ã€ŠThe Thorn from the Mountainã€‹


 Prologue - A Threefold Darkness

    Every breath I took felt like hot acid and my overtaxed lungs burned.

    I had long since lost all feeling in my legs and yet they continued to move, if I stopped they would kill me or worse, they would take me back.

    I could still hear them chasing me, the crashing of the under brush behind me.

    I was almost at the edge of the treeline, the only thing beyond it were boulders then the jagged rocks of the mountain slope.

    The vague thought crossed my mind of what exactly I would do once the trees were no longer there to interfere with their arrows, I would be exposed to them unless I could somehow manage to keep behind the rocks of the mountain.

    I lifted my leg higher and pushed off the ground with the other to jump onto a particularly large and gnarled tree root.

    The upright slab of stone just beyond it was too high for me to jump onto without first having something to stand on.

    I tried to get my foot onto the root, then continue over it onto the slab of stone but the lack of feeling in my legs betrayed me.

    Instead of my foot coming down on top of the root, the toes of my foot caught on the side of it. My momentum sent me tripping over the root, I didn''t even have the breath the cry out.

    Falling over the root my arms shot out to catch myself before my face hit the loamy earth between the root and the slab of rock, instead of stopping my fall my hands sunk into the earth.

    To my horror the small patch of ground gave way and I fell through completely.

    As I fell, time seemed to slow for me as a witnessed a threefold darkness.

    The first darkness was the seemingly endless blackness of the pit I had fallen into.

    My body twisted around as I fell, as if seeking the only course of light which was the hole I had fallen through.

    Falling in that timeless moment I witnessed my second darkness, the slab of stone I had tried to jump onto from the gnarled root toppled forward, the loamy earth I had broken through disturbing it''s balance.

    As if it had been created by nature to be the perfect trapdoor for the hole, it closed off the light completely sealing me away.

    This day had supposed to be one of freedom, not one of entombment.

    This day had been the day I had escaped my uncle.

    The man who had supposed to care for me when my parents had died.

    And as if in keeping with my life, my gambit, my chance of freedom from that bastard had also turned to rot and ruin.

    Fourteen years of life, six of them a living hell under his care and now it came to an end.

    I knew my life was over, I knew this was how I died.

    I could feel it in my soul that this was the end of me.

    My fate was; to love, to lose, to suffer, to be given hope, to fall here, to die sealed away.

    Though I did not know it at the time, I was wrong.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    This was not my end.

    This was the beginning of me, the chance at changing it all.

    No, not at the time.

    The only other thing I knew at the time was...

    Well...

    The third darkness, of course.

    The third darkness came as I hit the bottom of the pit, it overtook me and I knew no more.

    <hr>

    ¡°Where is the little bastard?¡± One of the ragged men shouted.

    The four of men stood panting beyond the treeline looking up the slope of the mountain.

    The boy was nowhere in sight.

    How the little shit had managed to make it this far was mystifying.

    He just seemed to keep going no matter what.

    The traitorous whore of a maid who had fled with the boy had died when the travel carriage flipped. So had the horses.

    It was the bitch''s own fault for trying to take it off the road and into the trees.

    It was a pity she had died, Marran had wanted to have some fun with her before he killed her.

    Lord Hendrik, the boy''s uncle would have been only too happy to hand her over to him for ''punishment''.

    The Lord would only be slightly annoyed that she had gotten off so lightly.

    But that wasn''t such a big deal, the Lord would be furious if they didn''t bring the boy back or at least make sure the little fucker was dead.

    He knew it and looking around at the other men he could see in their eyes that they knew it too.

    If they didn''t find the boy, only torture and death would be waiting for them if they returned back to the estate.

    ¡°Look around the rocks on the slope.¡± Marran told them. ¡°The little fucker is probably hiding.¡±

    <hr>

    The four men looked but they found nothing in those hours.

    First there was frustration, having chased the boy all this way only for him to vanish.

    It was followed swiftly by anger, then by fear.

    As the sun was setting the men stood around the wreckage of the travel carriage back in the woods, the body of the maid and the horses before them.

    The men had been talking and had come up with a plan.

    One of the three chests the boy had fled with had burst open when the carriage crashed.

    Scattered all around the area were the boy''s spare clothes, they took from them one of the boy''s shirts.

    Draping it over the maid''s body each of them plunged their daggers into it, they pressed down and rolled the body and shirt over.

    Dirt and blood covered the boy''s shirt.

    With their ''proof'' of the boy''s death, they would return to the Lord, back to the estate.

    They swore to each other that they would reveal nothing of their failure, that to the Lord they would all be ''witness'' to the boy''s death by their hands.

    The travel carriage was burned, the maid''s body tossed on the flames and the four conspirators fled back to their Lord and master with nothing but a bloody rag and lies.

 Chapter One - Through the Depths

    Ash was awakened by pain.

    He opened his eyes but the world was black.

    For a moment he panicked, wondering if he was blind.

    Suddenly remembering he was supposed to be fleeing for his life, his heart started pounding in his chest, trying to break free.

    He sat up quickly then two things happened on top of each other.

    Firstly, the back of his head throbbed with pain.

    Then the second thing was that he vomited, hot liquid rose up from within him and spilled out over the front of his chest.

    Managing to get onto his knees and elbows, he could only listen to the pathetic sounds he made as his head throbbed and the dizziness tried to wring more hot liquid from his gut.

    He waited for an unknown amount of time, just trying to breathe.

    He opened his eyes trying once again to see in the darkness, it took time before he could begin to make out what he thought were the walls of his tomb.

    Remaining still on all fours, he listened as much as he could, straining to try hear any sounds of his uncle''s men.

    He didn''t know how long he waited but the only thing he heard in that time was a very faint sound of wind.

    It was so faint that he thought he might have been imagining it, until he realised that it was gently touching the skin of his hot face.

    He looked in the direction he felt the breeze from and in the darkness, he slowly thought he could see an even blacker patch in that expanse.

    Unable to do anything more, he slowly crawled and shuffled towards it.

    It seemed as though he were crawling through a corridor-like passage that lead from the pit he had thought was his tomb.

    At one point after stopping to breathe through the pain on the back of his head, he must have not been heading directly straight because his shoulder pressed up against the hard side of this passage.

    Reaching to it with a hand, he felt around.

    He felt what he thought were tree roots against the wall, that coupled with the rocky and dirt covered ground made him sure that he was in an underground cave system.

    He didn''t know which direction he was heading in, was he heading further into the mountains or was he heading back under the woods?

    He didn''t know if he had missed other passages in pit he had originally fallen into or whether this was the only way he could move.

    The pain on the back of his head and the nausea it caused were too much to make him consider going back to check.

    Besides, now that he had stopped once more he thought he could once again feel the breeze on his face.

    It would have to be enough for him, he crawled onwards.

    Time passed, he had stopped to breathe through the pain and nausea so many times that he had lost count.

    Everything was a haze in that darkness.

    He had found that his passage was one that twisted and turned, sometimes he had had to drag himself over mounts of dirt or piles of rocks.

    Crawling through small gaps, pushing stones out of his way.

    All the while chasing that breeze.

    Time and time again he would doubt himself, he thought that maybe he was just imagining the breeze and would end up stopping once more, waiting there in the darkness until he felt the air once more kiss his skin.

    Then he would continue.

    One thing he came to realise was that he was definitely heading into the mountain, rather than back into the woods.

    The roots had become smaller and fewer until only dirt and stone remained.

    That coupled with the feeling of a slight incline made him sure of his direction, if not his destination.

    Crawling, scraping his hands through the damp earth, pushing and pulling rocks or small stones he continued onwards until eventually he couldn''t make his body move any more.

    He had no idea how long he had been here, under the earth trying to escape this hell but after his desperate sprint for his life, first by the travel carriage, then on foot through the woods, it was too much for his body.

    He stopped, lay on his side and passed out from exhaustion.

    Some time later he awoke once more in darkness, a small pang in his chest was the only disappointment he felt at remembering where he was and why he was here.

    Wasting no time he moved onwards once more.

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    Some time later he heard it.

    The drip drip drip of water.

    He was almost frantic in his mad crawl in the darkness to find the source of the sound.

    As his hands scrabbled over the loose stones the felt them start to come away slightly damp until he felt a cold splash on the back of his neck.

    When he eventually found the point on the stone above him where the drops of water seemed to run to, he was frustrated as how little there was.

    Beneath it had been a small puddle of water, he had lowered his face to it sucked it in only to have it vanish into him after no more than a mouth full.

    He had to wait as the small divot refilled itself from the maddeningly slow source, a couple of drops at a time.

    He slept once more.

    When he awoke again, he didn''t immediately continue he journey.

    He first drank the water that had collected while he slept then waited for it to eventually refill.

    Before he had slept, he had managed to keep himself awake long enough for it to refill four times.

    This time he waited for it to refill it twice more before he moved on.

    Eventually he came to a halt, he had just dragged himself through a narrow gap of stone.

    Convinced that it would suddenly shift and crush him the entire time, when he found that he could crawl no further.

    He was at the bottom of a hole, the ground beneath him was completely made up of loose jagged rocks.

    Looking upwards he could make out the edge about fifteen feet above him, but nothing beyond that.

    Suddenly startled that he could make out anything in such darkness, his heart started to race at the knowledge that somewhere close there must be light.

    When he felt that breeze hit his skin once more he felt dizzy, he sat back against the hard rock heedless of the jagged stones beneath him.

    He spent a few minutes trying not to heave up bile as there was nothing left inside his empty stomach.

    Opening his eyes once more when he felt composed enough, he looked up at the stone sides of this new pit.

    It was, like everything else had been; uneven.

    The mostly narrow tube he found himself at the bottom of looked to be maybe three feet wide at the narrowest point about half way up.

    If the hole were completely straight, that narrow point would have been all he could see, but rather than being a directly downwards straight hole, there was a slight incline to the stone sides.

    Knowing that there was no other way, he started to try to climb.

    His hands and fingers felt raw after all they had been through, he could feel cuts on them long since crusted over with blood.

    Even the amount of dirt under his nails seemed to want to force his finger nails from his fingers with the pressure.

    He struggled upwards, his sore hands searching for grooves or cracks.

    Once he could get over that half way point where the narrowest part was, he could use it as a ''new ground'' of sorts, from there he should be able to climb the remaining distance to the top without too much effort.

    It wasn''t to be though, the strain of having to hold himself in place with one grip while his other hand sought out somewhere else to purchase was too much for his weakened and exhausted body.

    He fell.

    When he woke again, his head throbbed as badly as he remembered from his first awakening.

    He lay for a long time breathing through the pain, he knew by the new pain in his left elbow that it had been the first point of impact from his fall.

    While it hurt, he was just glad that he hadn''t actually landed on his head.

    If this was the pain he felt from it just being roughly jostled, a direct impact would likely kill him.

    When he felt as settled as he could be, he started his climb once more.

    This time, after an excruciatingly long time he found himself gasping and sweating as he eventually dragged himself over the lip of the pit.

    He thought he had never seen such a beautiful sight in his life.

    The pit he had just dragged himself from was the floor of what was clearly a man made stone corridor.

    The corridor lead a short way into an open expanse that was also clearly a room of sorts, everything was made of the mountain itself.

    At the far side of that room, he could see a single ray of light.

    A small line that seemed to have broken through the mountain into this buried place.

    He let exhaustion take him once more but this time, he felt his lip curl ever so slightly into the shape of a smile before he drifted off.

 Chapter Two - Exploration

    Ash awoke once more and almost wept when he could no longer see the beam of sunlight.

    It took him longer than it should have to realise that he could still see, that the sunlight had simply been replaced by ambient moonlight.

    Dragging himself unsteadily to his feet he headed down the stone corridor into the room.

    The room was small, it had nothing in it but a few loose rocks on the flat floor.

    In fact the only purpose the room seem to have was the almost completely covered opening which must to have been some kind of lookout point.

    Besides that and the opening he had come from there was nothing else here.

    He placed his hands on the rocks that were covering the opening and was about to try to move them but he paused.

    If he shifted the rocks covering the opening, there was a good chance that they would all start to fall inwards onto him.

    He didn''t know how many rocks were on top of the ones he could touch exactly but from the small gap that let the pale moonlight in, there looked to be at least five feet of them.

    Almost wanting to do it in spite of himself, he turned around frustrated and headed back into the corridor.

    As he expected, he came to the hole he had crawled out of.

    Clearly the passage of time must have eventually caught up with this place and this part of the floor had fallen through.

    Above the hole now though he could easily move around the edge of it and continue down the as yet unexplored side of the corridor.

    The thought of more of the floor being able to fall out from under him filled him with dull sense of unease, he moved on cautiously.

    The corridor was dark but after having spent who knows how long under the mountain, he couldn''t bring himself to care too much about it.

    Trying to rely on his ears and sense of touch, he listened out for any sounds that would indicate the floor might give way.

    Using his hands to feel along the smooth stone walls, he followed the corridor, he came to a what seemed like a junction and decided to turn right.

    The rooms that he found as he travelled through the seemingly endless dark corridors contained nothing but debris and what he thought might have once been parts of furniture, long since rotted away.

    He spent what must have been hours exploring this place and wondered what it was.

    This place buried under the mountain, he had never heard of anyone having lived in the mountains before.

    Sure, there were peoples who liked to live in mountains or underground, like the dwarves or dark elves but he had never heard of any peoples living in the Coldwater Ridges specifically.

    To think that long ago someone had lived here so close to his home city of Coldwater and seemingly no one had known.

    There seemed to be so many pointless corridors, many of them were just dead ends. No doors or openings to rooms, just corridors that branched off then stopped.

    He came across two more rooms that seemed the same as the original lookout point he had first found but only one of them had moonlight coming in through the mounds of rocks covering the opening.

    He found himself turning another corner and finding a set of stone stairs.

    Excited that he might have found the beginnings of a way out of this maze, he hurried up them.

    The corridors on this floor were wider, he could feel strange carvings in the stone walls as he moved through these grander seeming halls.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.Exploring more of the rooms he found that less of the halls on this floor were dead ends and that the rooms he found contained a lot more rotten furnishings.

    Not for the first time he wished for a light of some kind just so he could examine the things he could only find by touch.

    If only to give him a clue as to what this place had been or who had lived here.

    His stomach ached it was so empty and knowing that he was no stranger to being forced not to eat, he knew that he must have gone way too long without food.

    Savagely cutting off the thought of food before it did more harm than good, he forced himself onwards and eventually found more stairs.

    When he had walked down several of the halls he entered one of the rooms, he was feeling what felt like more remains of furniture when he heard a sharp crack.

    Before he even had a chance to register what was happening, he was falling through the floor.

    He landed hard and rolled onto onto his side coughing up dust and gagging at the renewed throbbing from the back of his head.

    It took him a moment to realise that he could see light through the backs of his closed eyelids and as soon as the thought registered his eyes snapped open.

    He had fallen into a room on the floor below, one he didn''t remember exploring.

    This room was different.

    Firstly, it was large.

    Much larger than the others he had been in, the fact he could see just how large it was was also a huge difference.

    At one end of the room, through the floating motes of dust he could see something on a stone table that glowed an unearthly purple.

    Looking around he could see that for some reason, the furnishings in this room were in much better condition than anything else he had come across.

    They were still clearly on the very verge of being rotted away but it was a stark contrast to everything else in this place.

    One thing he also noticed with a rising sense of alarm was that there didn''t seem to be any doors in this room, no entrances at all.

    Besides the hole he had fallen through, it was completely sealed away.

    Getting up and moving forwards he glanced around briefly noting that there were still some books on the stone bookshelves in this room, somehow having survived all this time but his main focus was on the glowing purple light.

    As he approached it he realised that there source was an old shabby looking book, the light seemed to be coming from within the old dusty leather coverings, from between each page that it contained.

    His heart was pounding as he stood before the book, clearly it was magical in nature but beyond that he didn''t know what else to do.

    If he touched it would what would happen?

    Would it crumble away into dust?

    Would it put some kind of curse on him?

    Would he be able to pick it up and use it as a source of light?

    Knowing that there was little else for him to do, a small feeling of defiance seemed to rise from within him making him feel slightly reckless.

    It was especially noticeable because it was such a change from the internal numbness he had felt since falling into that damned pit.

    Why shouldn''t he touch it?

    Whatever happened would happen.

    He reached out to the book and his sore fingers ran over the cracked old leather.

    His palm came to rest on it and nothing happened.

    Almost laughing out loud at his own foolishness at the massively anticlimactic act of touching the book he released the breath he didn''t realise he was holding.

    Then suddenly book flashed blindingly bright and it felt as though his mind exploded.

 Chapter Three - Grimoire, Vortex of Madness

    Colours.

    Sounds.

    Then images, hundreds of them, then thousands.

    Blurring together in a kaleidoscopic riot.

    Distinct visions of specific images, abstract ideas, half heard whispers then more and more.

    Words in a language I didn''t know but somehow understood, then another then another.

    Thoughts pressed upon my mind as each vision flashed before me.

    Huge workings of a complexity I couldn''t comprehend until suddenly I did.

    While the visions hammered into me, the thoughts that came with them were not my own.

    They forced themselves down onto me, forcing meaning into what I saw.

    Hammered over and over again, all the while a foreboding presence, the origin of the thoughts and visions I witnessed threatened to drive me into shivering wreck of madness.

    Over and over, visions came and went, more meaning came with each repetition until I began to feel the beginnings of understanding.

    Just a thread, a mere suggestion at what was truly happening.

    Not my own knowledge, no not even the book''s knowledge but it''s creator.

    The one who had created the book, this was their knowledge, given freely into the book''s keeping.

    I had not been the one who was supposed to receive this knowledge but I also just knew that I wasn''t expressly forbidden from taking it either.

    Directionless?

    Meaningless?

    There had been no one specifically destined for this knowledge, no inheritor, no special purpose for a chosen someone.

    I even knew that the knowledge contained within the book had no really purpose, it was not to be used for a specific thing, no grand design or destined reason for it.

    It simply was knowledge, a collection of it.

    No, this knowledge was put into the book''s keeping for anyone to find, for what ever their own reasons might be?

    The sense of time between this moment and the time when this knowledge was birthed seemed vast, even the time between the beginning of the visions to when they would come to an end seemed much longer than a human lifetime.

    I could do nothing but witness and absorb.

    Things began to make sense to me, I had always known about magic, or known of it''s existence.

    It was, if not exactly common, then at least not too uncommon.

    It was more of an abstract idea to me, it was a thing that just happened.

    Like a bird that flew over a mountain or man on the other side of the world who felled a tree.

    It was something that surely happened but not something I knew about specifically.

    Up until my parents had died I had only a child''s view of the world, the thought of actually trying to perform magic wasn''t a concept that even occurred to me.

    When they were gone, I had grieved and locked away the torn pieces of my heart.

    I had withdrawn into myself, a broken hearted child who had lost the only two people in his life.

    Then Lord Hendrik, my uncle had arrived.

    He was supposed to be my caretaker and I his ward.

    Instead of caring for me, he had cared for only himself.

    He had taken everything left to me, using my mother and father''s wealth as his own.

    I was little more than a golden chit to him, so long as he possessed me he controlled what was supposed to be mine.

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    When I turned seventeen years old, he would have to turn over my inheritance to me.

    He wouldn''t allow that, I knew it and he planned for it.

    The abuse began, the beatings, the mind games, the rules, the punishments.

    Whatever it took for him to try to break me, to wear me down.

    I knew what he wanted.

    He wanted me broken and defeated for when I came of age, for me to meekly give over what was rightfully mine when the time came.

    I hadn''t been broken though.

    During that time, there had been no thoughts of using magic.

    Nothing but surviving and the daily battles against him in our...

    No, in my estate.

    Now though, it seemed so easy.

    Something in my mind had shifted, as if I just hadn''t been looking in the right direction all my life.

    As if I had only had to turn around to notice that magic was right there for the taking.

    To grasp it.

    Visions swam in and out, meanings and concepts of primal forces.

    Runic symbols, vast in their complexity or basic and simplistic, it differed from use to use.

    Creatures, beings, animals, people I had never known.

    All of them swam before me, information about them, bits and pieces seemingly random or without any real purpose flooded along with them.

    The creator, the one who made this grimoire. I knew his name had been Althalan, a man, wizard, mage, wise one, old man, spry youth, foreboding, carefree, brooding, joyous, beloved, hated.

    Pieces of his life, impressions without remembrance, knowledge without memories, recollections of abstract thoughts throughout his life from the idle whisperings of a wandering mind to the deep meaningful weighing of heavy subject.

    Nothing complete, I did not know this man''s entire life.

    I knew pieces of it, seemingly random thoughts or memories, feelings or even dreams were splashed haphazardly into me.

    I knew, I actually knew that this grimoire had been his second attempt as creating one. The first had been too poor to use, this one, the one I had unknowingly touched had been barely acceptable in his mind.

    I knew why this room it had been left in had been sealed away, the answer was simply that it hadn''t been sealed at all.

    I just had not known how to find it.

    I knew I had collapsed to the ground.

    I knew that there was a very real possibility that I was dying.

    A grimoire was created to pass on knowledge, even the best grimoires, the ones made flawlessly were never an easy thing to handle, not even for a mind prepared for it.

    I was not prepared, this grimoire was just barely able to pass on knowledge and the knowledge itself was seemingly random.

    Some of it incredibly useful, powerful, the kinds of things to inspire awe and wonder or give nightmares to those who beheld them.

    More still, small things, simple workings used in everyday life, things done without any real thought, more reflex than anything else.

    This grimoire was not meant to pass on anything of any real value, nor was it supposed to pass on nothing at all.

    It was supposed to be a second attempt at a complex working, a thing a great magi wrought.

    An exercise, practice.

    What I gained from it was pure chance, if I truly gained anything at all that is.

    I would either awaken or more than likely, I would not.

 Chapter Four - Knowing

    A ragged gasp torn from my dry throat.

    The caked blood on my face and over my neck cracked with my movement as I woke.

    I was alive, if just barely.

    My head hurt so badly, even keeping my eyes closed wasn''t enough to block out the after-images of the grimoire.

    I lay there for a long time, trying to settle what I had unwittingly forced upon myself.

    Althalan.

    A man, a wizard from who knows how long ago.

    His knowledge was within me now, incomplete and absolutely total in random ways.

    I knew things now, I also knew enough to know that there was so much, so very much more that I did not know or didn''t understand.

    I felt as though I knew Althalan intimately and at the same time knew not enough about him.

    A stranger and a lifelong friend?

    Groaning I rolled onto my side, coughing plumes of dust from the stone floor.

    This place, the maze of endless halls and corridors, rooms without purpose and a ruin.

    I knew now that it had been something of an occasional private retreat of Althalan''s creation.

    A place he had shaped himself using the very stone of the mountain, both filled with useful things but by his perspective also of no real value save that the solitude it provided him.

    To me or anyone else it would have seemed an ancient wonder, a place filled with mysteries but to Althalan it had little more than a rough hut in the wild, a place that could be improved upon or not, visited often or abandoned without any real care.

    The halls I had explored that held no doors or reason for being actually had plenty of rooms in them, I had just not known how to find or open them.

    Like this room, the stone seemed to seal it away but a touch, a whisper of magic in the right place would open the very stone itself.

    I knew this.

    I knew some of the layout of this place and yet other parts of it were still completely unknown to me, what had come to me from the grimoire about this place had been just as sporadic and random as everything else it had contained.

    This room, its furnishings that seemed to have lasted longer than the other rooms. I knew that grimoire and the power it held had played a roll in preserving it.

    I knew that for a fact.

    I also knew that I didn''t know why exactly.

    I simply lay there, the mess of my mind still swirling.

    I just lay, wishing for the vortex of madness to truly end.

    I had survived this and yet I still suffered, physically I was exhausted, I had been exhausted before I had even managed to crawl my way up through the floor.

    I was starving and my thirst was almost unbearable.

    Even the lump on the back of my head that had been my bane throughout my journey through the depths of the mountain seemed like nothing compared to the twisting visions, the echoes that still roiled within.

    One eye cracked open and I could just barely see my hand, I knew that the power of the grimoire, the light it had produced was spent and soon darkness would return to this room as the remnants waned.

    Hushed words pooled in my mind, something that wasn''t quite thoughts nor was it quite a feeling but something else. It rose up in my mind and as it did I saw water begin to trickle from the palm of my sore hand.

    I felt the water run down my wrist, I managed to pull my hand to my face.

    I coughed up water and pulled in as much air as I could before I managed to swallow a few precious mouthfuls of the water.

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    Then feeling spent in a way I had never before, I slept.

    *******************

    I awoke once more to darkness, a familiar thing by now.

    I still lay on my side and after struggling I managed to get myself onto my feet.

    Turning around, knowing in which direction I needed to head I moved on shaky legs towards the seemingly solid wall.

    Even in the absolute blackness I knew what I needed to do, my sight wasn''t what I needed to use.

    An application of will, from within me at first them pushed out towards the ''wall'' I knew was before me.

    I felt rather than saw the wall respond.

    Soundlessly like a curtain being opened what was once solid stone melted to each side of what was now an arched opening.

    Not wanting to stay here any longer, wanting to see the outside world once more I moved quickly and with confidence through the dark halls.

    Left here, follow down to the end then right.

    Up the stairs then right again, another push and a wall that melted away to reveal more stone stairs.

    A left this time once I reached the top, another wall that transformed by my will an a set of stone stairs that were much longer this time.

    I began to pant as I ascended them, stopping once part way up them, weak having been without food for so long.

    I finally reached the top and knew that even in the blackness that the narrow hall I stood in now was very short.

    It was my way out, it was in fact the only real way in or out now.

    I almost died.

    It was a combination of dumb luck and a desperate impatience that saved me.

    I sent out an effort of will to what I knew was the hidden entrance to this place before I even began to cross the hall itself.

    As the stone melted away to form an entrance, hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years worth of rubble that had collected outside the hidden entrance began to spill into the small entrance hall.

    A flash of light managed to shoot through the moving rocks to hit my sensitive eyes, I recoiled backwards slightly raising my arm over my face.

    The first part of my luck was that I was still too far away from the rocks that fell inside to reach me and the second part was that a large rock, more of a small boulder happened to be part of the debris from outside.

    It became the foundation of all the falling rocks behind it, causing them to jam and tentatively lock into place, halting what would have been a small avalanche.

    I sat down my heart racing as my eyes tried to recover from the brief flash of light that had blinded me.

    Breathing heavily from this latest brush with death I settled myself and began to think.

    I tried to order the still as yet unsettled and unfamiliar knowledge I now held, looking for a solution while trying to keep my desperation from rising up.

    I knew that I could do.

    I stood.

    Raising my hand and gesturing forcefully at the blocked opening, I felt wind rush come from behind me, as if the mountain itself blew, the small gale that moved around me as a wall of air slammed into the blockage.

    I immediately felt dizzy and dropped back down to my knees.

    The sound of the boulder and the many rocks being hurled away was almost deafening, as the gale slowed and a few smaller stones clattered into the hall I wondered when I had last actually heard something so loud.

    As the last movements stopped, it seemed almost fitting that I would crawl from this mountain on hands and knees as most of my journey had been.

    Into the blinding light I moved and felt cold wind, filthy and ragged as I was my mad laughter was whipped away by the winds.

    Free.

 Chapter Five - Out

    I was looking out from about half way up one of the mountains.

    I was still obviously on one of the mountains of the Coldwater Ridges but just as obviously this was the opposite site to the city of Coldwater.

    Instead of the few patches of woodlands, large farmlands, the monstrous lakes and the roads that connected them, there was instead before me a vast forest.

    The forest itself was called The Moreland Forest, and I knew at the other side somewhere to the west would be The Greshen river.

    It would take weeks to make it to the river, probably even longer if I had to make it through the untamed trees.

    If I headed south I would end up finding nothing for several days until eventually I came to The Split''s Pass.

    It led directly back to Clearwater, back to his uncle.

    I would not lead myself to him.

    I will never be under his control ever again.

    It was not an option.

    If I went north, perpendicular to the ridges on this side I would probably end up on one of the large roads that cut through the forest, a route used by travellers and traders that eventually led to some towns and villages.

    If I kept going the I would eventually come to a more northern section of The Greshen river, where the city of Gresh itself sat.

    Now though, I was caked in blood and vomit, starving and once more thirsty.

    I had half of a mountain to descend, my uncles men to avoid and a head still swimming with arcane thoughts that were not my own.

    Shivering not only at the cold but at the reality of my situation I started to move down the slopes.

    I was lucky, if it can be called that.

    My way down, while not easy was still fortunate.

    I didn''t have to actually climb, I was able to make my way down using the natural ridges and shapes of the mountain.

    I fell several times and cursed as I cut and scraped myself even more.

    It was never huge drops or being blown off balance by the wind, but rather the loose shale that caught me.

    Being on an incline, my balance being offset to keep me upright made it so easy for the loose gravel to move out from under my boots.

    I would slip and hit the loose stones and find myself sliding down over them a ways before coming to a stop.

    Sitting up and looking back up the mountain after one such fall as I rubbed my wrist, I realised that what I had thought was half way up the mountain was actually closer to a quarter the way up.

    High but not as high as I could have been.

    The cold wind eased off as I eventually hit the boulder dotted bottom of the slopes, hard stone turned into soil as I picked my way through the boulders.

    When I reached the first tree of the forest, I sat down and leant back against it catching my breath.

    Sitting there with my eyes closed I listened to the sounds of the birds.

    Thinking about the journey north I would have to make.

    I was not prepared.

    I had little to no knowledge of woodland living, or rather I hadn''t had much knowledge of it.

    Now I had bits and pieces in my head.

    I at least knew enough to know that I was in trouble.

    I tried to pull from the swirling thoughts some sort of plan, something to help me.

    It was the sounds of the birds that did it.

    I looked up but could only hear the chirps and whistles so I found myself dragging myself wearily to my feet once more after I picked up a stone.

    I moved a little further into the trees and looked up into the canopy, holding still and staring I finally caught some movement.

    I paused for a moment before making a sharp gesture with my hand.

    As my wrist flicked out the small stone along with a push of air flew up into the canopy and one of the chirping birds was silenced as it dropped down from its perch.

    I ran as best as I could manage towards where I had seen it drop, a few feathers still drifting lazily down from the canopy.

    A good sized adult thrin, dark feathered with a slight blueish hue to them.

    I picked up my prize and ran back out of the trees, for some reason feeling like a thief.

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.I sat back down at my tree, looking at the thrin unsure.

    I had never in my life prepared an animal, I had never even hunted but I vague, very vague recollections of Althalan or people Althalan had seen doing it.

    I felt like I could use magic, I felt like I knew how to make a blade of air and use it to cut with but I didn''t feel confident in doing trying it.

    My gale had pushed, my will had shaped the rocks even the push I had used on the stone I launched at the thrin had been something I felt comfortable with but something about a blade of air felt more dangerous.

    I thought that maybe there was an echo of lethality left over from Althalan that clung to the knowledge of the spell.

    I had doubts.

    What if I cut myself instead? I think I know how to heal myself but I don''t know if I could heal a missing limb.

    The sense of unease kept me from trying and I searched for an alternative.

    Looking around me my gaze settled on the sea of rocks I had at my disposal and before long I found myself picking through them, looking for one sharp enough to use.

    Then it occurred to me that I could make one sharp enough, I had no feelings of unease when it came to stone.

