Chapter 14 - Ambushed

Alaric was shocked to run into ill-intentioned people on the island. It was a small place where everyone supposedly knew each other.

"What do you want?" Alaric asked.

The thugs started laughing. "Your stuff, obviously. Hand everything over."

That was the tricky part—Alaric didn't have any money. He was completely broke. The only possessions he had were a basic dagger and the magic book Ruby had given him.

"I don't have anything."

One of the bandits eyed the book in his hands. "That book looks valuable. Hand it over."

Alaric didn't move. There was no way he'd give them that book. It was his most prized possession—far more valuable than money.

And to make it worse, it wasn't even his. Ruby would never forgive him if he let some low-life thug steal it.

"Come on already, dumbass. Can't you see we're armed? You wanna die tonight?"

The three hooded men looked weak—in truth, just regular folks without magical abilities. Alaric had already made up his mind. He would fight to protect himself and his belongings.

He began channeling the only spell he knew—Fireball. When the thugs saw him conjuring magic, they stepped back.

"Whoa, hold on there," one said. "We didn't know you were a mage."

Alaric replied with a sarcastic tone, "And you think someone who can't defend themselves would stroll through this part of the island alone at night? You're idiots."

To intensify their fear, Alaric summoned another fireball—one in each hand. Ruby's magic book was now stashed safely in his backpack.

Without showing a hint of fear, he stepped toward the bandits. They moved aside, clearing the path.

Before leaving, Alaric turned to them and spoke coldly, "Are you going to come after me again—or shall we pretend this never happened?"

"W-We can pretend this never happened. We won't bother you again."

"Good."

With that, Alaric returned to the city. The hooded men went in the opposite direction. Too scared to follow him.

When he got to Ruby's house, she ran to the door the moment she saw him approaching.

"Where the hell were you?" she asked. "You vanished without a word."

"Sorry, I lost track of time," Alaric said. "Is Ashley back?"

"Yes, she's in her room. But I think you should talk to her tomorrow."

Ashley was still shaken after her grandmother's funeral. Understandably, she needed time to gather her thoughts.

"I'm heading to my room," Alaric said. "Good night. See you tomorrow."

"Already? Don't wanna eat something, or hang out, talk, do anything?"

Alaric felt exhausted. That run-in with the bandits had drained him. For a moment, he'd really thought he might die—or lose the magic book. That left him feeling rattled.

"I'm just really tired. I want to be rested for my first day on the job tomorrow."

"Alright, I guess," Ruby said, a little disappointed. "Rest up then. See you tomorrow."

He climbed the stairs and headed to his room. As he opened his door, he noticed Ashley opening hers at the same time.

"You okay, Ashley?" he asked.

She didn't speak—just ran up and hugged him. Then she went back to her room. Before shutting the door, she said, "If you keep going out at night, be careful. Any place can be dangerous."

Funny enough, she wasn't wrong. Alaric had just learned that the hard way.

"I will. Sleep well, Ashley."

He entered his room. It wasn't too late to sleep just yet. Alaric grabbed a few books from the shelf and started reading.

This time, he read like a normal person. He preferred books that weren't overly technical or boring. Most of the books in Ruby's sister's room were fiction—with magical stories that sparked the imagination.

Time flew by. Eventually his eyes grew heavy, and night had truly fallen.

The bathroom was outside. The island didn't have advanced technology like the facilities Alaric was used to.

Magic was necessary for modern plumbing, and magic wasn't exactly abundant on this island.

He left his backpack in the room and went downstairs.

Alaric found some brush nearby to relieve himself. Not ideal—but it was what he had.

The silence of the night was deafening. It felt like something bad could happen at any moment.

His instincts were right.

That same group of hooded men returned—and ambushed him.

Everything happened too fast. Alaric was struck on the head.

They pulled a hood over his face, tied his hands, and dragged him away.

*

The next morning, Ruby noticed Alaric was unusually quiet. She walked over to his room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, it's time to wake up," she said after knocking three times. "Remember, today's your first day at work."

No response. That was strange. Ruby slowly opened the door.

Inside, the bed was still partially made—as if no one had slept in it. Alaric's backpack was sitting nearby.

She peeked inside—and found the magic book she had lent him.

"Where is he?"

Ruby searched the entire house. Then she went to speak with Ashley.

"Did you see Alaric?" Ruby asked. "His bed doesn't look slept in, and he's nowhere to be found."

Ashley looked concerned. "I saw him last night, just before he went to his room. Pretty sure it was right after he got home. But I didn't see him after that…"

"Wait," Ashley added, "I just remembered something. I heard a door open upstairs really late last night. Was that you?"

The only people sleeping nearby were Ruby and Alaric. Ruby's parents were on the other side of the hallway—far enough away that their doors wouldn't make noise.

"No, I didn't open anything," Ruby said. "Then it must've been him. But why would he leave the house and not come back? Where would he even go that late?"

They stood silently, trying to guess what Alaric could've been doing. They both knew he was lazy—no way he'd go out that late to do anything.

"Maybe… to use the bathroom?" Ashley suggested. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're probably right."

They headed downstairs and out toward the bathroom, hoping to find any sign that might belong to Alaric.