Page 2 of Two Who Live On

“Is this a warlock?”

“No. Just an overgrown fiend or two. Maybe three.” Milo kissed my cheek and flew away. “Doesn’t matter. Enchanter Evergreen is on the case.”

“That’s not the explanation you think it is,” I snapped.

People stared at my outburst, completely unaware of the incident a few blocks away. With Enchanter Evergreen here, they wouldn’t have to concern themselves. I glared, shrugging off their faint surface thoughts.

My breath hitched, but I refused to stand idle. If Milo knew about this, prepared for it, worried about the outcome so much so he’d planned our date nearby… It could be serious. Deadly.

Tightening my core, I levitated above the street. After a steadying breath, I channeled telekinesis and chased Milo. It wasn’t easy. Following him was out of the question; he’d flown away so quickly,I’d lost him after the first block, but the further I went, the louder a cacophony of terrified thoughts boomed.

Black tentacles whipped across the pavement, rattling the ground and lapping at any lingering magical energy. I froze midair, hesitating because of the horrified minds nearby. This fiend was enormous. Its sludgy blobby body swelled, covering the street and reaching well above the single-story buildings. Heat radiated off the fiend, mixing with the frigid chill of winter to create a humid steam. Tar splattered with each strike of its hungry tendrils, scalding the cars and buildings.

I shook away the bewildered dread of bystanders and channeled my banishment root, eliminating a few chunks cast aside from the fiend.

An unnecessary action since Milo quickly swung a fist, channeling a precise telekinetic flow, wrangling all the tentacles whipping about chaotically, and tangling them into each other. All the while, he used his other arm, carefully shifting people too slow or stunned to flee out of the way from smaller fiends barreling onto the street.

Once they’d all seen that the amazing Enchanter Evergreen had arrived on the scene, their relief and belief bubbled above their panic. Milo furiously eradicated the smaller fiends, punching pulses of banishment which rippled through the air and slapped goopy tar until it erupted into glowing white wisps.

Those glimmering lights bounced together, seeking to regather and become destructive again. I ground my teeth, unable to discern if that aggravation came from Milo or me. I banished a handful of wisps, irritated by each person gawking at Enchanter Evergreen’s work instead of fleeing so they didn’t get in his way. He was pissed too but mostly at some acolyte.

“She had one job today. An opportunity that would properly cement her position. Instead, here I am ruining one of my few well-craftedcarefreedays off.”

Milo cleared away each of the lesser fiends and their wispy fragments, then focused on the behemoth of a fiend growing with each toxic breath. Despite all the energy it enveloped, its thoughts remained disorganized. A dangerous fiend in size and might but still quite far from transcending into a sentient demon.

Yet Milo’s mind flooded with terror at the idea an actual demon would emerge.

Why? So few demons surfaced in cities, and this behemoth was still far from self-awareness and the level of devastation a demon could cause.

My throat tightened at the bloody images Milo and I both kept buried in the past, horrors neither wanted to unbox. That was why his mind went to the worst first. Finn.

Milo wasn’t worried about a vision he’d had of a fiend ascending but remembering the genuine terror that came when encountering one. I swallowed hard, struggling to compose my reaction to his thoughts while he worked faster and harder to demolish this demonic creature, unfazed by his own panic attack.

Milo flew forward, pummeling the body and breaking off tar limbs with precise use of his combined root magics. The fury inside him intensified, but he turned to his audience, instinctively smiling for their benefit.

Milo had worked hard to come up with an outing for us to enjoy this weekend. Each of his well laid plans faded with every blow he struck onto the fiend.

Our walkabout in this nook of the city.

Our shopping spree which I was okay losing out on.

Our lunch at a restaurant where he was absolutely certain no one would recognize him—that was never true.

He was always recognized, but we’d gone on a few dates unbothered. Mostly just curious onlookers who’d never worked upthe nerve to ask for his autograph and assumed I was a random client. I preferred the discretion. It was difficult enough sorting through my feelings for Milo; I didn’t need everyone else in my head evaluating my relationship with the great Enchanter Evergreen, too.

I hovered in the air. Tar erupted into nothingness. A shimmer of white wispy orbs mixed with a screeching smog holding the last uttering roars of a dying fiend. Sweat trickled down my brow, evaporating as I channeled my sensory root.

The moisture from my body caused a spasm in my calves from the swift dehydration, but I pressed on, searching further with my banishment at the ready. Two root magics purely tailored for seeking out and eliminating any demonic presence, yet there was nothing to find or remove.

In an instant, Milo had arrived and cleared the entire scene. I’d say our date was still very much intact. Well, once his adoring fans had their fill.

My muscles were tense from channeling all four root magics, so I quelled sensory and banishment immediately. Carefully, I severed my use of levitation and telekinesis, lightly landing onto the cleared street. The asphalt made my feet ache through the thin soles of my shoes. Or perhaps I ached from too much casting. It didn’t matter.

This helped me improve. I wasn’t a guild enchanter by any means, but I had an enchanter license, and I wanted to put it and my magics to use. Especially since my rusty magics nearly cost me and my students our lives last semester.

Milo smiled at the crowd, his audience, and eyed me out of the corner of his bright blue eyes. “This is going to be awhile.”

“I can wait.” I reached for my smokes and propped up against a lamppost.

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