Chapter 2: Run and Hide

  I tugged my cloak tighter as I returned to the village the next day. Dove was safe back at home. I was scarcely willing to leave her side after what happened in the square, but we were low on supplies. I wasn’t going to let her back into town after seeing there was a Mageslayer here, so I went instead. The earth was thoroughly soaked after yesterday’s storm and my boots reminded me of such after every squelch through the muddy earth. The thick morning fog stung my eyes and I was forced to blink several times to see the cottages of Underview.

  In the town square the mage remained hanging, though now pale and gaunt. The scene seemed almost like a macabre art piece with the red banner of Farrow waving steadfast despite the additional weight. I shuddered to think what the Mageslayers would do if they found Dove. I made my way across the cobblestone streets passing the mostly elderly pedestrians. That was the good thing about Underview, it was a retirement town and nobody could be bothered to ask too many questions. So what on earth was that Mageslayer doing here of all places? There was a general goods store on the corner with a porch and awning that were coated in chipped brown paint. I opened the narrow door and hit my forehead on the way in, growling in irritation as I rubbed the bruise. Behind the counter was a shrewd looking balding man in his mid sixties that bore blonde mutton chops and bushy eyebrows.

  “Mister Sparrow Thatcher. Still too tall and burly for your own good eh? Don’t worry, you’re still my favorite.”

  I continue to rub my head, managing to summon a polite smile in turn.

  “I’m sure you say that to all the other customers.”

  He places his small hands on the counter.

  “I wouldn’t dare.”

  We both chuckle lightly as I dig around in my satchel for a few bronze coins. I toss them on the counter and go through the store to pick up the same breads, cheeses and vegetables I bought regularly. I snatched a sack from the counter and began to pack it with what I needed. I noticed the storekeeper put on his glasses and pull a book from under the counter out of the corner of my eye. I pause thoughtfully.

  “Gerand?”

  “Yessir?”

  “Do you know anything about that Mageslayer from yesterday? Why is he here? Surely there aren’t any more mages in Underview of all places.”

  The door opened and an elderly man entered, shuffling to the stocked shelves. Gerand adjusted his glasses, checking on the old man in the back before lowering his tone and leaning forward.

  “No, I hear there are.”

  I could feel my breath grow a little more shallow.

  “What do you know?”

  Gerand lowers his voice even further to a near whisper.

  “The hanged mageborn? Apparently he was with the Mage’s Order and had the tavern keeper marked. They were gonna take him in the night for their experiments. I’m glad they strung him up in time.”

  I pull the bag of supplies over my shoulder with narrowed eyes. It was good that they weren’t onto Dove, but still, a Mageslayer showing up to kill a mage right under the nose of yet another mage seemed like too much of a coincidence. I needed to look into this.

  “Right…Well thank God for the Mageslayers then.”

  Gerand nods gravely.

  “Yes, yes. Thank God indeed.”

  *

  The tavern was lit dimly with hanging lanterns as men and women drank scattered and solemn amongst the many tables. The atmosphere was warm, yet it was probably the least festive tavern I had ever seen. I set down my recently purchased supplies on an empty chair and sat a few chairs down from a hulking cloaked man. The ghoulish, twenty something year old tavern keeper was cleaning a glass with mournful eyes.

  “What can I get for you?”

  Each word was low like a moan.

  “You were targeted by mages, yes? Do you know why they were looking for you?”

  The tavern keeper blinked slowly at my abruptness.

  “Well that’s quite a way to start a conversation.”

  I took a breath and tried to check my worry and urgentness. It wouldn’t do Dove any good if I ended up arousing suspicion by asking too many questions. I should try to keep quiet.

  “I’ve heard the rumors that’s why the Mageslayer is here. To root out mages that were looking for you. If that’s true I want to know why you of all people, and I want to know where the Mageslayer got his information.”

  The hulking figure took a long, exaggerated swig from his drink but I largely ignored it.

  “Sir, if you’d like a drink I’ll serve you a drink. But I’m not in the business of telling fancy stories. I heard the same rumors and I’m guessing they’re just that. Rumors.”

