Page 4 of Silver (Shunned Mages #2)

Wilston

Two years earlier.

“Dammit, Wilston! Can’t you just for once keep your mouth shut?!” my mom roared, slamming her hands down on the table. I sighed and looked down at my lap. I tended to say things without thought and more often than not, it came out wrong.

“Leave him be,” Grandpa said, shooting her a warning look. “Is this really how you wish to spend your last day with your son? Yelling at him?” he scoffed in disgust.

“You heard what he said!” she shot him a dirty look, hating that he’d called her out on her cruelty.

Grandpa sighed. “He simply said that his father would’ve left regardless if he had magic or not. You were the one to bring him up. If you don’t like to hear the truth, then don’t talk about subjects where the truth will hurt you. In fact, maybe you should be the one to shut your mouth!”

I gaped at my grandpa, and Mom did the same. In all my eighteen years of life, I’d never heard him raise his voice at my mother like that. Ever.

“Dad?” she whispered, clearly not knowing what to do with him yelling at her.

“Your husband left you because you cheated with two other men. Not because your son was born without magic. You seem to be the only one in this house who has a problem with that fact, and instead of being the woman I single handedly raised, you became someone so hateful that I’m ashamed to be your father.

” He grabbed my hand. “Wil, I wish we would have more time together than this, but sadly your time for another life starts tomorrow. I hope you’ll see it as a blessing in disguise.

Here power rules, hopefully it works differently in a world without magic. ”

I nodded, feeling somewhat hopeful of my future if that were the case.

“Thank you,” I whispered, too afraid to speak loudly after all that yelling.

It was normal for me. Whenever I said something or voiced my opinion on a matter that my mom could turn around on me, she would.

It very rarely happened around Grandpa, though.

It seemed today was the exception. She’d brought up Dad.

Said how much easier her life would’ve been, had I been shunned as a child before my father left her because of me.

It felt like a knife to the heart. My father had told me when he left that her betrayal was too much to bear and that he hoped one day when I was an adult, we could have a relationship. Well, that would never happen now.

My father had been crazy powerful, and that was the main reason my mom pursued him, eager to get with a powerful man.

I was the opposite of powerful. Like zero percent powerful.

Having been born without magic came with consequences, and since the first mage was shunned three years ago, I knew how my future would pan out, too.

I never really had a lot of friends, always worried I would say the wrong thing and they’d reject me. It hadn’t helped when I’d gotten my letter at sixteen either. But at least that meant I had no other people to say goodbye to other than my mom and Grandpa.

I excused myself and left the kitchen. I would spend the rest of my day in my room, pretending I was already in my new world. It could hardly be any worse than this life.

The next day I stood in front of the leaders, not saying anything, just nodding at whatever bullshit they told me.

I was too tired. Too damn tired of feeling like a freak.

The onlookers had shown me just how big of a freak I truly was.

It was one thing being known in my hometown as the magicless mage, the freak show, but seeing thousands of people lining the streets?

Seeing them ogle me from a safe distance as I was escorted inside the castle.

That had been a true sign this world wasn’t for me. I actually looked forward to leaving.

When I still refused to talk, the leaders frowned and beckoned someone to open the portal.

I’d come alone, having said goodbye to my grandpa before the car came and picked me up.

My mom had been absent and even though I tried to pretend it hadn’t hurt, it had.

Not even on my last day in my hometown could she muster the motherly affection and kindness of seeing me off.

Just then a green portal opened up in front of me. I walked right through, not showing any kind of fear for this new world. Instead I welcomed it as my new chance at finding a place where I truly belonged. At least, I hoped so.

I appeared in a field of wildflowers. That had to be a good sign, right?

My first look at this world was beautiful and full of colors and wonderful fragrances.

I grinned, feeling like I could shout with happiness.

Was that what I was feeling? Happiness? Could I even still feel that amazing feeling?

Looking around at the flowing fields of flowers, I decided to embark on this new adventure that life had thrown at me with positivity.

After walking for hours, the tinge of happiness I’d felt was long gone though. It was getting darker and colder by the minute. I was shivering and walking in near darkness, the only light was the moon, guiding me through many empty fields.

A light came from further down the hill I was hiking on. It could be a house or a streetlight, but I didn’t care what it was. I just needed to get there.

It turned out to be a house. A small cottage style house with the lights on inside.

I walked up to the front door and knocked, hoping the owner would be welcoming.

I was a big guy, and having been bulky and tall my whole life meant I could look slightly intimidating.

It had helped me out growing up, making the attempts at bullying fewer, not that I ever fought back.

I prayed whoever was inside wouldn’t fear me. I really needed some water and warmth.

An older man opened the door, looking startled to see a stranger in the middle of the night, or late at night at least. I had no idea what time it was.

He was wearing what I figured was his sleeping clothes, some baggy pants and a soft looking white t-shirt.

His hair was grey and shaggy looking and he had a short beard peppered with grey and white.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your evening, sir,” I said politely, having practiced what to say as I neared his house.

“I have no idea where I am and it’s freezing outside.

” I hoped he would feel sorry for me, at least enough to offer me to sleep in the barn I’d seen to the left of their cottage.

It wouldn’t be perfect, but at least I would be sheltered from the cold and the dark.

“I’d say,” he grunted, looking me over. “Where did you come from anyway?”

