Eyes Aglow (2)

When I opened my eyes again, there was a soft morning light drifting in from the windows. Their curtains had never been drawn, and the window leading out to the balcony had been left open.

That's right! I bolted straight up in my bed. Last night! There was some strange man in my room, and my eyes! They were glowing!

"Oh? Are you finally awake, master?"

My heart dropped. There he was again, lounging on one of my coaches, his head laid down over its armrest as he looked at me upside down.

"Who are you?" I asked hesitantly.

"You can call me Damien! And I suppose you would refer to me as a manifestation of your powers?"

"My… powers?"

"Were you unaware master?"

"Unaware of what exactly?"

"You are a mage."

He said it so matter-of-factly, I had to resist the urge to laugh. Since when did I have the ability to use magic? Wait… magic? Now that I thought about it some more, had I ever attempted to use magic? I'd read about it plenty, and I understood how one could awaken as a mage, but had I ever considered the possibility of my being one?

The realization struck me so hard, I got dizzy again, and I lifted my hand to brace my head. Again, the strange man was beside me before I even saw him move.

He had his arm behind my back as if to support me if I fell, and his eyes were full of genuine concern. And speaking of his eyes, I don't think I'd ever seen a more remarkable azure color. Nor had I seen such pitch black hair since coming to this world, or a more handsome face! Besides my own of course. But this man was in a league of his own! Defined brows, a long, straight nose, and full lips. He was downright gorgeous! But I was getting distracted again.

If what this… Damien said was true, I had the ability to use magic, and never once had I considered it a possibility. Despite there being absolutely no reason why I couldn't. I felt like an idiot. I had been so focused on cultivating my wealth, all other advantages had alluded me.

Okay, so I was a mage. But who was Damien? A manifestation of my powers? What exactly did that mean, and what were my powers?

Damien laughed, "I can almost read your thoughts master!"

I flinched.

"Hey, could you, maybe stop calling me that?"

Damien frowned, "Why?"

"Well for one, I'm not your master. I'm not anybody's master. And for another, it makes me uncomfortable."

Damien looked like he was about to cry, "Do you really mean that?"

I was definitely a sucker for good looks. I scratched my head as Damien stared at me with puppy dogs eyes. I tried to ignore him and kept scratching harder until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I huffed out a small scream of frustration and said, "Fine! Call me whatever you like!"

Damien immediately perked up, and his reactions reminded me a little bit of a loyal dog. I couldn't have been more right.

All of a sudden, the tall, handsome man in front of me transformed into a large, black wolf three times the size of any breed I'd ever known. The transformation was quick. There was just a giant puff of black smoke, and boom, Damien was an animal.

And a scary looking one at that.

I unconsciously backed away from the giant canine wagging it's tail and drooling. That seemed to hurt it's feelings and I watched as it slowly shrunk in size to look more like a regular sized wolf. Then it let out a soft bark and whine. I quickly regained my senses and rushed to grab it's snout in my hands.

"Shh!" I quieted, "What will you do if my servants hear you?!"

The wolf's tail started wagging faster, and then I felt a warm sensation cover my hands and make it's way up my arm. I looked away from the door I was watching to find the mutt's tongue licking me all over! I jerked away, but he just jumped up on the bed and started licking my face too! Cursed animal!

"Will you… cut that out!" I grunted through the onslaught as I slowly pushed the mighty creature off my lap.

It sat down on the floor again, with it's tongue lolling out the side of it's mouth, tail still wagging, and waited, as if it was still listening attentively.

"Damien?" I asked.

And then there was a cloud of black smoke again, and the handsome man returned.

"Yes, master?" he asked excitedly.

"What exactly, just happened?"

"Oh! That was my wolf form! Well, I guess you could call it my true form really. I'm a demi-human. More specifically, the king of demi-humans. That's why I'm much larger than regular wolves, and I can transform fully without much trouble."

My mind was reeling with all this new information. I thought I remembered reading about demi-humans somewhere when I was confined to my room, but there was barely any mention of other races besides humans. All of our history books were about the human empire alone. When they did mention another race, it was in reference to a trade partner, or some chance visitor. As far as I could tell, the different empires and races didn't interact much at all with each other, so there weren't many records on their cultures and people.

"Okay," I started, "You're the king of demi-humans. But what exactly are you doing in my bedroom? And I thought you said you're a manifestation of my powers? This is all starting to feel a little too cliché complicated for me."

"Mm," Damien thought about it for a moment, "Perhaps I should start from the beginning."

"Yes, I would like that." I said.

But then there was a knock at my door.

"My Lord? Have you awoken? Master Ymir seeks your presence." Bain called from outside my doors.

Shit. I'd forgotten where I was for a moment.

"Hey Damien, would you mind letting a few more people sit in on this conversation?"

"No problem at all, Master. Whatever you wish is my command."

I laughed a little, then nodded my head.

"Okay, Bain, let him in. And could you ask for Mary to come here too? I have a little surprise for the both of them."

Out of nowhere, I felt like grinning.

Somehow, it felt like this new development was bound to bring me plenty of luck.