Stonecliff

For the first time in days, Airi climbed the stairs to the Upper Palace. She and Mildred navigated the maze of luxurious rooms and emerged into the dwindling sunset, overlooking the entire city.

It was different from the cityscape Airi was used to. The sky took up half of it, sun bleeding out onto the horizon. Below the palace steps, Airi saw shadowed gargoyles, sluggish waterways, and Gothic rooftops, and below that, rolling countryside. Everything was touched by the bloody hand of sunset.

Mildred extended her arm. “Don’t let go. And try to keep your arms and legs... close.”

She opened The Magical Map, skimmed it quickly, and glanced at Airi. “Sorry, maybe I should have warned you. This spell—”

Her voice was drowned out by a gust of wind that reminded Airi of the wind tunnels. The wind pushed them towards the stairs. Airi teetered at the top, terrified, but Mildred leaped forward, launching both of them into the air. They landed lightly at the bottom of the stairs.

Down the street they stumbled, attracting odd looks from elegant passerby. Airi took an experimental step backwards and found that the harder she tried to backtrack, the harder the wind pushed against her. Rather than showing them the way, the wind seemed determined not to let them stray from the path in any way.

“Run,” Mildred shouted over the roar of the wind. “It’s easier.”

So they ran. The wind flung them forward, converting each step into a cartoonish leap. They blew down an avenue where people in gowns and suits were exiting a grand theater. The people held onto their hats as Airi and Mildred flew past.

Shortly after, they reached a waterway.

Instead of going around, the wind took them directly across. For a moment, they treaded air. Airi hitched up her skirts, but the bottom of her dress grazed a paper boat, causing it to spin out of control.

Suddenly, Mildred tensed. Airi felt it in her arm.

“Jump up!” Mildred shouted.

They flew into the air and landed on a mansion rooftop, still running. Airi’s right hand hit a winged gargoyle. If her hand were made of flesh, she would’ve broken her hand. Instead, the impact knocked off one of its stone wings.

They leaped across rooftops and over bustling streets and reached the terrace surrounding the city. Below, the countryside sprawled dizzily. Airi didn’t see the mountains; this must be a different direction. But there was no way they could survive a fall from here.

“Make it stop!” Airi yelled.

“Can’t!”

Airi felt her feet leave the terrace and thought, I’m going to die for another stupid reason. But the wind up here was even stronger, and for a few seconds, they sailed upwards, eyes blurring from the night wind. Airi squeezed Mildred’s arm so tightly that Mildred winced.

They landed, light as leaves, on the surface of a river traveling away from the city, skimming the surface as they ran. They had to jump over the occasional boat or rock. It was like that old mobile game, Subway Surfers.

Up ahead, the plains split into a sudden, dark canyon, spanned by precarious bridges. The river dropped down into the darkness in a white foam.

It was here, at the edge of the waterfall, that the wind dissipated.

Mildred pulled Airi back from the edge. “Are you alright?”

Airi couldn’t answer. That spell made Kazuko’s reckless driving feel like a stroll in the park.

She looked down and saw rips in her clothing, where it must have snagged on various objects along the way. There were also black specks, the remains of unsuspecting bugs.

“Did we have to use that spell?” she managed weakly.

“The journey would have taken 2 days otherwise.” Mildred picked dead bugs out of her hair. “Down below, that's Stonecliff. If Mage Hestia’s intel is accurate, there should be a mage who lives here.”

Peering into the canyon, Airi saw the river flowing through the bottom. Houses were carved into the canyon walls, windows glowing in the gloom.

“How’ll we get down?”

Mildred opened Tale of Flight.

The first thing Airi noticed was how the townspeople looked at them. As they approached, doors slammed and suspicious eyes glared out from windows.

Airi glanced at Mildred’s gold first-class crest. How odd; didn’t people love mages?

Mildred knocked on a door once, then twice. A timid-looking woman answered. She had a feathery gray braid over one shoulder, and she wore a ragged gray dress covered in patches.

“Are you here for the bill? P-please, I—” She saw Mildred’s crest. “Oh! Distinguished Mage! Forgive me. I didn’t think they’d send... you must be hungry! P-please come in. I’m Fiona... just Fiona.”

They walked into the house, which could at most be called a room, it was so small and bare. The dining table had a broken leg, and the clock on the wall was broken, too. After the splendor of the palace, it was jarring.

“Why are you living like this?” Mildred asked slowly. “Where are your robes? Your crest?”

Fiona looked mortified. “I-I’m really sorry that you had to come all this way, but I’m not a mage anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Mildred said sharply.

“The people here... they really don’t like mages. After 10 years, I just... I can’t do it anymore.” Fiona’s lip trembled. “I’ve quit.” She pointed to a broom in the corner. “Now I clean for people.”

“Why not just leave Stonecliff?” Airi asked.

“I-I hoped that I would be reassigned, but... every mage who’s sent here...” Fiona’s eyes welled with tears. “They never make it back to M-magisbury. Besides... I know how important it is... to have a mage in every town.”

Airi pitied Fiona, in the way that some people pitied roadkill.

“We’re here to kill Gold,” Mildred said.

“So were the others,” Fiona said. “N-not that I doubt you, but...”

Airi couldn’t take the whining and whimpering anymore. She wrapped her arm around Mildred’s shoulder, startling the serious expression off Mildred’s face. “Yeah, but were the others first-class mages?”

“It doesn’t matter how s-strong you are. They won’t let you near Gold,” said Fiona.

“Why not?”

“B-because... Gold is helping them.”

“Helping them with what?” Mildred demanded.

“I-it’s easier to show you.” Fiona went to the cot in the corner of the room and pulled something from under the pillow.

A gold ring with an enormous sapphire.

“The monster gave you this?” Mildred said, studying the ring. “It looks like real gold.”

“Y-yes.”

“How did you get it?”

Fiona swallowed. “One day, I thought... if I killed the monster, I might be allowed to leave. I snuck out in the middle of the night... I got all the way into Gold’s Lair. But... it didn’t attack me. It said... said it was sorry for me. It gave me this ring... to help pay rent, it said. But I was too scared to sell the ring, so I’ve kept it all this time.”

“So if we went at night...”

Fiona shook her head. “Ever since the first two mages failed to kill Gold, they... they guard the entrance to Gold’s Lair. Heavily. That’s...” She gulped. “It’s how one of the mages died.”

Rage and disbelief danced across Mildred’s face. “One of them was killed by... people?”

“Shhh,” Fiona said, glancing nervously at the door. “They... they said that the mage was trying to sabotage the town by killing Gold... trying to steal their gold. That’s why... you should all go back to Magisbury. Gold isn’t... isn’t harming the town, so you can just...”

“So even you believe that the monster is good?” Mildred asked.

“Well... it hasn’t—”

“There is no such thing as a monster that’s good.” Mildred’s eyes darkened, and Airi knew she was thinking of Esther with her sleepy eyes and budding-flower horns, and the ten mages she’d killed. “We have no choice but to stay until the monster is dead, or we are.”

Airi’s blood chilled with the severity of the situation.

“Airi.” Mildred’s gaze cut to Airi’s, crystal-clear. “Tomorrow morning, we head out to kill Gold.”