Road Mage: Chapter Three

[Koldun he/him]

Chapter 3

My sister and brother in law had been searching for me for several months, guided only by second hand reports of my activities, which at times was peppered with speculation of my true identity. Some said I was but a shadow of the old world, helping out the helpless normals from the villainous mages, while others stuck to the “me being a priest explanation.” I personally prefer the, “me being a Roadkiller, slowly making the denizens of the Roadlands trust it while it infects everyone it saves, as it wishes to keep the population of Mages stable.” That last one almost ended up getting me killed by a mob, but luckily, I’d hung onto some of the Rage I got from the first Mage I siphoned. Lately, my seekers found that a lot of reports seemed to indicate me heading into the northern territories of the Central Roadlands, near the Frozen Land of Nice Folk, which they suspected was my destination. So, that’s where they were headed, travelling through Plainway, the stretch of road that passes through the expansive plains region of the Roadlands. It would be some time before they’d reach the border, so they decided to turn on the one thing that kept them somewhat sane on this long, tiresome trip to find their relative. The radio, more specifically, the station designated DOD, known as Dion’s Own Devices to those who despise acronyms, something that was true for my two hunters, a station run by a single Mage, a Radioman, whose name was, obviously, Dion. He hosted a radio show out of his car, using his power over radios to transmit his voice across the entire radio network, creating his very own station, one located where there was once a mere cloud of static. It was rather easy to find, as it was the only non-government owned radio station on the air and the only other thing on the radio was ironically, the Department of Defence’s constant broadcasted warnings for non-Mages to stay out of the Roadlands. The seekers of the Cross Guardian had been listening to him when they came across one of the Farm Towns.

 The place’s largest building was a barn, found close to the second largest, the house that had once belonged to the town’s first mayor. All of the usual animal homes could be found, along with rows and rows of shacks hastily assembled from whatever material one could find just lying on the Roadlands. Most of them were made from car parts, obviously, while others used signs and cement barriers in their architecture. Others went back to the classic method and made simple lean-tos out of whatever wood they could find. The forests weren’t really convenient places to go to for wood anymore, what with the constant fires and all. The woman and the driver hear the sound of an approaching tractor, a loud, blaring sort of sound, and turned to see the person nearing them. His demeanor could be easily described as the direct opposite of a tractor’s noise, and this was proven through his quiet, but clear voice, “A greetings to you two.” The driver rolled down the window and extended a hand to shake, which the driver accepted as he drove up near to them. “Welcome to Mestry Farms, population of 124 normals, one mage, and two visitors. Unless of course, you’re here to stay, which would raise our population to...?” The woman finished his thought, “Three mages, but we’re not here to stay. On the topic of visitors, any other mages come through here?” The man raised his eyebrows at the first part, and took a little while to answer the second, “Well, some, but most only came to talk to our mage. He’s a Chassier.” He looked proud at the last part, and raised a hand, “Of course, if you wish to do the same, you’re already done. I’m Mikes by the way.” They gave him their names, Pristina and Alex, and he nodded in recognition, “Wait, any relations to the other Doherty that passed through. Tom?” This of course, led to wide eyes and gasps, “He used his actual name? Not that stupid nickname he’s picked up?” She narrowed her eyes at the last part as if to say, “Don’t ask about the nickname.” “Well yes, nice fellow. It was nice to meet a fellow Chassier for once. He’s skilled, too. Helped work out one of the problems I had with one of my projects. The guy had a right angry face while he did it, too. Didn’t really make me comfortable, but the mug got the job done.” Alex chuckled at the last part of that, “What? You’re a Rager too, aren’t you? You are a Mage after all.” Mikes cocked his head a bit to the side, “Nope. I’m a Pleasanter.”

