Chapter 17: Consequences

Wyn grabbed Magus’ arm, immediately bolting away. But Theodore tapped his staff on the ground. A small rock protruded from the ground, sending Wyn tumbling. As soon as she hit the ground, bands of stone wrapped around all of her limbs, leaving her unable to move a single muscle.

“Wyn?” Magus turned to Theodore, his eyes glaring. “What are you doing?”

From under his cloak, Theodore procured a crumpled piece of paper. A very familiar missing persons poster.

“We’ve spent the last year combing through all of Emijililan. For a year, our crown princess was missing, with nothing but a note detailing her absconsion. Never, though, would I have expected to find her at a place like this.”

Wyn burst from the ground, scorched earth scattering into the wind. As soon as she was free, she began sprinting in the opposite direction, jumping over Theodore’s walls of earth.

“Princess, if you don’t stop, I’ll be forced to report this to the captain.”

At Theodore’s words, Wyn screeched to a halt. She turned around.

“Don’t do that.”

“Then don’t run.” With a wave of his staff, three square stones rose from the ground. He sat atop one, and motioned for them to do the same, to which they did with great reluctance. With another twirl of his staff, a massive wall of blue light surrounded the entire guild, before phasing away.

“What was that?” Wyn asked.

“A detection spell. It’ll alert the caster whenever something crosses through its walls.” Magus noted.

“Correct! You really are an amazing magus, Magus.” Theodore clapped. “Except, this one only alerts me if a specific thing crosses through. Or should I say, a specific one.” He winked at Wyn, his head movements obvious despite his eyes being hidden under his hood.

“But nevermind that. It has been so long since we’ve last seen each other, Princess! Let’s catch up, for old times sake!” Theodore announced, though Wyn was unsure whether the enthusiasm in his voice was genuine or mocking.

“I’ve got nothing I want to say to you, Theo.” Wyn remarked.

“You were never one for conversation,” Theodore sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. “Sadly, the captain has many things she wants to say to you.”

“Let me guess, ‘Come home, Wynaveyve, you have a duty to fulfill, Wynaveyve.” Wyn mocked.

“Not that. Well, not just that.” Theodore leaned down, his elbows resting on his knees. “Listen, I get it. Being a princess is hard, it’s not wrong to want to slack off a bit. I totally get it. But running away, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? You can’t just…”

“I didn’t run away because I’m lazy like you!” Wyn shouted. “But, if I’m gone, then Father’ll have no choice but to return Sister to the throne!”

Theodore just shook his head. “Your father… he’s a stubborn man. He’s not one to go back on his decisions like that. He’d rather an empty throne than to reinstate your sister. And besides… The captain already found her place with us. With the wings. Even if she were reinstated…”

Wyn only scoffed, turning away at Theodore’s words. “You don’t get it… you’re a fully fledged magus. One of the best in the entire nation, if not the world. How could you get—”

“That’s not really a conversation I’m equipped to handle.” Theodore interrupted. “Listen, I’ll cut you a deal. I can’t exactly let you go, but if you’re not ready to talk to your sister yet, that’s fine. I’ll give you some time. Just let me know when you’re ready, then I’ll inform her. Until then, this conversation can be our little secret.” Theodore gave Wyn another wink before turning away.

“Oh, and Magus. I’d love to go star gazing with you again” He waved as he disappeared into the guild.

As soon as he disappeared, Wyn ran straight to the edge of the guild. As she approached, a faint blue shimmer appeared in the air. With a groan, she returned, kicking rocks into the barrier.

“Great. This is just the worst. Magus, you think that barrier goes into the ground? Could we sneak out if we dig underneath it?”

“It’s a possibility. But what was—” Magus didn’t have a chance to finish. Immediately, Wyn began blasting a tunnel from one side to the other. As she crawled through, though, the faint blue shimmer appeared again. Once again, Wyn was left groaning.

“I’m going to destroy this thing.” Wyn said, rolling up a sleeve.

“I would not recommend such a thing. He would notice immediately, it’d be the same as simply triggering the alarm.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Well, he had laid his conditions out quite clearly. A simple conversation, and—”

“Nope. Anything is better than that.”

“Can I ask why?”

“...”

“Fine. I’ll simply ask the man himself. He was a most efficient distraction, anyways.”

Magus then disappeared into the Guild, leaving Wyn alone outside.

Inside, the guild was much more active, despite the time. Just about every adventurer still awake was inside the lobby. All of them surrounded the front desk, and Magus had to push through to see what the situation was.

A group of five were standing by the front desk, one of which was engaged in conversation with Faltith. Some talk about the finest rooms in the guild.

A knight covered head to toe in enchanted plate armor. Besides a ponytail tracking down to shoulder blades, not an inch of their body was visible, wielding a massive broadsword at their side. To their side, another knight nodded along. He stood a head taller, wearing no helm and stood as broad as a mountain, a massive double-headed axe resting across his back.

Their third member caught Magus’. Dressed in an ornate green dress that flowed past her feet, she hardly seemed a warrior like the others. It was obvious to Magus that she wasn’t human.

Magus found Theodore leaning against the wall, hugging his staff as he struck up conversation with the woman beside him. She was dressed in an black dress, sitting on a massive wooden case. Her weapon, perhaps?

“Who are these people?” Magus asked a nearby adventurer.

“You don’t know?” They replied. They glanced at Magus, before letting out a sigh. “Oh, it’s you. That makes sense then. Listen, that there are the Wings. The most powerful group of heroes in Emijililan, you know?”

“Right… and why are they here?”

“Well, you should know. That Grim Diubh you ran into, well the guild thought it was so dangerous that they needed these guys to deal with.”

“Is that so? Is that really necessary?”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s necessary, just be grateful for the opportunity!”

Theodore perked from his conversation, spotting Magus in the crowd. Theodore gave Magus a wave, calling him forward.

“Long time no see!” Theodore said as Magus walked up.

“A friend? Out here?” The woman next to him asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Kind of. We met not even five minutes ago.”

“Right. Long time, then.” The woman rolled her eyes.

“Mhm. Any time is too long. Anyway, Magus, meet Lyza, resident rogue slash scout slash bard slash playwoman slash all around problem child of the Wings.” That earned Theodore a knock on the head from the woman.

“What kind of introduction is that?” She asked, exasperated.

“Just making sure that our friend has the most accurate first impressions!” He replied with a shrug, to which Lyza merely rolled her eyes again.

“Ignore this doofus. I am a completely respectable member of society, thank you very much.” Lyza offered her hand, to which Magus accepted. Her fingers were surprisingly calloused.

“Greetings. I’m —”

“This is Magus, the magus.” Theodore interrupted, before chuckling to himself. Lyza raised an eyebrow.

“A moniker.” Magus explained.

“I get it, not wanting to share your real name. It’s important to have secrets.” Lyza nodded, in complete understanding.

“Are you saying that Lyza isn’t your real name?”

“No, it is. Just saying, though.”

“Right…”

“Speaking of secrets,” Theodore piped up. “How’s she doing? Any progress on that?”

“It hasn’t even been five minutes. Of course Wyn hasn’t come to any decision. Sometimes, I find it difficult to really understand. If a simple conversation would solve all her problems, I truly don’t get why she would go out of her way to avoid it.”

“Hey, what’re you talking about?”

“A secret.” Theodore winked, to which Lyza responded by harshly pulling on his ear.

“Listen—” Lyza shouted over his pained cries, to which a violent clearing of the throat behind Magus caused them to stop. Turning around, they found the armored knight glaring daggers at them. Well, Magus assumed they were glaring, as their eyes weren’t visible. Lyza and Theodore seemed to get the hint, though.

“Sorry, captain.” Theodore apologized.

“Right, sorry. Won’t happen again.” Lyza’s lips were drawn into a thin, nervous line.

“Who’s that?” Magus whispered, pointing at who Theodore called captain.

“C’mon, aren’t you supposed to be a smart one? That’s our captain, Roselywyn Emjragard. Older sister to Princess Wynaveyve Emjragard.”

“What’s the missing princess got to do with this?” Lyza asked, to which the other two responded with awkward silence. “C’mon, tell me. Teeellll meeee.” Lyza prodded, poking Theodore’s cheek. “There’s no way someone who hasn’t heard about the captain would know the princess. So, spill it, goof.”

At Lyza’s constant prodding, the three earned another glare from their captain, which promptly shut them up.

Just then, Theodore jumped up, a shiver going down his spine.

“Did she really just—!” He muttered. “Sorry captain, I have something I need to take care of!”

Theodore sprinted out the door before anyone could respond. Magus immediately gave chase. Glancing between the retreating figures and their captain, Lyza couldn’t help but palm her face before chasing after the two.

The two barely had any time to process the massive hole in the dissolving barrier before sprinting into the darkness. Magus could feel the cloth tighten around his arms as he ran. He could tell their gulf between them and Wyn was growing, and fast.