    Whether it was safe to do or simply that feelings of any potential dangers weren''t attached to the knowledge, I went ahead and picked up a narrow almost oblong piece of stone.

    Forming what I wanted in my head, a rush of pressure that bled slowly out of me and into the stone. I watched as parts of it seemed to pull into itself as other parts smoothed out, straightened and formed an edge.

    The handle side of the stone knife seemed to take in all the of the excess, becoming denser and denser and just looking at the edge of the blade side of the knife I knew without a doubt that this was a blade that could through flesh just as easily as the air blade I had shied away from.

    Being careful not to cut myself I moved back to my tree and my kill.

    I hesitated briefly before just deciding to just dive right into it.

    Trying have faith in the vague memories I had, I began plucking.

    Twenty minutes later I was back under the trees, still cursing my own stupidity as I collected firewood.

    I had realised after about ten minutes that I obviously needed a hot fire to cook my bird with, I tried to blame my muddled head for forgetting so obvious of a thing, that and that I hadn''t eaten in so long.

    My last trip back was made up of as many larger, dry pieces as I could carry and it dumped them down with the rest.

    I sat staring at the small pile of twigs I had placed down carefully, not understanding fully what I was doing but still knowing how to do it.

    One of the twigs began to glow before it was taken over by flame, I carefully watched as the flames licked against the rest of the twigs and just as they started to catch I began adding more.

    Then the larger pieces, from twigs to sticks, I waited until eventually some of the sticks began to catch flame before resting several of the largest, thickest pieces on top of them.

    While I sat waiting and occasionally feeding the fire more sticks an idea occurred to me, moving away from my small fire I went back to the sea of rocks.

    Searching for a few minutes I found one that I thought would be easiest to use, heading back to the fire I saw back down and looked at the flat thin rock I held.

    One more I slowly built the image in my mind and again felt the slow trickle of power seem into the stone. Slowly, ever so slowly what was a flat plate like piece of stone began to curl upwards.

    As the edges rose, I watched in fascination until I was left with a crude bowl of stone.

    Excitedly I repeated those hushed words in my mind and watched as water began to pool in the palm of my hand, it splashed out as I quickly moved, almost forgetting to hold my new bowl underneath it.

    I watched it fill the bowl slowly, easily three or four good glasses of water were in the bowl before I began to feel a strained feeling in my head.

    I released the pressure and the water stopped flowing.

    I brought the bowl to my lips and blissfully drank the cool liquid.

    After drinking my fill I turned back to my half prepared meal, allowing myself to finally acknowledge that my hunger would soon end.

 Chapter Six - Time

    The sun had set an hour ago and I lay there in under the cover of my tree, gazing into the small fire.

    I had cooked my thrin on a stick hours ago and it had been delicious, I had, in fact gone back into the trees and taken another.

    Being able to simply walk into the forest and take as much food as I wanted was a new and startling feeling, after regular starvation at the hands of my uncle.

    After cooking and getting half way through my second bird I had felt too full to finish it and had almost guiltily tossed the remains into the fire.

    Now I lay here worrying about what was to come.

    I planned on heading north with the Coldwater Ridge to find a road, then from there along the road to what ever village or town I could find.

    But then what would happen?

    I was filthy, I had no coin and there was a good chance that that uncle''s men were still looking for me.

    Then truly night came upon me in force and I began to worry about my small fire giving away where I was.

    I ended up dumping the rest of my water onto the fire then stomping on it to smother the flames before moving quickly a little ways back into the treeline.

    I wasn''t prepared for another chase, so I hid there, in the shadows of the trees holding my stone knife close, wondering if I had already been spotted.

    It took a long time for me to unclench and even then, I think it was more the feeling of finally having eaten after my days of exhaustion that allowed me to drift off to sleep, rather than any sort of real relaxation.

    *****************

    My sleep had been filled with swirling images, thoughts and sounds from the vortex of knowledge I had absorbed.

    When I woke my mind seemed more settled and I had the beginnings of plan about what I wanted to do.

    I had vague recollections of Althalan''s maze, the suggestions and impressions of his time spent there.

    Behind one of the hidden doors were what gave off the impression of supplies.

    I had no idea what specifically he had kept there because he never specifically thought about or at least if he did, such a memory hadn''t been in his grimoire.

    I knew it was more than likely that whatever lay behind the door would be long since ruined but I couldn''t just head out into the forest then on to the road without first checking.

    I had nothing but my stinking clothes, my stone knife, a bowl and something close to magic.

    After the sunlight finally broke over the trees I steeled myself for my return to the mountain.

    It may seem redundant to say but going up was certainly much harder than going down, it was only through sheer determination that I should follow through with my plan that kept me moving onwards.

    I would re-enter the mountain, I would look through the rooms as I headed for possible supplies in hopes I could find anything of use.

    I hoped to find at least something, even if it were just scrap metal I might be able to sell to a blacksmith.

    Heading out of this place with something had to be better than heading out with nothing.

    From there I would head north in search or a road to follow.

    After what seemed like too long of a time I managed to find where I needed to be, the opening was easy to spot as I hadn''t bothered to try to seal it back up.

    The light showed the loose rocks that had slipped into the short and narrow corridor before it succumbed to the pitch black beyond.

    Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and headed forwards.

    When I was half way down that first long set of stone stairs, surrounded by the darkness once more I raised my hand and pushed my will.

    The feeble white orb that sprang up to hover above the palm of my hand did not flicker like a candle but instead emitted a steady pure glow.

    Despite it''s small size it pushed back the darkness and with it my footfalls could be heard as I moved onward.

    The rooms I walked by were made out of the same dark stone of the mountain and besides the debris and dust covered floors, the walls and ceilings were completely smooth.

    The remains of wooden parts of furnishing were little more than grey husks, I found little pieces of brittle metal objects. Things that I could only assume had once been handles from doors and candle holders.

    I thought at first maybe I could collect enough so that they could be sold and melted down but with how easily they flaked away and crumbled in my hands I doubted that they could become anything useful once more.

    I found myself standing in the corridor lower down in this maze in front of what looked like solid wall and with a wave of my hand and a push of my will it melted away from me.

    I stepped into a huge room, I couldn''t even see the far end of it from the light of my small orb but what light did shine out illuminated enough to make me freeze in place.

    Almost not believing what I was seeing I hesitantly stepped forwards.

    There were neat stacks of ingots set in orderly piles, I just stared at them.

    The stacks varied in size, there were five stacks of different ingots that were noticeably smaller than the larger ones, I looked at a fortune of what I assumed were gold ingots and silver.

    Besides them were more ingots of what I thought might have been platinum and mythril and some ingots of a dark metal that I had never seen before.

    Beyond those smaller stacks that seemed to be the more precious of the metals were larger stacks of iron and copper.

    My mouth was dry as I set the palm of my hand down on top of one of the small bars of gold, still not believing, even as I could feel it touching my skin I expected it to vanish or crumble away into dust just as all the other scraps of metal I had found had done.

    Moving down the neat rows and raising my hand the orbs light spread further into the long room and my heart felt like it would punch its way out of my chest.

    There were huge piles of raw unrefined ores, I could clearly see the different colours, nuggets and lumps just mixed together and set slightly to the sides as if they had just been dumped here slightly out of the way.

    Dizzily I walked further until the orbs light reached the solid stone of the back wall.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.There were stone shelves that had pots, jars, small boxes, strange looking devices and books that, just like the room that the grimoire contained, had somehow not rotted away.

    As I turned around slowly seeing strange pieces of woods that I couldn''t identify I was startled when my back bumped into something.

    Turning around quickly three large metal barrels stood before me and almost numbly as if I was in a trance my free hand moved forwards.

    My fingers gripped the lid and pushed it off a barrel, as it tumbled to the floor clanging loudly, I stared dumbly at it''s contents for several seconds before I sitting down hard on my rear.

    Uncut gemstones.

    A barrel full of them.

    *****************

    I don''t know how long I sat but slowly my mind had come back to me and I had spent more time looking around this room of treasures.

    The other two barrels had of course also contained gems, I had moved over to what I had thought were odd looking chests near a wall only to find that they were actually slabs of strange stone that tingled on my skin when I got near them.

    The strange devices and odd things on the bookshelves kept trying to pull up memories of what they were from the unsettled newfound knowledge but I couldn''t really focus enough to spend the time trying to sort through them.

    My mind was racing too much, how was all this here? How had the pieces of wood or the metal on the strange devices not been taken by the ravages of time?

    This was too much, I had come here looking for scraps to sell and found a treasury.

    I had followed the vague impression of ''supplies'' and ended up with all this.

    I came to the startling realisation that to Althalan, to his mind these were simply supplies.

    Materials to be used, tools to handled in a place out of his way.

    The unrefined ores dumped to the sides, the ingots near the entrance there to be picked up quickly for whatever he needed them for.

    The stranger things set on shelves for when he had use for them.

    Feeling faint at the notion that Althalan had considered this place ''expendable'', a place that could just be left here and that there was nothing of any real value for him here.

    I had the impression that Althalan hadn''t spend years travelling the world collecting and bringing back all these ores and metals but rather that he had simply pulled them from miles and miles down from the depths of the earth here because they were already close by.

    He had just needed to put them in one place, for convenience.

    It was almost maddening that I couldn''t concentrate enough to plump the depths of the still swirling knowledge to find out how this had all come to pass, to find answers and I ended up back in the room of the grimoire.

    I spent a long time there and also running back and forth between it and in the room of treasures before I came to a frustrating conclusion.

    Runes.

    Runes were the reason that these things had survived the passage of time.

    The books in the grimoire room, that I had thought were old looking because they had only been slightly preserved where actually perfectly preserved.

    It was just that they had been old before they had been stored here.

    The books in the room of treasures seemed almost like they had never been used, they were in perfect condition.

    The shelves in the grimoire''s room that I began to think of as Althalan''s study had small runic inscriptions carved into them.

    I had gone back to what I had also began to think of a the treasury and found similar looking runic inscriptions though not on the shelves of the treasury but on the very walls of the treasury itself.

    I even found some of the various pots, boxes and jars.

    It was all runes and their magic.

    It was an answer to how and I supposed even why but I didn''t truly understand how it worked.

    That is why it was so frustrating.

    As if to add to my frustration, I had gone for one of the more obvious sources for answers.

    The very books themselves, only to find them written in a language that I could both read and then not read.

    It wasn''t as though I could only understand parts of the words but instead it was as if my understanding of them itself seemed to come and go.

    I could read a sentence, understand it completely then as I moved onto the next one I would be unable to make out anything more than vague impressions of understanding. I would then go back to the first sentence to try again and even though I had previously read and understood the meaning of the words I would find myself unable to read it once more.

    Sure I could still remember by my own memory what it said as I had just read it but the ability to read and understand it again was gone.

    I knew that this was because of that vortex of madness, of the knowledge from the grimoire, that it was still a roiling mass of unsettled thought and memory.

    That until it had come to stop it''s seemingly unending chaotic shifting, the knowledge in it''s entirety would not be completely accessible to me.

    I also knew from impressions I got that I was experiencing this because I had been an untrained and unprepared mind that had unknowingly grasped the knowledge of the grimoire for myself.

    That had I been someone like Althalan, I would have full comprehension of all it offered in a matter of weeks.

    The idea that I might never get my mind back completely, that I would never have true order in my thoughts once more was a frightening thought.

    I needed the knowledge to have to power to defend myself without the sporadic and shifting nature that I couldn''t rely on.

    I needed to be able to survive until then.

    I need to learn, I needed to be able to read these books to fill in as many of the gaps in my newfound knowledge that the grimoire had missed out.

    I knew that even if the knowledge settled and I could see it all that there would be seemingly random gaps in it because the grimoire had only been one for experimentation, for practise.

    It''s contents had never been meant to be a complete comprehension of specific subjects, instead it had been the same volume of knowledge but it''s contents spread across anything and everything.

    I needed to settle my mind.

    I needed to be able to survive, I needed to learn and to hope.

    I needed time.

 Chapter Seven - Moreland

    I was back in the Moreland forest once more, I had travelled through it as long as I could yesterday before setting off again today.

    I had stopped at a small brook-fed pond and while the water wasn''t the cleanest looking it was certainly clean enough for me to try to clean myself.

    My clothes were currently drying out on the grass, directly in the sunlight.

    I sat naked next to my stone knife, my bowl and three small ingots.

    Two silver and one gold.

    My plans had of course changed after my discovery.

    I would keep heading through the forest until I hit a road.

    Once I found one, I would follow it until I got to a town, even a small village would do but a town would be better.

    I would try to find somewhere I could exchange an ingot for coin.

    I had no idea if my uncle''s men would be there looking for me but I had decided to bring back up ingots in case.

    A silver ingot to exchange for coin, the second as a spare though unless I lost the first I wouldn''t need any more coin than what a single silver ingot would bring me.

    I had things I desperately needed to buy.

    Why had I brought the gold ingot?

    That was my insurance or if worst came to worst and I lost both silver ingots it could also be a back up.

    If my uncle''s men were waiting for me, I would give away that entire golden ingot to anyone who could help me escape.

    I would be returning to the mountain.

    It was a place that I could hide, I could seal it up as I had sealed up when I had left.

    The inside though was literally a ruin, well almost a ruin.

    The only furnishings that were actually still usable for human comfort was the single small stone stool that had sat in front of Althalan''s stone desk.

    Sitting on a piece of stone didn''t have any real appeal.

    I could leave the mountain and head into the forest below to hunt for meat but that wouldn''t be enough.

    I needed to buy seeds and plant them, I hoped that if I could find any seeds to buy that they were seeds for something easy to grow otherwise things would be even harder.

    I also needed more clothing, warmer things because winter would soon come and living inside stone high up in the mountains throughout the season sounded like a death sentence.

    This magic I had, I could create some water, I could even move the wind like a weapon and start fires but it wasn''t something I could rely on, not yet.

    Which is why I would learn while I hid.

    I was determined to do this, to settle my mind and take this knowledge for my own.

    I would buy what I needed for my self-imposed exile and become something more, someone more.

    As I checked my still damp clothing I decided that they were dried enough that I could put them back on, if I kept moving then I should stay warm and dry them out the rest of the way,.

    When I had redressed I continued north, winding in and out of the huge trees. I passed into then out of shade as the canopy closed over me and opened up. Through small glades and meadows, over and around small obstacles, the occasional boulder, another small pond or stream and once, away from the odd sounds of a huffing animal.

    I didn''t see what it had been but I was glad to have moved on without having an encounter.

    As I travelled I kept thinking up things I would need and small contingencies and replacements if I couldn''t find them.

    I thought of different items over and over; blankets, clothes, food, soap, seeds, pots and pans and something to carry it all back in.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    The light was getting dim when I crested the top of a hill, I stood above looking off to the north-west I could see a uniform gap in the treetops.

    Excited I hurried down the other side of the hill and jogged my way through the trees.

    About ten minutes later I was huffing as the dirt road came into view.

    It was narrow, too narrow for one of the great roads.

    I knew there were no towns or villages close by me so this road could only lead back into the mountains, I thought that maybe it lead to a small pass through the Coldwater Ridges, maybe even a mine?

    The other way though, well obviously that would be the way to somewhere.

    Somewhere there would be people at least.

    Looking westward down the dirt road I could see for quite a way before it''s uneven line blocked my view.

    Looking back up to the sky and the ever dimming light, it was clear that I would be spending my second night in the forest since I had left the mountain for the second time.

    I headed into the trees on the opposite side and moved deeper into their cover, then I turned westward and paralleled the road from within the trees.

    I found a spot clear of any under brush, with a large rock next to a tree.

    Deciding that this would be my home for the night I tossed down my bowl and knife then sat myself down tiredly, reflexively checking my pockets for the ingots even though I could feel their weight.

    I planned on making a small fire, not to cook but for comfort but for now I just sat and filled my bowl with water.

    Before I knew it the sounds of birds greeting the morning woke me and I groaned at my stiff back. I had fallen asleep against the rock and it hadn''t been very forgiving.

    My bowl still had a little water in it and I drank it quickly, with nothing to keep me here I checked the ingots in my pockets, picked up my knife and moved out.

    I travelled mostly down the road but every so often I would lose my nerve, convincing myself that my uncle''s men would suddenly appear around the next out of sight spot on the road, on their way back from looking for me.

    Then I''d hurriedly duck back into the forest for a time before I eventually got back onto the road.

    It was sometime in the afternoon when I started thinking about looking for food to hunt, I held off as long as I thought was reasonable before returning to the trees again.

    It took me a while before I heard any bird sounds and I could only hear them faintly.

    I followed the sounds deeper and deeper into the forest.

    I was careful to keep my back to the direction of the road as much as I could, not wanting to lose my sense of direction.

    Trailing the chirping ever further between the trees until I eventually spotted another thrin in the canopy, it half hopped, half shuffled along the branch it perched on.

    I looked around me for another stone, setting my bowl down on the ground when I found one.

    It was over in seconds, a crack of noise that silenced all the other birds close by and the soft thump of my kill landing on the ground.

    I took my time collecting wood for my fire, then once I had enough, I slowly let the hot coals collect up while I plucked my thrin.

    Once I had it roasting I could only wait, feed the fire and occasionally turn by bird on tits stick as the scents built up.

    I had just set down my stone bowl after drinking some water when something happened.

    The sounds of the birds chirping had suddenly stopped again.

    The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

    There was a heartbeat of silence then another.

    Then an ear-splitting bestial roar that I could feel tin the depths of my chest rang out between the trees with heavy thumps of churning earth.

    I froze.

    I shouldn''t have.

    Freezing was a big mistake.

 Chapter Eight - Yellow Eyes of Madness

    The tearing earth sounded like a galloping horse was trying to kick its way through the ground in a frenzy, my wide eyes turned to look in that direction.

    Horror washed over me as I saw the direwolf.

    A monstrous wolf, huge and grey furred, muscles that looked grotesque in shape and size, it''s great clawed paws were tearing up chunks of earth as he tore from between the trees towards me at a rapid pace.

    It''s body shifted as I jumped to my feet, I could tell it was about to push itself into the air, to pounce on me and I knew I would die by it''s fangs.

    Almost by reflex I kicked my booted foot into my fire, my cooking bird, still flaming wood, sparks, ashes and hot coals flew out in a huge scatter.

    It was just enough to save my life.

    The beast recoiled somewhat awkwardly as the unexpected shower of heat and lights rained over it, having been moving fast and preparing to jump, it''s hurried change of intent and movement bought me enough time to somehow get a hold on my stone knife.

    Then naturally, I turned and ran.

    Another ear-splitting roar that warped into a chilling and unearthly prolonged howl of rage sounded out behind me.

    I had never run so fast or hard in my life, even when I had been fleeing my uncle''s men, my flight then paled in comparison to the sheer speed of my acceleration.

    My chest was so tight I thought for sure that my heart had simply seized up completely from shock and terror.

    I felt as if I would simply drop dead before it could even reach me.

    I was running for the road, jumping the under brush of the forest, over rocks trying to move in a straight, direct line trying make as much distance between me and the beast as quickly as possible.

    I wasn''t going to make it to the road, and even if I did, what then?

    For some reason making it to the road had seemed like the place to go for safety but for no real reason.

    There was no safety offered by the road, no one was there to give help, there was only me and the beast.

    Unable to resist the urge to indulge in the small torture of looking at my killer, I glanced back for less than a second and I could see the yellow eyes focused on me, the hulking grey furred shoulders and his head down low as it was closing in on me.

    In a panic my free hand raised up and a gale of epic proportions blasted from around me, I had enough time to see beast lift up off the ground and fly backwards into the trunk of a tree.

    The tree trunk burst apart as if it were shattered glass and at the same time I fell forward onto the ground from a full run.

    My head swam with dizziness and I thought I would vomit, shivering and being punched by my heart from within my chest I got up.

    My first few steps were nothing more than falling stumbles in a forward direction but the sound of another unearthly howl from the beast had me forcing my body into the correct movements in rapid order.

    I caught sight of the road in front of me from between the trees at the same time I realised I had headed for the damn road again without thinking, but I kept moving faster.

    Distance, no matter the direction, between me and that thing could only be a good thing.

    The sound of tearing earth behind me came even louder and faster than before and I spun around having reached my mindless goal of standing on the packed dirt of the road.

    From between the trees and the shadows they cast, the beast''s yellow eyed gaze was one of absolute madness.

    Bloody saliva poured from it''s maw in thick ropey strands to whip over it''s snout and neck by it''s movements.

    There was something hideously wrong with it''s movements.

    I had only one thing left.

    A hand raised once more but rather than an explosive gale of air, it was the hand clutching my stone knife.

    That press of will, the push of tightly forced air that I had used with my stones to hunt, bloomed and manifested.

    As the hulking beast reached me and dove through the air to land on me, my knife shot out of my hand and then the beast''s bulk slammed into me.

    The first thing I felt was unsurprisingly pain, but it was the pain of not being able to breath. My vision was swarming with spots and I obviously briefly lost consciousness.

    My arms started hammering at the grey furred mass on top of me, pounding into anything I could reach.

    I could feel my face burning when a breath finally managed to get sucked into my mouth with a loud ragged gasp, then another and one more before I noticed it.

    Or rather noticed the lack of it, movement.

    The grey furred mass wasn''t moving at all, it was almost crushing me sure but there were no claws raking into my innards, no fanged maw at my neck, not even a reaction to my wild thumping and thrashing, which abruptly stopped.

    It''s corpse, for that is what it now was, wasn''t neatly piled on top of me.

    The beast was twisted oddly and I looked at it''s great big head to the side of me.

    A lifeless yellow eye stared out at nothing but about an inch of stone covered where the second eye should have been. It took a long time for me to acknowledge that the inch of stone was in fact the end of the handle of my stone knife.

    The idea that I had somehow managed to kill this beast with dumb luck born of desperation just seemed too bizarre to me.

    My breaths began to become less ragged as I just stared at it. I realised that most of the beast wasn''t actually on me, I hadn''t struggled to breathe because it was crushing me but rather because it had knocked the wind from me as it collided with me.

    Almost numbly my hand reached for the end of the knife handle, I hesitated briefly to touch it, an irrational fear that it was somehow still alive and that horrid snout would suddenly snap down on my wrist.

    As my finger began to slowly pull the stone knife out a little at a time I realised I could hear more thudding, then other snorting pants, grunts and odd animal sounds.

    Panicking, and instantly deciding that it''s howls must have been a call to others of it''s kind, I set both my hands onto the bloody handle of the stone knife, frantically trying to get it loose enough to come out.

    With a disgusting wet sucking sound, it came free and I gripped the handle as tightly as I could but my hands were now covered with blood.

    The other beasts were almost upon me, I could hear them just behind me.

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    Scrambling out from under the monster and even as I spun around I knew I was too late, that sudden halt in thundering stomps was enough for me to realise that they had already begun their pounce.

    Stone blade held out in front of me in a futile gesture, roaring in defiance then suddenly freezing.

    Four, lightly armoured and armed men, on panting and lathered horses had come to a halt before me and I just stared at them dumbly.

    ¡°Easy lad.¡± An older man with a generous sprinkling of grey in his otherwise thick black beard said in a deep voice.

    Another of the men jumped down from his horse and I looked at him intently deciding that I didn''t recognise him as one of my uncle''s men, I relaxed slightly and the first man seem to sense I had become less tense, if only slightly.

    ¡°Fuck me.¡± Said a narrow faced, thin man, at the rear in a hushed whisper to the other next to him. ¡°He''s just a boy.¡±

    I almost opened my mouth to tell him that the boy was right here if he had something he wanted to tell me, but the first man, the one who seemed to be in charge spoke first.

    Seeming to ignore the comment from the narrow faced man.

    ¡°That''s Glenn.¡± He said nodding from atop his horse at the plain looking, brown haired man who stood calmly next to his horse, not having moved any closer since dismounting.

    ¡°He''s got a touch of the healing magic in him.¡± The man told me, as the man named Glenn nodded in affirmation still standing patiently. ¡°He''ll not harm you but he can see to your wounds.¡±

    The man kept steady eye contact with me as a brief silence followed.

    I didn''t know any of these men and the older man who kept my gaze didn''t have that glint in his blue eyes that I had come to recognise from my uncle''s men.

    That look that you could just feel, the greed, the sliminess, that something that was missing from them that only made them value themselves.

    I doubted that these men were sent looking for me but at the same time I wouldn''t simply trust them blindly.

    I would have to keep on guard.

    ¡°I don''t have any wounds.¡± I said to the older man and seeing him glance at the blood, I explained. ¡°It''s the direwolf''s, from when I stabbed it in the eye.¡±

    One of his thick eyebrows rose at that and he nodded.

    ¡°You mind letting him check you anyway? It only takes a minute.¡± He said as if both accepting and bargaining at the same time.

    My chest did still hurt, I guessed it the pain in my chest hadn''t all come from being winded.

    Nodding once, I lowered my knife to my side but still kept a firm grip on it.

    The older man nodded in return and looked to this Glenn who then came forward unhurriedly.

    ¡°Well met there.¡± He greeted in a calm voice. ¡°Just need to make a little skin contact with you for a minute, gotta listen to what your body is saying.¡± He told me holding up a hand, palm up as if showing it was empty.

    Hesitantly I raised my free hand.

    ¡°Like Holt there said, I''m Glenn. Holt''s the one with the deep voice and the beard.¡± He added the second part in almost as an afterthought as he took my hand lightly in his.

    Speaking casually as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a strange man and a blood covered boy to hold hands next to the corpse of a direwolf, he continued.

    ¡°We''re from Moreland''s Rest, the town back up the road.¡± Glenn told me.

    ¡°Heard that beastie wailing in the woods a few nights back.¡± Glenn kept up his casual talk as he closed his eyes and took on a look of concentration. ¡°The fellas here been riding around some when they could, looking out for it, maybe run it off.¡±

    I felt a small sensation come from his hand and a stared at it seeing nothing out of the ordinary, no glowing or anything like that but I could feel something move into my hand, actually into it, it almost tickled it was such a light touch.

    ¡°Brought me with them in case someone got knocked around.¡± Glenn said. ¡°Been out for a few hours today, in and out of the trees. Seen a little wood smoke over the tree tops so we came down this way to let ''em know.¡±

    The feather light touch seemed to hold still over my chest then move about slowly over my ribs. The tingling intensified slightly but it wasn''t painful, in fact the pain seemed to lessen slightly but it was still an odd sensation.

    I looked up at the sound of someone dismounting their horse to see the back of the fourth man walk off into the woods in the direction I''d come from.

    My hand still in Glenn''s, I looked to Holt and he must have seen the question in my eyes because he answered before I asked.

    ¡°Sal''s gone to make sure that fire is put out.¡± He said, I nodded to him but was drawn back by Glenn''s soft voice.

    ¡°Good man Sal is.¡± Glenn said lightly, his eyes still closed. ¡°We were almost here when we heard it start wailing again, came as quick as we could.¡±

    Evidently continuing his quiet recounting of events. ¡°Come round the tree line and seen you beatin'' on that beastie, thought we were too late then.¡± Glenn had a small twist to his lips, it was all the change in his expression of concentration, he looked slightly amused that I wasn''t dead.

    ¡°How''d you do it?¡± The thin man asked suddenly, his horse moving closer to stop next to Holt. He was clearly the youngest of the group, sandy blond hair and brown eyes.

    The thin man''s face was intent as he waited for an answer.

    ¡°Stabbed it in the eye.¡± I said not wanting to mention any use of magic.

    ¡°You said that, but how?¡± He asked almost sounding annoyed.

    ¡°I... put my knife.... in to it''s eye?¡± I said struggling to explain how I had survived but it came out sounding like I thought the thin man was too dumb to know what stabbing something was.

    Holt made an odd snort then a low rumbling laugh came from him.

    Pearly white teeth showed through his thick salt and pepper beard and his blue eyes twinkled with amusement.

    ¡°Full of surprises you are.¡± Glenn said easily. ¡°Did for a direwolf on your own and won a chuckle from the Captain.¡± Even Glenn''s voice had a faint trace of amusement.

    ¡°It wouldn''t have caught the trees up, but it''s out now anyway.¡± A slightly accented voice came from the trees as Sal, clearly from the south as he skin was the colour of oak, walked confidently out and back onto the road.

    He paused and I noticed that bizarrely, he held my stone bowl on one of his large hands, he looked at the narrow man''s annoyed expression and the amused Captain Holt.

    ¡°Why is Miller pouting again?¡± Sal asked, his cleanly shaved head cocking slightly to one side as if trying to puzzle it out. ¡°What did I miss?¡±

 Chapter Nine - To Morelands Rest

    Captain Holt was one of the four captains of Moreland''s Rest, a modest sized town nearby.

    A few nights back, people in the town had heard the howling out in the forest and had been unsettled.

    Captain Holt had set out personally with only two of his subordinates, Sal and the thin man Miller, out to hunt for the direwolf.

    Glenn wasn''t a town guard but instead a healer by trade who lived in Moreland''s Rest.

    He had apparently earned a little respect from his work there so had been asked to join their patrols in case things went badly.

    Thinking of that creature, it seemed like a damn fine idea to me.

    I learned these things by listening to the men talk as I sat behind Glenn on his horse, we were a little less than half a days ride from Moreland''s Rest at a leisurely pace.

    I also learned that when I had found the road originally, if I had turned in the opposite direction I probably would have made it to civilisation faster.

    There was apparently a small mining outpost at the other end of that road that led back to the base of one of the mountains of the Coldwater Ridge.

    It was not quite a proper village as it was mostly made up of utilities for their mining operations and a few other things for the people who lived and worked there.

    Likely I would have struggled to find everything I needed if I had headed in that direct.

    When I had been asked for my name, I hadn''t wanted to give my real name in case my uncle had people looking for me still, so I had panicked slightly and given the first name that came to mind.

    Althalan, I had hesitated almost as soon as I had started and all that had come out was ''Altha''. Eyebrows had rose at the apparently unusual name but Glenn had shortened it further an started calling me ''Al''.

    I caught the dark skinned Sal occasionally giving me an unreadable look from the back of his horse and it made me slightly nervous.

    I had the unsettling feeling that I was forgetting something.

    Miller, whose first name was actually Davy, but was called Miller because that''s what his father, was evidently still annoyed that I had made his captain laugh at him.

    He was surly with me at first but quickly recognised that in the other men''s eyes he was being more childish than the child with them.

    He promptly shut up and stayed quiet.

    I could tell that the men saw the huge holes in my story, when Captain Holt had asked where I was from, I had simply told him that I was born on the other side of the ridges.

    While it was certainly true, it was also obviously and very deliberately an evasive answer.

    The men seemed to silently acknowledge this and didn''t press me any further, it was sort of unspoken by the silent shared looks that they wouldn''t pry into the secrets I had, not yet anyway.

    I had told them that I was looking for their town so I could buy a few supplies, Captain Holt had nodded and said that I could probably find whatever I needed if I had the coin.

    While Moreland''s Rest wasn''t massive it was certainly big enough to have plenty of trade.

    Being the closest place to the mining outpost I had missed, amusingly called ''Diggin'', Moreland''s Rest was where most of it''s trade came to and then out of.

    The miners of Diggin brought their finds to Moreland''s Rest, to either be sold to the town and used there or taken by traders who went further north or west.

    I worried that I would get very little coin in exchange for my ingots until I heard that the main thing to come out of Diggin was copper.

