Warlock Read online

  WARLOCK

  Marionette of Chaos Magic:

  Book One

  R.R. Adams

  Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing ©

  All rights reserved. This book and cover are under

  copyright. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission from the author except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  Copyright © 2020 R.R. Adams

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,

  events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Book cover design by: UFAN Studio [email protected]

  ISBN: 979-8-6151-7313-4

  Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing ©

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Dedicated to the art and artists that inspire.

  CHAPTER ONE

  I picked up my books from my desk and stuffed them, nonchalantly, into my bag.

  At eighteen, attending school had become as predictable as the sun rising. I probably took it for granted, but as I scrawled away on paper after paper for hours on end, I just kept wondering: is this all there was to life?

  My freshman year was plagued by infinite classes and expectations. Every day the clock ticked away the time I had left to decide my future; to determine the rest of my life.

  Sighing, I swung the bag over my shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

  The sky was bright and cheerful even while the sun sleepily blinked the day away. While the wind held the cool foretelling of autumn, the trees, in their vibrant greens, seemed to still be holding onto summer.

  College or high school, it all looked and felt exactly the same. My parents said that if I gave it a few months here, I'd figure out what I really wanted to study.

  A state university gave me two years to whittle away at general education requirements. Maybe, by the end of the two years, I would figure it out. Too bad it would cost me more and more in student loans the longer I took to decide.

  Walking towards my dormitory, each step felt weighted with indecision and the gravity of any particular choice.

  Maybe I should have taken a gap year like my friend Kalie.

  With the sun now gone, the sky shot through with vibrant reds and purples. The colors were like the sun's last fit of rage before yielding to the moon. Streetlights blinked awake, and the trees fought against the slight breeze that indicated autumn would soon be here.

  I dragged my foot on the stone path for too long and kicked something metal. Thinking it was likely a quarter, I bent over to scoop it up.

  Yes, I was frugal. College beat it into us with the long hours we worked at terrible jobs to pay for fun things like coffee and non-cafeteria food. And less fun stuff like textbooks that professors never referenced and then managed to test you on.

  The metal in my hand was more substantial than a quarter and uneven.

  Tilting the object in my grasp towards the only street lantern on the cobbled path, I was surprised to find intricate engravings on a tiny ornate brass key.

  A younger me would have thought it was the key to a secret door or a hidden treasure.

  It was probably a key to a student's diary, or maybe a cute lockbox.

  I slipped the key into my pocket.

  Either I can drop it off to the lost and found or just hold onto it a bit and see if anyone is looking for it.

  After walking for over twenty minutes, I stepped through the entrance to my dorm room.

  'You won't get the freshman fifteen on this campus!' The tour guide had jested when I arrived at the school.

  All the exercise in the world couldn't combat the junk food in the dining halls –burgers and fries-or the time spent sitting reading page upon page of textbooks.

  Peering over my shoulder, I was unsurprised to see my roommate still tucked in bed. Not only had she slept through all of her classes, Danielle was still there, wasting away the day.

  I pulled the key out of my pocket and examined it in the light.

  "Hey," Danielle roused from her blankets, dragging her feet to her tiny fridge and pulling it open to rummage for something to microwave for dinner.

  It was probably some pre-made snack her parents had sent as 'emergency food.' Too bad they didn't know that 'emergency food' was all she ate.

  My roommate shoved her dinner into the microwave and turned to me as the machine hummed and counted down the cooking time.

  "So.." Danielle crossed her arms and leaned against the fridge. "My midterm grades came in." I sat quietly and waited for her to continue. Not that her grades had anything to do with me. "Since we take the same classes, I think you need to do a better job of waking me up in the morning." Danielle finished aggressively. "Plus, I'm going to need your notes from the last few weeks so that I can catch up."

  Ha.

  My eyes widened in shock and amusement.

  I could have pointed out something annoying like how her stuff covered most of our room. Or the fact that her boyfriend practically lived here. Or worse, that I had to study elsewhere to not disturb her constant sleeping.

  But, none of it really mattered. Danielle was the quintessential college roommate everyone told horror stories about. She was the epitome of the freshman dropout rate or the 'barely passing' rate, colleges and parents alike overlooked.

  "Your grades aren't my problem. Neither is waking you up for class," I laughed out loud this time.

  If she'd been kinder, maybe I would have found a way to help her. But after a few months of this, I was already done. I was simply hoping to change roommates at the end of the semester.

