Chapter 2 - "The Letter"

Chapter 2

I was quickly wakened from my nightmare by a swift knock at the door. Somehow I had managed to nod off in the middle of the night without my knowing it. The knocks came once again, pounding against my eardrums.
"Give me a minute!" I exclaimed as I sat up from my bed. I grumbled as I brought up a weak arm and traced it through my hair, yawning loudly. I stretched and looked around my room, trying to remember why I had came in here last night to begin with.
"Come on, Gerard. Just open the bloody door," came a voice. Immediately I knew it was Vlad.
"Just wait you impatient cur," I jested. I stood up and walked over to the door and unlocked it. I opened it to see Vlad standing in front of me, as I had suspected. "Aren't you supposed to be handing out letters to others?" I asked him, slightly confused. Vlad was in charge of the retrieval and distribution of mail amongst the guild hall mages.
"Yes, and there's one for you," he said, handing me a sealed envelope. I took the envelope and examined it. The front of it was rather blank, except for my name scrawled across the front in fancy cursive.
"Who's it from?" I asked.
"No clue," said Vlad. "I don't open and read other people's mail. I just deliver it," he said as he walked off down the hall to hand out the rest of the letters to the other mages. I shut my door and walked over to my desk. I sat down in the worn ebony chair set in front of it and grabbed my letter opener. I cut the fold of the envelope in one fell swipe and put the letter opener back in its stand. I opened the envelope and read the message inside to myself.

Dear Gerard,

I hope you're doing well. I know it's only been one night but I just want to keep in touch. I don't know when we'll be able to see each other again... I'm at the Clouded Judgment Inn which, ironically, is just down the road from the north gate of the city... I was going to come back, but a guard had came in and reported a lot of bandit activity on the road, and I was scared to try and go by myself. I may be a mage but I hate fighting... I just can't stand it. And I know the bandits wouldn't have left me alone. They would've tried to kill me. They're all the same... I hope this letter reaches you by Todas. The guard said it may be a while before the local Courier Horse comes by to pick up mail. Oh well... at least it will get to you! I just wanted to write to you anyway because you and Vlad were so nice to me. I would hate to lose touch with you. I'll be here until Wodnas. Bandits don't sound too friendly as I said before... so I'm going to play it safe. No need to write back; I don't think the Courier will deliver a letter to an Inn unless they're sure the receiver will be there for a week or so. I'm only going to be here until tomorrow. I'll write you again when I get to the next city! I promise!

Always,
Claire
I smiled as I closed the letter and set it down on my desk. She hadn't even been gone for a day and she was already writing to keep in touch with me.
Maybe I could catch up, I thought. I know where the Clouded Judgment Inn is... it's about a six hour walk on foot from the north gate...
I stood up from my desk, deciding to go. I walked over to the corner of my room and grabbed a shoulder bag. I opened the dresser next to it and began to haphazardly shove my clothes and belongings into it. After I had finished throwing all my items into the bag I shut it quickly and slung it across my back. I grabbed a steel dagger off a shelf and strapped it around my waist, walking to my door. I opened it and saw Vlad standing across the hall, leaning against the wall.
"Don't say anything," he said, raising his index finger. "The letter was from Claire, right? And you want to go with her?" he asked.
He knew me all too well.
I nodded slowly as he walked towards me and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Don't forget me! And make sure to come by often. You know things aren't fun around here unless we have some clever scam to confuse Trista!" he said, laughing as he patted one of my shoulders. I looked up at him and smiled.
"Of course! And thank you..." I said, shaking his hand.
"Don't fret about it. Now go! It's already almost noon," he said, shaking my hand back. I took off down the hallway, and then stopped abruptly.
"Hey, Vlad," I said, turning around. He looked over at me. "If Trista wonders where I went, tell her a spell backfired," I said, laughing.
"Good one!" he said back, laughing with me. "Will do!" I took off up the stairs, making sure no one was around to see me escape. Seeing that no one was around, I took off out into the lobby and out the main door. As soon as I stepped out a freezing wind slapped me in the face. That was the only downside to staying at a guild hall in a city where it snowed almost every day year-round. I shook off the feeling as I donned my cloak and hood, proceeding down the walkway to the northern gate.

Hours passed as I walked down the lonely dirt road, trees on either side of me. I sighed heavily as I continued walking, thinking about Vlad and the guild. I was quite surprised about how Vlad hadn't tried to stop me. Maybe he truly did realize how I felt about Claire.
I was broken from this chain of thoughts as I heard a snap in the bushes to the right of me. I stopped in my tracks and held my breath, listening intently to everything going on around me. I took in a deep breath as I recalled Claire's letter. She had mentioned bandits on the road. I exhaled as I closed my eyes and stretched my left hand out, casting a spell upon myself. It was a spell to detect life within a certain area of the caster. I slowly opened my eyes and looked to either side of me. Within the bushes I saw a faint glow of magic radiance. Every person and creature in the world had at least some form of, perhaps, untapped magic within them. The life detection spell picked up said hibernating magic and displayed it to the person who cast the spell. Hence the ability to "detect" life. A smirk spread across my face as I watched one of the figures magical glow reach for something near his waist. I assumed it was a dagger or sword of some sort. I stretched my left hand a couple more times, casting another spell or two upon myself.
All at once the four figures dashed out of the bushes, attempting to assault me. I took a quick step back as they all ran towards the spot I was standing at earlier, crashing into each other. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the bandits trip and stumble over one another in such disorganization.
"Oi! Shu'up!" said one of the bandits. He was obviously a barbarian of some sort. He was dressed in crude leather armor that actually looked like it offered very little protection. He had a thick beard and dirty, grimy, matted hair, all these facts coming together to help support my theory of these bandits being mere barbarians.
"Ah! Don' worry 'bout it. Just kill 'im!" said another as he got to his feet and charged at me with a war hammer the size of a small child, dressed in the same, crude leather armor as the other. I smirked as I rose up my arm and opened my palm towards the charging bandit. A jolt of static electricity jumped from my palm to my forefinger. Upon seeing this the bandit stopped his charge and stood there in confusing, staring at me.
"Uhn... wot wos that?" he asked, pointing at my hand. I laughed again as the electricity sped up, jumping all over my hand.
"He's one of them wizurds or wotever! Run!" he exclaimed as he turned around to flee. I bent my arm back and thrust it forward once again, the lightning flying off my hand. It struck his steel war hammer, coursing through it and into his body. I watched the bandit stop as his body jolted and shook from the lightning. It wasn't enough to kill him, I made sure of that. But it was just enough to give him a bit of pain as a warning. After a moment or two the shock was over and the bandit fell to the ground. Upon seeing their comrade fall, the other bandits cried in fear and took off back into the bushes that they had come from earlier. I approached the bandit that was lying on the ground and stood above him.
"Don' kill me!" he cried pitifully, cringing up. I picked up his war hammer and held it above his head. He moaned and buried his face in the dirt.
"Look at me!" I exclaimed, pretending to be angry. Immediately the bandit looked up at me. The handle of the war hammer burst into flames as I hung it from its head. The flames worked their way up the handle, incinerating it. Chunks of the handle fell off and landed next to the bandits head.
"Get out of here," I said coldly as I tossed the steel head of the war hammer to the side. The bandit nodded quickly and scrambled to his feet, taking off after his allies through the bushes. "And tell your other bandit friends not to mess with me!" I yelled at him. I stood there for a moment and checked my surroundings. I chuckled to myself as I continued down the road in the direction of the Clouded Judgment Inn.