Inked Emissary

Chapter 10: Ide

  Stiles had been free for a month now. He slept well and the bags beneath his eyes had disappeared. No evil entity plagued his waking hours. The Nogitsune was gone!

  Stiles had found that he had been able to relax a lot more in the aftermath of his banishing spell and that helped him in so many aspects of his new life.  With the Nogitsune gone he was able to get closer to Sarah and Tommy, their friendship growing and strengthening every day. He was also able to concentrate more on college and his marks just kept getting better. He also began to control his powers without the help of Mitchell's potion. Slowly but surely he was less and less each time he practiced with his magic until one time he didn't need it at all.

  Stiles, Tommy and Sarah had also taken to regularly walking in the forest behind the town. They would do this in the day and at night, which was Stiles' preference. He loved the smell of pine needles, which only seemed stronger under the starry night sky. He loved the freshness of the forest and the way that it was so still and quite with the moon watching over it. The three friends would often walk along in silence, just savoring each other's company and the tranquility amoungst the trees. There was only one problem that had arisen for Stiles following the ritual and that was the constant ache for the she-wolf.

***

  It was another full month before he told Mitchell about his problem. He had been struggling with the empty feeling for all of that time and had not been able to shake it. At first he had thought that it would pass, but as the days stretched into weeks, and eventually those weeks into a month, he had realised that the feeling was only more intense.

  Mitchell looked at him for a long while, there was sadness in his gaze and for a moment Stiles could not comprehend why.

"It is said to be that way with all of the stronger Sparks, with all those of the Quam and Adversus varieties. It's called soul sickness, the she-wolf you saw was part of your soul, the part that only Sparks have, the part that gives you your magic. The more powerful the Spark the more powerful the soul, including the bit that gives the magic," the emissary explained.

"So, if it's a sickness there's a cure, right?" Stiles asked uncertainly. 

"Of course there is my boy!" Mitchell's dark eyes lit up," and you are ready for it."

  The man shed his jacket then and smoothed down his t-shirt, it was warm in the study and Stiles had wondered at how he had been able to wear the item of clothing for so long.

"To cure this ache you must make the magical part of your being physical, the part of the soul that is causing the conflict is the familiar. Familiars are often portrayed in many ways through out myth but all speak of a companion bound by magic. The truth is that the familiars are magic themselves, only Sparks have them as Sparks are the only truly magic race. 

To create a familiar in a physical form, one must cast a strong spell in a place that holds only good feelings. The spell is complex and leaves the Spark with a rune on their very skin. But only good can come of this, having a physical familiar gives you more control over your power as Spark and familiar are able to form a closer bond. As for runes on the skin... there are many tales of Sparks inking their skin so that they can use the runes to focus their power without having to draw the runes out each time. These tattoos help to focus the power thus making the magic stronger and more effective. So hey, what is there to lose," Mitchell babbled.

  As he spoke, the man pulled one of his books on Sparks down form the shelves and set it down as gently on the desk as if it had been a newborn. He lent down over the pages, a stray lock of hair fell down in front of his face which he impatiently pushed back. Stiles had not seen Mitchell bubbling with so much excitement in all of the time that he had known him, but he had to admit that the whole notion had him on edge as well.