"Stella!" Hunter yelled, his hand grabbing at thin air when he reached for her. She had vanished in an instant… she must have frozen him and the area around her to get away.
"DAMN IT!" He yelled loudly, slamming his fist against the arm of the chair he was sitting in, the wood cracking beneath the blow. He flinched as splinters dug into the side of his palm, holding his hand as pain shot through his arm.
"What the hell is all the yelling in here?" Solinur opened the door, looking in at his brother in confusion. "What happened?"
"She ran again." Hunter said through clenched teeth.
"Who? Stella?" Solinur looked around the room in surprise, his brown hair whipping around his face. "How the hell did she run? She can't even see!"
"She can see when she uses her magic." Hunter growled, standing and walking over to his staff, picking up the weapon in determination.
"Wait- why did she run, then? Did you make her angry?" Solinur watched his twin as he walked around the room, gathering things together on his bed.
"No, she found out… somehow." Hunter muttered, looking back at his brother. "Did you tell her?"
"Tell her what?" Solinur said defensively. "The last time I saw her, she was talking with you in here."
"Then how did she know?" Hunter asked himself, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Alright, I may be your twin but I can't read your mind. You're going to have to tell me what you're muttering about. I haven't seen you this grumpy since that hot fire magi dumped you."
Hunter shot his brother a glare at the memory and sighed in frustration. "I'm so screwed, Sol. What the hell am I going to do?" He sat back down in the chair in frustration, putting his face in his palm.
"Alright, now you have my attention. What's wrong?" Solinur walked over to sit in the chair beside him, blinking in surprise at the tingle of magic remaining in the air.
"I can't stop thinking about her. I don't know what to do. She probably doesn't want anything to do with me now, she think I want to kill her." Hunter said, his voice muffled from his hands.
Solinur rolled his eyes. "Alright Drama queen. Why would she think you were going to kill her?"
"Because Fram gave us the new quest to do that- they want us to kill Stella." Hunter looked up at Solinur's shocked expression. "Yeah, that was my reaction too."
"Why the hell would they want us to kill Stella?" Solinur asked, shaking his head in confusion.
"She has… strange magic. The sorcerer we were originally supposed to kill gave her different creature's magic. She controls time." Hunter explained, watching Solinur's eyes get even wider.
"Time like… minutes, and seconds?" Solinur asked cautiously.
"Time like, she can speed your age until you're nothing but dust. I don't think she likes it, though."
Solinur squirmed uneasily in his seat. "I'm sorry Hunter, but that is very dangerous magic."
"You've met her. Can you imagine her going around and killing people like that?" Hunter looked up at his brother uneasily. He hoped Solinur wouldn't decide that killing Stella was the 'right' thing to do.
"No… she's way too nice." Solinur rubbed his forehead in frustration. "She's almost as bad as you."
Hunter sighed in frustration. "Either way, I have to find her. I don't care what she said, she can't be out there alone." Hunter said, standing up and continuing to grab things from around the room.
Solinur watched Hunter for a minute before letting out a long and deep sigh. "Alright bro, I'm coming with you. You're in one of your 'I need to do this until it kills me' moods, and that's never a good thing." Solinur stood, watching as Hunter shot him another glare. "Would you stop that? I'm trying to help you."
Hunter paused, looking to his twin in surprise. "You really want to help me find her?"
"Well if she means this much to you, then hell yes. I'm not going to have you moping around the castle for the rest of your life… besides, that sweet little thing's probably stuck half dead in some alley by now. I don't like thinking of her in trouble either."
Hunter blanched at the thought, looking at Solinur uneasily.
"Oh Gods, I was kidding. You're really into this girl, aren't you?" Solinur raised an eyebrow to Hunter in interest.
"I don't know." Hunter said in frustration. "All I know is I can't stand the thought of her in trouble."
Solinur rolled his eyes. "Egads, this is worse than I thought. Alright, let me get my things together, and we'll head out to save your damsel in distress. Maybe she'll have met a little lady friend by now." Solinur grinned hopefully and walked out of the room as Hunter sighed in exasperation.
Stella sat in a bar, holding the cup of water the bartender had given her. Her magic was almost run out… she wouldn't be able to see for much longer. At least most of the things around magi had magic in them- even some of the buildings. It made seeing the city much easier.
"Hey little lady, what are you doing here?" A man's voice said from beside her. Stella looked up, but saw nothing but darkness on either side of her.
"Just leave me alone." She muttered, looking down at her cup again.
"No can do, miss. I've seen some of the other guys around here ogling you like you were the prize hen at a fair. I'm going to have to keep you company for a bit to keep them at bay." He said, sitting in the chair beside her with a riot of clanking metal. What the hell was all that noise?
