The Demons of Rome

XVIII - Latin Shores

The Drakan dismissed, Max watched on alone as the people of Alexandria picked through the rubble, searching for any remnants of their old lives. He absently rolled the Philosopher's Stone between his hands.

A pool of darkness swirled out of a pile of rubble and Shadow's scaly head slinked out of it.

"We should leave," Shadow said, "We've done all we can here."

Max nodded, "We'll leave the soldiers here, there are probably still stragglers from the horde about. Let's find ourselves a ship that isn't too damaged."

They headed out of the city centre and out towards the harbour.

Max twisted the stone in hands again, examining it more thoroughly.

"What is it?" he asked eventually, holding it up for Shadow to examine.

"That... is the Philospher's Stone..."

"Like in the tales of alchemy?"

"No, no, what you Romans know of the Philosopher's stone comes from the fools who tried to copy it. This one, if I am not very much mistaken, is the original, the god's first gift to humans, the reason magic exists on earth."

Max held it a little more gently, "So, what does it do?"

"Originally, it was made to channel mana from the ether and give it to humans, however, this was a slow process so one genius came up with the idea to use it directly on another person. To take magic from one person to give it to another is a... messy process, but quite efficient."

Max gently weighed the stone in his hand, then placed it in his pocket, weaving a small amount of magic to create a barrier around it that stopped the light shining through his clothes. Anyone sensitive to its vast amount of magic, though, would see it as clearly as a second sun.

The great harbour of Alexandria had been almost completely destroyed in the battle, the wooden piers were gone, their remnants floating in the water, ships lay beached on the shore, buildings were burnt to the ground and the bodies of soldiers and civilians lay everywhere.

Max took a moment to take it all in, then looked around for any sign of a seaworthy ship.

A small ship, a boat really, was beached a short walk away from the main harbour. It had a single sail and wouldn't have taken more than three people to crew, but it had been largely undamaged by the battle.

With a little effort, Max lifted himself up onto the deck.

"Shadow, if you would," Max said, gesturing to the sea.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "Do I look like a sailor to you?"

Max smiled, and with a snap of his fingers, a sailor's hat appeared on the lizard's head.

Shadow's eyes rotated unnaturally to look at his new adornment, giving him a cross-eyed look that was even more amusing to Max.

Shadow twitched with annoyance and tried to remove the hat, but it was illusory and his attempts were futile.

"FINE. Fine," Shadow spat and he scuttled back down to the beach.

"Remove this stupid curse already."

Max chuckled and the hat disappeared.

With a shove, Shadow pushed the boat into the sea then climbed back on board.

It shook unsteadily at first, but with a little magic it began making its way towards Rome.

They crossed the Mediterranean swiftly, Max aiding their passage with magic, until the shores of Latium came into view.