Now that his wife was no longer with him, Rothgar often caught himself reading her notes in her old magic tome late at night. He was a shadow of the man he used to be. Muscles had faded away into nothingness, leaving his arms looking like twigs. His vibrant black hair was now dull and knotted, and behind his dark brown eyes lay a deep, persistent sadness.
Reading her notes was a way to remind him of his wife and perhaps give him clues to her mysterious death. He adored those notes; they made the pain of losing her slightly less, almost like being able to speak with her again. He would give his life before parting with this tome.
Rothgar instantly started to soak in the energy from the heat around him; red mist swirling in his eyes. He prepared for what he knew was coming—someone was in his home. This was his sanctuary, and he would not tolerate intruders.
Rothgar’s voice boomed throughout the keep, amplified by magic. “I know you are here. Make yourself known, and I might let you live.”
A cold voice responded from the shadows. "So you're the mighty mage that lives in this pile of crap you call a home," sarcasm dripping from the assailant’s lips as she stepped through the doorway, her arrow pointing at Rothgar. "I’ve come for the Tome of Flame. Just hand it over unless you want the last thing you taste to be my arrow.”
Rage burned in his eyes as Rothgar spoke firmly. “You will never leave here alive. You have disgraced my wife's memory by entering this place!”
As the words passed over his lips, Alivia loosed her arrow while simultaneously drawing her daggers. Her aim was true, but she had learned never to underestimate a mage.
With the arrow heading straight for Rothgar’s head, he shot forth a ball of flame, disintegrating the arrow mid-flight. “You call that an attack? A kitten would put up a better fight.” Laughter echoed through each word, taunting her. Before he could say anything else, Alivia was already on him, one dagger slashing towards his throat, the other stabbing towards his ribs.
Surprisingly nimble for his appearance, Rothgar dodged the attack and threw out a quick wave of heat to distance himself from his attacker. Once on stable footing, he took in more heat and threw another fireball.
Alivia barely managed to dodge behind a table as the fireball exploded on the wall behind her, throwing shrapnel everywhere. She was going to have to be more careful not to underestimate the mage's speed and agility. That last mistake had almost cost her life.
Quickly rolling from the table to a pillar, Alivia subtly threw one of her daggers, narrowly escaping the table that burst into flames as another of Rothgar’s fireballs hit.
Rothgar winced as he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. Blood trickled down his arm from a fresh wound. He hadn't even seen the dagger coming. “Much better. You actually drew blood with that attack. This might actually be a decent fight after all.”
But even as he spoke those words, his vision was getting hazy from the poison coursing through his veins. He fell to one knee and then toppled over onto his side as Alivia slowly approached the dying man. “I’ll be taking that from you now,” Alivia said coldly. She never wanted anyone to get hurt, but she had to do what needed to be done. Besides, her heart was long dead to the guilt of murder.
As she bent down to take the tome, Rothgar stared up at her with a new look in his eyes. And with his last dying breath, he said with a twinkle in his eye that he thought was long gone, “I was too much of a coward to take my own life. Oh, how I have missed my dear Elizabeth. Thanks to you, I can finally see her again.” With those last words, he faded from this world, his soul finally free.
fantastic fiction, quick fantasy, adventure, fantasy, magic
Comments