Circle Mage Novels & Stories

Persuade her to submit to him before the moon. His close friend Magus took a seat next to him. Magus was a rare addition to their pack. A creature half mage-half wolf he was immensely rare. There was purportedly only one other such creature in existence. And he was allegedly the Commander of King Detry’s Mages Guild. “What are you so pensive about?” Magus queried. “Same thing you are, I’ve no doubt.” “I’m far less pensive than I should be.” Magus was trying to hide a self-satisfied smirk and failing.

I stare at the brunette without understanding. “Well, first of all, there are too many of them. And while I’m dealing with one, there’s a decent chance another might reach us. I can’t defeat them all at once,” the mage explains, studying my face. “Second, killing them would release an enormous amount of free mountain energy and force. I can’t absorb that much, and it could be destructive for everything alive nearby—including you. Third, I simply don’t kill living or magical creatures without extremely dire necessity.” “And right now isn’t that dire necessity?” I breathe, unable to tear my gaze away from his lips, which curl into a mocking smirk.

Ryan asked sharply from behind us. The mage gaze swept the crowd before returning to me. “The kind that does not merely target an Alpha.” A beat. "The kind that targets bloodlines." Silence thickened. I felt Mara wolf stir beneath her skin white power responding instinctively to the implication. My voice remained steady. “Why warn us?” The mage held my gaze for a long moment. Then slowly he removed the leather cord from around his neck. A small metal insignia dropped into his palm etched with ancient alchemic markings I recognized immediately.

I sneer, dragging her back to Anastasia and march right back into the fracas of magic. Magical lights of blue, green, purple, yellow, red, gold splash across the sky. It's actually really pretty. It's funny because the black magic coming from the Abyss isn't even half as powerful as ours is. They don't actually know how to use offensive magic. All they are able to do is put up weak shields that crumble moments later. I'd laugh... but now's not the time.

War drums echoed across the compound as Bloodfang forces emerged from the forest like a tide of shadow and steel. From the walls, I could see Kael's banners streaming in the wind that preceded the coming storm crimson cloth marked with the snarling wolf head that had once been my own symbol. "Three hundred warriors, just as the scouts reported," Marcus observed grimly, lowering his spyglass. "Plus siege equipment and what looks like a full complement of battle-mages." Battle-mages. Wolves trained to channel raw pack energy into destructive force. They couldn't match the individual power of an Eclipse Covenant heir, but working together they could level entire sections of wall.

"Then help us find her." The Mage studies me for a long moment. Long enough that the silence begins to itch. “I can only do what the Moon commands,” he finally says. “And the Moon is… particular.” My heart sinks slightly. The hope that had been burning so bright suddenly feels fragile. Uncertain. "What help can you offer?" Damon asks. His voice is practical. He is already recalculating. Already adapting to the information. Already finding new paths. The Mage turns fully to me now. His gaze settling on my face like a weight. Like he is measuring something. Seeing something that is not visible to ordinary sight.