deadly night shade 8

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The Potions Master
“So we’re supposed to just take all of the types of demons we saw and make multiple potions of how to destroy their body and hope we destroy them forever?” Frostgem asked.
“That’s the plan,” Rich agreed.
“There has to be some reason for Shade’s insanity. There always is,” Shadowstorm said dully.
“I believe the phrase is ‘method to madness’,” Shade said quickly.
“Not when it comes to warlocks,” Shadowstorm replied.
“Touché,” Shade said, smiling a pure smile.
“You seem different,” Emberstrike commented as she stared at Shade.
“Because I am,” Shade replied flatly. There was an obvious brightness to his eyes that was only there in his human life.
“I see our sword made a good home in your sheath,” Shadowstorm muttered.
Shade smirked, “Your right. I use it for fighting and you use it for protecting your circle. But it looks better on my belt than in Raven’s hand.”
“You’re something else,” Ravenwater uttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yes, indeed I am,” Shade replied as he flipped through the grimoire. “Here’s one for a cloak of shadows. Practice this one, Roy,” he said, pointing to the spell that was written on the page.
Roy loomed over Shade’s shoulder and memorized the words to the needed chanting to disguise the entire party as nothing more than shadows. “I’ve got it.”
“Cast it on somebody,” Shade said as he began flipping through the book again.
Roy nodded and focused the spell on Emberstrike who disappeared from sight, save her shadow as soon as the words left his mouth. “It worked!” he clapped before snapping his fingers and bringing the young witch back into sight.
“Good, Rich, keep looking for something useful,” Shade ordered, sitting his other servant down at the table in front of the grimoire.
“What are you going to do?” Frostgem asked, following Shade with her eyes.
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and headed to the porch, closing the door behind him. He slipped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it with a conjured flame.
“I did it. I got rid of the damned warlock.” He exhaled the breath of smoke and smirked, looking at the demons who were gathering in front of him on the streets.
“You can teach us how to stay,” a troll begged from its low crouching position on the ground.
“Heh, not hardly,” Shade replied before taking another drag of the cigarette.
“You will teach us!” A guttural voice snarled from beneath the porch. A short bear-like creature with long pointed ears was glaring up at Shade with golden eyes.
“A goblin I presume?” Shade asked as he stubbed out the cherry of the cigarette in his bare palm.
“Yes, master,” the goblin grunted.
“If you two want my acceptance, kill every invading demon, save each other and yourself,” Shade offered with a sly warlock grin.
“We shall, we shall!” the troll said excitedly.
“Good,” Shade said before stepping into the house again. He placed the cigarette back in the pack having been interrupted in his reflective time. Instinctively Shade marched up the stairs and slowly opened Windfire’s bedroom door.
“Night Shade?” she hoped as her eyes slowly opened.
“Windfire!” he gasped, running over to her, forgetting to breathe for a moment. He slid onto her bed and watched her, waiting for an order, a request, a question, anything!
“W-what happened to me?” she asked, still feeling the vertigo from the sudden change of altitude.
Shade caught her and supported her back, “It’s okay, now. My plan worked,” he gave her a sincere, assuring smile.
“But what…”
He placed his index finger over her lips, “Don’t be alarmed, but you were possessed by a succubus,” Shade muttered.
“P-possessed?” she asked.
“Yes, but I knew how to reverse it,” Shade smiled, now knowing that he couldn’t regret destroying his soul for such a bright-eyed beauty.
“What did you do?” she asked, knowing that Shade had some odd warlock remedies, some of them more disdainful to the taste buds than others.
“I had a necklace for such an occasion,” Shade replied.
“You’re my hero,” Windfire said, snuggling against him.
Shade blushed and could accept her dubbing him a hero with a proud smile, though he never wanted her to know exactly how much he loved her. “Glad to be of service. I’d better get back downstairs and command the unit.”
“Command the unit?” Windfire repeated.
Shade chuckled, “I’m the unofficial leader since you’re out of commission.”
“Why you?”
“I am the most bossy and most threatening,” Shade grinned, sighing happily when she mussed his hair. He loved that feeling.
“Can I come?” she asked.
“Well, are you knocking me from my high horse?” he inquired.
“Nah, I like your pride,” Windfire said softly. Shade blushed and scooped her up, carrying her down the steps with ease. The others were still flipping through the books, trying to get a good lead to follow.
“How goes Operation Shade is a Fricking Lunatic That We Should Mutiny?” Shade asked as he read the folder that was written on with very neat handwriting.
“You like the name? I picked it out myself,” Shadowstorm grinned sheepishly.
“It’s amusing, but how’s it going,” Shade responded.
“Well, we’re preparing the stove for boiling the most of the exorcism potions,” Emberstrike said, turning around from the stove.
“Excellent, and how are your spells coming?” Shade turned toward Rich and Roy who were jotting down notes and sliding them into the manila folder Shadowstorm had started to categorize.
“Rather well. We have a few spells for mind controlling the demons, so that’ll be really useful,” Rich said, not glancing up from his work.
“Did you notice the carnage in the streets?” Ravenwater asked Shade, referring to his cigarette break.
“Yup,” Shade replied.
“Worried?” Frostgem asked.
“About what?” Shade asked innocently.
