Mortal Magic: Broken

They say that when people sleep they wake up rejuvenated, but that is not always true. Sometimes you wake to find your body even more tired than it was before. And some other times it is more than just your body being exhausted.

I woke up to find myself alone in the makeshift hiding place Yuto made and my head was pounding like there was a full-on war going on in there. I tried to find the strength to crawl out of the small space under the fence parts but when I tried to move I felt the world around me spinning and I was forced to lie back on the wall again. I was tired, my muscles sore and my throat dry and I had difficulty swallowing. However, even though all this would be normal after all I’ve been through these past few days, I knew something was wrong with me. The question was what.

Suddenly I started coughing again, and this time it was more intense than the coughing of a dry throat. It was the coughing of an illness, so intense that it made you feel like you were about to spit your guts out. It took several moments for the cough to subside and by the time it did I felt the taste of blood coating my mouth. I looked at my hand and my palm had traces of blood on it, the bright red liquid inside my body, now dark from the absence of light in the shadows. I wiped the blood on the semi-dry soil underneath and then spit the remaining from my mouth, several times to make sure that there was no visible trace of it inside my mouth. It was never a good sign to spit blood, it meant that you were dying, and I didn’t need him making this worse that it looks already.

Just as I was about to try getting out again Yuto started lifting the fence parts and to help me. I wasn’t sure how long he was here but if he heard me then he didn’t say a word. In fact he acted as if he just came here as I was about to get out. Steading myself using the wall I waited for my body to get used to the sudden change of position combined with my slightly aching head, pretending that I was just tired still. “You okay? You look like hell”.

Nodding my head at him I made a few small steps forward while holding the wall and looked at him. “Yeah it’s the blood moon. It always takes me a day or two to recover from the continuous mana production”. He was different from last night, or the last night that I remember. I wasn’t sure if I only slept that one night. He was wearing cleaner clothes than the ones he had while we were kept in the arena but not very different, brown leather pants tight on his muscled legs and a white cotton short-sleeved shirt probably very old. He must have found them close-by. He was cleaner himself after all the dust that had coated his sweating body from the explosion and his long black hair were tied in a loose ponytail. Smiling he handed me some clothes almost identical to his.

The pants were almost black leather and the belt going with it a dark brown while the shirt was sleeveless and from the same material as his. “We can’t sneak out in our old clothes from the arena. Many people have seen us in them and they would recognize us as prisoners either way. Now get changed, the city limits are not far from here”. He turned around and I slipped off my mostly torn pants and since that was all I was wearing in the first place I immediately started wearing what he gave me. The pants were a bit tighter than I was used due to being leather but not uncomfortable, I wore gauze like clothes before. The shirt on the other hand was a perfect fit and when I finished with the belt he gave me a pair of boots and one of the two hooded cloaks he had under his right arm.

Before I even considered leaving this place he whistled loudly and grinned like an idiot. “You look hot in these. And sorry, I couldn’t find undergarments in this place. You would definitely still attract the ladies though”. That comment made my face turn beet red and my reaction made him laugh his lungs out before I punched him on the shoulder with as much strength as I could muster.

He kept on smiling under the hood of his cloak as we made our way through the streets now teeming with life and the people were in high spirits despite what occurred last night. They talked casually and knew each other well it seemed from some intimate subjects I picked up on our way. There were no merchants here or shops so I assumed this was a purely residential area for the poor of the city. No blacksmiths from the lack of the sound of metal being hammered and the sound of hot metal being cooled off in water or oil. Yes everyone had magic, but that didn’t mean that weapons were useless or not needed. Soldiers learned to use them first in combat and then resort to magic if it was necessary. There were no pharmacies either and that was a huge mistake as poisons and illnesses were very common.

Yuto lead us east through the streets and soon it was easier to move around. As we got closer to huge walls that I never even saw coming and a huge open door built in the wall I was sure that there would be trouble. Guards were everywhere here and I was in the arena for years whereas Yuto only a week, I was more likely to be recognized than him. However he took my hand in his and smiled at me to reassure me before letting go. There was this light in his chestnut eyes like he was entirely confident we would make it through. “Don’t worry we will be fine. I watched them for hours they don’t require papers and they don’t ask questions to travelers unless they carry weapons. And that is exactly what we are right now”.

