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Luka

“ W hat is that?” Morai asked. Luka stepped away from her, looking around even as he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms again. He had to remind himself that she was not his, and never will be. It took effort to release her instead of just pulling her close. Shouts came from somewhere as Luka shoved the elixir in his bag. He’ll congratulate himself on a job well done later. Right now, they needed to get out of here before the guards arrived.

“We should leave,” he told Morai, who was already sprinting towards the door, she pulled it open and disappeared. Looking down at his bag to make sure the clasp was in place, he knew Morai would find a way to get to it, before following her outside. He caught up with her as they ran the rest of the way down the winding staircase. The blasted horn sounded so loud that Luka was positive the shouts they heard came from the townspeople and not the guards. When they reached the door, Luka could see that a few people were making their way out of their homes, pointing at the tower. Thankfully, the mage tower was situated high above the ground so that people couldn’t see them.

“Hey! What are you doing?” he called to Morai, who’d walked across the corridor and was straddling the wall that backed into the forest that took you to the outskirts of the city.

“I’m not about to let them see me. It’s bad enough that I broke the rule of not stealing in your own city. I don’t have to announce it.” Makes sense. Luka looked down at the townspeople with a frown. There were still no guards. Following Morai’s lead, he straddled the wall. She was already on the other side of the wall, waiting for him. A warm feeling expanded in his chest at that. Ignoring the feeling, he shoved his bag in front of him so he could land without crushing the elixir, he hoisted himself up the wall and landed with a roll and sprang back up. Before he could regain his bearings, he felt his bag give way. Morai had dashed off with his bag, leaving him holding only the strap.

“Mo…” Luka stopped himself from calling out just in case someone heard him. He ran after her with a stifled groan. Tree branches tugged and pulled at his clothes, the tree roots cascading across the floor slowed him down, and it was hard to see in the moonlight. But he saw Morai had the same problem. He chased after her. With his long legs, he gained more ground than she could. He made a grab for her, but Morai turned and threw his bag at him with a laugh. Grunting, Luka caught the bag, and stopped as Morai sped off, well, as fast as the tree roots would let her. Confused as to why she even threw the bag at him, Luka thrust his hand in the bag and cursed. She’d taken the elixir.

“Morai, you’re so dead when I get you,” he yelled, not caring if anyone heard, but by now they were far from the city that he was positive no one would. Scrambling after Morai, bag in hand, Luka heard the flap of wings behind him. He didn’t dare turn, mostly because he was intent on catching Morai. He heard her yell, and what sounded like trashing before a thud sounded, he finally caught up to her. She was on the ground, her foot caught on a root. He grimaced as his hands began to itch, a sign that she needed healing.

“Are you hurt?” She glared at him.

“No, I’m just resting,” she retorted, pulling her foot from the root with a grimace of pain. But once she was free, she didn’t bother getting up. Was it that bad? Crouching, Luka inspected her foot, resisting the itch that demanded he heal her.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” he said. She gave him another glare before getting up from the ground. Belatedly, he realized he should have gotten the elixir from her while she was still on the ground.

“I was catching my breath,” she said, holding up the elixir with a triumphant glint in her eyes. Luka eyed it, wondering how to get it back from her. He also noticed she wasn’t putting any weight on her foot. He gritted his teeth.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“It’s nothing serious,” Morai said. Luka frowned, and was going to suggest he would help her to get home when a whoo whoo sounded behind him.

“Is that….”

“….an owl,” Luka said, turning towards the sound, to find an owl gazing intently at them on its spot on a tree branch. Mundane creatures were rare and considered exotic. Only the wealthy could afford them, which meant whoever owned this owl was either a noble, wealthy merchant, or belonged to one of the tower mages. Luka shuddered at the last one; he didn’t like the tower mages mostly because they were quite snobbish.

“Why is there an owl here?” Morai asked, breaking into his thoughts.

“Probably belongs to one of those snubs,” he said, turning back to Morai.

“Doesn’t explain why it’s here and just watching,” she said. That was true, especially since it followed them as soon as they left the mage tower. Luka glanced back at the owl, then at Morai. She was staring at the owl distracted, the elixir loose in her hand. With her injured foot, he could grab it from her before she even knew it. He took a step towards her.

“Is it following us?” Morai asked.

“Who knows, it’s probably just some random owl,” he said, slowly reaching for the elixir. He snatched it from her and stepped several steps back.

“Gotcha,” he said. Morai groaned, just as he suspected she didn’t move.

“I got to that tower first. That bloody elixir is mine,” she said. He held it up in the air.

“Come and get it then.” Morai stared at her foot, then slowly put some weight on it.

“It’s not as bad as I thought,” she said with a mischievous grin. Lunging for him, her face twisted in pain, and she tumbled to the ground. Luka caught her before she could fall, but in the process, he’d let go of the elixir. The sound of glass shattering met their ears.

“Oops,” Luka said, with Morai still in his arms.

“Oops?” Morai said pushing away from him. “Oops, you just broke the one and only healing elixir and all you can say is oops?” Luka threw his hands in the air.

“What do you want me to do? Cry tears of blood.”

“Yes, actually, that would be preferable.” Luka sighed, looking down at the broken vial, its contents spilled to the ground, uselessly. Then a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. He’d failed a job. In all his twenty something years, he’d never ever failed a job. Well, sure, at times Morai bested him but the jobs were always completed, but this? It would be the first time either of them hadn’t completed one.

“What should we do?” Morai asked, looking at the broken vial and her ashen face. She was probably thinking the same thing.

“We could just tell him we failed,” Luka said with a shrug. How was he going to tell his parents that he’d failed a job? They would be livid.

“My parents are going to kill me,” Morai said. Luka felt some relief at that. At least he wasn’t the only one.“You and me both,” he said. Morai looked up at him, the same relief he’d felt in her eyes.

“I take it this is a first for you, too?” she asked. He nodded, and her shoulders relaxed a little, then tensed up.

“Does that mean it's a draw? We’ve never had a draw before.” The sound of the owl hooting brought them back to the present. There was no use standing here, he’d figure something out. Right now, he needed to get as far away from Morai so his hands could stop itching. No one needed to know he could use healing magic. At least not yet.

“I can take you home,” Luka offered. If she agreed, he could hopefully heal her without her noticing. Though that might be unlikely since his hands glowed when healing someone which would be a dead giveaway.

“I’m not accepting help from a rival,” Morai said, scrunching her nose.

“Fine.” Luka sighed, looking around. He found a sturdy branch on the ground and gave it to her. With one last look at the vial, they slowly made their way out of the forest. The owl watched them the whole time.