After The Rabbit (Waldo Rabbit Series) Read online

  My Thanks

  Jennifer Macedo was a very kind, sweet girl who I knew back in High School (Go Whalers!). We were never more than friends, but she was the very first person I ever showed any of my stories to. I used to keep them in notebooks hidden in the back of my closet. I was your typical fat, near sighted nerd and my stories were way too personal to expose to actual criticism.

  When I mentioned I liked to write she begged to read some of my stories. She told me she really loved them and that I should always write. Hearing that meant a lot to me, and I promised her that if I ever wrote a book I would dedicate it to her. We lost touch after High School and I have no idea where she is now or if she will ever read this.

  But promise kept.

  Kelly Kilroy is my best friend. He is the sort of friend who will tell you you’re being an idiot when no one else will. He will also listen when you really need to talk. I once quit a dead end job and moved down to Florida with him because he told me, ‘I need a roommate and I know you won’t steal from me.’ He gave me a whole lot of crap at times, but he also gave me a lot of good advice that I wish I had taken. While he didn’t specifically help me with writing, he has helped me more than any single person outside of my parents. He has always been there when I needed him and is everything a best friend should be.

  And Kelly, if you’re reading this:

  “Hey, who are you? What are you doing? Get out of my garden!”

  Mistress Winowyll, and no, that’s not her real name. She has been with me throughout the writing process. Acting as a Beta, giving me story ideas, yelling at me when writer’s block had me stumped, and helping me write some of the scenes. She also pointed out things I would have missed completely due to being the author. Writers have a peculiar blindness because we know everything about our stories and make assumptions that the reader won’t. Luckily I have her to illuminate the blind spots and give me the truth when I need to hear it. Or when it will give her a good laugh at my expense. She also keeps promising to step on me later. Did I mention I both love and fear her?

  Chapter 1

  A Good Master

  Waldo had kept them running through the woods all night.

  His wand in hand, he kept warning them that they might be attacked at any moment. His familiar / wife / succubus Alice needed no further encouragement. Waldo’s more recently acquired familiar / ogre Gronk was more inquisitive.

  “What are we running from?” he asked in an airy, lisping voice that did not seem to belong to his hulking body.

  “My grandfather,” Waldo said.

  “We’re running away from your grandfather?” Gronk asked. “Is he that scary?”

  “His grandfather is an archlich, who can use lightning bolts and other powerful magics,” Alice said.

  “He has sworn to chase me to the ends of the world until he eats my heart,” Waldo added.

  “What did you do? Steal his candy?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Apparently family blood just tastes better.”

  XXX

  Waldo and his two familiars got as far away from the city of Middleton as they could. When the sky lightened, and the horrible ball of fire began to rise over the horizon, they finally halted. Waldo dropped to his knees panting. Alice and Gronk were breathing a little hard but remained on their feet. They were somewhere in the woods, well off any road.

  “We got away,” Waldo said between breaths. “The protective wards worked.”

  “So maybe he won’t ever find us again?” Alice asked.

  “That would be too much to hope for. The wards can block scrying and detection magic, but there are other ways to track someone.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “We will deal with that later. Right now let’s get some sleep.”

  “Sounds good,” Gronk said with a wide smile, two yellow tusks jutting from his lower lip. The ogre was hugging himself and twisting from side to side. “Be gentle with me.”

  Alice placed herself between Waldo and Gronk and crossed her arms. “Don’t get any weird ideas.”

  “Oh, don’t be that way pretty girl. I’m okay with sharing.”

  “There is not going to be any sharing! He is my husband, and I am the only one who gets to sleep with him. You sleep a safe distance from us.”

  “Awwww, but he’s my master. Shouldn’t he get to use my body, too?”

  Alice suddenly snatched Waldo up and was shoving his face into her bosom. “No sharing! Mine! Got that?”

  “Alice… you’re… crush… ing… me.”

  “Oops, sorry darling, sorry.” She immediately released him.

  His legs were unsteady, but Waldo managed to stay on his feet.

  This is what I get for messing up the contracts. Waldo thought.

  Waldo was a mage, and both Alice and Gronk were his familiars, bound to him by magical contract. Thanks to the binding ritual he had performed on each of them, Waldo had a special bond that allowed him to sense their strong emotions, always know their location, and gave him the ability to summon them with a single word of magic.

  However, the contract should have also forced both of them to obey his every command and made it impossible for them to physically assault him. That was most definitely not the case. Waldo had somehow botched the ritual both times and made it only partially effective. Alice and Gronk were both able to ignore his orders and touch, or even hit and kick, him as they pleased. That left Waldo no choice but to act with more care than a master normally did.

