The Lightning Mage

65 | The House by the Cliff

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The house was perched on top of a cliff. As the waves splashed onto the rocky precipice, mists of saltwater filled the room.

Brendan faced the window and closed his eyes. The sea breeze, the constant whiff of brine, and the tranquility—he had missed these in his life at Downtown Boston.

Just then, someone teleported into the room next to him. From what it sounded like, it was not the smoothest teleportation. Furniture toppled over and items crashed onto the ground, while the person stumbled around, hit the wall, and came to a halt.

A wry smile tugged at Brendan's lips. "Hey, Neil," he said without even turning around.

Neil let out a string of curses. "Why the fuck are you here?"

Brendan shrugged. "I found out where you live. It wasn't difficult at all; after so many years, your aesthetics are still the same."

Ever since the day Neil showed up in the QA headquarters, Brendan had been trying to figure out where Neil was living. It turned out that he did not need to look any further than the seaside town he and Neil had grown up in. With minimal furniture propped against raw wooden walls, the house resembled Neil's college surfboard—simple, bare, but cozy. It was unoccupied most of the time and reported to be abandoned, but Brendan could see the opened jars, the freshly made potions, and the well-kept pictures of Cecillia.

A lump formed in Brendan's throat. He should have known that Neil would return to their hometown. He should have known, and he should have stopped Neil from doing this.

"Well, get the fuck out of here then," Neil spat as he wobbled towards a cupboard. Propping himself up with his sword in one hand, he rummaged through the drawer with another, cursing and grimacing.

Brendan cast a glance at Neil. The tall man was bruised and battered, with cuts all over his body that soaked his clothes in blood. It was the worst state Brendan had ever seen him in, and it wrenched at his heart. Averting his gaze, he pulled on a chair and settled himself on it.

"If you're looking for your healing potions, don't bother," Brendan said as he leaned back on the seat. "I went around and took them all away."

"What the—" Neil spun around. "Why would you— What the fuck do you want from me?"

He tried to swing his sword towards Brendan, but he staggered from the weight. He was too beaten, too weak.

"I need you to come with me to the QA."

"Fuck that. Fuck the QA, and fuck you." With a heave, Neil trudged towards another cupboard. "Who the fuck gave you permission to go through my stuff?"

"I need you to come back with me," Brendan repeated. "We've already raided the castle and captured Gazini. It's over for you."

Neil ignored him as he ransacked all the cupboards in the house, crashing through tables and chairs along the way.

"We've found Cecillia's body and took it away too."

That got Neil to stop what he was doing. He slammed the drawer shut and marched towards Brendan.

"You people have no right to take her! No right!" he roared. His raging eyes and disheveled hair made him a caricature of pure mania. "You of all people, you don't even deserve to say her name."

Brendan tried to fix his eyes at the window, at the calm scenery of the ocean, but Neil grabbed his collar and forced him to stare into the hysteria.

"Give her back to me, you fucking bastard!" Neil yelled, shaking Brendan forcefully.