This phrase led to my sister turning to her husband and saying, “Well then. My brother helped out an insane person. Huh. Not surprising, actually.” The man, now known to be a Pleasanter, scratched his head, “Well that’s not too nice of an opinion to have on Plesanters, ma’am.” “I think it’s safe to call someone who’s generally pleased with life in the Roadlands insane. There are literal demons here, Mikes. What’s there to be pleased with?” “Lots of things, actually, miss Doherty. My wife is mayor of the town and isn’t considered to be a risk based on her being born to mages and thus “likely to Enrage at any minute”, my children are free to be with whomever they want to, mage or normal or whatever else, and there are no breeding programs or controlled rations here, just crops. Life’s good, and it got so good that while I was fixing up my little house, I got my powers. Need a fix-up, clean-up, nice-up?” Alex grunted out a simple, “How much?” something he got used to saying when getting offers for services from Mages. “Whatever you can spare and come out ok. Your friend did me a solid with his assistance, course that was a few months ago, but still, a good deed is a good deed.” Alex thought on this for a bit, and asked the friendly Pleasanter a question, “Which house is yours?” Mikes pointed to a small, ramshackle hut near the barn and gave a simple, “That one,” in response.

Extending his hand behind himself, the driver grabbed his object, which had previously only been vaguely described. You’re in luck though, since I’m going to describe it now. It was a metal rod, like the ones used to hold up signs, only it was obviously only half of one, with a big chunk of rock on the end. Well, really concrete. An old faded yellow streak donned the top of the makeshift staff. The driver, making sure not to dent anything, carefully pointed the staff concrete-end first out of the window and towards Mikes’ pitifully small home, and suddenly, the bits of asphalt, cement and concrete that had been piled to make the walls melded together into an actual wall, which then began to extend, fusing with the other pieces as it grew to encompass the other bits. Where there was something that was too fragile to support the wall, the rock covered over it, making it a stable support. The places that had been built well were incorporated into the design, and soon enough, Mikes owned something more resembling a brick and mortar house, only cement and magic may have been a better term for it. Mikes was obviously exhilarated, as was shown by his wide smile and hopping from foot to foot. He turned to the car, a focused expression now on his face, and looked to Alex, “What do you guys want? Quick! I want to break in my new home.” Alex chuckled, “It won’t break, sadly. I made it too strong for that. But we want our car to be as strong as you can make it. We’re heading towards the Lands of Peace and Health.” “Ah, then you’ll need to have a nice, tough chassis. I can handle it.” He shook his fingers, as if to warm them up, then smiled, and a smile, so wide it seemed the corners of his mouth would begin to split the skin of his face, and laid his hands on the car.

Suddenly, every scratch, every bit of dirt, vanished, and if one looked close, one would see that the metal was now just plain better. It was as if the chassis was being taught what true resilience was, and was taking those lessons to heart. The chassis did not become thicker, heavier, or meaner looking, but it did take on a certain gleam.  By the time he was finished, Mikes smile had become less so a grin and more a content expression. He sighed, looked back to his renovated house, and his insanely happy demeanor began to return. “Man, that’s going to be a great help with future jobs, thanks.” With that, he turned his tractor around, waved a good bye, and drove back. Alex gave a small smile, closed the window, and drove out of the town, looking back on what he had helped improve, if only a bit. Pristine looked only forward.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

So there are different kinds of Mages? Fascinating. Are there only Ragers and Pleasanters, or are there more?

[Koldun he/him]

There are Mages for any kind of strong emotion, Ragers are just the most common in the Roadlands.

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

Just now, Koldun said:

There are Mages for any kind of strong emotion, Ragers are just the most common in the Roadlands.

Hmm. That is similar to my magic system, but different enough that I'm okay with it.

[Koldun he/him]

Huh. Unfortunately, I haven't read about your magic system. Sorry.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

This is actually really cool. I'm liking how this world is building, and I love the magic. Is this set in some sort of post-apocalyptic America? Because that's kind of what it feels like. I like it though. It's cool. 

Though, if there are magics based on other emotions, how would you go about a Sadder? Or an Exciter? Also, does the magic only come from driving? Or can it manifest if the person's emotions are strong enough, even if they're not driving? And does the magic only manifest if they're in/near the Roadlands?

[Koldun he/him]

It is indeed America. Magic manifests anywhere where your emotions reach a strong enough point, but as the roads are a sort of rage magnet, that's where it happens more often than not. The Roadlands are not the source of the magic, they're merely the stretches of road and highway across America that have been cordoned off. The powers you get depend on what led you to feel such strong emotions in the first place, with there being some leniency based on the thoughts going through your head at the moment. More often than not, it's angry people fantasizing about destroying cars and their anger reaching such a point that their fantasies come true. The magic manifested, at least at first, in what is now the Roadlands, leading to a lot of magical anomalies and destruction, such as the potholes. This will be addressed more later on.