Chapter 85: Look What You Made Me Do
Magiere slept late after such a late arrival in Novus Lux. By the time she had awoken, it was already near noon, and she slipped out, glad for the dusky darkness Night of the Nocturne brought upon the sunbeam ruins. Lanterns glowed all around the clan, bringing enough warmth to the clan to even fill Magiere’s stubborn heart. She felt happier than she ever had in a long time. Everyone was out of her hair, and today she was going to find Legba.
With some confusion (as she refused to stop for directions), Magiere made her way to the training grounds. If Legba were to be anywhere, she would be here, training new recruits and practicing her battle skills. How Magiere missed their practice matches, she could not wait to spar with her friend again.
As she approached, however, Magiere could not spot a single familiar face. Two coatls and an imperial were practicing various battle moves, while a sly looking coatl performed a serious of intimidating looking moves on her own. Legba would approve of her apprentices, Magiere thought to herself with a smile. To the side, an imperial tended to armor and a ridgeback was making some adjustments to the weapons.
With a grin stretching across her face, Magiere strutted towards the three sparring dragons, head held high. To her surprise, they did not lose focus and break to pay her any attention. She cleared her throat, hoping that would get their attention. She was wrong. Anger boiled within her. How dare they be so disrespectful?
“Excuse me.” She said, voice like ice and glaring at the three dragons. Finally, they stopped their sparring and turned to face her. They looked rather confused.
“Woah, what’s up with you?” Alvar asked.
“Can we help you with anything?” Calida asked, the only girl of the trio. She did not seem impressed with Magiere. In fact, none of them did. Looking around, even the coatl, ridgeback and imperial were regarding her with confusion. The ridgeback in particular looked angry.
“Do you have a problem?” Frost asked, clearly taking issue with her glare.
“I’m looking for your boss.” Magiere said, raising her head again to hold her ground and face the dragons head on.
“Our boss?” Calida asked. She seemed to be even less impressed with Magiere than before, if that was even possible.
“Yeah, Legba.” Magiere insisted. Why were they playing dumb?
“We don’t know a Legba.” Alvar responded. “Maybe you’re thinking of some other light clan.”
“Of course you know Legba. She trained you.” Magiere said, growing more and more irritated.
“We weren't trained by Legba, we were trained by Eth.” Frost said, sending the name like a bolt through Magiere. It couldn’t be. How could Eth have survived and Legba hadn’t? Did Eth really have to take everything from her? Anger coursed through her and she clenched her talons and her teeth. She wanted to rip the faces off these insolent dragons. That was when she noticed how big they seemed to be getting, and how sharp their weapons looked. She was no match for them, not when she was so out of practice.
“Legba? I think I’ve heard that name before.” The ridgeback said suddenly, causing Magiere to turn to face him, feeling a glimmer of hope. “You don’t mean the little fae hatchling in the nursery, do you?” Magiere growled, ready to turn on him. Or at least, that was the goal before she realized how big and muscular he was too. She was sorely outmatched, not that she wanted to back down.
“Look, if you’re just here to cause trouble, you should go.” The coatl spoke up, a sharp look in her eye. As angry as Magiere was, she had to admit she was no match for anyone here. If she wanted a fight she was going to win, here wasn’t the place to pick it, and if Legba truly wasn’t here then there was no point in picking one anyways. With a dramatic huff, she turned and left.
Magiere liked the energy of Novus Lux’s tavern. This was more her style. The fun she and Legba would have had here, drinking and flirting with guys. Not the mention, the bartender, Kalo, wasn’t bad to look at. Not to mention he seemed to be interested in her, or at least was keen to listen to what she had to say.
“I just can’t believe Eth would take everyone from me! It was bad enough that she stole my mate and my job, now she has to overthrow Legba too!” Magiere ranted, taking a swig of her drink. She was on her fifth.
“I don’t think it was like that. From what I heard, some people survived The Clan of Resting Wings, some people didn’t. That’s the way life is, some people win, some people lose.” Kalo shrugged.
Magiere began to tremble with anger. “Nothing could ever beat Legba! Nothing ever did! Legba would not fall like some common fool!” She was too angry to even take notice of how silent the tavern had gotten, or how many eyes were on her.
“Alright, calm down. All I was trying to say is sometimes people don’t make it, everyone has their weaknesses-“
Kalo didn’t have time to finish his sentence when Magiere’s hands began to glow pink. She was not aware of the spell she was summoning until it was too late. A ball of pink fire shot past Kalo as he dodged it, knocking over several bottles on the shelves behind him. A wall of pink flames began to spread across the wall, devouring everything it touched. Dragons began to flee the tavern while Magiere stood there, staring in shock at her magic.
“You idiot! Put it out!” Kalo shouted angrily over the roar of the flames.
“I-I can’t.” Magiere admitted. She hadn’t known how she had done it, how could she know what to do.
Magic is all about balance. Lin’s voice filled Magiere’s head. She shook it to clear her thoughts. What a know it all. Couldn’t Lin leave her alone ever?
Suddenly, in the rush of everyone streaming outside, three wildclaws wormed their way in. It was the triplets from the training grounds. Frost swore as he saw the flames growing larger, and Magiere swore as she saw the recognition flash over their eyes as they caught sight of her. Why did it have to be them?
“I’ve got this.” Alvar sprang into action. Before Magiere could see what he was doing, the other two grasped Magiere tightly and escorted her out of the building, followed by a fuming Kalo. They stopped outside of the tavern, holding her in place until Alvar emerged, looking tired but unharmed.
“The tavern will need a few repairs, but it shouldn’t take too long to be up and running again.” Alvar reassured Kalo. “Your biggest loss is probably your drink selection, I’m afraid all those are gone.”
Before Magiere could say anything, she was hoisted away.
“You have caused enough trouble.” Frost growled. “It’s time you face the council.
The council had decreed Magiere too dangerous to allow in the clan, and the wildclaw had been quickly and effectively turned out as a punishment. She was never to set foot in Novus Lux again, which was fine by her. She didn’t want anything to do with them anyways. How could they replace Legba like that? It seemed Magiere was truly on her own, and Lin was right. How infuriating.
Happy New Year!!! Time to start off the New Year with an exciting update! I've decided to split the visit to Novus Lux into three updates, following the adventures of the three dragons along their different paths. I decided to start with Magiere, which was lots of fun, I don't write that girl enough.
Special thanks to @
CleverDual, to whom Novus Lux belongs. Today we spent a while sorting out how the visit will go for each dragons and making sure I understood her clan and characters enough to do them justice.
Oh, and side note, the title, Look What You Made Me Do, is actually one of the (many) theme songs I've given Banella, but I think it fit this chapter well so I couldn't help but use it. Hope you enjoyed it!
