Another case burst apart on the road as the stagecoach continued to hurtle through the countryside, rattling and bouncing on the uneven surface. “Osran!” the call came from the coach’s roof “Can you not keep it steady for just a second?”
“I’m trying, Tor’.” came the panicky reply from the gangly young man trying desperately to keep control of the two horses bridled to the coach. The world seemed to tremble as a loud eruption shook the road. “You’re not exactly making it easy.” Osran yelled back.
Atop the racing coach, Torana braced herself amongst the remaining cargo, her auburn hair whipping in the wind, jaw set and determined “I could always let them catch us.” The lack of reply drew a small smile to her lips. The riders had been pursuing them for several miles now, men and women on horseback, several with bows.
Torana stood carefully and attuned to the Rhoki of Fire. Her deep blue cloak lashed around her as she shaped the raw energy with her words and the movement of her hands, launching flaming balls towards the riders. The riders scattered, several falling from their horses as the fireballs struck the ground before them, throwing torrents of dirt into the air.
Torana laughed loudly “Only a couple left, Osran.” she called over her shoulder “Keep going.” She turned back to her pursuers and gave a start as she noticed the arrow flying towards her. Panicking, she tried to attune Air, but there was too little time. The arrow sunk into her shoulder as the coach bounced once more.
Torana hit the ground heavily, the impact knocking the wind from her. She lay dazed, with pain radiating from her right shoulder, listening to the sound of the stage coach rattle away. A grim face entered her field of view. The man’s beady eyes squinted down at her. His unshaven face worked into a smug grin.
He reached down to pull Torana up by the front of her robes, his leather armour creaking as he did so. “Up you get, missy.” his gravelly voice irritated Torana already to her right, she heard a bowstring pull taut. “About bloody time you stopped making such a nuisance of yourself and came with us.”
Torana grasped for Fire. She’d blast this fool for even thinking he could stop her. But it remained out of reach. She tried to attune to other Rhoki. Air, Lighting, but nothing would come.
The man’s smirk grew wider as he noticed Torana’s surprise. “That’s right.” He mocked “No more magic and spells for you.” He wound back his fist and punched Torana in her stomach, causing her to double over in pain.
“You have… shard.” she managed to wheeze. “That’s right.” The man fished in a small pouch at his belt, drawing out a small, pink, spiked crystal. “All too easy hunting mages when you have one of these.” He palmed the crystal as he once more pulled Torana to her feet.
Torana coughed “Please,” she gasped “Please don’t hurt me. You’re right, I’m just a poor mage. Everyone knows we’re useless without magic and never try to fix that by undergoing extensive martial training.”
The man looked confused. He was barely able to speak the word “What?” before Torana suddenly crouched and spun, sweeping the man’s legs out from under him with her own.
Launching herself backwards, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder, she narrowly avoided being skewered by a second arrow as it skimmed through the space she had just occupied. She drew a dagger from a concealed sheath inside her robes. Spinning gracefully, she threw it at the only other pursuer she could see, striking them in the thigh. Drawing another, she leaped forward once more, stabbing the downed man in the shoulder.
Looking to the second pursuer she called in an emotionless tone “Stay there or he dies.” Seeing that they made no further moves, she leaned in to the man, twisting the knife as she did so. “I don’t expect to see you following me again, or it’ll be more of the same. Do you understand?” she hissed.
He nodded, the confusion and fear plain on his face as he tried to paw at the knife. A glint caught Torana’s eye. The crystal had fallen from the man’s grapes and now lay beside him on the road.. “Oh,” she pulled the dagger from his shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain “and I’ll be taking this.” Placing the crystal in her own belt pouch, she kicked the man in his stomach for good measure. “Idiot.”
The man curled around his pain as the other nursed their wound and watched the scene unfold with a wary caution.
Resheathing her dagger, Torana began walking. Osran better be coming back for me.
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“So you can’t use magic around that rock?” Osran asked. The stagecoach rumbled along at a much steadier pace, the road conditions improving as they approached their destination.
“No.” Torana replied, holding the pink crystal up to the light as she sat next to Osran on the driver’s box “Garon must be getting desperate if he’s willing to pay for one of these to bring me in.” she stretched her aching shoulder.
They had made a brief stop to tend the wound not long after she caught up with Osran. Torana had pulled out the arrow and, ensuring the stone was far enough away from her, briefly attuned the Rhoki of Life to heal the worst of the wound. Despite that, the discomfort remained. Shaping healing energies had always been a struggle for her..
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“How does it work?” Osran kept his eyes on the road, occasionally stealing glances towards the young mage.
Torana shrugged “No idea. There are very few alchemists who can make them. All I know is it cuts me off from the Rhoki. They’re often used when hunting rogue mages and binders”
“Why are you keeping it, then?”
“It could come in useful. Besides, I’m not keeping it. You are.” Torana held out the nullshard in her hand, offering it towards Osran. “Keep it on you, and if something happens, get away from me so I can cast. You won’t have to go far with a piece this small.” Torana sat back into a more comfortable position on the step “How close are we? I could use a drink.”
Osran took the stone and placed it into the pocket of his jacket “Not far now.”
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The waters of the Berkobell river flowed by quietly in the late afternoon sunshine as Osran sipped from the deep red liquid in his glass.“How long will we be staying?” He asked.
