The Everburn Mage

24. Resolve

Frozen in time, Leora remained quiet with the telephone pressed softly against the side of her head.

When she first heard the news of what happened, she didn't know what to think, or how to react. Her friend she'd known all of her life had been caught assisting in an unofficial case that directly went against the military's orders. 

Those who disobeyed the wishes of Military High Command rarely walked away unscathed. Such punishment could ruin a man or woman's life, following them wherever they went until Ryas called them home. Would such a fate befall Rune?

She heard his breath filter through the speakers. In her mind, there raced thousands upon thousands of inquiries. Usually, Leora made an effort not to involve herself too much regarding Rune's affairs and relations with the military. 

All that he'd revealed to her was that they ridiculed him for his past, and saw him as a traitor to his people due to his father's actions. However, pulling stunts like this wouldn't do him any favors in clearing his name and proving his worth. 

Dipping her chin, she could only construct a single, solitary question. "What were you thinking?" she muttered, tightening her grip on the phone's handle. "Rune, I thought you promised me you'd stay out of trouble, not end up on the front page of the local paper! Now everyone in Primrose is starting to dub you as a traitor again. And I can only imagine the situation is worse on your end. Honestly, what motivated you to do such a..."

"Daze, the mage you met when you visited. He's dead," Rune suddenly answered in a shattered tone of voice. "And it's my fault..."

Leora clutched a hand to her chest. "...What happened?"

"I was distracted...acted without thinking," he explained. "And it was due to my stupidity that I lost him."

"Slow down, just...start from the beginning."

"Okay, well, that "Jerk Captain" who came to see me when we were kids, happened to approach me one night at my mage bracket. Made me an offer to join his secret operation in order to stop a group of Gyrakian terrorists. He told me their leader was a fire mage, like me. So I thought that, maybe..."

"You finally found the person you were searching for," Leora deduced.

"Yeah, I did," Rune confirmed. "And I was wrong. It amounted to not a damn thing. The terrorists got away and Daze...anyway, it hardly matters now. Listen to me, Leora, I've been thinking a lot recently and...I'm going to turn in my letter of resignation."

"Wh...What?!" she stammered.

"You heard me, I'm leaving the military."

"But Rune, what about everything you've worked so hard for? Your oath to your family? The promise we made? Are you just going to give up, and put to waste all the sacrifices you've made?"

"I...I underestimated how strong my resolve actually is. When I fought the Gyrakians by myself, I was so blinded by my hate, my rage. Reason and rationality left me, and my instincts took over. My fire magic is dangerous. According to the medical mages, I nearly burned most of them to death..." Rune said, his croaking voice deteriorating with each word. "No matter who they are, or what they've done...I don't want to kill anybody. I don't want to be a murderer."

"Rune..."

"I'm not the mage I thought I was. Not the kind of person I thought I was either. I...don't know what I am anymore. And if I can't trust myself or my magic, then it's only a matter of time before something like this happens again and I end up taking a life, validating everyone's suspicions of me. So it's better if I just left, before I cause even more trouble. When you get right down to it, I guess I'm just too much of a coward."