Carrot and Stick - Carrot and Stick: How to Practice Responsible Witchcraft in a High-Crime Neighborhood - Chapter VI

Chapter VI

Minor edit to previous chapters: Carrot is wearing a fingerless glove on her right hand... for reasons~

***

Carrot didn’t know what was going on, but she did know that she didn’t like it very much. She was on the floor, face pressed into the floor, and head spinning.

“Carrot!” Mister Silas said. She felt hands touching her back, and noticed that the wizard was on his knees next to her. Aw! He was helping, that was nice! “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Peachy,” she said. She moved so that her hands were on the ground, then pushed herself up. Her glasses had slipped off one ear, she tried to fix that too annnnnd it was too much stuff all at once. So, instead of doing any of that, she instead flailed about and managed to smash her face into the floor again. “Ow.”

“Dammit,” Silas said. “Hey! Piss off!”

“Rude,” she muttered, only she realized that he wasn’t talking to her, but the bat daemon above... still kind of rude, but maybe a little more understandable.

“Oh no, no no, I will do no such thing,” the daemon said before it cackled. For some reason, as it spoke, Carrot found herself suddenly a lot less dizzy. Now that she was paying more attention, she also noticed that her magic was all wrong.

Magic was usually a little wibbly-wobbly, but now hers was also topsy-turvy, and that was just plain wrong. “I can’t feel my magic right,” she said.

“I know,” Silas muttered. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“Out of here?” the Daemon asked. “You think we’re going to let you leave, wizard?”

“How do you know that?” Silas asked.

Carrot turned so that she could look up from the corner of her eye. The bat daemon was still perched on the edge of the shelf, and it struck her as weird that it wasn’t hanging there upside-down. Wasn’t that how bats did?

“Know? Hehe! My master told me, of course. Warned us, even, to keep an eye out for any errant wizards. It’s that pretty hat of yours. Very distinct. I think I might wear it!”

“No, no the hat,” Carrot whispered. “It suits him so well.”

The daemon giggled. “You, girlie, I’m going to eat. But you, wizard... I might only have a nibble. Master will want to have a chat with you.”

“I’m not going to let you,” Silas said.

“Um, Mister Silas, can you do anything about this?” Carrot asked. Her head wasn’t spinning quite as badly any more, which was nice. She took in a deep breath, then circulated her magic again. It was a bit wobbly, like water coming from a tap that had a knock in it, but it worked.

Then the daemon screamed again, high pitched, a noise that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She winced, then felt her tummy do summersaults even as her magic got all weird again. “Oh... bad,” she said.

“Dammit,” Silas muttered. She glanced up and noticed that he didn’t seem bothered at all by the bat’s spell. 

“Oh, immune, are we?” the bat asked. “Tough little wizard. I might have to try something stronger with you! Hehe!”

Carrot closed her eyes and focused. Magic was off the table. She was dizzy. But... physically, she was still mostly fine. She could make a run for it, maybe even take Mister Silas along. She wouldn’t be able to princess carry him with her magic out of commission, but making it out of the warehouse wasn’t out of the question.

The issue was, she knew that one of the smaller bats was nearby, but not exactly where. 

If she had two minutes away from here to prep, then she could come back with her big buff spell on... assuming that that wasn’t disrupted by the daemons too. “Urgh, running might be the best idea,” she whispered.

She didn’t like running away from her problems, but when one couldn’t fix things with overwhelming firepower, running was the sixth best tool in a dark magical girl’s arsenal, which still made it a top-ten best tool.

Carrot could tell that Silas was conflicted, but the wizard nodded, then moved to help her up.

“No no, hehe!” the daemon said, then it swiped a wing through the air. There was a sound, like someone running a bow across the length of a violin, and Silas gasped, falling back.

Carrot felt her eyes go wide as she saw blood. It was a thin cut, right across Silas’ chest. It looked like it had failed to penetrate his coat, but had sliced right through the wrinkled button-up he wore beneath.

“What was that!” she said, it was barely even a question, really.

“Oh? I am not just a pretty face,” the bat daemon said. “I can manipulate all sound, and make it more than just noise! Master uses my ears and that of my little brethren to hear everything across all of his territory, you know?”

“Is... is that what you’re using to block my magic?”

“Oh yes, just so,” the daemon said. “What are you going to do, little girly? Block year ears while I nibble your insides?”

“It’s more than that,” Silas said. He looked around, then grabbed a piece of wood that had been part of the box that the daemon had shoved down. Carrot wasn’t sure how good of a weapon it would be, but absent any magic, it was probably better than nothing. “Daemon magics can interfere with your soul, directly. Not basic, weaker daemons, and even this one can only do so much. If you’re feeling ill and can’t access your magical abilities, it’s the daemon’s fault. It’s actively using an ability to suppress you.”

“That’s kind of mean,” Carrot said. She’d never encountered anything like that. It suddenly made her quite nervous. How many daemons and monsters had she fought without knowing that? How many could have whipped out that ability and put her in a whole heap of trouble? Without her magic she really didn’t have too much. “How aren’t you affected?”

“Because he’s one of those proper wizards master warned us about,” the daemon said. “But all the same, he will be going down. It’s just a matter of ti--”

The daemon cut itself off then flinched back with a huff as Silas flung the piece of wood he held at the bat. “Carrot,” he said, speaking quickly. “Do you have spells that can take them out?”

“Yes,” she said, instantly. She closed her right hand, glove pulling taut. She had her fingerless glove on under her warmer, wintry gloves. She could do that. 

Silas plucked her toque and dropped it to the side, then jammed his hat onto her head. “Remember how I said not to use too much magic on that device earlier?” 

“Uh-huh?” she said.

“Do the opposite.”

She grinned. “Are you sure?”