  I huff in exasperation.

  “Well maybe I’m just being paranoid then. Uh, about more mages being in Underview, that is.”

  The hulking figure set down his drink heavily and scooted over next to me. He cast back the hood of his cloak and it became apparent that he didn’t look large because of his physical size but rather because of his armor. It was the well kept Mageslayer from yesterday. He ran a hand through his swept back brown hair. His face was perfectly clean shaven accentuating his already sharp features even further. He looked more like how I had imagined a prince to look like than how I imagined a Mageslayer. He spoke.

  “Yes, we’re all paranoid about the mages aren’t we? But you’re right about one thing. I’m here to root out mages and mageborn.”

  My mouth went dry as he revealed himself and I spoke without thought.

  “You’re the Mageslayer.”

  He took another drink.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “That I am, but you can call me Worthy. There’s no need to be alarmed, those in my creed’s chapter had a lead that led me to here, that’s all. They’ll be here soon enough to tie up loose ends. As for the rumor, it’s false. This man is not a target of any mage.”

  I try to maintain my composure.

  “How do you know that?”

  Worthy found his drink empty as he brought it to his lips. He shook the last few drops out onto his tongue before waving a hand over at the unimpressed tavernkeeper.

  “Because I’m a Mageslayer.”

  He scooted out of his stool and pushed it in afterwards. He tucked his hood back over his head and left the tavern. The tavernkeep relaxed a little as he left. If Worthy was still here an actively hunting for more mageborn things were worse than I thought.

  *

  Dusk settled over the muted grasses of our cabin in the mountains. The sun was beyond sight, but the sky was still painted with the multicolored majesties of the recent sunset. A light mist had settled low to the ground obscuring the most distant peaks but remaining clear enough to admire the beauty of the range. I sat on the edge of Dove’s bed looking at all of this through the window as she wrote something on old parchment with the edge of a charcoal. She yawned with her arms outstretched, arching her back for a moment before settling.

  “I really should have come with you today.”

  She muttered, setting her hands in her lap. I didn’t look at her, I just kept my eyes focused on the landscape.

  “I don’t want you to be executed like that mage.”

  She shook her head at my comment.

  “Honestly, could you be any more pessimistic? I don’t even know why I put up with you at this point.”

  It grows darker outside and the crickets began their night time symphony.

  “What do you want from me Dove? Do you want me to just let you die?”

  Dove opens her mouth to make a snarky remark but stops herself. Instead, she set her charcoal and parchment aside on the nightstand and scooted over next to me, speaking hesitantly like it was difficult for her to get the words out.

  “No, I don’t want that. I see all your efforts, brother, and I love you.”

  I flinched from the emotional whiplash she had just inflicted on me, but she spoke again before I could respond.

  “I hate it so much. I hate this curse inside of me. I hate what it does to me and I hate what it’s doing to you.”

  Her eyes were big and expressive as she spoke like great ambers. I cup my hand over hers as the day grows steadily darker.

  “I’m sorry. I want to help.”

  Dove shakes her head furiously like she had just swallowed a bitter medicine.

  “Don’t apologize! I just want you to be happy again. You’re so paranoid all the time now. Where’s my sweet brother that used to pick me wildflowers to cheer me up when I was sick and run from his crushes because he was shy? I want to see that brother again!

  I see a selection of lanterns in traveling through the misty dusk, their forms barely visible in heavy travel cloaks.

  “I’m still here, I swear. I just need to get you somewhere safe, away from the Mageslayers and then I’ll take better care of myself. I swear it, sister.”

  Dove sighs lightly with pursed lips as I squinted to get a better look at the encroaching figures and my stomach fell at the realization of who they were.

  “You better not be lying. I can’t stand seeing you like this much longer. I just-“

  I shush her as I see the lanterns grow brighter and the figures behind them grow closer. Each of them had steel weaponry on their backs and the glint of half plate mail reflected in the darkness. Their voices were all male and they were discussing something.

