Read Spellbound Falls [5] For the Love of Magic for Free Online

new charismatic and probably psychotic leader.”
    “Have any members of this cult committed any crimes against the good people of Spellbound or Turtleback,” Titus asked, “or against humanity in general?”
    Duncan rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, no, not that I’ve heard. And when any of them come to town, they’ve been peaceful and gracious and buy most of their supplies from Ezra at the Trading Post. But rumor has it they’ve started practicing some sort of magic.” He grinned. “And I thought ye might want to check out your competition.”
    “We don’t have a monopoly on the magic,” Mac said, lowering his binoculars. “And a practicing cult in the area might serve to keep suspicion off
us
.”
    “But that’s exactly why I’m worried,” Duncan said. “If anything that can’t be explained by science happens around here again, it could be the last straw for the townspeople. And panicked people start looking for something or some
one
to blame, and I’m afraid they’ll decide these people are responsible and go after them. A group of protestors has already started gathering at the road leading down to the colony.”
    “I don’t recall anyone panicking four years ago,” Titus said. “In fact, it was almost unanimously decided that Maximilian’s little stunt was a blessing.”
    “Because it immediately started putting money in everyone’s pockets,” Duncan countered. “But what if the magic these people are practicing,” he said, waving at the western shore, “
isn’t
benevolent? What if they’re worshipping some badass demon?”
    “A vegetarian demon?” Mac drawled.
    “Titus and Mac can’t stop these people, Duncan, if that’s why you brought us out here today,” Nicholas said. “They
protect
man’s free will—without judgment.”
    “And we will not interfere,” Titus added, “even if that will is deemed evil.”
    “Even if it wreaks havoc on innocent people?” Duncan growled.
    “Theurgists have no control over mankind,” Nicholas explained. “They’re divine agents of human affairs—the operative word being
agents
. They can only broker solutions, not step in and arbitrarily solve the problems men create. That’s why they have us.” He grinned at the highlander’s surprise. “You and I are not bound by such constraints. If we see something that needs fixing, we’re free to fix it.”
    “I signed on to protect the
wilderness
,” Duncan said, glaring at Mac, “not people’s right to call up some ancient, obsolete god. For all we know, it could suddenly show up and start rearranging these mountains—
again
.”
    Mac merely smiled.
    Titus gestured at the island on their starboard side. “This isn’t an ancient deity, Duncan. Though still weak, the energy these people appear to be calling forth is unlike any I’ve felt before.”
    “A new god? Can they do that?”
    “If one is needed to serve their purpose.”
    “Just by making him up?”
    “Or her,” Titus said on a chuckle. “How do you suppose I came to exist? Do you think all the deities of the world simply appeared for no reason? Each of us was
imagined
into being, Duncan, by developing cultures wishing to answer the uniquely human question of life’s purpose. Since the dawn of man, people have wondered where they came from, why they are here, and where they are going.”
    “We’re
myths
, Duncan,” Mac added.
    “Because,” Titus continued at the highlander’s scowl, “long before modern science could explain the seemingly random events that played such defining roles in their lives, mankind decided an unseen entity must be at work. It was the only way they could make sense of fierce storms, the earth shaking and mountains spewing lava, or entire crops dying for no discernable reason. And so mythologies were born, and grew to be as varied and complex as the societies that created them.”
    “But why imagine a new god into existence? What’s wrong with the hundreds of old gods already