The Mage’s eyes

Do not touch the light

Rose stared at the stranger now standing in her kitchen, well more accurately she stared at his boots caked in mud and undoing all her efforts from mere minutes ago.

“Pardon me, Miss” the stranger said as he started to move towards the carpet.

“If you value your life,” she said coldly; “you will not take even one step.”

The malice in her icy tone had him frozen one foot half raised as he attempted to gauge just how much of a threat this woman sitting in front of him was. He didn’t see any weapons, although the book in her hands didn’t appear to be written in any language he was familiar with, maybe it was a grimoire? She didn’t rise to a defensive position, maybe she was nothing to worry about. Or was she so powerful she didn’t feel the need to be on the defensive? He decided to play it safe, slowly putting his foot back down where it was originally. “Now my fair maiden, I mean no harm. I’m simply looking to pass through on my errand.”

Rose closed her book slowly, taking note of the page number before setting it on the couch and carefully rising to her feet being mindful of her t-shirt’s placement, she really hadn’t planned on guests. “An errand? Does that mean when you are done you will be returning to wherever you came from through my home?”

He glanced around, as if just now realizing he was in someone’s domicile. “I apologize for any inconvenience it might cause, however it does indeed appear that upon completion of my errand I shall need to cross through your land once more.” That would explain the hostility he felt from this scandalously clad woman, although who was he to judge what another wears in their own domain when alone? Surely he was in the wrong. “I do beg your pardon, it seems as though I have intruded although that was not my intention. How might I make it up to you?” Judging by the number of books he saw this was definitely going to do a number on his purse.

“First you can refrain from tracking all that mud into the carpet.” she sighed pointing at his boots.

Her uninvited guest looked down in confusion, before realizing the state of himself and that, to his horror, the floor shortly in front of him was covered in a strange cloth. Not only that but the floor he stood on was strange as well it seemed to have been laid out of a wood he had never seen before, and polished in a method he was also unfamiliar with. She had to be immensely richer that he had first guessed from her clothes, and now that he looked around he saw even more wealth, pots, pans, high quality glass, at least twenty books, no wonder she didn’t seem threatened no one in their right mind, mage or warrior, would dare harm someone of such high standing. “Ah, my apologies, my lady. It was not my intention to desecrate your manor.”

Rose looked at him coldly, ‘lady’? ‘Manor’? Exactly who was this stranger, and why did he talk as if he was advertising a renfair? Before she could say anything he moved his hand and “Surup!” Rose watched as the dirt from his boots melted away into nothing, leaving behind fine tan leather boots with minimal signs of wear.

“If you had gotten here a few hours ago I could have used your help cleaning the house.”

The man looked at her confused, but decided it wasn’t productive to ask a noble questions about their odditys. “May I now continue on my errand?”

Rose looked at him from his leather boots to his loose cotton pants, the matching shirt and the long cloak that ended around where his boots began. “I don’t see a good pocket for your phone in that get up, so let me write down my address before you leave. Then if you get lost on your way back you can ask for help.” She moved to the small desk by the front door and reached for a sticky note and a pen, but as she reached for the pen her eyes landed on some address labels she’d received as part of some advertisement and decided to just grab a sticker to place on the small paper instead. Turning around she handed the parchment to the man who looked at it confused as she hurried him out the door. “Just knock when you’re back.”

Upon locking the door Rose sighed looking at the tidied house, “D**n it, when did I fall asleep? Now I’m going to have to clean the house again once I wake up.”

…

Rose had returned to her reading, figuring she’d wake up eventually and get to work again at that point.

The sun had sunk behind the neighborhood trees and was now past its time of peaking in the windows, when a rather loud knock sounded on the door. Rose sighed and ran to throw on the closest pair of pants before opening the door. By the time she was reaching for the handle the impatient guest was knocking a third time.

“What?!?” Rose threw the door open annoyed by the sudden commotion thrust into her otherwise pleasant evening. Standing there hand still raised mid strike upon the door was the same man from the kitchen earlier. Hoisting a rather large sack over his left shoulder; “Ah, good evening my lady I’ve finished my errand and have need of crossing through your manor once more.”

Rose stared at him for a moment before looking down at his pristine shoes.

“I already cast the cleaning spell prior to announcing my arrival.” He gave a slight grin.

Rose couldn’t believe she was still dreaming and stepped out of his way absentmindedly as she was trying to figure out what time it would be once she woke.

The man made his was to the kitchen and Rose looked out over the drab parking lot with its cracked and graveling pavement before locking the door and rounding the corner to the kitchen where she froze in her tracks.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He was drawing on the vinyl floor.

“Ah, this is the spell I need to return; worry not it won’t scorch the floor too much.”

“You’re going to melt my floor!”

He rolled his eyes and kept to his work he’d had a hard enough day without trying too explain that wood doesn’t melt like bee’s wax to some noble woman too rich to know such simple truths. He ignored the woman as he went about his work only vaguely aware of her pacing about as she rambled at him about ‘fire safety’, ‘fire alarms’ and ‘toxic fumes’. The first two were interesting things for a lady to concern herself with, where fires common in this town enough that even a small one is someone’s manor could cause the local fire watch to take note? However, that last point; while magic could be used in a harmful way why did she automatically assume that he was using it to poison the air in her abode? As he had already mentioned the side effects of this particular spell was some extra heat not poison.

Finishing his work he stood and gathered his sack before stepping to the center of the markings and looking at the lady, “goodbye my lady. I hope life treats you well. Do not touch the light.” As he said this a purple pillar of light erupted from the markings on the vinyl.

Rose started at the light for all of a second before looking the man dead in the eyes and sticking her hand in the light right as it reached its brightest point.