Avdren pumped his other hand in jubilation. His magic was back, he could feel it flowing through him as he cast the spell. He didn't need a spell book anymore, not that he could use one anyway. He wiped off as much ink from his fingertip as possible before digging in his pocket for the pack of cigarettes. He fished one from the pack, placing it to his lips and bringing the little ball of fire closer to his face. The cigarette ignited easily, and he leaned back, taking a long drag. He allowed his concentration to slip, and the fire faded away. Avdren sat for a long while, slowly enjoying the smoke and intently studying the ink on his palm. He could see the different meanings in each part of it, the way the lines swirled around gracefully before coming to sharp corners in places. The mark told a tale, a story of embers, fire, smoke, and ash. The mark on his forehead opened his senses to it and widened his mind's perception of the magic. Avdren pulled over the spell book, looking through the other spells inscribed within. He saw each tale written in a glyph for each of them as well. They seemed almost alive to him. He found another favorite and quickly pulled the ink over. The fire spell was dry now, and he flexed his hand experimentally. The mark shifted as the skin flexed, but remained intact. He traced the new spell onto the palm of his empty hand carefully, making sure to double-check that there were no errors in his work. It was a shame he had to make the marks so big; if he had the proper tools, he could paint the marks smaller and allow room for more spells on his hands. As he let the new ink dry, he began leafing through The Inked Wizards again. It described other aspects of their lives, additional magic techniques they used, and a few other tidbits of interesting information. At least based on the chapter headings.
When the ink was dry enough, Avdren stood and stepped back up the steps. The moon had risen, bathing the dilapidated house and its surroundings in a soft, pale light. He held out his freshly painted hand and focused a bit of energy towards it. Lightning crackled around his palm and encircled his fingertips until he let the magic fade. With a grin, he went over to check on the horse, but paused as he saw the bodies again when rounding the corner. "Well, shit. I guess we can see if you at least had anything useful." He checked the men over, finding a handful of copper tabs and two silver ones. I guess I could take your gear, but that would most likely raise questions. Thanks for the money, fellas." He heard Beth give a snort and looked up to see three figures enter the clearing. He had a bit more confidence now and stepped forward, folding his arms to wait as they approached.
"Well, I guess we found why Eli and Arn were taking so damn long." The man in the middle looked Avdren up and down in curiosity. "Dunno know how you managed to take them down, though. They was good fighters."
"I cheated." Avdren kept the emotion from his voice, meeting the man's gaze with an intense stare of his own. "What are you doing here. This is private property."
"Whoa now, friend. I wouldn't be making any judgments if I was you. You killed two men at a clearly abandoned home. Just because you claim it to be 'private' don't make it so."
"I say it's private because it is. It's my home. I was born here." Avdren allowed a touch of menace to enter his voice.
"Then you shouldn't have left, dumbass." The man gestured, and the three of them began advancing toward Avdren, drawing weapons. He sighed and raised an arm, focusing on the magic. The ball of fire appeared again as he stretched his arm back, then flung it forward, hurling the fire at the man who had been speaking. With an alarmed shout, the man tried to leap out of the way but crashed into his comrade on the left. The mote of burning elemental magic hit the man in the shoulder, immediately causing the leather and cloth to burst into flame. His friend pushed him away to avoid catching fire, while the other stood staring. Avdren rushed the stunned man, throwing his other palm out. It lit up with lightning as he slammed it into the man's chest, sending him sprawling back with a pained shout. Immediately, a bolt of fire shot out from the wizard, slamming into the fallen man with hungry intent. The first man rolled across the ground, trying to extinguish himself. Avdren turned to look for the other man and immediately had to throw himself backwards as he turned to find a sword swinging toward him. The tip grazed his chest in a shallow cut, but he managed to avoid the worst of it. His back smacked into the wall of the house, and he groaned, then had to duck as the man charged him. His sword hit the stone wall and bounced away in a shower of sparks as Avdren shoved his right hand out again, slamming the lightning into the bandit's gut. He heard Beth whinny in displeasure as the smell of burned flesh filled the air. He panted, trying to catch his breath, looking around at his opponents. The first man had managed to put himself out and was struggling to push himself to his feet. The second man had been unable to react to the fire with his muscles locked up from the shock spell. He lay, struggling to move, as the fire continued to spread over his body. The third man stood, also fighting his own muscles. Avdren drew his knife in his left hand and slashed the man's throat in a spray of blood, giving a kick to push the man over.
The first man finally staggered to his feet. "You bastard. I'll…kill you." He heaved a breath, struggling with the pain of his burned flesh. "You can't abandon a house and not expect people to check it for valuables."
"You, or someone else, clearly already did. Then one of you saw me come back and open the cellar. Probably should have stayed away, instead you got stupid, and when I left, you tried your luck." Avdren strode forward, pointing at the man with his knife. "This is your own fault, but I still should thank you. Now I can truthfully say I killed you all in self-defense. Tell me, dumbass, are they still paying for bandit ears in Elmerton?" The man took the bait, yelling and taking a step forward, his sword swinging down in a wide arc, but it was slow and sloppy. Pain and rage threw off the man's accuracy. Avdren sidestepped, darted forward, and slammed his knife between the bandit's ribs. His right hand came up and grasped the man's face. Lightning exploded from his palm, and the man screamed as his eyes popped from the sudden burst of energy. He fell back, sliding off the knife with a sickening squelch as he dropped to the ground with a final breath. Avdren shuddered, feeling the adrenaline fade as the burning cut on his chest dripped blood down the front of him. "Shit." He gingerly touched the cut, inspecting it. It wasn't deep, but it was long, and any sort of movement twisted it uncomfortably. He stepped over to the man whose throat he had slit and began to yank the leather aside to reveal his undershirt. Avdren tore, or cut, strips of cloth away until he had enough, and sheathed the knife. He removed his cloak and tattered shirt, bandaging his cut to the best of his ability. He would have to go into town to get it looked at properly. Checking the pockets of the two men who hadn't burned completely, he found a few more copper and silver tabs. Standing and moving over to the last man, who still smouldered on the ground, Avdren stamped out the residual flames before checking his pockets as well, and was rewarded with another few tabs. With that done, he went to check on Beth, who was still a bit skittish from all the noise and smells. He managed to calm the horse with a few whispered words and an ample amount of petting. "Let's hope we don't have any more guests, eh girl?"
Avdren returned to the basement and carefully poured the bowl's inky contents into one of the jars, replacing the lid and putting the jar into his pack along with the books he wanted to keep. Curling up against the far wall and trying to get as comfortable as possible, Avdren allowed himself to drift off to sleep. It took a while, as his mind continued to replay the day's events. He thought he had only done what was necessary, but part of him refused to accept it. There had been so much change in his life over the last month, especially over the last week. He felt tears begin to trickle down his cheeks. He had gone from a test subject to all manner of torturous experiments, to taking lives with his own hands. With a sniffle, he tried to stop the tears, but couldn't. He couldn't understand why, but he missed it. He missed his parents, the learning, the tutors, even the experiments, to some extent. What had he become now? What would he do next? He still knew nothing about the curse, knew no way to break it. Realization struck him right as the exhaustion finally pulled him towards sleep. The man with the scar had known something. With his magic back and no spell book to use against him, he had to find the man. However long it took him. Simon had said the man was supposedly an envoy from Gilspen. Avdren wasn't sure he believed that, but it was his only lead. It was time to go south.