kindred Magic

Chapter Five

Sarah was amazed at the number of battlemages and other mercenary troops amassed where the disturbance radiated. She wasn't sure who was leading the civilians to safety if all the battlemages were here instead of herding the masses. Ten mammoths and nine mastodons with riders were also waiting, trumpeting and grumbling for some action. Her brother and father waited for her at the head of the army. The two of them watched her and Soyuvnik lightly land on the snow-covered ground. Surprisingly enough, a scout waited next to her family. Sarah scoffed at the fact that they needed scouts after all.

"What happened?" Sarah asked right away out of curiosity.

"Two seemingly humans were investigating the barrier, and one got caught." The scout reported to her.

"What do you mean seemingly?" Her father asked with his hand on his salt and peppered beard.

"The first... Human passed through just fine for some reason. His friend was caught when they tried to pass but got free because the first one pushed him out. The barrier still swallowed him up, though." All three Barrots looked at each other, baffled by the news. How was this possible?

"That doesn't make any sense." Sarah blurted out without thinking.

"Well, let's see this threat and ask him," Soyuvnik stated. Her father held his palm out at the egg-shaped wall mass. He slowly closed his hand, then lightly pulled his arm back to pull the egg out. Sarah and her brother patched the hole left by the cocoon. With the hole patched, her father opened the cocoon that he absorbed into his hand, and they watched the lining fizzle to nothing.

A perplexed man looked around, trying to look for an exit. However, his eyes were frozen on the mammoths and mastodons behind Sarah's family. There was a slight murmur among the battlemages, whispers of disappointment in what had been uncovered. Even soyuvnik sighed. The poor man couldn't decide what to do as he stood slowly with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. He stepped back, but his bag was removed from his shoulders, and his whole body was wrapped in Soyuvnik's magic like a standing mummy.

"Don't decide to leave now after you wanted to come in here so badly," Soyuvnik commented with his eyes solidly blue. It was creepy to Sarah whenever some mages' eyes became overwhelmed by their magic and filled up. It meant he was concentrating on keeping the poor defenseless man still.

"Where even is here?" The man asked with a deep frown on his face, still putting up a fight against the magic. He will get tired eventually.

"That is of no concern to you." Sarah's father answered, "Who are you, and what do you want with this place?" He interrogated.

"I'm Dimitri Fedorov. I work for H.O.M.E.," He answered basically without much detail as expected.

"What kind of acronym is that? What does it stand for?" Her father continued.

"I'm not sure. Their true name is considered highly classified." Dimitri answered, making Sarah scoff. What kind of organization didn't tell their members their actual names? What kind of pushover works for them anyway. Sarah began to find it slightly amusing.

"How did you find this place?" Her father continued, but she could tell that her brother was beginning to get anxious.

"Are you a mage?" Her brother asked outright.

"What?" Dimitri answered; Sarah was sure he would laugh, "No." He scoffed.

"He's lying." Soyuvnik accused without hesitation. Sarah looked at him, then at her father, who had come to the same conclusion.

"Like a snow serpent, he is. There's no way in Hell you're not if you could pass through the barrier like that." Her father started shouting.

"How the Hell are you going to call me a liar? Mages don't even exist." Dimitri shouted back. Sarah's brow perked up, and she looked at everyone behind her. Every one of them looked as offended as her. How could he say that while being enveloped with magic?