by Aaron Oster
He had to be careful not to attract attention while still in the city.
He passed over the manor wall and flew around to the side, where he knew Sarah’s room was located. After a few seconds of looking, he finally spotted the correct window and was pleased to see the light of a flickering lantern coming through the shutters.
Good, he thought. She’s still awake.
Gliding up to the window, Morgan knocked on the wooden slats covering the glass. When no one answered, he knocked again; this time louder
The shutters banged open so suddenly that Morgan reeled back in shock. Sarah stood there, dressed in a nightgown. A massive spear made of ice poised in the air above her.
“Sarah, wait! It’s me,” Morgan said quickly, as she pulled her arm back to send the spike through him.
“Morgan?” Her voice was soft and it sounded as though she’d been crying.
Flying forward, Morgan could see that her eyes were indeed puffy and red.
“What happened?” He asked, hovering right in front of the open window.
She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder.
“This entire night has been a nightmare! Father said that he’d had enough of you, and sent out guards to get rid of you for good!”
Morgan floated there, awkwardly patting her back as she cried.
He really wasn’t good with emotions.
Deciding that it was best to talk inside, he slowly floated into her room and landed on the floor. After another minute of crying, Sarah finally pulled back and wiped her eyes. Holding him at arm’s length, her eyes widened as she got a good look at him.
“You’re covered in blood.”
“Well, your father did send two of his cronies to kill me. I wasn’t about to let them,” Morgan said with a shrug. “They weren’t expecting me to put up a fight though.”
Sarah laughed. “I can see that. You finally got an ability?”
“Two, actually,” Morgan said, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
“Two?! Wow, that’s really rare! So do you have a super or mage ability? And which two do you have?”
Sarah’s excitement bubbled over, and Morgan could hardly believe she’d been crying just a minute ago.
“I have… Um, both. I guess,” Morgan said.
Sarah’s expression changed from excitement to annoyance. “Yes, you already told me you have two abilities. Which two do you have, though?”
Morgan shrank slightly under her withering stare. It was never good to get on her bad side.
“I meant that I have both a mage ability, and a super ability,” Morgan said.
Sarah’s mouth dropped open. She stared at him, and he began to squirm in discomfort.
“You’re a supermage!” She exclaimed.
“A what?”
“A supermage,” she said, annunciating each syllable as if he hadn’t heard her. “You know, someone who has both a super and mage ability; wielders of tremendous power and only heard of in myths?”
“No,” Morgan said, confused.
He had no idea what she was talking about. He’d never even heard of this supermage ability.
“Of course you wouldn’t know,” She said, rubbing her temples for a few seconds.
She then turned her back to him and moved towards her dresser, pulling the drawers open as she began to pack her things into a bag.
“Um, Sarah?” Morgan asked, now very confused as to what was happening. “What are you doing?”
She turned to look at him as she shoved a pair of leggings into her bag.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m packing,” she said, bending down and piling a few books onto her bed.
“Yes, I can see that,” he said, “but why are you packing?”
She didn’t even bother looking at him this time.
“I’m coming with you. Isn’t it obvious?” She asked, stuffing the last of her belongings into the bag. “There, that should be everything. Now just give me a moment to change, and we’ll be on our way.”
“I just came to say goodbye. I didn’t want you to come with me!” Morgan exclaimed.
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t want me along?” Sarah asked, turning to look at him, with a hurt expression.
“No, that’s not what I mean at all!”
“Great,” she said, the smile returning to her face. “Just give me a minute and we’ll be on our way.”
Sarah walked behind a partition to change, and Morgan sank down onto her bed, not knowing exactly what had just happened.
He did know one thing: she’d just played him, but he wasn’t sure how.
Five minutes later, Sarah emerged. She was dressed in a long sleeved top, tight fitting pants and thick leather boots, with her long red hair tied back in a braid. She hoisted her pack over her shoulder.
Morgan had never seen her wearing anything but a dress, but this somehow seemed to suit her better than any dress ever could.
“You ready to go?” she asked, giving him a victorious smile.
Morgan didn’t smile back. “Tell me why.”
“Why what?” she asked, trying to evade the question.
He just stared at her, folding his arms and waiting. She stared back at him for a few long seconds. Morgan was beginning to wonder if they’d be here all night, when she let out a long sigh and dropped her pack to the ground.
“My parents never cared much for me. Ever since I got my ability, I’ve wanted to train and hone my skills; but all they want is a proper lady.”
Her expression turned bitter and she let out a snort of derision.
“My father is planning to ship me off to the capital, where he’s hoping to marry me off to one of the king’s sons.”
She looked up at him with a steely expression.
“There’s no way in hell that I’m going along with that. So, you either take me with you, or I’ll leave on my own!”
Morgan was taken aback at her vehemence, but he understood her well enough. His life had been made miserable by Simon as well, and if he could ruin his plans while helping his friend… Well, this worked just fine for him.
