Night 60: North of the Institute

[girlsandgadgets]

[From here.]Edgar crossed the wall with relative ease, his hand slipping from the stone as he fell. The snow cushioned his landing, crunching beneath his boots. He had to admit that the military's shoes were preferable for snowy travel to the slippers issued by the institute. Though the chilly wind nipped at his bare face, the fire in his chest

Comments

[bodhiandspirit]

[from here]When Rita reached the top of the wall, she stopped there, surveying the area as best she could with the snow that was being tossed about in the wind. Below, she could see footprints leading away from the wall, out toward a clearing

[girlsandgadgets]

The incantation on his lips, Edgar was unaware anyone had approached the clearing, his concentration on the spell necessary to cast it. He had never been much more than competent as a spellcaster; he not only felt rusty, but knew whatever kept the patient's powers to a minimum- or had dwindled them to nonexistence, as had been his case before his sleep study- was working against him. Another moment, and he had it- he called the fire spell by name, feeling the magic build in his palm before it sprang from the ground before him. The flame skittered along in short bursts, one right after the other, before taking hold of a tree in front of him, lapping at the trunk with a scorching tongue

[bodhiandspirit]

He was just standing there. It didn't look like he'd found anything or was going anywhere. Rita was beginning to wonder if she was wasting her time, when a spark of light brought her attention back to the man... and to the stream of flame that appeared before him.

So that's what he was doing.

Between the look of the spell and the way the man fell to his knees immediately after casting, Rita could only assume he either lacked experience with Landel's, or with magic in general. She had to wonder what kind of magic that was, though. This looked like a good time to find out.

Rita stepped out from behind the tree and began to approach the man, snow crunching beneath her feet.

"I was wondering what would bring someone all the way out here by themselves," she commented loud enough to announce herself, stopping and crossing her arms once she was close enough to talk without raising her voice. There was a self-assured smirk on her face. "What kind of magic was that?"

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar spun as he heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow, sweat running down his temple as his breath slowed, each one marked with a cloud of steam from his mouth. He eyed the stranger warily as she addressed him: a girl, not much younger than Terra- the smirk on her face was more reminiscent of someone else he knew, though. Confidence showed on her every feature, from her voice to her smug look. The fact that a girl of her age was so far from the institute alone said that much- she was apparently assured in her own ability to survive the dangers presented by the night. Whether or not she actually had the ability was yet to be seen.

He straightened his posture, crossing his arms to match hers. "You sound like someone who knows something about magic, so why don't you tell me?"