    When we came around a bend in the road, the trees abruptly stopped and town came into view.

    Moreland''s Rest was visible, backed by the colour washed sky of the setting sun beyond the few fields, it was surrounded by a thick stone wall.

    I could make out the rooftops of maybe twenty or so larger buildings that were big enough to stand higher than the wall that surrounded the town.

    They were spread out across the inside of the town at seemingly random places, clearly the town had hundreds more buildings but from my vantage point I couldn''t see them over the walls.

    As we continued on through the fields Captain Holt would occasionally exchange nods with some of the farmers heading back for the day, we passed but never stopped to actually speak.

    A few of them looked to Sal and what was tied to the side of his horse.

    A rough burlap sack, the bottom of it dark and damp by what was unmistakably blood.

    Before we had set out, Captain Holt had nodded in the direction on the direwolf''s corpse and seeming to know what was expected without words, the big oak-skinned southerner had hacked off the beasts head without hesitation, if not quite without a hint of distaste on his face.

    I watched the act trying to look as casual as the men but I don''t know if I managed it. I didn''t vomit or make any pathetic sounds and managed not to look away.

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    It was what was in the burlap sack and a clear sign to those who knew what to look for that the Captain and his small company had not come back empty handed.

    As we reached the walls of Moreland''s Rest we approached a thick and sturdy looking gate.

    It was wide open at the moment and two guards with similar armour to the guards in our little company straightened up at the approach of Holt.

    Their spears stood a little straighter, standing a little taller the one on the left spoke.

    ¡°Good evening, Sir.¡± He said respectfully.

    ¡°Evening Wyse, evening Dret.¡± Holt returned, with a nod to the second guard, the one who was apparently Dret who returned the nod in kind.

    We passed through and I got my first up close look of Moreland''s rest.

    It was no Clearwater, that was obvious but it was still respectable if a little more rough and rustic looking than the city.

    The buildings were mostly stone with solid timbers, the roads seemed to be a mixture of hard packed dirt and gravel.

    There were townsfolk walking here and there, some calling out to the Captain who occasionally returned some nods.

    I could see people spot the bloody burlap sack but no one asked about it directly.

    I could hear the busy sounds of work being carried out, the ringing of a blacksmith from somewhere, men and women on errands, carrying baskets or boxes.

    Smells of food, people and less pleasant things.

    I saw a few young children playing, small screams and laughs coming from them as they ran around.

    I saw a few more guardsmen notice their smell company and give small salutes.

    Captain Holt led us to a well built building that was quite large, it had a small courtyard that we entered into after passing two more guardsmen who had stood on the outside.

    People started to dismount and I followed suit a little awkwardly, a group of three boys and a girl who looked close to my age came forward to take the horses.

    I noticed Sal unfasten the sack and walk off into the building ahead of everyone else.

    I stood not knowing if I should just leave or even if I would be allowed to. I doubted I''d be brought here just to be told to get lost.

    I felt a hand come down on my shoulder.

    Looking up and around the healer Glenn stood there.

    ¡°Captain will want you to stay a word I reckon, best keep up.¡± He told me and gestured with his chin towards the back of Captain Holt who was almost at the door.

    Looking around the small courtyard I noticed that Miller had walked back to the entrance and seemed to be having a conversation with the two guards there.

    I saw them glance over at me once then back to Miller.

    Nodding at Glenn''s words, having no real choice I hurried to catch up.

    I saw the others who were my age give me curious looks as they tended the horses but none of them approached or said anything.

    I didn''t see anything hostile in the glances, it was just curiosity.

    I couldn''t help but think I would be curious too, a blood soaked stranger, a boy their own age returning with the guardsmen and Captain who had apparently been out to hunt a monster.

    Captain Holt nodded in acknowledgement of my presence without looking at me as I reached his side and he moved on into the building.

    The interior was just as busy as the rest of the town it seemed, only it was mostly guardsmen moving about in here.

    Some heading out where we had just entered, other coming down or going up some stairs.

    Maybe this was a change of shift as the sun had just set or maybe they were just usually this busy?

    Captain Holt led me to a wooden door and opened it up, he gestured inside and I entered looking around cautiously.

    In the room was an oak table, a couple of benches and it was well lit by an oil lamp on one of the walls.

    ¡°Have a seat, I''ll be back shortly.¡± Holt told me, I nodded and sat at the table as he gently closed the door behind him.

    I was glad there wasn''t a lock on the door because if I had heard it lock after the door was closed I would have probably panicked.

    As it was my nerves hit me in full force anyway, despite it being a well lit and an otherwise pleasant seeming, if plain room, it was still most certainly an interrogation room.

    I didn''t think I had done anything wrong, despite having not told the truth about how I had managed to defeat the direwolf, I remembered the looks that Sal had given me.

    I knew that when Holt returned he would want answers from me, answers I wasn''t sure I could give.

    There was also the possibility that he would hold me here and send word to my uncle that he had a runaway here waiting to be collected.

    At least he hadn''t taken me directly to a cell, that must have been a good sign, right?

 Interlude - Blackthorn Estate

    City of Clearwater, The Blackthorn Family Estate.

    Lord Hendrik Montgomery Percival Blackthorn was in his study in a foul mood.

    Since the boy had escaped with a maid and Marran had returned with news of their deaths, he had been faced with yet another problem.

    Without the boy he would lose his access to the estate funds and possibly even the estate itself, but that was only if the boys absence was reported to the authorities.

    Lord Hendrik would not lose what should be rightfully his.

    That little shit could rot in his grave for all he cared, but he had needed to come up with something until what should have been the boy''s seventeenth year.

    The boy would then have been able to legally pass over his inheritance if he had reached that age and then Lord Hendrik would have what should have been his from the start.

    Even in death that little bastard was nothing but a problem for him.

    What galled Lord Hendrik the most wasn''t the inconvenience of having to send out his men for a replacement boy.

    No, that had been a simple thing.

    They had taken some common street rat that looked as close to the boy as they could manage, one that no one cared about and brought him back here.

    What truly vexed him was that the boy had had the nerve to attempt to thwart him, as if the boy actually believed that he had a right to keep what should have belonged to Lord Hendrik himself.

    Lord Hendrik had thought the boy more cowed than he was, he had taken steps to ensure the boy had no fight left in him.

    It was years of careful work that the boy had ruined and for what?

    Out of some delusional sense of defiance?

    No, as evidenced by the fact the little bastard was now a corpse, no one should be foolish enough to cross Lord Hendrik, not even that boy.

    The boy had clearly wanted to try to steal away everything for himself and he had paid the price for it.

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    That would not happen again.

    This time he would be even harder in his cowing of this rat, things he had thought unnecessary with the boy would be used on the rat.

    The replacement boy was even now undergoing some pre-emptive disciplinary actions.

    The common street filth would know his place and be taught the least of what could happen to him if he even thought about disobeying his betters.

    The rat would take on the role of the boy, with the use of a little magic he had already arranged for, the rat would look and sound just like the boy.

    When the time came, the ''boy'' would hand over control of ''his'' inheritance legally and the rat could be disposed of.

    This rat would have no thoughts of disobeying Lord Hendrik.

    A smirk played across his face as he could still faintly make out the street rats sobs from a different part of the estate.

    Lord Hendrik''s men, on his orders and under the direction of Marran were having fun with the boy.

    Lord Hendrik remembered earlier when he had paused outside the room to watch for a while, the men had had the rat pinned down while one of the guards had mounted the filthy urchin from behind.

    The boy had, unsurprisingly, been sobbing as this guard was taking his turn, by the guard''s expression, he was thoroughly enjoying himself as he sank himself into the street rat''s depths.

    The common filth were weak.

    Feeling slightly better at these thoughts but with a tightness in his pants, he sent out a maid to fetch one of the new stock.

    He would take his own pleasure from whichever girl they brought for him.

    Picking up his glass, he finished off the contents, refilled the glass once more and began to unbuckle his belt.

    After all the problems he had faced lately, he deserved to indulge himself.

    If the girl they brought didn''t last long enough for him, he could always have the maid fetch another.

 Chapter Ten - Interrogation

    I had sat in the interrogation room for what was probably fifteen minutes, though it had felt like much longer before the door had opened for the first time.

    I had, of course been thinking of all the worst things that could happen to me now, knowing that they certainly would come true.

    I would be officially arrested, then taken to the cells.

    Holt would send for my uncle and his men could come for me.

    I would try to escape using this magic and end up killing myself by accident.

    All these thoughts and more had been playing around in my mind and when the door had finally opened, I had been slightly started.

    I had looked up to see an older woman poking her head around the partially opened door.

    I don''t know what my expression had looked like but evidently she had found it mildly amusing and opened the door the rest of the way with a small smirk.

    She hadn''t worn any armour and didn''t appear to be armed with anything besides a small belt knife sheathed on her belt.

    She had been smartly dressed in the same blue I had noticed that the guards all wore under their armour and had simply introduced herself as Gretta.

    I had reasoned that she must have worked here with the guards, doing something other than guarding I guessed, but she hadn''t told me anything else about herself other than her name.

    She had brought me some water and a small bowl of stew, before telling me that Captain Holt wouldn''t be much longer, then closed the door on her way out.

    After days of nothing but wild meat I had hunted, the vegetables in the simple stew were like something sent from the heavens.

    I had almost finished the bowl when the door opened once more and Holt himself came into the room.

    I had set down my bowl and become tense as the captain had taken a seat opposite me.

    ¡°So, Al.¡± Captain Holt said slowly, with a slight emphasis on the name ''Al''.

    ¡°Do you think you might be able to tell me a few things now?¡± Holt asked with a slight raising of a thick eyebrow.

    Swallowing slightly, knowing this would happen I gave a small resigned nod.

    ¡°Good.¡± Holt said leaning forwards onto the table slightly. ¡°We''ll start with this.¡±

    I watched as Holt reached into a pocket and set down a silver ingot onto the table between us.

    I stared dumbly at the ingot for a second then found myself patting down my pockets.

    I felt two lumps.

    Two ingots in my pockets, not three.

    By the look on Holt''s face I could tell what he thought and I didn''t blame him.

    A ragged boy covered in blood in the forest, knife in hand and an ingot of silver?

    ¡°I''m not a thief.¡± I told him and was surprised by the firmness of my own voice. ¡°That is mine and no, it''s not stolen.¡±

    Saying nothing, Holt just raised an eyebrow as he continued to look at me.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked after several silent moments passed of me waiting for him to speak.

    ¡°It is mine and I''m not lying. I don''t know what you want from me but that is the honest truth.¡± I said.

    Though the thought crossed my mind, was this silver ingot truly mine?

    Sure, I had taken it from Althalan''s treasury but he was long gone, I had found and claimed the place for myself. If it could be said to belong to anyone then I guessed that that person would be me.

    ¡°And where did you get it?¡± Holt asked me.

    ¡°My... Teacher left it for me.¡± I answered lamely.

    ¡°He did, did he?¡± Holt said clearly not believing me.

    ¡°Before he died.¡± I told him with a sigh. ¡°He left it and I needed to get supplies. That''s why I was looking for a town.¡±

    ¡°Who was your teacher?¡± Holt asked me.

    ¡°His name was Althalan.¡± I told him, closing my eyes as the name brought up swirls of thoughts within my mind.

    Holt made a neutral sound, not agreeing or disagreeing with my words.

    ¡°So what is your real name?¡± Holt asked, clearly having known that my attempt earlier in the day at coming up with a false name was just that, an attempt.

    Especially now that I had revealed the inspiration behind that feeble attempt.

    I didn''t want to answer.

    I didn''t want to have my name known, if my uncle''s men were asking around it would be like leaving a clear sign that I had been here.

    Even now they could be wandering through Moreland''s Rest asking about me.

    Something must have shown on my face because Holt''s face became intent as he spoke.

    ¡°Are you on the run, lad?¡± He asked looking at with an expression I couldn''t read.

    I just looked at him desperately without answering.

    Sitting back slightly Holt seemed to be thinking over something.

    ¡°Did you do something?¡± He finally asked me. ¡°Steal this ingot or something else?¡±

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    ¡°No.¡± I told him earnestly then sighed in defeat.

    Holt just waited patiently.

    ¡°I haven''t done anything.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not on the run for a crime, I''m not wanted or anything like that. I just...¡± I hesitated and looked at Capitan Holt.

    I looked into his blue eyes and judged him as best as I could and he seemed to know I was weighing him.

    He simply looked back to me, accepting my judgement.

    A man without anything to hide.

    My gut said that if he knew about my uncle, why I had run away that he wouldn''t turn me over to someone who would do me harm, but at the same time I thought that he would still want to know more than I was willing to tell.

    I felt as though he was a good sort of man, a fair on, not the kind to give away a child for the promise of reward.

    It was still too great of a risk to expose everything...

    I took a lesser risk and reached into my pocket, I pulled out another silver ingot and set it down on the table next to the other one.

    ¡°I''m not a thief.¡± I said firmly. ¡°The ingots are mine, I didn''t steal or take them from anyone. I am here to buy supplies.¡±

    Sitting back and taking a small drink from the cup of water I continued. ¡°I have people looking for me, bad people.¡±

    Holt just watched me but his eyes seemed to soften slightly.

    ¡°Who are these people, lad? And why are they after you?¡± Holt asked but I was already shaking my head before he finished.

    ¡°I won''t tell you who, I can''t.¡± I told him seriously and saw him frowning at my answer.

    ¡°Captain Holt, sir.¡± I said seriously looking him straight in the eye as I spoke on.

    ¡°I can''t tell you who they are, if I did then there would be more danger and problems not just for me or you but everyone. Everyone you know or anyone they even suspect you might know.¡± I told him. ¡°I can''t tell you my real name, if I did, then even that would be enough for them to come looking.¡±

    ¡°I am not a thief, I didn''t steal these ingots and I promise you, they have absolutely nothing to do with why they are after me.¡± I said truthfully. ¡°I get out it looks, I do, but the honest truth is I just came here with them to get supplies.¡± I said hoping he could hear the truth in my words.

    Holt was silent for a long time and he thought over my words, I just waited patiently, keeping my eyes on his and hoping that he would believe me.

    By showing him that second ingot of silver I hoped he would take it for what it was. I show of faith that I was not trying to hide them, that they weren''t stolen.

    The remaining golden ingot in my pocket seemed to burn me.

    If he found it, it would undo the small truths I had told him, not because it was anything sinister but simply hiding it would be enough to shatter any kind of trust I might have gained from him.

    He watched me for what seemed like too long of a time, keeping his eyes on my own. It was now my turn to sit and wait patiently while I was judged.

    Captain Holt inhaled a long breath then finally he spoke.

    ¡°What about the tree?¡± He asked and I had no idea what he was talking about.

    He must have seen my confused expression because he clarified.

    ¡°In the forest, with the direwolf.¡± Holt explained. ¡°Sal saw the broken tree.¡±

    My eyes widened as I remembered, the tree I had blasted the direwolf into, the one that had shattered from the impact like it had been made out of glass.

    ¡°It''s from the direwolf.¡± I explained. ¡°It went through it when I...¡±

    The shear amount of devastation done to the tree was enough to show that clearly, something out of the ordinary had happened there.

    The looks Sal had been giving me on our journey to Moreland''s Rest suddenly made sense now.

    A blood soaked boy, one who had apparently dropped an entire silver ingot during a fight with a monster that four trained men had come out to hunt.

    A fight that boy had won.

    One that left the boy mostly unharmed, the monster very dead and a huge tree shattered like glass from the encounter.

    No wonder he had occasionally stared, it was a testament to the dark southerner''s self control that he hadn''t even asked me a question.

    ¡°When you?¡± Holt asked and I could sense that the answer to this question was important, it would decide my fate.

    This was a point of no return.

    If he thought I lied to him now then I knew I would be locked away in a cell within minutes.

    I knew what I had to do.

    Sighing I held out my hand, palm up and a small flickering orb of pale light manifested.

    Holt sat back slowly, breathing out.

    ¡°Well now.¡± He said crossing his arms, looking thoughtful.

    We spoke the next word at the same time in two different tones.

    Mine in a tone of slight regret.

    Captain Holt in a tone of a man finding an answer.

    ¡°Magic.¡±

 Chapter Eleven - Morelands Rest

    I woke up and for a few precious moments, I was the most comfortable person in the world.

    Then my thoughts caught up with me and a sat up quickly, my feet touching down onto the cold wooden floorboards as I sat on the edge of the bed.

    The memories of the remainder of my interrogation with Captain Holt rose up.

    He had asked me questions, obviously.

    More specifically about what I had done to cause such damage to that tree and how I had defeated the direwolf.

    He asked about my ''teacher'' who had died but I had only vague answers to give him.

    I told him nothing of the grimoire, the mountain or the vast wealth contained within.

    He had understandably, started to get more and more frustrated at my lack of answers about magic, my past and the other things I wouldn''t tell him.

    I had eventually found words coming out of my mouth that I had never spoken before.

    Technical terms of magic, my panicked evocation and using it with my will.

    Using the experiences of the last few days of hunting and the reflex it had kicked in against the direwolf.

    My stone knife being sent flying into the beasts eye by pure luck after my hunts with small stones.

    Words pulled out from the vortex of memories that I spoke but didn''t understand even as they left my lips.

    The turning point had come from explaining the tree.

    I had tried to explain as best as I could about the powerful gust, blasting the direwolf through the tree.

    The only thing that had seemed to get through to Holt had been the power of the magic wrought and the damage it could do.

    I vividly recalled Captain Holt looking around at the walls of the room, back to me and his eyes widening slightly.

    He seemed to silently acknowledged that if I had needed to I could probably have left this room, this building and probably the town itself by force.

    I didn''t disabuse him of the idea, he had no idea that my mastery of magic seemed to rely on the whim of the vortex within my head.

    He built or assumed I guess, his own version of my history.

    His guesses would have been reasonable, if it weren''t for the utterly bizarre events of my recent life.

    In his mind he thought I was an apprentice, learning magic from my master.

    The ''teacher'' I had referred to.

    A master who had died or perhaps had been killed by those who were after me.

    In the end Holt had admitted that he didn''t have any real charges against me.

    There were no reports of a boy on the run, no reported thefts of silver ingots and knowing I had come from the other side of the Coldwater Ridge, he had no reports of any deaths or any other crimes.

    He tried to convince me to tell him about my pursuers but I refused, much to his frustration.

    He, no matter how frustrated, had no legal right to my personal business, not without proof of a crime actually having been committed.

    My ingots were slid back over to me and the captain seemed to take some time in pulling himself together, letting his annoyance at me wash away.

    He had told me that he would help me if he could, I just needed to open up to him.

    He told me that I was welcome to stay in Moreland''s Rest so long as I caused no trouble.

    That if I stayed here he would do his best to look out for me, as he did with any person who lived here.

    I had been oddly touched by this.

    His blue eyes were honest and he meant what he said.

    I knew it was just his job and I knew he had been extremely annoyed with my lack of willingness to give him information about those I ran from.

    Even with all that, I believed him when he said he would look out for me.

    It was a very unfamiliar concept to me, especially since my parents had died.

    I think he had been able to see that I believed him but I knew that he definitely noticed my mild embarrassment at his unintentionally touching words.

    I think it had surprised us both.

    He had gruffly directed me out of the small interrogation room and out into the rest of the building.

    He''d told me that if I wanted to get some coin in exchange for my silver ingots today, then I had better hurry.

    The sun had set and while most of the shops and traders would have left or closed up for the day, he know of a place that might open if I hurried.

    And so I had gone out into the town at a jog and with directions, feeling Captain Holt''s gaze on my back the entire time.

    I''d managed to get both of my silver ingots changed into coins, then gotten a room at an inn.

    A night in a comfortable bed.

    The bed I now sat on.

    I had two plump pouches of coin, they were sat on the small table besides the bed along with the gold ingot.

    One of them was slightly smaller than the other.

    It contained gold and silver coins, the larger of the pouches contained silver and copper coins.

    The stout man who had weighed in my silver ingots had been short with me when I had first entered his building.

    He traded in metals, mostly the copper from brought in from Diggin and was going about closing things up for the night.

    When I had told him that Captain Holt had given me directions to this place specifically he had eased up somewhat and not even complained too much when I had asked for a mixture of coins.

    Captain Holt''s name seemed to carry a respectable amount of weight with the trader.

    Today I would buy the things I needed.

    First though, the coin I had spent on this room had also included a breakfast.

    I could already smell the cooking food coming from the floors below.

    I hadn''t even undressed to sleep so I pulled on my boots, grabbed my pouches and once more checked the remaining gold ingot in my pocket before heading down.

    In the common room of the inn the aged innkeeper stood behind the bar, there were only two other the tables occupied.

    One by a small man who seemed engrossed in the papers he was reading, his food apparently ignored.

    The second table had a group of four around it, three women and a man.

    The women were richly dressed in appropriate clothing for travel and they chatted animatedly with each other, the man who had the look of a personal guard, simply ate and looked bored.

    The innkeeper whose name was Jared gave a small smile to me as he spotted me.

    ¡°Breakfast is it, young master?¡± Jared asked me as I approached the bar.

    ¡°Please, sir.¡± I confirmed politely.

    ¡°Still just as polite in the morning I see.¡± Jared noted, amused. ¡°Well I''ll get you the same as the others if you go grab yourself a table.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and moved over to a table further away from the others in the room.

    I sat waiting for my breakfast trying not to attract any attention from anyone else and thankfully nothing of note happened.

    Jared eventually came out of the back carrying a small tray and brought it over to me.

    As he set it down he asked me if I had decided to stay another night.

    I had asked for a room for one night when I had come to the inn the night before, I had told him that I wasn''t sure if I would be staying any longer.

    With this, I took the hint and paid for another night.

    I didn''t know if I would stay another night in the inn but I thought it might be likely, besides I did need a place to bring all the things I would buy, at least until I could figure out how to get them back to the mountain.

    I ate my breakfast which was made up of several pieces of bacon, sausages that had a spice to them that I had never tasted before, toasted bread and a small serving of black tea.

    It was delicious, I thought the idea of staying another night or two would be worth it just to eat this breakfast again.

    I had things to do though so after thanking Jared for the food, who promptly blamed his wife for it''s creation, I headed out into Moreland''s Rest for the first time in the full light of day.

    I looked around for a moment, the streets were just as busy as they had been yesterday at sunset.

    I wondered if the town was always this busy or if this was normal for a town in general.

    I had never really gotten out much before, not in Clearwater and definitely not unattended in Clearwater''s streets in recent years, so I had nothing really to compare it to.

    I squared my shoulders and headed down the street becoming apart of the moving sea of people.

    My first stop was easy to find, even at the early hour the sound of a blacksmith at work is easy to find.

    I ended up in what was most certainly the more mercantile and trade related part of the town.

    I had a decision to make as there were apparently two blacksmiths, one of each side of this stree, both with their own shops attached to their workshops.

    Unable to tell the difference in which would be the better choice, or even if there was a better choice, I shrugged to myself and headed to the closest one on the side of the street where I stood.

    As I pushed through the wooden door to enter the shop the small bell above it tinkled lightly.

    Around me were all sorts of things.

    All manner of small tools, larger tools, weapons, some pieces of armour.

    There were pots and pans and odd things that I thought might have been replacement parts to other, larger things I didn''t know.

    It was then I realised that I didn''t have anything to carry the things I wanted to buy in.

    At the same time a large man came through a doorway and raised an eyebrow at me, he looked me up and down and sneered at me with a look of disgust on his face.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I immediately turned around left the shop, my face feeling a little hotter than usual.

    I moved on quickly down the street, cursing myself and the man softly under my breath.

    I found three shops close to each other that sold clothing and other things.

    One of the three shops looked closer to what I was looking for.

    The other two had fine looking clothes displayed in their windows, while the one I headed towards had more common looking things as well as travel equipment in its window.

    Entering the shop to the sound of another bell I looked around, there were three other people in the shop already.

    One looking at something on a shelf and there was another talking to the third man who stood behind a counter.

    I walked further in and started to look around at all the things I could see, everything I found looked like something I would need.

    A few minutes later, lost in my own thoughts, a voice interrupted me.

    ¡°Help you with anything?¡± The voice said and I turned to find the man who had been behind the counter.

    ¡°I uh, well.¡± I started unsure how to begin. ¡°I need a lot...¡± I started to explain.

    ¡°A lot?¡± The man asked me, slightly amused.

    Nodding I spoke on realising how stupid I sounded.

    ¡°I lot.¡± I agreed. ¡°I need everything really, travel clothes, some tools, something to carry everything in. Oh! I need a proper knife too, with a sheath. I need pots and-¡±

    The man raised his hands cutting me off.

    ¡°Alright, alright, lad.¡± He said. ¡°I''m Greyson and this is my shop.¡± He told me. ¡°I think I probably have everything you need, so long as you have the coin to pay for it.¡± He added the last looking at me with a little doubt but he was clearly trying to be polite about it.

    I didn''t get a sneer on sight from him at least.

    ¡°It''d be easier if you told me what you''re planning for and what you already have.¡± Greyson said.

    ¡°I''ve got the coin.¡± I assured him quickly and pulled out the larger pouch of silver and copper from my pocket to prove it.

    I expected him to look at it greedily but he just nodded in acknowledgement of it.

    ¡°I don''t really have anything else.¡± I explained to him. ¡°And I think I need everything I can get, if I can carry it all that is.¡± I added.

    Taking in a deep breath, Greyson looked at me then nodded once.

    *****************

    I may have gone a little overboard.

    Or maybe Greyson had been a little more encouraging than he should have been.

    More than likely it was a combination of the two.

    I was back at my room in the inn looking at the mess of things I had bought.

    I had three very large travel packs filled and a fourth empty pack.

    Inside the three filled packs I had the following:

    My old clothing and boots, my old stone knife, a spare new knife, several small travel pots and pans that stacked tightly together to take up less room; a couple of cups, knives, forks and spoons.

    There were also five small metal lamps, some candles and flint and a fire rod.

    One of the packs was filled with two sets of new clothing, socks, underclothes and a ridiculously large piece of fabric that was closely related to a robe in design.

    I was sure I could wear it in a blizzard and feel nothing but a slight breeze.

    That wasn''t even everything I had bought.

    I was wearing a completely new set of clothes for travelling, they were so sturdy they could pass for light armour on a good day, well not quite but the fabric could take some rough handling without coming apart.

    I had a small knife, sheathed and hanging from my new belt.

    All the colours of my new travel clothes were dark and mostly in deep greys.

    The black leather belt and the sheath though matched my new black boots.

    Each of the three stuffed packs had a bedroll attached to the bottom of them and any of the ''spare'' room in them had been cram-packed with soaps, a few oils and similar small things.

    I had left Gresyon''s shop and gone back a couple of times, just to be able to carry the packs back to my room at the inn.

    When I had gotten it all back here I had enquired of the innkeeper Jared about the possibility of a bath and after a small exchange of coin I had gotten my wish.

    A large young man and a slightly smaller and younger man had eyed the bulging packs as they had brought in the huge copper tub.

    They had politely not said anything though, for which I had been thankful.

    When they had finally brought up enough boiling water to fill it, I had cleaned myself thoroughly with my newly acquired soaps.

    My hair cleansed with oils and I was finally not stinking any more.

    Once the tub had been emptied and removed from my room, it was mid-afternoon and I still had things left to buy.

    Almost tripping over the small casks of oil that were for the lamps, that sat on the floor, I made my way back out of my room with my remaining empty pack, feeling more like an actual human now.

    Jared, the innkeeper gave me a slightly odd look as he saw me cross the common room once more but I just waved slightly on my way out the door.

    Having asked Greyson about it, I knew that my next stop was only about a ten minute walk from the inn, if I didn''t get lost that is.

    I found my way to a small shop that attached to a larger building that seemed to have no entrance other than the shop.

    Inside was a riot of scents.

    I caught hints of a hundred different smells that I knew and a hundred more that I didn''t, even worse was that the vortex seemed to recognise many that I didn''t and my head swam briefly.

    ¡°It takes some getting used to.¡± The kindly voice of an old woman informed me.

    I assumed she meant the scents and not an ancient vortex of knowledge trying to pull my mind apart.

    Opening my eyes I smiled weakly.

    ¡°Sorry, it''s not that bad.¡± I lied. ¡°I''ve just got a bit of a headache.¡±

    ¡°Sorry to hear that.¡± She told me, clearly amused at my lie.

    ¡°Are you Ms Chapel?¡± I asked her, the name given to me by Greyson.

    The old woman laughed merrily.

    ¡°I used to be when I was younger.¡± She told me with a smile and I couldn''t help but return it.

    ¡°Mr Greyson said that you might be able to help me with some things I need?¡± I half told, half asked her.

    ¡°He did, did he?¡± Ms Chapel asked rhetorically but I nodded anyway. ¡°Well, I might. Depends on what you''re after, young man.¡± She said gesturing around her shop and to the hundreds of plants, herbs, pouches and boxes there.

    ¡°I need seeds.¡± I told her. ¡°I need seeds for food, but I need ones that are easy to grow, I''ve never tried to grow anything before but I''m going to be away for a while so can''t just rely on hunting meat.¡± I explained.

    ¡°I see.¡± She said and I kept my mouth shut because her tone was clearly one of deep thinking. ¡°What sort of climate will you be away at?¡± She asked casually her eyes still gazing inwards.

    ¡°Well.¡± I said a bit stupidly. ¡°I guess it''s going to be like the forest here, probably a bit windier and colder... There is soil and I can get water...¡± I trailed off helplessly, I had no idea what I needed specifically just that I knew I needed some kind of food I could grow.

    Her lips were pursed and she tapped her chin with a bony looking finger a few times before her eyes seemed to focus again.

    She pointed to a small stool next to a wall, it was between two large rows of shelves.

    ¡°Sit there.¡± She commanded in a tone that brooked no argument. ¡°I''m not as young as I used to be so you''ll just have to be patient. I''ll go see what I can find.¡±

    My ¡°Yes, Miss.¡± was lost on her as she had already wandered off through a curtained doorway. With nothing to do but wait, I went and sat on the small stool against the wall.

    ****************

    When I got back to my room at the inn once more, I was sweating.

    The previously empty pack made a loud thump as it hit the floor next to the others, it didn''t look nearly as full as the other packs and I supposed it wasn''t.

    It still had room inside it but it had been, by far the heaviest out of all of them.

    I had gotten my seeds alright.

    I had gotten plenty of seeds, thought I might be able to feed a damn small village with the number of seeds I had, though I probably just felt that way after the carrying the thing back here.

    Along with various kinds of seeds for both vegetables and fruits, I had a lot of dried spices and herbs.

    I had been drafted by Ms Chapel and led through the curtained doorway into the larger part of the building.

    I had been sentenced to hard labour, climbing up ladders to retrieve dusty boxes and bags at her direction.

    I was told where to carry them and several times had to put them back once she found the contents were apparently not what she had thought.

    The last several things in the pack had made me realise that even more things to buy.

    Books.

    Ms Chapel had asked me if I could read, to which I had replied that I could.

    She had been pleased by this and pointed out that she had several books I could purchase to take with me so that I could learn how to grow all of my seeds.

    I hadn''t been able to refute her logic but I still had no idea how I would get everything back to the mountain.

    There were a lot of things I would need to learn when I got back there though, and books were my answer.

    By now with all that I had bought, I knew that a few more things weren''t going to make much difference in transporting everything back to the mountain.

