Chapter Two

A Chapter by Amaris Grove

Mina stared, her body motionless and rigid, preparing for a fight. The figure reached for the door, stepped inside, and pulled it shut. She heard grumbling, a low male voice that sounded irritated.

Mina watched him silently as he moved slowly, just outside the moonlight from the window. He hadn't seemed to notice her. As he shrugged off what looked to be a cloak, she wondered where he was from. No one wore cloaks anymore; the last time she had seen one was at a renaissance faire she attended when she was ten. But here was this strange man, spreading his cloak out on the floor as if in a makeshift bed.

This was unacceptable. Mina was not about to allow a stranger to occupy the same cabin, let alone the same room. Just as she was about to make her presence known, he spotted her.

"My apologies, miss! I didn't know this place was already occupied." His voice was smooth and rich. He had a faint accent, but Mina couldn't tell its origin.

She wasn't much for pleasantries, however. This man had invaded her space. It took a few seconds for her to find her voice, but when she did it was cool and harsh.

"Who are you?" she demanded. It was strange to hear her voice again. Her vocal chords felt strained with just those three words, like they had disintegrated along with the rest of her life.

The man seemed unfazed by her cold tone. Instead, he stepped forward into the moonlight and said, "My name is Alister. I am a traveler, looking for shelter from the storm."

He was young, perhaps in his mid-twenties. His hair reached his shoulders and curled around his face. With high cheekbones and a solid body, she might have considered him attractive in another time. But now, all she saw was a threat. A pretty face could hide a myriad of things; she was living proof.

Mina didn't know what to say or do in response. She wanted to send him away, but something in the back of her mind recalled a phrase her mother once said. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." Until she figured out whether he was friend or foe, perhaps it was better to have him around to keep an eye on him. However, inviting him to stay seemed to be beyond her ability. She hadn't been sociable in years and wasn't sure anymore how to do it properly.

Alister saved her from speaking for a moment though. "May I stay here tonight? It's quite nasty out there." As if to confirm his statement, lightning flashed through the window, followed shortly by thunder that sounded like the gods were bowling.

Mina nodded curtly and simply said, "Yes." Something stirred within her, a feeling she hadn't needed in so long she had nearly forgotten what it was. She was nervous. Nervous Alister would be her downfall, an interruption in her plans at infinitum.

"Thank you," he said. His voice was genuine and he reached down to move his cloak and slid it to the far side of the room. It was impossible to see him in the dark corner he was setting himself up in and all Mina could do was listen to the various shuffling sounds his shoes made on the dusty floor. He moved back into the light after a moment and grabbed something he must have leaned against the wall by the door. How did Mina miss that? She prided herself on her observational skills and this man seemed about as sneaky as a bull in a China shop. Then she noticed what was now in his hand.

It appeared to be a long stick. An orb on one end reflected the moonlight briefly. Mina kept her face expressionless, but was puzzled. Alister didn't walk with a limp. It took her a moment to realize this was no walking stick. In his right hand, he held a staff.

He was like her.

She was not as ready as he seemed to be to reveal her nature, though. She dug deep within herself and played dumb. "What is that?" She asked. She put no emotion in her voice though, and it came out monotone.

Alister didn't seem to notice her lack of expression. Perhaps it was the darkness, or perhaps he chose to just ignore it. He responded calmly and with ease, the words rolling off his tongue as if they'd been rehearsed.

"This is my staff," he said, confirming her previous suspicion. His next words chilled her to the bone so severely she almost physically shivered. "You should know what it's for."

He knew what she was. But how? She hadn't even moved. She had spoken a total of seven words. How had she given herself away?

In a last ditch effort to keep her facade, she said, "What do you mean?" There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that had become a stone, lodging itself in her intestines.

"You don't have to pretend with me. I won't hurt you. We are two of the same breed. We are Magicians and we stick together. I am here to help you." He seemed to be speaking honestly, but Mina knew better than to take him on his word. Did he know of her mission? If so, how? Why did he call himself a Magician? She had only heard that term used in reference to trickery and illusions. Yet it was foolish to hope that was what he had meant. So many questions ran through her head at once. Finally, she spoke.

"I don't need your help."

Alister seemed puzzled now, though he didn't elaborate on his confusion. "What is your name, miss?"

This question, though an obvious one to be asked, hadn't crossed her mind long enough to determine how to answer. Should she lie? Then again, he somehow knew what she was. Perhaps he already knew her name, too. At risk of being asked a question to which the answer was already known, she was honest.

