Chaos & Order: Dawn of Chaos

Chapter 13

Holding her hands close to a lit candle, Athelia focused on it and blocked out everything else, focusing her mind on her magic and what she wanted it to do. Appearing in the cave behind Athelia, Odelius watched what Athelia was doing before smirking and causing the candles flame to flare. Jumping back, Athelia turned and saw Odelius grinning mischievously.

"I see you are trying fire magic, any luck?" Odelius asked, waving his hand to extinguish the candle.

"Not at all." Athelia sighed.

"It might be because you are a vampire. It could be stopping you from doing fire magic." Odelius thought out loud before adding, "You are trying so many different types of magic lately. Just pick one you are good at and focus on that for a while."

Athelia nodded in agreement, "You are right."

"I seem to find weather magic quite easy. Watch this!" Athelia beamed before causing the cave to be full of thick fog. After a moment, Athelia made it fade away.

"That is good, but be careful, an enemy who also has magic could easily turn that against you." Odelius warned.

"I have heard some rumours about disappearances and strange men hanging around Portswood." Odelius explained, walking to the entrance of Athelia's cave, "Care to help me investigate?"

***

Following Odelius through the city, while it was on lockdown, felt like walking through a wasteland. The streets were almost bare of people, and soldiers patrolled the streets in small groups. As they walked through the main square, Athelia saw the giant gate to the city was closed for the first time in her life. As they reached the secret passage, they walked through to Portswood. Athelia could hear it was much livelier than the city, and the smell of freshly caught fish was stronger than Athelia was expecting.

"Do you know where the doctor is in this town?" Odelius asked as they stepped onto the muddy path.

"Yes, follow me." Athelia answered and led the way through the narrow streets.

As Athelia walked through the streets, she thought how Portswood reminded her of the slums in the city but on water. Knocking on the door, Athelia waited with Odelius behind her. Athelia could hear the groans of sick and injured people inside, and the rushing of the doctor heading towards the door. A short scruffy looking man in messy robes opened the door .

"How can I help you?" The man asked, their voice sounding like he hadn't slept in days and was starting to lose his sanity.

"Doctor Finnikan-" Athelia went to speak, but Odelius stepped in front of her.

"We just want to ask a few questions." Odelius spoke.

"Ask away." Finnikan waved his hand, and they walked inside the building. Sick and injured people lay on the floor around the room with blankets surrounding them. Stepping further into the room, the overpowering smell of infection and sickness made it difficult for Athelia to focus.

Odelius looked around questioningly before asking, "Have you noticed any disappearances lately, or have there been any attacks?"

Finnikan grabbed a rusty saw from a table before crouching next to a person on the floor, "No attacks that I am aware of. There has been the odd fight, but that's normal."

"I am not sure about disappearances, but there have been fewer children running around." Finnikan added before putting the saw on the persons leg to begin sawing. Before he could even graze the leg with the saw, Odelius flicked his hand, and the saw became too blunt to do any damage.