Chereads / Sils / Chapter 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Chapter 2

After miles walking down the road, following the gouges of the road that were intermittently dispersed, they suddenly turned off to the west. Illuminated by the blueness of the full moon, Magnus's eyes followed the trail as it headed towards the mountains, disappearing into the foothills he knew well as a child.

His heart rate began to slightly elevate from its normally extremely slow pace.

"Don't do it." he whispered under his breath to himself.

He slowly turned himself away as he headed to the next town over. Once he saw the lights of the front gate he knew they did not suffer the same fate as the town he had just left. He then pulled his long hood over his eyes. Passing the guards without issue he made his way through.

Lux was a town that he knew well. Being the next town over from his own, with many wooden houses lining the streets and stone shops with all kinds of goods and items. Although not as large as the one he came from, it housed all the necessary requirements that he ever needed. And most of the time with less questions asked.

Once he got through the gate, the streets were poorly lit and people huddled in small groups and quiet voices, he made his way through the center. Since he was the first to come from his hometown, he knew no one was discussing the news that was undoubtedly going to be here by morning.

His eyes glanced into the illuminated shop windows as he passed by, yet nothing as usual caught his eye. His slow pace and confident gait made people naturally part way if they were anywhere close to getting in his way. He finally made his way to his destination, eyeing the sign outside. He walked up the front set of stairs and the noise coming from within gradually leaked out of the front door as he opened it. Merry laughter and voices began filling his ears, with the smell of fresh ale permeating the air.

"Welcome back young sir," the bartender said to him as he walked by.

"Geoff." Magnus responded gruffly and continued moving to his usual spot.

Without needing to ask anything else, the look on Magnus's face was enough to know nothing more was going to be said. So the barkeep let him be.

As Magnus made his way to the corner of the room, he dropped his items on the other side of the table and settled with a good view of the entire area. Pulling his hood even lower over his face his blue eyes became covered by shadow, allowing nobody to tell where in specific he was looking.

After a few minutes Geoff brought the usual ale over and set it on the table. Pulling it closer, fracture lines began creeping out from where his hand was holding the mug, and after a long gulp, Magnus began a spin down into his mind.

Magnus flips onto his back and he quickly gets out of bed. Grabbing clothes off the ground he quickly dresses and heads out ready for another day. He sees his parents on the way out and his mom yells at him, "Magnus! Have some breakfast!"

"Running late again!" he calls behind him as he heads out the front door. He was never one for breakfast anyways, he thought.

"Hmmmph… he is way too skinny" she complains to her husband sipping away at his morning drink.

Again Magnus flips onto his back -- doing this so he wouldn't fall back asleep. His hand reaches up towards the boards above, and falls back over his eyes, blocking some of the intrusive sunlight. He rolls out of bed, straight to the ground with a thud. With nothing but seriousness he began cranking out pushups. Hitting 100 he switches to his back and does the same for sit ups. Jumping up and slipping his hands into the boards he easily starts pullups, now breaking a sweat, he strains his grip against the moisture. Once he was unable to lift his weight even once more, he drops down and goes into a handstand, still and perfect form from years of practice shows. After a few minutes his body shakes and he ends his routine. Once he dresses he walks downstairs. All is quiet and his parents sit at the table saying nothing. His mother looks his way and he meets her eyes. His father says nothing to him. As he crosses the bottom step he shifts his gaze as he turns around and walks out the door.