"Mina," she said coolly.

At this, Alister smiled brightly, his eyes glittering in the moonlight. Were they blue? Mina couldn't quite tell. "It is lovely to meet you, Mina," he said cheerfully.

He moved to sit down beside her and, even though he was a few feet away, she immediately slid her back against the wall beneath the window. He froze in mid-bend and stared in surprise.

"My sincere apologies. I should have asked first. Do you mind if I sit down? Or would you prefer to go back to sleep?"

There was a snowball's chance in hell that Mina was going to sleep tonight. She figured it would be better to know this man if he was as powerful as he seemed. Though she remained pressed against the wall, ready for an attack, she said, "You may sit."

"Thank you." He completed his movement and sat cross-legged on the floor, his staff laying across his lap. He glanced around and playfully said, "You're not much of a homemaker, are you?"

"This is not my home," she spat, harsher than she intended. The sheer thought of actually living in this dilapidated building was disgusting. She merely took shelter here in inclement weather. Her home was the forest beyond the walls.

Alister looked back at her, his eyebrows furrowed in mild confusion. "My apologies," he said again. "Do you live in town?"

Mina didn't want to tell him anything about herself. The more he knew, the more dangerous he could be. But in order to learn, she supposed she also had to divulge.

"No. I live in the forest," she replied after a moment.

"I see." Alister sounded surprised, yet intrigued. "What led you here?"

"Is this an interrogation? Where are you from?" She snapped, the first emotion she had shown. There was only so much she was willing to give out freely.

"No, not an interrogation. Forgive me, it has been some time since my company has been another Magician."

"And what, exactly, is a Magician? You said that earlier," she asked.

Alister looked at her quizzically. "You... You don't know? How is that possible?"

Mina didn't know how to respond. It was extremely possible, obviously. She blinked at him, remaining silent.

After a moment, Alister straightened slightly and ran his hand over his staff that still lay in his lap. "You must be a Magician. I can sense it. There's magic all around you."

"You still haven't answered my question."

Alister, extremely puzzled, avoided answering again. "How long have you lived in these woods?"

She was growing irritated with his prying. "I refuse to answer any more questions until you answer some of mine," she snapped. "This is my forest you have intruded upon. I recommend you start talking."

Though Alister seemed slightly taken aback at her hostility, he nodded. "Fair enough," he replied. "You asked what a Magician is. The answer is very complicated. We are a hidden breed. There are many types of Magicians. There are sorcerers, elementals, mages, sirens, and combinations of all of the above and more. 'Magician' is the umbrella term that unites us.

"What defines a Magician is the possession of magic, be it innate like yours, or channeled like mine." He gestured to his staff, indicating that was his magical tool. "Those who do not possess magic are known as the Ungifted. They are the 'normal' ones, the people who can live openly.

"We, as a breed, are feared. The Ungifted have a nasty habit of hating what they fear and we are no exception. Due to this, we have been forced to live undercover, using our magic so sparingly we nearly forget it's there. Those who don't choose to hide are destroyed. I'm sure you've heard of the Salem witch trials.

"Over time, the Ungifted created a new meaning for the term 'Magician.' Magicians in their culture are illusionists who use trickery for amusement. Some true Magicians have taken on the role of this illusionary meaning to keep their magic alive, like Harry Houdini. Others decide to live as if their magic never existed. They live as the Ungifted do, ashamed of their abilities.

"There have been a few communities around the world that bred only Magicians. They were protected by the wise men and women of the town, but their magic could only hold out for so long before the Ungifted, through their exploration in the 1400's, ran across them. Naturally, once they realized what they had stumbled upon, they brought armies to eradicate them. All the magic in the world couldn't save these small towns from the European soldiers. As powerful as some of the Magicians were, most had never had to do battle with magic before. Death and destruction reigned down upon them and there was little they could do to stop it."

Alister paused for a moment. His face, illuminated by a flash of lightning, was contorted with pain. Mina had been unsure of whether to believe this fantastic story, but after seeing the genuine emotion glittering in his eyes, she found her disbelief wavering. Silently, she reminded herself not to be too trusting, for looks could deceive well.

After a deep breath, Alister continued. His voice cracked slightly on the first few words, but regained its strength as he spoke. "Yeovil was the only community that made it through that era. It was hidden in plain sight on Lundy Island, off the coast of England. That's where I was born.

