Work Text:
When Alderwin was ten he lived in a castle above the sea, filled with luxury. There he was called “young master”.
When Alderwin was fifteen he lived in a magic academy within a city, filled with knowledge. There he was called “prodigy”.
When Alderwin was twenty he lived in an abandoned house in a forest, filled with cobwebs. There he was called “Avaldo the Mysterious”.
“Al, I’m bored.” Came the expected whine.
“So you keep saying.” Avaldo focused on the pinch of slaarg he was stirring into the flask on his desk. There couldn’t be any lumps or the mix would become toxic.
Purrdey pouted at him from where she lounged on a moth eaten couch. “It’s not even dark yet. I could catch us a nice rabbit and be back before any of the vamps drag their lazy asses out of bed.”
“No.”
Reaching for a second pinch of powder Alvaldo paused, the silence that should have been filled with whined complaints had stretched on for some time. Looking away from his work Al scanned the room for his moody familiar. Of course she was nowhere to be seen.
“Pur- pur-pur-pur-“ he broke off with a snarl, flinging the flask from his desk. It was ruined now anyway. Bloody cat!
He grabbed his magic kit from the desk and stormed out the room. Naturally the front door he had spent days warding for protection was standing wide open.
Crossing the overgrown porch Al flicked through several charms strung on a leather thong. He settled on a coin-like disk with symbols carved around it and a hole punched through the centre.
He raised it to his lips and blew. The odd whistle it produced shimmered with magic before dissipating. It was a summoning for his familiar, as long as that annoying cat was within hearing range she should find the pull irresistible.
He waited, anxiety climbing as the shadows of the surrounding forest deepened with the encroaching dusk.
Avaldos pessimistic thoughts were interrupted by a happy yowl. “Al, look I found a guest!” From the treeline emerged Purrdey. Next to her was a tall woman armed and clothed in leather armour leading an equally rough-looking horse.
“Inside!” He snapped, pointing at the still open front door.
The woman frowned at the odd behaviour. “Is there somewhere I can stable Sorrel? He’s worked hard today.”
“hor-hor-horse inside.”
“Are you sure?” Al nods and points again.
“Oh yeah, the vampires did eat our horse when we left it outside.” Adds Purrdey cheerfully. “Probably best if you bring him in as well or you’ll be stuck here like we are.”
“Wait, vampires?”
“Inside!” It was too late; the sun had set. Avaldo could see a pale figure in the woods, approaching at a run.
In an automatic response his lips began forming the syllables for a protection spell, his hands flicking through the symbols that had been trained into his very bones. Beast. Moon. Chapple.
“Shit.” Cursed the stranger and there was the hiss of a sword being drawn.
Then it happened, as it had ever since his ‘accident’, the words became stuck in his mouth. He tried again and once more the word would not come. He stuttered, eyes widening as he sensed the amount of magic gathering in the looped word, burning his tongue and battering against his teeth.
The vampire lunged from the treeline, snarling.
Abandoning the word, he opened his mouth with a croak. Releasing the power, he hastily twisted his fingers into the Lance symbol, directing the broken spell away from them.
The forest exploded.
The air was filled with the reek of vaporised sap and wooden shrapnel rained down upon them, steaming and stinging where they touched exposed skin. The vampire was nowhere to be seen, but there would be more. A whole village’s worth.
“Inside.” Alvaldo gasped through cracked lips, slumping back.
He was caught by an unexpectedly muscular arm. “By all the gods Magus! I’ve seen magic slinging before, but I’ve never seen magic like that!” The stranger was hauling him across what was left of the front yard and into the house. His numb arm managed to pull the door shut behind them, safely sealing them in for the night.
Purrdey had dragged the horse into the lounge room, where it had already managed to shit on the recently cleaned floor. Al didn’t care, tomorrow morning it was their ticket out of this hell hole.