Private Tales The Return Home

[Alistair Wren]

A ship pulled into the dock at Elbion as the cusp of night fell. Standing on the deck, Alistair Wren gazed wearily over the harbour, his robes singed and stained with his master's blood. He was filthy, and hadn't taken a bath since leaving Amol-Kalit. The nightmares still plagued him every night, but he was glad to be home at the very least. Gripping the edge of the ship, he furrowed his brow as he looked upon the spires of the college, a pang of sorrow weighing on his chest. Eyelids half-lowered, he swayed in time with the ship, the rush of the water calming him as it splashed up against the hull.

The sailors tied the ship up and lowered planks, one of them nodding to Alistair.

Groaning, he hauled Maho's bag over his shoulder and walked across the length of the ship, his staff in hand. Without acknowledging the sailors, he pulled his feet towards the plank and walked down, then stepped onto the jetty. He froze, looked up and beheld the spires of the college, unchanged as it as had been since before Maho and himself had left.

When he looked down, he saw a figure standing at the edge of the jetty. He squinted, and as the fog cleared, he realized it was Selina. She must have come to meet him after he had sent word for the college. A rush of relief overcame Alistair and he stumbled forward, holding onto Maho's staff for dear life. Simply the sight of her was enough to calm him. In the days it had taken him to get back to Elbion, he longed for their conversations about magic, only they could not attend Professor Sparhawk's lectures anymore and the thought tugged at his chest. Breathing in, Alistair whimpered slightly and trudged across the length of the jetty, then wrapped his arms around her.

"Selina, oh god," he gasped.

A pause followed.

Arms wrapped around the other young mage, Alistair buried his face in her collarbone. He wasn't sure if she minded him hugging her, and ordinarily he would have asked, but his mind was too overwhelmed to even bother. Eyes clenched shut, he swallowed, his temples throbbing as he contained himself. He hadn't cried since the battle, and wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of Selina. He took a long, deep breath and sighed, then withdrew his arms from her and stood upright, shoulders slumping as he huffed.

He was a mess. Robes burnt and blooded, hair matted with smoke residue, all he wanted then was a desperate bath and something to eat. Bottom lip hanging open, he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down as he gathered his thoughts.

"I need a bath," he groaned, "I'll tell you everything once we get back to the college," he coughed, his voice strained and exasperated.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

The ship came into port and Selina was waiting, as were many others looking out at the war damaged ship hoping to glimpse someone they knew.
She didn't fully understand why they had left in the first place, but many people had gone to fight in some war in a faraway place that she hardly knew about, including Alistair and professor Sparhawk. Things were far from peaceful while they were gone, but now wasn't the time to get into that.

As the ship came into port and people started filing down the gangway there was a soft chorus of weeping as couples were reunited... or informed of the loss of their friends or family. Selina kept herself in check as she watched the gangway. As far as friends went Selina wasn't lacking, but Alistair was one of the very few people that she felt she could trust with her life.
She thought she would die of relief when she finally saw Alistair come down the plank. He looked like shit, but he was alive at least.

As he reached the bottom of the plank and began to approach her as he caught sight of her she was about to run to him... But then she saw what he carried in his hand...
That staff...
She knew that staff... She stopped in her tracks and just stood as if struck by a fatal blow, if her heart had leapt in her throat before, it now dropped to her stomach. Her mouth was open as every step Alistair took brought him closer and further confirmed every detail of the staff that she knew belonged exclusively to Maho Sparhawk.
She was in shock, no tears even came to her eyes until Alistair hugged her. That first contact squeezed the tears out of her and she wept and put her arms around him as well. He even smelled like shit but that hardly mattered now.

She thought he said something about a bath, so she nodded her head in agreement, not taking her eyes off the staff. Everything was muted for her, words seemed distant and faces blank. She could hardly tell if she were crying anymore, it was as if tears came from her eyes, but her face would not react, her throat not even tightening to sob. Only her face would be wet as the shock seemed to kill her last bit of resolve.

