Chapter 2.
"Why'd you guys pull me off?" Seraphina banged her fist on the bar table as she sat with her two companions, "I'd have roasted that stinking son of a pig!"
"Yea, and get ourselves into the hands of the knights." Carson, her friend said as he placed his elbow on the table with his chin in his hand.
"You almost burned down the town today and you know nothing except for you can extinguish those blue flames of yours." Fred her other friend spoke up as he placed down his mug of beer.
"You need to restrain your flames a bit, Sera," Carson suggested.
"They aren't my pet or anything, Carson. My flames aren't to be tamed."
"Just like you," Fred muttered and Carson laughed.
"So what?" She said as she drank her beer calling for a refill.
The trio after escaping from the burning town returned back to their guild and sat together drinking, Seraphina was still angry by the fact that the trafficker got away but she was satisfied by the fact that the children were safe. The guildhall was an old building made of wood, stone and iron, the sturdy architecture had held the pride of Arctic Flames for decades and its members for all the time. Though it was usually wrecked multiple times by the tantrums of the guild members yet, it was rebuilt in its native shape every time. Arctic Flames was infamous for its rowdy members yet, what made their reputation run more far and wide was the presence of the Unique wizard named Seraphina Flameheart or what most people called her, The Flame Queen.
She was a Unique because unlike all the other Fireborn wizards she possessed blue flames, those flames were the legacy of her long-dead mother. Seraphina was also infamous for her unstable temper and unparalleled strength in both magic and combat. She was spoiled mostly by the love of her guildmates and her father and that's why she had grown with freedom of having her rights in taking her own decisions instead of relying on others. She absolutely hated it when someone else decided anything for her and she would immediately throw a tantrum and send the guy to the infirmary for around three days as a punishment.
"You go too far, Sera," Fred said.
"Look who's talking," Seraphina muttered and Carson chuckled, "You might as well deny that it wasn't you who set the all the animals free on the streets of the Throi town when we were there to help out on farms." She said making Fred's ears go red in embarrassment.
"That was only because I forgot to check the latch." He defended and both his friends started laughing. This made his ears go more red.
"Wh-What are you laughing at, Carson? You were the one because of whom that giant lizard monster chased us all the way till the chapel of Vinstel town." Fred accused and Carson stopped laughing.
"Well, are we digging out our past shenanigans now?" He asked and Fred looked ready to throw hands.
"Yes."
"You guys... Father is not here so please don't break around too much stuff. He always thinks I start every fight." Seraphina said as she sipped her beer.
"Isn't wrong though, you are always the one because of whom the guildwide fight starts." The third person, Asilax came up and leaned over Fred's shoulder. Asilax and Seraphina were like the mocking partners, they liked being at each other's throats just for fun.
"Oi, Asilax, if you want your jaw in place get lost." She threatened.
"Awe, little Sera is down to threats now."
"She's almost burned the whole town of Hakov, Asilax. You better not be trying to provoke her now." Carson sighed.
Asilax placed his hand on his forehead, "No wonder, master is at the magic council conference. That guy always gets in trouble because of you."
"Speak of yourself, Asilax. Last time you broke down the train while beating up the bandits." Seraphina pointed out and he shot her a look.
"Still my list of troubles are way lower than you. If we had to count, you surely have a record in the history of being the biggest troublemaker wizard." Asilax said and Fred nodded.
"Can't agree less," Carson added.
"You guys are in serious need of bashing, aren't you?" Seraphina said as she glared at the three.
"Bold of you to think I'll lose to you," Asilax said and Seraphina rolled her eyes as she stood up.
"Bold of you to forget what I did last time." She said and before Asilax could have a chance her fist dug through his face breaking his nose, again.
He stumbled back falling on another guy who was enjoying his beer, it was Hudson, one of the old guys with a buff body and an axe as his weapon.
"What the heck! Can't I even have my booze in peace?" He thundered as he grabbed Asilax's shirt and before anybody could make any sense the entire guildhall broke out into a fight.