“Deadly.”

Well, if he said so!

***

Silas was rather fond of his hat. 

Just about every Ordo in the magical society had some sort of item imbued with protective magics and made in such a way that it grew with the user. The Cognitio et Mutatio had their spellbooks, the Ordo Logistica their travel cloaks, the Ordo Arcana their swords... his had their hats and badges. It was a point of pride. 

The hat he had was one he’d probably been on the verge of outgrowing. It was made for a Rank III wizard, someone a little weaker than him, someone new to the order. But he didn’t mind it so much, the hat had grown with him over the last half-decade, and he planned on hanging it over the figurative mantle once he moved on to something better. Maybe he’d keep it until he hit Rank V and got a bump in pay enough to purchase something a couple of notches better. 

Giving it to Carrot was not in his plans, but... the situation called for it.

Daemons could influence minds. It was why mundanes so rarely reported them. For all their strength and bluster, daemons were ambush predators first and foremost. Everyone that was magical was their favourite meal, and so all magical people needed protection from their illusions and mind magics.

Hence, soul-bound equipment, from swords to coats to hats. 

Carrot stood up next to him, bouncing to her feet, then wobbling. He clambered up as well, feeling a million years old but moving anyway. The adrenaline surge was in full swing. He barely felt the cut across his front (though his coat had stopped most of it) and some of the ache was easier to ignore, though he imagined it would return with a vengeance.

“Prepare yourself, Daemon!” Carrot said. Then she... struck a pose? One finger pointed to the sky, the other pressing the top of his hat down. “For Dark Magical Girl Carrot Cuddlesworth is here to teach you a lesson in manners!”

“Carrot, what are you doing! Hurry up!” he shouted.

The daemon reappeared above, swelling as it took a deep breath, its wings shifting back. Another magical attack was coming, even his fried senses could feel it.

Then the magic in the room shifted.

Silas felt his eyes go wide a moment before he was blown off his feet. He managed to crash onto his rear and skid across the floor--painfully--for a few metres. It put him in a splendid position to see what was happening.

Magic was steaming off of Carrot, as if she was a red-hot blade dipped in cool water. Magic so strong and potent he could see it as a bluish glow.

Then the magic rushed in and back and slammed into his hat.

His poor, precious hat.

He watched, somewhat horrified, as the well-worn brown felt and white top darkened, then darkened more, turning into a pitch black. The top popped up, the brim curdled down, and then with a whump the hat exploded in size.

When the magical steam cleared, Carrot was standing then, an arm stretched way out to hold onto the brim of a hat that had more in common with a summer hat, only it was blacker than tar oil and cast a suspiciously deep shadow over Carrot’s form.

“Try messing with my magic now, little bat!” Carrot dared.

The daemon did just that. It flew in a tight circle above, then flicked its wings twice at Carrot who ‘eeped’ and ducked down. A moment later, the massive hat fluttered down atop her. The bat’s attacks, however, sliced into the hat and did... nothing.

“What! Were you the real wizard all along?” the bat asked.

Carrot jumped back up to her full height. “I’ll show you wizardry you... you... uh... mean bat, you!” 

Silas couldn’t help but wince. Someone really had to teach that girl a few curses. Magical and otherwise, because he wasn’t sure if she even knew any proper offensive magic. Not that he was ready to underestimate her at the moment.

“Grown from the dark and fed by moonlight, I summon from the flowery abyss...” She slapped her hands together, then spread them wide. Where they’d connected was a tiny black ball of hovering light that soon bloomed outwards and formed a sort of three-petalled flower. “Black Petal Thorn!” Carrot shouted.

That was not a proper invocation.

Carrot, and her magic, didn’t seem to care about that.

The three petals exploded outwards, each one flying off in a different direction with the speed of a well-thrown baseball. Silas ducked, but the one heading his way curved upwards and climbed up to intercept the daemon.

The bat screeched, the same anti-magic attack that had brought Carrot down earlier. 

Without his hat, Silas took nearly the full force of it. All that saved him was, ironically, his fried magical circuits. Hard to disrupt what was already broken. It still left him feeling nauseous, and he was certain that he had just added a day to his recovery time, but he managed to stay on his feet.

The daemon didn’t have the same luck as all three Black Petal Thorns rammed into it from three different directions.

It cried out, spun, then crashed into a box before hitting the ground, hard.

That wouldn’t be it, however. It would take more than that to knock a daemon out.

“Oh no,” Carrot said. “They’re running!” 

Silas glanced up and noticed two more daemons. Smaller ones, barely daemons at all. Compared to the larger bat, those were maybe Rank IIs... and one of them had his phone. “Stop it!”

“But... darn it!” Carrot said. “Chains of Darkness!”

The shadows in the room twisted for a moment, and then long chains shot out from them and tried to wrap around the daemons. They very much succeeded on the one that had fallen, but the other two swooped around and were soon out of the door and gone.

“No!” Silas shouted. His spells! He was doomed!

“Shoot,” Carrot said. Her shoulders slumped, and she reached up to push the brim of the hat out of the way. 

He wasn’t sure, but he had the impression that it had grown a little in the last few minutes. Now its brim was almost as side as Carrot’s armspan.

“I’m sorry. I need to work on that spell some more. It’s still a little rough.”

“It’s fine,” Silas said. His mind was spinning. He felt as powerless as when he’d learned that there was nothing he could do to help Summer. But.. no, not quite. Already he was trying to think of his next step. 

The phone was gone, but that didn’t mean it was unretrievable. There were spells to find missing objects, no? And he knew a few, well enough to probably figure them out without the explicit instructions.

And standing right there was a powerful caster.

“Let me go! I’m gonna eat you!”

And a daemon that might have some answers.

***