Page 3 of Magic Claimed
As far as I can understand, humans didn’t like it. Every aspect of their lives changed in an instant. They blamed the Fae who, as far as I was concerned, had no idea what would happen when they crossed through the tear between worlds. It wasn’t as though they were the ones who had torn through dimensions.
True magic is powerful and it frightened the humans. It caused unrest. Chaos. And hatred. So much so that the Fae King created a magical Prophecy for Earth. There would be Six who would rule the Earth for the benefit of all humanity. It was bound with a seal of unbreakable magic and gifted to humans.
The people of the time didn’t like that either. They revolted against the Prophecy and the Fae and the Bloodthirsty War began. There were heavy losses on both sides with the Fae stating they wished no harm to come to humans, however when a grimoire was stolen from their realm, the war escalated.
It wasn’t any grimoire. It was The Grimoire. A book of ancient spells passed from the gods to the Fae which powered their dimension. Once it was stolen, the grimoire was lost from both worlds. No matter who searched, it remained hidden or lost. The Fae dimension collapsed.
The Prophecy came to pass and The Six formed. All powerful. Magical. Unstoppable. They gifted humans with magic and used it to create shifters-wolves, panthers and dragons-as their own personal battalions to fight against the Fae. In desperation for their own existence, the Fae closed the dimensional tear, cutting themselves off to Earth forever. However, some Fae didn’t make it back to their world and were forever trapped on Earth, magical and hunted. Those The Six turned to become shifter soldiers who never returned to normal humans.
Non-magical humans hated anything that reminded them of the war, of people and a life they lost forever. Anyone who was magical, or shifter, became a scapegoat. Loathed. Repelled. The shifters and magical rose to stand against this treatment, but The Six were too strong to fight. They were indestructible and unstoppable.
The Six divided the world into regions, each of them ruling one segment. The wolf, panther and dragon shifters were each given a region, made to farm the land and produce goods and services for humans, and ruled with an iron fist. Those who in any way held true magic went to ground, pretending they were merely human to survive. The only magical beings were The Six and the people who they gifted their magic to.
The Six have ruled for a millennium, outlasting generations of humans and shifters. The Six never gave up hope of finding the fabled Grimoire. They still thought it existed and they wanted it. I didn’t understand why. They were all powerful, ruling the earth and everyone on it. They already had everything. What more could there possibly be?
A loud chorus of voices bound by the stench of stale beer and unwashed bodies shattered by thoughts. Crud, I’d wandered into the centre of town, caught up in my misery and my thoughts. Three familiar large bodies barrelled out from the open door of The Pig and Wheelbarrow and came up short when they saw me. Of all the men in the town, I had to run into these three.
Legis’ fat lips curled as his glassy eyes found me. “Well, well. If it isn’t Esoti’s little slave. Whattaya doing out here all alone, vermin?”
He swayed on his feet as his two buddies hedged me in. Yavo and Alwan peered down at me, and I had to tilt my head back to look at their faces. They had their guard leathers on, the inlaid thick leather protecting their shoulders, biceps, hearts, thighs and balls. I wouldn’t get out of here with a quick knee in the right place, as I’d done to them before. It was a pity they didn’t treat me as a pariah. That would have been a blessing.
“What do you think I’m doing out there? I’m on an errand sent by Esoti. Step out of my way and I won’t tell him I was delayed because of you,” I said, not bothering to hide my sneer as Legis swayed on his feet.
“Don’t worry. What we want to do to you won’t take all that long, will it boys?” Yavo reached for me and I stepped out of the way of his meaty hand. Luckily for me, he was drunk and slow. If he got a hold of me, I knew I’d never get away. Yavo was mean and obstinate.
“I can imagine you’d never take more than a few seconds. That’s what the girls say about you, anyway.” I didn’t know if it was true or not because, in reality, nobody spoke to me. The idea of Yavo fucking anyone willing or sober made me wretch.
“Why you…” Yavo stepped towards me, but Legis held him back with a palm on his shoulder.
Legis’ eyes narrowed, calculating, “Don’t listen to her. She has a smart mouth. Do yourself a favour and I’ll show you something else you can do with your mouth. We can help each other. You do me a favour and I’ll give you some food now and then. A scrawny thing like you needs to put some extra meat on their bones.”
“I want nothing from you, Legis. Least of all your shriveled cock. Now let me through.” The only way to the next village was the road we stood on. Not unless I wanted to go through the woods and that was shifter territory. Nobody disturbed their land without invitation from the wolf alpha. I’d seen enough half eaten bodies gored to death turning up at the castle’s steps to know they took their privacy very seriously.
“Give us what we want and I won’t tell Esoti you stole food from the tavern while you were on his errand,” Legis said.
“But I haven’t stolen anything,” I said.
“Who will he believe? His trusted guards or vermin like you?” Legis leered. His eyes flashed with triumph knowing my impossible situation. Esoti would know he lied, but that never stopped him from hurting me. I was his favourite kick-bag, after all. Fun times.
“Why do you want me? There’re willing women inside who’ll let you do anything to them if you have enough coin.” One benefit to being the untouchable, was that I’d been saved from rape. I was thankful for that. It helped when I’d started the rumour that the dick of any man who slept with me would fall off, kept a lot of men looking for an easy conquest away from me.
“I don’t want to part with any coin. A slave like you should be grateful for any attention you get. Now get here and open your legs. It’s cold and I want to sink into a wet, warm pussy,” Alwan slurred. His hand reached out in a blur. Even drunk he was fast. His hand gripped my bicep in a bruising hold.
He drew me towards him. I struggled, my heart fluttering in my throat. My feet slipped on the muddy road. He tried to catch my other arm, but I twisted. All he caught was the lapel of my coat, but that was enough. His breath was stale and rancid as he pulled me against him. He bent and pressed his mouth over mine. Bile rose when his tongue slipped past my lips. The taste of ale exploded in my mouth and I gagged. His hands would leave bruises, but if he gripped me any harder, he’d break my bone. If I didn’t get loose now, I was done for.
I bit down on his tongue as hard as I could. The coppery taste of blood flooded my mouth, sweeping away the ale. He bellowed, his palms flattened on my shoulders and he pushed me away. I didn’t waste a second, turning on my heel and racing into the closest alley.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, retching with the foul taste in my mouth as I darted into deep shadow. The stench of urine and rubbish rose around me as I darted across the rough cobblestones.
“Get her!” I didn’t stop to see who’d yelled. It didn’t matter. If they caught me, they’d do whatever they wanted to me and leave me twisted and broken in some alley. The only thing worse than knowing they’d kill me was knowing I’d wake up when my body had regenerated enough to function again and I’d be late for Esoti’s errand. With Esoti, there was no excuse.
The coat twisted around my legs, slowing me down. I gathered the material in my arms, freeing my legs to run as fast as my feet would carry me. Their heavy footfalls thumped behind me. They were big and drunk, and I was starved and weak.
They were catching up to me.
I dashed around a corner. My foot slipped and my knee cracked to the ground. My palm sunk into cold mud as Legis snatched the collar of my coat. With a roar of triumph, he pulled me to my feet. His lips peeled back in a feral grin that was all dark promise and pain.
I let my limbs go loose. My arms slid from the sleeves as I dropped to my knees. I glimpsed his confused expression before I kicked the heel of my boot into the side of his knee. His armour might have protected most of the soft spots of his body, but I’d seen many a training session where soldiers were taken down with such a move. Tendons snapped and his knee cap slid to the outside of his leg.