“Fine, I’ll take you with me; but tell me about this supermage thing you mentioned before we go.”
Sarah bent down to retrieve her bag and slung it over her shoulder once more.
“It’s a very long topic, so I’ll give you the abbreviated version. Otherwise, we’ll be here all night. Supermages are supposed to be a myth, but I know that there are a few scattered throughout the kingdoms. I also know that you need to keep your abilities a secret, otherwise you’ll be hunted down and killed. Kings don’t like threats to their power. As a supermage, you pose a very significant one.”
Morgan scowled.
Of course things couldn’t be easy. On the bright side, he had a rare ability. He couldn’t use his super and mage skills at the same time, so he wasn’t really sure about this whole supermage thing. For now, they had to leave.
“Is there anywhere safe we can go?” he asked.
“There’s nowhere that is truly safe, but our best bet is the Central Kingdom. They are the only neutral spot in all the Five Kingdoms. There is a school there for mages and supers, and it’s likely the best spot you can go to learn more about your abilities. I’ve always wanted to go, but my parents refused to send me.”
Morgan felt his heart skip a beat.
A school where he could learn about his abilities? He hadn’t even known one existed.
A frown creased the corners of his mouth.
“I don’t think I have enough money for a school like that.”
“The king of the Central Kingdom, Herald, sponsors plenty of people. Even if he didn’t, I have plenty of money,” she said, as she pulled a coin pouch from her bag and jangled it at him.
A smile spread across his face. He felt his excitement grow at the prospect of learning more about his abilities.
“Alright. I just have one more question before we go.”
“How much do you weigh?”
5
Morgan winced at the throbbing pain in his cheek. Sarah had not responded well to the question about her weight, and the explanation about needing to know for his fly skill didn’t seem to mollify her.
Sarah was riding on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs draped down either side of him. He’d been a little nervous when they’d cleared the city walls, but the guards appeared to be half asleep and hadn’t noticed them.
Once they were outside of the city, Sarah began questioning him about his abilities; what his stats were, what skills he had and how he could use them in a fight. Morgan answered all of her questions, not wanting to be hit again for saying the wrong thing.
“Your stats are much higher than they should be,” she said, when Morgan finished speaking. “But then again, you do have two abilities. Maybe that’s normal.”
“That makes sense,” Morgan replied.
If supers had a bonus to strength and agility, mages had one for intelligence and wisdom; he’d have all four.
They flew on in silence as the night wore on. Morgan began to grow bored. They weren’t moving that fast. According to Morgan’s fly skill, they were moving at just about 12.5 feet per second. Morgan did some quick math in his head.
If Sarah’s pack weighed about ten pounds, he thought, that would mean that she weighed around one hundred and fifteen pounds.
Morgan had no idea why she didn’t just tell him. He was about to open his mouth to say something, when he thought better of it. Thinking back to the terrifying look on her face when he’d asked the first time was enough to convince him to keep his mouth shut.
They flew until the sun began peeking over the horizon. Morgan was so tired at this point that he could barely keep his eyes open. In fact, he’d nearly fallen out of the sky. Twice. Sarah, on the other hand, had managed to fall asleep at some point. Morgan thought longingly of his bed back in City Four.
It was too dark to see much when he’d been flying during the night, but Morgan could now make out a long, winding road some twenty feet below. Scraggly bushes grew in clumps on the side of the road and all he could see in any direction were wide open rocky plains.
The North Kingdom truly is a desolate place, he mused.
Yawning, he began scanning the plains for a place to rest. He finally spotted a good place to make camp about half and hour later. There was small outcropping of rock, with a clump of bushes growing around it, set some forty feet back from the road. He could see a small stream flowing nearby and the thought of a cool drink consumed him.
As his feet touched the ground, Sarah stirred and woke up.
“Is it morning already?” She mumbled.
Morgan set her down on the ground and walked over to drink from the stream.
“Yes and after I get a drink, I’m going to sleep.”
“Okay,” Sarah mumbled, stumbling over to a mossy section of ground near the outcropping and lying down.
Morgan stooped near the stream, cupping his hands and dipping them in. It was only then that he noticed his arm was still covered in blood. It had dried since his fight in the alley and was now a dark brownish color.
Sighing at the inconvenience, Morgan quickly stripped out of his shirt. Shivering in the cool morning air, he proceeded to wash himself as best he could. He then dunked the shirt in as well. He watched as the water became cloudy with the accumulated filth.
He wrung his shirt out while he waited for the stream to carry all the filth away, then leaned down to take a drink. The cool water felt amazing flowing down his throat. He drank deeply until his thirst was quenched.
He picked his shirt up when he finished. Still wet, he decided to leave it off and let it dry. Then, walking back to the outcropping, he lay down with a groan of pleasure, stretching out on the soft moss. Within a few seconds, he was fast asleep.
