Bells. The cathedral rang it's large bells which could be heard all across the capital. It was time for the priests to make prayers to the gods, and all were expected to be inside their houses.

All through the day, Alastair had searched for the mysterious girl that had evoked the dark magic he'd tried so hard to contain. He was not especially having much luck in finding her.

Alastair walked from one region of the capital to the other and wondered if he was doing the right thing. There was a pretty big chance the pickpocket had already left the capital, but nevertheless, he kept trying.

Along the way, he was tempted to use a tracking spell. Things were so much easier when he still practiced his magic. He would have been able to find her in a much shorter time. All mundanes left a somewhat magical trail behind where ever they went. Mages picked up those trails and use them to track people.

Alastair stopped in front of the cathedral, stretched forth his hands, and opened them. He gazed at his palms as he did. Should he do it? Should he use magic? What could possibly go wrong, besides, it wasn't dark magic or anything.

But then he remembered that night, the terror, the fear, and all as a reason of his magic. He did not want that to repeat itself, especially not when he had felt Asmodeus' presence after sixteen years. He thought it was a bad idea to use his powers, so he had to rely on his other tracking skills.

Tired of the search, he decided to go back to his house. Perhaps the hands of fate would send her back to him if truly he was meant to find her. It was obvious that she was good at hiding, a fact Alastair could not dispute. So he proceeded to walk back home, but then he stopped.

Sorcery!

He slowly turned to the left as his senses picked up traces of dark magic. There was a lot of concentration on that part where he was standing and like the trail in humans, magical powers also left theirs. Mages often deleted theirs after a spell but sorcerers were not as careful, probably because of their arrogance.

Although his entire being screamed that he should not meddle with things of the dark anymore, he slowly turned and began following the trail. There was a reason why sorcerers were at the capital, and for them to use their magic, they were searching for something or someone.

What if they were searching for her?

He could not let them find her, that would be disastrous. So he continued to follow the trail and he did so with stealth and precision. They don't just teach spells at the Elderien's keep, they also taught self-defense and all other things that made one a great warrior, and he was one of the ...or had been.

The trail led him to the forest whose thick trees and broadened leaves prevented much of the moonlight from reaching the ground. Alastair walked in the darkness, carefully following the trail. It seemed to be getting stronger even then, and he knew the sorcerer that had performed the spell was close. But he could not see anyone ahead of him. If only he was not a traumatized mage, he could have done anything. But, no, he had to rely on other means.

Then the moonlight suddenly shone on a little space ahead surrounded by a few, less bulky trees and Alastair saw them!

Sorcerers, there were about seven of them.

They walked carefully as they approached something. He watched as they gave silent signals to each other, slowly drawing their weapons as they did. Alastair decided to look ahead to see what they were aiming at.

He saw an outline of a person sleeping in the little space, they had a hat on their head and from all indications, was a young man. But then, the person turned in their sleep and the hat fell off.

Alastair watched in awe as the moonlight shone against the yellow hair and he knew who it was-the thief, the one he had been desperately trying to find all day, and sorcerers were about to take her. He could not let that happen. Whatever their plans were, it was not good, and if they needed that girl, then clearly it also had something to do with Asmodeus.

Alastair felt a wave of determination come upon him and he dashed through the woods, running faster than he had done in years. One of the sorcerers began to swing a rope and as he swung it to grab the girl's neck, Alastair suddenly dashed into the scene and caught the rope instead. This caused the girl to wake up, whimpering as she did, gazing at Alastair with shock.

"Hide!"

Alastair yelled at her, but she was confused for a second. Then Alastair dragged the sorcerer who was still holding the other end of the rope towards him, kicking the sorcerer in the guts. The sorcerer cried out and crashed against a tree, backbone snapping as he did.

"Now!"

Alastair yelled at the girl again, but then she comprehended what was going on. She quickly ran away from the scene as two other sorcerers attacked Alastair. They were not using magic against him-young sorcerers. It was recommended they conserve their energy for a powerful ritual ahead. But that made it overly better for him.

He blocked the first attack and kicked the second sorcerer. Then he quickly disarmed the first sorcerer that had attacked him and slashed his hamstrings with his weapon. The sorcerer cried out and crashed to the ground, bleeding profusely from the cut. The other sorcerer tried to attack again but Alastair dodged the strike and took off its head.

Then the girl screamed.

"Help! Help me!"

Alastair looked in her direction and saw a sorcerer trying to grab her along. He quickly shot the weapon in his hand at the sorcerer and killed it on the spot. The girl landed with a thud and a whimper. As Alastair proceeded to dash towards her, a large vine grabbed his leg.

One of the sorcerers was performing magic, her hands were on the ground, and blood from the self-inflicted wound on her cubital fossa sipped onto the ground, giving her more power to make even more vines crawl on the ground like snakes and wrap themselves around Alastair.

He tried to fight off the Vines but the sorcerer was strong. The Vines suddenly tossed him off like a doll and he crashed on the ground, his head barely escaping a large stone on the ground.

Then the Vines began to crawl again and he dragged himself back, but then his back hit a tree and the Vines began to wrap themselves around him. Other vines suddenly began to grab his arms. Another sorcerer had joined the attack.

Then he heard sounds like the tree his back was resting on snapping. He looked up and saw a tree branch gaining motility and crawling towards him with high speed. His eyes opened wide as the branch grabbed his neck and raised him from the ground, tightening its grip around his neck as it did.

Alastair struggled for air. He needed his magic, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Perhaps dying was the best option for him. That way, he would finally find peace.

But then he heard the girl scream again and her screams seemed to awaken something inside of him.

For the first time in sixteen years, he knew he needed to do the right thing, and that was making sure the sorcerers did not get their hands on her. And so, he closed his eyes, felt his magic pulsate, and let it build, giving off a bright white light that lit up the forest.

Then, he released the massive amount of energy that had gathered and in one precise strike, knocked out all of the sorcerers in the place, including the little girl who had also been hit by the wave. As she lay unconscious on the ground, Alastair walked up to her, grabbed her, and left the scene with her, wiping off his magical footprints as he did.

That was his first spell in sixteen years, and by the gods, he felt good!