    That was only if I could find a way to do it in the first place and so I had decided that I would buy books to take with me.

    I wouldn''t do it today though, I had had enough.

    I had had more than enough, my plans for the evening were to go back down to the common room to eat whatever it was that Jared''s wife was cooking, then I would come back to my room to sleep.

    On tired legs I followed my nose and headed downstairs.

 Chapter Twelve - Burning Coin

    The next day I was awoken once more by the wonderful scents of whatever it was that the innkeeper''s wife was cooking this morning.

    Last night, I had actually taken the time to undress myself before I had climbed into the comfortable bed, so I had to suffer through the wonderful smells for a while as I struggled to hurriedly dress myself.

    Back down in the common room the group of three women and their guard were the only occupants and while I ate my breakfast, a small feast of toasted cheese on bread, a different kind of sausage than yesterday with more black tea.

    I noticed the group of women occasionally throwing a glance at me.

    It made me nervous but not without good reason.

    I didn''t recognise any of them from Clearwater, but they were clearly minor nobility by their dress or at least from a family of wealthy merchants.

    It was very possible that one of them might recognise me.

    I had very rarely been allowed to leave the estate but when I had left the estate, it had usually been to attend social functions by order of my uncle, Lord Hendrik.

    I came to realise that the only reason I was taken to those things were because my uncle wanted me to be seen occasionally.

    That being his goal, they were usually packed with people.

    The more to see me alive and seemingly well under his care, the better.

    Nobles and other wealthy people, merchants, their retainers, servants, maids and occasionally I had seen actual slaves in collars, who had arrived with important looking people from the south.

    If those ladies were nobles, as I suspected they might be, and if they were from Clearwater, then the possibility that I might be recognised was a very real one.

    I just hoped that me being here and not in noble finery was enough to push away any association of me possibly being from Clearwater.

    If their houses were only very minor nobility then it was possible they had never been invited to the places Lord Hendrik had, but then again they still might have been.

    I had never paid too much attention at those gatherings, to the people, especially not once I had realised why I had been ordered there.

    I hadn''t yet heard or seen anything about my uncle''s men looking for me, the last I had seen them had been when they chased me on the other side of the Coldwater Ridge.

    Rather than being reassuring, it just seemed to make me more nervous.

    The sooner I was back in the mountain the better.

    I finished my meal hurriedly and headed out of the inn.

    I hadn''t planned to leave on my remaining errands quite so soon but I had been spooked.

    Moving quickly but not at a suspicious pace, I headed back to the street with the two blacksmiths.

    After my short but unpleasant experience with one of the shops, I made straight for the second one this time.

    Inside the shop was much the same as the other had been, if not quite as large, but the biggest difference was the older man who came through an archway at the sound of the bell.

    His face was neutral and without a sneer.

    He just raised an eyebrow at me and asked. ¡°Can I help you, lad?¡±

    ¡°I think so, sir.¡± I answered, already relaxing a little at his much friendlier reaction to me entering his shop.

    ¡°Names Bill.¡± He told me. ¡°No need for any sirs.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Bill.¡± I corrected and he waved it off.

    Clearing my throat I looked around the shop. ¡°I need to buy some tools.¡± I told him with a gesture at all the different things.

    ¡°I need to be able to take them with me when I leave town though, I think I need some things for wood. Like an axe and a saw, things like that?¡± I finished questioningly.

    ¡°Things like that?¡± Bill asked slightly mocking me but there was no malice in it. ¡°What exactly are you planning on doing?¡±

    ¡°I''m not sure exactly but I know I''ll need to cut down trees for wood.¡± I told him. ¡°I might need to try work with the wood too, to make some furniture.¡±

    Bill snorted at my words.

    ¡°You need to find a carpenter.¡± He advised. ¡°But, it''s your own coin.¡±

    And with a a shrug he began to show me a few of the things he had for sale now, rather than things he could make to be picked up later.

    In the end I left the shop with a woodsman''s hatchet, a small version of an axe basically, I also bought an actual full sized axe, a saw that folded up and that had several replacements for it''s actual saw blade.

    I had a small box of various handheld tools, chisels, nails and a few other things inside that I had no idea what they did.

    Bill had told me that they were a basic set of carpenters tools, something an apprentice might buy.

    Having shafts and handles, the axe, hatchet and saw were tied together by a strap of leather which both, held them together as one and provided a handle for me to carry it with.

    Under my other arm was the box with everything else, it was very awkward to carry not just because of the weight but also because the size was a little large.

    I took them back to the inn, the three ladies and their guard weren''t in the common room when I returned so I stopped for a moment to ask Jared, the innkeeper, if he knew where I could buy some books.

    Jared did know of a place and I thanked him for the directions as well as paying for another night.

    I wouldn''t be going to buy my books just yet though because the blacksmith Bill had given me an idea to get all my purchases at least most of the way back to my mountain.

    After putting my new purchases in my room, which was rapidly becoming smaller and smaller as I filled it with more things.

    I headed in the opposite direction that I''d left previously, this time moving closer to the centre of the town.

    Finding the street was looking for, with a large square in the centre.

    The square was actually a very small park, only a few trees but with lots of grass and flowers, I wandered through the gravel paths then around the square, until I spotted the shop I wanted.

    Heading inside the rich smell of fine leathers and treated woods reached my nose and I inhaled deeply.

    A women came forward with a small curious smile on her face.

    For a change, I was the first to speak.

    ¡°Hello, good morning.¡± I greeted her.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± The woman replied, her face said that she was politely waiting for me to tell her why I was here, so I obliged.

    ¡°I need to buy a few travel chests.¡± I told her, then explained further. ¡°I think I''ll need three about this size.¡± I said pointing to one of the chests off to our side.

    ¡°Water proofed and with locks?¡± She asked me with a suddenly businesslike expression on her face and a gesture for me to follow her further into the shop.

    ¡°Yes, and there is one more thing I wanted to ask...¡± I said was I followed her.

    ****************

    I had briefly stopped back at the inn to empty out one of the packs in my room, I''d emptied the one with my clothing and left them and the other things on the bed.

    I''d headed back out again, with the now empty pack, but this time in the direction that Jared had given me.

    I was looking to buy books now.

    My larger coin pouch was mostly empty now, so I had poured the remaining one silver and few coppers into the smaller pouch that had contained only gold and silver.

    I still had my gold ingot stashed away in my room but I had certainly burned through a lot of coin in my short time here in Moreland''s Rest.

    There were many book sellers on this street and some similar businesses.

    A map maker, a shop that sold paper and other things but still the choice for which book shop to enter was a difficult one because I didn''t have any specific books I needed.

    In fact I needed books that weren''t specific at all, I needed them to be varied in their subjects.

    With nothing else to for it, I just walked into the nearest one and began to look around at what books were for sale.

    I didn''t buy anything in the first two shops but I did when I entered the third shop.

    The first shop the woman who had approached me as I looked around, did so with the same kind of sneer on her face as that first blacksmith had.

    She had asked me if she could help me in a tone that clearly said ''I don''t want you in my shop'', I had told her that I didn''t think she could and left immediately.

    In the second shop the older woman who had approached had been much nicer but the books she had were not what I needed, they were mostly on things I had no use for.

    Dressmaking, societal histories, memoires or biographies of important people.

    I had explained to her that I needed things that were more of a utilitarian nature and even though I had obviously just wasted her time she was very polite and understanding.

    She had directed me across the street to the third shop, the shop I now stood in.

    Apparently the book shops on this street had a kind of understanding that while there were some books that obviously overlapped in topic, which couldn''t be helped, they mostly only sold the kinds of books that were in fitting with no one else''s books.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Meaning that, if I did need to buy a book about some important general or about fashion today or a few centuries ago, then I would only find them in one of the shops specifically.

    The shops I needed were this one, the one I was in now and possibly a fourth one that was towards the end of the street.

    Entering the shop to the scent of paper and the sound of a bell, which was becoming familiar I looked around to for anyone but saw no one.

    I walked further in towards the counter.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I asked the empty air and received no reply.

    As I reached the counter I tried again.

    ¡°Hello? Is anyone here?¡± I raised my voice slightly and directed my words to the curtained off doorway behind the counter.

    A heard something hit the ground, a soft but quiet curse then a woman''s voice.

    ¡°Yes! I''m here! I''ll just be a moment!¡± The woman''s voice called out to me.

    ¡°Um, it''s OK.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll just look around if that is alright?¡±

    There were a few more quite words that I didn''t quite hear then, louder. ¡°That''s fine! I''ll be out to help right away!¡±

    I turned away from the counter and began walking down the isles of bookshelves.

    I read the titles of the books on their binders as I moved up and down the rows, a few I spotted looked very useful and a few that I thought might be.

    I don''t know how long I was looking but I came back to myself when I heard the voice of the woman from earlier.

    ¡°Damn it, they left.¡± The woman''s voice said, sounding slightly dejected.

    Feeling slightly embarrassed at hearing this for some reason, I hesitantly stepped out of the end of the row of bookshelves I was currently in and found that the woman''s voice belonged to a young girl.

    She was clearly a couple of years older than I was but still young to own a book shop.

    ¡°Uh.¡± I started cleverly and raised awkwardly. ¡°I''m still here actually.¡±

    The girls face flushed and I felt even more embarrassed for both of us.

    ¡°Oh! I thought you''d left already.¡± She said and we just looked at each other in silence for a moments.

    ¡°I uh, can come back later if-¡± I began to say but was cut off.

    Her eyes widened slightly.

    ¡°No! I''m sorry, I was trying to organise things in the back. I''m so sorry, please don''t leave. I''m Melissa, how can I help you, sir?¡± She got out in a rush and I don''t know who felt more awkward at her use of ''sir''.

    Me, because I was only fourteen or her, for calling me sir when she was clearly older than I was, if not by much.

    Deciding to ignore it as best I could I started to tell her what I needed.

    ¡°I need to buy quite a lot of books.¡± I tried to tell her that I didn''t know exactly what kinds of books I would need, to give her a general idea but she clapped her hands together before I could and came over to me speaking excitedly.

    ¡°That''s fantastic, we have lots of books here.¡± Melissa told me, gesturing to all the shelves. ¡°My uncle, he owns the shop.¡± She added quickly. ¡°-has books on all different subjects. They are all of high quality materials and are very well cared for.¡± She assured me as if I didn''t believe her.

    Taking my arm she turned me around slightly as if I hadn''t noticed all the books or hadn''t come into a shop that sold books on purpose, as she continued to gesture to them.

    ¡°We pride ourselves on our good quality and fair prices, I''m sure that we have everything you need here. We also have a catalogue of books that we can special order from Gresh, Volak, Clearwater and even as far as Suldar!¡± She told me and I had to raise up both my hands to stop her.

    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I told her looking into her eyes, I was slightly panicked.

    This is not how I had thought my visit to this shop would go.

    ¡°I can''t order any books, I don''t think I''ll be in town for long enough. I just need to buy books that you have right now.¡± I said and she seemed slightly disappointed but her smile turned up to full flame once more.

    ¡°I can help you with that!¡± She told me again. ¡°What kinds of books so you need?¡±

    ¡°Well, the thing is I need books on different subjects.¡± I began. ¡°I am travelling out of town soon and I''ll be gone for a while. I need book that can help me learn things I''ll find useful.¡±

    Frowning at my explanation, I continued to try to explain.

    ¡°I was hoping that you could help me look through some of the bookshelves for anything that might be useful, but you seemed pretty busy...¡± I finished a little lamely.

    Waving my words away she smiled again.

    ¡°Well, what kinds of things do you think you''ll need to know?¡± Melissa asked me as she took my arm and pulled me down the row of books.

    ******************

    I left the shop in a daze.

    Melissa, was apparently looking after the shop for her Uncle who was away in Gresh.

    She had been tasked with, opening and closing the shop, cleaning, accounting, selling the books and organising the books that were in the back of the shop.

    She had told me all this sporadically between obviously rehearsed sales pitches, wild hand gestures that I occasionally flinched at and an endless stream of general chatter.

    I don''t think I had ever heard anyone talk as much in my life.

    She had been helpful though, or at least I thought so.

    Maybe she had been too helpful because the empty pack I had entered the shop with was almost as bad as the pack of seeds I had bought from Ms Chapel.

    I thought about walking with the heavy pack to the fourth book shop at the end of the street but decided against it.

    I couldn''t bare the thought of walking any further away from the direction of the inn just to have to walk back with all these books.

    I stopped briefly in the map makers next door, which was in the direction of the inn.

    Buying then putting away a large but inexpensive map into the pack and even worked up enough willpower to enter the paper maker''s shop afterwards.

    There, I bought an empty notebook as well as several pens and ink, but had to carry the couple of ink pots in my hand as there was no safe way to store them in my pack with all the hard books.

    If they cracked or worse, broke completely inside my pack, then ink would ruin the books I had just bought.

    I slowly made my way back to the inn, only stopping twice to set down my burden for a minute of rest.

    When I entered through the door and into the common room, the innkeeper, Jared came over to me hurriedly.

    ¡°Young master, several men came by earlier looking for you.¡± He told me and I froze, then looked around hurriedly as I quickly set down my pack with a heavy thud.

    I stood there ink pots in hand wondering what I should do.

    ¡°-avelling chests, so I''ve put them up stairs in the empty room on your floor for you.¡± Jared was saying and it took me a second to understand.

    I almost collapsed with relief.

    The travelling chests I had paid for that morning had been delivered.

    The men were looking for me to drop off the chests, I was almost glad that I had paid for them in advance because if I had come back to find a group of men actually waiting for me, I might have turned around and started running.

    ¡°I''m sorry, Jared.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t think they would arrive so soon, I thought they would be here tomorrow.¡± I told him. ¡°Thank you for taking care of them.¡± I added after my explanation.

    Jared waved my apology and thanks away casually and moved back to his stop behind the bar.

    It was then that I noticed all three of the ladies watching me from the other side of the common room.

    The guard was as ever, sitting, looking uninterested but I had definitely caught the attention of the women.

    I shouldered my overburdened pack and walked straight up the stairs without another look in their direction.

    Looking briefly into the only other room on my floor, I saw the three chests were set neatly on the open floor then ducked back out.

    Entering my own room, I gladly set my burden down onto some free space on the bed, then I picked up the other packs once by one and set them onto the bed too.

    It didn''t take me long to bring all three chests to my room and I began the long process of unpacking all of my packs, putting some of the things into specific chests and in the correct order while repacking by packs.

    I ended up with my three chests that all contained different items, including my now repacked packs and was left with only a single, much lighter pack which only contained some essentials.

    It had become a travel pack that was something I could actually travel with.

    I think tomorrow I will have to go out in search of the possible solution to my chests and transport problem.

    For now though, I thought only about rest.

    I fell asleep without even going down for the evening meal.

 Chapter Thirteen - No more

    The next morning I was in a part of the town I hadn''t been to before.

    I was close enough to the outskirts that I could see the surrounding wall and the occasional guard walking along it.

    This area of the town had very few actual buildings, most of them were warehouses or small offices, the majority of the room here was open space, work yards with either stacks of stone or lumber in them.

    After speaking with the innkeeper Jared, the directions he gave me, this place was my only real hope for getting my things close to my mountain.

    I entered the building in front of me and stepped into a room with rich wooden d¨¦cor, everything seemed to be polished to a shine and a faint smell of some kind of incense hung in the air.

    Matching the polished wooden theme was a large and very expensive looking desk, behind which sat a man of middle years.

    Slender, with brown and greying hair and moustache neatly trimmed and despite the obvious signs that he could clearly afford better things, he work the clothes of someone who worked hard.

    ¡°Can I help you, son?¡± The man asked me, looking up from some paper on the desk. His face was only mildly curious and his voice matched it.

    ¡°I think so.¡± I said moving further into the small building, coming to stop at the other side of the desk. ¡°I''m looking for someone to build me a travel carriage.¡± I told him with a firmness to my voice.

    The man''s fingers released the paper he was holding, letting it rest back down on the desk. He leaned back in his chair a little and looked me up and down.

    ¡°A travel carriage is expensive to buy.¡± He told me in a tone of mild warning. ¡°Especially to have one commissioned.¡±

    Nodding at his words, I spoke on. ¡°I know that, sir.¡± I told him. ¡°I have the coin and it only really needs to be big enough for one person and some chests.¡±

    ¡°Do you know your letters boy?¡± The man asked me.

    I nodded.

    ¡°And do you know what a contract is?¡± He asked then.

    ¡°I do.¡± I confirmed.

    ¡°Well, if you commission something to be crafted, something expensive then you''ll need to sign a contract that says you will pay for what you commissioned.¡± He said to me. ¡°You''ll be legally bound by it, if you break it you''ll be arrested.¡±

    ¡°I have the coin to pay for it.¡± I told him with assurance and after a moment of watching me, he nodded once and gestured to the chair my side of the desk.

    I sat down and the man offered me his hand.

    ¡°I''m Marley, of Marley & Hill''s. We''re the best in town at what we do, I can promise you that, son.¡± Marley told me.

    ¡°I''m Al, sir.¡± I said shaking his hand. ¡°And I came here because you were recommended.¡±

    Marley nodded at my words, as if he was used to such things. He moved some of the papers around on his desk and set down several blank pieces.

    ¡°Are you any good at sketching, Al?¡± He asked me as he produced some charcoal pencils from a desk drawer.

    ¡°I uh, I don''t know.¡± I admitted. ¡°I''ve never really drawn much before.¡±

    Marley waved a hand.

    ¡°Don''t worry, son. I''m not after a masterpiece, just a rough sketch of what you think you might want. I''ll help you with it and afterwards I''ll see if we can come up with a design that will be something that can actually be made.¡± Marley explained.

    And the two of us got to work.

    There were things we discussed as we worked, specifics about what was expected of the travel carriage. I didn''t know the exact measurements for my chests and would have to bring back their exact numbers later today but by showing him with my hands roughly what their size was was were able to come up with a design that would work.

    It was small, which is what I had wanted.

    It was so small in fact that it would be much cheaper than myself or Marley originally thought, it wouldn''t take very long to make either.

    I wasn''t after anything grand and the when Marley had asked me about wheels and trims, what kind of roof I wanted and the interior furnishing, I had explained that I didn''t need a lot of those things, that what I needed was function over beauty.

    Marley told me that if I didn''t actually care about what it looked like then, rather than starting from scratch with each new part, they could instead us some pre-made pieces which would cut down on the cost and time of making the travel carriage.

    Even though the woods used would be slightly different in their colour the layer of varnishing that was used to treat the wood afterwards would make most of it look the same.

    I would have to use my gold ingot though.

    I wouldn''t spend even a quarter of the coins I would get for it but, I still would need to exchange it because I didn''t have enough coin to pay for it with what I had left in my pouch.

    With the way the design was laid out, I would actually have room for four chests rather than three so the thought of buying a new chest did enter my head but I decided that I would think on the idea.

    It would be at least a week before it was ready so I had that long to decide.

    I ended up leaving and returning to the inn mid-morning with a length of marked cordage to measure my chests.

    I picked up my last remaining ingot and headed out to exchange it for coin.

    I had planned to head directly back to Marley & Hill''s but the pouches of gold coins I was now carrying in my pockets made me feel like every thief in the town had eyes on me.

    The fact that the grumpy trader''s eyes had widened in amazement when I had returned with a full ingot of actual gold had set me on edge with my recent wealth.

    Not for the first time, I worried over the amount of coin I had spent lately. I wasn''t worried of the loss of wealth, which was nothing compared to what still lay in the mountain. No, I worried over any attention it might draw to me.

    I was just glad that he didn''t ask me where I had gotten it, I was pretty sure he had given me a lower price for my ingot than was strictly fair, but I had the coin I needed and plenty more to spare. I hadn''t pressed the issue.

    So I returned to the inn once more to put away what I didn''t need.

    After speaking with Jared and paying for another week, I went back to Marley & Hill''s to return the cordage, give Marley the measurements and to put the down payment on the commissioned travel carriage.

    When I showed up and offered to pay for the entire thing right then, Marley had refused me.

    He said he would forgo the usual contract simply because he could plainly see that I had the coin for the carriage, he instead took half of the payment and adamantly refused to accept the rest until he could deliver on his side of the purchase.

    He was clearly a man with a strong worth ethic and a sense of fairness.

    He insisted on giving me a small tour of the work yard.

    It was much as I had expected, covered lumbers were stacked and marked as they aged in the actual yard with only the occasional actual work taking place there.

    Most of the real work took place in the large warehouse which was just a giant work shop.

    He explained the process to me in simple terms and assured me that it was my right to come here at any time during open hours to check on the progress of my commission.

    I found that with the design being so small and very basic that the it would only take them a few days to actually build it, but until they had finished their current projects, I would have to wait my turn.

    Once a team was finished with a project, they moved onto the next one on the list until it was completed and the process happened again.

    It would be tomorrow at the very earliest before one of the teams, who were currently hard at work in the warehouse, finished their current job and got around to looking at my travel carriage.

    I had left Marley & Hill''s after shaking Marley''s hand once more and headed back towards the centre of town.

    I kept trying to imagine exactly what it would look like once it was completed.

    It was a very simple design, because it was going to be roofless, it was essentially a narrow version of a cart.

    The width of it would be large enough to fit my chests in the short bed at the back, two chests would rest on the actual bed while a third, and possibly a fourth, would sit atop of them.

    In front of the bed would be a bench seat that because of the size would be big enough for me and maybe a dog to sit on.

    It was probably possible for two people to sit on the seat if they didn''t mind being squashed up against each other but as it would only be me, it would be plenty wide enough.

    Even though I still had the option to buy a fourth chest there was still something that did have to buy before the travel carriage was ready.

    A horse.

    Or at the very least, a mule.

    The horse was clearly the better option as I planned the sell the horse afterwards but that was only if you didn''t take into account that my experience with horses was not the best.

    I could ride a horse, technically.

    But I had been taught to sit on a horse and to be seen on it rather than about to truly ride it.

    My uncle had ordered me to have lessons, those lessons were clinical things.

    I learned about horse tack, how to put it on the horse and then how to get onto and stay on the horse.

    My posture had to be perfect, I had to give sharp commands with a crop or my movements to horses that were already trained.

    And that was it, so long as I had to appearance of being proficient at horsemanship then my uncle was satisfied. I wasn''t allowed to continue riding horses though, the idea that it was something I might come to enjoy had been like anathema to Lord Hendrik, the idea that he might do something, however unintentional, that could benefit me or bring me joy seemed to make him sick.

    My lessons had stopped once I could saddle, mount and then stay on a horse while it moved.

    A mule, with their reputedly more placid natures appealed more to me, they were strong too. A mule could easily pull along the small travel carriage I had commissioned at, if not a fast pace, then at least a steady one.

    They were much cheaper too.

    I knew that there were some horses from special breeds that I would need a complete new GOLD ingot to buy. I had never seen one of those horses but I knew they existed, you could buy a hundred ''lesser'', more common horses for that price.

    A mule would be easy to take care of and I thought that a strong mule who could work hard could be welcomed at Diggin, where I hoped to be able to sell it eventually.

    As I got closer and closer to the inn, I thought about asking Jared once more if he knew anywhere I could buy a mule but I decided that I wouldn''t do any more shopping this day, at least not the kind that seemed more like work.

    I had a week to wait and pretty much my entire time spent in Moreland''s Rest had been spent doing errands.

    I decided that would take a little time to relax while I waited but that was not to be, someone I recognised was waiting for me outside the inn.

    ***********************

    I spotted the boy before he spotted me.

    He looked almost completely different now.

    I supposed anyone would look better after a good few meals, new clothes and not being covered in blood.

    Seeing the boy close up though was different.

    He looked, more... something.

    I moved casually towards him and I saw it in his eyes when he recognised me.

    They widened and I thought a slight look of panic appeared on his face before it smoothed out.

    Miller loved that bit of power that being a guard gave him over everyone else.

    He felt himself stand a little taller and a smirk playing on his own lips as he reached the boy.

    I wasn''t supposed to be here.

    Though, I wasn''t forbidden to be here either.

    When I had heard that Captain Holt had released the boy without any trouble, I''d been annoyed.

    The boy was obviously hiding something but the old man refused to speak about it.

    Even Sal had given me one of those looks of his that meant ''Go away Miller''.

    Fucking desert mongrel.

    So what I was the youngest? It didn''t mean they had the right to keep me in the dark.

    Sure, the old man had rank but Sal was nothing but an intruder.

    Who was he to tell Miller what to do?

    Miller had been born and raised in Moreland''s Rest and the fact the mongrel thought he was better than someone who belonged here was insulting.

    If they wanted to try to keep him in the dark, he''d show them he could investigate on his own.

    So he''d started looking into the boy himself.

    He wished he''d followed the boy when he first left the guard house because it had taken him most of the next day to actually find the boy and that had only been by chance.

    Keeping his distance had been easy, the boy was obviously not able to spot him because his skills at stealth were too great.

    Once he had watched the boy return to the inn, knowing where he would always return to had made it easy to find him again, he''d spent his free time watching the boy.

    He''d only been late for his shift a couple of times.

    Watching were he went and what he did.

    The boy had been spending coin like a wealthy noble.

    It was just one more secret he would get out of ''Al'' along with what really happened with the direwolf.

    The three ladies and their guard had been able to tell him a few things about what the boy had brought back to the inn, the times he''d been stuck on shift.

    Other than seeing him bring things back to the inn, they hadn''t really been able to tell him anything worthwhile each time he had spoken to them.

    I''d followed him to different places and gone back later or the next day to ask about the boy, it had taken some time and a few misses in trying to back track the boys movements but eventually I''d gotten something.

    The old crone Ms Chapel who sold herbs hadn''t told him anything about what the boy had bought or what he wanted.

    She had told him to mind his own business but the senile old wench had let slip during her ranting about how she wouldn''t sell out her customers, that Greyson the shop keeper had recognised that she was honourable in her trade.

    That had sent him to the general store to see what information he could find.

    He''d taken a different approach that time, rather than using his authority as a guardsman to demand answers from the shop keeper, he''d been casual about it and asked him if any younger people had spent a lot of coin there recently.

    One boy had apparently and it had made him have to move up his time table, the boy had bought ''a fair amount for travelling, I suppose'', according to Greyson.

    ¡°Al!¡± I said putting on my best smile. ¡°We need to have a few more words with you before you leave.¡± I told him, putting a hand on his shoulder in what the idiot probably thought was a friendly gesture but was actually to make sure he didn''t run.

    I''d get answers from the boy before he tried to escape.

    I''d scare the boy into talking or I''d beat them out of him if I had to.

    Either way, I''d find out whatever his secrets were.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ****************

    ¡°Al!¡± The thin guard called Miller called out as he walked over to me, he seemed really pleased. And I knew just by looking into his eyes that he was up to something. ¡°We need to have a few more words with you before you leave.¡± He told me as his hand set down on my shoulder.

    I instantly felt trapped, something in my gut told me to get away from him right now. Swirls of thought had me almost reaching for magic, to violently remove him from my proximity.

    The concentration it took to not do anything with magic had me freezing in place while I pushed the thoughts away.

    The realisation that I stood in a busy street within the town and that besides myself and Miller being hurt, there were many townsfolk who could also be harmed by me if a stray thought took over.

    ¡°Miller.¡± I tried to greet him but it came out with my without a filter, my evident lack of enthusiasm apparent.

    ¡°We''ll need to go somewhere a bit more private for the questions.¡± Miller told me, seeming to ignore my unintentional attitude slip towards him.

    ¡°The guard house?¡± I asked, wondering what was really going on. Captain Holt had said that I was free to go and as far as I knew I hadn''t committed any crimes.

    I was Miller shift slightly and look around before he spoke.

    ¡°No need for that, how about we go to your room? You have a room at this inn don''t you?¡± Miller said with a tone to his voice I didn''t understand but I definitely didn''t like.

    ¡°I guess...¡± I said and moved forward, just to get his hand off my shoulder.

    I walked through the doors to the inn and into the common room, it was empty apart from Jared who stood behind the bar with an older woman who I could only assume was his wife. The one who had provided such delicious food.

    An idea struck me then.

    I turned around to face Miller as he''d followed me in.

    ¡°We can talk here in the common room while we eat, the food is fantastic!¡± I said a little too loudly and with a forced cheerfulness.

    I saw Miller''s eyes glance quickly at the innkeeper and his wife before he spoke, both to me and to them.

    ¡°I''m sure it is but I''ve already eaten.¡± I said. ¡°Besides this is private guardsman business, we need to some place we don''t be interrupted or overheard.¡±

    I could see it in his eyes that he knew what I''d tried to do but he''d ripped that away. I suspected so long as there were other people around, he would have to act civil but whatever he was planning, whatever it was I''d seen in his eyes outside would have free reign in private.

    Looking over to Jared and his wife as he walked over to me, he set his arm over my shoulders in what he probably thought looked friendly, he guided me towards the stairs as he spoke. ¡°Be sure we''re not disturbed will you?¡± He said to the owners of the inn.

    I had only enough time to meet Jared''s eyes, hoping against hope that he could plainly see that something wasn''t right as I silently mouthed to him two words.

    I caught the edges of a frown on his wife''s face before we were out of sight and heading up the stairs.

    I thought about opening the only other room on my floor and going into there, rather than my own room but decided it wouldn''t make much difference.

    We entered my room and after moving passed the three neatly stacked chests that were against one wall, I turned to face Miller.

    He was looking around at everything sharply.

    His gaze was on the chests as he casually shut the room behind him.

    I didn''t miss him slide the lock shut either.

    My unease intensified to something close to outright fear.

    The only thing I had in my favour right now was that if it came down to it, I probably could use magic against him.

    Being so enclosed like this, I knew meant, that I would likely hurt myself as much as Miller but there weren''t any others close by.

    ¡°So.¡± Miller said casually. ¡°Al.¡± as he took a few more steps and knocked a knuckle lightly against the top of the stacked chests. ¡°What''re you hiding in these?¡± He asked.

    I took a second to try to order my thoughts, I had the feeling that the chests weren''t that important to Miller, that it was just something to say, somewhere to start before he... tried whatever it was he was really planning.

    ¡°I''m not hiding anything in them.¡± I told him and he just raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°I suppose you don''t mind me having a quick peak then do you? Make sure it isn''t anything dangerous?¡± Miller smirked at me.

    I shrugged.

    I didn''t really want him going through my things but I wasn''t sure if it was a good idea to try to stop him. He was a guardsman after all, he probably had the right to check them but that feeling in my gut told me that he wasn''t here on official business.

    I reached into my pocket and pulled out the three small keys on a loop, I hesitated for a second before tossing them to him.

    Miller caught them easily, still with that smirk on his face and his beady eyes glinting with something.

    ¡°Why don''t you take a seat while I check these.¡± He said nodding to the bed, he paused in place making it clear that until I sat down he couldn''t turn away from me.

    I sat down and eyed the small sword on his belt.

    Even when the four men had arrived at the scene with me and the direwolf. Fully armour and with more weapons, the idea of being alone in this room with Miller and just one weapon was more unsettling.

    Nodding to himself slightly Miller started trying the identical keys on the top chest.

    When he found the right one, he paused for a moment before swinging the lid over.

    As he did, he looked at me sharply and it took a moment for me to realise he was looking for some kind of reaction.

    His lips tightened slightly when I didn''t react at all and I caught the edges of a frown as he turned his face back to look into the chest.

