34 Betrayal

Alamid stood in front of the door to Lerica's old room. Scanning the house for anomalies, he detected high amounts of magical residue and traced it back to this room. Once again, he tried calling out for the residents.

"Magus Agaven Stedore? Magus Rhael Stedore?", his voice echoed in the silence. Trying the knob again, he found out that this door, unlike the others, was locked. Curious as to why this one was different, he chanted the spell for the Seeker but only limited it to a small area, just enough to get information inside the room. When the ripples came back to him, he had to lean against the wall to prevent himself from collapsing. It was the first time he felt such chaos and confusion. Whatever was in that room was a catastrophe but amidst all of it, Alamid suddenly felt a faint heart beat. It was very weak, but he knew he could not be mistaken. Someone is in that room, and that someone might be on the verge of death.

Activating the spell he had cast on his hands, he directed the gold glow towards the door and out flashed blinding beams of light. The door that once was a barrier was disintegrated in just a few seconds.

Alamid rushed inside the room and was surprised the see a young woman, staring back at him wide-eyed, scantily dressed, and holding a wet towel. She had fresh scars all over her body, and her eyes completely frightened. All around them were scattered bits and pieces of what could have been the objects that once filled this room.

The weak heartbeat he sensed was definitely coming from this girl.

"Uhm, I'm very sorry for breaking in.", Alamid turned around and motioned for the girl to finish getting dressed.

"Wh-what's going on? Wh-who are y-you?", a soft voice whispered.

"My name is Alamid. I am an investigator from the Arcane Watch. I sensed a strong disturbance and traced it back here. I was thinking the Stedores can tell me something about it."

"No!", the girl suddenly grabbed at Alamid's hands. "The Stedores cannot be trusted. They made me suffer day and night using me for their experiments! Please, get me out of here!"

"What?", Alamid faced the girl and was shocked to see how terrified this girl was. "Are you sure about that? The Stedores are—"

*Zap* Before Alamid could finish his words, a sharp arcane bolt pierces his heart, impaling him through. Everything seemed to move in slow motion and his senses went dull. He could barely see and hear the girl as she tried to get him up, screaming indistinct words. He fell down on his knees, unable to keep his balance. Suddenly, it all came back to him.

"Arrrrggghhh!", he screamed out it pain, clutching his chest. Blood was spurting out of the gaping hole creating by the bolt. The girl was crying and trying to put pressure on his wound but failing miserably. She was drenched in his blood.

Regaining a bit of his strength, he looked at the girl and gave her his best smile. "Stay put, I'm going to get us out of this place, okay?"

Wincing as he forced himself up, Magus Alamid, envoy to the Arcane Watch, turned to face his assailant.

"Well, well. I'm not surprised the Watch was already on to us but to send a fledgling to do a Magus' work, that's just sad.", Rhael mocked, feeling triumphant.

Alamid scoffed at the words. "I never expected the Stedores to do the devil's work. And for your information, I am no ordinary 'fledgling'. We are of the same rank, you know." He then proceeded to cast a spell, making his hands glow a bright gold.

Agaven saw this and leveled with Alamid, "You're in over your head if you think you can compare us to the likes of you, kid. Don't do this to yourself. You can't possibly be thinking of beating us, let alone fight us in your current condition."

"What exactly are you doing here, huh?" Alamid asked, stalling for time as he tried to mend his wound. He coughed out blood but stood his ground, not showing any signs of weakness. "Have some of the greatest minds in Stormfall resorted to torturing poor girls?"

At that moment, Rhael snapped. "You know nothing of what we do! So why don't you shut up!", she screamed as she hurled a ball of dragon fire towards the direction of Alamid.

Alamid quickly raised his free hand and the gold glow flashed a bright flare. The dragon fire quickly disappeared into it. Alamid made some manipulations with his fingers and pointed them at the couple, as the dragon fire materialized and turned against its masters. They weren't expecting such a counter attack and Agaven needed to shove Rhael away from the dragon fire's path to dodge it. Rhael got up, a bit bruised and scratched but Agaven was not so lucky. His whole left arm had been scorched black. They quickly collected themselves to prepare for another attack but Alamid and Sera were nowhere to be seen.

"No, no, no." Rhael muttered under her breath as they both ran outside the house. They saw Alamid and Sera running towards the gate, trying to escape.

Alamid still clutching at his wound, held Sera with his other free hand. They were still too weak and he knew the Stedores will eventually catch up to them. He began chanting his levitation spell to fly them out of there.

Rhael and Agaven did not pursue them, however. Istead, the Stedores stood where they were and started reciting a spell in chorus. They moved in unison, as if they were in a rhythmic dance. Facing one another, they held their hands out and started to nurture the dark sphere forming in between them. Black magic; a form of magic loathed by the magician community, and banned by the laws of the Arcane Watch. For the Stedores, however, they were willing to go against the world just to see their work come to fruition. Murmuring the final words, they launched out the dark sphere towards the unsuspecting victims. Alamid and Sera were hit mid-flight.

Alamid felt a strange feeling come over him. His whole body became limp and he lost his grip on Sera.

"Ahhhhhh!", the girl screamed as they both plummeted to the ground.

*thud* *crack* They landed hard on the earth, their bodies making unpleasant sounds. Alamid tried his best to hold his head up and saw Sera unconscious, blood starting to flow from her forehead. He tried his best to reach out, but his whole body had gone limp. Soon, he heart footsteps moving towards them.

Agaven easily picked up the unconscious Sera with one hand; his other arm was still damaged from the counterattack. He took a final look at the limp body of Alamid, shook his head, and started his way back towards the house. Rhael slowly approached their fallen enemy, and placed her foot at Alamid's gaping wound. The young magus winced in pain but no words came out of his mouth. His bold stare at Rhael was all he could do as his final act of defiance. It infuriated Rhael, and she repeated her words,

"You know nothing of what we do here, fledgling. This world has taken that which is dear to us, it's our turn to take it back. Think of that in the afterlife."

Those would be the final words, Alamid would ever hear, as he felt his strength fade away, and the cold darkness of death slowly consume him.