AUTHOR'S POV
"You hurt Helena!! Now I'm going to bash yer heads with my bare hands!!", Jac voice thundered inside the watchtower. Throwing punches and kicking his feet, he pulled the hoop earrings of one sand solider and relentlessly smashed the other right into his face. Their scimitars were no match in his violent hysteria. He became an untamable lion going wild with an explosive anger.
"If you don't calm down, I won't be able to help your friend.", Mago darted his eyes on Jac. He placed his hands on his waist, and glared at the heaving paladin. "So, what is it now, paladin?".
Jac paused from knocking out the sand soldier with a then chipped front teeth to completely losing them all. He dropped the man's head on the floor, and faced Mago burying his nails in his palms. It was a tempting offer but in every corner of his mind, he couldn't free himself from his suspiscions. "Only a fool would trust a magic wielding stranger", he said. Far from being stone cold sober, Jac made his fists glow from his blazing paladin magic, asking for a duel.
It was a dare that Mago accepted. The archmage prepared himself to meet Jac's raw power. It wouldn't make him any less of a supreme magus if he fend off the provocation of an amateur paladin who have no idea what he is in for. He had a certain feeling of thrill electrifying in his veins, that with much anticipation, finally, after years of honing his craft… he gets to kill a paladin.
As the two face off, the fires in the hearth suddenly flickered. It flared up with neither the paladin magic nor the archmage's arcane arts stoking its blaze. Then, it crackled as it conjure a lurid hue with tiny sparks glittering in the air. An energy swelled inside the watchtower. It was frail but enough to be noticed…
"I said, stop now", Atrius' eyes turned crimson. Shoulders lifted, neck stiff, face forward. Like a compelling command, the sound of his voice presides over the fire, roasting the room by its heat. Humid, but not suffocating. It was enough for Mago and Jac to cease and part from the very close intimidating distance.
Mago was surprised to witness how the fire reacted from the faint energy coming from Atrius. He gave him a goofed up smirk, pulling the corner of his mouth. Like a proud father seeing his son walk his first baby steps. "Ahh, I heard you Prince Atrius. Loud and clear ". Jac on the other hand stood with a quizzical gaze, bewildered with what just happened. Atrius, whom he thought he knew inside and out, suddenly turned to a stranger. 'Is this still paladin magic?', his thoughts made him wonder.
The color of Atrius' eyes returned. His body relaxed. He came back to the previous position where had his hands on Stellan. With no conscious recall of what he just did, he furrowed his brows… taking deep breaths while staring ahead.
"Y—ou okay, man?", Jac stammered, reaching for Atrius with caution. He laid his palm on his broad shoulder that snapped Atrius back to reality.
"Yea.. yea", Atrius' breathlessly uttered. He scanned the room. His eyes moved around as if in a maze. Four sand soldiers beaten to a pulp. Two others with sour mein. Mago gazing at him intently. Jacomus, who's standing by his side, sports a tight smile. It felt as if Jac finds it hard to look at him in the eyes.
"Please stop, let's have our eyes on Helena first", he urged, remembering that he was in the middle of a chaos before he became the new attraction.
LATER
Stellan's body was moved to the strawbed for her gratifying ease. With her head wrapped with a piece ripped cloth, she laid peacefully unconscious despite the loud overlapping hollers of the sand soldiers standing by outside. For hours now, Mago tended to her wounds under the strong influence of Atrius. Mago didn't want to touch Stellan in the first place, even though he knew it wasn't really him. However, the prince of Vierme made a deal with the archmage that convinced him to do otherwise.
Mago placed an opalite rune stone over Stellan's forehead and a clear quartz crystal rune on her chest. He casted a spell, that was followed by a few more. Many times that he use his craft for healing, a small rune or at least one basic spell regains one's strenght. But now, he have already used a couple of runes and uttered different complex spells, and yet, Stellan still haven't even opened his eyes. Whatever that hides inside the body of the paladin, is truly a different being to reject his arcane… he believed.
By the fireplace, Jac eyed on Mago's every move. He watched closely, without any intention of looking away. "That guy, Mago", Jacomus whispered to Atrius, who's never removed his intent gaze at Stellan. "I know he's no ordinary, but, does he even know what he's doing? ", he crossed his arms, and knitted his brows at the archmage scribbling symbols on a flat shiny stone. "And how many stones does he have in that pocket?".
Atrius bet his life on Mago. Knowing what the archmage can do, he had no room for misgivings. "He is the archmage of the arcane academy in Vierme. The spellcaster and master of runes who heads and trains an elite force of mages. He's so good, that he, alone, can kill a collosal sandworm", he said.
Jac eyes twitched, and slowly turned his head to Atrius. "Is that supposed to impress me? I don't think so!", curling his lip, rolling his eyes.
Atrius scoffed, with a smirk. "He only had one rune then", he made a side eye at Jac.
"A reason to dislike him even more. Tch.", Jacomus expelled a deep sigh, staring at the small smooth stones placed on Stellan's hands. "Looks like Helena's going to be dumped with more than boulder", he said.
"Can you please be quiet? I cannot focus with you blabbering", Mago dissed Jac for not keeping his voice down. Actually, Jac's lowers down his voice for a bit, and volumes up when it's about Mago. His intentions to ruin the archmage's mood is too evident.
Jac mimicked Mago's words, mocking him behind his back. There's something in Mago that is disagreeble with him. Nonetheless, he's far too curious about Mago's connection with Atrius. Looking at it, Atrius knows him so well that he entrusts Helena's life on his abilities. "You two seem close", Jac said lowly.
"Maybe", Atrius said, that somehow made Mago's ear itch. "Mago takes me in when I wanted to shut down from people of hateful intrigues. It's not easy to be a bastard son. Especially of the King".
"Stepmom issues?", Jac affirmed, despite not knowing how it feels like.
"More like an entire clan issue", Atrius forced a smile. It was in the past that doesn't hurt him anymore. But somehow, he dreamt of having a family different from what he have.
"Welp! It still doesn't justify that curly can be trusted", Jac firmly believe, with a fixed unfocused gaze on Mago.
"You still think I can't hear you? ", Mago could no longer bear being in the same room with a whiny paladin. Gladly, he's done with his healing rituals, and finally, he won't be forced to endure Jacomus. He stood and approached the prince, keeping his other runes in his pocket. He didn't even glanced at Jac standing right next to Atrius. "I'm done here, Prince Atrius. She's stable, but… she needs more care".
Disappointed, Jac stood more on edge. They waited for nothing, with high expectations for the archmage. "We should bring her to Hesam. Freya knows what to do", it's the only option he knew.
Muted and frozen, Atrius understands for a fact that Helena is still hanging by a thread. He never took Mago for a liar. He has always been perpetually honest, inspite of his reckless tone. And when Mago says Helena needs more care, it means death is pending.
"Prince Atrius", Mago demanded for a hasty definite response.
"What now, curly?! You've done your part, and now, we're going home.", Jac turned his ears up, his irritation spiked at Mago's unknown intention of further meddling. "Atrius, Gallanthe and the others are waiting. We should go".