Optic Mage

Lesson 03 - Duchess Graham

Three magic attacks beelined towards Aiken, two of which were balls of devastating fire. If he got caught in that, he would look much like the enflamed houses and shops around him. The third spell was a strange white bullet-like projectile.

Aiken formed a wall of water to protect himself, but physically moved out of the way so the white spell would miss him. He then took that same wall of water and warped it around the heads of his attackers so they wouldn't be able to breathe.

The third attacker tackled Aiken to the ground before he could do anything with magic. The masked man dropped his knee on Aiken's damaged forearm, then pummelled him with punches. His fist became bloody as he overpowered Aiken, but a large mass of ice suddenly formed around the man and bound him in place.

Aiken retreated and made extra ice for his soon-to-be-swollen face. Didn't think I could do that in the heat of the moment. Ice magic huh? He looked to the burning houses and shops, then used water to out the fires. There were more attackers throughout the city, but it seemed like the city guards had their hands full dealing with them.

A carriage suddenly zoomed past him. The driver was trying to get away from a couple masked men who pursued it, but he got cut-off from even more of them.

Damn. Aiken jogged forward to catch up with them. They prepared fire magic, but didn't get the chance to finish casting because Aiken encased the attackers in more ice. He created an opening for the carriage, but the driver didn't take that route. In front of him, there were even more men.

You gotta be kidding me... Aiken closed the passage in front of them with a blockade of ice too tall to climb.

Suddenly, two huge balls of fire broke the corner and changed coursed, heading right for the carriage. They were probably around the size of a fully grown grizzly bear. Aiken inhaled and formed three thick domes of ice around the entire carriage and himself. The fire spells shattered two of the domes and managed to damage the last dome as well.

Aiken was feeling his stamina being sapped as he continued to put up more defensive ice domes. Or perhaps it was the blood loss from his forearm that made him feel a bit light-headed. However, he steeled through and continued using ice to bind the enemies. Ice magic excelled in subjugation compared to water or wind magic

The carriage door opened and the driver quickly told him to get in. He obliged. Staying out there was a risk he would rather not take. They turned the carriage around and took a detour.

When Aiken took note of who was in the carriage, he noticed a beautiful brunette woman, a fat, sweating man, and Lana. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Aiken smiled at Lana, his bully.

"You," Lana said contemptuously. "Why are people attacking us?!"

"Heck if I know," Aiken said. "Anyone got a knife or something?"

The blond man pulled out a small dagger, and thanked Aiken profusely for saving their lives.

"Eh, all in a day's work. Don't mention it." Aiken cut the sleeve off his robe and tied it tightly around the deep wound, with the kind man's help of course.

They finally got to a part of the city where the guards had the attackers handled. They all spoke about the situation and how alarming it was. Something like that was definitely not normal in the city they were in, and anyone could discern that by how badly prepared the city guards were.

Somewhere along their discussion, the man said he hoped the grieving families would have justice. Aiken's mind came to a crashing halt. He stopped thinking about the mysterious group, and instead worried about his family. "Sorry, gotta go. You should be safe now."