Chapter 21
Zeth instantly marched over to the shed, ignoring his mother tugging on his arm in an attempt to pull him away.
“They said it’s still too dangerous for us to approach,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re curious, you’re not allowed to—”
“I just need to see,” he said, trying to keep his voice under control. They’d caught the fucking Blood Mage? The person he’d been hunting ever since he got out of that cave? How? It was Zeth who had been working in this shed, not them. Why would they even come out here? Had everything seriously ended right now, without him ever even seeing it?
As he came closer to the shed, one of the guards walked up to him with a gauntleted hand out. “Sir, you can’t—”
“Please move out of my way,” he said, sidestepping the man and continuing in his stride. About a dozen guards were milling about near the shed, plus the two guards that had been personally speaking to Zeth’s mom over by the house. Seemed like, whether or not this really was the Blood Mage, they were taking it seriously.
“Sir!” the guard shouted after him. A few more glanced over from near the shed and rushed over, forming a wall of personnel to keep him from advancing. The guard walked up from behind Zeth. “Sir, I understand you live here, but this is a matter of town security. You don’t understand how dangerous an unsecured location under control of a Blood Mage can be. One wrong step can mean your death.”
“I want to see this person,” he said.
“You can see her later. Right now, it is far too dangerous.”
“The danger comes from their Fire Ritual traps, right?” Zeth asked. “They activate when you step on them. I don’t see any of you catching on fire, so it looks like the ground immediately around the shed is fine. If you’re really that scared for my safety, then you can lead the way and I will step in your footprints, that way you can know for sure I’ll be safe. All I want is a peek through the door.”