Stupid? Mouse

So I'm sitting on my bed. And I see some mouse scamper from behind the tv area, and then out under my door. Bright light and everything. Now I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have seen a wild mouse in light and not outside.

With three birds in one room I can see how there would be plenty to eat, so there being a mouse in the room was not huge surprise. The location was. I mean the tv is across the room, and I can't think of any mouse food over there. I also heard it the other night rummaging through some bags of fabric, but there were no chewholes in the fabric. *confusion*

Anyway, I'm sure that everybody is enthralled by the mouse. SO let's get to business.

Torn
54

Malchevio had locked himself in his study. He needed the privacy.

He needed to have some information when he went to Jack. He could tell Jack about what he had overheard, but it would only anger Jack if he didn’t have some more useful information.

He searched along one wall. He was looking for a very particular potion.

He found it pushed to a dark corner on a high shelf. He coughed as he pulled it down, dust falling all around.

He poured the potion into a chalice, thought twice about it, almost threw it out, and drank it deep before he had a chance to think about it again.

He had a hard time keeping it down. The potion was potent, but vile.

Finally resisting the urge to throw up, he was able to start concentrating on the task at hand.

He went to the one chair he allowed in the room. It was old and worn, and completely comfortable. Those qualities made it the perfect chair for these types of tasks.

He flopped down and made himself comfortable. He could already feel the potion starting to work.

He felt his body let go of his consciousness. He looked back, and saw his eyes slowly shut.

He would have to work fast. This task was dangerous at best, and could easily become lethal. The faster he worked the less dangerous it was.

He focused on Julius. He focused on the energies of the vampire.

He always hated the flying feeling, but knew that it was the fastest way.

Soon his consciousness was inside the house.

He almost forgot his mission looking at all of the oddities the house contained. There were things that he had never seen before, some of them so strange he couldn’t even guess at their possible uses.

As he meandered through the house he saw Julius and the girl.

He couldn’t believe what Julius was wearing. It was close to nothing, and no armor at all! She was wearing even less.

He almost hoped that they were practicing in the attire that they planned to fight in. It would make Jack’s job even easier.

Somehow he knew better.

He left the room that they were in, fairly sure that they had no indication that he was even there.

He drifted through the rooms until he found the one that he was looking for.

It reeked of child. He knew it instantly. He spent several minutes in that room, making sure that he had the energy signature of the child perfect

He left confident.

***

It took him longer than he had hoped to find the location that the child was at.

He hoped that when he returned to his body it would still be there, he had heard tales of other mages doing exactly what he was doing and be mistaken for dead and buried. He had heard even worse ones where enemies had killed the bodies while the mage’s mind had been elsewhere.

Still, he had made it this far and wasn’t going to abandon the mission so close to completion.

He found the child. It surprised him how far away the girl’s child was from her. He wondered if she had been taken in a village raid.

On closer inspection he decided that her being stolen was not a possibility. She was dressed too nice, and wasn’t being used as a slave.

Quite the opposite. It appeared that the child was being doted upon.

He noted the location. He also made a mental note of the energy signature, just in case the child moved.

It was time to return to his body.

***

If he had lungs he would have breathed a sigh of relief. However, since the consciousness has no lungs of it’s own he decided to wait until he reentered is body.

Having entered and sighed he felt much better.

He could now go to Jack with all of the information that he needed.

Jack would be pleased.

Malchevio hoped that in pleasing Jack he might live to see the end of the war.

He left his study and roamed his home. He was trying to decide what he might need over the next few days. He didn’t know when he might return.

He settled on a few items that were easy to carry, and essential to any spells he might work. Basic ingredients, some potions, basic cooking gear, he shoved it all into a bag.

Not knowing what else to do before he left the next day he wandered the house, making improvements to the wards and covering larger pieces of furniture with cloth to protect from the dust.

Impatient, but knowing better than to leave before morning he settled in for a long, boring night.