"In a town full of only Magicians, to be born without magic was almost as bad as one of our kind living openly among the Ungifted. My parents were horrified when I was unable to cast even the simplest of spells. They were disgraced, looked down upon as tainted. At the age of thirteen, I was about to be cast out of my home.

"However Kiron, the wise man took me under his wing. He told my parents he could teach me how to be a Magician, even without innate abilities. For one who had nothing to start with, it was a rough road. Even my parents were skeptical for quite some time that he could teach me anything at all. It wasn't until I was seventeen that I managed to channel my first bit of energy through this very staff." He smiled, looking down in fondness and sadness. "I changed my eye color. It was a subtle spell, barely any energy needed at all, but there was so much celebration.

"After that, I learned quickly. I learned how to channel external energy through a tool so I could use it, whereas most Magicians have some form of innate abilities. I had nothing internal, so my magic was done through my staff or potions."

Again he paused, seemingly recalling something extremely painful. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft and distressed. "I was nineteen when I made the biggest mistake of my extremely long life. I made an immortality potion and drank it. When Kiron discovered what I'd done, he was livid. So was I when I realized I'd done it incorrectly.

"I am not immortal. I can be killed. I do age, but extremely slowly. If I waited to die of natural causes, I have no idea how long I would live. I have lost count of how old I am now, but I have to assume it's around two hundred and fifty or so."

Mina's eyes widened. Two hundred and fifty years old? Now his story seemed far too impressive to be true. If it was true, she did not understand why he looked so upset to be that close to immortality. "Why do you look so miserable?" she asked, her tone still even. "Your potion may have been incorrect, but only slightly."

Alister looked up, fire flashing in his eyes briefly. "That was the problem," he replied. His words were sharp, but not cold. They were filled with so much pain Mina could almost feel it seeping out through his pores. It sent a chill through her, reminding her of the burden she bore.

"I studied my channeling, became a Mage, and met a woman I made my wife. Elayna was her name. She was beautiful." A wisp of a smile flitted across his lips and his eyes glistened in the moonlight. "A few years later, she had my son, Julian. He was five when the Ungifted showed up.

"I still worked for Kiron, who had grown quite old. He was very ill and bedridden. I had become more so his caretaker than his student. I made his health potions and had to feed them to him. For some reason, they never seemed to make much of a difference. Many of the townspeople felt he had been cursed, though no one knew by whom.

"I had run out of sage for Kiron's potions and he sent me out of the community limits to get some more. We had an herb garden right outside the house, but Kiron seemed convinced wild sage would work better. I gathered some items and left Yeovil in search of wild sage, promising to be home in three days with or without it.

"Three days later, I had a satchel full of the herb. When I returned home to Yeovil, though, there was nothing left. The smell of burnt buildings and decaying flesh was abundant. Not one person was left alive. I found Elayna and Julian in our house, my wife hunched over our son on the floor in a pool of their blood." Alister's voice broke on the last word and he inhaled sharply. It took a moment for him to continue and Mina found herself wishing his story would come to an end. It was so wrought with pain and emotion that she found herself recalling her own past. It was getting hard to breathe, as if the air had suddenly become molasses.

"I never found Kiron," Alister said softly. "Sometimes I wonder if he made it out alive, but as ill as he was, he must have just burned to ash like the rest of Yeovil. His house was obliterated.

"It was at that moment that I realized I was as close to immortal as I could be without actually being immortal. I had just been forced to see everyone I loved die, and would have to over and over again. I considered killing myself multiple times, but never had the willpower to actually take my own life, despite the overwhelming desire. Throughout the course of my life, I have never taken another wife after Elayna. I can't bear to watch another love die.

"I have dedicated my life to travelling. I want to find other Magicians. I am searching for those who no longer want to live in fear of the Ungifted. I am searching for those who want to start another community like Yeovil. A safe haven. I want to be the Kiron of this new civilization because I want it to be safe for as long as I am alive. I can't bear to see another town destroyed. My specialty is healing and protection, though over the years I have learned destruction as well. I want to protect now because I couldn't then. I still blame myself for having left at all."

Alister finished with a small, pained smile. "Now you know my story. I said much more than I intended. Please forgive me. I hope I have answered your questions."

Mina couldn't speak. It was so much to take in and she didn't know how to process it all. The air around her seemed to be sticking to her skin and gluing her lungs together. As she looked at Alister, she saw the same pain in his eyes that she used to have.