    I hadn''t reacted because I knew what was in that chest.

    Mostly new and old clothes.

    The oversized winter robe thing and the pack that had some things inside.

    Nothing criminal, not even anything suspicious.

    None of the chests had anything out of the ordinary in them, save that perhaps it was all a little much for a single person.

    The only thing that might have been even slightly concerning to anyone were the casks of lamp oil in the bottom chest, but even they were packed right next to actual lamps.

    I watched him frowning as he shuffled through the contents then opening the pack to check inside that too.

    I just waited silently, sitting on the edge of the bed.

    Eventually he closed the lid of the chest and giving me a glare but not speaking, he slid the big chest off the top of the stack. It thumped loudly onto the wooden floorboards of the small room and he went for the lock of the next one.

    I knew that the inside of the first chest was now completely ransacked, Miller hadn''t even bothered to lock the thing and while the fall hadn''t even put a scratch on the chest, I hoped everything inside it was undamaged.

    Opening the second chest and once more checking for my reaction, he spoke after looking inside for a moment.

    ¡°What the fuck are all these for?¡± Miller demanded of me.

    The chest that contained mostly seeds and herbs, I honestly wouldn''t have blamed him for being a little incredulous if it weren''t for his obviously hostile attitude towards me.

    ¡°They''re seeds so I''m going to plant for food¡± I told him truthfully, knowing he either wouldn''t believe me or didn''t want to.

    He just stared at me for a moment before deliberately looking me in the eye as he pushed the heavier chest off the bottom chest once more.

    It fell and hit the ground with an even louder bang this time, the now shifted weight so great that it actually stayed on its side once it hit the floorboards.

    I got angry.

    For a long time, the few things I had owned had never truly been mine.

    At my family estate, my room could be invaded at any moment, reached for seemingly no other reason than to wake me up in the middle of the night, or just to make sure I knew that my ''retreat'' was also under my uncle''s power.

    I had escaped and now this town bully, was ransacking my things.

    My things.

    For the first time in a long time they were truly my things.

    I got angry like I hadn''t in a very long time, it felt like a beast was trying to claw it''s way out of my chest.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I yelled at Miller and moved forward towards the mess he had made, and in Miller''s eyes, towards him. ¡°You''re destroying everything!¡±

    I should have expected what came next, I truly should have.

    I think that this was a more accurate representation of the saying ''blinded by anger''.

    I was angrily looking at the mess he had made when he swung his fist at me.

    I was suddenly sitting on the ground with a fresh feeling of pain.

    ¡°LISTEN TO ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!¡± Miller screamed at me as he stalked forwards, nothing but hate on his face now. ¡°I AM A GUARD, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT YOU''RE HIDING!¡±

    As I dumbly looked at the blood on my hand, a sure sign that the lip I had just touched was now split open, Miller''s booted foot smashed into my shin.

    I hissed with the pain as I clutched at the shin.

    ¡°WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?¡± I managed to shout out at him.

    Miller tried to kick my other shin but I pulled back at the last second, his foot, obviously expecting to impact something instead swung up into the air.

    It made him stumble off balance and he had to make flailing awkward movements with both of his arms.

    I saw his eyes as he towered above me and I knew what came next.

    I''d seen it before back at the estate.

    If there is one thing a man like Miller hates more than being made to look a fool, no matter how slightly, it was being made to look a fool by his own actions.

    He screamed at me incoherently as he dove on top of me.

    He had been just a little to close and I, just a little to late to kick my legs up to try to knock him back.

    I did manage to get my arms up to try to protect my head though.

    It felt like the second I raised them they became numb, as Miller''s rage fuelled blows hammered down, trying to get to my face.

    A few of the blows managed to get and I felt my face throb in pain.

    ¡°-WHAT YOU''VE BEEN DOING!¡± Miller''s screaming voice faded in and out.

    Another blow got through.

    ¡°-WHAT YOU''RE FUCKING HIDING?¡± Miller continued to scream.

    Something inside me changed.

    ¡°-ALL THAT FUCKING COIN!¡± From Miller.

    It was as if a small part of me, deep inside, something that had been soft, something that was supposed to have been protected and nurtured had suddenly froze.

    ¡°-INK YOU''RE BETTER THAN ME?¡± Miller''s screams were becoming fainter to me.

    It retracted, coiled up on itself and twisted into a hard knot of steel.

    I suddenly didn''t care any more.

    I didn''t care if I got hurt, I didn''t care if Miller died and I didn''t even care if anyone else was hurt.

    I was sick of living like this.

    No more.

    No more.

    I roared with my own fury and the sound was shocking enough to Miller that he paused for just an instant.

    My hands were already moving, my palms slapped onto his face, my fingers curled to grip it.

    Then he burned.

    His previous scream of fury was now one of pain, confusion and horror.

    I kept my grip on him even when the wooden door to my room splintered open.

    Even though I was the one pinned under Miller, I was the one bleeding and ragged.

    ¡°STOP THIS!¡± Roared Captain Holt and the volume in the small room was almost deafening.

    I was the one in control now, I didn''t let go.

    It wasn''t until Captain Holt and Sal dragged Miller off of me that contact was broken with him.

    I was more angry than I had ever felt in my life and it was as if lightening was running through me.

    I got to my feet and roared back just as loud.

    ¡°GET THAT THING-¡± I roared pointing at Miller, who was slumped over and whimpering. ¡°OUT OF MY ROOM!¡±

    Captain Holt looked like he was going to say something that I knew I would make him regret.

    Even in my rage, I could guess what he saw.

    A bloody and beaten boy, throwing a tantrum of some kind and so my next words were ones to let him know just how serious I was.

    H bore him no ill will but there was much more going on here than he or even Miller knew.

    In a cold and quiet voice, words that were a promise, an almost whispered death sentence from my lips, I spoke.

    ¡°If I see him again.¡± I looked Captain Holt directly in the eyes as I spoke in my quite tone. ¡°I will kill him.¡±

    Captain Holt just looked back at me with his blue gaze as a silence held between us.

    A moment.

    Then another.

    Then he looked away, to Sal, who was trying to pull Miller to his feet.

    ¡°Get Miller downstairs, send for Glenn.¡± Holt said. ¡°See if he can do anything about his face...¡± Holt trailed off, hearing his own doubt, his own lack of faith that Miller''s face could be fixed.

    I had to turn away as Sal dragged Miller, still whimpering, from the room.

    Not because of the sight of it, or because I didn''t want to look.

    No.

    It was because I could feel magic all around me.

    It was rushing around the very air, it was almost synchronized with the vortex within me.

    My hands were clenched into fists at my sides as I faced the small window that I wasn''t really seeing.

    I felt it when Holt took a step towards me, I actually felt it happen behind me.

    ¡°Don''t.¡± I spoke the single word and I felt Holt stop.

    ¡°Lad...¡± Holt began to say but I cut him off.

    ¡°Holt.¡± I said and my voice was strained. ¡°There is magic here.¡± I started to explain. ¡°It''s rushing all around me right now and I''m not in control of it.¡±

    I didn''t see but instead felt Holt''s caution emanate out from him as he stayed still behind me.

    ¡°Is there anything I can-¡± Holt spoke calmly after a moment.

    ¡°No.¡± I cut him off. ¡°I don''t know if I can even do anything about it. Just... Stay back, don''t come closer. I don''t know what could....¡± I trailed off, my eyes closing as I tried to stop the swirling vortex within, in hopes that the one beyond would settle too.

    I stood for a long time, I vaguely heard Sal''s deep voice as he and Captain Holt had a hushed but low conversation behind me.

    I didn''t hear much but I did catch that Sal thought the Captain needed to talk to three women in the common room.

    I eventually managed to block out as much outside sensation as I could, the pain, the sounds behind me and the more muffled ones coming from below.

    Ever so slowly, the vortex within receded.

    Receded back to what I had considered ''normal'' since it had taken it''s place in my mind.

    Not gone, still ever-present but rather slightly muted, lower down in a deeper place.

    I waited for a long time before eventually I sat down hard on the floor as the vortex around me stilled.

    ¡°Lad?¡± Captain Holt''s voice came from being me, cautious but questioning.

    I just nodded once without turning around.

 Chapter Fourteen - A Simple Revelation

    It had been was the end of the fourth day after everything had gone to hell.

    The events of that night were still a bit of a blur to me.

    As best as I could remember, I''d come back to myself.

    When the vortex within had settled and the one from beyond had stilled, something had risen up.

    Something from the memories, an entire concept that hit me like a trader''s wagon.

    I had been doing magic wrong.

    Not wrong, exactly.

    But I had been missing a rather large part of one of the most basic and fundamental things, something that any wizard, mage, witch or whatever else, already knew.

    Something they probably knew without having to ask about.

    It was actually the vortex within and the maelstrom of magic that had been around me that had triggered the rise of the memory, or so I''d guessed.

    The understanding of what had been happening which changed the way I had previously viewed the few pieces of magic I had done so far.

    Everyone, and I do mean everyone had that small well of power within them.

    Just the same as I had, that place where the power came from.

    Some of them even had the ability to use it, to shape it and perform small acts of magic.

    What made the potential for a true power house, a potential master of magic, was the ability to see and harness the magic that was all around.

    The wild forces that covered the world, when compared to the small well inside, was like comparing a grain of sand to a mountain.

    No, a grain of sand to all mountains.

    It wasn''t that someone with the ability to see and use this force suddenly had the power of a god.

    It was actually mostly useless, at first.

    The well within was what you could hold, it was what you could use and once used, you could pull in just as much back into yourself from the world around you.

    Only, every time you pulled what was wild, from beyond, into yourself, you pulled just a little bit more each time.

    Your well within didn''t change in size, if it could be said to actually have a physical size.

    Instead, you filled it more.

    It became denser, the colours of raw and primordial magic became compressed.

    You well of power darkened, hardened, it became more just as it enabled you to do more.

    My own pale well, for example could throw out a powerful gale at it''s most extreme use, just like I had done to leave the mountain.

    It was a use that had left me dizzy and feeling sick afterwards.

    If I flexed my well of power, if I pulled back in, over and over again until my well of power eventually darkened in shade.

    Then that same gale, that same expenditure of power from within myself would cause my well to pale once more as the power rushed out, but not empty completely...

    It was like a muscle almost, something I needed to use over and over again until what had once been a monumental struggle, became a simple flick of the wrist.

    I couldn''t just keep pulling in magic, I needed to pull it in, fill myself and expend the power until I could pull once more.

    Only then would I grow in power, if only very very slowly.

    It was a personal revelation for me.

    It made so much sense and yet was totally alien to me.

    It was something I had known and not known, until I knew it.

    Not for the first time, I had cursed the vortex.

    The other revelations of that day came from outside though.

    I had sat dumbly in the room and I guessed Holt had thought me to no longer be a danger because on Sal''s insistence, Holt had left and spoken with the three ladies down in the common room.

    As it turned out, Miller had approached them.

    Using his position as a guardsman, he had lied to them to get information about me.

    He had told them of his ''investigation into a suspicious situation'', that being me.

    His ''investigation'' was of course of the utmost importance and it was imperative that secrecy be maintained.

    And so the three ladies had told Miller everything they had noticed about me.

    From each time they saw me, mostly going in and out of the common room, what I had eaten, what kinds of things I returned with or at least whether it was something large or small.

    Granted the large amounts of different things I had hauled back up to my room could possibly been seen as suspicious if there had been anything other than just ordinary supplies in them, but the ladies had been quick to tell anything they could about it.

    Holt had been quietly furious.

    Not at me, though certainly he hadn''t pleased with me.

    No, he had been furious with Miller.

    For his betrayal of the guardsman''s name and for his savage attack on me.

    Even though I had used magic on Miller, it didn''t change the fact that Miller had come with ill intentions and savagely tried to beat, what he had thought no more than a boy, to death.

    Holt had explained these things to me as I''d eventually began moving again, the new idea being something in the very forefront of my mind, and set about trying to clan up the mess in the room only half listening to him.

    A room that it turned out, I was no longer welcome in.

    I''d been asked, politely but firmly to leave.

    While searching through everything had been relieved to see that the many fist sized packs of different seeds were mostly undamaged.

    I only found one seed packs that had been torn open.

    Even most of the small jars and pots of herbs and spices that had been in that second chest, had been mostly fine, with only a few having some small cracks.

    The leather bound books also from that chest had, of course, been fine.

    Though as they had mostly taken up the left side of the seed chest their bulk had shifted onto everything else in the chest, they had probably been what had cracked the few jars and pots.

    I''d spent a while repacking them back into their original places and by then Captain Holt had begun helping me as told me what he had learned.

    We''d lifted the heavy chest back onto the one remaining chest that had been left untouched and I''d moved onto the final chest, once sorted, back on top of that.

    I''d ended up being allowed to leave my belongings in the room for a short time while Holt and Sal had taken me to the guard house.

    There had been no sign of Miller in the common room when we had gone down but Glenn, the quiet man who could heal had been there.

    He hadn''t spoken but silently healed my face, then we had left.

    I hadn''t asked about Miller, or is face but the look in Glenn''s eye told me that he hadn''t been able to fully heal him.

    I''d recounted events to Holt as best I could remember them, he''d told me that while my actions had been extreme, it was apparent that they had been to protect myself.

    I think the fact that I''d lost control because of the savage attack, rather than deliberately setting out to harm, had been a major factor in why I had not ended up locked away in a cell.

    By the end of that, my second interrogation, Holt had almost been talking with me as if were were just two people having a conversation.

    I''d left with a place I might be able to find a mule, a new inn to find that I some how had to move my chests to and the unsettling feeling that whatever punishment Miller received wouldn''t be the end of things.

    Holt had actual begun to tell me what would happen to Miller but I had stopped him, I didn''t want to know.

    It wasn''t that the idea of him being punished somehow disturbed me, it didn''t.

    It was because every time I''d thought of Miller, that monster in my chest started to rise and I could feel anger taking over me.

    My hands would clench into fists to stop them from shaking.

    I managed to find a new inn, the one I currently resided in.

    While the food wasn''t as good here it was very clean and slightly cheaper.

    I had Jared''s wife to thank for a lot of things.

    She had taken pity on me and had her two sons help me move my chests to my new inn, I''d tried to pay them for their services but the older of them had scowled at me and stormed off, followed by the younger brother.

    What I should have been truly thankful to her for though was that it had been her who sent for Captain Holt.

    She had been the one to realise that I had mouthed ''get Holt'' as Miller had led me upstairs.

    She had actually been rather understanding and even tried to get Jared to let me stay but he had been surprisingly firm in his resolve and so I had left.

    I couldn''t blame the innkeeper, even if I truly didn''t wish to leave.

    I''d brought trouble to his inn, albeit without meaning to and had caused damage to the door, once again inadvertently.

    I had of course tried to pay him for the damage but he had refused my coin, as if taking it would be just one step away from letting me continue to stay there.

    I''d given up trying once Captain Holt had told that Miller would be responsible for any damages.

    So I had left feeling slightly disappointed by many things.

    I had stayed in my new inn almost the entire time since that night, the only time I had left had been earlier today.

    I had a mule now, it was in the stables of the inn.

    The man who Holt had told me about turned out to be related to the captain, by marriage anyway. The man''s wife was Holt''s cousin.

    I''d gotten my mule and gone back to hiding away in my room.

    I admitted to myself that that is what I was doing.

    Hiding away.

    I knew I couldn''t keep this up but I was nervous about going around town even more now.

    I doubted that I would see Miller just strolling through the streets but word had no doubt gotten out about what had happened to him.

    Maybe not anything specific but I''d noticed yesterday a change in the inn''s staff when dealing with me, they had become extremely respectful and just as obviously, it was out of fear.

    All it took was the rumour of ''magic'' and using it to have apparently nearly killed a guardsman.

    With a sigh, I snuffed the candle on the bedside table out, and rolled over to sleep.

    I was determined to face tomorrow with a better attitude, no more hiding.

    ***********

    My resolve had already given way slightly as I walked down the street in that, I''d not stayed in the common room for breakfast but rather headed straight out.

    It wasn''t that I was afraid to eat there but the nervousness of the staff had been a bit too much, I''d decided to find my breakfast else where rather than sitting through forced smiles.

    I didn''t really know where I could get something to eat but I''d quickly learned of a way to find a place, I simply followed my nose.

    The smell of freshly baked bread was something that stood out at this time in the morning and soon enough I found myself entering a bakery of sorts.

    No one stared at me, no one looked away or whispered anything to their companions and I began to feel a little foolish about hiding myself away.

    Not two minutes later I was back on the streets of Moreland''s Rest, fanning my open mouth as the meat filled pastry burned me slightly.

    Without really meaning to, I realised that I was heading towards the outskirts of the town and in the direction of Marley & Hill''s.

    My steps became a little surer as I had a direction firmly in mind now, with only a few more slight pauses to fan my mouth I walked into the front of the large work yard and then into the small building that served as an office.

    Behind the desk was another man this time and it caught me a little off guard, I''d been expecting Marley but maybe this was Hill?

    He was older than Marley but had the same kinds of work clothes on rather than any finery.

    He was only a little taller than I was judging by how he sat which meant he was on the shorter side for a full grown man.

    What he might have lacked in height was made up for by the clear muscle that build upon the man, even more impressive considering his age.

    He looked up at my entrance and spoke before I could.

    ¡°You need something, lad?¡± His tone was gruff but not aggressive.

    ¡°I-uh. I''m here to see how my commission is coming along.¡± I said after a little hesitation.

    He frowned slightly at my words.

    ¡°You''ve commissioned something?¡± He asked, seeming confused and he started to look through some papers on the desk. I realised that he was looking for so spoke up quickly.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± I said. ¡°Marley didn''t have me sign a contract though, I offered to pay him everything up front but he just said that he''d give me something to actually pay for first...¡± I finished a little lamely, wondering if I''d caused an issue by bring this up.

    ¡°Ah!¡± The man said. ¡°That little travel carriage?¡± He asked but spoke on without an answer as I redundantly nodded a second later. ¡°Yeah, Marl''s working on it with one of the teams already. Shouldn''t be too far off finishing up, I suppose you''re here to have a look?¡±

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°If that''s not too much trouble, sir.¡± I said at his words. ¡°I didn''t come here to get in the way, I just thought I''d come and see how far along it is...¡± I explained lamely.

    Waving my words away then nodding towards the door I''d entered from.

    ¡°Go on, lad. Help yourself, you know the way right?¡± He asked me and when I nodded he continued. ¡°Just don''t touch anything and stay away from any of the men who''re handling anything that looks heavy.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± I said and with that, I headed back out of the small office building and back out into the work yard. I turned and walked around the building, between some huge piles of covered lumber, making my way towards the warehouse.

    There was an open bay door that was so large, it was pretty much a wall on wheels. Even before I could really see inside I could hear the sound of men hard at work.

    Banging and scraping sounds, the sounds of saws and of course plenty of cursing.

    Most of the cursing seemed to be good natured play between the workmen only the occasional exclamation of exertion interrupting it.

    With a little hesitation and being sure to look around for anything that might get me hurt I entered the warehouse and got a good luck inside. From the tour I''d been given by Marley previously I knew the the general lay out.

    The warehouse was divided into seven or possibly eight different sections. Most of the these were actual work areas, a place where the current project sat in and saw ringed by it''s own set of equipment. It was essentially a serials of fully equipped but miniature workshops that each team with their specific project had access to.

    Two of the other spaces appeared to be set aside for the processing or some other kind of work specific to raw materials.

    One of stone and another that was mostly wood.

    The last space, the one I had entered into appeared to be some kind of break area.

    A few workmen sat around tables on stools and I noticed something I hadn''t really paid attention to last time.

    The furniture they were sitting on or using was very fine looking, as in the kind of thing you would see in a nobleman''s house.

    The workers seemed to have no regard for it though.

    Even as I watched, one of the workmen used the end of the table to knock out his pipe and only half-heartedly brushed away the still smouldering contents off of the table.

    Another workman caught my eye and spoke to me.

    ¡°You looking for someone, lad?¡± The man asked me, there was no hostility in his voice just a mild curiosity.

    ¡°I''ve got a small travel carriage being made, I thought I''d see how it was coming along.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Ah, the boss and his lads are on it.¡± The man told me and pointed to the other end of the warehouse. ¡°Down the other end, does the other boss know you''re here?¡±

    ¡°I think the man in the office was Hill?¡± I half said, half questioned. ¡°He didn''t actually introduce himself, just asked if I knew the way and make sure not to touch anything...¡±

    ¡°That''s the other boss.¡± The man confirmed to me with a nod. ¡°He''s right though, don''t touch anything, make sure you don''t go near anything dangerous looking either.¡±

    Looking me up and down he seemed to decide that I didn''t look capable of not causing some kind of accident because he moved towards me as he spoke again.

    ¡°I''ll take you down there.¡± He told me as he reached me, I offered a hand and he seemed a little bemused to take it, as did the watching workmen behind him who were watching the entire thing.

    ¡°I''m Al.¡± I told him.

    ¡°Jessep.¡± He introduced himself though I had no idea if that was his first name or his surname. ¡°Come on then, lad.¡±

    He walked off ahead of me, down the cleared path next to the this wall of the warehouse. It was the wall that all the other bay doors were on and led down the entire length of the warehouse.

    Jessep nodded to the occasional worker who happened to look up from what they were doing as we walked by.

    ¡°Hows the fingers?¡± Jessep asked one man who was sawing a piece of wood. Jessep had a grin on his face when he asked this and I noticed a small bandage around one of the man''s hands.

    ¡°Still got a few left.¡± The man said gruffly and Jessep laughed, I assumed the man had been joking... He had been joking right?

    We reached the far end of the warehouse, the only other sections beyond were the ones that dealt with raw stone and lumber.

    Then, surrounded by four men was the travel carriage I had commissioned.

    It was small, as I knew it would be but it was easily big enough for all I needed.

    As Marley had told me, the woods used would be of different kinds so it would be mixed in colour but I could see a man painting on a dark liquid that was obviously some kind of protective finishing.

    He was half way along the side nearest me and the areas he had already painted looked only slightly different in colour, I could still see the clear difference in the as yet unfinished parts.

    The finish definitely make a difference to the over all look, toning all the differences down into something that was hardly noticeable unless you looked hard.

    The front of the carriage had a place where I assumed the seat would be, but currently it had only the framed supports and judging by their sheen they were freshly finished and drying.

    A small backboard behind where the seat would be and as I got closer I could see into the bed part of the carriage, thick sturdy blanks made it up, also wet and drying.

    There were several holes at even intervals on the sides of the bed, where I assumed I would need to tie down my chests, all in all it looked almost done.

    ¡°Almost done.¡± Marley said, confirming my thoughts as he appeared from around the other side and walking over to me.

    ¡°Mr Marley.¡± I said in greeting and he grinned a little. ¡°Good morning.¡±

    ¡°Morning, son.¡± He said in reply. ¡°Jessep offered to show you how to walk from one side of the workshop to the other I assume?¡± Marley asked with an amused raising of his eyebrow for Jessep who just grinned back at his boss, or rather one of his bosses.

    ¡°Well, can''t have the client coming to harm here, can we?¡± Jessep answered him.

    ¡°Any excuse.¡± Marley accused good naturedly and Jessep winked.

    Feeling my own lips curl a little at the obvious friendly jabs, Marley seemed much more relaxed than he had in the office, maybe it was because he was actually working rather than sitting behind a desk.

    ¡°Well, I suppose you can go back to work now can''t you?¡± Marley asked.

    Jessep opened his eyes in apparent shock.

    ¡°But sir!¡± He said loudly. ¡°Our client still has to make his way back!¡±

    Marley looked at me.

    ¡°Do you think you''ll need help remembering how to walk in a straight line?¡± Marley asked me.

    I don''t know why I said it, maybe I just got caught up in their fun but I answered with a grin of my own.

    ¡°Straight? Is that the way with all the turns?¡± I asked and as Jessep burst out laughing I did my best not to seem shocked by my own words.

    I had actually meant to tell him that I''d have no trouble finding my way back and to assuring him that I wouldn''t touch anything.

    ¡°Looks like I''d better stick around, boss.¡± Jessep said and put an arm over my shoulders. ¡°Clients come first after all.¡±

    ¡°Don''t encourage him, son.¡± Marley told me with a straight face though his eyes were twinkling. It''s hard enough to get him to show up in the morning, let alone actually do any work.¡±

    Marley turned around and with a gesture, motioned to the almost completed travel carriage. ¡°Come on then.¡± He said and he showed me what he and his workmen had built, explaining a few things and telling me about what was left to do.

    Jessep, by sticking around also got the tour, which he and the other workmen from Marley''s team seemed very amused about as he made interested sounds and thoughtful expressions.

    Marley told me that most of this day would be spent leaving everything to dry and that tomorrow, they''d be fitting the seat and a few other small things.

    That if I came tomorrow at the end of the work day then it would probably be finished, unless something went wrong.

    I had asked Marley a few questions about how some of the pieces of wood had been joined together so neatly, he had explained to me about dovetail joints, finger joints and also about the use of a mortise and tenon.

    I guess I asked one to many questions because he looked at me closely.

    ¡°You planning on becoming a joiner, son?¡± He asked me pointedly and I felt my face heat slightly.

    ¡°Ah, no sir.¡± I said. ¡°It''s just... I''m going to have to try make a few bits of furniture soon. I didn''t mean to start pestering.¡± I explained lamely, feeling like an annoying child who kept asking ''why?''.

    He raised an eyebrow at this.

    ¡°We do make furniture too, you know? It''s not nearly as costly as this.¡± Marley said with a nod towards the travel carriage.

    I shook my head slightly and explained further. ¡°I''m not going to be here, sir. I''m going to be pretty far away from any towns or villages. I can''t take any with me otherwise I''d buy them from you.¡± Just the thought of the many trips it would take already to get the contents of my chests up the mountain, then afterwards the chests themselves made me tired just thinking about it.

    I deliberately didn''t think about the idea of trying to pull a table up a mountain, unsure I would be able to hide the shudder.

    ¡°I saw how fine looking the tables were near the entrance but I''m going to make do with things I bit less fine.¡± I finished with a trace of amusement at myself.

    Whatever, or rather if I managed to make something that wasn''t just ''as yet unused firewood'', there would be nothing fine about it.

    ¡°You ever built any furniture before?¡± Marley asked me with a huge but well justified dose of scepticism.

    ¡°No, sir.¡± I told him. ¡°I bought a few tools from one of the blacksmiths. He told me they were what apprentices used so I thought they''d be good enough to at least make something to sit on.¡±

    ¡°Which blacksmith?¡± Marley asked me and both he and Jessep were looking at me intently now for some reason.

    ¡°Uh, Bill?¡± I answered.

    Malrey nodded at this and Jessep whistled.

    ¡°Lucky.¡± Jessep said. ¡°Bill knows his stuff, doesn''t sell crap or gauge you with his prices. Harold though...¡± Jessep left of what he thought didn''t need to be said.

    The image of the sneering blacksmith whose shop I''d left without purchasing anything suddenly had a name.

    ¡°Harold.¡± Marley said and paused to choose his words. ¡°Makes a lot of things very quickly, and not all of them are to a standard we find acceptable here.¡± Marley finished.

    Jessep snorted.

    ¡°Better buying a butter knife with a new chisel, one of them might end up being sharp enough to use.¡± Jessep told me and a few of the workmen, still applying the finish with their brushes snorted quietly.

    ¡°So.¡± Marley said, clearly moving back to the previous topic. ¡°You''ve got a few tools and you expect to figure out how to make some chairs and tables on your own?¡± He asked me.

    ¡°Well, not exactly.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a book about furniture making but I haven''t really read it yet, I should be able to make something useable at least. I''m not going to make anything fine looking, just something to sit on or put things on.¡±

    Marley was both rolling his eyes and shaking his head then a gleam came into his eyes as he looked at Jessep.

    ¡°You busy today, son?¡± Marley asked me, still looking at Jessep and appeared to be trying to hold back a smirk.

    ¡°I, uh. No, not that I know of?¡± I admitted and at my words Marley grinned now and looked at me as Jessep sighed.

    ¡°How about you stick with your guide here.¡± Marley said with a nod towards Jessep. ¡°He''ll take you out into the yard to grab a few scraps and show you a thing or two.¡±

    Jessep groaned now and the other workmen had stopped what they were doing to grin at Jessep. I could say that I took pity on Jessep.

    I could say I thanked Marley for the kind offer but politely declined.

    I could tell you that I let Jessep get on with his regular work without having him babysit me and show me what he probably considered the woodworking equivalent of learning how to count your fingers.

    But all of those things would be a lie.

    With a grin that matched Marley''s, I put my arm over Jessep''s shoulder the same way he had done to me, in that overly friendly manner and answered.

    ¡°That sounds great, Mr Marley. I don''t actually have to do anything all day.¡±

 Chapter Fifteen - Endless Burden

    I flopped down onto the bed in the inn, exhausted.

    I had learned, well I had learned a hell of a lot.

    I was sure now that I could make myself some furniture that wouldn''t fall apart as soon as a breeze touched it, I was also sure that if I hadn''t spent the day with Jessep that whatever I would have attempted to make would have been worse than useless.

    I might as well have just thrown twigs onto the floor and piled my things onto them to keep the twigs mostly in place.

    I was so tired though, I had never really considered just how much work was needed for making the simplest of things. Well, I knew that they obviously required some work but the effort required, not just physically but also mentally to keep everything precise was staggering.

    There was so much forethought that actually went into just making a simple chair or table and especially when doing so was a job and not a hobby.

    The amount of effort you put into focusing your precision was huge because if you made one wrong cut or nick in just the wrong place, the entire thing could have to be started from scratch.

    You couldn''t present an absolutely perfect piece, except for that one scratch on it, to a paying client.

    They had paid you for it after all.

    They didn''t pay you for something that was almost perfect, they wanted exactly what they paid for.

    I had ended up, under Jessep''s supervision, managing to build a small stool.

    It was useless when it came to actually selling it and we had thrown it into the scraps pile shortly afterwards but there was a satisfaction to be had in creating something from nothing.

    I hadn''t just learned how to make the stool though, what I had really learned where some basics in woodworking.

    For example, one of the first things I would actually have to do is cut down or find some dead standing trees for lumber. I wouldn''t actually be able to use them right away either, they would need to dry out for a long time.

    I still needed some furniture though so the things I managed to build would actually only be temporary until the lumber was ready to use.

    Then once the dried out lumber was ready, I would have to mill it by hand or rather with my tools.

    I''d milled what was basically a piece of scrap raw wood, and it was not easy.

    Edges needed to be straight and so you needed to plan out where to cut to get the most out of the raw wood and that was only after you had debarked it.

    You needed to get all the angles straight on the cuts otherwise, you would either have to start again with a new piece or spend a long time slowly chiselling then sanding away until it evened up.

    Sanding wasn''t even something I had considered, nor had I considered any kind of treatment for the wood afterwards.

    I''d expected to just somehow turn a tree or two into some kind of rustic looking but polished and worn furniture.

    I was an idiot.

    I''d actually ended up coming back to the inn once during the day, I''d returned with the tools I had bought from Bill the blacksmith and the book on woodworking and furniture building.

    They had both been inspected thoroughly by Jessep and several of the other workmen who had occasionally come over to see what we were doing or to poke fun at Jessep.

