Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.
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Kiri, Ulysses, Queen Sofi, and Cpt. Nilsson teleported down to sub basement thirty-four of the royal palace. In that giant room laid fourteen unconscious witches encapsulated in cocoons of glowing, translucent magic. Kiri went and stood at one corner of the room, Ulysses at another, the queen at the third, and the chief of The Royal Guard at the last. Each of them raised their arms parallel to the ground and pointed their palms so they formed a giant box.
"Ready?" Cpt. Nilsson's voice bellowed. "Three! Two! One!"
Waves of energy emanated from each of the conscious witches palms, floor to ceiling, and steadily travelled outward until each individual magicks connected with each other.
Kiri called out, "Inward in... three... two... one!"
Each of them pushed their magicks outward, toward the centre of the room. When this giant wave of magic came into contact with the cocoons of magic, sparks of blue shot out of the molecules of magicked cells as they were depleted from existence.
Cpt. Nilsson called out, "Snap forward... NOW!"
The wave of depletion magic went from the ankles of the fourteen unconscious witches to the tops of their heads in mere second. Each of the fourteen witches screamed as they suddenly sat up, and then they breathed fast but deep breaths.
One of the witches, a female with big, brown eyes, caught sight of Kiri and said, "Adanek. Kunno wet di nio peh?"
(What language are we speaking now?)
Kiri smiled warmly at the witch as she walked toward the stone bed. The witch slowly raised her hands and gently placed her palms over the sides of Kiri's head. Both witches closed their eyes, the newly awakened witch pulled exactly fifty neurons from Kiri's brain and Kiri let it happen. Ulysses, the queen, and the Chief did the same for the next twelve awakened witches.
As she removed her hands, the witch stated, "We slept for one thousand, seven hundred, thirty-three years. English. What a peculiar language. So confusing. Why did this language become universal? So many words and phrases make no sense."
"I know, my friend," Kiri told the witch with a laugh. "Syna, it is wonderful to see you."
"A sentiment I agree with," the witch, Syna, replied. "Kiri, the fashion in this new era looks absolutely stunning."
This statement caused Kiri to look down at the lycra that clung to her body, and she told Syna, "This is not worn by the everyday human. I wear this to prevent any impedance to protect our queen Sofi."
"Queen Sofi," Syna said in reverence.
Syna rose from the stone bed and walked toward the queen. Queen Sofi had just allowed a male witch to grab a few neurons, and she noticed Syna approaching. Syna knelt on one knee, and before she could say anything to the ruler of the magical community, Queen Sofi crouched down and placed her finger under Syna's chin.
"Before you declare your honour," Queen Sofi said softly as she and Syna stood, "I would like to confess that it is an absolute dream to meet you, Syna. I am sorrowful that our meeting is under these circumstances, but it is my honour."
Syna smiled at the queen as she stated, "Such humility. I am very excited to work with you, Your Majesty. Now let me introduce you to the rest of the... what do you call them... The Executioners."
After the queen had shaken the hands of the other twelve magical mercenaries, Syna eyed Ulysses with intrigue and fascination. Ulysses was aware of the mercenary's gaze but chose to wait for her to approach him. He instead chatted with Cpt. Nilsson about their personal lives, mainly the chief's children and their education.
Finally, Syna walked up to Ulysses and greeted, "It is an honour to meet you, Ulysses. Rovlin and I never thought that Kiri would ever discontinue the constance spell. And here you are. You are absolutely beautiful."
"Well thank you, Syna," Ulysses replied jovially. "But I must say that the honour is all mine. I have heard many a tale of your adventures with my mother. My favourite has to be the great hunt of 723 A.D., the--"
"The Doppelgänger," Syna finished the thought with a smile of nostalgia. "It was difficult to determine whom was the real person. Thanks to that situation, though, your mother learned the neuron extraction spell."
"So tell me about your meeting my mother," Ulysses requested.
"Another time," Syna said as she grabbed Ulysses' shoulder. "We have so much work to do. You and your Markus will have to cook me and Rovlin a meal. Your mother's memories of Markus are quite warm and welcoming."
"I will speak with Mark," Ulysses promised. "But a warning about him; he is quite new to our world."
With a teasing smile, Syna responded, "I will make sure Rov is gentle."