  "I can't believe you are so selfish," she emphasized the word 'so.' "You're the reason I'm failing, and you can't even help me this much." Danielle pushed her blonde hair over her shoulder and stared at me in a challenge.

  She was a queen amongst her friends. Danielle barked orders, and they fell in line. I was more of the type to avoid this type of person.

  "Again, your laziness isn't my problem." No, I wasn't the kind of person to bite my tongue, smile, and smooth things over. I pushed the key into my pocket and shouldered my backpack that I had set down for a moment's respite.

  I grabbed the notebook I had entered the room for and turned around, walking out the door. The student advisors would tell me something like 'talk out your problems' but, I'd given up talking to that brick wall about two minutes into the semester.

  Conveniently, everything I needed or cared about or was necessary for class was in my bag.

  I climbed the steps that lead into a tiny dark study area that was set aside for students. They said it was so we could have a place separate from our rooms to do schoolwork. To help us focus. But, as I looked into the haunted eyes of the students sitting there, I realized the truth. We all had pulled the short straw for roommates.

  It was laughable. Some people had found lifelong friends in their roommates.

  Not me. Definitely, not me. I'd be happy if I were transported to an alternate world where Danielle didn't exist.

  I pulled open my textbook and stared mindlessly at the pages. Not much studying was going to be done ton
ight. And, truthfully, I didn't like studying. I did it to get away from my roommate.

  Time ticked by, and after a while, only I remained in the lounge. People seemed to have given up on avoiding their roommates and trickled out of the room, returning to their dorms.

  My phone flashed 11:50pm.

  Too bad my roommate slept the day away. She'd still be awake for a while yet, which meant I'd be here, wasting time.

  Pulling the key out of my pocket, I placed it on the book. I was examining it and dragging it across the pages to mark where I was reading. Snapping my microeconomics book shut, I placed the key on top of it.

  Letters were inscribed in the soft brass of the handle. I peered closer, trying to make them out, but they seemed to have faded too much over time.

  My eyelids became heavy, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep. The key was held tightly in my hand.

  It glowed faintly before sleep took me.

  My dreams had begun to seep out into the real world because it felt like I was still in the same room, but I could hear a humming. Like an enraged bee was screaming in my ears.

 
  Identifying a target suitable for transition... Success...

  Extracting soul... Success...

  Erasing memory... target refuses memory wipe... Failed...

  Retrying... Failed...

  Transmigration... Success...

  Constructing simulation...Success...>

  It sounded like someone left their computer volume on too high. I rubbed my eyes and blinked away sleep.

  CHAPTER TWO

  "Where am I?"

 

  I remembered that I was sleeping at a desk, and then I was in a white room. White walls, ceiling, floor. And there was nothing around me. No matter how far I walked, I never really seemed to move anywhere.

  Everything was exactly the same.

  This was the most boringly vivid dream I had ever experienced.

 

  The sound reverberated in my ears, and an electric blue screen jumped to life before me.

 

  Large letters flashed before me. As I stared at it in confusion, a timer sprung to life in thin air, causing me to yelp and jump out of the way. Even though it appeared next to my arm, I realized that if I reached forward to touch it, my hand passed right through.

  I pressed the letter 'K' on the keyboard before me.

 

  The timer by my side pulsed with each second my time decreased.

 

  "Can you give me a bit more information?!" I shouted at the disembodied voice. There was a moment of silence while the letters dissolved in thin air. A spectral figure that looked vaguely feminine took its place. Her image shifted, partially disappeared, and reappeared.

 

  The room flashed from light to dark, and the spirit began to speak.

  "Evandaria was once a beautiful world filled with light and life." A surreal forest materialized around me. Trees, larger than I had ever seen, erupted from the earth. Birds fluttered away into the sunlit sky, and vibrant plants spotted the forest floor. "But, where there is light, there is also darkness. A balance." The image turned to nightfall. Wolves cried, and the snarls of something wicked spilled from the depths of the woods. I felt hunted. It was as though I needed to flee from an unseen predator. But, there was no escape.

  "Four races flourished together peacefully; fauna, demons, humans, and fae." The forest faded, and four celestial figures took its place.

  They, like the spirit, looked as though they had been woven from the constellations.

  I gasped. The human looked like me.

  The fauna was a beautiful doe-eyed woman with antlers, green hair, and hooves.

  The fae had pointed ears and a willowy figure.

  But, the last race looked human; a tall man that seemed too beautiful to be real. He raised his hand, palm facing towards me, and I couldn't stop myself from reaching out to touch it. He winked, and then all four figures vanished.