    The tools had been met with approval by all but the book had been snorted at by those who could read.

    While I had been ''practising'' with several different tools at Jessep''s insistence, he had actually been reading and writing in the book.

    He''d written small notes in a passable hand, small tips and occasionally crossing out entire sections of the books contents.

    He''d had me basically cut pieces of wood and fit them together in a number of different ways then explained as he sat there with the book, the different merits or faults with the different types of joints.

    Of course, he complained how useless I was the entire time and cursed me half-heartedly for ''condemning'' him to this.

    To him and the other workmen, it had been a mildly amusing situation but to me it had been an eye-opener and some very valuable lessons.

    I''d even put a few of my own notes into the book, mostly they had been explanations of what some of the more technical terms actually meant.

    Once, even Marley had come out to watch me and suddenly Jessep had gotten very active in showing me some easier or ''proper'' way to do some things.

    I''d caught Marley smirking a little as he turned away.

    Having to carry back my tools and even the book had seemed like a small torture considering how much my arms and back ached.

    I ached in muscles that I didn''t even know I had but oddly enough I didn''t mind too much as I lay on the bed.

    I ended up falling asleep without going down for an evening meal.

    *************

    The next day I actually bought another chest. I''d had it brought it back to my room and had headed back out with an empty pack to buy several more things.

    The first couple of things I''d bought were three small rolls of different ''grits'' of sandpaper and several bottles of different kinds of wood oils and waxes.

    They were actually being to be stored in one of the mostly full chests because I had a different contents in mind for my new empty chest.

    Rather than heading for the shops, I headed for a large open market that was filled with stalls. It was nothing compared to the grand market back in Clearwater, no strange magics or exotic stalls but rather plenty of more normal things to buy.

    I had seeds, sure.

    They would be fantastic once or if I could get them to grow, but I wouldn''t get full by eating the seeds themselves and that is all they were now, all they would be for a while.

    And so I set about buying up food.

    Not very much fresh food, at least not fresh foods that wouldn''t keep.

    I ended up with a plethora of different travel rations, enough to keep a small company of troops going for a while.

    Between trips back to the inn with a full pack, unloading and heading back out I found myself with quite the collection.

    Travel rations, hard cakes, a few wheels of cheese, several large sealed jars of various pickled things, some root vegetables and fruits that, while they wouldn''t last forever they would last for a month or more if I kept them stored properly.

    I even bought myself two bottles of wine and a very small cask of ale.

    I had had to return to the inn right away to drop those off.

    I had never drunk anything alcoholic before and was actually curious what they were like, I hoped they were good because they took up a lot of room in the chest for what they were.

    Rather impressed with myself, I headed back out of the inn in the direction of Marley & Hall''s. While it wasn''t exactly the end of the work day, still a few hours from now, I was actually going to find Jessep because of one of the things I had bought while out at the market.

    I was feeling pretty good and in the spur of the moment, I had decided that I would buy him what was the most expensive bottle of wine. It''s expense was actually relative because it was the most expensive bottle of wine at the particular market stall I had been at at the time.

    While I doubted that a nobleman would even allow such a bottle onto his property, it was definitely worth getting Jessep a gift for all I had learned yesterday.

    All of that aside, I was equal parts nervous, excited and worried.

    I would find out when I got to the work yard if my travel carriage would be finished today.

    If it was, then tomorrow I would be leaving.

    There is always a fear in the unknown, everyone knows that, but you still feel it anyway.

    I just hoped things would go as I hoped.

    When I arrived at the work yard, I walked around the small office building without actually going inside for once. I headed towards the open bay door of the huge warehouse and walked inside.

    I spotted Jessep right away, sitting in the exact same place I''d found him yesterday. He look slightly surprised to see me.

    ¡°Hey, I thought that yesterday was a one time thing!¡± Jessep said rising his as if in surrender and the workmen around him laughed.

    Grinning I walked over.

    ¡°It was, or at least I think it was.¡± I admitted as I lowered my pack to the ground and reached inside. ¡°I just came by to give you this.¡± I said as I pulled the bottle of wine out and presented it to him.

    ¡°What''s this for?¡± Jessep asked, surprise in his eyes even as he accepted the bottle.

    ¡°Just to say thanks.¡± I told him. ¡°I get that it was just a bit of fun for Marley but I actually learned a lot yesterday, even if everyone is right about you.¡±

    ¡°Right about what?¡± Jessep demanded.

    ¡°That''s you''re the laziest person in the town.¡± I told him with a grin and the others laughed.

    Jessep smirked then laughed too.

    ¡°Alright alright you lot.¡± Jessep said to the others. ¡°I''m lazy, so what''s your excuses for sitting around here?¡± He said to them before turning back to me and hefting the bottle up.

    ¡°I didn''t expect this Al, I didn''t think I taught you all that much, but thanks all the same.¡± Jessep told me and I just nodded. ¡°So your rolling bucket is going to be finished today, eh?¡± He questioned but was clearly changing the topic.

    ¡°I hope so, Marley said it would probably be finished at the end of the day if nothing went wrong.¡± I told him and he gestured for me to follow him.

    We walked down the clear path back down to the other end of the warehouse just as we had yesterday.

    Jessep looked thoughtful as he idly spun the wine bottle in his hand.

    ¡°You still have that useless book on you?¡± Jessep suddenly asked and I nodded. ¡°Well hand it over, I''ll put a few more things in it that I probably should have done yesterday, that is if you''re planning on sticking around until the end of the day.¡±

    Even as I paused to pull the book out of my pack I spoke. ¡°Do you actually ever do any work?¡± I asked him with a small grin.

    He answered my grin with one of his own. ¡°I''ve actually been working most of the day, we stopped about ten minutes ago to wait for some lumber to be cut down to size.¡± He admitted.

    Shaking my head slightly I handed him the book and we reached where my travel carriage stood.

    Marley raised an eyebrow upon seeing me then raised both of them when he spotted Jessep with the bottle of wine.

    ¡°Drinking at work now?¡± Marley asked Jessep who just laughed and pretended to stagger.

    ¡°I gave it to him, as a thanks for yesterday.¡± I told Marley who seemed to accept this, though I don''t think he actually believed that Jessep would be drinking on the job. The bottle clearly wasn''t open after all.

    ¡°Well, you''ll be happy to know that we''re pretty much finished here.¡± Marley told me with a wave towards the carriage. ¡°The only thing left is to add some tie handles to the bed for your straps then sort out the paperwork.¡± Then seeming to remember he correct himself. ¡°Or rather pay for the rest of it.¡±

    ¡°Do you want the coin now?¡± I asked but Marley shook his head.

    ¡°We''ll do that in the office later on, you''ll still need to sign for a receipt though, even if we didn''t write up a contract.¡± He told me.

    ¡°That''s no problem, I''ve got the coin with me anyway.¡± I answered.

    ¡°Big spender is this one.¡± Jessep quipped and showed Marley the bottle.

    ¡°You might be right.¡± Marley said. ¡°You shouldn''t have wasted so much coin on this one.¡± He said to me, gesturing to Jessep who looked unsurprisingly and over-dramatically wounded at the words.

    ¡°I managed to accidently learn a few things from him yesterday though.¡± I told Marley playing along. ¡°Besides he''s going to rewrite an entire book for me.¡±

    Marley laughed then pulled a pencil out of a pocket and threw it to Jessep.

    ¡°You''d better get scribbling then.¡± Marley told him and Jessep sighed once more but sat down at one of surrounded worktables and flipped open the book.

    I hung around, listening to the small talk between Marley and his workmen, occasionally joining in myself. Jessep handed me back my now slightly improved book just before Marley lead me to the office.

    I paid up the other half of the coin I owed, I signed a receipt and tucked my copy away in my pack.

    Rather than heading back to the inn to get my mule and bring it back here, we agreed that I''d come for it first thing in the morning so that it was out of the way and the work shop section would be clear for the next project on the list.

    We shook hands once more and I returned to the inn, barely able to sit still while I ate my evening meal.

    The sense of anticipation was building within me.

    ************

    The next morning, I walked next to my mule.

    I hadn''t bought a saddle or tack for it as I wouldn''t actually be riding it. I arrived at the work yard and endured the good natured ribbing from the workmen at my mule but we all knew that with the small size of my travel carriage that a mule was more than enough to move it along.

    I didn''t see Jessep but Marley was there and helped be hitch the mule to the carriage, I got the impression that while he was glad to have the work space cleared up be had offered to help just for the sake of helping out.

    I appreciated it all the same.

    I promised that if I ever needed more work doing that he would be the first person I came to see, we shook hands once more and I set off on my new travel carriage back to the inn.

    When I arrived, I had to ask the innkeeper if he minded getting his sons to help me bring down and load up my chests onto the carriage.

    He agreed that they would do it even before I offered to pay for their help which is why they both seemed so surprised to receive a gold coin each afterwards.

    With no real use for my remaining coin and being in a good mood, I was freer with it that was probably necessary.

    A gold coin each for moving a few chests and tying them down was a ridiculous amount to be paid but I just smiled, with a flick of the leather reigns the placid mule moved forwards and I and my carriage were pulled along with it.

    I was finally on my way to the mountain, even as I left the walls of Moreland''s Rest and passed the fields I had to keep myself from grinning and looking like a fool.

    I kept an eye on the mule but he seemed not to care about the weight he was pulling along, I made sure to stop and let him drink from a pan I filled with water. We made steady progress if not quickly and when the sun began to set I pulled to a stop by the side of the road for the night.

    The mule accepted the dense oat cakes I gave him when I had tied him to a tree on a long length of rope. He even drank two more pans of water as soon as I raised them up to his mouth without any fuss and I knew I''d made the right choice in a mule rather than a horse.

    For myself I ate one of the travel rations, tough hardbread, tough dried meat and hard cheese. I was glad I could make my own water but it did fill me up and the dried meat and hard cheese had flavour at least, even if not very much.

    Using one of my bedrolls for the first time, I slept away the night without a fire and even managed to wake up feeling slightly rested.

    *************

    My first look at Diggin had me slightly worried.

    There were a few cleared fields on the approach but it was the small ''village'' or settlement that caused me a little concern.

    It really was small.

    Most of the buildings were homes, they looked more like what a log cabin should look like but made with stone.

    There were only maybe ten actual streets.

    Quite a few of larger buildings that were mostly on the edges of the ''village'', were clearly places of work.

    I wondered if they even had an inn I could stay at?

    I could see the few larger buildings better as they were closest to me, some had steady streams of smoke pumping up out of them and I guessed that was where ores were melted down.

    After getting a few odd looks from people as I rode into the village I managed to spot an inn, or at least what I thought was an inn. The ''stable'' behind it was actually much much larger than the inn itself.

    I soon found out why.

    Only about a quarter of the ''stable'' was actually a stable in truth, the rest of the warehouse sized room inside was for storing wagons, carts and other things.

    Some of them were loaded with things and others were empty.

    The cost to put my small travel carriage in there for the night was three times more expensive than the cost of stabling my mule and renting out a room for myself to sleep in.

    I paid the coin, of course I did because I had so much after all, but it had still been a surprise.

    The ''stable-hand'' had explained to me that with so much coming in and going out of Diggin, the only real way to keep the inn making money was to charge for secure storage of goods to those who came and went.

    Being so small, the only people who actually lived in Diggin were people who worked in the mines or doing something else related.

    They didn''t have many people to make businesses boom with so few other people here and so the costs of certain things were vastly different.

    I spent the night in the small inn and at least the food was good, though that may just have been because I''d been eating travel rations for a while.

    I was up early the next day because this was the trickiest part of my plan, if it didn''t work then I would have serious problems.

    Once more on my travel carriage I directed the mule to pull us south out of the small village of Diggin and soon enough the roads and cleared trees that surrounded the village were gone and my struggle started in earnest.

    ***********

    I was at the base of the mountains of the Clearwater Ridges, I had a narrow ''path'' before me. The mountains were to my left and the trees of the Moreland Forest to my right.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    With no actual roads or even tended land, my only route lay in the narrow strip between the two as I headed south.

    The ground was rocky, there were small stretches of clear grass here and there but mostly it was rock studded grass, dirt or gravel.

    I kept having to stop and let my poor mule rest because even the tough beast struggled.

    Pulling the carriage up and over the uneven ground, around large boulders and occasionally back into the trees when there was no other option, doing my best to find small routes between everything

    It was very very slow progress but it was still progress.

    Four days.

    That''s how long it took until the fear, that had slowly been building in my head, came to pass.

    One of the wheels gave out and broke, the carriage dipping down, the mule cried out at the sound even as I cried out from being thrown to the ground to my right.

    I had been surprised the travel carriage had even lasted this long but I had hoped for the best even as I''d grown increasingly worried.

    I felt hot tears on my face, not tears of pain but of frustration.

    After four days of exhausting travel, my plan had come to nothing.

    I had no idea how far I was from my mountain because being so close to the ridges, each mountain in the range was almost indistinguishable from another.

    I screamed in frustration and after a while of silently shaking and stifling my sobs, the sound of the complaining mule had me moving again.

    My mule wasn''t harmed but he was still being pulled slightly down by the broken travel carriage.

    I untied him and brought him closer to the trees where I attached him to one of them on a long rope.

    It was getting close to the end of the day so I started making camp out of habit.

    I moved through the small tasks numbly, feeling wrung out by my failure.

    I filled a pan with water and set it down for the mule with a couple of the big oak cakes, then I started collecting wood for a fire, eventually I sat before the small source of warmth as the sky darkened and I wondered what I would do.

    I thought long into the night before eventually falling into an exhausted sleep.

    When morning came, I had arrived at the only plan I could think of that didn''t involve either abandoning everything or turning back without the carriage.

    I unstrapped my chests and dragged them off the travel carriage onto the ground. It was hard work but eventually I had the four of them just inside the treeline.

    The first was opened up and I was slowly filling the first of my three travel packs with the contents of the chest.

    When I had filled them up as much as I could, I spent even more time tying two of them together. With one of the blankets from my bedrolls folded up and placed over the mule''s back, I set the two packs over it, the ropes on the blanket while the packs hung down each side.

    Knowing this was the best I could hope for, half of the day already having been and gone, I closed up the mostly empty chest, picked up my own heavy pack and me and my mule continued our journey southward.

    We stopped more than a few times as I set down my burden, I even took of the mules packs during those breaks, though I didn''t think the weight was all that much to him, it just felt wrong to rest while he stood with his packs still loaded onto his back.

    We walked most of the rest of the day until I froze in place, spotting something not a hundred paces ahead of me.

    The remains of a small fire by the trees, I looked around, up towards the mountain to my left and thought I started to recognise the shapes of the stone.

    This was it, this was the place!

    This was my mountain!

    I let out an involuntary cry of joy and set my pack down.

    I managed to run over to the old fire remains just to check that it really was there, it didn''t vanish or turn into something else so I sat myself down feeling weak with relief.

    After a few minutes, I brought the mule and dropped pack over, though the mule hadn''t actually stopped but instead had continued to slowly follow after me.

    I unloaded him and the two of us ate and drank.

    I spent the evening in front of the renewed fire, coming up with my next plan of action.

    It wasn''t a very complicated plan but it was definitely a hard one, if not in execution then in the amount of time and effort it would take.

    The next days dragged by, seeming to stretch on endlessly.

    I''d emptied my packs, piling my things just inside the treeline and headed north again, back the way I had come.

    My mule and I walked side by side, back to where the carriage had given out and where my chests stood.

    I''d rest briefly then begin packing my packs once more with the contents of the chests.

    Then we''d turn back around with packs newly filled and spend the rest of the day carrying what we could back.

    Slowly the chests emptied and the piles of my possessions grew at the other end.

    Over and over again this repeated and the only thing that changed was that I ran out of oak cakes for the mule a couple of days in.

    I had to start feeding him from the fresh veggies that I had brought with me, almost all of them were gone by the time we were done.

    I struggled to come up with a solution for the empty chests themselves and in the end all I could do was place one on the poor mules back and walk along next to him, keeping my hands on the chest to stop it from shifting too much and falling off.

    The hard and heavy bulk on the mule''s was awkward and I felt bad for my beast of burden.

    After we got the chest back to the small camp I''d made over the last few days, I made sure to feed and water my mule, letting him rest while I started sorting my things.

    I''d known before we were even half way back with this empty chest that I wouldn''t be going back for the others.

    I had this chest here and it would do for storing most of the books. I could keep most of my food in two of the packs and the rest of my food that didn''t fit would have to be things that didn''t really need the extra protection.

    The jars of various pickled things would be fine, even the wheels of cheeses were already wrapped tightly in their wax paper.

    Everything else I had could manage being outside for a little while at least.

    I got another fire started, sat and ate.

    Soon enough I drifted off to sleep.

    The next day after feeding and watering my mule, I set about preparing for the next step.

    I used one of my knives and the small woodsman''s hatchet to cut some poles from nearby branches and with these poles and a little rope, I started to build the small frame of a shelter.

    I spent a good portion of the day working on my small camp knowing that I wouldn''t be leaving until the following day anyway.

    I used two of the of my bedroll blankets as a kind of canvas to tie down over my wooden frame. I ended up with a kind of half tent around my supplies and the chest.

    With the blankets being the dark faded green colour being the colour they were, I thought they blended well into the forest.

    Even if I was still only just in the treeline and the only thing being on the actual treeline itself was my small fire pit, it would be hard to spot.

    I arranged everything in my half tent and set down my remaining bedroll along the open front to face the fire.

    I just had to hope it didn''t actually rain because while the blankets would resist water a little, they wouldn''t prevent it from eventually soaking through, I was also counting on the trees above to provide any extra shelter they could.

    Tomorrow I would be heading back to Diggin with a mostly empty pack, my bedroll and my mule.

    ************

    Two days later after following the treeline north, I reached Diggin once more.

    I had two things I needed to do, I needed to see about buying some more vegetables, almost all of the ones I had were gone, having been fed to the mule.

    The second thing and the thing I was a little unsure of was that I''d be parting ways with the mule now.

    I planned to sell him though after all the time we''d spent together, I was beginning to admire the placid beast but the simple fact was I couldn''t care for him, not once I eventually got back into the mountain.

    I didn''t strictly need to sell the mule because I didn''t need the coin, but if I just offered him to someone for free then they would be suspicious of why I was just giving away a perfectly healthy mule.

    I also didn''t want leave the mule with someone who would mistreat him, I''d prefer someone who already had animals and besides after all the hard work of the past week or two, I thought the mule deserved a rest.

    I took the mule to the only inn to be stabled, I paid for a room for the night too.

    It was the end of the day now so there was no use in trying to find someone right now, I got myself a meal from the inn and slept the night away.

    The next morning I found myself in the ''trade'' part of the small village though it was only a single street with shops rather than entire district.

    I went about buying up replacement food being careful that my pack didn''t get too heavy.

    I asked a few people if they were interested in buying a mule but while a few asked some questions, none were really that interested and I was losing hope.

    It wasn''t until I came out of one shop and I almost walked into a cart that I got a real chance.

    ¡°Watch it boyo!¡± The wiry old man on the cart called down to me.

    ¡°Sorry, sir!¡± I called back and stepping away a little from the cart. ¡°I wasn''t paying attention.¡±

    ¡°Knew that already.¡± The old man told me but I was looking at the two horses tied to the cart and the donkey that was tied to the opposite side.

    ¡°Hey.¡± I turned back to the old man. ¡°Do you want a mule?¡± I asked him.

    Looking at me strangely the old man answered. ¡°Want a mule? Or do you mean buy a mule? What are you going on about boyo? You trying to tell a joke or something?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no!¡± I said quickly waving my hands. ¡°It''s just, I''ve got a mule and I need to sell him before I leave.¡± I started to explain and gestured to his horses and donkey. ¡°I see you might be able to take care of another animal, I''ve been asking around to people who look like they can actually take care of him but no one is interested. There''s nothing wrong with him but at this rate, I don''t think I''ll be able to even give him away.¡±

    I sounded defeated by the end of my words, even to my own ears.

    ¡°Sorry for bothering you, sir.¡± I sighed out and turned to leave.

    ¡°Hold up!¡± The old man called out and I turned with a small hope rising up inside, something must have shown on my face because he sighed at me then climbed down off his cart. ¡°I''m making no promises but I''ll hear you out. Why are you trying to get rid of your mule and what''s the catch?¡± He asked.

    ¡°There''s no catch, sir.¡± I assured him and hoped he could hear the truth in my words as I continued. ¡°It''s just that I''m leaving soon and I can''t take him with me, I can''t just abandon him after all the hard work he''s done for me and I don''t want to leave him to just anyone. I''m not lying, sir, I just want to make sure he gets a good home before I have to go. That''s all.¡±

    The old man looked at me for a while before he spoke.

    ¡°The mule stolen?¡± He half asked, half guessed.

    ¡°No, sir. I bought him myself in Moreland''s Rest.¡± I answered.

    ¡°And you''re sure there''s nothing wrong with it?¡± The old man questioned further.

    ¡°No, sir.¡± I said. ¡°I mean, I''m sure there is nothing wrong with him, at least as far as I know but I''m not an expert. He isn''t sick or lamed and he works hard.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± The old man was silent as he thought over my words then seemed to come to a decision. ¡°I''ll have to look the mule over myself first but if...¡± The old man looked at me pointedly before speaking on. ¡°And I do mean, if, there''s nothing wrong with him and he ain''t stolen then I might be able to pay you a little to take it off your hands.¡±

    ¡°I promise you, sir!¡± I said excitedly ¡°He''s not stolen or sick! He''s stabled at the inn, you''ll see he''s really healthy and well behaved...¡±

    The old man raised his hands and cut me off. ¡°Enough of this, I''m not a sir I''m a farmer!¡± He told me ¡°My names Brigg. Now get on the cart and we''ll go see this mule of yours.¡±

    I closed my mouth and did exactly that, it didn''t take long to reach the inn in the small almost village and Brigg only took slightly longer looking over the mule before he seemed satisfied.

    ¡°Well, he''s healthy alright.¡± Brigg said as we stood in the stable.

    ¡°So you''ll take him?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You sure he''s not stolen boyo?¡± Brigg asked me once more while staring at me hard.

    ¡°I promise you, he''s not stolen. I paid for him myself.¡± I told him again. ¡°I bought him from Mart just outside of Moreland''s Rest. He''s Captain Holt''s cousin''s husband. Captain Holt even told me about the place, he''s definitely not stolen.¡± I trailed off because as soon as I''d mentioned Captain Holt''s name I could see the change in expression on Brigg''s weathered face.

    ¡°Holt told you about it then?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yes, I bought him from his cousin''s husband, Mart. You could even go there to ask about the mule Al bought from him but I can''t wait around for that long.¡± I told the old farmer raising my hands in a vaguely helpless gesture.

    I don''t know specifically what decided it, but the old farmer seemed to finally be convinced.

    ¡°Well. I guess I believe you but if you''re lying to me you''ll have Holt himself coming for you, especially since you brought up his name.¡± Brigg warned me. ¡°He''s not the kind to take that kind of insult to his name.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I said quietly. ¡°Captain Holt is a good man.¡±

    There was a brief moment of silence but Brigg broke it with a tone the was clearly changing the subject.

    ¡°Just where are you going anyway that you can''t take the mule with you?¡± Brigg asked me.

    ¡°The mountains.¡± I replied, intentionally making it sound like I meant I was travelling over the mountains to the other side. My small deception worked as Brigg replied.

    ¡°There''s easier ways to get to Clearwater than climbing over those mountains you know?¡± Brigg told me.

    ¡°I know but that''s the way I''m going.¡± I told him firmly and after a moment he nodded.

    ¡°Fair enough. Well then, how much you want for the mule?¡± Brigg asked me and I shrugged. Brigg sighed at this then pulled out his coin pouch.

    He started digging around in it and casting me suspicious looks before finally pulling out eight silver coins and some coppers.

    ¡°This is as much as I can give you lad.¡± Brigg said sounding a little put out. ¡°I''ve just sold my wares but the rest of my coin is already spoken for. I''m not trying to swindle you, you understand? But I just can''t-¡±

    I raised my hands and cut him off this time.

    ¡°I accept.¡± I said quickly then spoke on. ¡°I''d have given him to you for free if it wouldn''t have made you more suspicious. I''ll accept the coin. I don''t really need it but I do want the mule to end up with someone who''ll be fair to him.¡±

    Brigg the old farmer pulled a sour face before handing the coin over to me.

    I gave the mule one last rub along the top of his nose and awkwardly said goodbye to the placid beast while Brigg watched, then I left.

    My pack was full, the mule had a new owner and I still had to make it back to my mountain in time for even more hard work.

    So I didn''t stay in Diggin for another night but left right away instead.

    ************

    A young boy moved along the western side of the Clearwater Rides, skirting the edge of the Moreland Forest.

    He carried a large and heavy looking pack and wore a determined expression on his young face.

    Onwards he moved until a couple of days later he stopped by one particular mountain and moved into the trees.

    In those trees, a small bounty of things lay under the cover of a simple shelter and it was here that the boy rested for a time.

    On one morning, while the sun was still casting it''s first streaks of light upon the sky, the young boy began climbing the mountain, a pack on his back and shortly after starting had sweat running down his brow.

    The boy reached a spot part way up the huge mountain that looked no different than any other part but the boy seemed to know this spot as something more than simple stone.

    A small but remarkable thing happened as the tired boy waved a hand.

    The stone moved.

    It shifted, like flowing water, out of the boy''s way to reveal a dark opening that lead into the very mountain itself.

    The boy vanished into the darkness of that opening but returned a short time later only to make his way back down the mountain, undoing everything he had just struggled do.

    There was one small change though, the change was the pack the boy carried, which had appeared emptied after the boy''s return from the darkness.

    Down the mountain he went and back to the small camp, he barely seemed to catch his breath before another pack was exchanged for the empty one and the odd spectacle repeated itself.

    Back and forth, up and down with only pauses as the sun set.

    Once the night was banished again, the boy would continue his relentless task, the hard climb and his burden upon his back.

    Slipping, losing his grip to the shale and even just being overbalanced by his burden, the boy rose each time no matter the number of scrapes and bruises.

    Each time he continued onwards.

    Many days passed by before the last of the camp''s small bounty was gone, then the camp itself was gone and the boy made another trip back up the mountain this time dragging a single chest tied to a rope behind him.

    The boy entered the dark passage once more, but rather than returning with yet another emptied pack, the mountain closed itself up and the boy remained in the darkness of the mountain''s heart.

 Interlude - Blackthorn Estate Revisited

    Lord Hendrik was in a good mood.

    It had been months since his nephew had legally handed over control of his estate to him.

    His nephew had gone travelling to learn new things and see the wider world.

    A thing that any young noble would do, nothing to cause any suspicion.

    Since then, he had been able to use that wealth and begin making more for his nephew''s return.

    He would have to wait a couple months more to suddenly receive terrible news of his nephew''s unfortunate death in Suldar.

    But he was prepared for that already, he''d had the letter penned and had even had one of his men travel to that desert wasteland of a city to send it back to him.

    None would be able to deny it''s authenticity.

    That little replacement rat was already a corpse in the ground.

    Lord Hendrik remembered watching the boy being roughly used by his men one final time before they had cut his throat and thrown him into the hole.

    It had been very satisfying.

    Not just for the pleasure of watching the filth suffer through it, the men had certainly gone above and beyond their usual treatment knowing that they wouldn''t need the rat to live afterwards.

    It had also been just as satisfying to finally being rid of the replacement after all those years.

    Now that he had what was rightfully his, he had been free to start crushing his opposition and building up his own interests.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    He had only just begun in earnest but things were moving in the right direction now.

    His mood was good because just today he had crushed several small and independent shop owners. Once he had cleared out enough of them, gotten rid of the filth, he could move his own people into places he decided he wanted them.

    It was a thrill that the common filth couldn''t understand or appreciate, to move the masses around like pieces.

    The moves too subtle for their animal-like minds to understand or even notice, small moves that had big impacts.

    Once he had a firm hand on the city, he could begin cleaning up the nobility next.

    Too many of them had bred with the lower or foreign filth and muddied their bloodlines, he''d start with the least of them, the minor nobles and then work his way up the ranks.

    Maybe he would even get rid of that soft and foolish weakling who called himself their king.

    Though maybe he wouldn''t have to actually remove him in the end, but he would have control of this place eventually.

    Publicly or not, he would rule here there were none who could stop him, none who were intelligent enough to notice any of his movements.

    His masterful performance of the grief he would display publicly was already firmly in his mind, it was a flawless performance and over something he truly cared nothing about.

    They would never see anything he didn''t want them to, never suspect him until it was too late.

    Lord Hendrik sent for another one of the girls.

 Chapter Sixteen - Leaving the Mountains Embrace

    There was one particular mountain that sat in the Clearwater Ridges.

    From a distance it looked much like the other mountains and even when you moved closer, it still looked quite normal.

    This mountain had changed though.

    The changes on the outside were barely noticeable.

    A few very small openings in the rock seemed to have vanished and a couple of new opening had appeared elsewhere.

    To see one of the more noticeable changes you would have to move to the western side, low down at the base of the mountain where it reached the treeline of the Moreland Forest.

    Two steep masses of the mountain''s base had stretched outwards and reshaped.

    Though they looked entirely natural, they were not.

    They actually reached out almost like they were roots of the mountain, from their highest end joined to the actual mountain, slowly lowering their height as they curved around and breeched the trees of the forest below.

    Almost coming together in an oval shape, as if these great roots of the mountain were about to drag a chunk of the earth and forest to itself in an embrace.

    If you looked closely, you could see that rather than creating a sealed piece of the forest within their stone embrace, there was in fact an opening at one end that lead directly into the Morland Forest.

    As if the stone that surrounded had, by chance formed a natural wall that enclosed roughly one hundred square meters of land that lay within it''s oval embrace.

    It was not natural though.

    Inside this stone enclosure, many of the trees that had once stood were now gone.

    New trees lay within, trees that had never been there before. Those trees did not fill that place though, they did not stand where their seeds fell but instead they seemed to have grown around the edges of the enclosure.

    As if they wished to be as close to the protective stone walls as possible.

    What had been rocky earth with patches of grass and under brush was now rich earth that had been tended to by... someone.

    There were quite clearly several vegetable patches set at regular intervals and even some neat groupings of rarer plants.

    Some were strange herbs with odd uses and yet still others were the things of plants to be used to simply add taste to a meal.

    If your attention turned to the opposite side of this enclosure, to face the mountain itself, you would notice something else that was very odd.

    Against the stone or more precisely in the stone, were intricate carvings, odd runic symbols that very clearly had the shape of a large arch.

    What was even odder though was that instead of a door or even an empty opening contained within this deliberate arch, there was instead simple stone.

    It was completely smooth, standing out even more by it''s plainness when being ringed by such detailed and intricate carvings.

    Despite it being a very real and very solid piece of stone, despite it being completely joined with the arch around it in a natural seeming and homogeneous single piece, it was an still opening.

    If you knew the trick and if you had the ability, you could make your way into the mountain, you would find the first of the largest changes within that had been wrought to it.

    And make no mistake, these changes had been wrought, they had been done by the mountain''s occupant.

    After a short walk down a wide but very straight hall, you would find yourself entering a very very large cylindrical room made from the very mountain.

    It was not large because the distance from one side to another was so great, no, in fact it was no more than twenty good paces from the end of that tunnel to the stone of the far side of the room.

