City of Mages

Chapter 16: Quenti

Quenti wasn't thinking.

She had acted on pure instinct when she had jumped, pulling the magite Alara with her, whose mere presence had jeopardized Quenti's freedom.

As the current tugged against her's skirts, she felt the added weight of Alara clinging her wrist. Even with her abilities, wading through a fast-moving river wasn't the easiest thing to do, but the weight of an entire extra human made the task doubly taxing. No one would blame her if she'd just let the foolish magite drown. All the same, Quenti felt her grip on Alara's wrist tighten. She may not be able to kill the girl in good conscience, but she could at least prevent her from finding her way back home. The sooner Alara returned to the councilwoman and the others, the sooner they'd all come for Quenti.

But as she propelled herself and the magite through the river, there wasn't much time or energy left to think things through, and with each passing minute, a fatigue started to send in. After some time—though Quenti couldn't tell how much—she found herself slowing down. Her body grew heavy, powers draining as she fought against the water, who current now pushed against her and the dead weight of Alara. Quenti had turned them into another river a few miles back, and between the exhaustion and newfound resistance, she couldn't keep them from drowning for much longer.

Using the last of her strength, she brought them to the shore, pulling Alara up against the rocks before dragging herself out of the water with a shudder. Her magia, which was usually an explosion of power within her was now just a dull pulse in her core. It wasn't until she was lying on her back, staring up at the steep hillsides on either side of the river that Quenti realized how tired she was. Her whole body trembled and her fingers burned with a numbing cold.

Beside her, Alara sat up with a start, shoulders heaving.

"You...you could have killed me!" Alara gasped out, eyes wild and hair plastered to her face.

Quenti waved her hand weakly, trying to push the girl out of the way so she could sit up. "Please," Quenti said between breaths. "I'm a water mage. I had it handled."

"You're not a mage."

"Fine. Magite. Bruya.Whatever you want to call me."

"You think you have a right to the word magite after you tried to slit my throat?"

"Bruya it is, then!" Quenti said, already getting fed up with the direction of the conversation. "And please, I couldn't slit your throat if I tried. Have you looked at this stupid thing of yours?" She found the dagger still tucked into her skirts and slashed at her own arm. The weapon didn't leave so much as a scratch on her skin. "It's dull as a spoon. Hardly even worth being called a dagger."

Alara's eyebrows furrowed at the comment, studying the blade in Quenti's hand. The magite tried to reach for it, but Quenti quickly slipped it back into her belt without comment. She didn't trust Alara, even with even a dull weapon.

Alara didn't protest, but an annoyed look crossed her face. "Why did you run?"

"Why do you think?" Quenti pushed her hair back from her face, the feeling slowly coming back to her fingers.

"We were trying to save you." Alara attempted to stand. Whether from the sodden clothes or her own shaky exhaustion, she stumbled a few times before she could get her feet under her.

Quenti's teeth clenched at the girl's words. "Save me?" She was standing now, any weakness having been burned from her body by anger. "I was trying to save myself from you."

"Save yourself how?"

Quenti sighed. She had no idea what she'd been expecting from this. "You really are a sweet, brainwashed child, aren't you? Ever stopped to think about what the Council has to gain by keeping all magia users under their thumb?"