“The boat leaves tonight, but before then I need to meet my contact.” Torana drained the last of her wine and waved to a server to bring another.
The pair sat in a small café on the banks of the Berkobell in the town of Kisterren, home to the finest vineyards in the region. The café was located in the area of town known as The Canopy. Filled with small, expensive shops lining streets decorated with well kept trees, The Canopy served as a hub for the town’s richer inhabitants. Torana looked out across the lazily flowing water, the gentle breeze and soothing sounds of the river should have helped to ease her anxiety.
“Are you worried Garon will be sending more to track you down?” Osran asked.
“No. He knows I’m here. It’s an inevitability at this point. I should concentrate on staying ahead of him. Especially as he seems to be getting desperate.” Her thoughts went to the stone currently sitting at Osran’s hip. She hadn’t imagined he’d spend so much on hunting her down. She smiled bitterly to herself. Now I’m worth something. “Anyway, I can handle whatever he sends.”
Osaran nodded “I’m sure, but perhaps we could be a bit more cautious this time?”
Torana furrowed her brow “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well,” Throwing up his hands in a placating gesture, Osran chuckled nervously “that chase did start because you noticed a large group of people passing around a sketch of you and you just had to challenge them about it.”
Vorana levelled a flat stare at him. “Osran, if I thought for one second you were trying to imply…”
“Torana?” a smooth male voice interrupted her.
Looking up, Torana responded “Yes?” perhaps a bit more tesitly than she intended.
The tall, black haired man who had spoken gave no sign of displeasure at her tone. Instead, he smiled warmly at her. “It is good to see you again.”
“Skerret.” the corners of Torana’s mouth twitched into a brief smile. Skerret’s long grey coat ruffled gently in the wind. His friendly face and heavy frame always reminded her of a cheerful uncle.
Skerret leaned on his cane with his free hand as he always did, fishing a handkerchief from within his coat to mop his brow against the heat of the day. Torana did not rise to greet him. “Thank you for coming.” she said, kicking the chair opposite her from under the table. “Have a seat.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Skerret replied “A beautiful day, isn’t it? If not for this heat, anyway.”
“Perhaps if you didn’t insist on wearing so many layers.” Torana raised an eyebrow.
“Nonsense.” Skerret laughed “One must keep up a certain pretence of wealth, no?” he waved over a server and ordered a drink before sitting heavily on the offered chair. Leaning his cane against the table, he turned to the quiet Osran. “Who’s your friend, eh? Perhaps some new bit of fancy?”
Torana sighed and rolled her eyes “This is Osran. Despite the apparent ease with which he becomes embarrassed, he’s been accompanying me for the last couple of weeks. He’s in my employ.”
Skerret beamed at the flushed young man “So that’s it, eh? Well, each to their own. Perhaps she’ll fall for your charms yet. Eh, my boy?”
“Skerret, can we please get down to business?” Torana interrupted before he could harass Osran further. “Do you have the documents?”
Skerret settled back in his chair. “But of course,” he purred. “I do, however, have a proposal for you.”
Torana frowned “Proposal?” the server returned and placed a glass of white wine in front of Skerret, which he picked up and swirled before him.
“Yes. Two weeks ago I hired a man to collect a package for me from Lirrel, a town to the north of here.” Skerret sipped his wine and smacked his lips “The fellow returned, but without my package. He claims he was assaulted by wild animals or some such nonsense. In his flailing escape, he dropped my package and fled town when I demanded he retrieve it without payment.” Skerret’s tone became bitter over the course of telling his tale.
“So you want me to retrieve the package?”
“That I do.” Skerret had returned to his previously jovial manner.
“What’s on it for me?” Torana asked, ever the skeptic.
“I won’t charge you for my services.”
Torana paused. True, she’d rather not have to pay the near extortionate cost that Skerret was charging her, but these things seldom came without a catch. “Did he say what it was that attacked him?” She asked, probing for the loose end that would allow her to peel away the mystery.
“The way he tells it, it was a large dog or something. Possibly a bear. The man was barely coherent long enough for me to get a straight story out of him.” Skerret grumbled.
“Right.” Torana mused “What about the package? How will I find it if it’s just been dumped in the wilderness?”
“Ah,” Skerret smiled knowingly, “That won’t be a problem for someone of your talents.”
Osran spoke up “What does he mean by that, Tor?”
Shooting him a glance, she replied “He means there’s something magical in the package, or at least an aura’s been put on it. Is that right?”
“Got it in one!” Skerret slapped his hands together in delight. “Always a clever girl. It’s no wonder you became so adept at all this magery business.”
Torana’s eyes quickly flashed around the room “Keep it down, Skerret. No one needs to know who I am.”
“No, no. Quite right.” He held his hands up in apology. “So, will you do it?”
Torana’s jaw worked as she thought through the possibilities, she’d never had reason to doubt Skerret before, and mages weren’t exactly common enough to hire. “How long should it take?”
“Oh, just the evening I’d warrant.” draining the last of his glass, Skerret set it down delicately on the table. “You won’t need to spend the night on the road.”
Torana nodded. “Fine. I’ll leave once we’re done here. I assume I’m to bring the package to your workshop once I’m back.”
“I would be indebted to you.” Skerret gave an elaborate half bow from his seat.