    It was large because if you looked up, you could see stone stairs that spiralled around, up and up, further and further, as if to reach for the peak of the mountain itself.

    But all was not as it seemed.

    In the very centre of this round place, there was a single flat piece of stone.

    It was not part of the mountain any more although to look at it you would never know.

    It was actual a thick disk of stone that was set into a perfectly fitting disk shaped hole in the ground, so perfect that it looked seamless.

    This was another thing that you had to know the trick of and if you did, you would find yourself standing upon it as it rose up into the air.

    Up and up into the darkness, ignoring the spiralling stone stairs as it moved between the core of them.

    When you reached the top you would find two openings.

    One was where the spiralling stone stairs reached what was a ceiling from below but then a floor as you breached it, the second was an exact match for the strange floating disk of stone.

    It would come to a stop there and you would be amazed at what you found as you now stood on this new floor.

    This mountain had once had another occupant, long long ago.

    The mountain had changed by their will, what had been solid stone had branched out into a confusing maze, oddly placed arches and rooms throughout.

    Those had been much lower in the mountain but alas, they were no more.

    Now the mountain had changed again by the will of this new occupant, standing on the disk you would see those changes clearly.

    The first thing that you might notice would be that there was light here, light in a place that not only should have been solid stone but was now a very large empty place.

    Your attention would have to be directed behind where you stood though.

    The stone of the mountain here looked like glass.

    Impossibly thick and still in the natural shape of the stone.

    To look at this exact spot from the outside of the mountain, you would not be able to see within. From the outside, the mountain''s stone was as solid and dark as it ever had been. The only thing that looked slightly out of the ordinary were two very small, hardly noticeable square holes to either side, from which came what appeared to be wood smoke.

    It was only from within that you could see beyond, to look down upon the vast expanse of the Morland Forest below.

    If that were not strange enough the large space here, a place that looked like a large great hall. One with masterful geometric looks to it''s shapes. Straight edges, exact angles and repeating patterns that made the mass of runes carved over almost every surface, seem almost orderly.

    If you looked upwards, fifty feet above where you would expect to find the stone ceiling, you would behold a wonder.

    Not dark stone but instead the very sky.

    Although, that was not entirely accurate.

    You would find the stone ceiling if look looked very closely but it was a stone ceiling that like that wall, was like glass.

    Instead of looking out over the expanse of the Morland Forest, you instead gazed upon the sky.

    If you disregarded those unnatural wonders and looked around this place a little closer, you would very quickly realise that this was not just an empty place at all.

    There were in fact many things here, both unnatural and mundane.

    The long hall was almost the same size as that strange enclosure below, if not in width then at least in length.

    One hundred meters perhaps, from the odd glass wall with the view of forest below, all the way back to the dark stone at the opposite end.

    It was probably close to a third of that distance perpendicular, from left to right.

    Looking around you would see many more arches from here.

    They were evenly spaced on each side of his long hall, they were very wide, too wide for any doors.

    You would easily be able to see inside them as you moved down the hall.

    One looked like a small library, with stone shelves that housed books, made up the walls of that room, with enough room in the middle for a single, but large wooden desk and the chair behind it.

    Another room looked remarkably like a kitchen, mostly made up of that seamless dark stone of the mountain like much of this place but polished to gleam faintly.

    Other rooms housed different and seemingly unlikely functions, so very odd that such things would be here within this mountain.

    There was a single large balcony that ringed this hall, more of a walkway wrapping around it and serving the function of an open corridor for a second, higher row of arches.

    A second floor to this place but with a difference, none of these arches were open.

    Like that strange and unnatural entrance, housed within the enclosure far below, they were intricately carved on the outside but where the others had been open space, free access to the rooms beyond, there was once more blank but very solid stone.

    If you managed to get through one such expanse of blank stone, you might find a large room of stone.

    One that contained many rough wooden boxes, wooden boxes that had been defaced almost entirely with yet more runes.

    These boxes were set upon even larger stone shelves, the stone of these shelves much thicker than the ones in the small library, able to hold the greater weight.

    If you continued to move towards the end of this hall you would find what was perhaps the oddest looking thing of all.

    Level with this second floor, seamlessly merging with that balcony walkway that ringed this hall, there was, at the far end, directly opposite that strange glass-like stone, an open space.

    As if there should have been a single large room here but the stone wall that should have housed an arch was entirely missing.

    Instead you had a room with only three walls to it, one room that was as wide as the hall.

    What was truly odd about it was that this three walled room ''contained'' what looked to be a simple home.

    There was a fire place carved out of the dark stone at the far end, even a fire alight within it.

    There were two more bookshelves here but unlike the ones of stone below, these were made of wood.

    In fact many of the furnishings were made of wood here, they looked to have been built with care as they gleamed slightly by the firelight, clearly having been worked smooth and polished.

    A single, low but very large slab of polished stone sat on the floor, close, but not too close to the fire.

    It served as a table and around it were what looked like sofas.

    Like the kind you might find in a home of a normal person elsewhere, not hidden within a mountain.

    If you looked very closely you would find that the sofas were made from thick sturdy wood, the frames at least, while the seats and rests were woven like the wicker of a basket.

    To see such a thing though, you would have had to lift up the furred animal skins that lay upon them.

    On one of them, seated close to the fire, was where a robed figure sat.

    It looked almost wraithlike in the dark worn robe.

    It might have been a statue if not for the movement of it looking upwards at the slowing lightening sky that reflected from the stone ceiling.

    Odd, that this figure would gaze up at the sky, when clearly this small home, this little piece of normality in an unnatural place, was so perfectly positioned to look down over such a grand hall.

    Ash looked up at the first signs of dawn that reflected through the spelled stone and sighed.

    He was feeling slightly nostalgic.

    It was time to leave the mountain.

    Oh sure, he''d left before, plenty of times in fact.

    Mostly he had made trips out of the mountain back to civilization not too long after he had arrived here, those trips out had become less frequent as time had moved on.

    He had been so na?ve.

    Expecting to live in a mountain for years with only a few tools, some seeds and a hope of mastering his magic.

    Pride had held him back from leaving at first, not wanting to admit that there were so many things he had needed to bring to the mountain to truly live here.

    It had gotten easier though and as he had eventually brought back more things to correct his mistakes, he had found himself not really needing to leave much any more.

    His trips out of the mountain had shifted in intent, not for things necessary for survival but rather for more knowledge.

    Books.

    Over the years he had amassed quite a collection, a collection that at first had been very utilitarian but that had almost inevitably grown and expanded into books on the most obscure of topics.

    This time though, he would be leaving again for a different reason.

    He didn''t think he would leave this place forever, in fact he was almost certain he would return here but he was leaving with a purpose that would take him further away from his mountain and for longer than he had ever been away before.

    This time, he would not mask his face with illusions.

    This time he would leave to feel the sun on his skin.

    It was time to go back out into the world, time to do what needed to be done.

    He had already stayed here longer than he had planned, almost an entire year longer than he had intended to.

    The vortex of knowledge that had been in his head had almost entirely stilled.

    Only occasionally would a ripple or splash rise up to catch him by surprise.

    He thought of himself as ''partially trained''.

    As he had known for a long time, the knowledge he would slowly come to have would be, at best, sporadic. After these years, he had found himself with absolute mastery in some things, random things, useful things, things he understood and yet still didn''t really have any real use for.

    He also ended up with partial knowledge of even more things, once more ranging from incredibly useful to absolutely bizarre.

    There were even some things he had learned to do that he had absolutely know knowledge of, no foundation or real understanding of them and yet still he could do them. Like a movement learned

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.from practising it over and over again without knowing what use such a movement would have, only to find yourself suddenly be able to a song on a lute if one was placed in your hands.

    One such skill wasn''t a magical one but instead a mundane one.

    The knowledge of how to use an omaran fairly well.

    It was basically just a sword, if admittedly a slightly odd one, but never before had he known how to wield any sword nor had he ever ever even heard of an omaran.

    This only accentuated the worst of things though.

    There the things he knew that he was missing, fundamental principles, actual experiences, and simple pieces of logic that were taken for granted by those who had truly learned them.

    And so he had sought out more books, not another grimoire and not even books of a specifically magic topic, though he had managed to acquire a few. No, he had instead sought knowledge of what most people would think of mundane things, things that required no magic, things that didn''t really seem that important.

    Picking up small nuggets of information, using them to better understand himself, the world around him and the things he already knew.

    He had learned much.

    Not just from the grimoire and it''s vortex because without question, it had been the single greatest piece of information he had gained, something that had changed his life.

    Rather he had learned more about the world from careful study than he had ever thought someone would know.

    In his childish logic, more of a subconscious thought than an actual plan, he had had an kind of expectation that once he left the mountain, he would be the smartest man alive.

    Foolish and na?ve.

    Now, even as he thought back on the days of struggle that he endured at first in the mountain, it felt like it had happened to someone else.

    Almost as if the memories themselves had come from a grimoire of their own.

    He had changed.

    A boy had entered this mountain, and now that it was time to truly leave once more, it was a young man who left.

    A man who had something to do, one who had many plans to put into place.

    One who while taller, stronger and much wiser than before, still held that tight knot of anger within.

    It was a cold thing now, but volatile.

    It was something that could explode into a thousand knives at any moment, but instead remained a cool thing.

    Watching.

    Waiting.

    He had needed time.

    He had had time, now it was time to act.

    Ash stood, looking down at the stupid hall he had built.

    When he had mastered the shaping of stone, he had gone overboard.

    Making this grand hall had been a childish thing, even after he had begun to gain a good grounding in rune-craft and littered the stones he had shaped with runes, they were still childish things.

    More than was needed, far more and most of them unused.

    He shook his head a little ruefully at himself as he stood in his actual retreat.

    The small pocket of normality in the otherwise grand expanse.

    If he hadn''t made this part, had instead continued to live in the cold grandeur below he thought that on this day, the day he would leave the mountain.

    He might have left with his nose high in the air, like the noble he was, but filled with their arrogance, their belief in their superiority.

    He acknowledged his own noble birth and that he thought of himself as better than the nobility, in the sense that he was likely more of a real person than any of them but he knew that it had nothing to do with his birth.

    It was from the things he had learned himself, the things he could do, the things he had done and the things he had received from the grimoire.

    He felt as though he had gained a small portion of wisdom, not the kind to feel like a wise man but enough that he knew there was much more to the world than just himself, much more to learn, to experience, much more to life.

    But first he had things to do.

    Sighing out a breath, Ash began to prepare.

    ****************

    I didn''t actually end up leaving that day, I had a surprising amount of things I needed to do first.

    I intended to return to my mountain and so rather than simply abandon it and let time take it''s course, I instead did what Althalan had done albeit in a slightly different way.

    I stored my things, things I would not be taking with me into rune-carved boxes. Preservation, stillness but not a complete suspension of time.

    That was still beyond my ability.

    Book shelves were emptied and the books packed away into their boxes, then the boxes stored in room I had opened for use, then the other odds and ends that weren''t already in boxes.

    A storeroom that while not exact magical in nature beyond a few runes and spells to keep the air a little fresher and halt the inevitable collection of dust.

    Not like Althalan''s approach, in which entire rooms had become places that pushed back time.

    It instead contained boxes that themselves would keep their contents preserved, my version of Althalan''s rooms scaled down into these simple wooden boxes.

    I had a lot of things to put away.

    By the time I had satisfied myself that everything I needed stored away was safely put in it''s place, half of the day had already passed by.

    I still needed to ''pack'' for my journey.

    One of the most useful things I had learned was some spacial magic.

    It was useful but also vastly terrifying in the possibilities that it held for things to go wrong.

    To go wrong on such a fundamental level that reality could actually reject what was wrought, such a ''rejection'' by the universe was a minor thing to it but an almost comprehensible horror to the one who bore such a chastisement.

    I had, after years of very very careful experimentation managed to master some minor uses of it. Even when I had known from Althalan''s teachings that what I wanted to attempt would work, even though I knew that my workings were perfectly aligned I had still worked my way up to it in the smallest of steps because of the feelings that accompanied them.

    One of the strongest of all the feelings that overlaid the many memories from the vortex were the feelings of caution tinged with dread that came with the use of spacial magic. I had learned very quickly to give Althalan''s judgement the proper respect it deserved.

    But my slow and perhaps overly cautious approach had yielded results and it showed clearly in the method of packing I was currently using.

    I would be taking with me a single bag, it looked exactly like a simple but well made leather satchel. To hang over a shoulder and come to rest on my side, it looked like that because that it was that it was.

    But inside was something slightly strange looking.

    It looked to be almost like an oversized book made out of wood and a small amount of stone.

    It was about one and a half feet by one foot and only five inches thick.

    The ''pages'' of this wooden book were covered in what were most definitely the most complex, most intricate and delicate runes I had ever carved.

    Each ''page'' of the four rune covered wooden pages were covered in them, all the space completely used up save for a small and very delicate looking handle on a hinge that folded down into the wood, into a small groove that had been shaped for it.

    Pulling one of those handles would not do anything at all that a normal handle attached to a flat piece of wood wouldn''t ordinarily do, but if you pushed a little power into it...

    Then something very unexpected would happen, suddenly pulling on the handle would pull the rune covered wood with it, now seemingly the face of a drawer only there was, from behind, nothing there.

    The small space beyond was actually the size of a chest, the ''face of the drawer'' appeared to be where the side of the chest would be, only the rest of this chest was...

    The simplest way to describe it was to say that the space ''inside'' was neverwhere, neverwhere and neverwhen. It was there, clearly by the simple fact that things were stored in this chest space but once the face of it closed once more and the power ceased, so did it''s place in reality.

    In reality and time actually, if only slightly.

    Perhaps even more confusing that spacial magic was time.

    Even as what I had created worked, the aspect of time in regards to my chests was odd.

    Things inside would keep, food for example. An apple would last perhaps three times as long as it should have inside the chest.

    Was the number three significant?

    The answer was yes and no.

    Yes because clearly that is how much longer things last for, surly that number cannot be dismissed, right?

    No, because no where, or at least no where I could see did the number three play any significance to the runes that made up this magic.

    It wasn''t like I had accidentally added a series of runes that specifically said how much time should pass or at what speed in the place that was neverwhere and neverwhen.

    In fact, there wasn''t anything about any passage of time in the runes. I had configured, planned and tested them myself before actually carving them so I knew that they were intended only as a way to make use of space that didn''t exist.

    Yet even with nothing to account for the passage of time there was still the unmistakable fact that time seemed to pass three times slower within.

    It was something that while I didn''t think was a problem, in fact it was useful if anything, but it was something I had absolutely no explanation for.

    I didn''t even have the ability to understand the how or why of it, it simply was.

    To all my senses and to the best of the knowledge I had, they were stable.

    I had used one then more as I had created others on my trips out of the mountain.

    I had wished at the time that I had been able to make such a thing if not before I headed to the mountain then at least soon after arriving.

    Those trips out of the mountains to what had been a small settlement at the time, Diggin. They would have been so very useful for bringing back food, instead I had had to take a couple of packs with me

    I had barely been able to carry them at the same time, having to stop frequently and occasionally leave a pack hidden in the forested while I went ahead with another. Going back to retrieve the pack later and catch up to where I had doubled back from.

    It had been gruelling work but I had needed to eat.

    Now, I had only to carry the weight of this tablet, this odd book inside my leather satchel.

    I held within it the room of four chests.

    One was filled with valuables.

    Bars of gold, silver and other metals. There were gems of different sorts, cut and uncut and even a few other materials, magical wood and stone albeit in very small amounts.

    The rest of the chest was full of leather pouches that contained coins, coins I had made myself out of the raw metals. They were average in size, matching the sizes of most of the different kinds of coins in the world that I knew of.

    Only they were minted in the name of a place and for a people that no longer existed.

    The place Althalan had thought of as ''home''.

    One side of a coin had a mountain and a symbol over the image that looked like an ''X'' with a circle on top of it, a symbol that was repeated on the opposite side.

    These were the coins that had been in common use in a place called Olerette, a place Althalan considered home. I knew that such a place was no more, not even remembered by any history books I had ever seen.

    It had been a place far out to the south east, over the ocean on a different land.

    Now my coins all looked to have been minted in that long forgotten place, save for the fact that they were obviously newly made.

    I would been plenty of wealth if I hoped to enact my plans, despite the fortune I carried in that chest, it was still barely a fraction of what was still in the mountain.

    The next chest contained several books on various topics and several more books filled with my notes. There was a small case that held all of my inks and writing accessories firmly in place and another case that held tools for engraving and carving.

    Only taking up maybe half of the room in the chest, the rest was filled with small boxes of various sizes, each one containing a different tool or device that I might need. Perhaps most would remain unused but I knew that if I needed a specific tool for a working and I had left it here in the mountain, I would curse myself over and over.

    The third chest was mostly empty, especially compared to the other two packed chests.

    There were a couple of knives, forks, spoons, cooking pots, a pan or two and some cups. There was a single set of clothes, rough from hard use that were leaning more towards not fitting me than fitting me and a worn bedroll.

    The remainder of it''s contents were a piece of cheese, some dried deer meat and a bottle of wine.

    The fourth chest was entirely empty.

    I would buy food enough to fill the rest of the third chest but the fourth would be for clothing. The ill-fitting clothes I had on under my faithful but ragged robe weren''t fit for much more than keeping off the chill.

    I would have to buy better clothes, maybe even buy the fabrics and make them myself.

    I was looking forward to a better pair of boots too.

    All that would come once I reached civilisation again but after all was ready and I could leave, the sun was already setting.

    So I spent a last night in my mountain.

    The next morning, I walked to the clear stone to look out upon the Moreland Forest.

    Instead of turning for the stairs or the stone disk I instead decided to take the fun way down.

    With a wave of my hand the clear stone parted and I walked forward to stand on the stone of the mountain that served as a ledge.

    Pausing for a moment while I looked out.

    With another flick of my hand the stone behind me began to close back up as I leapt forwards into the open air.

 Chapter Seventeen - Just Marley Now

    A wind from elsewhere slowed my body as I landed in a small open glade in the Moreland Forest, I could feel the grin on my face but couldn''t help it.

    The gliding fall from my mountain was always enjoyable, more than enjoyable, it was a rush.

    A thrill of something that wasn''t quite true flight but close enough.

    While I had some small ability to make myself levitate, true flight still eluded me.

    There was something about trying to use your own body as a focal point to lift oneself that just didn''t work, or rather didn''t work well.

    A slow straight climb into the air with an almost overwhelming sense of being about to lose your balance was about all that I could do.

    But using that, along with the wind, as I fell from some place already high up gave you that thrill of flight, of forceful movement as you tore through the air.

    Righting my robe and satchel and taking a quick look around then back to the mountain, I oriented myself and set of northwards. I stayed close to the treeline, I had only flown into the forest about a thousand paces so, I made sure to move a little closer to the edge as I trekked onwards.

    It was going to be another hot day, being summer right now it seemed like each day would always be another hot day, but it was still quite cool here beneath the trees.

    Only a little light made it through the gently swaying trees to dapple my robe in different shades, that and being morning still left me warm but also cool enough to keep the heat at a pleasant level.

    Having travelled in this direction many times before, I allowed my mind to wander a little, only occasionally checking that my direction was still on the correct course.

    I was feeling some excitement deep down, I would be heading to Diggin first.

    Years back when I had first come to the mountain, Diggin had been nothing but the beginnings of a small, work driven village.

    A settlement for the workers at most.

    On one of my trips there roughly two years ago, I had found the place slightly abuzz with excitement. The miners who brought out mostly copper from the mines had apparently struck some silver.

    The promise of wealth to come out of their mountain was enough for the place to boom. Each time I had visited afterwards there had been major changes.

    The most obvious was that the size had increased, more and more people had moved there, shops and other small businesses opening up to support those new arrivals.

    More trees were cleared and land worked over for a little more cattle.

    The place looked to be doing very well as the material for building more was right there, the stone of their mountain and so buildings shot up rapidly.

    This had been great for me personally, as Diggin had been the closest place to my mountain, it was the next mountain over in the Clearwater Ridges.

    More kinds of foods or materials became available and I hadn''t needed to trek all the way to Moreland''s Rest.

    Well, I didn''t need to go to Moreland''s rest most of the time.

    While a small book shop had opened in Diggin, their selections had been limited. The old man Roy, who opened the book shop didn''t seem to actually care about whether or not they sold any books.

    Rather it was more like a place he could be surrounded by books all day and occasionally share them with others who came in.

    That seemed to be all the old man wanted.

    I had bought plenty of books of him, though he hadn''t always known it was me who bought them. When I had learned a little illusion magic, I''d managed to change the appearance of my face temporarily and later on as I had gotten better, even the appearance of what I had been wearing.

    Moving around with a new face had settled that nagging worry that I could be recognised by someone who knew who I truly was, but with that taken care of I had been free to visit both Diggin and even Moreland''s Rest without fear.

    I had still avoided going near places that I had spent time at though, both of the inns, all the guardsmen and even some of the areas near Marley & Hall''s, though I could admit to myself now that avoiding them had been unnecessary.

    I moved at an easy pace, I would reach Diggin tomorrow at midday but tonight I would walk for as long as it took for the sun to wane before I stopped to bed down for the night.

    I stopped only once to open my tablet of chests, I took out the single piece of dried deer meat, to eat it as I continued onwards.

    I ended up stopping on the edge of a small clearing, I used a little magic to pull nearby duff and dead fall into a small pile.

    With a whisper of will, the pile ignited and I spent a few minutes walking around picking up slightly larger bits of wood to feed into the small fire.

    I didn''t need it for warmth or even for cooking, but it was nice to gaze into the flames while out in the open at night.

    I sat on my unrolled bedroll, a cup of wine in one hand and cheese that I slowly ate in the other, until I felt myself relax and settle down.

    I slept and let the fire burn itself out.

    In the morning, after a brief look at be sure the small fire had indeed died out I was on my way.

    I reached Diggin just before noon having made good time, I walked down the narrow road that led between two small fields and towards the thick but short wall that now surrounded the little village.

    My first order of business was to buy some food, not a lot and not to fill my chest but enough to last me the few days walk to Moreland''s Rest.

    I bought a small wheel of cheese, a fat cooked hen and indulged myself in buying a couple of sweet pastries, one of which didn''t even manage to make it into my chests.

    I got a few strange looks from some of the villagers but I couldn''t blame them, without one of the faces I wore when I came here, I was just a stranger to them, a stranger in a tatty robe who had come to their small village at the end of nowhere.

    Still, I didn''t let it bother me.

    I headed to Roy''s book shop, mostly out of habit, but also to check if he had anything new or of interest to come in lately.

    I caught a glimpse on myself in a window, I didn''t pause but still felt my face frown slightly.

    I was a little wilder looking than I thought, the robe wasn''t that strange but that combined with my very long and messy hair and the unkempt beard, it acted like a mask to most of my face.

    Just two severe eyebrows, my green eyes and a slightly hooked nose on display.

    I made a point to push my hair back behind my ears and try to finger comb my beard down into something less bush-like and more dignified.

    I''d have to do some serious grooming later.

    I cleared my throat slightly and tried to put on a more friendly face as I entered the book shop through the wooden door.

    *******************

    Roy looked up as someone entered his little shop.

    It was a young man, no more than twenty years but with a hard edge to him, something wild around the edges too.

    It was easy to see just in the way he moved into his shop.

    The young man had dark hair than was an indistinct colour, neither black nor reddish but something slightly in between. Strong eyebrows that seemed to be in a half frown even as the mildly impressive beard twitched in what Roy assumed was a friendly smile.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± The young man said and Roy had the strange feeling he''d heard that voice before, dismissing the thought he instead stood up from his comfortable chair behind the small counter.

    ¡°And you too.¡± Roy replied. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡±

    The young man, who had looked towards the books after greeting him turned his gaze back to Roy.

    ¡°Ah, nothing specific. Just thought I''d come in and see what there was see before I moved on.¡± The young man said easily.

    The young man then paused slightly and asked casually. ¡°You happen to get anything new in recently? Anything interesting? I''m always on the look out for new books.¡± Once again Roy felt like he was forgetting something.

    ¡°New is relative when it comes to books.¡± Roy answered almost reflexively but added quickly ¡°Any specific topics you''re interested in?¡±

    A small flash of white teeth from under the dark beard and twinkle in the green eyes. ¡°Just about anything that has a use for it, I''m not much for fiction.¡± The man said.

    Roy thought for a moment, raising a hand to indicate he was thinking and not just ignoring the young man. After a moment he thought of something.

    ¡°Well, I''ve got a book on desert life in Great Southern Sands? Haven''t read it myself yet but I got it from my usual supplier in Moreland''s Rest, and they''re always reliable.¡± I told him.

    It''d come with the non-fiction marker on the box and Harbour didn''t mess up when it came to books, even had a catalogue of exactly the books he could get.

    I just remembered that it had looked to be in good condition when I''d unpacked it, most of that delivery had been fictional works, lots of stories.

    The ladies who lived here bought a surprising number of them. He''d left the new books mostly unsorted because, well he had been in the middle of reading when the books had been delivered and if he wanted to carrying on reading it then he could!

    It was his shop after all.

    ¡°Hm.¡± The young man said sounding thoughtful and pulling my wandering mind back out of my own thoughts.

    Too old for this.

    I''ll be forgetting my own name next.

    ¡°I think I might take that off your hands but I''m doing alright for coins right now, do you have anything else I might want?¡± The young man asked.

    ¡°I''ll go look for it, it''s still in the back.¡± I told him turning to walk into the back. ¡°I''ll see what else I might have.¡±

    The only other book I found from the new delivery that had the non-fiction mark was actually loosely related to the other book about the Great Southern Sands and I pointed this out to the young man.

    ¡°A Brief History of Suldar.¡± I said. ¡°So you might get a few mentions of the desert in it too.¡±

    The young man frowned down at the second book. ¡°Jakeem Musari, that''s a Suldari name if ever I heard one. I wonder if anything in the book is true or...¡±

    ¡°If it''s just what he wants the rest of the world to think?¡± I finished feeling amused, the young man flashed those white teeth again in a grin.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± He said then stood up a little straighter. ¡°I''ll take them both anyway, maybe I''ll get a few laughs out of this one even if I don''t manage to learn anything from it.¡±

    After a brief exchange of coins, the young man thanked me and headed for the door.

    ¡°Take care, Roy.¡± The young man said as he left the shop, I idly waved in his direction and sat back down to carry on reading.

    I picked up my book, it was just getting to a tense part of the story, I had just been about to find out if Esmerlda would accept the dashing Duke Wolfrick''s marriage proposal or if she would reject him when I suddenly looked up at the closed door, slightly startled.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    How the hell had he known my name?

    I was sure I hadn''t actually introduced myself otherwise the young man would have told me his own name.

    I sat for a while, frowning to myself, worried that I really was losing my marbles in my old age.

    ***********

    I''d taken a room in one of the three inns in Diggin.

    I''d briefly considered buying some new clothes but I didn''t want to stay here long enough to get one tailored and buying fabrics to whip up something of my own was ruled out as the fabrics here weren''t very good.

    There was much more to choose from in Moreland''s Rest, so I''d wait until then.

    I was sitting in a hot bath in the copper tub that had been brought up to my room.

    Before me, an exact copy of my head floated in the air, it was slightly ghostly looking as it was just a weak illusion but it served well enough as a mirror for now.

    Using a knife, I''d taken a hold of my hair at the back of my neck and cut through the mass of it. I pulled away my hand with a good foot of hair dripped in it.

    It was short enough now not to look out of place, I pushed the remaining strands out of my face to tuck behind my ears.

    I pushed my hand out and opened it to let the mass of cut hair float through the air and directly into the small fire in my room.

    I pushed a brief gust of air at the fire quickly afterwards as the smell of burning hair reached my nostrils.

    The air pulled the worst of the foul stench up the chimney and out of the inn.

    I repeated this by taking off as much of my ragged beard as I could with the knife, the only difference being that I sent air after the floating hair immediately rather than let the smell waft back out.

    Then I set about gathering a lather and rubbing it into the butchered and hacked hair that grew out of my face. I''d only actually shaved a dozen times before, mostly when I''d been surprised to discover the hair of a man coming out of my boy''s face for the first time.

    I smirked to myself, at that youthful feeling of pride every young boy has when they start to get clear signs that they''re approaching manhood.

    Even after cutting myself terribly, I''d continued the practise of shaving almost as soon as I could find enough hair on my face to justify it, until eventually I just stopped once the novelty wore off.

    Now I had a much better idea of how to do it and how to do it properly, even if I did end up using a little magic to assist.

    When I finally pulled my focused gaze off my neck and cheeks, rinsed the rest of the lather off myself and looked back up to my reflective illusion.

    I was mildly startled at my own reflection.

    Gone was the mostly hair covered wild man, instead there was a young man with damp and tousled hair haphazardly shoved out of his face looking back at me.

    The face itself was very pale.

    Almost as if I''d been living in a dark mountain for years.

    Green eyes, thick brows but despite clearly being the face of a young man...

    That boy was still there, not overtly, but suggestions of him were there if you looked closely.

    Small hints of a boy that had gone into a mountain all those years ago.

    Shaking my head slightly I dismissed the illusion and went about summoning my own water as I stood up in the copper tub.

    I rinsed myself off with it then got out.

    I spent a little time using clean summoned water to soak my clothes with then ring out into the tub before laying them out to dry close to the fire.

    I thought about using a little magic to dry them out more quickly, I thought about getting dressed and heading down to get a meal in the common room too, but decided against it.

    I wasn''t particularly hungry and if I was being honest with myself, I was feeling a little lazy.

    I''d take a nap instead, if I woke up too late for a meal then there were always the bits in my chest I could eat to tide me over until tomorrow.

    I was awoken briefly what I thought was several hours later and had to put on my damp robe as the tub was taken back out of my room, but quickly I found myself returning to my ''nap'' that soon enough became real sleep.

    I awoke early, having gone to sleep before even a child''s bedtime. I realised the odd looks I''d gotten when the two men had come to take away the tub last night had been because I looked like an entirely different person, vastly different to the one who had been in the room when they had first brought the tub in.

    My sleepy mind hadn''t made sense of it at the time though.

    I waited in my room for a while until I could smell the scents of cooking breakfast, then I was down in the common room drinking some black tea with my breakfast.

    With no other reason to stay here in Diggin, I took my leave and headed west along the road on my way to Moreland''s Rest.

    As the day moved on, the heat increased and I ended up tearing a strip of my ragged robe off and using it to cover my mouth and nose.

    Hood raised to stop the sun beating down on me too hard and face covered to keep the worst of the road dust away, I marched onwards.

    I encountered several other travellers heading back the way I had come from, to Diggin. None of us stopped of exchanged pleasantries beyond a simple nod as we crossed paths.

    It was mid afternoon before I heard the sounds of horses and a wagon coming up behind me and I moved off slightly to the side of the road to allow them to pass.

    I continued to walk but the wagon slowed as it reached me.

    ¡°You heading to Moreland''s Rest, stranger?¡± A voice called out and I looked up to see three men on the wide wagon.

    The one who had spoken was the driver, an older man with a shorn head and pleasant expression on his face.

    The other two, slightly younger men were neutral as they looked at me.

    I realised my covered face and drawn hood might be the cause of that, so I pulled down my hood and improvised scarf before I spoke.

