Alexei continued to watch the battle raging below. The bigger of the two men darted forward, his body shimmering with the telltale orange glow of an enhanced agility enchantment, and slammed his fist straight into the stomach of the smaller man. But despite the agility enchantment speeding the bigger of the two up, his speed was no match for the smaller. Somehow the smaller of the two seemed to bend around the larger’s fist, moving like he was made of water. With a swift upward motion the smaller man lashed out at the larger’s elbow with a strike that was infused with golden energy. The elbow inverted with a sickening crunch that could be heard as far away as the crowds were standing. The smaller man wasn’t done yet, either. He took a step forward, moving closer to the larger man’s chest and struck with a mighty two fisted blow that was launched so fast it seemed to scorch the air around it in a small halo of fire. The larger of the two men shot away as if he had been launched

Alexei woke with a start. The smell of rust and smoke assaulted his senses, dragging him out of his slumber and back into reality. His eyes opened with a snap, what he saw made his stomach lurch in disgust and horror. The walls were painted red with blood, and at the foot of his bed was the dripping red decapitated head of Neave. Bodyparts littered the room, scattered like the forgotten toys of a child. “N-N-Neave…” Alexei managed to choke out, barely able to keep himself from throwing up at the sight before him. He didn’t understand what had happened, how it had happened, or even why it had happened. The assassins shouldn’t have sent anyone new out yet. He hadn’t begun his attack on the slave markets of Alandria. The prickle at the back of his neck intensified. “The nilbog,” He seethed under his breath, “The nilbog did this.” A peal of phantom laughter cackled from nowhere and everywhere at once, floating around the room, as disembodied as the head of his ward before him.

Visiting the mage temple wasn’t something that just anyone could do. While many religious temples would allow believers and other members of the public to come and go as they pleased, mage temples were something quite different altogether. They were places of work, not worship, and for an ordinary person to arrive there would lead them to be in a very dangerous situation where magic could be unleashed against them at any given moment. As an initiate with a basic understanding of magic and a foci at his side, he would be well equipped to deal with the day-to-day goings on in a mage temple. That being said, his foci was technically an illegal implement, and arriving unannounced at the temple would still cause some pretty big waves throughout it. In other words, he was going to have to be pretty smart with how he went about gaining access to the temple. His best bet would be sneaking in over the rooftops and cornering the person that Lyla had suggested he should talk to one on one.

The inner sanctum of the Mage Temple was a place Alexei had never expected to see for himself. Long ago, there had been a time when those who wielded the power divine and those who practised true magery got on just fine. But these days the animosity between the two sects of power made such collaboration near impossible. That was why, as his mage guide rapped her knuckles on the large ornate door of the inner sanctum of the Mage Temple, Alexei felt a shiver lance its way down his spine. The only reason Mages didn’t fight on the front lines was due to the nature of the enemy, they devoured magic like it was an afternoon snack, and his body didn’t have that luxury. He may have been able to take on one mage, maybe two if they were surprised by his exploding powder tricks, but to be invited into the inner sanctum would leave no room for error. If they decided that they didn’t like him, and they wanted to be rid of him, there was nothing Alexei would be able to do to combat them.

The night was still a long way off, and that was the only time that they would be able to do battle with the Nilbog. So instead Alexei and Risa had a plan in mind, they were going to test Neave’s magical potential. All beings were born with at least some access to the magic of the universe, but not all beings were given that access equally. If Neave didn’t have enough influence to unlock the higher strata of magical ability then there wouldn’t be much that she would gain from our time in the Mage Temple. If she had potential, however, then she could end up becoming a mage just like many of the others in the temple. In all honesty, Alexei didn’t care too much if Neave was able to become a mage or not, but he knew the girl would feel left out if she didn’t have the potential within her and he’d rather her not have to deal with that. Besides, having someone else who could do magic around would be a great help in the future, no matter what venture they ended up exploring after