Abbernathy and Magick's End

(20) - Illuminating -

☆

A FLURRY OF activity unfolded in the Wizard's office, an unconscious Wizard at its center. Nira, the muscular woman manning the visitor's desk at the Acadium had hefted the Wizard over her shoulder at Mandon's panicked behest. She'd then moved with lightning speed, like a hill cat, sprinting down corridors and leaping up the stairs, three at a time. She kicked in the office door, one of its hinges snapping and sailing through the air. Splinters covered the ground. Kellog was deposited gently on a long leather couch, where a whole new round of panicking had begun. 

Abby, Sebbi, Lucy and Margo slunk in after the trio, keeping to the walls and bookcases. Abby's heart plummeted as she watched Nira prying the Wizard's jacket off his body while Mandon saw to the Wizard's shoes, taking them off one at a time and laying them on the only clutter-free space on the ground. 

This was all her fault. She'd been so eager to meet The Wizard Kellog, and with one handshake, she'd dropped him to his knees and made him pass out. His staggered breathing now, accompanied by pained groans and winces, was all her doing, though she didn't know what she'd done. 

But it was terrible all the same, and if it couldn't be undone then--

She lowered her head, her knees shaking, threatening to topple her in the Wizard's office. Her body joining the mountains of books and ink-stained parchments. She'd crumble like a biscuit made with too little butter, punishment for accidentally destroying the greatest wizard of the age. 

She could see the headlines spanning the front page of the Triadian Royal Paper: Nobody Knocks out the Wizard Great. 

Calamity of the Highest Order! Wizard Slain, Crown demands Comeuppance! 

Mirea's Greatest Treasure, Plundered by Greedy Hands of Girl Fan! 

Devastation and Death Brewed at the Acadium this week...Kellog funeral to be held a fortnight from date of printing.

Ugh. 

She slumped to her feet, back rested against a bookcase, the hard cover spines burying themselves between her shoulder blades. The discomfort was unwelcomed, but deserved since she might have killed The Wizard Kellog. 

Nira paced before the Wizard's body, her heavy-soled shoes creating ruts in the wood. "Should I get him a glass of water? Or a blanket?" She ran her hands over her arms and glanced at the partially opened window, a breeze lifting the corners of a stack of parchment on his desk. "It is cold in here, isn't it?" Suddenly, her eyes alighted, and Abby sucked in a breath as the pressure of magick barreled down on her shoulders. An ache shot through her head, sparks dancing over Nira's palm. She eyed the hearth at her left. "A fire," she mumbled. "I ought to start one, shouldn't I, Mandon?"

He placed a hand atop hers, and the sparks died away. "You have helped a great deal, Nira. I thank you. But leave the rest to me." 

All Abby's focus had been on the Wizard, that she hadn't noticed how disheveled Mandon had grown since their short journey to the office. But his shirt was crumpled, his tie completely askew, his glasses set to nose dive from his face. His hair, silver-streaked and slicked back as though he'd just stepped out of the shower, was tangled, strands dangling in front of his eyes. 

Nira bit her lip, her gaze downcast. She shuffled her feet, clearly torn about Mandon's request. As the Wizard's assistant, he was probably in a more powerful position than Nira, and his words, though kind, had been a command. She should follow it, but Abby could tell her heart ached to stay. To see the Wizard wake up with her own eyes. 

It's what Abby would do, if something had happened to someone she loved. 

"Cheer up, love." Lucy crouched beside her, one hand stroking her  back. She leaned into his touch and the comfort it afforded. His words, however, converted comfort into dread, heaps and heaps of dread. "If he dies, you'll be known far and wide as the person who murdered the greatest wizard of all time. Notoriety and fame at your fingertips. Dare I say, you'll even be offered a book deal." His lips cracked into a grin.