Tale of Four

Falling foward, Alice leaned against the neck of the horse and sighed, looking out at the grey wasteland. It had been a few hours since leaving, and whilst at first she was excited, now that she began her travel, she couldn’t help but be bored. Everything was the same. The Black tress with white leaves. The ash-coloured ground. The sunlight that was more white than anything else. She had wondered when the things the two had warned her about would show up, but forgetting the horrors, she hadn’t even seen a normal animal.

”How long will this take?” Alice asked, with a listless tone, getting a roll of the eyes from the two.

”Depends on the weather as well as if we encounter anything on the way. Give or take a week and a half.” The scarred woman replied, earning a deep sigh from Alice.

”Can’t I just travel through the doors to get there? Surely someone in the MadHouse would know which doors they are, if this place is so protected against Magi.” The large man looked to the side at Alice with a confused look.

”What do you mean by travel through the doors?” It was Alice’s turn to look at him with confusion.

”You know. The Mad House...”The man raised his hand and stopped her from carrying on.

”I know how the Magi travel. I mean, what doors would you travel through?” Alice raised an eyebrow, and the large man realised, ”Do they not teach you this? The entirety of Last Hope has a single door. Every settlement north of it does not have a single one. Your kind are a disaster, and every measure is taken to ensure you never come unexpectedly. Why we must take you to Lord Raven baffles me.”

”You’re lying.” Alice snapped, unable to believe it. ”If you have no doors, how do you make your houses?” The woman chuckled.

”He has no reason to lie. Randolf and I are some of those who constantly travel the Deadlands, under Lord Goodsons orders. Memorial, Muted Cry, Vigilant Watcher. We have been to them all. You won’t find a door, and if someone makes one that works, they are heavily punished.” The scarred woman stared at Alice’s back. ”I don’t know how you can find the concept of having a house without a door strange, when you live in a tower that connects to all doors. That is far stranger.”

”It just is,” Alice said, unable to explain her reasoning, and moved on. ”But if a single door exists in that guy’s home-”

”Lord Raven.” The large man coldly said.

”Raven, whatever. If he has a door, why can’t I just go back and travel through it?”

”I don’t know.” The large man said with a deep sigh, ”I would much prefer that, as would Elva, but this is how things are going to be.” The man turned away from Alice and looked ahead again, watching the road, his eyes scanning the surroundings every few seconds. Alice couldn’t help but feel bored again, the conversation dead. ℯℯ𝑙.

’I wish Chesh was here.’ Sighing, Alice reached into her satchel. Pulling out a vial of blue liquid, she popped the cap and flinched at the putrid smell. Grabbing her nose and squeezing, she tilted her head back and threw its contents down her throat. After a minute, the effects became clear, and her eyes became drowsy.

It was common for Magi to study through the night, soemtimes spending days on a single piece of work, and because of it, they needed potions to counteract those they took to keep themselves awake. Although she shouldn’t have drunk it without having the other potion in her system, Alice couldn’t stand it. She had already suffered for a few hours; any more and she felt like she was going to go insane.

’I hope soemthing interesting happens when I wake up.’

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Looking at Alice slump foward and take shallow breaths, Elva poked her before squeezing her cheek. When that didn’t work, she took out a small knife and poked Alice, not enough to pierce but just enough to make someone flinch away from the pain.

”This bastard,” Elva said in disbelief, a sound similar to shattering glass trailing after her words. ”She’s asleep.” Randolf looked at Alice, and his eyes widened, seeing her faint smile as she peacefully slept atop the horse.

”Good.” Randolf happily replied, ”We don’t need to deal with her anymore. So many questions. I knew the Magi were knowledge-hungry, but I didn’t realise how bad it was.” With a tired sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, ”Why does Lord Raven even wish to see this girl? He should just force her back.”

”We can not understand Lord Raven’s thinking, Randolf; we simply must do as he requires.”

”I know, I know. But I just don’t like this mission.” Elva chuckled and stared at Randolf with a smile.

”You honestly prefer the other work we do. Escorting food convoys is far more tedious than this. At least on this mission we travel light and can get to where we need quickly. A convoy sucks. The random delays, the slow travel, and don’t start when you have idiots who leave the settlements for the first time.” Elva shook her head. ”They are just as bad as this one with how curious they are.”

”Yeah, but unlike her, they calm down when they encounter soemthing they don’t want to. Her...” Randolf let out a large breath and shrugged, ”I don’t think she will.” Staring at Alice, he sighed. ”Even still, she’s weird. I’ve only met two Magi, and neither of them was like her. Granted, they were old men who understood and respected our rules, but she is too excited about everything.”

”She’s still a child,” Elva said, getting a shake of the head in response.

”Have you noticed?” Randolf paused and turned to Alice. ”She hasn’t said our names once. We have been travelling for roughly five hours. Not once has she siad it; in fact, I don’t think she remembers them.”

”I just said it before she put herself to sleep.” Randolf shrugged and turned ahead.

”And she probably forgot it instantly. She isn’t like other Magi.” Randolf raised a hand, seeing Elva wish to say something out of the corner of her eye. ”You ain’t the one who usually deals with the talking side of things, Elva, so you wouldn’t know. I may have only met two, but I know enough. Whilst the Lords all distrust the Magi, they don’t exactly hate them. For the most part, the Magi are useful trade partners. All those tasks and missions we do for materials. Other than the food, what do you think happens to most of it? The Lords trade with the Magi in return for crops, potions, herbs and whatever is needed.”

”You’re lying. Everything I heard about the Magi-”

”Is true but not the entire truth.” With a small smirk, Randolf traced a finger down his face. ”You got less sociable after that, not like you were anyway, so it’s not a surprise you don’t know.”

Placing a hand on her bicep and pumping her fist in the air, Elva smiled. Randolf chuckled at her telling him to fuck himself before calming down and carrying on.

”Down south, beyond the Divide, they don’t barter for things nor have collective ownership. They use money. Lord Pathway has a stockpile of the southern coin, apparently, and when I asked him about it, he said the south doesn’t like dealing with the houses of our lands because we have nothing to offer they don’t already have, nor want our goods anyway. Plus, there is only one way in, as we don’t have a port, which makes trade even harder. That’s why the Magi are good partners. They want our stuff and can arrive via any door. It’s also why the majority of them are quite respectful about our customs.”

Looking to Alice, Randolf’s gaze narrowed. ”She, however, is not like them. For one, only Older Magi lead the trades, as they can be trusted to be respectful. But more than that, she is far too detached. It’s strange; I don’t quite know how to put it. And then Lord Goodson said something about her friend who came with her, apparently. He spoke to me before we left. There were no signs of an intruder, nor did he pick up any arcane power being used.”

”What are you getting at?”

”Either her friend is a very skilled Magi, able to avoid Lord Goodsons’ watch, or she is not real. Seeing as how she can’t remember our names, I’m willing to bet she has an imaginary friend. It’s quite sweet if you forget what she is.”

”So she is insane.” Elva grabbed her forehead and groaned, ”Fuck, why is she being allowed to take this route. If anything, she is right and should go via the Madhouse.”

”It’s just an imaginary friend,” Randolf said with slight concern.

”It’s an opening into the mind, Randolf. You know how many things out there will abuse that vulnerability.”

”Relax. Those things only exist around Lord Dreamscape’s land, and when they do migrate, it’s during a different season. She will be fine. Lord Goodson warned me for this reason.”