Magika [Completed]

Chapter 20

Kitaya had her by the wrist and she struggled to get free, looking at her magician with desperation.

"Wait, wait, please," the magician said holding a hand out as though he could stop her.

She placed Aldeheid's sword at the cape's throat. "Mercy is my friend, but not a virtue I hold." The blade slit the cape's throat open as easy as cutting through air. She kicked the twitching body to the side and advanced on the magician.

"You monster. You're no better than me!" he lamented, his face contorting with rage. "I hope you rot! I hope you rot!"

Kitaya wasted no time taking his head, if only to get him to shut up. There were probably others like him out there, which meant more stress for her.

She picked up the magicians severed head and crossed to where Aldeheid lied. He looked serene in his state of unconsciousness. Not tossing around or twisting his earring with his brows all furrowed. Peaceful and still, like death.

She tucked his sword into its sheath and picked him up, balancing his dead weight on her good shoulder. They had a long trek back to the human village since her horses wouldn't be able to hear her from this distance.

That gave her time to think. The pain she could deal with. Working through agony was one of the few things she excelled at.

But the doubt that clouded her mind was another beast entirely. How long would it be before the thin spaces became too much for them to handle? Before they had to become less proactive and more reactive.

Kitaya thought back to her fight with the monolith in the Phantom Orchard. She'd been lucky that it was small, that she alone had been enough. But what would happen if a truly terrifying one came through?

It scared her that she had no answer to these questions, especially when the lives of so many were on the line. Her strength would only take her so far, and the back of her mind she knew that one day it wouldn't be enough. She wouldn't be enough.

But today wasn't that day. Today she had been more than enough, and she'd dwell on that small victory.

An acrid scent reached her nose as the group of houses that made up the village came into view. The humans had the bodies of the bandits piled up near the river and were dousing them with a liquid so pungent, it made her eyes water and her nostrils burn.

"They back!" Kurin announced, running towards Kitaya. She grimaced at Aldeheid's limp form, brows furrowing. "Is he alright?"

"He will be." Kitaya raised the severed head of the magician. "We took care of your problem for you."

Her hand flew to her chest and she took a step back. "I-I see... Maybe you'll want to put it with the rest of them?"

"No, I want to save this trophy for my friend here." Kitaya tilted her head at Aldeheid. "Speaking of whom, is there anywhere I can set him down?"

"Of course, right this way." She led Kitaya to the middle of the village and nodded towards Alvere and Kaza. "Your horses are very beautiful. Where did you get them?"

"I bought them from some other humans in the mountain region," Kitaya replied, smiling at her horses.

Alvere and Kaza had been relieved of their saddles and bridles and were being groomed and fed by several humans. And of course Alvere was loving that, the spoiled brat.

They went into one of the middle homes where the scent of stew and freshly baked bread hit her as soon as she walked through the door. Kurin led her through the small, sparsely furnished sitting room to a bedroom that was even less remarkable. There were two cots set up on opposite side of the room and the bags the horses were carrying were piled in one corner. Along with the Behemoth. It seemed she owed someone a pouch of coin.

But Kitaya only noticed those things in passing, as her eyes were rapt on the two steaming hot baths in the center of the room. It was like stumbling upon an oasis after days in the desert.

Kurin coughed, pulling her from her trance. "Would you like me to... wash him?" She pointed at Aldeheid, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.

"Sure, if you want to." Kitaya set Aldeheid down and went to rifle through their bags. First, She tucked the magician's head into on of the empty saddle bags. Then she pulled out a vial of blue elixir and a jar of balm. "The elixir is for his bath. The balm is for his cut and bruises." She shoved them into Kurin's hands before stripping and settling into her bath with a contented sigh.

Her muscles relaxed as the heat seeped into them and she reached up to loose her braids. Ashes fluttered from her hair to float on top of the water along with the scent of burn.

"He's very light," Kurin said, as she eased Aldeheid into his own bath. She kept his smallclothes on, Kitaya guessed, to preserve his modesty. "Oh, uhm, his skin is peeling." She pointed to a sliver of skin hanging from his cheek.

Or what looked like skin. Kitaya sat up straighter in her bath and gave it a long scrutinizing look.  That was the same cheek he was always rubbing. She reached over and peeled it away to reveal one of the harshest looking brands she'd ever seen. The raised skin was an angry red in colour.

"Good gods..." Kitaya breathed. What in damnation had he done to earn this? And on his face, no less. If he kept it covered up, it must've been something horrid. She'd seen people get branded before, but nothing as cruel as this.

"Sh-should we put it back?" Kurin asked. "Will he be angry?"

"It's fine. He probably has more of this to cover it up with in his bags." Kitaya turned the rubbery skin-like material over in her hands, tracing her fingers along the impression left on it by the brand.

What happened to you, angel eyes?