  “Mageslayers.”

  Dove whispered hoarsely. We looked at one another with mutual horror.

  “Hide.”

  We each sprinted through the house until we reached our shared study. I jumped onto the table and ripped open the trap door leading into the attic. Dove jumped to try and grasp the ledge and hoist herself up but it was out of her reach. I scampered down knocking over a bottle of ink which shattered onto the floor and wrapped my arms around her legs. I practically threw her into the attic and slammed the door shut right as there came three knocks at the door.

  “Coming!” I yelled as I brushed the glass underneath the desk and wiped up the ink with a roll of parchment. My breath was labored and shaky and there came another rapping at the door. I stood up and took a moment to compose myself, smoothing out my hair. I approach and open the front door a crack, peeking my head through.

  “Can I help you?”

  Their features were all darkened by their hoods. Some even wore black masks that covered the bottom half of their faces. The foremost had a long weathered face with a nose that hooked over his bushy black beard.

  “Where’s the girl?”

  I blinked sheepishly, my amber eyes looking between the armed men.

  “If I had a woman I wouldn’t be living out here, I promise you that.”

  The front man growled and front kicked the door open, sending me sprawling back onto the floor with a breathy grunt. The men all flooded into my cabin and started searching through every cupboard and room in the house. One of which pinned me down and drew a dagger from his hip. I groaned as he planted his knee forcefully in my stomach and pressed the cold flat of the blade to my neck. My heart was racing, my blood was cold. This had to be a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I looked at the man who had me pinned. He looked dreary and familiar somehow, but the knife to my throat prevented me from caring.

  “What do you people want?!”

  I shout, feeling my throat vibrate against the cutting edge of the dagger. None of them responded. They were utterly diligent in their searching. I saw one of them open the door to the study and my whole body was lit with adrenaline.

  “We can talk about this! We can work something out, please!”

  I heard a thud and a feminine shriek coming from the study. My breath sapped out of my lungs. I saw the front man from earlier carry Dove out as she kicked and struggled violently, screaming like a banshee.

  “If you hurt my sister I’ll carve you open by the throat! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

  I roar in rage. They press her down by the back of the head into the hardwood floors and she kicks evermore as they tie her up with a thick rope.

  “Sparrow please! Please don’t let them hurt me!”

  The man atop me presses his knee in harder, making it difficult to breathe, let alone respond. Dove was weeping uncontrollably, snot running down her upper lip as she tried in vain to slither to me. But I couldn’t do anything. My own eyes blur with tears. They were going to kill her. They were going to kill my sister. My sweet twin sister. My blood. My pride. The crown of my life. Dead. I turn my head and our eyes meet. four linked, tear soaked ambers. I nodded slowly to her and her gaze began to fill with dark assurance. She flipped her palms to the ceiling and the veins in her forearms seemed to sear with blue plasma, embers licking up her wrists until she cried out fiercely and sulphuric blue flames erupted outward through the whole house with a deafening whistle. I covered my head, trying to shield myself from the white hot heat and choking ash that seemed to permeate the whole house now. The steel blade relieved itself from my neck and I looked up to see the men scattered. Some of which were patting out their burning clothes or rolling on the earth in agony. Dove was now sitting on her knees breathing heavily with more embers smouldering from her ankles and wrists where she had burned away the ropes that once restrained her. I looked around the now blazing house and picked up a dropped round shield along with a short sword halfway out of its scabbard.

  “We have to go.”

  I tied the sheath to my hip and set the shortsword in it. I grabbed Dove’s hand despite how weak she now seemed and sprinted out the back door, pulling her with me. We fled from the burning cabin right as the roof caved in on itself with a crash. One of our hunters barked something to the others and they thundered after us in hot pursuit. The waxing moon lit the grassy mountain path that led us to higher ground. Dove was wheezing with exertion.

  “Come on! Don’t give up on me!”