I tried to seem relaxed but my instincts were getting the better of me. I was antsy all the time and I was sure I looked suspicious but as we got closer to the gate the guards paid us no mind and simply continued with their watch after a quick glance on our waists for swords likely. Once we passed through I couldn’t help but think they would call us back or follow us and interrogate us but that never happened as we put more and more distance between us and the city.

“While you were sleeping I got up when the sun rose and looked for clothes and information. It seems we are in the central continent, more precisely in Redgard the second biggest city of the continent”. As we walked he pointed south towards the vast plains surrounding the city and us before he continued. “There is a village a day and a half over there, we should head there first and then start searching for this man you are after”.

His words surprised me so that I actually froze on my tracks and stared at him without a sound. The moment he realized that I was not following he turned around and looked at me puzzled and his brows raised in question. “What do you mean we? I am the one who needs to find him not you. You, need to go back to your family that is waiting for you”. After I finished talking he shook his head as if to say he is disappointed in me and then looked at me for a few moments before his voice came out. “My family can wait for me. You on the other hand will need help in doing what you need to do. I don’t agree with killing another person but I am sure you have a very good reason for going after him”.

How was he saying this with a straight face? He knew nothing about me or what I wanted to do. He knew not why I wanted to kill Lars and he just met me a week ago. And yet he was helping me, even though he saw what I did to those people in the arena. He was willing to aid me in my search for him even though I was sure I was just as much a monster as he. “Why? You do realize that I am nothing more than a killer? I killed hundreds of people in the past 5 years, a big part of those just yesterday and now I want to find and kill another and you say you want to help me”?

I sensed the change in his emotions as his face turned sad and his shoulders hung. He did think of all this, right? He did realize that I was a monster deep inside. I did not regret my actions, nor will I ever want to take them back. And I only felt sad for a few moments after each kill but then I was ready if I had to kill again. People like me were not worth helping, they were worth killing. Turning his gaze to the sky he let out a sigh and filled his lungs with air. “I don’t know what exactly happened between you two and you want to kill him. But I’m certain that it’s more than him just putting you in the arena when you were thirteen. I don’t need you to tell me to realize that you need help, not so much for the kill but to keep yourself from becoming worse than him”. He hesitated looking for the best way to put his thought into words. “I have seen people like you again. Lost, seeking revenge for something and pretending that they don’t care if they lose their humanity in the process. And I can tell that you are convinced that he deserves to die. So I will come along and help you when you are lost, when you need someone to remind you who you are”.

I was sure he was out of his mind… But as much as I wanted to hide it, I was afraid. Not just about being unable to do this without help, but for so much more. One of those things was becoming like him, resorting to burning down villages and killing families to find him. And I had already killed too many times. Averting my eyes from his figure I passed by him and continued walking down the path between the meadows of the plains. “Do as you wish”.

I heard him laugh and covering the distance between us he came and hooked his right arm over my shoulders still laughing. How was he able to switch from being sad to cheerful in mere moments was beyond my understanding. And he was embarrassing most of the time. But his company was something I felt I needed, as he felt I needed him to tease me like I was his little boy he needed to embarrass from time to time. Clearing my head from these thoughts I asked him about our destination. “So where are we going again”?

“The village I was telling you about is one of the best places to gather information. There is absolutely nothing that concerns magic and the magi there don’t know. There are many elder magi there and most of the people there really like to gossip what the elders learn. If you want to find a lead then that is the best place to start”. That was good. I had no clue about Lars’ whereabouts and no time to wonder aimlessly hoping to find him by chance. “Besides there are many beautiful girls there from what I gathered, they will tell you everything you wish to know if you know how to approach them”. He was wiggling his eyebrows and again managed to make me feel embarrassed to be with him. For some reason he didn’t even bother to be a little bit modest or discreet. This was going to be a very, very long search if he keeps this mannerism.