Magic was not a toy. It was in fact a very delicate source of power that was highly reactive to thought and malleable enough to be given any form in all of creation. While most scholars and magic users would be content to simply wave a hand and say that they knew more than enough. Sage Ainsworth knew only frustration as he tried to recall the vast alignment of spells that had been present in his master’s abode.Quote:
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Just trying to decipher how the spells interacted and complimented each other was almost enough to invite a headache. But alas, recalling the entirety of the hundreds of spells woven into each other was a challenge in itself. He just did not see enough of it to be able to start deciphering it, and for all he knew, the very heart of the towers core may have been a simple illumination spell like his own.
The boy plodded along the ground with a visible weight to his steps. Entertaining himself by trying to decipher the towers spell matrix was the only thing his mind could focus on. The novelty of the country road had worn off a few miles back and making a mental checklist of the local fauna had soured even further before that.
With the sun bearing down on him and the heat clinging to his tunic, he soon found himself becoming short on breath with each and every step. Pain, his legs were the very personification of pain. Walking had never been his strong suit, and with how lively he had been for the past week, the muscles in his legs were letting him know how displeased they were with the sudden spike of activity. But that was not the end of his current woes either. His stomach was the next thing to file a formal complaint. It had also been quite some time since he had last ate, and the hollow void he felt made sure to remind him of that fact.
What a pitiful state to find himself in, he thought ruefully.
The wind from the ocean kissed and danced through his hair, carrying a salty tang scent along with it. And although he did not see it on the horizon he knew that he would soon be coming up on Holden’s sheer cliffs. He was positive that if he were to venture west away from the road, he would find the green fields vanish from under his feet. And from there if he were to peer down along Holden’s black beech to the south he would find the town itself nestled into the lip of an ancient crater.
The unfamiliar surrounding made him long for the vineyard. There he could find a book, curl up somewhere nice and warm, and get lost between the pages.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Pushing on for the last few miles was by far the biggest hurdle he had faced since his master had dropped him off in the middle of a forest. Sage was grateful when the road began to slope down towards the edge of the basin. The boy felt all but renewed when the road took him around the foot of a hill and was awarded him the view of the town itself.
The entrance was nestled between the north and south cliff faces, with a thirty foot high stone wall that safeguarded the town from between the two archer towers. The wall looked beaten and battered, worn away in places and covered in moss in others. Something that also stood out to the boy was the missing section in the northern tower. It wasn’t just worn away either, it was simply missing. Bewildered, Sage wondered if something large had not accidently stepped on the tower like a child would with a sandcastle.
The guards were modestly armed, each wielded a halberd and had a short sword sheathed on their belts. And as he came closer he could easily see a visible layer of chainmail under the brown leather tunics they both wore. But more interesting than that was the apparent argument a man was having with one of the guards stationed at the gate, as he approached he could see the frustration rolling of the fisherman in waves.
“If it were your own son, you’d be tearing up the place looking for him too!” He snarled at the guard waving a hand back to the town itself. The guard frowned, clenching into the shaft of the halberd he carried tightly but refused to move an inch.
“If it were my son I would…” he admitted giving the town a sidelong glance. “I assure you, the Guard are doing everything in our power to find your missing son”
“You lying sack of horseshit!” The fisherman yelled taking an invasive step forward to get into the guards face.
“Twenty children have gone missing!” he spat into his face, though the guard remained stoic under the verbal assault. “Are you honestly telling me that no one has seen anything and that they just magically vanished?!”
Sage was atop them now, taking a wide berth around the two to the second guard who was looking on in sympathy for his fellow guard. The guard sighed and turned to greet the boy, but upon looking at him Sage saw a look of horror begin to etch itself onto his face.
“Ah, I’m looking for entrance into the town. I’ve come to make use of the tavern to spend the night.”The guard looked like he had just seen a wraith, and the guard and the fisherman had taken notice of the boy who had just walked up to the gatehouse as well. Sage was growing concerned with stares these people were giving him, often it was due to his rather effeminate appearance, but this time it seemed to be something else. The Missing children, he realised. It could have been that he appeared young enough to be counted among those going missing.
The boy tilted his head curiously “I don’t mean to intrude, but what is going on?”
The fisherman was the first to break from his silence, teeth gritted as he shot the guards a dirty glare. “You’d best turn around, not like these guards are much good at their job”
The guard he had been yelling at snorted in contempt but held his silence. The one he had approached however did not. “There have been reports that the towns children have gone missing, kidnapped most likely”
Kidnapped, indeed it sounded like the most logical conclusion, but that was going through a lot of trouble to go and spirit away over twenty kids.
“No ransoms?” He asked before he could catch himself.
“Nothing” the guard said with a tired sigh.
Sage berated himself for acting before he could think things through yet again. Rash action had not helped when it had come to that magical flower a few nights ago, so he should learn to temper that impulse as soon as possible. Because it sounded like the town was going through a turbulent time, and that it would be in his best interest to grab a meal and some supplies before putting the town to his back.
No ransoms, it couldn’t be just a simple kidnapping, unless they were going to hold an entire town to ransom taking the children was just too much of a hassle for simple bandits. And if they were bandits then taking them through the front entrance would be nigh impossible. The wall looked too well guarded for bandits to spirit kids away, even under the cover of night.
He was doing it again, he caught himself and turned to the guard “Can I go in, I need to get some supplies regardless of the situation” He said as casual as he could, though not for the guards benefit but for his own. Maybe if he pretended that he did not care he would actually start to believe it.
