It was a fairly lax evening in La'marri as far as they typically went. All was quiet as soon as the sun had set, with most tradesmen going home to their wives and husbands after a long day's work, and the typical family either having or having already had dinner for the night. Surely there were still those out and about who enjoyed the night's sky, but for the most part, La'marri was at its quietest now, as the younglings were being tucked away for bed, and the older men and women prepared to do the same.
Aldis was wide awake, though he never really slept as much as the common man; Not usually, anyway. He'd been raised on roughly five or six hours of sleep a night, a combination of Gartherro's strict and day-round teachings, and his fondness for reading historical novels in his free time... which was when he'd be asleep, otherwise. Eventually, nostalgia set in proper, and though he'd have the energy of a 120 year old turtle, he couldn't sleep; At least, not at the same time as others. What better time than now, then, to practice magic?
Not just any magic, like creationism or elementalism; He did that stuff during the day, when he wasn't working on potions for some customer or another. No, now was the time for less... generally accepted magics. Demonology, for instance. Of late, he'd begun to delve into such topics within the Tome of Hillibrad; Not of his choice, mind you, the book had a will of its own regarding what it would teach. With a fair grasp on the primal arts, it seemed as though now it had chosen to teach him to interact with evil spirits and harmful magics.
This was a really bad idea, of course, and were Aldis any less of a naive young man, he'd have realized it. However, he knew enough not to practice such magics during the day, and not to do it where others could get hurt. And so, he did so downstairs, in the 'dungeon', so to speak; A level below ground, which explained why the ground and walls were made of paved stone. The area, while large, was packed with steel-trimmed casks filled with either alchemic liquids, or wines... Gartherro never told the boy, and he never dared to look in all his time living here. There was enough space to run in circles, set up a table and chairs, and more importantly, practice magic. And so, practice was what Aldis did in the late hours... Until a single event effectively disrupted that habit.
"Ahhh!!!" A practically helpless cry, following a rumble that sounded not unlike an explosion echoed from the interior of Aldis's estate, shaking it just a little; It was nothing if not sturdy. Several moments of silence followed this most ominous of audible events, and shortly thereafter, the combination of the sound of foreign laughter and an unnatural amount of smoke and ash burst through the front doors of his home... Along with a pair of forms. Shrouded by the night as they were, the two figures exited through the newly forced-open doorway, and began to fly; Spreading black, shadowy wings that had not before been very visible, and taking off into the skies, spreading their wicked laughter and a light, soot-like ash over the rooftops of La'marri as they whisked themselves away, heading south from the village, to a place only they knew where, perhaps.
Huffing, puffing, and covered in ash, Aldis only made it as far as the doors of his home before collapsing. "No... stop... come back..." He weakly protested, coughing a bit as surely enough, he'd likely inhaled some of that ash they were spreading around. This was a catastrophe... How could he have let this happen? And what was he going to do now? Hacking a bit more from a combination of far too little exercise and the smoke beginning to affect his head, Aldis crawled a bit further away from his nearly-unhinged front door, searching for fresh air... and help.
