A Mage's Wrath

Chapter 12

16th of Morning Dew, Year 765 - Three days later

Ignacia lay in her bed for what felt like an entire day. She was waiting for the right moment to get up and act.

I'm going to do this, she repeated in her head a thousand times. I am leaving tonight. I am going to see my family.

Her ears were filled with the noise of emptiness for as long as she could remember. She switched between having her eyes move beneath her closed eyelids and staring blankly into the darkened bedchamber. Her heart took turns on beating slowly with a calmness and beating quickly with frenzy.

When she was absolutely sure that no one was up and walking throughout the Mage Sanctuary, the Fire Mage disturbed the silence as she removed the blanket from on top of her and got off her bed. Lighting a single candle with a flick of her finger to provide a bit of illumination, she crouched to look beneath her bed. She reached under and, when she felt a leathery item brush her fingers, pulled out the bag she had brought with her when she was Founded and taken to this horrid prison. She opened the single flap and looked down inside; it was empty, save for a small brown cloth pouch that contained the two hundred worth of mazuma her parents gave her before she left them. Pulling the one strap over her head to have it hang on her shoulder while the bag rested on her hip, Ignacia quietly opened the door to her bedchamber and slipped out into the hallway after checking that it was empty.

She crept past the other Mages' bedchambers and to the back of the main area where they dined toward a small door sunken into the wall. The door opened with ease as she twisted the knob and entered the food pantry. Barrels of fruit and vegetables and sacks of flour where organized neatly along the perimeter. Shelves hung on the stone walls, carrying bowls of salt, sugar, pepper, and many other spices. The room was cool, perfect to keep the organic food fresh and from rotting quickly.

Ignacia grabbed a small spare sack from the floor and began filling it with some of the food. She knew that, even if she did encounter a tavern on the way to Ira, she would not be willing to waste any time that could be used to get closer to her family. I've already wasted so much. Throwing in a couple slices of bread and an apple, she stuffed the sack into her bag, having just enough space to put in an extra peach. She then left the pantry, shutting the door softly behind her, and hurried to the library, where she quickly found a readable map of Zertima, placing it gently in her leather bag as well.

The library's door shut behind her, and she gradually made her way down the hallway. But as she came across Master Agha's bedchamber, she paused. She recalled that there was a stable on the outskirts of a village not too far away from where the Mage Sanctuary was in Cynemolt, and that sold horses. It would probably only take an hour's worth of walking to get there, and then she could buy a steed. Normally, the horses of Zertima cost around four hundred mazuma, and if she had a horse, she could get to Ira in no time.

The thought of stealing money from Master Agha pained her slightly, but she knew that it was absolutely necessary if she wanted to save her life and her family's.

The thought of her family caused her to instantly burst into action. She unsheathed her wand and cast a muffle spell on her feet, taking a few steps to test if it had worked. She would have used an invisibility spell, but she could only manage to make it last for three minutes. She doubted that she could find Master Agha's stash of mazuma in less than a few minutes, considering she had only been in his bedchamber few times before, not paying close attention to where everything was each time. And plus, he should be sleeping. A muffle spell would be smarter to use than an invisibility spell.

Giving herself no time to reconsider her actions, Ignacia slowly opened the door so that it wouldn't creak and quietly entered the bedchamber. As soon as the door shut behind her, she scanned the area rapidly and sharply, searching for any sign where coins could be.