Pushing through the crowd, Horatia ignored the annoyed grumbles of the onlookers as she squeezed through to see the mages.

As the crowd got denser, it became more difficult to move past people, and Horatia found herself stuck. Even on her tiptoes, she couldn't glimpse what was going on. 

There has to be another way…

Moving back towards the edge of the crowd, Horatia ducked back into the crowd as she saw Mabel calling out to her and looking frantic.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Horatia, just for a moment, wondered if she shouldn't bother talking to the mages and go back. 

However, as she was about to call out to Mabel and give up, a bandaged hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Who-!?"

Muffled by a cloth, she tried to pull away and figure out who the cloaked person was. Dragged through the crowd, Horatia struggled, but to no avail, as she was pulled into a building.

As the door closed behind them, Horatia nearly fell and backed as far away from the cloaked person as she could.

Breathing heavily and frankly annoyed, Horatia glared at the person in front of her. "Who do you think you are!? Don't you know who my father is? You better not take a single step towards me!"

The cloaked figure then pulled down their hood, and Horatia froze as she saw who stood before her. 

"You!" Raising a hand, Horatia points to the middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and gray eyes. 

"You're a mage!"

Looking at the woman's appearance, with her long robe obscured by the cloak and hair decorated with gems and flora, her strange appearance was exactly what the book Allerton lent Horatia had described mages to look like! 

Maybe that book wasn't as useless as I thought.

Horatia snapped out of her thoughts as the mage spoke. "You're feisty. Not what I expected from a noble such as yourself."

Flinching, Horatia watched as the mage moved in closer and examined her as if she were a rare oddity. 

After a long moment, she shrugged and stepped away. "Oh well. If I weren't here for something else, I might've taken an interest in you."

Confused, Horatia mustered up the courage, lowered her guard, and cautiously asked the mage a question. "Something else? What exactly are you here for?"

Staring down at the young child, the mage had a small smile on her face as she pulled out a journal from the depths of her robe and opened it to a page with a drawing of a spellbook. "I've spent many years looking for this. And you wouldn't believe how surprised I was when I learned that a servant of House Briedis had it."

Looking at the picture of the book, it seemed very familiar and took Horatia a few seconds before her eyes widened in realization.

The book that Miss Mabel got me is the one this mage is looking for?!

Seeing Horatia's facial expression, the mage let out a chuckle and slowly walked closer to her. "It seems that you recollect seeing this spellbook. In that case…"

Watching as the mage undid the bandages on one of her arms, Horatia stifled a gasp as she saw the mage's arm littered with scars that looked strikingly similar to the images of ruins in the book Allerton gave her.

"I'll have to use you as leverage. It's unfortunate. I wouldn't usually resort to such low tactics. However, I've searched for far too long just to have a mere child ruin my chances of success."

Sensing a change in the air, Horatia bolted past the mage and ran for the door as a sense of fear gripped her.

However, a select few runes on the mage's unbandaged arm glowed, and time seemed to slow as a surge of magic emanated from her.

"Freeze"

The instant the mage spoke, Horatia felt as if she were out in the middle of a blizzard, and found herself unable to move.

Hearing her heart beat wildly in her chest, she could only listen for the sound of the mage's footsteps as she circled her. 

As the mage came face to face with her, Horatia realized that, despite her being frozen, she could still talk. "You can't have it!"

Pausing at Horatia's words, the mage's smile grew wider, and she leaned forward to look her in the eye.

"And why is that?" Motioning to the journal still in her hand, the mage's eyes narrowed despite her still smiling. "I've spent many years searching for such a rarity. Why should I concede to some magic-less brat?"

Annoyance bloomed in Horatia's chest, and she could feel angry tears surfacing. "Because…because Miss Mabel gave it to me as a present, and it glowed when I touched it!"

Clearly stunned, the mage's smile fell, and her expression quickly turned into one of anger and disbelief.

"Huh?" 

All of a sudden, the runes of the mage's arm stopped glowing, and Horatia stumbled forward, finding herself able to move again.

"That's impossible!" Her relief was short-lived as the mage grabbed her by the back of her coat and lifted her. "You brat! Don't you know what you've done!? Unless you have a strong affinity for rune magic, you-!"

Stopping mid-rant, the mage looked at Horatia's teary expression, and she let out a resigned sigh before letting her go. 

Having calmed down, the mage then dragged her hands along her face. "Okay…I see how it is."

Horatia, despite feeling a little sore from being roughly handled like that, slowly stood up and looked up at the mage with a fearful expression.

"Hey, kid. Do you know how rune magic works?" Speaking up suddenly, the mage grabbed her journal and threw it to Horatia.

Barely managing to catch it, Horatia shook her head.

Pointing to one of the scars on her arm, the mage continued to speak. "Rune magic uses the language of the Attero. As long as you have the rune corresponding with what you want to do, you'll be just fine."

Utterly confused, Horatia watched silently as the mage pulled out a bag.

What is she talking about? This is scary. I don't want to be here anymore.

Suddenly, Horatia was pulled out of her thoughts, and a sharp pain surged through her.

"Usually, rune mages use objects engraved with the words."

What's going on!? Why's she suddenly acting like this!?

Looking down, Horatia let out a cry as the mage pulled up her sleeve and was carving something into her shoulder. 

Feeling her mind go blank in shock, Horatia could feel her breath quicken as the sharp and painful sensation left her skin crawling and feeling like she wanted to throw up from how nervous she was.

Trying to pull away, she tried to yank her arm away, but the mage's grip was as tight as it could be, and she couldn't wrench herself away.

Once finished, the mage let her go, and Horatia clenched her shoulder as she stumbled back while holding back a sob as tears streamed down her face.

Seemingly unaffected by Horatia's reaction, the mage grabbed a cloth and wiped her dagger clean before giving a small smile and standing to her full height. 

"I bet it hurt, didn't it? Yet I'm impressed. You didn't let out a single noise even though I'm sure it was quite painful."

Pulling up her hood, the mage then turned to leave before pausing and looking back at Horatia. "You might be confused about this situation, but eventually you'll understand. It’s too bad, though. I wanted to stay here a bit longer.”

Watching as the mage left, several seconds passed before Horatia leaned against the wall and slowly fell to the ground.

Wiping her tears away, she gingerly inspected the wound on her shoulder and winced in pain as the stinging sensation led her to pull her hand back, as even the slightest pressure hurt.

It hurts…

Pulling her legs towards her chest, Horatia grips the journal the mage left tightly to her chest as the silence of the building seems to become louder with every passing second.