She said nothing through the whole interaction, she only nodded and took his arm as she led him through the city to the college. Her eyes seemed dead for the longest time until the tears finally blurred her vision and she was forced to blink and wipe them away, but that was a mistake as that seemed to open the floodgates. She cried openly as they walked, sobbing into his bloodstained and battle burned sleeve and shoulder.

 

[Alistair Wren]

Alistair felt Selina shake as he held her. Grasping her cloak, he buried his face in her collarbone for a few minutes and breathed in. He heard her sniff, and could tell right away that she knew what had happened. His eyes widened and he pulled away, feeling Selina tug at his robes. He smelt dreadful, but she still didn't have a problem with embracing him. He stood at his full height and held out Maho's staff, inviting her to touch it if she wished.

Selina remained silent. Holding Mah's staff to his chest, Alistair wrapped his arm around her and walked down the street, towards the college district. The lamps were only just being lit, and brightened the city fog with their sparsely placed glows. As he walked, Alistair felt Selina tremble. She must have been holding back when he had first arrived, because she burst into a fit of tears as she walked beside him. Brow creased, Alistair held her to his side and rubbed her shoulder.

"Hey, shh," he cooed.

The spires of the college emerged into view. They walked past the guards, who let them past and through the front doors.

The halls were eerily quiet, with only a few students padding around. They exchanged whispers, with some asking "where's Professor Sparhawk?" and wondering aloud where Maho had gone. Alistair and Selina went to his dormitory , where he put Maho's staff down, along with his bag, then walked into the winding staircase outside.

A draft blew through the tower, chilled by the walls of stone. The torches were sent into a flurry as Alistair and Selina walked past them, their flames bathing the staircase in a yellow balm. They walked to a room at the foot of the tower, where one of the college acolytes drew Alistair a bath. He stopped midway in the door, a hand resting against the frame. The young mage stood dutifully beside the bath, waiting for Alistair to come inside and undress.

Withdrawing a breath, Alistair turned around to face Selina, waiting for her to leave if she wished to do so.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina didn't touch the staff when he offered, not right away. She didn't follow him to the showers, though she did linger in his room when he set the staff and the bag of Maho's belongings down while he went to wash himself.
She looked at the staff of the wizard professor. And for once in her life she cursed her mind, cursed its ability of near perfect recollection. She remembered every class she attended with Maho as the teacher, every conversation they ever had in vivid detail and all the things he taught her. She thought of him as her friend, not simply her professor.
His loss was a tangible pain in her chest, a void in her heart.

She looked down at the staff. Never had she seen it without Maho Sparhawk, and she had never even considered that she might go through a time in her life without him... But she's been realizing a lot of things lately, things about herself, things about the world... Friends were dropping out of her life left and right, enemies were crawling out of unlikely places. It's like the hag in the maze had said... The college doesn't hold all the answers.

She reached out a tentative hand and brushed her fingers against the battle damaged wood. This staff was the conduit of many powerful spells. Who knew what arcane secrets that brilliant brain of Maho Sparhawk hid... Who COULD know them now but the dead...
As she ran her fingers along the intricate tracery of the blade notched staff she felt power radiate from its depths. She a magical residue was still stored in the specially crafted wood, perhaps even a few enchantments were left. She considered going through the bag of Maho's belongings to see if she could find his spell book, but she didn't want to do that without Alistair, she didn't know if Maho left any instructions before he died.

She turned away from the staff and left the dorm, going to the student lounge where she would wait for Alistair. She wanted to hear what had happened, why they left and why they were suddenly involved in a war and why Maho died. There was a light meal prepared in the student lounge, so she sat down to wait for Alistair to be ready. Until he arrived she did the only thing she knew would calm her, she wrote in her spellbook.
Looking at it now was much different than what even she remembered, it never had this many notes or spells in it before. She had come a long way... Thanks to Maho.
Lots had changed in the nearly two years she has been at the college. Her hair was darker now, and may even deepen to a full black as she grows older. Her birthday was coming up, the second one she would celebrate away from home. Things were never going to be the same.

