“What am I gonna do with you?” She blurted out. “First you save my life, then you tell me that you are playing for the wrong team and now you look at me with those big googly eyes.”
Siem let her defences fall completely, magical and emotional. She knew that her trust for him was unusually quick, but she cared about him for some reason and that made her nervous. He hid nothing from her, and that was very rare. He had laid himself bare before her. Yet it seemed to her that she didn’t know him at all.
“Okay, so what do you want from me?” Siem asked. She relaxed her posture and looked at him, waiting for a clear answer. He looked puzzled by this direct question but immediately gave her an answer.
“I want to help you. This is about us walking in there and facing Lord Taboon together, two mages against one.” After a while, he spoke again. “You will change this world, Siem. Your name is already on everyone’s lips, and I think it is good that someone like you can make it this far.”
“Someone like me?” She wondered aloud. She looked at him and could barely suppress the urge to laugh.
“Well, you’re a woman and a woman doesn’t usually do that,” Mikko said, somewhat apologetically.
Siem rolled her eyes and couldn’t bother pretending to be shocked by the misogyny of it all. He felt awkward and kept stuttering in a haste to justify his words. The last thing he wanted was to offend her.
“Well, you are with a princess, a princess who probably didn’t volunteer... but you are standing right here trying to change the world beside her. You should be dead. You should have been forgotten because of what you have done and because you are a woman, yet you are not. You pose a threat to all those who stand against you.”
He tried again when she met his words with a blank stare. “I want to stand up to these powerful sorcerers and change the system... with you, a beautiful, powerful, and amazing woman.”
Siem smiled then. She realized that there was much more at stake here than she had initially thought.
Mikko continued, “I am powerful but not a natural leader. I do things alone. You, on the other hand, have come so far with little help and without a man at your side.” She tried her best not to roll her eyes again.
“I am not alone but yes, the first steps were hard, and after that, the help I received was not much, so I am proud and happy that I have come this far. I will fulfil my duty as a guardian and save Eldana from certain death.”
“That’s what I meant,” said Mikko. “You’re a leader. You do whatever it takes to pursue and fight for what you believe in no matter the risk, and I find that incredible. That’s why I’m here. I’ve been hiding for the last few years, ashamed to be myself. I feel the light is not strong enough to protect me. But with you, the light in my heart glows again and I am ready to fight with you. I feel, somehow, that we may even have a chance to win...”
Siem was a little embarrassed at the attention they got from his loud declaration. People who passed by stared intensely at them.
“Well then, Mikko,” Siem began. “You now belong to the new circle of the Protectors of Eldana. We are happy to have you with us.”
The magician laughed out loud. His smile was brighter than the sun in its full glory. She also laughed. She turned and looked at the building.
“Thanks again for bringing me here. I will go in and demand Lord Taboon’s help and stop this terrible hunt.”
The color in Mikko’s face drained instantly as he gave a horrified gasp.
“That’s what you wanted to come here, to appeal to Lord Taboon?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Siem was already on her way into the building. Mikko was puzzled but ran after Siem and grabbed her by the arm, speaking the runes of time and speed. Through the magic, it could have been difficult to fool the mage guard, but Mikko knew his way around and was fast and shrewd. The mage guard sensed a slight source of power but in a magic school that was normal. It didn’t matter.
They emerged inside the school much faster than expected; two merest flickers of light and air that went unnoticed. The two ended up near the door to Lord Taboon’s chamber. It was located in a side corridor, cut off from the main hallway, and with many magical inscriptions on the walls. Siem held her fingers to her lips as she stepped forward, and peeped into Lord Taboon’s office with a spell. Siem and Mikko carefully walked in after knocking and immediately heard whistling. The office of Lord Taboon looked exactly as one would imagine the office of a leading magician. Thousands of books were placed on impressively tall antique bookshelves. Everywhere, there were mystic signs and crystals for different purposes. Lord Taboon was just about to put away a scroll when he heard the knock on the door. He assumed it was one of the students looking for help again. He tried to appear friendly when he approached since he had been told far too often that he seemed quite scary and aggressive.
“Come in,” He said in a lovely tone with his best smile. A young woman and a man stood there in front of him. They looked quite nasty, but that was normal for Lord Taboon. Everyone looked nasty to him.
“How can I help you, students?” He stated.
Siem was the first to speak. She felt her heart flutter for a moment, but her nerves were tempered by the memories of their recent chase. “We are not students,” she said
