Leo and Heidi

Somewhere in south-east Germany

Leo woke up and hit his head against a metal rack above him, trying to get up to sit. The collision caused him to fall back on his back. He did not understand where he was, as it was dark and damp around him.

Then he heard the rhythmic hum of the tires against the paved road. Events of the previous night came back in one large chunk. The Church had attacked him, and now they were on the run and inside a truck trailer.

After they escaped from the Church, which was no doubt chasing them at this very moment, and got in the back of a large, white commercial truck, Leo calmed down and relaxed for a second. The next thing he knew, he had fallen asleep on some woolen rags the truck driver was kind enough to share with them.

He had no idea where exactly they were, as there was no way to check his immediate surroundings because the trailer had no windows. It was damp, cold, and noisy. The setup made him feel like a common criminal trying to enter the United States and smuggle in dope.

Only he was not a criminal, at least not a conventional one. From what little Heidi managed to tell him, Leo understood that he was a villain in the eyes of this mysterious Church. A heretic. His very existence was a crime according to their laws. Why? Because he got access to magic when he was not supposed to?

He did not understand why life sometimes gave you lemons before lemonade. Leo wanted to be a part of something larger. He tried to discover a meaning in life that was grander. That is why he loved fantasy novels and movies that made the world a broader place.

He never thought that magic would be something tangible and he would have access to it. Now that he did, he wondered - would it be worth it? After contemplating this thought for half an hour, he decided it would be worth it.

And that he would do everything possible to learn magic, as he was tired of simple life, making only the good and correct decisions. He would learn it, make it his and stand his ground against those who wished to take it away from him.

Lying in complete darkness, Leo went to find his phone without a SIM card, as Heidi insisted he removes it after getting in the trailer. He pulled the phone out and turned on the flashlight to see where she was.

Casting the light around him, Leo saw that she was still asleep across from him. That left him alone for the moment to think and contemplate what he knew.

It turned out that magic was real, and Heidi and her father were not complete loons, obsessed with some occult stuff, spouting nonsense. Not all the weird things he saw in their mansion made him rethink much.

In the end, his introduction to magic was a short one. He was not allowed to go to some magic school, see all kinds of wonders, or whatnot. No special status besides being a fugitive forced to go on a run. What little Heidi cared to share before passing out painted an ugly picture for Leo.

The Church had its fingers in every pie, including local authorities. That meant they needed to go underground and avoid being in public places where they could track them, at least according to Heidi. Hence, they were freezing now in the back of a commercial furniture trailer.

As the Church would not leave them alone, Leo and Heidi needed to go to the last place they expected to find them, which meant that Heidi had to ditch all the comfort her station provided, and she could not turn to the clan for help, at least not directly.

‘Damn,’ Leo thought and sighed loudly, prompting Heidi to groan and fumble around before getting out from under the rags to join him in the darkness.

“You up now?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” she said with a dry voice. “Do you have any water left?”

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Leo got up to find the water bottle rolling next to him and handed it to Heidi. She quickly took it and downed half of it, sighing loudly with contentment, her thirst sated. Meanwhile, Leo just sat on the trailer floor and waited for her to finish waking up.

“Do you know where we are going?” Leo finally asked her.

“Yes, the truck driver agreed to take us out of Berlin toward Leipzig at his last stop. We will need to go further south to a place I have in mind,” Heidi answered and put the water bottle down. Eyeing Leo carefully, she saw that something was not right, as his usual carefree manner was gone, his face grim and thoughtful.

“What is wrong?” she asked.

Leo paused before answering, thinking about what to tackle first from what he saw in the manor, and said, “A lot. Mainly because I am cold now and hiding like a common criminal in the back of a trailer, while I have not committed any crimes.” Leo looked up to meet her eyes and continued, “I also had time to process what I saw and come to terms with it. It was just a lot for me to digest.”

“You have questions, right?” she asked.

“Yes. How did they find us? Where did they come from? From what I gathered, this was a coordinated attack on an estate that you owned. That was not supposed to happen, right?”

“Yes, that was not supposed to happen,” Heidi answered, looking down at her dirty shoes. “From their angle, it looked like they went through the garden, scaled the wall, or came straight into the estate. No one intercepted them, which makes me believe they were let in beforehand. I do not know how exactly.”

“Meaning that Adele betrayed you?” Leo asked, seeing that now it was Heidi’s turn to feel sad at the mention of her stepmother.

“Yes. We were lucky that Viktor could react in time. He was born with an innate talent to sense mana surges. That is how we found you in the hospital and why he took such an interest in you. It seems we were saved because of him,” Heidi answered, not looking up and tensing her shoulders, remembering that her father was now probably detained.

“Then why could not I sense them? After all, I saw whatever Adele did with the ring,” Leo said.

“I do not know, Leo. Probably because you see mana, which is more bizarre than sensing it. We do not know anyone else who can do that in our clan,” Heidi answered, finally raising her gaze and meeting Leo's.

Leo thought about it. What she said made a certain sense, so he continued questioning her, “And the spell your father cast? What was it?”

“It is a spell called wind wall, which comes from the protection branch of spells compiled in our clan’s spellbooks. It is not the flashiest of spells, though. It provides decent protection. Especially if it were cast and stored beforehand as an enchantment. If it was not, undoubtedly, we would be in many different circumstances now,” Heidi answered, sitting up and stretching her lower back.

“That makes sense. Well, the last big thing I want to understand is what they wanted?” Leo asked, his face serious.

“It is simple, as I said. The Church discovered that you were hiding in our mansion and set out to capture you. How they discovered you, you can probably guess. Such teams are usually led by a Bishop of the Church, who possesses at least a red mana core. We are lucky we did not meet him. Most probably, they were teleported into the territory before the attack, and the spell Adele cast acted as a ‘go-for-it’ call,” Heidi explained, throwing around ideas.

“Before this, we heard rumors that the Inpes clan was thinking of joining hands with the Church. Not that they were not their dogs all these years. We heard this time it was to happen officially. It would benefit both sides, as they are working on the same goals,” she continued.

“And what are they? The goals, I mean,” Leo clarified.

“Their goals? Well, what do you think? World domination, of course!” Heidi answered, smirking.

“You cannot be serious….” Leo said without smiling back. “What is there to dominate?”

Heidi continued, “But I am. You may not know, feel or understand it, but you muds are already under their thumb. Have been for a while.”

Leo stared at her and asked, “What do you mean? Last I checked, we were doing alright.”

“Well, at least it does not fully apply to you now, as you will not be able to go back to things as they were,” Heidi said, recognizing that Leo was one of them.

“You were not alright. That is how they want the muds to see it. Let me explain. This plot is as old as our clans are. It is why my father hates the Inpes clan head, Alexander. The Inpes have been conspiring together with the Church since the thirteen-hundreds.”

“What do you mean ‘conspiring’?” Leo asked.

“Well, Viktor wholeheartedly believed that the Inpes were behind the assassination of our clan head at the time, Inca Aer.

“She was a free mage like you, a pretty powerful one. However, her ideals did not align with what the Inpes and the Church shared. She, together with most of our clan at the time, was helping the Conclave to undermine the Church’s plans and stop the coup,” Heidi said.