 

[Alistair Wren]

After leaving Selina by his dormitory, Alistair scaled the winding staircase and arrived at the shower block at the foot of the tower. One of the younger students had drawn a bath for him and waited by the doorway, hands folded and head lowered beneath his hood. With a wave of his hand, Alistair dismissed him and the young mage swished away. Sighing, Alistair closed the door and slumped his back up against it, his mind overburdened by a myriad of emotion, emotion he didn't know how to process.

Steam rose off the surface of the bathwater, catching the light of the candles standing at each corner of the room, their glow cutting a swathe through the darkness. Pulling his back off the door, Alistair strode forward. He undressed, kicked his filthy robes aside and gripped the edge of the bath, then slid a foot beneath the surface. Relief ran through his skin and caused him to shudder, the hot water soothing the aches of his joints. He stepped in and sat down, the water rising to his collarbone.

Lowering himself beneath the water, Alistair lounged for a minute. He ran through the events of the past few days in his head and breathed in to calm himself, his heart still beating. If Maho and himself had just run when they had the chance, he might still be alive today, but Alistair had to go and be brave. He wondered if he could have saved Maho had he stayed with him in the stables, the thought pressed his mind. Closing his eyes, he submerged his head in the water and washed his hair, then gave himself a good, full clean with a bar of soap. He shaved, rinsed and stepped out, then dried himself.

Wrapping himself in a towel, Alistair walked back to his dormitory and dressed in a set of clean robes. He scaled the tower, walking through a corridor and arrived at the student lounge, where Selina was waiting by a table.

A meek smile crept onto Alistair's features. He blushed, but was too pale for it to be noticeable. He huddled under his nice, clean robes and shivered. The air was quite cold. He walked to the table and sat down, where a light meal had been prepared for both of them. Apprehensively, Alistair picked up his fork, poking fussily at the vegetables. He hadn't the appetite to stomach them. Sighing, he thumped his hand down, grabbed his cup of mead and took a good long sip.

"Your birthday's coming up soon isn't it?" He smiled.

Looking down, the line of Alistair's mouth drooped and he tapped his fingernails against his cup. He knew Selina would want to know what happened.

Without facing her, he looked at the table and said, "Professor Sparhawk was sent to Amol-Kalit as a representative of the college, he was going to discuss terms with the Shah, I just went as his student," brow creased, he sighed.

"The college wanted me to go to gain more practical skills, heh," he shrugged, laughing slightly.

A pause followed. Withdrawing a hand from his cup, Alistair rested his elbow on the table and leaned his cheek on his fist, struggling to find the words to describe what happened next.

"We were attacked at midnight, Gerra's forces launched an attack on the Shah's camp," his tone dropped to a dire level. Hands resting on the table, he breathed in and sighed, "Professor Sparhawk and I, we tried to escape, but he..." Alistair's words trailed off. He whimpered, not wanting to reveal the horrific details of Maho's death to Selina. Breathing in, he shook, his heart beat increasing in speed.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

As Alistair spoke all Selina could do is nod. He was laughing and smiling more than he should, trying to lighten the mood.
She listened to his explanation and could tell how torn up he was. She was torn up too. When he was finished she rested her face in her hands, her elbows on the table. She let out a shuddering sigh before rubbing her eyes and face, like a physical attempt to force herself to focus.

She finally spoke, but her throat was tight and her mouth dry, her voice was small and quiet.
"I am... So sorry... Nobody should have to go through that... Profess-... Maho Sparhawk... I'll miss him."
She took another slow breath.
"What will you do with his belongings... Did Maho leave any instructions... A last will and testament? We should go to the faculty..."