Whoever he was, he definitely didn't have any magic. All she saw was a black void, surrounded with the soft green glow of the building's walls. It was kind of like seeing a silhouette. He was tall, and broad shouldered- and there were strange sharp parts to his outline…
"So, who exactly are you? Whoever you are you've got the strangest eyes I've ever seen." The man said, moving beside her with more metallic noise.
Oh no… her magic was going to run out soon, and her eyes would go back to normal… she still hadn't found a way to get any food. She didn't have any gold, and was too scared of the magi to ask for work around town.
"Don't look so worried- I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I'm just trying to keep you safe." The man said, sounding frustrated.
Stella ground her teeth in anger. "Why does every man I meet want to protect me like I'm some little fragile doll that might get hurt if it falls? I can take care of myself." She muttered.
"Woaaah." The man said in surprise. "Obviously there's something going on here. Are you running from someone?"
Stella looked at the silhouette, flinching that she was so easily read, even by a stranger. "Not entirely. It's really none of your business though."
"I'm afraid it is." The man sighed. "if there's a man in town that's causing women trouble, it's my duty to stop him. Not that I like getting into domestic affairs mind you, but it comes with the job."
"What job is that?" She said coolly, hoping that if she stayed hostile he'd go away.
"Paladin- Lieutenant Nitiko's the name-" The paladin held out a shadowed hand in front of her. "-Fighting's the game. Who might you be?"
Stella looked up at him with a glare, not wanting to tell her name to a stranger- none the less a Paladin… whatever the hell that was. She blushed as her stomach rumbled loudly, making the man chuckle in amusement.
"Tell you what- if you don't have any gold, tell me your name and I'll get you something to eat."
Stella looked down in frustration, holding her stomach as it rumbled again. She hadn't eaten in nearly a day- usually the sorcerer left her enough food for three meals, and Hunter had gotten good for them on the road…
"Stella." She muttered, glancing up at him.
"There now, see? Alright- I'll be right back." The man stood, another loud string of metal clanks sounding with every move he made as he walked over to the other side of the room.
"Remmy…" Stella whispered to the small jerboa rat, who peaked out from her hair, holding strands of it in his paws. "Can you let me see who he is? What's all that metal noise?"
Remmy nodded, glowing a bright green as his magic filled her.
She gasped in shock when everything came into view, Remmy looking around the dirty building, the rancid smell of alcohol matching the acrid décor of the run down bar. How had she gotten in here?
A man in full body armor stood at the counter, talking with a plump man, who glanced over at her and nodded. The armored man handed him several gold coins, turning and grinning at her when he saw her watching. Nitiko was tall- his armor made him look strong, the silver plating covering his entire body- and a large sword hung from his waist. He had long blond hair that fell to his shoulders, looking scraggly and messy from the helmet he held under one arm. He had a rather nasty looking scar across one eye- it ran down from his forehead to his chin on the side of his face, the eye it crossed white and glossy like her own. He frowned for a moment when she continued to watch him, putting a hand over his face before taking the food back to her and setting it in front of her. Stella let Remmy hide back in her hair as the man came over, sitting back down in the chair silently.
"Eat up." Was all he said, though he didn't sound as happy as before.
Stella couldn't help herself- the smell was so wonderful sitting in front of her that she started eating the food carelessly, eating the fruit cheese and bread with gusto. The man chuckled in amusement as he watched.
"Haven't eaten for a while, huh?" He asked, his voice revealing a smile.
Stella flushed with embarrassment, putting the bunch of grapes she had in her hand down "Um… no." She muttered, looking away.
"Don't you not have a job?" Nitiko asked in confusion.
Stella flushed deeper, her cheeks burning with heat as she shook her head. She felt so useless…
"Hmmm…" Nitiko said thoughtfully. "Maybe I should show you around. I might be able to get you a job if you're not just passing through."
Stella nodded gently, trying not to look as happy as she felt. At least he was letting her have a choice this time. "That would be nice… I'd like to try and lay low for a while if you don't mind."
"The guy you're running from?" He asked in concern.
Stella only nodded. Well, it was partially the truth at least… she didn't have to tell him that the magi thought she was too dangerous to live.
She gasped as her magic started fading, the world around her growing darker until everything was black again. She cursed at the magic's timing, no longer able to tell where he was anymore.
"Hey- your eyes…" He said hesitantly. "Why did they change?"
Stella bit her lip nervously, unable to look at him any longer. "My magic ran out." She whispered. She felt around the table for her cup of water, her hands shaky with nervousness as she took a small drink.
"You can't see anymore?" He said cautiously.
"No. Um…" She looked up uneasily at where she thought he was. "I don't know if I can make it around town without help now."
"Well lucky I found you, then. We'll head back to my place, and I'll call on a few contacts of mine. We'll see if we can get you back on your feet." He said, standing with a clanking of noise. Stella held out her hand, squeaking in surprise as he lifted her quickly to her feet.
"We'll take the rest of the food to eat back home." He said with a chuckle, walking with her out of the bar.