The Sorcerer's Gate

ten

"What the fuck is going on?" Aster said still wavering between shock and outright confusion. She looked over at the dead boy's body to find blood pooling out of his ears, staining the dirt road.

It was Elouise who slowly knelt to Aster's level, offering up a short-winded smile. None of them knew how to react properly to what had just happened. Alyx was looking at Aster now from his stance, his mouth again a thin line, like maybe he felt she was overreacting and his patience was soon wearing thinner by the second.

"Let's get you to the castle," Elouise said as she tried to help Aster up.

"No!" Aster shouted, pushing her body away from Elouise. "I'm not going anywhere with you people!"

Her breathing was labored now. She could feel her ears ringing. Alyx is a Sorcerer, she thought. Could all of them be Sorcerers? Her body felt like it was going into an extreme state of panic now. Everything around her felt dizzy like she was on a carousel trip to Hell.

Their voices seemed to fade in and out, or were they fading completely? Aster could hear some of their discussion but would think back to it later and wonder if those words were ever exchanged or not.

"I think this is an overreaction on her part," Alyx said, clearly bored of this whole situation.

"Alyx!" Elouise snapped at him, looking from Alyx to Aster's state of consciousness losing its battle every second.

"I bet she's going to faint. How much do you want to bet, Alyx?" Jean said.

"I think we're much too late on bets, Jean. She's already fading," Alyx replied.

"Will you two quit it!" Elouise said, eyeing them with daggers for eyes. She looked back at Aster who seriously didn't look well and brought her hand to the back of Aster's head.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aster would wake up in the castle's Parlor Room, but the last thing she remembered about what happened after the boy died and how she got back to the castle was someone's arms picking her body up and carrying her away from the scene.

Now, she was awake, slouching on a loveseat. She woke in a panic to find Alyx, Elouise and Jean across the room, staring curiously at her.

"Welcome back," Jean said with wide eyes.

Aster looked around the room. The fireplace was roaring. A blanket was covering her body. Alyx looked off into the fire while Jean and Elouise kept their attention on Aster.

"What happened?" Aster asked, a genuine question. She began to think that maybe she hallucinated it all. Perhaps, she never made it back to Jaxtyn in Telarm that morning and she had been asleep dreaming an awful dream this whole time. "You," Aster said staring directly at Alyx, who now turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. The nonchalant nature of his expression was enough to twist Aster's insides. "You... killed that boy."

Elouise and Jean were quiet. It seemed that everyone in the room was awaiting Alyx's response.

"So?" Alyx said, unbothered and bewildered that now it came off like he was indeed mocking her.

"So? You... killed him. With your hand," Aster countered, now feeling fear swarm her body, back and forth, hitting each limb like a pinball machine.

"It's actually the mind. He killed him with his mind," Jean added.

Elouise shot Jean a look that read: Not the time. That's not the point, idiot.