Fight or Flight

Prologue

Simon

I glanced around the room for the hundredth time. This place was much, much too crowded for my liking. Villagers relaxing after a hard day of work at their local pub, loudly enjoying each others' company as they traded some of their hard earned money for drink and food. Travelers settling down after a long day's journey, exchanging gossip as they rested their weary feet. Staff refilling drinks, bringing food out from the kitchen and arranging lodgings for the travelers. All of them bustling around and adding to the noise level that was already much louder than I was comfortable with.

And worse than all of that, a mage was sitting at a table on the far side of the tavern.

It took everything I had not to walk out the door and get as far away from the mage as I could. Only the fact that the mage was obviously drunk and slurring his words as he embellished some tall tale about a battle with bandits kept me from fleeing – that, and the strange message I had received telling me to meet here tonight.

I checked my shields that held in the magical energy that came with being a Wellspring for the hundredth time, then ducked my head back down to my drink. Best not to attract attention by staring. I was already risking enough just by being here. My cousin had ten more minutes. If he wasn't there by then...

The door swung open before I could finish my thought, and from the corner of my eye I recognized the person who had asked me to meet him here. Connor, a distant cousin of mine – though not a Wellspring himself. He lacked the same 'boring' feel that most Wellsprings spent our lives working on – his brown hair was a bit too neat and clean, his clothes were a bit too expensive and tidy, his glances around the room were a bit too interested in what the other patrons were up to. He had the feeling of quiet money, or of at least being comfortably well-off, and while he might not end up being remembered by most people, he would still create more of an impression than I preferred to leave.

Especially with a mage in the building.

The least he could do was mussy his clothes up, or buy some that looked a little more used. My own cloak was probably a bit more expensive and nice than it should be, but it was the one nice thing I had, and it was easy to take off or turn inside-out to help me blend in. Everything else I wore was boring and unremarkable, just like the man behind...

I blinked as I realized another man was right behind Connor. He was even better at avoiding notice than I was, and I hadn't thought anything of him at first. It took me another second or two to place him, but his name finally came to mind – Robert, a Wellspring I had met long ago, back when I was still a boy. Connor waved at me, attracting my attention back away from Robert, and I frowned as the two approached my table.

My nervousness was not helped at all by the sight of Robert. Having two Wellsprings in the same room like this only increased the chances of us being discovered, and I didn't like that on a good day, much less with a mage nearby. I triple checked my shields – both to avoid detection from the mage, but also to guard against the annoying 'jolt' that sometimes came from two unshielded Wellsprings touching – and tried to keep the worry out of my expression. Something serious must have happened for him to risk meeting with me, and I did not want to add to the risk by making the rest of the tavern wonder why I had suddenly become worried when he had walked in.

I nodded at them as they reached my table, and used a leg to push a chair out for Connor. "Took you long enough. I almost left; I hope this is worth it." I shot a pointed glance towards the drunk mage still gleefully rambling on to the small crowd on that side of the bar, just in case they hadn't pegged the threat there, then looked back at the new arrivals. "What's this about?"