“I don’t know, maybe the fate of the human race…” Shadowstorm stared at the warlock expectantly.
“Oh, that,” Shade said, sounding absent-minded about an item on a grocery list. He shook his head, “No, they’ll be fine.”
“How can you say that?” Frostgem glared at Shade, her icy eyes piercing where his soul would have shone through in his eyes if he still had a soul.
“It’s called faith in the white witches around the world. And faith in the warlock wannabes who don’t want to be discovered when demons are attracted to them. Just trust me when I say we’re not alone in fighting demons,” Shade uttered.
“I can’t believe you didn’t mutiny yet,” Windfire admitted.
“Thanks for the confidence,” Shadowstorm said, playfully glaring at Windfire.
“Well, I know you’re not a fan of Night Shade here, so, excuse me for thinking the worst,” Windfire replied, cuddling against her love.
“I’m not a fan of him, but I have to deal with him and the blood oath and your weird relationship with him,” Shadowstorm replied.
“Just blood oath love?” Shade asked.
“Yup,” the lesser white witches chorused.
“Wow, I feel loved, let me tell you,” Shade said sardonically.
“Oh dear,” Roy muttered.
“What?” the others asked.
Roy glanced toward the window, “They’re getting closer…”
“I can’t cook any faster!” Emberstrike hissed as she stirred the pot’s contents.
“Don’t you have a cauldron or kettle?” Shade asked.
“We’re not stereotypical Halloween witches,” Emberstrike retorted.
“Sorry,” Shade replied. “I own a kettle. That’s one giant pot,” he said, wanting to stroke his chin, forgetting that he was holding Windfire in his arms.
“You want us to boil things in more than just what will fit in the bottle?” Frostgem asked.
“That would be more lucrative,” Rich said, uneasy about the curious demonic army that was walking around outside of the house.
“Fine, throw everything into this one pot,” Emberstrike ordered, referring to the sorted ingredients that sat on the table.
Roy hopped up and took the tray of herbs, spices and other odds and ends to the stove where Emberstrike was brewing a potion. “Here you go, Mistress Emberstrike.”
“Thanks,” she said, quickly sweeping all of the ingredients into the one concoction.
“This is going to be a master demon slaying potion,” Roy said with a grin.
“I should add this to the book if it works,” Emberstrike murmured.
“Let’s hope it does,” Shade said quickly.
“Why?” Rich looked up and saw several imps crawling in through an ajar window.
Shade freed one of his hands from holding Windfire’s weight and shot a black ray at a demon. The others with free hands quickly began joining him, attempting to ward off the smarter creatures of the Nethers.
“Brew faster!” Ravenwater prodded, shooting blasts of water at some of the creatures in rapid succession.
Windfire regained her energy and began joining in with the spit-balling elemental whack-a-fiend. “Save your energy and take turns shooting, and stop prodding her.” She was leaning on Shade who was easily supporting both himself and her.
“Yes, quit prodding the potion master!” Emberstrike spat. “More ingredients per pot means more time needed to boil, damn it!”
“Isn’t there a white witch spell to shorten that?” Rich asked, getting irritated with the repetition.
“If you find one, I’ll do it,” Emberstrike demanded, glaring at the warlock.
“Well, we’re all going to die. Don’t look too tasty, then the demons won’t eat your corpse,” Rich said flatly.
“Oh my Goddess,” Emberstrike growled, ready to just dump the hot liquid into Rich’s lap.
“Shut the hell up!” Shade ordered.
“He started it!” Emberstrike snapped.
“I don’t care, I’ll kill you both,” Shade snapped.
“Windfire’s conscious, you’re not in charge any longer,” Shadowstorm said to Shade.
“I wouldn’t kill them because of authority. I’d kill them because they’re annoying,” Shade retorted.
“Shade…” Windfire chided.
“I’m sorry, but my fuse is a bit shorter with demons scratching at the windows,” Shade said quietly.
“It’s frothy!” Emberstrike cheered.
“What does that mean?” Roy asked.
“It means hand me smaller containers to put the Super Slayer Potion into,” Emberstrike said, pointing to a small cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.
Rich and Roy nodded and retrieved several small vials, dropping them onto the top of the range. “Now fill them quickly before we all die,” Rich demanded, looking again at the advancing army.
Emberstrike slapped Rich’s hand with the hot ladle, “Order me around again and I’ll slay you instead.”
“Emberstrike, stop being so hot-headed,” Frostgem muttered, likewise tired of hearing the fighting.
“I’m sorry, warlocks are used to speedy kills,” Rich said, mockingly.
“Speed is no match for accuracy,” Ravenwater retorted.
“Those two warlocks are used to speed,” Shade interjected. “You all can testify to my precise techniques.” Ravenwater almost fell off his chair laughing hysterically. “What?” Shade asked.
“Suggestive wording,” Windfire whispered.
“Oh,” Shade nodded. “How can you think about that at a time like this?”
“He’s confident that we’ll win,” Shadowstorm answered.
“Good, no need to lie and pump up morale,” Shade sighed.
“Come and get ‘em,” Emberstrike announced, holding up several small vials that were filled with a green liquid.
“Let’s go,” Windfire said, happily taking several of the bottles.

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deadly night shade 10