings spread rapidly, although many DemonMasters saw little value in them—and, later, saw them as a threat to their positions. Unlike nearly every other master, Myrddin actually spread his teachings openly; he encouraged—demanded—that everyone he taught spread the word as far as possible. He also took apprentices who, as part of their oaths, swore to forsake demons as much as possible. Lord Whitehall was the last and greatest of his apprentices (and also the only one history remembers, at least as far as it knows).

Unknown to Myrddin, his work helped trigger a different school of magic that would later be just as significant as anything else. Potions was regarded as the only activity suitable for girls—perversely, this was because it wasn’t considered magic—and the daughters of magicians were encouraged to study brewing and take students of their own. Their brews, however, wouldn’t work without magic; surprisingly, potions-brewing taught the precise control required, by magicians, to keep from falling into madness (and to avoid the curse.) The fits of madness brought on by magic were absent in brewers because their magic had already emerged and was helping them to brew. As this was largely unrecognized by the other magicians, brewing became regarded as a female activity.

Having reached this point—and having developed a few traditions of its own—the magical community stagnated. It had always had an uneasy coexistence with mundane communities (both communities preferred to avoid the other as much as possible) and it wasn’t uncommon for a secret to be discovered, lost, and then rediscovered several times in a row. (Myrddin was about the only senior magician willing to share most of his secrets.) It was not until Lord and Master Whitehall led the Whitehall Commune to the long-lost castle—and the last of the DemonMasters were killed—that the magical community entered the third era of magic ...

***

Demons are both immensely powerful and surprisingly limited, although very few humans have any understanding of their true nature. Even the most knowledgeable DemonMaster, holding a dozen or so demons in thrall, knows very little about them. But even they would acknowledge that demons are, at best, jerkass genies. They have to obey the letter of the law, if summoned, but they will happily take advantage of any loopholes in their orders to screw over their would-be "master."

What little
is
known can be outlined fairly quickly.

Demons fall into four orders, First to Fourth. First Order demons are the most powerful, capable of granting almost anything in exchange for a price; Second and Third Order demons perform smaller feats for their masters. Those feats tend to have limits—a demon can kill, if the price is right, provided the rules are honored—and not all magicians are willing to call on them. Fourth Order demons offer knowledge to their masters—again, if the price is right.

A summoning can be done as a once-off ritual or a deliberate attempt to bind the demon into the DemonMaster’s Book of Pacts. In the case of the former, the demon will trade blood—either from the DemonMaster or blood willingly given by a volunteer—for whatever the magician requests; in the case of the latter, the demon will serve the DemonMaster until the DemonMaster runs out of credit or dies (or the book is destroyed).

Christopher G. Nuttall was born in Edinburgh, studied in Manchester, married in Malaysia and currently living in Scotland, United Kingdom with his wife and baby son. He is the author of twenty novels from various publishers and thirty-nine self-published novels.

Current and forthcoming titles published by Twilight Times Books

Schooled in Magic YA fantasy series

Schooled in Magic
— book 1

Lessons in Etiquette
— book 2

A Study in Slaughter
— book 3

Work Experience
— book 4

The School of Hard Knocks
— book 5

Love’s Labor’s Won
— book 6

Trial By Fire
— book 7

Wedding Hells
— book 8

Infinite Regress
— book 9

Past Tense
— book 10

The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire military SF series

Barbarians at the Gates
— book 1

The Shadow of Cincinnatus
— book 2

The Barbarian Bride
— book 3

Chris has also produced
The Empire’s Corps
series, the
Outside Context Problem
series and many others. He is also responsible for two fan-made Posleen novels, both set in John Ringo’s famous Posleen universe. They can both be downloaded from his site.

Website:
http://www.chrishanger.net/

Blog:
http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherGNuttall