[Original Story] Taradin

Taradin is a story about an outcast sorcerer called Mahat and the world around that fears him so much. Easuna, a troublemaking girl, follows the wayward sorcerer in an attempt to find out if Mahat is really as heartless as he lets on or if she is indeed right about his compassion.

Prologue:
What does it mean to be free? To be loose from the control of power, to seperate yourself from power and hide from its course or to control the power itself. Who is truly free in this world? We are governed by powers we understand and can break from, to some freedom from these powers is complete freedom, to others freedom from powers we don't understand is true freedom in essence. So does this mean, to exist is to be captive?

Chapter 1: An Outcast, a Troublemaker and a Bartender.
Taradin is a magical land, filled to the brim with power no one understands. The people live their lives happily enough to get by alive, ofcourse, with all societies there are exceptions. Cast your eyes over the city of Tinoris, a fairly large and prosperous city, but tonight the peace has been disturbed.
The guards of the city are in an uproar, a citisen has caused trouble to a noble. The nobles of the city are rich and generally step upon the poor so that they keep their riches, they have no worries, bribing the guards so as to keep their actions secret. The difference between the free and the captive is vast and expansive.
In this city, a lowly tavern run by a local citisen sits peacefully.
"I'll have two shots of whiskey and be quick about it."
"Yes sir, will do, your troubles must be great this evening." The bartender was serving customers as usual, he had an eye for the drinks people ordered and his regulars patterns were easy to distinguish. However there was no one else serving as he did not like to have hired help, he was ofcourse the owner as well as the bartender. He had hit the nail on the head, the customer began telling his worries and problems to him quite quickly, as it turned out he'd been forced to work double time for half the pay and was drowning his sorrows as much as his wallet allowed.
"I'll bet you don't have the same problem, being your own boss." The man drink the second shot as it was placed before finishing speaking. "I should open a bar myself, I'd make loads of money."
The bartender frowned, the thought was not a good one. But it did seem as if it was meant as a joke as the customer began laughing at his own scheme. "I would advise against it, you'd put me out of business." Actually the business would probably do more harm to the customer, since there was some business knowledge needed and he had to know his customers. Again the customer laughed.
"I couldn't do the job anyway, too much standing around." The customer finished, ending the topic and moving on to another. "Where's Anna disappeared to anyway? She should help you out once in a while 'stead of getting into trouble."
"I'll have a Bitter and a Tonic bartender." Another customer spoke, seemed the first customer would have to wait as the bartender served the second one.
"Right away sir." The bartender politely answered fixing the drinks. "Has your wife lost interest in drinking?" He conversed, taking note of the Tonic water order.
"Yeah gone right off it, she lost her job and I'm not makeing enough to extravagencies."
"A shame, Arlc over there just had a pay cut aswell, looks like business has dropped as of late." The bartender replied, he had the honest tone of sadness in his voice as he could sympasise with them due to a job he had when he was younger. But the customer payed no heed to the tone, instead turning to the first customer.
"Hey Arlc, long time no see, watcha been up to?"
"Not much Santin, just chatting with me pal Cal here about me woes."
Cal was short for Calnim, it was the bartenders name, Calnim Appleby. Most people just called him Cal to keep it simple, it was easier to remember when drunk too. The two went on with their conversation, Calnim bringing the drinks to the bar side. Santin had two Bitters before returning to his wife with the third and her first drink, Calnim couldn't help but think sarcastically 'Big money problem that is' but really it was none of his business so he dismissed it as an idle thought. Arlc hadn't bought more then the two shots he'd bought at the start, he hadn't the money for anymore so his downing in alcohol was posponed for a richer day, instead he'd drowned himself in conversation and seemed to be in a better mood as he left the bar.
None of the problems that people told him were anything new, they were the same old things, budget cuts, firings, etc. Some were reverse but that was generally the balance, the whole city couldn't keep losing money or it would go bankrupt. Still, that would show those nobles how little their power really was.
Calnim was cleaning some glasses when the doors suddenly flung open, in came a girl covered by a grey cloak and trying to hide her face. As soon as the doors closed though she cast off the tatty cloak and ran over to the bar yelling. "Hey Cal, I need you to hide me!" Again this was nothing unusual, this girl seemed to come in yelling for shelter alot, she was a real pain to keep around.
"Not again Anna, this is the second time this week and its only Thursday." He tried to appeal to her but it was no use, upon reaching the bar Anna hopped over it and hid under the other side. He was going to complain but there was the unusual look of fear in her eyes, something he hadn't seen in her past endevours. 'What did she do?' He thought to himself, words partially on his lips but not one spoken.
Thinking only to play his part and ignore her presence, Calnim went on cleaning glasses until something happened. Again the doors slammed open, the first thought that popped into Calnims head was that the doors could do with something to stop them getting damaged from all the sudden openings, his second thought then focused on the two guards standing in the doorway.
The two guards made their way over to Calnim, the barkeep, the center of information when it came to a bar. Many customers broke their conversations to watch the fiasco unfolding and a silence seemed to grow over the tavern. Calnim knew what was coming next, a question and answer session, predictable considering the situation. Of the two guards, one was calm and organised, Calnim could tell just by how the guy walked that he had a clear head on his shoulders, he quickly judged this guy as the superior. The other guard was what looked to be a hot head, the type quick to anger and always showing off, full of hot air came to mind. The way that guy walked was that of someone who considered themselves superior due to their job, a confident and yet paranoid walk.
The second one was definately agitated, as showed by how paranoid he was being, checking everywhere for a sign of their suspect. Calnim could pick at him enough to get the first to repremand him, their pairing was one of weakness that higher ups would think were strength. If things got out hand Cal could simply claim the guards were using unneccesary force and with all the people watching he could provoke an uprising against them that would destroy their credibility. He saw no weakness to his plan.
"We've had reports of a troublemaker fleeing into this establishment." The guard spoke clearly and concisely, watching Calnim for any indication that he was hiding the suspect. Both the guards waited for a responce, as if the whole thing had been rehersed with Calnims lines included. But Calnim kept his calm, he'd had a few dealings with Guards before so he was confident about his ability.
"I've heard no such rum-"
"-On regular occation and this time a felony was committed." The guy was clever, Calnim would give him that one, he had waited for Calnim to reply just to back him into a corner. Ofcourse a bartender could miss someone or forget someone that appeared in the bar once, but multiple times was pretty much impossible. The man now waited again, confident that he'd shook the bartender up, Calnim couldn't think long before replying or it would look suspicious.
"I see a lot of people, but I've seen no felon, you shouldn't hold faith in rumors." It was a decent answer but not the best he could have come up with if he'd had more time to think. He was trying to discredit the source of information but clearly the Guards already knew Anna was there in the tavern hiding, they just had to proove it.
Finally the angry guard spoke up, slamming his fist down onto the bar. "Look pal, hiding a felon is a crime. Several patrols have confirmed seeing her enter this building after comitting a crime, so hand her over or we cant guarantee you wont get hurt." He was clearly angry, or annoyed, they must've just missed capturing her or something to get them this riled up. But this opened up an opportunity, Calnim could now question their integrety.
"So now your threatening me?" Calnim looked at the man a moment with a false annoyance in his eyes before turning to the superior with a look of contempt for the way the proceedings were being handled. "You should keep your subordinates in line, or anything could happen." He jestured to the many people in the Tavern that were watching, each one seemed ready and eager to stick it to the man if required to do so.
Calnim intended the remark as a threat, hoping that all the prying eyes would keep the guards from doing anything. Calnim just had to keep his mouth shut until they leave. However the guards weren't dealing with things the ordinary way, much was different then Calnim had planned and much more was about to change.
"Easuna Terrafield, a common troublemaker with minor, unpersued felonies. Until today at least, she has stolen an important item of significant value from a nobleman. A lot of money has been spent to aid her capture."
As the superior finished speaking, several glasses fell off of the bar and smashed, they had been pushed by the subordinate who was now smirking with superiority. The whole situation suddenly hit Calnim, how could Anna have stolen from a noble? She'd never even steal usually, maybe cause some trouble and beat a few people up for mouthing off, but never steal...And from a noble too, someone that influencial, this was big trouble.
The subordinate began speaking again. "Anyone hiding the culprit is to be dealt with, with extreme prejedice. Money will of course be paid to cover up any...Accidents."
More threats, and ones Calnim couldn't evade, they were serious. And anyone who stood up for Calnim would also be in danger. This whole thing had gone completely wrong, he'd never expected a noble to be involved.
Anna was shaking, trembling with fear. Calnim felt as though he should be trembling too, but the fear seemed to keep him calm and collected. He needed to be, who else would sort out this horrible mess if he suddenly broke down, Annas freedom was on the line.
"So if you wish to keep your-" The superior began to make a statement, probably another threat designed to get Calnim to give in. As if Calnim would wager life for livelyhood, his friend was more important then some bar. However the superior guard never got to finish his sentence, his attention caught by the fireball that had just struck his subordinate and sent him reeling into the nearby wall with a thump.
At a table in the bar, sat a man dressed in the most unusual clothing for Taradin, he had been watching the whole commotion quietly as things played out, the more it went on though the more angered he had become. Something was getting him annoyed and it wasn't the issue at hand, without warning, while the superior officer was speaking the man stood and held out his palm.
"Ignis." He spoke, casting a fireball from his palm, the fire was quick to travel and caught everyone off guard. It slammed into the subordinate guard and and sent him reeling into the nearby wall with a thud. Needless to say the guard was very angry, but so was the customer. His angered glare appeared to cast a shadow over the whole tavern as he spoke.
"Your annoying me, get lost." The man sat back down again, ignoring the commotion this time. He had come here to relax and the disturbance was getting in the way, a thought of killing them easily crossed his mind more then once.
The subordinate quickly rose to his feet, really angry now. His pride had been damaged and he wanted revenge. "You lowly basta-" The subordinate was about to run across the room when the superior stepped in his way and held out his arm to prevent passage, as usual he spoke clearly.
"We're leaving." He need say nothing else as he moved from the Subordinates path and began to make his way out of the bar, he knew when to accept defeat and defeated they were. And all it took was one little fireball from a stranger sitting at the bar, though little it was enough for the Superior officer to know who the man sitting there was.
"But he- We were- Damn it!" The subordinate stuttered, though full of rage he would not go against his superiors orders. So he did as he was told, and left the tavern with his superior.
The bar was silent when the guards left, no one dared disturb the man sitting at the table, now they all knew who has was and it scared them more then the guards had. After all, to make the guards flee he would have to be someone more powerful then a nobles money can corrupt, a cold blooded killer.
One ofcourse, hadn't realised, she had heard the conversation but Anna had not seen what was going on. She knew only that someone had stood up to the guards and they had left, she only had a voice to go by but she knew a lot of people in the city so she could narrow it down a little. "Have they gone Cal?" She asked obliviously, appearing from under the bar not two inches from where the guards had stood, it was no wonder she had been trembleing with fear while they were so close. But now she seemed oddly calm.
"Good, 'cause I would've kicked their asses for doing THAT to your bar." She meant it only as a false brag though, knowing everyone would recognise that she was just kidding to shrug off the fear...Which was quickly shrugged off. "By the way, why did they leave?" She added, ending her previous statement with a question, she kind of knew that they'd left because of someone, she just wanted to find out who and what they'd done. However Calnim and all the customers remained silent and fearful of the man at the table. Due to this Anna decided to poke Calnim a few times to get his attention. "Hello, Cal, are you listening to me?"
The silence went on for quite a while as people tried to get their wits about themselves again and as Anna tried to get Calnims attention, the man at the table seemed unaware of the attention he'd gathered, he continued to drink his drink in the silence of the room. But the silence wasn't to last, not only was this a place of commerse, it was a tavern, a place of meeting and chatter. As soon as the doors to the tavern opened again with another customer, everyone went back to whatever it was they were doing before the commotion began.
The new customer stepped inside, unaware of the events before his entrance and seemingly confident in step. As with all customers that entered, he headed over to the bar and took up seating at the bar. He had thought it strange that the bar had been so quiet but had shrugged off that thought since it no longer had relevence in the noisey bar he'd sat down in. From his stool he made his order with an unfitting soft voice, his quiet tone completely the opposite of his confident stride.
"Shot of whiskey please."
Calnim suddenly broke from his trance when the man ordered a drink, he recognised the man from a few times, the guy was becoming a regular lately. After breaking from his trance Calnim could feel sharp jabs in his back one after another and moved his arm in the way to stop the girl from poking him. "Stop that Anna, I have work to do." He said to Anna, the events that just passed were like a blur, it was almost as if it had never happened. But it had, two guards searching for Anna, it was clear they were after Anna since they used her full name. It had been a long time since Anna had last used the name Easuna, back then Calnim couldn't pronounce it and had given her a nickname of Anna, the name seemed to stick pretty well and everyone called her Anna now.
"You finally speak and thats all you can say?" Anna was clearly annoyed, she'd never known Calnim to ignore her and was angry that Calnim hadn't even apologised for doing so. She was known for losing her temper for less things and was branded a trouble maker for the number of times she lashed out at people because of things they said, infact that was the trouble she usually hid in the bar for doing. "I'm going to talk to the weird looking guy. 'k?"
The question was rhetorical, she expected no answer. Immediatly after saying she was going to, she leaped over the bar as she had done before and ran over to the customer that had shot the fireball before. Calnim would've objected but he was surving the customer at the bar.
"One shot of whiskey, coming right up."
Calnim had a job to do and couldn't watch Annas every move. Besides, she was 20, pleanty old enough to look after herself. Depite his job and mannerisms of an oldtimer, Calnim was actually one year younger then Anna. Needless to say, Anna could handle herself.
He placed the drink before the customer and accepted the payment for it, whiskey actually seemed a pretty popular drink in the tavern in this city. "Sorry for the wait, there was some trouble just a moment ago."
"You mean those guards?" The man paused to pick up his shot of whiskey and drink it, but he hadn't paused for an answer, he'd hit the nail on the head. "What was it all about anyway? Trouble with the girl?"
The mans name was Tanario and he seemed to have a talent of picking up on things and asking questions he'd already figured out the answers for. Again he paused to return his shot glass to the table. "I've never seen that man over there before, it doesn't look like hes from around here."
Anna was standing at the table that the man was at, it was a clear indication that this guy was the one Tanario was talking about. "Hey there, you scared those jerks away, am I right?" Anna suddenly spoke up, she wasn't scared of the guy, he'd saved her life so he couldn't be all bad. From what she assumed, he was just putting on a front, acting tough.
"What gave you that idea?" The mans tone was sour and cold, for emphasis of his dis-interest he turned away from her. He thought her a mere annoyance, he wasn't in the mood for chatter right now and he had no interest in talking with her.
"I'm not dumb. Apart from the guy who just walked in, everyone was just staring at you." Her words were truthful and yet pointless, sure she had worked out he had caused the commotion that saved her but the man had little interest in the answer, if any at all. Infact he hadn't even listened to her answer, he didn't want to, to him it was irrelevent.
"You're annoying." The man was quick to rise from his seat, as far as he was conserned his peace had been distrubed. However, instead of reacting as before, the man circled the table away from the girl and headed out the main doors.
Calnim waited until the man was gone before answering Tanarios question, or statement. "If I'm correct then that man was an infamous criminal called Mahat the Coldblood, I've heard many rumors about that man and I don't know if any are true, either way hes a dangerous person to be around." He kept his voice quiet so as not to disturb the other customers, he was actually glad the guy was gone, it was bad for business but the worst part is it put both his and Annas lives in danger for that man to be there in the tavern.
Tanario shifted on his stool, it seemed like he was getting comfortable. He tended to do this whenever he felt uncomfortable about some bit of news he was given. "Mahat the Coldblood eh? And I just missed him...Defeating someone like that would've earned me a big reputation." He itched the back of his neck and shifted back again, then shrugged as if to say 'Oh well' and move on with his life.
Calnim decided a different reaction would have been better, they were talking about the Coldblooded Sorcerer that showed no mercy to any opponent be they man, woman or child, but he guessed that was just the way these bounty hunters were, always searching for the next big thing...Or fame and fortune. Letting his thoughts drift for a moment meant that he didn't catch sight of Anna sneaking out of the bar, not atleast until the door was closing, too late to do anything.
His eyes showed his aggrivation, he only took them off her to a few seconds and she was already gone, no doubt going to cause some mischief. Tanario had picked up on Calnims expression and on the direction he was facing as well as the missing girl.
"Bet she's alot of hassle."
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The first guard, the superior officer, was the first to leave the tavern. He was quickly followed by the second subordinate officer. Once the door to the tavern had closed, the superior officer spoke. "That man is known as Mahat the Coldblood, a legendary sorcerer in this world, if we had continued then we wouldn't have survived."
"Mahat? That guy?" The subordinate may have been the inferior officer, however he would have been stupid to not recognise the name of a man that infamous. Mahat was known all over the land of Taradin as a legendary sorcerer and outcast of society, the man was said to be a heartless demon that killed anyone who got in his way.
"We were lucky, it seems he's not currently in a killing mood. Lets report our findings, I'm sure the higher ups can come up with a plan for us to use."
"Yes sir, right away sir." The subordinate replied, running back to the security headquarters before his comrad. His frustration had dissipated now, letting the girl get away had annoyed him to no end even if it didn't seem to bother his teammate, he'd taken his anger and frustration out on the bartender and had been even more upset about the man at the tables interference. In short he was a hot head, quickly angered, but he knew when to calm down. There was nothing they could do, it was not their fault if Mahat had gotten involved, the whole matter would be put on that mans shoulders, the subordinates pressure and worry was lifted. He was, in part, greatful the outlaw had gotten in the way of things, it worked out better for him. This whole event didn't matter to his superior officer though, as his subordinate happily ran off to deliver the news he just shrugged and followed at a casual pace.
The two guards passed Tanario one by one as they left the vicinty of the tavern, they caught his attention for only a second, the thought of it being strange they were here crossed into his mind. His attention was quickly lost as he closed in on the tavern, he had decided on his targets for today, he would ask the bar tender about any rumors about them to set him on the right track, the rumors for that specific tavern were pretty accurate.
He strode in with a confident step up to the bar, taking in how quiet it was but thinking little of it and pushing the thought away. He sat down and spoke in a soft voice to the bartender. "Shot of whiskey please."
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The town was much larger then Tea had anticipated, she had been travelling for the past couple of weeks and felt quite drained. Teas figure was built delicately, fragile and not designed for travel, many from her home assumed she wouldn't make it this far. But here she was, in a city in Taradin, but there was much further she had to go.
The large city was not like anything she had ever seen before, Tea came from a village in the North and had never seen such size or density, she had led a pretty sheltered life in her village. It was strange being in a city, the people of the city seemed like one large blur. Everyone was so busy, no one seemed to notice Tea was a little more elaborately dressed them most of them.
As Tea neared the only tavern in the city, Tea noticed a strangely dressed man leaving the the tavern, or at least strange for this city. Tea halted her own movement a moment to think on it, but it only took a moment, he must've been a travellor from a different village, town or city. He put the thought behind her a moved on towards the tavern, towards her rest.
Another man passed, one more citily dressed and in her opinion quite repulsive. He must've been one of the poor of the city, there had to be one in such a large place. The man ran his hand along her lower back as he passed which made her hop forward in sudden shock. How rude a jesture, she turned to yell at the repulsive man for his actions, a good telling off was all she thought he needed. However the man was already close and held her close, his hands reaching for her lower back again, sliding down lower and lower. She pushed away from the letch, forcing him away from her as best she could, because of the way he was reaching she managed to break from his grip with only a little difficulty. Flustered by this sudden approach she began running away from the letch, and as luck would have it, away from the tavern.
She hadn't thought beyond getting away from the man, any onlooker could see that and that included Mahat, however he was the only onlooker and did not stop or even slow his pace. What were the affairs of others to him? He had no reason to get involved.
As she ran the man called after her. "Eh? Don't play hard teh get." He seemed to chuckle in the middle of his sentance, clearly he was not right of mind, chances were he was a drunken bum that'd probably just lost his job and/or wife and was looking to take it out on the world.
Tea ignored the mans words and ran around a corner, she had hoped to get away from him but rested a second on the wall. She was still tired from her journey and her body was too frail to continuously run. Tea had only stopped to catch her breath while leaning against the wall, but she slipped in her exhaustion and was sat for a moment. She took her time getting to her feet afterward and then began to run again since the man would be closing in. She took a few steps forwards then realised her mistake, she'd ran down a closed alley and had taken too long to notice.
The next thing Tea felt were arms around her, one reaching down at her groin and the other to her chest. The pervert had caught up to her and she had no way of escaping, he moved with her, forcing her up against the far wall so that he could have his way. She closed her eyes, them tearing up from the realisation of the situation and that no one was coming to help her. She imagined shadows approaching, gathering around her and reaching in with monsterous claws and teeth, threatening to devour her. While her thoughts gathered on this she heard a scream, it was very close, had she screamed? No, it had come from the pervert behind her who had now loosened his grip on her and was shivering and screaming. Shadows were closing in and threatening to devour them, just like in her imagination. The man screamed again and let go of Tea, running off out of the alley away from the shadows. The girl looked at the shadows closing in, had she created them or were they here to devour her?
Mahat heard a scream coming from the alleyway, he had just seen the girl run in there and followed by the pervert who persued her, but it wasn't the scream of a female, the man was screaming for his life. On the second scream the man came out of the alley, running away and tripping as he did so, all the while yelling about monsterous shadows. it was rare that Mahat took interest in anything, but the whole thing seemed like sorcery to him, there had been no one else in the alleyway, he was sure of that. And the girl was too scrawny to fight that guy off. It was something he had to look into, magic that could cause that sort of reaction. He began to run, heading towards the alleyway this time just in time to see the shadows fade from sight and the Tea slump on the ground exhausted.
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Annas face was a wash of fury, the guy was absolutely high and mighty. An attitude she usually got angry at. However this time she supressed it, the guy had saved her life so he couldn't be all that bad. It seemed Calnim considered the guy as evil, but at least Anna had learned the guys name. She could also see that Calnim wasn't paying attention to her so this was the oppertune time to follow Mahat. She crept out of the tavern quietly and closed the door behind her. Once outside the tavern, Anna heard a scream...And a man running from something, what the heck was he running from?
The indication of where the problem was, was that there was a large crowd of people gathering near an alleyway. Following Mahat would have to wait until she found out whatever it was they were all curious about.
So she ran all the way over to the alleyway, there was a fairly large group of people there but nether the less she could see two people just beyond the crowd, one of them was uncontious and the other seemed to be holding her. Wait was that Mahat, Anna could clearly see his unusual clothes for a breif moment but then the two were gone. They had vanished when Mahat had said something, perhapse it was teleportation magic of some kind.
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The girl had fallen uncontious. Mahat knelt down beside her to confirm that much, at first it had looked like she was dead but she did have a pulse so that was not the case. The girl had no wounds on her so she wasn't injured, she must've just used up alot of magic energy, but just how much had she spent without knowing. Mahat sat there for a while, sensing out the magic energy around the girl, it was so abnormally faint, she was dying. The girl had spent so much of her magic energy that she had drawn upon the magic energy that kept a body living.
Suddenly there was another scream, expecting the return of the shadows from before, Mahat turned his attention to the scream. There was a man running away, but he was shouting something different, the man had come to check on what had happened and found Mahat there next to what looked like a dead body and jumped to the conclusion Mahat had killed her.
None of that really conserned Mahat right now as he turned his attention to the girl, she had magic so powerful it could draw upon her own life, that much piqued his interest and gave him a reason to save her life. He wanted to know the magic the girl controlled, he wanted to learn it and use it himself, he was far more adept at controlling such magic anyway. He placed his hand on the girls forehead and closed his eyes, drawing upon his own magic power. "Restore." He spoke quietly, people were gathering now and more attention was beginning to fall upon them. He had to finish this quick before trouble came looking. The spell Mahat had just cast began to restore the girls magic power, at the same time magic power was taken from Mahat as transfer material.
The girls colour returned and Mahat looked up at the crowd, there were alot of people there but Mahat had an escape route planned out in his head. "Calm." He said, his eyes being the conductors of this spell. The spell slowed the passage of time and was very useful in battle, he used it time and time again to thwart foes.
Under the slowed passage of time Mahat scooped up the girls body and leaped over the crowd of people, upon landing he ran towards the main gate. As he moved the spell drew upon his magic to keep it active, not only that but because of another spell Mahats magic was also being drained, the magic had been cast on his feet earlier and quickened his pace. Any onlookers to where he'd been would simply see him vanish and no others would have eyes that could keep up with his movement now.
He rushed onwards exiting the city and entering into the forest, even with his unnatural speed he was able to easily navigate the roots and branches of the trees and plants of the forest. Mahat had a clear idea of where he wanted to head, he had set up camp in the forest, to be more precise it was a clearing in the forest. It was easier to spot people coming in a clearing, Mahat always had the advantage to opponents there since he could use his advantage to its fullest.
When they arrived the clearing was empty, devoid of anything but Mahats little camp site, the ashes of his camp fire were beginning to cool as they arrived.
Something was off, Mahat noticed such a thing straight away, there was someone there in the trees surrounding the clearing. He lowered the girl to the ground in his camp and took hold of the staff that was lying on the ground, he had left it there when he had gone to the tavern for a drink, others couldn't use it anyway and he was pleanty powerful without it but he did feel a wave of confidence wash over him as he held it once again.
A voice came from the forest. "Pierce." It said, and from the side of a tree came a magic spear, as the name implied it was a piercing magic designed for catching people off guard, it could pierce any barrier that blocked its path.
Mahat had his staff in his left hand and gripped it tight as he swung his right hand down in the path of the magic spear in a sort of karate chop motion. "Divide." Mahats words formed magic once again as his hand cut the spear in two, the now divided spear continued on a new path just off from each side of Mahat, missing him completely.
"I know where you are, you've lost your reason to hide." Mahat challenged the assailant, he could tell where the man was based on the attack that was just launched but even if the man moved Mahat would still know anyway. The reason for this was another magic that was cast before the day really began, one that could locate anything within a certain radius to Mahat, it was the main reason for his advantage in the clearing.
"Mahat the Coldblood." The voice spoke again, but this time the voice had a body attached to it, a man stepping out from the trees was the one speaking. "As you should know already, I am here for the bounty on your head. By now you'll have noticed my magic is far suprior to your own."
The man had a sword at his waist, possibly the mans primary weapon or for use when his magic runs out. The sword could also be used as a medium, the man could possibly use his magic to empower the sword. It took a simple glance to deduce that much, Mahat had battled bounty hunters for so long he could pick up on their traits pretty easily. The magic spear however, was very interesting, not only did it pierce through his barrier but it didn't harm it on the way through. the downside to the spear was that it could be cut pretty easily so it was pretty much an assasination technique. If it was the mans best attack, it was a wasted effort, Mahat could divert that attack with ease as he had done and there were many other castings that could be used against it.
