Page 123 of Alpha Power

"I said 'shhh!' I'm spying."

"Spying on who?"

Zamorra jerked a thumb behind her with one hand and brought a finger to her lips with the other, motioning for him to keep his mouth shut.

Void frowned, moving to stand and she tugged him back down again.

"I saidspying,"she reiterated.

"The damn bin is taller than me, you idiot. I can stand," he hissed and her brows furrowed.

Oh yeah. She kept forgetting about the Illusion spell they were both currently under, even when she was staring him right in his new, ugly face.

Like he said, when Void stood to his full height, he was just shy of being able to see over the top of the bin.

"Oh," she whispered. "My bad." She brought a finger to her lips again and motioned for him to come closer, peering around the side.

The mage was still pacing, thumping his feet so hard magic burst out with each step, cracking the concrete around him. Red and black fire erupted from his hands and he cursed, shaking them out violently. "Go away, go away," he begged desperately, tears running down his face.

Breathing hard, nostrils flaring in rage, he closed his eyes and tried to still his movements, lowering his flaming hands to his side. He inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling slowly as he tried to calm himself down.

Void looked at Zamorra. "Who's that?"

"Remember when we were in the forest and I saw Ophelia with a mage?"

He flicked his eyes back. "This is him I'm guessing?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What's he doing?"

"Got no clue."

"We should go. He's holding onto a shitload of power right now."

Zamorra frowned, peering over her shoulder. "Since when do you run away from a little danger?"

"Since I'm 4'5 and move like a fucking penguin," he hissed, waving at his form. "I can't do shit in this body."

Zamorra scoffed and turned back around. "You can still shift."

"With all that power blasting around him, I'd never get close."

"Well I'm not going. Something funky is going on here and I wanna know what. If you wanna go, go."

The mage stood stock still in the middle of the alley, not moving a single muscle, red and black fire still burning fiercely from his hands. His magic slowly began to seep out of the air and with a shaky breath, he opened his eyes, pulling more and more of his dark magic back inside him.

The fire consuming his hands dissipated, slowly shrinking down in size until it evaporated altogether. Smoke curled and danced its way into the air, the thick, acrid smell making Zamorra wrinkle her nose.

Once all the magic disappeared, the mage hunched over at the waist and blew out a harsh breath, bracing his hands on his knees. He breathed heavily, like he just ran a 100km marathon, and pain flared in his amber eyes.

"Whatcha doin'?" Thaddeus appeared in a cloud of red smoke right behind Zamorra and Void, making her shriek in surprise.

"Thaddeus!" She hissed.

"Zamorra!" He mocked, using the same tone she did. "Why are you-" he looked over her head and frowned. "Who's that?"

Zamorra cursed and grabbed his hand, tugging him down like she did with Void. Thaddeus yelped and lost his footing, crashing into her body and making her grunt.

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