  Our boots crunched through the wet dew, the fog masking our escape. The chirping sounds of the night had gone totally silent, the only living noises were our labored breaths as we fled from our pursuers higher, higher, and higher still. The lights had disappeared into the mist as a naturally formed tunnel right under the rounded peak of the mountain came into view a little ways up. The path had long since faded and we scampered up the unmarked knoll into the tunnel. We both sat down to catch our breath, now in pitch blackness, save for the moonlight at the far end of the tunnel. There was a sheer cliffside visible there, almost like a balcony made by years of weathering. Dove sobbed a few times to herself, halting only due to her need to catch her breath.

  “I’m so sorry brother…I’m so sorry….i’m sorry…”

  She continually whispered her remorse, unable to stop herself nor quench her shame. She held her head in her shaking hands as she whimpered hysterically. Footsteps. Several sets of footsteps. Heavy. Approaching quickly. I looked around the corner and there was already a spear being thrust at my head. I yelped and shuffled straight back from the thrust just out of its reach, posting out a hand to stop me from losing my footing.

  “Dove, run! I won’t let them near you!”

  She tried to flee out the way we came but her path was blocked by more of the Mageslayers. Their lanterns lit the tunnel all the way through as the long faced bearded one shouted to the others.

  “Stay with me! Don’t give them a way out!”

  I drew my shortsword with a loud ring just in time to parry the next thrust of the spear. My attacker was the same dreary eyed Mageslayer that had me pinned, but he wielded his spear from the middle, holding it out to his side as he walked imposingly forward. He brought it up over his shoulder to thrust high and my shield matched its trajectory only for him to redirect the strike across my calf. I cried out in pain limping further back into the tunnel as the Mageslayers formed a solid barrier of strangely wielded spears. Dove and I were forced to creep back all the way to the edge of the tunnel where the large flat ridge was as the formation slowly approached. The drop off was so far below that falling would spell certain death for anyone. The beams of the moon pierce through fog once we were forced out of the tunnel. I limped in front of my sister with my blade outstretched to the six aligned Mageslayers. Dove herself drew back her right hand, conjuring whispering blue flames in a crackling sphere despite her breathlessness.

  “You won’t have her!”

  I shout defiantly through gritted teeth. I could feel the blood gushing out of my calf and onto the hem of my pants. Six men and six lanterns didn’t so much as slow their march.

  “You’ve all brought death on yourselves!”

  Dove shouts as she sends forth her cerulean fireball. It whistles through the air, far more controlled than the previous eruption, and finds purchase amongst the middle Mageslayer, blowing fragments of stone out before them, obscuring them so thickly with dust and smoke that even the lanterns seemed to be snuffed. My sister and I feel a moment of hope and relief. The dust settles and each man is utterly unharmed. The man in the center has the blunt end of his spear raised high with a white jewel on the end shining and gradually sucking in breezes of the blue flame that still drifted about, until eventually the flames all dissipated inside the gem. I had never known a Mageslayer to do anything like that. The white gem’s glow subsides and the wielder steps forward. It’s the dreary eyed one.

  “You may live if you hand her over. We don’t want this.”

  My grip tightens on the hilt of the short sword.

  “I’d die a hundred times before I gave you my sister.”

  The dreary eyed Mageslayer stepped forward into the light and my pulse quickened. In the moonlight his features were more easily distinguishable. This was the ghoulish looking tavern keeper from earlier today. He speaks.

  “It will be better for her where we wish to bring her.”

  Dove raises her strained voice defiantly.

  “Where would that be? The gallows?”

  Despite our bold words the two of us were clearly terrified and the men began to push us back further and further to the very precipice of the cliff. I couldn’t let them kill her! With a final deafening cry I lunged toward the tavern keeper and thrust my shortsword forward. Before I could reach him I saw a white flash from his open palm and lightning zipped out in a lance, hitting right on the brunt of my shield. It shattered into splinters, sending me flying through the air off the cliff. I felt the shortsword slip from my grasp. I saw pity in the eyes of my killer, and horror in the eyes of my sister. All seemed frozen, all seemed slow. It was cool and the air was charged yet strangely serene.

  Until gravity ripped me to the earth.