Rend Hope by Josh Webb, Clayscence Page B

many strangers as possible, to try and make sure we keep the ones who are threats to the city away." She explained, Markus turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised.
                  "So what about you?  You're not a stranger to them and I'm pretty sure they would know better than me if you were a threat to the city.  Why do you have to sit here?"  He questioned, Marie looked away, unable to look him in the eye.
                  "I'm going to be debriefed, I was on a mission before I was captured by those cannibals." She told him, still not looking at his face.  Markus brought his feet down from the table and propped his elbows on it, leaning forward to eye Marie curiously.
                  "A mission huh?  Just what kind of mission?" he asked suspiciously, she shook her head.
                  "I can't tell you." She replied, Markus smiled.
                  "Oh a top secret mission!  Are you some sort of super cool ninja assassin?  Were you sent out there by the city to brandish your own unique brand of shinobi justice?" He asked jokingly, Marie rolled her eyes.
                  "No blondie.  Nothing that exciting." She answered, Markus rubbed his chin in thought.
                  "Alright, well, if it wasn't anything exciting, why can't you tell me?" The "Ordinary" magi asked curiously.  Before Marie could answer, the door to the interrogation room opened revealing a man with a tan cowboy hat with brown hair in a ponytail that went to his shoulderblades, the whiskers on his face matching his hair color.  Markus noted that the man really loved the color blue, as all his denim clothes were blue except for the white shirt he wore underneath his dark blue trenchcoat.
                  "Sorry I'm late, it's not easy being the sheriff of this city.  Had some stuff that I had to take care of real quick before coming here."  The pseudo-cowboy said, tipping his hat and nodding towards Markus.  "Sheriff Kendal Wallace." He introduced himself.  "I'm in charge of keeping people safe here."  He turned towards Marie and smiled.  "You little lady I know already, it's good to see you safe Lady Marie."  The teenage girl rolled her eyes at her title.
                  "Please Kendal, you don't have to use the honorific with me.  You know how much I hate it." She told him, the sheriff shrugged.
                  "You know me, always got to be the gentleman." He replied smoothly, Marie raised an eyebrow.
                  "Does that mean that Janine has given you back your cigarettes?" She inquired, Kendal lowered his head in exaggerated melancholy.
                  "No!  She said I was being too lazy and needed to spend more time with her, but apparently taking a nap on the couch next to her isn't her idea of quality time." He answered sadly, Marie snorted.
                  "Gee, I wonder why." She said sarcastically, Kendal shook his head and turned to face Markus a melodrama gone.
                  "So you're the one who accompanied Marie to the city correct?" The sheriff asked, Markus smiled.
                  "Yup." he said simply,
                  “Care if I ask you a few questions?”
                  “Nope.”
                  Markus waited for a question to be asked, but Kendal’s lips didn’t move an inch he just continued to stare lazily at the aeromancer.  Markus could feel the air shift around the sheriff and his instinct was telling him he wasn’t going to like this questioning session.  This wannabe cowboy was going to do much more than talk.
                  Suddenly Kendal pulled out a golden revolver with his right hand and fired a blast of magic energy faster than a human eye could blink.  Markus winced as he brought his right hand forward, summoning his magic energy for a swift spell, this was