Interlude 3

Having a demon as a partner was both good and bad. Karack’s knowledge of magic was extensive and he shared it readily with me. That was good. He is a blood thirsty demon. That was bad.

There wasn’t much treasure left, but it was enough to get me set up with a little place on the outskirts of the city. Close enough to attract walk-in customers, but isolated enough to allow Karack to come and go without being detected, if he was careful. He wasn’t always careful, but that worked out in our favour, at first. Having a large, scary creature creeping around the place, gave it and me a mysterious air which works well for a practitioner of magic.

I could not hang a Wizard’s shingle, so I counted on word-of-mouth to advertise my small feats of magic. A love potion, fertility aids, cures for minor ailments like unwanted warts and blemishes were things usually handled by apprentices. I had done some when I was with my Master. My work kept us supplied with food because that was how I was paid most of the time. Receiving a coin as payment was rare. My customers paid with vegetables, chickens, and fruit mostly. We received the occasional pig and goose. Game animals were customary fair as well. If I had been living alone, I could have started a small farmstead, but I was living with a blood thirsty demon that devoured most of our profits. Some nights I went to bed with an empty stomach. It was better for me to be hungry than for Karack to be.

We were doing enough business to keep us fed, but our success meant others were losing customers. We were visited first by two local thugs. They had started to rough me up when Karack made his appearance. He saved me from a beating, and both goons ended up dead.

Our competitors went the legal route for their second attempt to intimidate us. I was out gathering herbs in the woods when the representative from the Wizards’ Guild arrived. He tried to bind Karack. It didn’t work. Karack was eating his brain when I arrived home. It was revolting, but at the same time it was enlightening. It turns out that demons gain information when they eat brains. Karack now knew where Wizards’ Bain was located. We had to abandon our new life, but we had a new destination identified. I was off to become a true wizard.