City of Mages

Chapter 13: Alara

Just after sunrise, Alara found herself on a l'lamaga headed out through the south gate of the Haven, surrounded by a small band of councilguard soldiers. The morning air was still cool and crisp, but the cloudless sky fortold of the coming heat for the day.

Emaru led the group, her caramel l'lamaga at the front of the line as she directed them toward Via Sura. Alara was more than a little happy when she arrived at the gates that morning to see that Ardo's squad would be going with them as well. He now rode beside her, their l'lamagas a matching off-white.

Alara was silent as they made their way south from Cielo and the Haven. Her nerves were on edge and her thoughts racing with all the things that could go wrong on the trip. She'd been on missions before, but now she wasn't a part of a magite team or class. This mission wasn't going to depend on group effort. The entire course of this trip—and Quenti's future—rested on Alara's powers to lead them in the right direction.

She looked around at the team that had been assembled to bring Quenti back. The fact that Emaru and some of her personal guards were on the trip spoke to the importance of it. Whether this importance came out of care for a magite's safety or ensuring Alara passed this test, she wasn't quite sure.

After all, Quenti wasn't the first student to go missing. There really was a tendency for young magites to try and run back home when they first arrived at the Haven—frightened and homesick for their families. Usually, they were caught long before they made it out of the shadow of Cielo and the family would inevitably be called to visit and reassure their child. But Quenti was older and more trained with her magia. Too much for her own good, apparently, as she'd managed to escape Cielo.

Alara tried to think back to Quenti and their interactions. She knew Quenti hadn't been in love with the Haven, but from what she could gather, it didn't seem like she missed Hurazon or her family. But then again, Quenti seemed the type to jump first and think later. Alara could imagine her sneaking out of the Haven and Cielo just to prove she could—only to get eaten by a wild puma. Alara shuddered to think of the dangers that lurked in the cloud forest for a lone traveler without much protection or supplies.

"Don't look so glum." Ardo's voice cut into her thoughts. "You'd think we were marching off to a funeral."

She looked up and saw his pale eyes creased with a smile. "We just might be." She said, giving him a weak smile in return.

"You know, I only met Quenti once or twice, but she seemed the type to put up a fight, even in the face of pumas, jaguars, and flash floods. She's just scrappy enough to get herself into trouble and then keep herself alive."

Alara let out a short laugh at this. "That sounds accurate. Of course, even if Quenti is off enjoying her adventure and staving off wild animals, there is still my magia issue. This is my last chance to prove I'm not a failure as a magite, remember?"

His smile faded away slowly and his eyes focused on her face, his thick eyebrows furrowing deeply. "I don't know much about magia, but I do know you, and I've never known you to let yourself fail."

Alara looked away quickly from the intensity of his eyes, annoyed at herself as she felt the blush creeping up her cheeks. She needn't have worried. When she looked back, Ardo's eyes were focused away from her and toward the right. She could only just make out the the River Sura behind the thick foliage, but she could hear it without straining. The water was rushing, fast and loud. She could see the marshland that stretched out from the river, proof of the rains that had been plaguing the realm for the past month.

It was a few hours before they came across the first settlement along the road. While north of Cielo was relatively well populated, villages in the southern lands tended to be few and far between because of the rugged terrain. The road that meandered along the river was bordered on both sides by taller hills and thick clouds forest, not exactly the most ideal living conditions for most.