I decided to be honest. “A flower field, a few hours that way.” I pointed towards the direction I’d come from.

“There were so many pretty ones and once it started to get dark out, I tried to find my way back.” Please don’t ask more questions.

Please. One wrong word out of my lips could cause me to freeze to death out here, or at least make me sick enough to die before I’d even tried making a life for myself on Sutiner.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Come on in then.” He stepped aside and I all but ran inside, eager to feel the warmth on my cold skin. I shivered in his entryway, almost closing my eyes in bliss as the heat from his fireplace caressed me.

“Thank you,” I said, relieved. “I’ll be gone again in the morning.”

He shook his head and gestured for me to follow him. “I don’t mind you staying here, boy, but you need to alert your family of your whereabouts. You can tell me what you were doing this far out tomorrow.”

He pointed to his couch as soon as we entered the living room. “You can sleep here. And at the end of that hall is the bathroom. Feel free to eat whatever’s in the fridge, too.”

I couldn’t stop my stupid mouth from blurting. “You trust I won’t hurt you?” I winced, knowing it wasn’t wise to point out I might be a threat to him.

But to my surprise, the man laughed. “I was worried at first, but I’ve lived my life to the fullest and if you were to kill me, then I would simply join my wife in the afterlife sooner than expected. I would rather risk that, than have a young boy’s life on my conscience.”

I gaped at him, but he didn’t seem to notice, just left me in his living room, turning off the light as he went.

The next morning, I’d left the house as soon as the sun came up. I’d woken up because a rooster had gone off outside, startling me awake and reminding me where I was.

I felt a little bad for not saying a proper goodbye and thanks to the old man, but I needed to get to a town and the sooner the better.

I had left a small note and hoped that he would be able to understand it.

I knew I could speak with him, but maybe our written language would be different, even if the leaders swore it wouldn’t be.

A two-hour trek later, I reached a small town.

It wasn’t anything special and I quickly located the bus station where I took the bus to a bigger city, using up a lot of my savings just for the trip, but it was worth it.

This world truly was just like ours; it was even easy for me to understand how their bus schedules worked.

As soon as I entered the bus and found my seat, I leaned against the window and passed out, still exhausted from the long treks both yesterday and today.

Many hours later, when I’d reached my destination, I was walking past an apartment building in the city, looking for sheds I could sneak into so I wouldn’t have to sleep outside in the cold. That’s where I spotted a barefooted woman yelling up at a window.

“Um,” I began, not knowing if I should interrupt her or not, but she had to be freezing out here.

She turned away and gave me a sheepish smile.

“Ah, sorry. My idiot boyfriend, or now ex, just threw me out. Apparently, he didn’t like arguing with me when he was drunk.

” I felt sorry for her, so I took off my backpack and eased out of my jacket.

I tended to hold on to body heat more easily, and with her only wearing a baggy t-shirt, she needed the jacket more than me.

“Thank you,” she said, eagerly taking my jacket and pulling it on. “My name’s Emma.”

“Wilston,” I replied, giving her a soft smile. “Do you have anyone to call? Or a key… somewhere?” I eyed her figure and knew there was likely no key.

“I already called my dad. He should be here in a couple of minutes.” I nodded, then eyed the window. The ex hadn’t shown himself in the time I’d been here, so I figured he truly didn’t care what happened to Emma.

“I’ll stay with you until he comes, then,” I said, knowing I couldn’t leave her out here alone. She would either get sick or hurt if someone came by, looking for trouble.

She eyed me, not with suspicion, but more likely curiosity. “I appreciate that. There’s a bench near the parking lot, we can sit there so my feet can escape the ground.”

I followed her and offered one of my t-shirts as a blanket over her lap.

She didn’t mind sitting on the bench, but I could tell the cold wind nipped at her thighs.

She gave me a thankful smile and tugged the shirt over her legs and sighed with relief.

“I never believed in the whole guardian angel thing, but you have to be mine,” she said, smiling up at the dark night sky.

I didn’t say anything to that, content with waiting in silence until she was picked up. I contemplated asking her if she knew of a place I could rest, or if she knew of a place that was hiring. But before I could ask, she asked, “You on the run from something?”

“Huh?” I asked, not really knowing what she meant by that.

She laughed softly. “I was just trying to figure out why you have a backpack with clothes and find yourself outside at night. I’ve never seen you here before, do you live around here?”

I shook my head. “Just passing through.”

“Where are you headed then?”

“Hopefully some place I can get a job,” I admitted, hoping she could somehow help me out.

“You don’t have anywhere to go, do you?”

I shook my head again, not wanting to say too much. Emma could be my biggest help, maybe even the reason I’d survive on Sutiner. No way would I risk scaring her off by saying something rude.

Her dad arrived then, putting a stop to our conversation. I got up from the bench, figuring this would be where we parted ways, but to my surprise, she just tugged my hand towards the car and informed her dad that I would be staying with them.

I ended up staying the night on her parents’ couch and the day after she handed me the keys to the apartment above the restaurant she owned.

There was no furniture, so we found a few cheap ones at thrift markets.

Emma had surprised me further by offering me a job as a server, since she felt like fate had brought us together.

I could live upstairs for cheap and save up for better furniture.

It was only my first week on Sutiner and I was already offered a roof over my head and a job, I couldn’t have asked for a better start.

It was starting to feel like I was finally home.