Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 58

Sergius
the
Sorcerer
By Eddie D.
Moore
Sergius the Sorcerer heard the screams,
and watched as the city burned in the distance. He
had warned the emperor that blood magic could
be very unpredictable, and he begged him not to
proceed. What were the odds that everything would
fall apart on the very night the Tattooed Legion
returned home in triumph and celebrated victory?
Sergius had purposely kept a precautious distance
from the soldiers ever since the emperor sliced his
palm and added the blood required for the magic to
work. Reluctantly, he worked the blood magic at the
emperor’s command. The effectiveness of the soldiers
was undeniable; after receiving the tattoos infused
with blood magic, the emperor’s inner will provided
them all with purpose and direction. The plan and
magic had worked perfectly, until tonight.
When the sounds of violence quieted, Sergius
adjusted his gloves and guardedly walked into the
chaotic city. Bodies littered the streets in twisted
positions, as if they had fallen from a considerable
height; a few clearly had fallen. He found a few
soldiers grieving beside bodies and lamenting actions
that they had no control over. Their wide eyed and
confused expressions struck Sergius deep in his heart,
because he understood that they had not killed and
burned by their own will. These men had been driven
to action by the compulsion and intense desire of their
emperor.

Sergius stepped over the body of a soldier
that had chosen to fall on his own sword when the
compulsion faded. He laid a comforting hand on a
soldier kneeling beside a woman’s