Mages of Marakta- Ch.2 "Traps-R-Us"
 

Samuel leaned his head against a large rock he found. Everyone in the group was lounging around somewhere in the clearing. Antonio, Samuel's horse, was grazing in the grass. There were some fires up, and the smell of cooking meat lingered in the air. Samuel had created a ball of light, which he was currently using to read the book that Toron had given him. He was currently reading over a Mental Manipulation spell. It might come in handy later.

He moved around. It wasn't the best clearing ever. The ground was littered with rocks. There was mud in many places. And if it hadn't been for Jude and his Hydro abilities, it would have been raining right now. Samuel went back to his book.

It had been three days since they left Undal Septim. It was a bit of a trek to get to the man they were after. It might take them another week, maybe more. They hadn't found a town yet. The mapmaker kept going over his maps, saying that a town was nearby, but it couldn't be found. Tensions were starting to rise.

"I keep telling you, Judy, The town was there now it's gone. Will you get off my back so I can try and see where it went."

He went into his map bag and pulled out a bronze lined crystal cube. The cube was missing a side and the side opposite the missing side was polished smooth and convex. He put the device on the map and put his eye close to the convex crystal.

Sedran sat passing a lightning bolt back and forth between his hands. When he heard Ken raise his voice he fired it at a nearby rock and walked over to the map maker "So the only reason we need you is because you make the best maps, and now your saying that you can't even do that right? I think now would be a good time for you to leave."

"Don't tempt me, I'm this close to leaving you lot and going back to making money the way I prefer."

Saviorus watched the crackling fire closely, adjusting the temperature and the concentration of the fire slightly every few seconds in order to properly roast several small skinned rabbits stuck on a makeshift spit.

He pulled some oats from a small pouch that the horses original master had provided him, and clicked his tounge, calling his horse over to feed from his hand. The Horse, whome he had christened Flashfire, had certainly lived up to its new name. Upon lashing the reins, the horse had taken off like an arrow, moving at an incredible speed that belayed it's size.

Saviorus patted its nose as it ate. "You're full of surprised now, aren't you." he said as he pulled a piece of rabbit off the spit and taking a bite. Turning back to the group, he asked. "This man who we must get the artifact from... How can we be sure he's not working for Sarion? After all, he could have gotten the artifact from the Dark Mage himself."

Samuel closed his book and looked at Saviorus.

"We don't. All we know is that he has one. And if he works for Sarion, it doesn't change what we need to do. Except that AFTER we get the artifact, I wouldn't mind having a little fun with a minion of Sarion. Having him jump off a cliff might give me a little enjoyment."

"It's there I can see us on the map. I can see it. We're in a field right now. There should be a farm house about a mile to the north. The village isn't much further away than the farm house. Why am I not seeing it here."

Saviorus smiled wickedly at this thought, the fire beside him flared up in response.
"That is a sentiment I would gladly echo."

Calming the fire, he reached in and grabbed a rabbit of the spit, offering it to Samuel.
"I see that you possess a new book of spells. Have you found anything that would be useful in our little endeavor?"

Samuel took the rabbit and bit off a piece.

"History is alright for a quick read. It seems that Light Mages and Dark Mages have been enemies for centuries. Ever since the first Council of Sages had started. And it seems that Sarion wasn't the first Sage to ever try to take over the world. He's just the only one that's gotten this far. As for spells, there are some that are quite interesting. Some illusion and light magic, which are your basics, but there are also a list of some summon monsters and mental manipulation. I doubt that I could summon anything, but forcing people to become my slaves might have some interesting advantages."

He smiled as he took another bite of the rabbit.

Dire sat on the ground, away from the group and the fires. Next to him lay a pile of bloody bones. Earlier, Dire had hunted and killed a deer, as well as finding three dead rabbits. Being the pussies that they were, the group that Dire was guiding wanted their meat skinned and cooked. While the pryos made fire, he skinned, cut, and spitted the meat.

However, Dire had kept a good amount of raw deer meat for himself. While the others were cooking, he was feasting on the raw flesh of the animal. Next to him, Loki was eating a full deer.

His mouth was covered in blood when Fenris approached him from the north. In his mouth was a small, cloth doll, most likely a childs.

Roasted rabbit shouldn't smell like cows...

Dire stood up from his spot away from the group. As he took the doll from Fenris, he tossed him a deer leg. The blood on his hands spread onto the doll as he approached the group of mages.

"The village is north, it's covered by an illusion spell." Dire informed the group as he tossed the doll to the 'leader', the champion Light Mage. He turned around after the toss, and whistled to Loki to come to him.