Each one fighting the other for no particular reason, the tables and chairs flew everywhere along with people who either were thrown or were jumping for attacks. Mrs. Turos sighed as she wiped the cup in her hand as she watched the everyday occurrence of the guild. She was working in the guild for over two decades now and had gotten used to the animalistic behaviour of the people here. She was a wizard too but it was too tiring to stop these adrenaline-driven young people who loved fighting, she usually left that to the two people who managed to do the job well. But currently one of them was on a quest and one was off to the magic council conference. That certainly made her a little concerned, she had heard that Seraphina had burned down the town of Hakov and the council wouldn't just turn a blind eye on that, not to mention the earlier damages that Seraphina and her gang had done. Arctic Flames's maximum revenue went in the compensation and fines in repairing the damages the wizards do that's why the place was severely underhanded, aside from her there was only one more person who worked there but the poor girl was only fifteen and her daughter, Thea. Thea always looked up to Seraphina as her role model which worried Mrs Turos slightly.
"Why you little spitfire!" Asilax shouted as he kicked Seraphina.
"You little crybaby!" She cried back as she bashed his face on the bar table.
The vulgar and nonsensical rebukes were thrown across the guildhall until the doors of the guild Hall opened and Mrs Turos sighed as she noticed the presence of one of the High Tiers who could stop this mess. As she walked, her black mane with green highlights flowed at her back as her brown travel cloak billowed with her movements. She went straight to Seraphina and Asilax who were the root of all the chaos ensuing around them. She grabbed Seraphina's and Asilax's ears drawing them apart as if they were some toddlers.
"What the-" Asilax cried out.
"The hell! Merlene let go!" Seraphina shouted.
Merlene simply squeezed tighter making them both cry loudly and the guildmates who were busy fighting suddenly felt the presence of the High Tier wizard Merlene Vesta in between them, they quickly fell quiet watching as she had Seraphina and Asilax at her feet. Merlene Vesta was a young woman of eighteen and was capable of going for her King Tier spells, she had mastered her High Tier spells when she was fourteen yet, it was taking long for her to get the King Tier spells.
"You two, I and Master are not in the Hall for some time and you go and trash it!" She scolded them.
"We're sorry." They said in unison and then glared at each other.
"You two!" At Merlene's warning, they hung their heads.
"And you all!" Merlene's sharp green gaze suddenly turned to the entire guild making them all flinch at the strength that she possessed.
"If I wasn't around couldn't you all at least keep the peace in the guild for one day?" All started looking everywhere but at her and a vein pulsed in her head.
"The next time I find you all wrecking this Hall, I'll personally make you rebuild it from scratch." The flames erupted from her hand which casted the dangerous glow on her face which already had a terrifying expression.
Merlene let go of Asilax's ear who quickly scrambled away and Merlene turned to Seraphina, "Sera, what did you do?" Seraphina gulped.
"Wh-What? I suppose."
"What did you do at the Hakov town?" Merlene specified and Seraphina cleared her throat while Carson and Fred hid among the crowd to not get caught up.
"Wh-What? What did I do?"
"You destroyed half of that town!" Merlene thundered and Seraphina winced as her ear was still a captive in Merlene's hand.
"I leave you alone for one quest and you go around terrorising the townsfolk. How on earth do you think the Magic Council will turn a blind eye on this?" She demanded and Seraphina could only do one thing at this moment, just hang her head and take all that Merlene would throw.
The guild members returned to their tables talking and drinking animatedly as Merlene walked over and sat at the bar table near the counter.
"Mrs. Turos, can I have a cup of tea?" She asked and Mrs. Turos smiled.
"Sure, Merlene." She disappeared in the back.
After a few minutes she walked back with a cup of steaming tea in it, she placed it before Merlene who eyed her reflection in the tea.
"How was your job?" Mrs. Turos asked.
"Dragging," Merlene replied dryly and she picked up the cup to take a sip.
"Are you worried about what Sera did in Hakov?"
Merlene sighed, "I visited the town, the place is a complete wreck. The houses and buildings are burned down and the damage is great. I don't think those hags are going to let this one slide off easily. I just hope Master deals with it as he always does."
"It's not a new thing though," Mrs Turos said as she eyed Seraphina who sat at her table nursing her red and swollen ear. "Sera has always been off to such jobs yet, it's not like she does it on purpose."
"You don't know, Mrs. Turos, that girl has a few screws loose and if I'm not around to keep her in check she will literally burn the entire town someday and be locked in the Magic Council's Prison from where I doubt she could get out," Merlene said.
"Well, if it's Sera we're talking about then she could break out of any confinement." Mrs. Turos said and Merlene shook her head.
"The Magic Council cells have the special compartments with the Magic nullifying confinements, in such a place she wouldn't be able to use her flames and would just end up bashing her head against the walls which would never break," Merlene said. She had seen such confinements when she had visited the Magic Council Prison, it was just a detour which she took when she had become a High Tier but she hadn't forgotten the anguished cries of those who were locked away in those jail cells with no magic for their lifetime. Merlene could never imagine such kind of life for Seraphina.
"Magic Restraining cuffs, I've heard of them but these confinements, what are those?" Mrs. Turos asked.
"These are the special made cells, Mrs. Turos, for those criminals who either have too strong power that they couldn't control it or the power-drunk wizards who go on a rampage turning into monsters killing mindlessly just for the sake of increasing their power."
"That's cruel." Mrs. Turos said and Merlene sipped her tea.
After an hour the doors of the guild Hall again opened and in walked Master Jord Flameheart looking solemn, Merlene eyed him as he walked over to the bar counter and ordered a mug of beer as he took a seat beside her.
"You look exhausted. The meeting didn't go well?" Mrs. Turos asked as she placed a mug of beer before him. He didn't reply, he just chugged down the beer and ordered for more. After two more mugs, he sighed heavily and turned to look at his guild members.
"She's over there." Merlene pointed at where Seraphina was seated surrounded by her friends.
Jord eyed his daughter for a long minute before turning to look down at the mug in his hands.
"What happened at the conference?" Merlene asked in a low voice.
"They won't let it slide away easily." He said and Merlene pursed her lips, "They said if she does anything again then they'd lock her up for a lifetime." Merlene's eyes widened and her fists clenched.
"They can't do that." She spoke through her teeth.
"They can't, I won't let them," Jord said and Merlene frowned noticing something lurking underneath.
"What else happened there?"
Jord told her everything that had exchanged between him and the council members which made the veins on her arms bulge out.
"You know she'll never agree to this and besides, why marriage? They could've thought of something else, anything else." Merlene hissed.
"I don't know what to do anymore..." Jord said and Merlene noticed the weight on his shoulders.
"I'm sorry. Just because I wasn't with her on this quest it went out of hands." Merlene said and Jord looked at her.
"Don't apologize, Merlene. It's not your fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have always relied on you to shadow Sera without watching over her myself and taught her about what needs to be done and what not." Jord said.
"Yet, I didn't live up to your expectations," Merlene said looking down at the table.
Jord placed his hand on her head, "Merlene you are like my older daughter. I didn't expect you to completely control Sera when I knew I wouldn't be able to do so myself. You have surpassed me in doing the parenting job."
Merlene felt the tears at the corners of her eyes but she wiped them off before they could start flowing.
"Besides, there's one more thing to be discussed, gather Nerion, River and Desdan in my office," Merlene said as he stood up from the table and walked over to his office after looking once again at his daughter.
***
Nerion Greene, River West and Desdan Bort along with Merlene Vesta were now in Jord Flameheart's office waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Is it about Sera?" Desdan asked as he crossed his arms at his chest.
"No," Jord replied with a serious expression.
"I might have an inkling of what you might be about to say, Master," Nerion spoke up.
"Why don't you shut up and let him speak?" Merlene scolded them and River sighed quietly as he faced Jord.
"Have you heard of the rumours regarding the humans and dragons alliance?" Jord asked making Nerion jump up.
"My guess was right! I was about to say that!" He was so hyped up that he failed to notice when Merlene gripped the back of his head and slammed it on Jord's desk making all the objects jump.
"Please continue, Master," Merlene said as she stepped back, rest stayed quiet.
"The reports are certain," Jord announced making the three pair of eyes widen, Nerion stood back up with the two red streams rushing down his nostrils.
"Bu-But how is that possible?" Desdan asked, "Humans are the weakest species and Dragons are the strongest."
"Not to forget the fact that both of them are our enemies," Merlene added.
"If they come to a strong point of alliance then they could wage a war against us whenever as they'd please," Nerion said as he wiped off his nostrils.
"This really puts us in a dangerous situation, Master," Desdan said.
"What do you suppose we do, Master?" Merlene asked.
"The council hadn't reached any decision yet, so we can't go on doing anything on our own and after Sera-" Jord gritted his teeth, "We can't do anything unless the Council orders us to."
"But we'll have to be ready if the war breaks out," Desdan said and the rest agreed.
"You know it won't be a surprise attack, Des." River spoke calmly.
River, unlike his High Tier companions, was a Unique, he had the ability to use telepathy which had often helped them a lot when there would've been surprise attacks on them. River was one of their Trump cards which was why Jord wasn't too worried but still, he couldn't rely solely on River's ability.
"There's another matter too," Jord said and the four High tier wizards of his guild looked at him.
"It's about Seraphina," Jord said and their ears perked up, suddenly Merlene brought her hand up.
"Yes, Merlene?" Jord asked.
"Was Seraphina allowed to listen in to this conversation?" Merlene asked and Jord frowned for a moment before his eyes widened and before anybody could move Merlene had opened the door and caught Seraphina who had almost ran away.
Merlene grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her in shoving her before Jord's desk. To say that Jord was displeased would be an understatement.
"What are you doing, Sera?" He demanded.
"Well, you were discussing something and I was curious so, I just... I swear I didn't hear much." Seraphina said and Desdan shook his head.
"I don't care if you heard anything or not but whenever I am discussing important matters with High Tiers you are not allowed to eavesdrop!" Jord thundered and Seraphina frowned, it was rare for her father to be this angry at her. It wasn't the first time that she had eavesdropped in their conversation, yet, this was the first time he'd reacted this way.
"Well-"
"And don't try to talk back with me." Seraphina frowned deeply looking down, her father had never been this angry unless she had made a big mistake- maybe it was the Hakov town incident.
"I'm sorry." She said and walked out of the office.
After making sure that she wasn't around Jord continued.
"I have decided to marry, Sera off to an eligible suitor." He said making all except for Merlene flinch.
"What?"
"You know she'll never agree to this, Master."
"She'll burn the guild and that suitor down."
"I have decided to give the mastership of this guild to whoever marries Sera," Jord said and this blew their tops.
"That's ridiculous, master!" Nerion was the first to explode.
"Yeah, I mean it's a next to impossible task to look for someone who'd willingly take Sera as his wife and moreover, you're giving him this guild. What if he's not a suitable person?" Desdan said.
"I agree, Master. I don't know under what circumstances you have come up with this but it will clearly lead only to chaos." River said.
"I have come up with this decision because I want my daughter to live freely wherever she lives. I don't want her to be locked up for a lifetime." Jord said and the three looked at each other and then at Merlene who'd been quiet for the whole time.
"And you agreed to this, Merlene?" Nerion asked and Merlene stayed quiet.
"I have sent the letters to various eligible wizards throughout the country, so, we could wait till someone shows up. Till then, we'll have to convince Sera for marriage." Jord said.
"Way to drop the sword, Master. You know she'll smoke anyone who'd talk about marriage to her." Desdan said.
"I don't even want to try to suggest her anything." Nerion said, "I don't want to repeat my past mistakes."
River stayed quiet pretending he wasn't in the room which made Jord's attention go to Merlene.
"I'll talk to her but I don't know if I'll manage to convince her." She said and Jord sighed with relief.
"I just want you to let her know of what the situation is, don't break it to her all of a sudden, as we don't know who will be accepting our proposal," Jord said and Merlene nodded.
"Yes, Master. I'll do what I can."
"I just hope everything goes well," Jord whispered to himself as he leaned back in his chair.