MAGES: Blinding Light

Chapter 2

John followed Archer down the hallway until they came to a staircase at the end. He knew the staircase led to Archer's room of course, but he had never been inside before. The door to Archer's room was always locked and he never let anybody in. It was clearly a big deal if Archer felt the need to take him inside.

John was beginning to worry when Archer hurriedly pulled out his key and unlocked the door. What had made Archer drop his mug on the floor in fright and why did he only trust John with whatever he was going to say? John knew the news of this upcoming battle was shocking and incredibly stressful but it was awfully strange for Archer, who was normally calm and collected, to react in such a way.

John felt cold hands grab him by the arm as Archer pulled him into the room. He was dragged in so quickly, he lost his footing and fell face first on the floor with a thud. Rubbing his now aching nose, John looked up to see Archer shut the door and immediately lock it behind them. As John stood up, he thought it would be a good time to quickly have a look around the room. It was worth noting that Archer's bedroom came out on the other side of the mountain, opposite to the main part of the house. His bed was up against the wall facing an enormous window which looked out of the mountain and at the vast open fields of pink and yellow flowers.

The marble built walls and roof were painted a bright orange colour, different to the bed sheets which were a blood red. To the right of John, lay a desk covered in strange papers with unknown symbols on them. John couldn't make out what they said even if he tried really hard. On John's left, there was a small table and two chairs. There wasn't anything on the table worth noting, but it was layered with a thin table cloth so John just assumed it was were Archer ate.

John couldn't quite understand why Archer felt the need to always lock his room. Intrigued by what secrets this room could possibly hold, John took a few quick pacers around the room. Soon, his eyes lay on the strange writing and books Archer had lying on his desk. Once again he tried to see what any of it meant. His thoughts were interrupted when Archer walked over to stand beside him.

"So," John started a friendly conversation, "what did you want to speak to me abou-"

"Take a seat." Archer murmured as he pointed to the table and chairs on the other side of the room.

Managing to tear his eyes away from the strange writing, John followed Archer to end up taking a seat opposite him. He anxiously waited for Archer to speak. John was extremely interested in what Archer had to say of course, but he was sure it wasn't a good thing.

"So, as you may know, it was a couple years ago when-"

"Yes?" John eagerly cut Archer off.

Archer paused awkwardly before going on. John apologised for his rude interruption.

"So a couple years ago, you may remember when you first met me... Clearly you remember when we first went to the light mage castle in a hurry because of Cooper's injury?"

"Of course."

"And do you remember that I stayed back in the hospital with him?"

"Yes I do."

"Well you see, it was there that I met someone. Someone unlike anyone I've met before and, I feel like we had a connection. What kind of a connection you may ask we'll... Love at first sight I suppose? If it is a thing of course... Her name is Emma. She's a light mage and-"