Magika [Completed]

Chapter 8

What can I do?

Aldheid rubbed his face and stared at the tower of belongings in front of him. There wasn't much he could carry on his back, so the rest would stay with Berard and Anha. But that was the least of his worries. It was his last day at the Bastion, and he had nowhere to go. Kitaya was right, there was no way he was making it all the way to Kon with no cape. Heck, even with a cape the journey would be grueling.

He couldn't return to his home in the realm of Magika. The thought of it made him reach up and brush his left cheek. What lied there was a reminder of what he'd left behind, and would never go back to, no matter how desperate he was.

Perhaps he could beg Gallitel to let him stay a little. But why would he even want to do that?

The Etheria Bastion had been his home since Mellidius had found him, but it had ceased being a home shortly after he left. The other magicians and their capes had turned their backs on him. The looks of scorn and smugness, the snide comments. They'd only pretended to like him because of Mellidius, and since he'd left, they'd made Aldeheid an other.

Only Berard and Anha had remained his friends through it all, but they had not the power to help him. Nor to keep him there. The Etheria Bastion was barren land for him. If he planted his roots there, he would wither and die.

Despite that, Aldeheid wasn't completely hopeless. He knew of one last thing he could do to set himself on a better path. With that in mind, he rolled out of bed, the book he'd been reading falling off his chest with a thump. It was one of his mentor's old journals. He'd scoured through them to find any shred of information on Kitaya the Unwanted.

Though she didn't seem to care for Mellidius, he had mostly good things to say about her. He wrote of her headstrong nature, her constant need to better herself, and her frequent disappearances.

How she'd managed to survive without a magician was beyond Aldeheid. Capes had to keep the magic within them at a manageable level, or they died a most painful death. And so, magicianless capes had to be serviced regularly. His mentor had said nothing about Kitaya having or even training with a magician. But he did mention that she was a wanderer.

And that was just perfect.

Most of his decisions over the past two days had been born of desperation. It hadn't gone as well as he wanted, but he saw no reason to stop. So, he clasped his remaining ether stones in his fist and sent a prayer up to the gods before whispering the teleportation spell.

A howling sound filled his ears like storm winds and the ground was ripped from beneath his feet. The falling sensation that followed made his stomach churn, but he swallowed hard to fight off the nausea. Finally, blessedly, solid ground was beneath his feet again.

Aldeheid opened his eyes, the change in light making him blink rapidly. Kitaya's cottage came into focus, looking every bit as charming as it had the day before.

His strides were long and sure as he walked up the steps to the front door and knocked. It made no sense prolonging things. Even if she rejected him, he would be in no better or no worse position than he was in that moment.

Noises came from inside the cottage before the door clicked and swung open.

Kitaya stood on the other side, dressed in white tunic that fell to her knees. She had one hand on her hip while the other held the door open. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line and her gaze piercing. "You're just determined to be a thorn in my side, aren't you?"

"Good Morning, uhh... are you feeling better?" He tried his best to maintain eye contact but his instincts kept telling him to look away lest he drop dead. "I apologize for intruding again."