"I bare no pity for the deluded, if you're here for my head then take it if you can." Conversations with these bounty hunters were always the same, they were so full of themselves after catching so many bounties, it was kind of pathetic in Mahats opinion. Many bounty hunters had boasted magic when coming after him in the past, every one of them paled in comparison to Mahat in skill and power.
Hearing his boasts cast aside, the mans face contorted in anger. He cast his left hand forward, it would be the medium for his attack. "Pulse." The mans hand charged with electricity that gathered quickly into one spot then firing like a bolt of lightning.
"Pierce." Mahat used his right palm as the medium, casting the magic spear just as the other man had done in his assasination attempt, the spear pierced through the lightning bolt, dispersing it harmlessly.
"Void." The man held out his right hand as the medium, as the spear touched the palm of the hand it dissipated without doing anything. "How is it you can use my-"
"Calm."
While the man was speaking, Mahat vanished. He moved under the slowed time and took up position infront of his opponent. Mahat placed the palm of his right hand against the mans chest, his right ahnd would be the medium. "Pulse." As time resumed to normal the electricity gathered at Mahats palm struck through the man, burning him to death from the inside out. The bounty hunter fell back as a corpse, for all his boasting he'd little of a challenge. While the corpse fell Mahat turned back to the camp site where he'd lay the girl down.
"Talk is cheap, don't waste my time."
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Calnim nodded at Tanarios comment, Anna was alot of trouble some times.
"Anyway down to business, what are the rumors on this guy? Heard anything?" The bounty hunter placed down a poster of a local theif that'd been running around town lately and earned himself a bounty by targetting high ranked officials and nobles.
Calnim took a good look at the poster and thought about the rumors he'd heard of the theif Amardin. "Small time theif, a little lazy and likes to pick on those with authority. I heard he does it for fun and usually theives from people unable to do anything about it. He comes here sometimes but not often, he has a disgraceful attitude but pays for alot of drinks. from what I can tell he's quite a talker." The theif spent money in Calnims tavern but the value of the guy who spent the money was little to him, and besides why would Calnim try to annoy bounty hunters that could tear his bar apart. So he said what he knew and left it at that, he was a sorce for information anyway so bounty hunters would come for tip offs and have drinks while they were at it, it was a source of trade for him.
Tanario took in the information, some of it useful, other bits not so much. "From the looks of this poster he picked on a guy with money."
"He probably made a mistake on targets, as far as I can tell you'll find him somewhere in the poorer area of the city."
"Oh well, money is money, I'll be seeing you again when I have some to spend." Tanario was quick to leave his seat when he heard of where his target could be found, he'd had little luck in information lately so he was having a little money problem lately. He left the bar quickly and fairly quietly so he could finally get another bounty into his wallet.
Calnim stood cleaning some of the bars glasses while the man left, he assumed that was the end of the conversation so turned his focus to other customers. The rest of the day seemed to go pretty quickly and without event, there were one or two other bounty hunters looking for information but that was usual. Soon enough the tavern was emptying and Calnim was summing up the money, it'd gotten late already. Once the tavern was empty Calnim thought upon the events of today, he found himself worrying about Anna, he hoped she hadn't gone after that Mahat guy. Mahat was a dangerous guy and worst scenario he would kill Anna, Calnim was worried that just that was going to happen.
With the bar empty and the money tallied calnim stepped out from behind the bar and headed over to the main door to lock it, however before he got there the doors opened and in stepped four people. They were nobles, high ranking ones too, the last one in closed and locked the door behind him.
"May I help you four." Calnim said, bowing before those with so much power. Nobles were something to fear, with such a high rank and so much money he was not one to make an enemy of them. But still it was a curious event...And why had they locked the door?