∞
Lord Simon stared at the guard standing nervously before him. Despite the dire situation at hand, it still gave him pleasure to see the lowly peasant quaking in fear.
This was undoubtedly a shit storm, he thought.
Both of the guards he’d sent after Morgan were found dead this morning. From the reports coming in, their deaths hadn’t been pleasant, either. One’s skull was caved in, and the other had a gaping hole through his chest. There was also a massive hole in the wall of the alley that their bodies had been found in. Furthermore, his daughter was missing and the sniveling bastard was nowhere to be seen.
Simon felt the pleasure of the guard’s discomfort quickly turn to anger.
There was only one explanation for this, he thought. Sarah had somehow gotten out last night to go warn that little mongrel. When the guards showed up, she must have killed them to protect him. Then he’d somehow convinced her to leave the city with him.
He slammed his fist down on his desk. He heard a cracking sound and knew it would have to be replaced.
I’d finally found two people willing to kill that little shit and Sara just had to get in the way! That stupid boy had been corrupting her for years, ruining all of my plans for her and now she’d left with him. Maybe Morgan had killed them, then come to the manor to get her?
Simon shook his head, dismissing the possibility.
Morgan had no abilities that he knew of. Even if he had awakened since the last time he’d checked, there was no way he could kill a rank 4 super and a rank 3 mage on his own.
Sarah, despite how much he despised the idea, was more than capable of such a feat. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
She must have crushed Sqwee’s head in a chunk of ice, then speared Gimple through the chest and created that hole in the alley wall.
Simon nodded to himself.
That explanation made the most sense.
He looked up in surprise as someone cleared their throat. The guard was still standing there, looking decidedly more nervous than before.
He’d completely forgotten that he was still there.
“Do you know in which direction they were headed?”
The guard nodded. “There was no trail to follow, but we found someone in the city who can track someone by their clothes. It isn’t exact, but we do know the general direction in which they’re heading.”
Finally, some good news, he thought.
“We believe that they are heading south, toward City Six.”
Simon leaned back in his chair, his mind whirling with possibilities.
City Six was at least two hundred miles away. If they were on foot, then he knew they couldn’t have gotten far.
“I want you to send a squad after them, with at least two rank 6 mages. I want my daughter back unharmed. Make sure to bring Morgan back alive.”
“As you wish, my Lord”
The guard saluted, then scurried out of the room to pass along his orders.
Simon felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
They would be brought back, and this time, he would kill Morgan himself.
6
Morgan groaned as he felt something hard prod him in the ribs. He waved his arm at the offending object, trying to shove it away.
He felt the object poke him again, harder this time. “Morgan, wake up!”
“Just lemme sleep a little more,” he groaned, turning away from the insistent prodding.
“Wake up, you moron,” the voice hissed, prodding him much harder the third time.
Morgan cracked his eyes open, blinking at the bright sunlight overhead. He turned and glared blearily up at Sarah, who was preparing to kick him again.
“I’m up! What’s the big idea?” he groaned.
Judging by the sun’s position, it was just past noon. Meaning that he’d only gotten around five hours of sleep.
“Quiet you idiot,” she said in a hushed tone, moving towards the tip of the outcropping and peering
out over it.
That got Morgan’s attention, instantly clearing the fog of sleep from his mind. Now that he listened, he could vaguely make out the sound of hoof beats echoing over the rocky plains.
Morgan got carefully to his feet, wincing as his cramped muscles screamed in protest. He grabbed his now dry shirt, pulling it on before coming to crouch near her.
“How far away do you think they are?” he asked quietly.
He could make out the road from where they were crouched, but as far as he could see, it was completely empty. Sound carried for long distances out here, so they could still be miles away.
“I’m not sure,” she said, biting her lower lip.
She looked worried- and for good reason. Neither of them had expected a pursuit to catch them this quickly.
“How did they find us?” Morgan asked. “We didn’t leave a trail or anything like that.”
“There are other ways of tracking people, aside from following a trail,” Sarah sighed. “I should have thought of that and kept us moving.”
“I don’t think I could have kept us moving, even if you wanted me to,” Morgan said, yawning again.
He rubbed at his eyes.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she agreed.
Sarah started moving to her pack. She began to rummage through it.
“So what should we do?” Morgan asked, not taking his eyes off the road.
The clatter of hoof beats were growing louder by the second.
“It’s no use running,” she said, as she pulled a small loaf of bread from her pack and tossed it over to him.
“If they have a tracker, there’s no way we’ll lose them. Plus, they can move much faster on horseback than you can through the air.”
Morgan caught the loaf, nodding his thanks as he took a bite out of it. It was a bit stale, but still way better than what he was used to.
“So do we fight?” He asked, barely audible through a mouthful of bread.
“We have no choice,” Sarah answered, “though it won’t be an easy one. Knowing my father, he likely sent out people strong enough to bring me back. Meaning that we’ll be facing people at least the same rank as me.”