She picked up a fork and stabbed a little piece of fish. It smelled good, reminded her of home and the way her mother always prepared fish. She put it in her mouth without really tasting it. So many things have happened, almost like the college had been cursed or something. Or perhaps it was Selina that had been cursed, she did have an encounter with a witch a few months back during the tournament between the College of Elbion and the Dreadlord Academy.

She sighed and set down her fork, giving up on trying to eat now that everything had lost its flavor. Maybe it was time to go home, clear her head and rediscover her purpose. The words of that hag still echoed in her mind, 'The college doesn't have all the answers.' And the vision, that continued to replay in her mind on occasion ever since that tournament, arose to her mind once more.
Her future was not one of possibilities, as the philosophers say, but filled with certainties. That vision was her in some future, performing a ritual with the ghosts of dead wizards that she now knew was the ritual of learning, which is why they all presented their spellbooks.

She never thought that she would be one of them, but wizards were known as recluses and hermits, people who have dedicated themselves to studying the mysteries of the arcane without any interruption from the outside world. If she were to become even half the wizard that Maho was, she wasn't going to do that by purely studying at the college. Like the witch said, they don't have all the answers. And she needs to find answers, real ones. And she was beginning to realize that she could only do that on her own... Sometimes the cost of magic wasn't always a physical tax.

She scooted her chair back and stood up, meeting Alistair's eyes. "I'll be going home for my birthday... I need some time to collect my thoughts and... and to mourn."
With that she turned to leave the student lounge.

 

[Alistair Wren]

While Selina nodded, Alistair laughed, although it was only a means of coping with his grief. The ends of his mouth drooped and he hung his head, his chest deflating as he sighed. Selina placed her face in her palms and sighed, rubbing her eyes. Alistair's empathetic senses surged, letting him know how devastated she was. She seemed to be taking the news of Maho's death worse than he had, and he had seen it first hand. Brow creased, Alistair reached out and took Selina's hand.

He rested it on the table and rubbed it, trying to console her. When she said that she was sorry for what he had been through, he forced a smile, "it's alright, I'm more worried about you." His brow creased and he looked up at Selina, rubbing her hand fiercely.

"Will you be alright?" He asked, more concerned for Selina's well-being than his own. She seemed distraught, and he wanted to do all he could to relieve her pain.

A pause held the air between them. Grabbing his fork, Alistair poked around at his dinner, but could not stomach any of it. He breathed in and sighed, the flicking of the candle to the side of the table making him increasingly anxious. Letting go of Selina's hand, he slowly pulled his head around to face it, then jerked back, his heart beating rapidly. He took a breath, and held it for as long as he could, then released it slowly to calm his nerves. Ever since he had returned, he could look at barely a flame without panicking.

Selina asked if Maho had left any instructions, to which Alistair nodded, "he told me to hand his staff over to the college, which is what I intend to do tomorrow."

"He left me his spellbook, where he was writing his tome on pyromancy," Alistair said, his tone small and regretful. Fork in hand, he looked down at his dinner and pushed it away, unable to eat any more, "I'm going to study it to help overcome my fear of fire."

The flame to the side flickered and Alistair jumped in his seat. His heart leaped into his throat and he found himself grabbing Selina's hand. Breathing in, he composed himself and slowly let go of her hand, pulling his head around to face her. She mentioned that she would be going home for her birthday, and that she needed time alone to reflect, as did Alistair. The grief he had felt upon losing Maho had been replaced with rage, and he was longing for a chance to get back at the man responsible for his death.

Selina finished her dinner and stood. Unable to eat the rest of his, Alistair shoved his plate aside and rose to his feet, then walked beside her as she left the student lounge.

"Me too, I'm going to finish my exams and spend some time away from the college," he said, his tray in hand. He wanted to study Maho's spellbook, perhaps he could spend time with the dragon keepers and study it there. He wanted to see how Iliris and Alzros were doing.

He walked up to the kitchen area and emptied out his leftovers, then left his tray on the bench.