The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Nevil had snapped his head backward with fear in his eyes which instantly glowed. Vernon's reaction was instantaneous, his eyes glowed back and he closed it immediately. Nevil must have done the same too, they both knew better than to let anyone see the light and that was how they both discovered they both had magic.

He opened his eyes a few seconds later to find Nevil still closing his eyes but he was no longer crunching on the ground but stood to his full height. He finally opened it after a full thirty seconds to find Vernon staring intensely at him.

"What are you doing?" Vernon had asked softly.

"Nothing," Nevil had muttered and began playing with the grass with his feet.

"What's your name?" He had asked.

"Nevil." Just a word and he returned to looking at his feet.

"Mine is Vernon," Vernon added not minding that Nevil seemed a little cold to him.

"I know."

"You do?" Vernon asked, surprised. He had seen Nevil on a couple of occasions and his mother often spoke to Nevil's mother but this was the first time he was hearing Nevil's name.

"Yeah, my mother told me."

"Oh alright," however, Vernon wasn't interested in tiny details like that; instead he had his eyes set on what Nevil had been doing, he had only caught a small glimpse of it. "Could you do that again?"

"Do what?" Nevil said and his eyes widened as he looked around as if someone was hiding in the bushes and would jump out soon.

"You know," it was Vernon's turn to look away. "When you made the grass grow a little. How did you do that?" He asked with genuine curiosity, his eyes twinkling a little.

"I don't know, I just did," Nevil replied looking everywhere else except at Vernon.

"Can you do it, again?" Vernon asked.

"Yes, definitely." Nevil replied, this time he looked at Vernon as he spoke.

"Vernon!" He heard his mother scream his name just as he was about to ask Nevil to show him.

Vernon felt his whole body go warm as he tried to escape the scene but it was too late, just as he tried to make his escape, his mother poked her head over the fence and she immediately saw him, the grass wasn't tall enough to hide him completely.

The noise also alerted Nevil's mother and she had stepped out of the house just as Vernon could be seen taking flight. "What were you doing there?" His mother had scolded him when he got close enough.

She nodded her greetings to Nevil's mother and the woman did the same as she pulled her son into the house and shut the door with a loud bang. His mother dragged him before he could answer and pulled him to the house.

"What are you doing?" She asked again. "Why did you sneak out?" She looked angry but he could tell it was mostly worry.

"I am sorry," he muttered, twirling around his fingers. "But do you know Nevil has magic?" He grinned, looking up at his mother with bright eyes because this piece of information would definitely take the heat off him and he also wanted to share this with her. He had not thought there was anyone like him nearby, it was a little refreshing and he couldn't help but wonder if he could do what he had seen Nevil doing.

His mother's face showed shock but then it immediately fell. "Does he know you have magic too?"

Vernon felt the joy at diverting her attention dissipate and he could do nothing but nod his head. "What?" His mother screamed. "How?"

"I caught him making the grass grow and I startled him. His eyes glowed and mine did too." He looked to his feet, bracing himself for a scolding.

However, his mother didn't say anything for a couple of seconds as they stood in the kitchen and he had to look up to be sure everything was alright. His mother had looked lost in thought.

"Did anybody see you?" She asked, her intense gaze forced a blink out of Vernon.

"No, I don't think so. I closed my eyes immediately it started glowing and Nevil did the same thing too." He explained, still half expecting a scolding even though he thought his mother was taking this easier than he thought.

"This isn't terrible," she said when she finally spoke which took a full five seconds. "Maggie wouldn't do anything that would endanger her son so, I can feel a little better knowing that she wouldn't tell but I forbid you from doing anything magic-related or leaving the house without my permission. You never know who else might be watching. Please."

There were tears in her eyes as she spoke and Vernon felt a knot in his stomach at the fact that he had made her worry. "Yes, mama." He replied softly.

That night she told her husband what happened but none of them had scolded him. However, he found himself thinking back to when he had seen Nevil do magic and wished he could do the same but he knew better than to go against his mother he hated seeing her sad.

Nevil finally showed him another time but he never tried it himself and he could only watch in awe whenever Nevil proudly displayed his skills which tended to happen more often than not as he loved his gardens and hated when something was wrong with his plants. Nevil sometimes tried to cajole him to try something but he couldn't bring himself to.

He didn't want to break the promise he had made to his mother and there was also the fear that someone would see them as Nevil always made his bold attempt outside as their parents wouldn't condone such inside their houses.

He snapped out of his trip down memory lane and returned his attention to what was before him. The promise he made was no longer binding; neither was he afraid that someone would see and yet he couldn't do more than make his eyes glow.

He felt smaller as he stood staring, watching Nevil, anger was not the emotion he felt as he tried to think of when it all went wrong.