Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

"You know, going to the lab wasn't what I had in mind when I imagined a guy's night out," Zeph said blandly as Bernard led Alex, Eli and him through the white hallways of Aetherlabs. He tried to ignore all the people staring at the new fox-kin shifter to visit the labs. They were all curious about who this new man was and why he was so close to the Lord and his associates. It made Zeph feel uncomfortable.

"Now, now, it may not seem exciting at the moment, but you'll change your mind soon," Bernard said.

"Yeah, little dude. We have a bit of a surprise for you and Alex." Eli smiled at them.

"Oh, really? I look forward to it," Alex said.

Bernard led them through the R&D department towards an area Zeph has never been to. The old man turned around with outstretched arms. "This, my friends, is the prototype testing grounds!"

Alex whistled, looking impressed. Zeph also looked around in wonder. There were all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and assorted niftiness the building. Bernard guided them and introduced the enchanted inventions. He started off with the simpler items. Weapons were first.

Zeph was surprised to see the revolver they had discussed was finished. It seems that the new programming language and three-dimensional spell diagrams were working. Soon, regular warriors and police would be able to wield weapons that could cast a selection of six spells at any given time. The guns needed a mana battery that needed to be recharged occasionally, but it was better than the single type of guns that were deployed in the field currently. Bernard even took the idea and designed larger magic cannons. Each of them got one to take to the shooting range to have some fun.

They would take turns shooting at clay targets that were flung down range. Zeph actually got second place. Bernard had been using a gun for a long time, but Eli and Alex were more traditional and were used to regular staffs and wands. The guns didn't have a spell direction function after the spells were shot out, and the two oldest of the group weren't used to having so little control over a spell they launched.

"Yeah, when you finish getting the kinks out of these, I'm definitely going to get one," Zeph said. "Then I can use my focus to keep spells going without me having to focus on them, and I'll have something to spam some offensive spells."

"Spam?" Alex asked.

"It means to just keep shooting over and over without giving the enemy a chance to recover," Zeph answered.

"I see, like suppressive fire," the old dwarf nodded in understanding.

Bernard hit his twentieth moving target, "Game over, I win." He put his revolver down. "You know what that means," he said smugly.

"Ugh, fine." Zeph held out his palm towards Alex and Eli, and a silver mist started to condense above their heads. After half a minute, the mist formed into two large bright pink bows with sparkly ribbons that tied themselves into their hair. Then Zeph manifested a bow for himself.

The smug smile of victory grew even wider on Bernard's face as he took a picture of the trio. "You three are very cute."

Alex and Eli exchanged a look and shared a silent conversation with their eyes. 'Next chance we get, this old bastard's going down.'

"What's next?" Zeph asked.

Bernard didn't say anything and started walking. The rest of them had no choice but to follow if they wanted to find out. Rounding a corner, Zeph saw something that made his jaws drop. It was a motorcycle-err- It was a manacycle, but it looked so much cooler than the ones that he'd seen before. It was a futuristic looking bike with sleek lines, glowing trim.

"Sweet, are we gonna race or something?" Eli asked as the elf walked over to a blue colored bike and ran his hand down the side.

Bernard walked over to a red one and sat down. "Something like that," and he started it up. A soft hum sounded out and then the bike pulled forward and suddenly started to float in the air. "I based it off some of the stories Zeph told me."

Zeph's jaws dropped. "Holy shit, it flies."

_____________________________________

Two people were driving in a car around the city on patrol. They were part of the group of valir that came to Asperitus to assist with the demon problem. The one driving was a short woman with brown hair and a ponytail named Miriah. Her associate was Max, a tall man with red hair and hazel eyes who looked bored.

"The cultists or whatever they're getting fewer and fewer, but the number of lesser demons springing up in the city is growing. Think that means something?" Miriah asked. There was no response. "Well, I think it means that they're starting to focus on summoning cannon fodder because we've thinned their numbers. It's a good sign. Again, there was no reply. Then she heard a sigh. "What's wrong Max?"

"Nothing, just some family stuff."

"James still doesn't wanna talk?"

"Nope, he barely says a few words before hanging up on me. I tried to visit his house, but he slammed the door in my face."

"Can you blame the kid?"

"What are you talking about? I did everything I could to be the best cousin ever." Max said confidently.

"Oh yeah, name one thing."

"I built him a tree house."

"Then you set it on fire so you could play fireman and rescue him from the inferno."

