The Everburn Mage

1. Rune Ransford

"What a mess," James yawned, leaning on the car parked behind him.

Through half-open eyes, he read the tabloid with mild annoyance. Like last week and the week before that, all attention seemed to be garnered around the ever troubling "Missing Mage" case. As his frustration settled, he asked out loud, and to nobody in particular, the question he was certain lingered on everyone's mind, "Why haven't they given us the order to act yet?". The major scrunched the paper into a ball and tossed it into a nearby trash can. "If I had it my way I would've found them by now."

"Maybe they're just terrified of letting the infamous and reckless Major Griffin spearhead such a delicate case?" 

His first lieutenant, a woman with a set of short, bright red hair, strutted towards him carrying a paper cup in both of her hands. Unlike his navy-colored military uniform, she donned the black jacket of the combat mage division. Though she never showed it, he was fairly certain she'd be able to level the entire city with her magic abilities if she wished. Nevertheless, she walked amongst the masses as an ordinary human no different from the rest. 

Handing him one of the cups, she continued, "I won't hold it against them if they decide to put you on the bench. Whenever you're given the "go ahead" it always ends in a disaster."

"Oh. Do give me a little credit. I can acknowledge I'm not the best soldier in the military, especially when compared to you combat mages. However, at least I can say I haven't yet bitten the bullet. Something to be proud of, is it not?"

"Please don't jinx yourself, sir," she sighed. "And with that dangerous mouth of yours, I'm surprised you still have a job."

"As if they could afford to cut me loose! Not only would they be losing a valuable asset, but they'd also probably end up missing me too much, anyway."

"Or they'd celebrate."

"Sabine, my dear, if you truly detest me so greatly, I could always write you an official letter of transfer. Why I'm certain there would be plenty of generals and majors lining up to have the strong and beautiful Grimdark Mage at their disposal," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Not to mention, you might even be given a higher pay. Now wouldn't that be nice?"

Without his consent, Sabine struck him on his shoulder with a powerful slap, forcing the astonished major to spill some of his drink onto his much-coveted uniform. "A valiant effort, sir, but you'll have to try harder if you intend on replacing me," she smirked. "And please refer to me by my proper title when we're on the clock, we've been over this. Show some professionalism for a change."

"Like you're one to talk about professionalism," he grunted, tending to his bruised shoulder.

Walking to the opposite side of the vehicle, she directed a finger at the cluster of stains dotting the navy fabric underneath his uniform's collar. "Do be sure to clean up that mess, will you, sir? Wouldn't want others to stare, would we?"

"No," James sneered. "I suppose we wouldn't."

Pulling out a cloth from his pocket he began begrudgingly wiping the spot of brown. As he opened the door of the car, James quickly took notice of a trio of soldiers running past them. They pushed and shoved their way through a crowd of faceless pedestrians and hurriedly rushed to the end of the sidewalk, disappearing around the corner. They seem to be busy, he thought. Sliding into the car and taking his seat, he found Sabine placing her radio on the dashboard before revving up their vehicle's engine.

"Was it Dolton?" James inquired.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, does he have anything to report? Or was this just a waste of time?"