It took Shinra the rest of the night and part of the early morning to make it back home. He had to make a splint and tie it to his leg with torn scraps from his shirt. 'I really need to stop trying to cross the river with massive injuries,' he thought. 'I can't wait to just lay down and sleep. I'll have to figure out how to get some healing for all of these injuries later.' He hoped one of those potions, or maybe two, would be strong enough to at least mend his leg. They worked on the gouge in his shoulder. Shinra limped towards his house in the brightening light of the morning. Strangely, a lot of people were up and around the area. By this time most people had either gone to the city to work in the fields, or ply their trades. He often had nothing but silence at home during the day. "There he is!' someone cried

 “Seriously, how rich was this guy?”  Shinra couldn’t help but say out loud.  The more he saw of Mage life, the more he hated them.  He suspected Wintersbane hated them all a little too, that is why he pursued mage criminals so doggedly. They were standing in the sealed library and magical laboratory of the Muskox family, a prestigious and old family of mages. Every wall was a floor to ceiling bookcase, and they reached more than 20 ft in the air to the edge of the vaulted ceiling. More cases were found in the middle of the expansive space, as were many tables filled with scrolls and papers and curious artefacts. Some of these tables and artefacts were covered in cobwebs, lending the whole area an aor of frantic disuse and history. Mr. Nole Muskox lay face up at a cluttered table, a few metres in

The Deputies’ salon was a large space, but it was filled with tables, large tomes and several large artefacts used in crime solving. There was a mop in the corner too. Shinra looked at it as a glorified supply closet. The other deputies all viewed this room as a stepping stone. Service in the Sheriff’s office could lead to good things further down the road for these youths. Even if they didn’t stay in policing, they could jump to the military, or find a role in politics. The parents of these kids had impressed on them the importance of making all the right connections while they are here, and to be perceived as the best.‘Why do these shits all care about ‘who looks the best’, rather than just working hard?’ Shinra wondered. Maybe because he had to work his entire life just to eat, but the games and posturing of these young mages didn’t make any sense to him. He watched as Dave leaned against a desk, laughing and chatting with one of the female deputies. Hannah. She was beau

Shinra shrugged Dave off, but Dave didn't really notice. He had gone from full on murderer to young child seeking approval in the span of a moment.Captain Spars was a big man, not strong like Wintersbane, big like a bureaucrat. Big like a mage. He rarely saw the deputies because, as far as they knew, he was in his office all night. He took his job very seriously, he’d been a captain for 80 years, and a sheriff for well over 100.Dave thought the man just lacked ambition.  As a captain of the police, he could surely have used his influence to progress politically and be appointed to a better role somewhere. But he had stayed in the Sheriff's office, slowly growing older. Chump. Dave wouldn't be here long, and this commendation was just the first step. ‘Why I might even become a Sheriff right n

Shinra was a little intimidated. He wouldn't admit it, but he was shocked at Wintersbane's martial arts display. In a world of unstoppable magic, even the strongest 'knights' only practised with swords.Shinra's father had told him that martial arts were the domain of the oppressed. He never said it could overcome magic, but he felt it was shameful to stay weak. The unspoken assumption Shinra had was that mages didn’t need martial arts, so they didn’t use them. ‘What was the point of all that training if mages could be this good at Martial Arts too?’Shinra had been trained by his father for as long as he could remember, and he continued his practice even after his father was killed. He wasn't sure he could do what Wintersbane had done so easily though. Not that he was admitting he was better.“I didn't think mages knew how to sully their hands like that. What would your friends think if they saw you fighting without using any magic?”“Haha, well I'm sure they would laugh. That