The Beast Within

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“What is going on back in the town?” Adrik was the one to speak, perking up.

“A… ah… a non-Mage Lord is driving through the town, I thought you might like to…” Haneul trailed off, wondering if they would hate him, it was no secret that he was a spy, he saw it in the way everyone kept quiet at his presence, the way windows and doors were shut on him.

The other Mages did not hate him but that did not mean they were willing to condone his existence or presence.

Their response however shocked him, they took off in the direction of the town.

“Race you back to the town, Adrik.” The grinning one with the unsettlingly sharp teeth yelled with an excited laugh.

“Everything isn’t a bloody competition, Feyrer, I don’t want to race you.” The quieter one replied while easily keeping up with his friend.

“That is only because you know I will win anyway…”

Their voices trailed off, leaving a confused Haneul standing alone by the river bank, realization slowly coming to him.

“Huh?!” He exclaimed in disbelief, running off in the direction where they had gone in. “Wait for me!!!” He yelled after them.

Haneul could not believe when he finally got to the slope how fast the two boys were, they were his age were they not? How did they get so fast?

They had been waiting for him at the top, looking bored like they had been waiting for a while.

Haneul had managed to run all the way back but that was because his job involved running and sneaking around and he felt quite confident in his abilities.

They did not even look tired out, it impressed Haneul, he doubted they would appreciate that though.

“Where is the non-Mage Lord?” Ceraun asked with an odd glitter in his eyes, Adrik shooting him an irritated look.

“Last I saw him, he was at the gate.” Haneul responded after he could breathe normally again, his heart rate slowing down.

“Off to the gate then!” Ceraun cheered, readying himself to break into another run.

Adrik calmly put a foot in his path, tripping him. “No running in the town, block head.”

Ceraun easily caught himself before he fell, turning around to glare at Adrik with a reddened face. “Fine.” He accepted grudgingly.

It was just a little while past noon, the sun was still overhead, Ceraun kicking away pebbles out of his path as they made their way to the other end of the Town.

Thrika was incredibly small for a town, it would have been better off being referred to as a village.

Ceraun eagerly followed along, he was curious, the only non-Mages he had seen were the soldiers and they had all been Mage-hating brutes.

Well, it was not like he was expecting anything different from the Lord, he wanted to see the important non-Mage though, perhaps they would be stronger than the soldiers.

As a matter of fact, they should be, Mage Lords were always stronger than the soldiers, every one of Nana Leona’s stories attested to that.

Absently he wondered if Nana Leona had ever seen a non-Mage, they had never asked, there was no reason to.

The Town was seemingly empty but that was no surprise, usually just the children frolicked around the dusty paths and behind dilapidated huts while the elderly sat in front of their huts with gaunt faces, watching the world through milky eyes.

The adults were too busy off trying to survive and ensure the survival of their race but this time even the children were scarce, the place a ghost town.

The eerie quiet of the main parts of the town faded away to a constant hum of voices overlapping one another.

The cluster of huts gave way to a small crowd that consisted mostly of little children who were cheering at a garishly designed carriage which was going around in circles in the clearing just before the gate.

Where they would usually gather around to get their ration of water for the day, was where impulsive horses pulled the carriage around, dust kicking up even as the children chased enthusiastically after it.

They all paused to watch the scene before them, the carriage rounded directly in front of them but they made no move to follow or cheer, simply watching on with stunned looks.

It was not quite what Ceraun had been expecting but he was not interested in any of whatever was happening, he just wanted to get a glimpse of the non-Mage Lord and from the focused look on Adrik face, he also wanted to do the same.

Ceraun glanced at Haneul when the carriage went on another wide sweep of the place; he could not guess what the Mage spy was thinking.

Did the fact that he had thought to come call them to see that a non-Mage Lord was visiting the Town meant that they now had a truce of sorts?

He also wondered if the Mage had seen a non-Mage before they were rounded up to Thrika, it was not like he could just walk up and ask, Haneul was still a Mage spy even though he showed signs of being on their side, they could not be too careful.

After a couple more pompous circling, the carriage finally slid to a halt at the center of the open space, the horses neighing magnificently and kicking up their front legs.

Ceraun had not really seen a horse before but the magnificent creature was exactly like he had pictured it when Nana Leona told stories and twirled around her Spirit Magic.

The two horses shackled to the carriage were a dark brown, a stark contrast to the gaudy purple of the carriage; Ceraun could not wait to see who would emerge from it.

An equally pompus driver stepped down from the front of the carriage where he had been directing the horses to come down and stand looking important in livery.

The purple and yellow uniform made the hairy man look like a magical creature.

Another non-Mage who had been hanging off the side of the carriage equally stepped down and waved his hands around ceremoniously.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! His lordship, Lord Thormund Edbert, cousins, thrice removed from His Royal Majesty and beloved by his people." The footman bellowed to Mage children who quietened down to stare at the theatrics they could most likely make no head or tale of.

"Accompanied by his two children, Lord Chester Edbert and Her Ladyship Ethel Edbert!"