  "Where the Fauna were the light that cherished our lands, the Demons were the darkness that consumed it." The scene split with one side now containing a corrupted dark castle where nothing living seemed to flourish. The other side remained unchanged.

  "Humans and fae were the neutral races with the power to tip the balance." The celestial figures stood around me, one foot on each side of the scene. Touching light and dark. They bowed to me.

  "No one knows whether it was human or fae that tipped the balance. But, their choices lead to a scourge." The darkness began to consume the light. Grotesque monsters with wicked horns, protruding teeth, and blood-red eyes started to pour out of the castle. They attacked the fauna that had once rested peacefully in the forest.

  "We need someone to restore balance, and as our world has lost most of its light, you are here to help us. You are our champion." The spirit's voice, her convictions, became more forceful.

  "Please save us. We have very little time left." The spirit bowed. "And, during that time, I will do everything I can to prepare you." The vision vanished, and the room turned white again.

  Some part of me would have preferred the view of the dark, creepy castle to this sterile room.

  I've definitely gone crazy, and it's not just the white room, making me feel that way.

  Yea, I pinched myself. And, no, the image didn't go away.

  I was decidedly not okay.

  "Can you get a move on before you end up dying immediately in the first fight?" A sassy voice erupted into the room that was previously devoid of life.

  I glanced behind me to see a shimmering figure hovering a few inches above the platform. She--this figure--was different than the spirit.

  She was more alive.

  "Welcome to Evandria." The figure said with a flourish and a bow of her head. "Now, get a move on." Upon closer inspection, I noticed she had white hair, pointy ears, feline eyes, and a thin, delicate face.

  "You're an elf." I blurted.

  The 'elf' in question sniffed.

  "I am not an elf. I'm a fae." Her smile turned vicious. "You just wasted five minutes on that cinematic, and you don't know what a fae is? Get it right, or you might accidentally offend someone here." The fae tsked and then glanced at the timer.

  "Again, I can't stress enough: you are going to be a very dead pincushion filled with arrows if you don't finish the registration." She crossed her arms and bared her teeth. "Now."

  "Why am I here? I was at my desk and now..." I looked around.

  "How did they make me the guide of the one human whose mind they didn't wipe?" The question was purely rhetorical. The fae placed her head in her open palms and let out a sigh. Then her face popped up, and she looked shrewdly at the timer. "You humans are so much easier to deal with when you're a blank slate."

 

  "Let's just say your soul has left your body, and you now exist in Evandria." My guide said. "Or you will, once you create your character."

  "So... I'm dead?" I couldn't hide the fear in my voice.

  "Well, you aren't dead... per se. Your soul is very much alive, but your old life is gone." The fae guide tapped her foot. "We really don't have time for this. There are only two things you should care about." She held up one finger. "You don't have a body and need to choose one in the next 24 minutes." Then she held up a second finger "The default options the magic system will give you will get you killed. Immediately."

  So, this was reincarnation. Kind of.

  I was only eighteen, what did I die of? Why do I need to create my character? Why was I transported into Evandaria?

  "Okay. Two questions then." She gave me the look of 'you've already asked about fifty, but I continued anyway. "If I die, do I start back here? And, why is the system calling me 'player'?" I asked as the timer continued to tick
down. Surely I could start over if I made a mistake.

 
  Please finish creating your character.>

  Now the system was pleading with me.

  "Evandria is different than most worlds. If you aren't born here, there is this system that tracks your abilities and the objectives you need to complete to survive in this world." The fae held up a palm displaying razor-sharp nails. "And before you ask, you were brought here in hopes that you'll save this world. But remember, who you become is ultimately your choice."

  I stared down at the screen and began to press the rest of the letters for my old name. I wasn't really creative.

  "Heh. You still choose to be a woman in this world." The fae laughed. "The good news is, besides a few gems," the word 'gems' was stated with dripping sarcasm, "this world doesn't differentiate much between men and women."

 
  Your character will be female.>

 

  "Why me?" I asked tentatively.

  "I don't know. Why any of us?" She watched as my hand hovered over the selections. "But I will say, please don't select the demon race or a magic class. And never select to start as a townsperson. Their lives never end well." Mira stared urgently at the timer. "Please finish your character. You only have twenty-one minutes left. I'll explain everything later."

  I turned back to the screen that now listed out classes.

 
  Your primary classes to choose from are Warrior, Mage, Rogue, or Healer.

  Once you have made your selection, it cannot be undone.>

  Mira said to avoid magic. So that left a Warrior or a Rogue. I doubted healing was like being a doctor here.