She saw the same pain she had felt when she stood at David's headstone.

"I lost my brother," she said, this time needing to ensure her voice lacked emotion, for it threatened to pour out. "He was murdered when he was twelve."

Alister looked up at her with understanding. "I'm so sorry. Was he like us?"

"Yes. But he had no idea what he was doing or what it meant. I didn't know much more than he did. All I knew was that sometimes I could see things through his eyes. Like that day," she said. "I watched as he was beaten to death by three teenagers. I felt every blow and when it was over and I could move, I was the one who found him when no one believed me. That was three years ago.

"I am now on a mission for revenge. My brother was the closest thing to me and he was ripped away. These men have no idea what is coming their way. I left home and came here shortly after his death. I have been honing my skills to ensure I am victorious on my quest." She let the anger and hatred flow into her tone, for it was better than the unbearable pain she felt. Her chest heaved with emotion and, in the moonlight, her eyes morphed from brown to electric green for a moment. Her fists clenched as her pupils narrowed to slits, recalling the night she found David.

"David! Where are you?"

She raced down the street towards his school, her feet rhythmically pounding on the pavement in time with her heart. Something was crumpled on the ground at the top of the hill and she picked up speed, praying it wasn't what she knew it was.

"David!"

The streetlights illuminated patches of pavement and the lump was lying directly below one. She swallowed, trying to slow her breathing in an attempt not to hyperventilate. She stepped in something wet and looked down to find her shoe surrounded by thick, red liquid.

"David?" she croaked, darting over to him. She stopped short, her breath caught in her throat, when she reached him.

His arms and legs were tangled beneath him, broken and crushed. Blood covered his face and body, pooling around him and flowing down the hill. His mouth was open in a silent scream and his nose was crooked to the side. But what Mina would always remember was his eyes. They were open wide and staring right at her, almost as if crying for help. They had glassed over and flies were buzzing around him. Mina screamed like David no longer could.

Alister brought her out of her flashback suddenly. "Mina, as awful as your brother's death was, revenge is not always as sweet as presumed," he said softly, his tone consoling yet warning.

She looked up at him, fists clenched so hard her nails were digging into her palms. "My revenge will be sweet. David never so much as hurt a fly. These Ungifted murderers will pay for what they did to him."

"Are you sure they were Ungifted?" he asked.

At this, Mina paused. No she supposed, she wasn't completely sure. However, they had beaten him to death. If they were Magicians, wouldn't they have used magic? "I thought Magicians stuck together," she said evenly.

"Not always. Just as there are good in the Ungifted society, there are evil within Magicians. Some are just as cruel as the Ungifted."

"I'm sure they were Ungifted," she lied. It made sense that they were, though she wasn't a hundred percent certain. If it turned out they were Magicians, well, so was she. She could handle it.

Alister nodded, though he didn't seem completely assured. "Let me go with you," he said.

"What? No. This is my mission, not yours." Mina was flabbergasted. This two hundred year old man wanted to accompany her on a murderous quest to avenge her little brother for what reason?

"Please. It has been years since I have encountered another Magician. I swore to myself I would help those in need. I will assist you in whatever you need done. I..." He broke off for a moment and looked down at his staff. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

Mina stared at him in disbelief. Hadn't he just warned her against revenge? Would he try to stop her? "Are you going to get in my way?" she asked coolly.

"No. I give you my word. I will not take part in murder, but I will protect you from harm and keep you out of legal trouble. I specialize in protective magic, if you recall. I promise I am friend, not foe."

It did seem reasonable to her, though she wasn't sure she liked the idea of company. The fact that he was unwilling to participate in killing her victims suited her fine, as she wanted to be the one to exact revenge. "Very well," she said, nodding curtly. "Accompany me if you like. But understand that this is my mission. Do not get in my way."

"Thank you, Mina," Alister said, breathing what seemed to be a sigh of relief.

She didn't respond. Instead, she glanced over her shoulder at the moon through the foggy glass. The downpour of rain seemed to have slowed to a drizzle, though small flashes of lightning could still be seen now and then. Silently, she sent a prayer up to the moon to let this be a good decision.

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© 2015 Amaris Grove

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Coyote Poetry

I like the chapter. Took the reader on a grand adventure. I liked the village of Magician. I like the places and the conversation in the chapter. The characters are interesting and I wanted to read and know more. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter. Please send read requests.
Coyote