"With whom am I to be gentle?" said a tall, burly man as he wrapped an arm around Syna's lower back.
"Markus, my love," Syna answered. "The love interest of Ulysses here."
"Ulysses," Rovlin greeted. "The highest of honours to meet the son of the esteemed Kiri"
"Please," Ulysses begged. "Please. I am merely--"
"Nothing mere about you, my child," Rovlin stated with soft finality. "From your mother's memories, you perfected the constance spell. That is no small feat. Not even Syna here can perform that spell, nor I. Therefore, it is in incredible honour to meet you, Ulysses. Almost as high an honour as when I first met Kiri. I would revere your word just as I would your mother's. I am your humble servant."
Shocked, Ulysses refuted, "No. No. I- I don't want any- any servants. We will fight side by side, as brothers in arms."
"It is done," Syna stated.
The other eleven awakened witches echoed, "It is done. Ulysses, son of Kiri, I am your servant."
Ulysses' eyes roamed the room, shocked beyond anything he had ever felt. Each of the thirteen witches gazed back at him with expectance and patience.
Fearful, Ulysses softly said, "Mom?"
"It's okay," Kiri said with tears in her eyes but an expression of pride. "It will all be okay."
Queen Sofi nodded her head and added, "The Executioners obey the commands of three witches now. Myself, your mother, and you. Royalty or not, you are key member of our society."
"Why?" Ulysses asked the queen. "Why me?"
"You are the son of Kiri the Esteemed," Queen Sofi replied. "Her blood flows through you. Your actions these past six hundred years have proven that you are capable of wise and just leadership."
"Leadership?!" Ulysses demanded. "Am I- am I King or something?!"
"No, my dear son," Kiri answered. "The general witch community will obey only Queen Sofi. But The Guard and The Executioners will now obey your command. Over three thousand years ago, King Vordak decreed that I, along with any other children I birth, would be tested throughout their lifetimes. Should they pass the ruler's tests, they would be added to the list of barons who command The Executioners. Three years ago, Queen Sofi decreed that The Guard obey us barons as well. Your last test, my son, was the depletion wave that woke these witches. The past tests included the neural restoration, constance spell, the cellular revitalization, and lumen manipulation."
"This-" Ulysses began and shook his head. "This is too much power for a witch to have. There are so many personnel in The Guard. These thirteen Executioners are so powerful."
"And yet you have been vetted to command them all," Queen Sofi stated gently. "Your mother and I have observed you these past eleven years. We have the utmost trust in you, your mentality, and your judgement. We did not make this decision lightly."
Over a week later, Mark sat at his kitchen island with a pair of Bluetooth earbuds in, he listened to meeting minutes and transcribed them on his laptop. When he heard a pair of feet suddenly land behind him, Mark continued typing.
"Hi, baby," Mark greeted warmly while still listening and typing. "How was your day?"
Ulysses raised his leg and slid it between Mark and the stool on which he sat, and slid in until he sat. Mark laughed at the cuteness, and raised his butt until he sat on Ulysses' lap.
"My day was good," Ulysses answered with his chin on Mark's shoulder.
"Okay, hang on," Mark said. "I'm almost done typing these minutes. Another minute or two."
Mark listened to the recording, typing each word said with ease. He enjoyed the warmth of Ulysses' body behind him, his breath on his neck, and his arms holding him so close.
"Done," Mark said as he removed the buds from his ears. "So how goes the hunt for these radicals?"
Ulysses smiled sadly and responded, "It is not going well. This group is hiding really, really good. They've learned to hide traces of magic, hide their trails, and wipe memories with no chance of restoration. But let's not discuss this matter any further. I just want to relax."
Mark rose from the stool and told his boyfriend, "Go lie down on the couch. I'm gonna make a beef stew. Can you teleport a bottle of red wine in?"
As Ulysses placed a kiss to Mark's temple, a bottle clinked as it landed on the countertop. Mark went about chopping some carrots and potatoes while Ulysses laid down on the couch with the TV series The Fresh Prince of Belair playing on his cell phone.
