Runic Domination

Prologue || Freedom Always Comes At A Price

My stomach clenched at the sight of the familiar building looming up in front of me. The guild's headquarters was a multi-story building made of warm sandstone and big windows that lit up the inside. It had been my safe haven for many years. I had spent nearly all my time either here or in one of the branch buildings, working on jobs, laughing with my brother and my friends...

Stop it.

It wasn't easy to suppress the feeling of dread rising. A lot of things had changed over the last few months. The term friends left a bitter taste in my mouth nowadays.

I pulled up my hood and activated my new rune. Another thing that changed. It was the latest and probably the last rune for me, which was why I had wanted to add Speed at first, like my brother had. How fast plans could change.

Nobody paid me any attention when I entered the building. Members were lounging around the foyer and the front desk, where Scott worked as a secretary. As a plant magician he was able to heal but his magical ability was so low, that he barely managed to close a simple scratch. Not that he seemed to mind manning the front desk.

I recognized a few others but didn't stop to chat. One of them, a lean, dark-skinned man with short brown hair was one of Finn's new friends. Who knew what my ex-best friend had told them about me?

I skipped to the elevator and opted for the stairs leading up towards the fifth floor, and Paul's office. Paul was our guild master and basically my second brother. My twin brother Kieran and him had been inseparable ever since Kier had joined the guild.

Clearing my head of the distracting thoughts, I gripped the paper in my hand and knocked onto the door to Paul's office.

"Come in." A deep voice sounded from inside.

Pushing back my hood, I opened the door and was greeted by the usual sight. Three big windows, nearly reaching from floor to ceiling bathed the interior of the office in a warm light. Paul had rebuilt it after he took over the job half a year ago. Wooden furniture lined the walls. The many bookshelves were set aside on one part of the room, creating the image of a miniature library. A thin, medium long sword hung above the wall behind a large mahogany desk, that was littered with paperwork.

Paul was signing documents but looked up when I entered. A smile stretched his lips. "I didn't realize it was you, Kaia. To what do I owe this honor of you finally gracing me with your presence." His light blue eyes were warm as they met mine, but I just shrugged in response, trying to hide the nervousness I was feeling. Apparently not very successfully because he frowned, his gaze dropping to the paper clutched in my left hand. "What's that?"

Steeling myself I handed him the form, that was slightly crumbled by now. His eyebrows rose in an unhappy expression as he scanned its content.

Guilt filled me at the somewhat betrayed look in his face. Paul had replaced the late guild master only recently and his first course action had been to clean up after me. I hadn't been able to help much in sorting out the mess that I was at least partly responsible for. And now, I was leaving.

"You want to quit the guild?" Hurt and confusion shone in his eyes as he stared at me in disbelief. "Is this because of what happened, or your fight with Melissa?"

At the mention of her name, memories of our last confrontation flashed through my mind. "You keep pretending but in truth you are acting this way because you know they will always clean up after you. You tell them to leave you alone but stick to them like a leech..." 

Shaking my head, I tried to get rid of the hateful voice echoing through my mind. "It's part of the reason. But not all. I want to do a bit of my own thing."