  “Gronk, now that we have stopped and actually have a chance to talk, there is something I would like to discuss with you.”

  “What is it, master?”

  “All right, first off why are you talking like that? When we met you sounded the way I would expect an ogre to. ‘Gronk like pretty man. Gronk no do.’ Why are you speaking with a lisp and using adverbs and adjectives?”

  “I don’t know. It just comes naturally to me, I suppose.”

  “Then, why didn’t you talk that way from the beginning?”

  The eight-foot tall ogre shrugged. “Old owner like when Gronk talk this way. Make Gronk sound like dumb ogre.” He switched back to his high pitched, lisping voice. “I can tell you’re much more refined, master.”

  Waldo shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He would have been happier with a typical brute of an ogre, too. Though, with the contract being defective, a regular ogre might have decided to spit him over a fire and peel off his skin for a snack.

  “The way you talk isn’t the real problem here.” Alice clutched one of Waldo’s arms. “What was the idea of kissing him before?”

  Gronk stuck his tongue out. “Don’t be jealous ‘cause he likes me better. He kissed me first, and it made my knees weak.”

  Waldo could feel a little vomit in his mouth. “When I kissed you, it was just the final part of the binding ritual. Also, my kiss was chaste. I didn’t put my tongue down your throat.”

  “I just couldn’t help myself. You were just so forceful!”

  “Huh?”

  Gronk was hugging himself and twisting from side to side again. “You were just being all manly and dominant. I just couldn’t control myself.”

  Waldo shook his head. “You really are gay, aren’t you?”

  “As a cabin boy on a six month ocean voyage.”

  “You’re gay?” Alice asked. “You actually want to do that with men not women? That is sick and unnatural!” Despite being a succubus and having been brought up in a house of ill repute, Alice had some very conservative ideas about sex and how men and women should relate.

  “Afraid I can give him something you can’t?”

  Alice’s lips peeled back as
she let out a low growl. Without intending to, her body was quivering, and she was on the verge of transforming into her true form.

  “I don’t have any issue with homosexuality,” Waldo said quickly. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The last thing he needed right now was for the two of them to fight.

  At his touch Alice calmed a bit.

  “I am not gay, though, Gronk. I am not even bisexual. I am only interested in women.”

  Alice turned her head and raised a single fiery eyebrow. “By that you mean you are only interested in me, right husband?”

  You really would expect a succubus to be more open minded. “I do not plan to ever have sex with anyone who is not my wife.”

  That brought a satisfied nod from Alice. Waldo meant what he had just said, but the words didn’t have quite the meaning Alice thought.

  “That’s disappointing,” Gronk said. “Especially after you went and got me all excited like you did. Well maybe that can change.”

  “No, it won’t,” Waldo and Alice said in the same breath.

  “Cute,” Gronk giggled.

  “Listen, Gronk,” Alice said. “There is something you need to know. Waldo is not what he appears to be. He isn’t a White Mage at all. He is actually a Dark Mage. You understand what that means, right?”

  Gronk’s eyes widened. “Is that true, master?”

  Waldo nodded. He was dressed in dirtied but still white robes. “Yes, I am a Dark Mage from Alteroth. I came here on a quest, and you will serve me and help me fulfill its requirements.”

  “So that means you know all about torture and inflicting pain on people, right, master?”

  Waldo nodded. “I do, but so long as you obey me…”

  “That’s great! I’m so lucky! Please do whatever you want with me, master, I am a sub who has been searching for his dom.”

  “Oh,” Waldo said without enthusiasm. “I see.”

  Alice looked from Waldo to Gronk and back again. “Uhm, what are you talking about?”

  “Gronk is a submissive,” Waldo said.

  “A what?”

  “I like to be punished and disciplined,” Gronk said with a playful wink. “Please punish me, master. Gronk has been bad.”

  Alice stared at the ogre and then shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Gronk is what is referred to as a submissive or a masochist.” Waldo explained. “To put it simply, he enjoys pain and being humiliated or dominated.”

  Alice’s mouth twisted. “You enjoy getting beaten and shamed? What sort of freak are you?”

  “The submissive sort. Weren’t you listening, sweetie?”

  Alice turned back to Waldo. “And how do you know about this?”

  “Some of the slaves enjoyed that sort of thing. I remember we had this one burly laborer from Rutenia named Gregor. He always wanted to have red hot pokers shoved into…”

  “Stop! Stop!” She was waving her hands about. “I do not want to hear this!”

  “Then, why did you ask?”

  “So will you discipline me, master, and do all sorts of cruel and wicked things to your servant?”

