[Mkguild] First Impressions (15/?)

[Nathan Pfaunmiller]

Here's my next part!

______________________________________

            Lucy was still thoroughly exhausted when she and Alex were
authorized to leave for Metamor.  She would have resisted, but Alex wouldn't
be daunted.  He had a resolute, yet glazed look in his eyes.  He certainly
knew what he meant to do, but there was still a pain that he pushed back and
tried to hide, but Lucy knew him too well.  They had been patrol mates for a
year now, and friends since long before that.  She had long since learned to
read the feline gaze that made many others avoid eye contact.



            She trudged along behind, thankful at least that they were not
moving quickly.  Although she had had some time to rest, she had been unable
to gather any magic from the lines that crisscrossed this region.  It was a
common problem she often encountered after fully exhausting her magic
supply, and one of the reasons that she spent so much time gathering her
magic every day while on the road.  She hoped that she would be able to
harness the natural wellspring of magic that Metamor sat on, but couldn't
guarantee anything.  Being ready to regain her magical charge was something
she couldn't decide, it simply happened when her body was ready again.



            The return to the Keep was silent.  Lucy venture to ask about
the search parties that could be sent, but Alex wouldn't answer.  He simply
kept pushing forward, and Lucy knew that silence was never a good answer for
her question.  She had known that getting a search party together would be
hard with the increased patrol activity, but she had assumed that, if anyone
could convince Nestorius to do it, it would be Alex.  Apparently even he
could not move the lion, though.



            They arrived at the gates before sundown, quickly moving through
the streets of Euper before arriving at the gates to the Keep proper.  The
guards asked for identification, and Alex took care of the matters at the
gate quickly.  He told Lucy that he would handle to debriefing himself, and
gave her leave to go find a place to stay for the night.



            Lucy was on the move so much, and besides spent so much time
helping her father, that she had never taken permanent residence at the
Keep.  Instead she spent her time in the inns, resting there before going
somewhere a little more stable while she waited for the next patrol.



            She didn't even pay attention to the name of the inn she stayed
in.  She dropped some coins on the counter as soon as she heard the price,
and let an employee guide her up the staircase to a small, unassuming room
at the top.  The bed was well furnished, though, and that made it well more
than good enough for Lucy.



            The child mage sat down, sighing a bit as she tried to relax
stiff limbs.  Weeks in the field always left her a little worse for wear,
but this one had taken her to her limits, and the added loss of two people
she would readily call friends made it all the more draining.  She focused
herself, trying to find the natural streams of magic that always flowed
through the Keep.



            She finally began to feel them after a few moments.  Normally
she would be able to use the magic she already had to find a reliable
source, but after burning herself out she was reduced to trying to recognize
the natural sources of magic around her by their familiar feel.  She drew
this one in, trying to draw some of it out, quietly focusing on her task.  She
couldn't bring it in for a while, but kept trying, just hoping that she
would be able to capture some of it and get closer to being able to cast
again.



            Finally she felt the flow of mana begin to flow through her,
leaving behind magic that she would be able to us.  She breathed out
quietly, relaxing much more easily now that the strands of magic were within
her grasp, and she could manipulate them.



            Luc sat there for several hours, time passing in a meaningless
march as she sat there.  She was perhaps, not sleeping in the most technical
sense of the idea, but her body and mind were both resting, and as her
reserves of magic started to increase, she began to feel completely
refreshed.



            It was not  light out when next she stirred, and she intended
only to do so for a few moments.  As her eyes flickered, she saw a figure
standing before her, a familiar form that took the appearance of a young
woman.  She had only heard about this apparition by reputation, but her
appearance alone made Lucy stand with a start, somehow coming from a
legs-folded posture to a standing position in a matter of moments.



            "M'lady Kyia!" she cried.  Realizing who it was she was
addressing, she quickly dropped, nearly prone in a bow.



            "Beware, Lucy.  One should not draw from a stream whose origins
they cannot see," a soft voice echoed in her ears.  Lucy realized what she
meant immediately, and quickly tried to trace the source of the stream she
had just been using.  Oddly, it seemed to be a natural stream, with no
strange draws that seemed to indicate dangerous activity.



            "Milady, what--"  She stopped as she raised her eyes, meeting
nothing but the wall of the inn.  She started.  The wall did not move, and
the apparition made no further appearance.  The words of warning seemed to
echo in her mind, but still the image did not show itself again.



            Lucy stood, thinking perhaps she had been in the middle of a
dream due to her sleeplike state.  It seemed somewhat confirmed by the fact
that the stream had proven innocent of any visible evil, but Lucy was
hesitant to dismiss the apparent warning.  She wiped the sleep from her eyes
for a moment, still staring at the wall before her, until at long last she
turned away.



            Perhaps it had been a phantom or a dream, but it may also have
been a warning, and she kept it in the back of her mind.  Perhaps it would
come into play at a later date; if so, she needed to be sure that she did
not forget it.



            There was little chance of that, though, she mused.  The start
it had given her, dream or no, was real enough to jerk her awake and sear
itself in her memory.  There was nothing that could be done for it now,
though, and so she turned to the matters of the day.  Now that she was
refreshed, she realized that her haste had caused her to take a room without
ever stowing her equipment, or even visiting the baths.  She made it her
morning's goal to do just that.  Vague warnings would wait for later, now
she had to return to her life, tired or not.


!DSPAM:4e868e50108781804284693!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20110930/dcf1fcf0/attachment.html>