Magistaire Chronicles: Shadows of the Past

Chapter 1

The argument never changed, and it tired Elies beyond belief.

"We all have our place in the world, and the Gods gave us ours. We can't all go on adventures or fulfill some grand quest."

His twin brother, Ayko, walked beside him, his boots sinking into the snow with each step.

 "That's horsepiss! I don't care if it's fighting dragons or gathering twenty eggs for some nobleman's breakfast–I want a taste of that life just once." He slapped away the snowflakes dusting his brow. "We deserve more than this dull life of ours."

Elies rolled his gray eyes. "If the gods wanted you to be an adventurer, you would be. As for me, I couldn't give a damn about adventure. If I want excitement, I'll get drunk as hell and have a wench on each arm," he said, wrapping his arms around two particularly curvy figments of his imagination.

Ayko's face contorted into a frown, and his nostrils flared. "Forget it," he said, his voice even.

Elies eyed him momentarily before looking away, turning his attention back to the branches at his side.

"Embririere," he uttered, wrapping his fingers around the low-hanging tendril.

Smoke leaked from his palm, and the branches shrank away, releasing several orb-shaped Peppergrapes from their grasp. He fumbled around his belt for his knapsack only to furrow his brow. Ayko, he thought.

Elies clenched his fist while his brother ripped clusters of Peppergrapes off their branches and crushed them in his grip.

"We're supposed to be gathering them, you sod!" He thumped his brother's arm. "Do you want us not to get paid again?"

"Piss off!" Ayko spat.

Elies grabbed onto the cloth sack in Ayko's leather-clad hands, only for his brother to land on top of him with a roar of fury. Juice and nectar spattered onto the snow, staining it purple and green.

An enraged Elies rose to his feet and planted his fist on Ayko's jaw.

"Son of a...!" Ayko stumbled backward, rubbing his reddened cheek. His golden eyes darkened upon throwing a punch of his own.

The wind ruffled Elies' red, curly hair as he ducked, throwing himself into his brother's gut. Ayko seized the back of his cloak, however, and tossed him aside.

Clenching his jaw, Elies snapped a branch off a nearby tree and sprinted at Ayko, who held up his fists. He cleaved it through the air, only for his brother to seize his makeshift blade and pry it away. His fist then kissed Elies' chin.

Elies let out a pained grunt and staggered away. The ground spun, and the trees zipped in and out of his view. He wiped away the blood cascading from his lips and whirled around, his eyes fiery and his pupils constricting.

He took another branch in hand and swung again, this time with Ayko's meeting his own. Their ice-encrusted sticks of wood locked together, and the twins' arms buckled as they pushed against one another. They fell to their knees in unison, their heads bouncing off one another in turn.

Ayko clutched his forehead, and Elies sucked in a pained breath before a sly look crept across his freckled face. Red Alma danced atop his outstretched hand. "Firiere!" he hissed.

Ayko yelped as several small embers crawled up his cloak. One danced atop his blonde, feathered head of hair as well. He cursed, chucking his cloak onto the ground and scrubbing his head with snow.

"You damn cheat!" Ayko shouted. He stomped the remaining flames from his cloak and glowered at Elies, who laughed. "Using spells to fight your battles! Bullshit!"