"We were playing hero."

"Doesn't count, you probably scarred him for life."

"Okay, what about the time I took him on his first manacycle ride?"

"You're not supposed to take six-year-olds to street races."

"That ski trip to the Eltor Mountains?"

"Attacked by a Yeti."

"River rafting in Lonlen?"

"Fell off a waterfall."

"I took him to the zoo to see the tigers."

"You're not supposed to go inside the enclosure."

"What? I thought he'd want to pet it."

"He almost got eaten. Face it, Max, you suck."

"Hey, I'll have you know I got him an invitation to that exclusive club I'm a part of."

"He's thirteen Max."

"So?"

"No... Just, no."

"Fine." Max crossed his arms and huffed. "I don't see why you don't talk to him for me. He's in love with you, so I bet you could get him to meet me."

"I'm not going to use James' crush on me so you can take him demon hunting or some other crazy adventure."

"Please, Miriah?" he w.h.i.n.ed.

"Look, as your best friend and the person who knows you two very well, just take it slow. Talk to him and don't try to force him into anything. It may take a while, but you need to build up trust."

"Alright, enough about me. What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't tried to talk to him since we came back to the city," Max looked at her mischief in his eyes. "Is someone embarrassed to meet her fiancé?" he teased.

"It's nothing like that. Besides, he's just thirteen."

"Bit deal, so you're three years older than he is. If I remember correctly, you used to always walk around hugging him. Heck, you were the one who asked him."

Miriah glared at him. "Max," she said threateningly. Her cheeks were slightly red. She didn't like it being teased, especially by him. Max just loved to push people's buttons and wouldn't stop unless Miriah threatened him with physical violence.

"It's a good thing that you're a genius. Since you became a valir so early, you can petition to be his team captain when he finally joins the ranks." Max smiled evilly. "Then you could order him to do whatever. You. Want." The innuendo was obvious, and he wanted to mess with her. "I don't think anyone would accuse Miriah the 'White Flame' to be a cradle-robbing pedo." Max laughed, then a small fireball slammed into his face. "Gah!"

Miriah didn't want to melt her friend's face off, but wouldn't mind getting rid of his hair and eyebrows. "Shut. Up!" she said as she slowed down the car. She was going to take this outside and teach this idiot to not mess with a lady's dignity.

Max opened the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle so that the fire burning on his face wouldn't light the car on fire. While Miriah parked, he was doing his best to put out the magical flames. It was difficult since Miriah was a very skilled fire mage. She walked towards him while holding a simmering white flame in the palm of her hand.

"Whoa, hold on. You almost burned my hair off. Take it easy," Max said.

"Not until I at least get rid of your eyebrows,"

Miriah was about to toss the ball of fire at him when a large red blur sped by in the air above them. A powerful gust of wind followed in their wake. It was followed by a blue, green, and silver blur. They could hear someone screaming in joy as the silver blur flew overhead.

The two looked up at the objects flying off in the distance. Max turned to his partner, "Should we go after them?" Another fireball to the face was Miah's answer.

"I'll settle for one, now let's get in the car." Miriah ran back to the vehicle.

Max didn't know what she meant by one until he got to the car and saw his reflection in the window. His left eyebrow was gone. "OH COME ON!"

_______________________

"Hey, do you think we should go back and stop that lady from fireballing that guy?" Zeph asked as he flew through the air chasing after his grandfather. He was in the last place because it was his first time driving a manacycle.

"Don't worry about it," Eli said using their shared communication through the pendants. "That was just Max and Miriah. They're a part of the Valir team that patrols the city. He probably just did something to piss her off."

"Enough about them," Bernard interrupted. "Do you think you have it all figured out son?"

"Yeah grandpa, I think I got it."

"Good, then let's open these bad boy's up and race to the forest." Bernard laughed loudly and his flying manacycle started to glow before it took off in a burst of speed followed by a boom.

"Make sure to keep your barrier up in case you fall off or crash little dude," Eli said before speeding out as well."

"You should go first Zeph, I'll stay behind to watch you just in case," Alex said.

"Thanks, Al," Zeph said and twisted the throttle and poured some of his magic into the spell program to activate the boost. "I feel the need... The need for-Bwaaaaah!" The manacycle took off before he could finish his sentence.

Alex laughed. "I better make sure they don't end up hurting themselves," and he initiated a speed burst to follow after them.