  Waldo thought for a moment and then shrugged. “If you like.”

  Gronk almost swooned. “Joy.”

  “Are you being serious?” Alice demanded.

  “I am willing to make certain sacrifices to keep both of you happy.”

  “So you really are into torture?”

  “I am not ‘into’ it. I have never enjoyed it or actually practiced it on anyone, but growing up where I did you pick up the basics.”

  “Please do whatever you like with your servant.” Gronk started pushing his index fingers together and digging his toe into the ground. “Could we do the ‘Clawing Eagle’?”

  “That’s a bit advanced, and we don’t have a rack or even chains.”

  Yanking his arm, Alice began dragging him away. “Waldo and I are going to have a nice long chat and then get some sleep, way over there. You stay right here.”

  Waldo was stumbling and trying not to fall as Alice kept his arm in a vice like grip. “You’re angry.”

  “How’d you ever guess?”

  XXX

  As he watched, Gronk laughed to himself. “Well, I can see who the sub in that pair is.”

  Chapter 2

  Troubled

  Lilith Corpselover was troubled.

  She stood before her bedroom mirror. There was no reflection to be seen, only a gray formless mist. Lilith had been trying to look upon her son Waldo to see if he was safe. Scrying magic was among the most difficult to master. It worked best when the subject was someone you knew and had a strong connection to. Being an elite archmage, trying to spy on her precious son had never been a problem before.

  A week ago she had watched as her boy got himself in trouble with his familiar Alice over a misunderstanding about his relationship with his sister Gwendolyn. There had been no issue calling up his image. Since the following morning, she had not been able to look upon him, no matter how she tried to rework the spell.

  Lilith chewed at her lower lip. Something must have happened during that night. The only thing that could block her attempts at viewing would be some sort of protective ward. Waldo was very skilled at those, and it would not be hard for him to block all magical efforts to scry or detect.

  “But why would he suddenly do that?”

  Something must have happened. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to find out what. Even for an archmage, there were limits to what you could do. Protective wards would normally defeat the effect of any sort of spell, except when it was used from very nearby. Lilith took comfort from just one thing: her son was definitely still alive. The effects of a ward used on living flesh were always temporary. Wards cast on inanimate objects were permanent; on the living they would vanish within a day or the moment the caster died. The mere fact her efforts were being blocked meant Waldo was alive.

  Lilith Corpselover was head of one of the seven ruling families of Alteroth. Waldo was her last living child and designated heir. Four of her other children were dead and two were mostly dead. The other ruling families had conspired to send her son out on a First Quest with almost impossible conditions. They considered Waldo weak and more of a White Mage than a Dark one. Everyone assumed Waldo could never succeed in completing the quest and so would never return. Lilith was alone in her belief that he would succeed and come home one day.

  Waving a hand she brought the spell to an end. The mist vanished, and she could once more see her reflection. It was frustrating not knowing what Waldo was doing, but she would keep her faith in him. She had set plans in motion that would secure his position when he eventually returned. Lilith would just have to concentrate on those and trust that Waldo would manage.

  “Stay safe my son.”

  XXX

  Lucius Corpselover was troubled.

  The archlich held a crystal ball in its withered hand. There was nothing to be seen other than a formless gray mist.

  “Well, it’s not as if I were expecting anything different.”

  It had been a little over a week since their encounter. Lucius had come after his last surviving grandson expecting to have a little bit of fun before devouring the boy’s heart. The archlich had known Waldo’s reputation as a weakling and had not expected much of a fight. The fact the boy had actually trapped him inside of a containment circle and survived had come as a huge surprise.

  Lucius had been pleased.

  Being mostly dead, existence tended to be rather boring. Dealing with an actual challenge was an absolute delight! The archlich had sworn to track down and devour not only Waldo, but his little succubus, too.

  “Nunc.” The mist vanished and the crystal ball was once more clear. The archlich slid it into one of the pockets of his robe.

  “I can’t blame you for using protective wards to hide from me,” Lucius said to himself. “But I think I have been patient long enough.”

  Taking out a wand, the arch
lich began to draw a circle in the ground surrounded by various runes and magical symbols.

  “If I cannot track you myself, then I will just summon something to do it for me.”

  XXX

  Melissa Cornwall was troubled.

  The cause of her trouble could be defined with just two words: Waldo Rabbit.

  Her confrontation with him had been a complete and unmitigated disaster. She had tracked him down intending to recover some stolen property and then execute him. Being a White Mage and an archmage, she had been confident in her ability to deal with one criminal. That had been her undoing. He had managed to trick her and get her to swallow some love potion.