Half Breed

Severance

Before my mind could start processing what just happened, Vaughn directed me out quickly, saying that Levi had only left a few seconds before I arrived.

I was walking briskly in the direction he pointed, my cowl drawn, but my mind was still in the meeting room. All this time, Eliora was there, and apparently no one else but this unfortunate half-breed could see her. What was her objective in all this? This situation was getting more and more absurd every time I learned something.

"Levi," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder to further capture his attention.

"Oh, hey Emily. What do you need?" he asked, continuing to stroll.

I looked around a little to ensure the already few people out on the dirt streets didn't pay attention to us and softened my voice, "What do you know of a magic door with a chest inside it?" I questioned and it almost jarred him out of existence. He stopped, held onto my hand and opened a portal somewhere.

I was in an unrecognisable jungle, but still in the Gale Islands somewhere. Levi on the other hand was nowhere to be found, although he clearly passed through the portal as he was the one who pulled me into it.

"I told no one about that place," I heard his voice, but it felt like it came from all directions. Pinpointing where it came from was impossible. "And I know damned well there no longer exists any mages with the ability to find it," his voice slipped into a cutthroat tone, "so tell me, how do you know of that place?"

Is it his personal study? No, can't be. Otherwise the vision wouldn't have showed us sneaking into it. He'd just walk in like he owned the place. "I had a dream. That's all. More importantly, you want that chest open, don't you?"

"Can you, open it?" his murderous voice suddenly vanished and now the sound of a haggler emerged.

"Probably," I shrugged, "do we have a deal? You take me there, I open it."

"Fine," he appeared behind me suddenly, "at midnight, we'll meet in the council room."

Must he desperate to get that box open, I thought. For him to agree so easily, he probably tried and failed to unlock it himself.

We parted ways for just a few hours and met up at midnight. The elusive boy opened a portal to another place covered in heavy forestry. A lone cabin with dimmed lights hid skilfully in the midst. "This place is another Gale Island," Levi informed in a whispery voice, and casted a subtlety spell on me.

"What kind of mage are you?" I asked, mimicking his whisper.

"Stealth, illusion, deception and the like. I gather information. A spy if you will," he said, not at all reluctant to. We finally got to the door weld shut by magic. "Get comfortable," he advised and took well near an hour to unlock the door.

"Why did it take so long?"

"This door, has a locking mechanism that resembles a maze. To unlock it, the user must pass an extremely small amount of magic through it and find the exit, however, if you hit a dead end, the whole maze changes. To this day I've never met a lock so complex."

"Oh," I said, not fully grasping how frustrating it must be but understanding where his occasional grunts of irritation were coming from. Finally, we entered this mysterious place and just like my dream had shown, there was a little chest smack dab in the middle of the room, on a table surrounded by books. The floor was covered in pages of literature, books, magic circles and runes. The wall couldn't even be seen because bookshelves hid it well. This person was an avid researcher, but what was the research subject, I wonder?