#Storytime Quarterly Blog Hop A Cozy Fantasy Flash Fiction

#storytime
A Cozy Witchy Fantasy Flash Fiction
Percival’s Bane: The Demon and The Void 

I sensed my witch writhe in agony as the demon dug its claws deeper into her flesh.  We were bonded, so my mind stayed locked to hers as long as she was alive and awake. 

Trapped in a cage that suppressed my magical power in the room adjacent. I paced. Flicking my black furry tail. Even though the demon had stolen my Chi I was not without some magical powers.  My Chi gave me nine lives, and allowed me to tap into the life force and share my powers with my witch. 

Now the demon used my Chi against us. This would not be a good day to die.  

“Serena.” My witch’s current boyfriend ran into the granite underbelly of Devil Rock Castle, yelling her name.  He would not be able to breach the magical barrier between them and save her. 

Gaston was more brawn than brains, but he loved my witch. A fact which made me resent him and tolerate him. I couldn’t decide if she loved him, but for now he held her interested and was good to her. 

BUT, he could save me, and then maybe I could save her. 

He was what was known in magical circles as a dud, a Void, a totally non magical life form, but with one caveat–magic did not work around him or if it did, often went haywire when used in his vicinity. 

On a rare occasion, with a Void, the absence of magic fueled a spell.  No one knew why this occurred, and it was unpredictable with often disastrous results depending on if the spell was friend or foe, and even good results leaned toward the disastrous of too much of a good thing. 

If I could get his attention we could still save my witch. Since both I and Gaston were on the same side of the magical barrier I could communicate with him.  Lucky for me, telepathy was not a magical element.  It was an element of energy.  

Even the non-magical could use it if they learned to tap into the higher brain functions, but it took practice. It was a pseudo science that the majority of the world dismissed, unless you experience it.  

I had never tried to speak to Gaston.  He was human, and well, I’m a cat—and have been for a few centuries now. I must admit, humans respond better when I rely more on my cat-ness, rather than my humanity. 

I’m not sure why he had not spotted me in this cage that looked like a giant iron mouth clamped down on me.  He could be thick headed, and he was focused on the iron door laced with smoky crystal’s blocking us both from my witch.  

I focused. “Gaston, let me out of this cage.”

He was a large man, not quite a giant.  His russet colored head jerked around at the sound of my voice.  He paused, then ripped a decorative sword from the chamber wall, and started hacking at the black iron door. 

Really? Idiot! “Gaston! Quit hacking at that door and let me out of this cage.”

He pivoted wildly. “Who said that?”

“I did. Percival.”

“Serena’s cat?” 

“Yes.  Stop horsing around and get over here.” 

“Over where?”

“The table. We don’t have much time.” 

“Rrowohrow!”

 He spotted me. “Percival?”

“Who else would I be?”  

Gaston stopped with the questions and began to hack at my cage with the sword.   

I hissed, arched, and slapped back. Not my best move as he almost hacked off a claw. “Stop that, before you hurt me.”

“How else am I supposed to get you out?”

“Try the key hanging on the wall over there.”  He bent and peered in at me.  I stared at the key, while pointing a furry paw.  Gaston can be thick, but he was not stupid. 

“Got it.” 

Because magic had no effect on Gaston, him being a Void, he bypassed the daemon spell, unlocking the cage without incident.  I was free.  I jumped down, and immediately collapsed.  The drain on my Chi had taken a physical toll. 

Gaston bent down and stroked my fur, and then gently picked me up. “Hey cat, you okay?”

Sometimes… ‘It’s better to apologize later rather than ask for permission first.’  I liked that human cliche, which seems à propos, in this instance.

I bit down on Gaston’s hand, drew blood, and sucked.  Even his Chi could lend me power when accessed through blood. It didn’t hurt him, well, except for the actual bite, and it was enough for me to transfer power to my witch, enhancing her powers. 

He yipped, and dropped me. 

The iron door exploded outward as my witch blasted free of the demon.  

“Revertere ad ubi venit de daemonio,” Serena yelled. [Go back to where you came from, demon.] 

The smell of sulfur filled the room. 

My strength and Chi buzzed to life through my body.  I stepped toward my witch.  And stopped. Serenda embraced Gaston in a lip lock.  

“You saved me.”

Oh, please, no, I saved her. Neither of them had even glanced my way.  “I might be dead over here,” I groused, out loud this time. 

“Silly cat, you have nine lives.  And I can feel your Chi powering back up.”

“The cat talked out loud?” Gaston, distracted from her lips for a moment, stared at me. 

“Well, he is my familiar, and was once a powerful wizard himself until he was cursed.  He can do a lot of other things, not just talk.”

“Should I be jealous?” Gaston kissed her.

Oh Yuck, gag me now, and stake the human. 

“No darling, he’s a cat.” That said, she kissed him again. 

The smoldering in my gut grew, as I pondered every form of torture I had learned over my many lifetimes as human, and as a cat. The demon was defeated, but defeat of THE VOID was yet to come.

Storytime Quarterly Blog Hop:
January, April, July & October

First Real Assignment by Bill Bush

A Whole New World by Barbara Lund

Eye of the Beholder by Chris Makowski

What If by Katharina Gerlach

Subject: If You Don’t Hear From Me Again by Gina Fabio

Percival’s Bane: The Demon and The Void by Juneta Key <-YOU ARE HERE!

Rabble Rouser by James Husum