The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 32: The Night of the Forest, Part 2

Joseph grabbed Alexander by his shoulder. He shouted, "Alexander, what's going on?!"

Alexander's crooked smile was still strewn across his face. "Our friends. They're what's going on."

And with Anastasia's exhale... Pale blue light burst upward, crackling and crashing into the night sky. The lightning branched off into jagged lines, bringing forth the sight of dark storm clouds that hovered above them.

She spat out another breath, already panting to herself. "Why was that so difficult?" she mumbled to herself.

"You really gotta learn efficient energy usage. It's an important-"

"It's not that simple," she muttered. Anastasia took in a deep breath and stood upright. "I'm now considering the possibility that what we saw was a random signal and we just gave away our location."

Alexander stared at her and nonchalantly muttered, "Eh." And just like that, he disregarded the entire prospect of danger.

"I'm serious," she told him. "The Golden Dawn's commander lady had light magic."

"It wasn't that color, though. Remember how she caressed your face and everything? Right before she tried to kill us? That was weird."

"Yep." Anastasia spat out a sigh and slowly shook her head. "Why are you-"

"Because fate's weird," Alexander immediately interrupted. He already knew what she was going to ask. If he truly believed Lumiel and the others were just a bit away, why was he still standing there?

He smiled to himself and repeated, "Fate's weird. And I wanna see just how weird it can be."

And just as he muttered that, a bit further in the hillside, closer to the town, a pillar of flames shot out into the sky. The glowing crimson column quickly faded in just seconds. But those seconds were enough. The source... was just a couple hundred meters away.

Alexander's smile widened. "And that's Leonard!" Alexander said amidst his laughter. He immediately turned back to Anastasia. "We have to go," he told her.

Anastasia stared at him and nodded.

"Joseph..." Alexander said, turning to him and the Hunters. "Just, uh... Stay here for a bit. Things are starting to get good," he said, still smiling.

The Hunter swallowed his dry saliva. Alexander and Anastasia were only kids. And yet, everything had become crazier the instant they joined with the group. "But, wait-"

And before he could say anything else, Alexander and Anastasia burst into the forest and into the night. In seconds, they had disappeared from view, dashing towards the other Virtues.

It was only a matter of seconds of them speeding through the forest that Alexander nearly crashed into a man. Well, he did crash.

His eyes met Liam's as they collided. Liam was pushed back into a tree as Alexander's feet simply skidded across the ground.

He slowly rubbed his forehead, wincing as he touched the point of impact and letting out a sigh. Once again, his eyes met Liam's.

He quickly got up and walked towards them, practically shrugging off the fact that Alexander had knocked him back.

"Well..." he said, staring at Anastasia and Alexander. "What's up, guys?"

Alexander grinned. At the same time, Anastasia silently waved at him. "Doesn't matter, does it? Where are the others?" she asked. "We saw Leonard's fire just a minute ago."

Pointing with his thumb, Liam gestured to the side. "I ended up with him and Giovanna. I'm just faster than them," he said with a smile. "They should be here in a second or two."