Twin Mages Book 4: Convergence

Chapter 7: The Mission Underway

Venus swings his hand forward, sending vines to separate his crew from Christy. "I'm very sorry about your parents, but we would like the chance to explain ourselves if you'd allow us just a moment of your time."

Christy looks from side to side down the road leading to her motel. "Can you not be so public with that?" She asks. "There aren't a lot of mages around here."

Venus retracts his vines and bows. "My apologies, ma'am."

Aiden steps forward. "Listen, Christy. You lost your parents, I get it. But there are people after you. Terrible, awful people." He explains.

"How bad can they be?" Christy chuckles. "I've seen them." Aiden says. "You've got to trust me here." Christy rolls her eyes. "Now why in the world would I trust you? I just met you!" Aiden manifests a massive dust storm, whipping debris violently around his body. "We've both got a spirit in us."

"And?" Christy asks. "What's your point?"

Aiden's warm demeanor shifts cold quick enough to give a person whiplash. "These people killed my dad, and almost killed my mom. If they want you, you won't win alone."

Christy sighs. "Okay, fine. We can talk in the morning on one condition." Aiden smiles. "Alright. Name it!"

Christy points to the three men. "I've got about two hundred pounds of mulch and fertilizer in bags out back. You three load it into my greenhouse, and I'll make something for your group to eat and set some spare rooms up so you all can have a place to stay tonight."

Jordan chuckles before being elbowed in the ribs by Karina. "You heard her." She quips. "Hop to it!"

***

"Hey Rouge, you wanna talk for a bit?" Leo asks, sitting in a fetal position. He's in front of a lake somewhere in Southern Canada, about twenty yards away from a set of tents where the rest of his team is sleeping.

Leo sees the fire sprite emerge from his chest, floating in front of him. "What's on your mind, Leonidus?" He asks.

"I'm just worried." Leo says. "There are so many ways this plan can go wrong, and I still don't even know what we're trying to do." 

Rouge nods. "It is troublesome, indeed. It's not unlike Birsha to be against the rest of us, but he's never gotten this close to actually winning."

"What do you mean?" Leo asks.

Rouge sighs heavily. "Since the original Mage's children battled, Birsha has held a vendetta against the rest of us. We've been the spirits of legend. The celebrated governors of the world, keeping the peace and maintaining balance through the centuries, and Birsha has been relegated to the role of evil conqueror due entirely to his ideology and actions. This centuries old dispute has resulted in the deaths of all but eight of us by each other's hands."

Leo looks out to the water as Rouge continues, watching the surface ripple from the calm breeze chilling his bones.

"The Mage I was hosted to before you died of old age. He was a hermit in Venezuela named Hector who used his magic purely for survival. Cooking, lighting his fireplace, and burning brush. It was a simple life, but a life I was grateful to spend not running."

"Running from the other spirits?" Leo asks. Rouge nods. "Yes, in an attempt to survive. I've told you there's only one way for a spirit to die. It's time you knew what it was."