A half hour later, Mark approached the couch and knelt down beside Ulysses. He kissed Ulysses' cheek and beckoned him to the table to eat. Ulysses turned off his phone and there were clinks. He had teleported the two plates of food onto the coffee table. Mark giggled and sat down on the couch. Ulysses swung his leg up and over Mark, and pulled him in to his chest. Mark could not fight the smile as he fed both himself and Ulysses as Ulysses held him so securely. Mark gave himself a spoonful of stew, and then scooped some more and raised it over his opposite shoulder to feed Ulysses. Mark laughed so loudly when Ulysses made a show of chewing obnoxiously loud.
After the two had eaten and did the mundane task of washing the dishes, Mark grabbed a deck of playing cards. He shuffled them at the couch, and dealt for a game of gin rummy. When one player won a hand and cried in victory, the other growled in faux frustration.
Two hours later, Mark and Ulysses sat snuggly on the couch with bowls of strawberry cheesecake ice cream in their hands. The TV series Friends streamed on Netflix on the TV.
When it came time for sleep, the two men walked upstairs and into the bedroom. They lazily undressed and got under the covers.
"Thank you for tonight, my love bug," Ulysses said warmly.
Mark grabbed Ulysses hand, brought it to his face, and kissed the back of it. "Tonight felt very serene, I felt connected to you. You make me so happy, Uly."
"I have some vacation time that Queen Sofi would like me to use," Ulysses sleepily stated. "We should go on a magical trip."
"I wouldn't mind that," Mark responded and kissed the back of Ulysses' hand again. "Where and when would we go?"
"The queen's research team gave up on an excavation three months ago, and the queen's council has approved the site for practitioners to visit and tour. From what the excavation team has said about it, it is a beautiful site with many interesting features."
"That would be so cool," Mark replied. "Yeah, we should go. I will apply for a vacation for two weeks from now. Where is this site?"
"It's in a remote part of Hungary. It was discovered from old texts that there lived a magical family nearly eleven thousand years ago. One of those practitioners was rumoured to be very, very powerful. The text that was found described four out of the five family members to a tee, but the fifth was scratched out completely. It is bizarre."
"Interesting," Mark said contemplatively. "I can't wait to check it out. This will be the first thing about your community that I will see, other than you."
Nearly a week later, on a Thursday evening, Ulysses stood at his kitchen sink washing dishes from the dinner that his mother had cooked. Kiri was sitting on the floor in the living room, her legs crossed at the ankles, her eyes closed gently. Mark sat in the exact same style in front of her, his breathing slow and deep.
"I don't feel it," Mark complained.
"I can," Kiri said calmly. "Empty your mind. Your magical core is very innate. It is a very natural force that can have the power to destroy communities or build them up. It can harm a person or heal them. It allows you to soar the skies and dive in the deepest of oceans."
"Nothing. Are you sure every human has a magical core?"
"Yes," Kiri calmly answered. "Every one. Some, however, never detect them so they can't utilize them. They just lack the drive and ingenuity. And there is no shame in that."
"I have drive," Mark refuted. "I have--"
"I know you do, my dear boy," Kiri stated. "Why do you think I sit here helping you? Now concentrate. Feel for your muscles and bones in your jaw."
"Got it."
"Now connect that to your skull. To your spine. Look for your deltoids and shoulder blades. Got it all?"
Breathing calmly, Mark said, "I can feel my bronchioles filling with oxygen. I can feel the blood entering the interior vena cava."
"Good, good," Kiri said in a trance-like state. "There, in the very centre of your heart, will be a dome of magic that must be tapped open."
"I don't feel that," Mark complained. "I just feel the superior vena cava, the blood being oxygenated, and the pulmonic valve."
"Take a break," Ulysses suggested.
Ulysses crouched down behind Mark, grabbed him by under the arms, and helped him stand. Mark cupped Ulysses chin in his hand and kissed his lips. Ulysses went to the closet and got out the board game Settlers of Catan.
"I love this game," Kiri said with a gentle clap of her hands. "I fully believe that you will find your core, Markus. I have witnessed humans search for months and months. I will never stop helping you."
I hope that you are enjoying this series so far. I have been working on this series for about two years, it is so new to me. Listed below are my other works of fiction if you are interested.
Car Radio
Connected
Do Not Go Gentle
Near Wild Heaven
The Other Half of Me Unknown
A Quick Fall
Some You Give Away
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Strawberry Wine
Tearing Me Apart
You Call It Madness
You Don't Mean to Hurt Me