    ¡°I am heading that way, you have room for a suspicious looking character such as myself?¡± I asked with a quick smile, already having guessed the reason the driver had stopped.

    ¡°I might, just depends on what kind of suspicious you are?¡± The driver answered easily.

    ¡°The kind that would be grateful for the ride.¡± I said and shortly afterwards I was sitting on the last space on the large bench seat.

    The wagon was huge and carried ores in the back, overflows of copper than would just be waiting around in Diggin for their turn to be smelted down.

    The wagon was well made and I asked Jim, my magnanimous driver a question.

    ¡°This made by Marley & Hall?¡± I asked him and his eyebrows rose.

    ¡°It was, how''d you know?¡± Jim answered.

    ¡°Looks like good work, just a guess.¡± I told him truthfully.

    ¡°Well, you''re obviously not as much of a stranger to these parts as I thought, but I can tell you''ve not been here for a while.¡± Jim told me, obviously expecting me to ask the question.

    ¡°How''d you come to that conclusion?¡± I asked obligingly.

    ¡°It''s just Marley now.¡± Jim revealed. ¡°Hall''s gone.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± I wondered aloud, I''d not heard anything about Marley & Hall since the day I''d left with that little travel carriage.

    I''d been to Moreland''s Rest a few times with a ''different face'' but hadn''t heard anything.

    Clearly something had happened but I supposed in a town like Moreland''s Rest, maybe as large as ten or fifteen thousand people now, there were bound to be things happening all the time. Things that many people probably wouldn''t hear about.

    It was Kim, Jim''s son who answered me.

    ¡°Hall stole their coin and left.¡± The stocky but muscled man told me.

    I felt my eyebrows rise.

    ¡°All their coin?¡± I asked and all three of them, Jim, Kim and Reggie nodded. ¡°From the bank?¡±

    Reggie shook his head at hearing my question but it was Kim who answered.

    ¡°Didn''t use the bank, had their own safe or something.¡± Kim told me.

    That wasn''t as unusual for a place like Moreland''s Rest, while most places large enough had a bank branch, they were mostly used by travelling merchants or the nobility as a place to deposit and withdraw what they needed before moving on.

    Most townsfolk would either keep what coin they had hidden away in their homes or in the case of those who had any significant amount of coin, use their own safes.

    ¡°How did it happen? And what''s happened to Marley and the rest of the workmen?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well...¡± Jim said, clearly settling in to tell a long tale.

    While most of what Jim told me was just gossip, guesses and things Jim ''knew without having to be told'', I got a few details.

    Marley and his business partner, or rather former business partner Hall had been having disagreements, apparently some of the workmen had seen them arguing more and more.

    Things had been tense between them for some reason.

    Jim couldn''t give me a confirmed reason why, but it had been clear that things had just gotten worse between the two of them over time.

    Hall had disappeared on day and Marley had gathered all the workmen to tell them that their company coin was gone, their office was trashed and there was no sign of Hall anywhere.

    The conclusion becoming even more apparent when Hall''s house had been searched by the guardsmen, only for it to be discovered mostly empty.

    Marley had had to make some hard choices, with the clear evidence that Hall had taken their coin and run, the local Justice had officially turned over full control of the business to Marley.

    A business that now had almost no funding, one that had basically a physical place that was owned by them, that being the warehouse and work yards.

    That and a slightly tarnished reputation and teams of workmen who needed to be paid.

    Several men had lost their jobs while the others had had a hard time of it trying to keep up with their contracts.

    At the end of Jim''s version of events, with input from both Kim and Reggie, Marley''s business was still going but only barely.

    Marley had seemed like a good man to me, in fact most of the workmen I''d met seemed like solid dependable men though it had been years ago and from a child''s perspective.

    Hall, had not seemed unfriendly or even someone who was particularly greedy, he had just seemed a little terse, a little rough around the edges?

    I hadn''t thought the man the type to steal from a long time friend, that was for sure.

    But again, I had only been a child and had only impressions of the men I''d met briefly.

    I could have misjudged them easily and had apparently done exactly that, with Hall at least.

    All three men agreed with me when I told them that I''d thought Marley a good man and undeserving of such a fate, they''d told me that both Marley and Hall had been respected by most of the workmen and miners from Diggin.

    Marley & Hall being dependable and providing top quality products for years to the workmen of Diggin, they''d all been quite shocked to hear of the betrayal.

    We stopped by the side of the road and had a fireless camp that night, the horses were tended to, I''d shared my cooked hen and cheese with the three other men as I''d likely reach Moreland''s Rest tomorrow just before evening thanks to the horses and wagon.

    After that the four of us had bedded down next to the wagon and slept soundly.

 Chapter Eighteen - Return to Morelands Rest

    We''d reached Moreland''s Rest and after thanking Jim and his sons we parted ways, or rather I got off the wagon in the middle of town while they continued on to their destination.

    I''d tossed a silver up to them which Reggie had caught without thinking and told them their drinks and meal were on me tonight.

    Jim had grumbled something about it not being necessary but had been pleased enough when I had waved his protests away.

    He had stopped to do a kindness to a stranger so, to me, the small reward was only fair.

    The summer sun was already setting in the sky, the hues making the clouds glow magnificently and while I appreciated the beauty of such a sight, it was also a sign that I would not get much done today in Moreland''s Rest, the shops all either closed or closing.

    About all I could do was find an inn, so I wandered for a little while until I found one I liked to look of.

    A room for the night was easy to buy and after a quick meal in the common room, I retired for the evening, only to be up early the next morning and back out on the streets of the town.

    Knowing what would take the longest out of the things I needed to do in town, I headed a little ways back from where I''d come from yesterday in search of some tailors.

    I stopped in four of them, only three of which I actually purchased something from.

    The second shop I entered had won me a glare by the haughty looking woman, I couldn''t blame her too much as I did look like a true vagabond as far as my clothing went even if I had groomed a little, but it still wasn''t something I appreciated.

    I glared back at her before I turned and left.

    I had enough gold and other precious things on me that I could buy her shop, her home and probably her as a person for the right price, but I didn''t want anything more to do with her kind.

    I had to stand around for a long time, several times, while I was measured in the other shops I found.

    Even though I''d gotten my measurements taken by another professional, each new one insisted they take their own.

    They were the experts though, so I accepted it without too much grumbling.

    A little discussion about what I wanted and an exchange of coin was all it took before I was free to leave once more.

    I didn''t leave empty handed though, as well as paying for three different outfits to be made for me, I also bought some cloth and a few other things I could use make something for myself immediately.

    It didn''t take that long for me to find my way back to the inn and with another exchange of coin and some words, I was in my room, having paid for a full week now and I had a task to do.

    The cloth I had bought was black and silky, it was very light which would be perfect in the summer heat.

    I''d bought some black thread, some silver coloured thread and some ''silver'' buttons that I thought were probably some kind of aluminium and steel.

    They were pleasantly polished to a shine though, which I thought would look good against the black fabric.

    I was no master tailor, in fact I was a barely passable butcher of fabrics.

    I''d gotten a little knowledge on the subject from the grimoire and I do mean a little.

    But I''d had to read up on making my own clothes myself and even then, I struggled to make the more common designs of clothing.

    I had two small advantages though, the first being that I could use a little magic to aid me and the second being that I would only be making something very simple.

    The outfits I''d paid for to be made would be much much better work than anything I could do because they were much more complicated, but for now and until they were finished being made, this would do for me.

    I was sitting on the edge of the bed without any of my clothes on, the fabrics and various pieces I would use were laid out on the wooden floorboards before me.

    The black fabric began to unroll and float into the air of my small room, at the same time I was gesturing with my hands, my focus upon what was before me.

    Two wide strips of the fabric cut themselves away from the whole and I closed my eyes and raised my arms up higher, feeling the strips wrapping around my skin.

    They moved slightly, as if alive, as they hugged my arms and coming to settle at my shoulders.

    I didn''t see with my eyes but felt all the edges of the fabric, and my will split to focus on multiple things even as small pieces of the fabric began to fold and split themselves further.

    The excess fabric fell down immediately, no magic held it in place as it would just serve to pull attention away from my next task.

    The two fabrics that clad my arms flew away, off my arms but holding their shape. I felt them stiffen up in the air as an incredibly thin, serpentine like thread of black moved off from it''s bobbin and began to dart in and out of the seams of the larger cuts of fabric.

    The colour''s matched so well that once the thread closed up the cuts, it almost blended into invisibility.

    I stood up as these two sleeves of my soon-to-be created clothing settled themselves onto the bed, even as that happened the largest piece of black silky fabric cut a single, much larger piece off that wrapped around my form.

    Holes appeared and my naked arms poked through them, the fabric shifted and turned almost violently and split and folded in more places. Soon my head emerged from a newly created hole and my eyes opened once more to see the things that I had felt without them.

    Excess fabric cuts dropped down onto the others on the floorboards and before long a shirt of sorts hung from me, one as yet without arms or adornment.

    It came down to just above my knees, the hem resting against my skin.

    It was from a style of clothing long since dead, a simple but comfortable design that was almost like something between a robe and a shirt.

    My body felt the entire expanse of fabric on it become firm as my two sleeves returned to my outstretched arms once more.

    The black serpentine thread came back to life once more and began to join the pieces as I held still.

    As the sleeves of my clothes joined the body, smaller cuts of fabric fell away from around my neck to reveal a neat but simple collar covering the skin.

    My sleeves held, now joined, as the thread moved down the two large splits at each of my sides.

    I found myself with my basic shirt that was very long by design. I took a moment to release my focus and after taking the shirt off, I sat back down on the bed.

    I folded the cuffs back and attached two buttons, the shiny buttons looked just as good as I had hoped against the inky blackness of the fabric.

    Next, my high, but simple collar got a small slash then it''s own buttons.

    I spent a while, standing once more to make some loose fitting trousers.

    It was a struggle to make pockets but I managed it.

    After the waistline was folded, split and pinned with another button added and the bottoms of the legs were tucked and sewn with more black thread, I got started on the more intricate work.

    I looked at my new clothes, completely black save for the polished buttons. I held the image of what I wanted in my mind''s eye, focusing hard as I willed the as yet unused silver thread to move at my command.

    Much slower than the joining black thread that I had used before, this new silver thread worked in and out of the fabric slowly, staying very neat under my intense focus. Slowly, ever so slowly, the silver thread began to form a pattern on the black expanse.

    It was an image from another life, not one of my own.

    A hawk, twisting mid-flight was draped along one shoulder.

    One of it''s wings was embroidered down over the chest and the other down over the back.

    It took a very long time to finish this and while it was simple, it had an appeal to it that I liked. It was stark in it''s beauty and I wished I knew where the image came from.

    I knew it was something that Althalan had seen, but I knew nothing of where or when he had seen it.

    I didn''t know whether it was something he had actually looked for or just something he had chanced upon and been struck my the visage.

    When I released my focus to a less intense level, I was just finishing the small separate embroidered patterns around the wrists of the sleeves when I was struck with a dull headache and a pang from my gut.

    I looked to the window of the room and saw that evening was fast approaching, the sun already mostly set on the summer night so I knew it was late.

    I had planned to do more today but it looked as if I would have to wait until tomorrow.

    I donned my new clothes that stood out starkly as being new, especially when my old and scuffed boots were put upon my feet.

    Luckily though, I didn''t have to go very far.

    I went downstairs to find a good meal, not even an hour later I was fast sleep on my bed, both it and the rest of the room still covered in scraps of black fabric.

    I awoke to the pieces of fabric everywhere, no magical or invisible creature having miraculously entered my room during the night to clean up.

    So after grumbling a little to myself I cleaned up the room. The scraps were tossed into a new fire I rekindled in the small fireplace, while the remaining good pieces were put away in one of my chests.

    A quick breakfast later and I was out on the streets again, this time in search of a shoemaker or cobbler.

    I doubted much could be done to actually repair my dusty and worn boots so I just needed a place to buy new ones.

    I ended up wearing my new boots out of the shop, simple black leather that didn''t stand out against my new clothing.

    The shopkeeper assured me that he would dispose of my old boots, judging by the way he had looked at them, I thought he might actually burn them and perform some kind of cleansing ritual on himself.

    He had been very polite to me though, it was simple professional distaste for the state of my worn boots that had caused his reaction and not any personal dislike of me.

    I was feeling much better than I had in a while in a way I hadn''t really thought I could before. I hadn''t realised that there was a small pride to come from wearing nicer clothes, oh sure I recognised that other people might feel that way sometimes, especially those who were less fortunate than I was.

    However, after growing up in Clearwater, having to wear ridiculously fine clothing at the command of another, simply to be seen wearing it, any kind of joy I could take from the fine clothes had been dulled rapidly by the rest of my situation.

    Now though, these clothes were mine, they were quite nice looking and I caught more than a few people looking at the embroidered hawk with admiration. It felt nice to feel like I looked good, it gave me a small boost of confidence that I didn''t know was missing.

    I was sitting outside a small tea shop, in a little closed off ground level balcony where several tables and chairs were housed. I had devoured the small sweet cake I had bought with my tea and now I idly raised the cup to my lips occasionally while I was deep in thought.

    I was troubled slightly.

    I had plans.

    But what I had heard about Marley was something I felt like I should help with. I knew I wanted to help and I knew I could help, but I wondered if doing so would add to or upset the plans I intended to carry out.

    There was also the thought that Marley might not actually want any help, he might not even remember who I was and I also wondered just what I should do if I was able to help.

    My first thought had been to give him gold.

    I had plenty of it and I knew just how much it would help, but I tried to imagine myself handing Marley some gold ingots and I just couldn''t picture him simply accepting them.

    I came to the conclusion that I just didn''t know enough about the situation, all I had was gossip really. I just knew enough to know that there was a situation but beyond that, nothing more.

    I also knew that something in my gut told me that Marley was a good man, neither him nor the workmen deserved this kind of thing and that small feeling in my gut heated up, wanting me to act, wanting to fix the situation.

    I would have to pay a visit to Marley & Ha-, to Marley''s, to find out what I could. Maybe then I would have a better idea of how I could help.

    I had a vague idea that might work but it would depend entirely on how it was received. It was something that could prove useful if paired with my other plans.

    Without putting it off any longer, I left the pleasant tea shop and headed for the edge of town in search of a work yard I''d visited as a boy, years before.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    When it came into view, I could see clear differences right away.

    Where there had once been huge stacks of lumber, heavy piles of stone and the occasional wagon coming and going, there was instead a mostly empty yard.

    There was still some lumber and a little stone but those materials were the only two piles and they were right next to the warehouse that has housed the workshops.

    The huge bay door that had usually stood open was closed but instead another one at the far end was open to the world.

    I walked confidently passed the small office building without entering, I could see clearly that there was no light coming from inside the window.

    I headed to the far side of the warehouse, to the open bay door.

    *****************

    Marley wiped away a little sweat from his brow and stood up to put the chisel back into it''s proper place on the workbench.

    As he did, he caught sight of a dark figure silhouetted and framed by the open bay door.

    Raising a hand back to his brow to block out a little of the light, he watched a young man, probably a noble by his fine looking clothing.

    ¡°Can I help you, my lord?¡± I asked walking to meet the man.

    ¡°Lord?¡± The man asked with a laugh. ¡°I think last time we met, I was just ''son'' or ''boy''. Now I''m a lord?¡±

    Looking closely at the young man''s face it took me longer than it should have to pull the memories of a young boy and make them fit with the young man before me.

    ¡°A...Al?¡± I asked, slightly startled.

    The young man grinned slightly then offered a hand to me.

    ¡°I''m here to do a little business.¡± He told me and I could see him looking around at the mostly empty warehouse.

    Sighing and rubbed my face a little, I could feel some stubble on my cheeks. I was letting myself go with all this damned stress.

    ¡°Al.¡± I began. ¡°Things aren''t the same here as they-¡± I was cut off as the young man''s eyes turned to look at me. They were sharp green eyes that held... something behind them, something more than the spark that the boy''s eyes had.

    It made me pause, though I don''t know why.

    ¡°I heard.¡± He told me and I felt myself wince slightly.

    Gossip.

    Who knows what kind of ridiculous rumours he''d heard.

    Not for the first time in recently, I silently cursed the name of Jenson Hall.

    ¡°I heard.¡± He repeated. ¡°And that''s partially why I''m here, can we talk?¡±

    I realised that the lads behind me were trying to eavesdrop and at a glance I could tell that none of them remembered the boy... the young man.

    Sighing once more, I nodded and gestured for him to follow.

    I led the way to the office building, taking a second to pull out the keys and unlock it.

    We went into the dark room and I set about lighting a few lamps, I took a few moments to examine the lad more closely.

    His clothing was fine, but of a cut and style I''d never seen before, but that hawk on them looked like something a noble might wear. The softness of the boy''s face had been replaced by a more lean and harder young man.

    And those eyes held a surety in them that came with reaching manhood.

    He looked around the office briefly before waiting for me to finish, when I''d lit the last lamp I gestured to the desk.

    ¡°Have a seat...¡± I said and took my own behind the desk. I took a moment to shift a couple of potential contracts around on the surface but quickly stopped when I realised I was stalling. Deciding to just get it over with, I jumped right in.

    ¡°So, I don''t know what version of gossip you''ve heard, but I can tell you that things aren''t the same here any more.¡± I told him, best to get it over with quickly. ¡°Most of the lads don''t work here any more, so we don''t take on work like we used to.¡± I explained, trying to push the memory of having to let even more of the lads go just last month.

    ¡°So I''m not sure if whatever it is you''re after can be done. We''ve got a list of things to do a mile long and not many of us to get through it. The wait-¡± I was cut off.

    ¡°I might be able to help with that.¡± Al told me, raising a hand for me to give him a moment. He started looking through the pockets on the front of the leather satchel he''d set down next to him.

    ¡°Help with what?¡± I asked, unable to think what he meant to suggest. Did he bring those apprentice tools he''d been so proud of? Was he going to offer to work here?

    ¡°With your lack of man power.¡± Al told me, then he turned back to the desk and put down three ingots of gold.

    I was stunned for a minute, just looking at the ingots before the implication hit me.

    ¡°Just hang on a minute.¡± I said, I could hear an edge of anger in my voice but couldn''t help it. ¡°I work for my coin and I''m not a beggar who-¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± Al said, his voice firm as he waved away my words. ¡°Before you get angry, just listen. It''s probably not what you''re thinking.¡±

    I struggled for a moment to hold my tongue but I eventually nodded once for him to continue, I would not accept charity, no matter how well meaning.

    I earned what I had, that would not change.

    ¡°I want you to build something for me.¡± Al began and I opened my mouth to remind him that I''d just told him there was a list and that there was an order to how things were done but he spoke on before I could. ¡°What I want building is very complicated, it will also be very expensive. I''m willing to pay this much for it if you can manage it.¡± Al told me with a wave to the ingots that sat between us.

    ¡°Just what the hell do you think I could build that is worth three golden ingots?¡± I demanded of him. ¡°And I told you, we''ve got a lot of other work we need to get through before we take on any other projects. I don''t know what you''re expecting to get for three gold ingots but we can''t just drop everything to work for you!¡±

    Al sat silently through my words just giving me a nod to say he was listening. It irritated me even further, it''s like he wasn''t listening to me at all, just humouring me.

    Something must have shown on my face because he sat up straighter and looked me in the eyes.

    ¡°Two things.¡± Al told me. ¡°I''m going to commission you to build wagon for me and I''m going to help you design it.¡±

    ¡°Are you not hearing what I''m telling you? I don''t have the men to-¡± I spat back at him but was cut off again.

    ¡°No.¡± Al said, his voice rising a little and I realised that I''d been shouting at him myself. ¡°I''m listening, but you''re not understanding.¡± He told me.

    ¡°I''m going to pay you three gold ingots for it, I''m going to pay them to you right now. What do you think you''re going to do with the ingots once they''re yours? Juggle with them? You can rehire the men, you idiot!¡± Al told me and I sat back at the sharp words but he continued.

    ¡°Once you''ve rehired the men, you can get those other workshops opened up and have them going through your list of projects!¡± Al said, still with heat in his voice but rapidly calming. ¡°Look, I know you''ve had a hard time of it lately. I don''t know what specifically happened and to be honest, I don''t care. I''m not here to pry into your business, I''m here to help if you''ll let me.¡± He seemed to look slightly defeated as he sat back in the chair across from me.

    I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed.

    ¡°Son...Al.¡± I corrected tiredly. ¡°I get that you''re trying to help and I''m sorry for losing my temper.¡± I apologised. ¡°You''re right, I''ve had a shit time of it lately but it''s no excuse to take it out on you.¡± I gestured around at the office, the yard, everything really. ¡°I guess the stress has been building for a while now.¡±

    Al nodded and waved away my earlier outburst.

    ¡°I''m grateful you''re trying to help but I can''t take this!¡± I said motioning at the ingots that still sat between us. ¡°No wagon is worth this, no wagon is even worth one of these things. No, I can''t take all your gold, I just can''t do it.¡±

    ¡°I thought you might feel that way.¡± Al said, he leaned forward and looked at me intently. ¡°What if I gave you a way to earn those ingots fairly?¡±

    I frowned, I didn''t think there was anything I could actually do to earn that amount of gold so I asked. ¡°How exactly do think I can manage that?¡±

    ¡°I want my in.¡± Al said. ¡°I want my name on your business and I want you to start spending gold.¡±

    The nerve of this-

    How dare he think he can come in here and try to buy-

    ***************

    I could see the anger building up in Marley''s face and I wondered if I had pushed too far. I thought I could convince him to go along with my idea but only if I could get him to really hear me out.

    I raised both of my hands and looked him in the eye.

    ¡°Look, will you at least hear me out?¡± I asked. ¡°If you don''t like what I have to say, I''ll never bring it up again. Hells, if you don''t ever want to see me again after I''m finished taking, I''ll leave.¡±

    I watched the older man struggle to bring his tempter under control.

    He didn''t look well.

    When I''d first seen inside the warehouse, I''d noticed that most of the workstations were unused. All the tools packed and stored away, gathering dust in the dark. When I''d first seen Marley, I''d been a little surprised.

    His neat moustache was still there but his face had stubble on it, his eyes had deep bags under them and he looked to have lost some weight. Everything about his demeanour said he was a man who was being worn down by the world.

    It had only made me want to help him out even more.

    Even the workmen had seemed subdued, no jokes or wise cracks flowing between them.

    I had only recognised one of the workmen who had been working behind him, though I don''t know if I ever found out his name. It was clear in the looks he sent in my direction that he didn''t recognise me though.

    I was resolved to helping out, I just had to convince Marley.

    When Marley breathed out heavily from his nose and nodded tightly without speaking, I started to talk.

    ¡°Alright, first thing to get out there is that I''m not here to try take your business away from you, I''m not here because I want to try make some easy coin. I''m not trying to pull some kind of trick or anything like that.¡± I said while continuing to meet Marley''s gaze, hoping he could see the truth in my words. ¡°I''ve got a lot of gold, Marley.¡± I said and gestured to the ingots. ¡°These ingots here, they''re not even something I''d care about if I accidentally lost them.¡±

    Marley raised a sceptical eyebrow at that.

    ¡°I''m not telling you that to brag or anything, I''m just letting you know that even though that amount of gold would be a great boon to you, it really isn''t anywhere near the great gift it seems. Not from my perspective.¡± I said then took in a deep breath before continuing.

    ¡°I''m proposing that you let me buy into your business, I don''t want anything to do with how it''s run and I don''t really expect anything in return from it. I said that I wanted you to spend gold right?¡± I asked Marley who nodded in acknowledgement that he had heard what I had said earlier.

    ¡°Well, basically, any coin that is made that would be ''my share'', I want you to either put straight back into the business or use it on expanding.¡± I said and Marley''s expression changed for the first time to something other than silent brooding, he looked surprised.

    ¡°You mean like buy out another yard?¡± Marley asked me, seemingly unable to help himself.

    ¡°Yes and no.¡± I said, already knowing what he was thinking. ¡°Another yard, but not here. Expand to another town or village.¡±

    I could see on his face he didn''t like this idea.

    ¡°And just what do you expect to happen if another workshop opened?¡± He asked me, the was a note of challenge in his voice.

    ¡°You put people you trust to running them and you let the business do what businesses do. Sink or swim.¡± I told him.

    ¡°You expect me to just buy up places and hope they will work out?¡± Marley demanded, slightly incredulous.

    ¡°What does it matter to you?¡± I asked then pointed out. ¡°The coin put into them will be from my share, if they fail then they close down but if they managed to work out then it just means more coin for you and more coin to keep expanding.¡±

    Marley was frowning once more as he watched me, I just waited and watched him back.

    ¡°What aren''t you telling me?¡± Marley asked.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked but I already knew where this was going.

    ¡°Why the expansion? Why do you want your name on the business?¡± Marley asked, his eyes were gazing directly into mine and I knew that he wanted the truth, nothing else would do here. ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±

    I sighed deeply and looked around the office before turning back to look at the older man.

    ¡°Do you have anything to drink? We''re gonna need it because this will take a while.¡± I told him.

    Truer words had never been spoken.

 Chapter Nineteen - Marley & Edo

    Marley, as it turned out, did in fact have something to drink in his office.

    It was a little bottle of brandy and after managing to find two small glasses, pouring a couple of drinks, he was sitting back in his chair once more simply waiting for me to begin.

    I was hesitant and a little nervous, I think it must have shown because he didn''t push me to hurry up.

    ¡°I am going to tell you some things.¡± I began. ¡°Some things about my past, I need to you understand that just knowing some of these things can be dangerous for you.¡±

    I knew he couldn''t understand the danger of knowing what I knew, especially when I hadn''t told him yet, but I still tried to impress upon him just how serious this was.

    ¡°Marley.¡± I said. ¡°They''re the kind of things that, if the wrong person ever even suspected you might know, someone would be sent to silence you.¡± I explained, all the while keeping my gaze locked with his.

    I could tell my words had made an impact of sorts on him because he was frowning now, but after a moment he nodded once and spoke seriously.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Marley said. ¡°I see what you''re getting at, son. I''m not the loose lipped type, but I''ll give you my word that even if we don''t come to an understanding here, I''ll still not speak of it.¡± Marley gestured to the gold ingots. ¡°Unless those are stolen that is...¡±

    Marley trailed off and looked at me seriously.

    I shook my head. ¡°They''re not stolen, that''s not what this is about.¡± I told him. ¡°I wish it was something so simple but it isn''t.¡±

    I took a mouthful of the drink before me and let it burn as it went down, hardly even tasting it. I set the glass back down on the desk and sighed.

    No use for it, better just dive right in.

    ¡°I''m a noble.¡± I told him but didn''t look up from the glass of brandy on the desk. It inwardly annoyed me that I didn''t want to see the thoughts behind his eyes but I continued to avoid looking up as I spoke on.

    ¡°I ran away.¡± I said but corrected myself quickly. ¡°No, escaped. Escaped is the right word. I escaped from a bad situation.¡± I took another sip of the fiery liquid.

    ¡°Not the kind of things you hear about petty nobles running away from, like a marriage they don''t want or because Lord Daddy won''t give them more coin.¡± And my voice was a little bitter at the end but I cleared by throat and spoke on. ¡°I''m talking about the real kind of trouble. Being starved and beaten, being threatened with and shown even worse things.¡±

    Marley made a sound in his throat and spoke.

    I couldn''t help but look up to finally meet his gaze as his words came out. I didn''t see disbelief there, no doubt or rejection only the quiet anger of an honest man.

    ¡°Are they still after you, son?¡± Marley asked me.

    It gave me a little heart to keep talking even though I smiled bitterly.

    ¡°I doubt it.¡± I said. ¡°They were, at first, but I think by now they probably think I''m dead and gone.¡±

    Marley hesitated for a moment, just watching me with a slight frown before he spoke.

    ¡°I don''t know exactly what you''ve been through, son.¡± Marley said not unkindly. ¡°But I''m not sure why you''re telling me this...¡± He seemed to realise something and spoke on quickly. ¡°I don''t mind you telling me that is, I''m here if you need to talk about it but what I mean is I''m not sure what this has to do with what we were talking about.¡±

    I snorted, I couldn''t help it.

    I felt a small grin pull at my lips.

    ¡°I''m telling you this so you don''t think I''m completely mad when I tell you why I want to buy into your business.¡± I told him. ¡°And you still can say no, what I mean is that I have plans. I didn''t come back to Moreland''s Rest to try force my way into your business but when I heard I thought I might be able to help out both of us.¡±

    I took another sip of the brandy, only a quarter of it left now.

    ¡°Let me start from the beginning.¡± I told Marley as I set the glass back down.

    ¡°I guess it started when I was eight years old...¡± I began.

    I began to tell Marley about the death of my parents, about being a child without anyone else left to him, how I had been given over into my uncle''s care.

    Starting with tragedy, the deaths of my parents seemed almost normal as I spoke more of my uncle and my time with him.

    Things became increasingly bizarre, increasingly cruel.

    I told him how I hadn''t understood what was happening at first, or rather hadn''t understood what was truly happening.

    Instead, just knowing in my child-like way that my uncle was a cruel man.

    I spoke of my punishments, being confined to my room was the least of them.

    Being starved was a favourite of my uncle''s.

    Not starved enough to seriously take a toll on me and never close to a public appearance that I would have to make, but just enough to leave me in pain, enough to leave me feeling helpless.

    Being so young I couldn''t understand what was happening really, couldn''t see the bigger pitcure, I just knew that the things happening to me weren''t good.

    Even not really understanding why was a small torment in itself.

    Had I done something wrong?

    What did I do to deserve this punishment?

    I hadn''t meant to misbehave or do wrong and yet I was punished anyway, why?

    I just didn''t understand.

    Things progressed further and I was introduced to a greater pain, one beyond the pains of thirst and hunger.

    I would be beaten.

    Never a wild beating.

    Not a beating fuelled by anger or rage but instead, a calculated beating.

    Strikes and blows in specific places, small torments and injuries were they wouldn''t show.

    Belts whipped across my back or chest, maybe I get my shins kicked until they bled.

    Which ever seemingly random punishment was chosen, my uncle would often delegate this ''task'' to one of his men.

    They got worse and worse as time moved on.

    Sometimes I would wake up in pain, having been thrown back into my room, not remembering actually passing out during the beating.

    Other times I was awake throughout the entire thing, every large fist than hit my ribs or each solid kick to my legs from the heavy boots, I could remember each one of them.

    I spoke of how I began to notice the small things going missing, things that had been my parents, things that should belong to me.

    Those things coupled with all the other small clues and I began to realise, the ''lessons'' and punishments my uncle gave me, the words he spoke about obedience, about my ''proper'' place all solidified into place and then I understood.

    Understood what he was trying to do, what he wanted.

    My inheritance, the coin, the estate and more importantly, I understood how he planned to get it.

    The small fire within me burned hotter and as it did, fear and confusion began to turn into anger and hatred for this man.

    The man who had supposed to care for me, the man who planned to grind me down into nothing.

    That fire kept me going and as I started to grow, so did it.

    It let me take the beatings, it kept me going through the times of hunger, through each new cruel and unusual punishment he had for me.

    I remembered having to stand in a room with my uncle, he was writing letters at a desk and my punishment was to stand there, holding an ink pot out with both my hands.

    It sounds so stupid, like it was just a minor inconvenience, but when you had been beaten into unconsciousness the previous day, simply having to stand for all those hours was another torture.

    Even as my arms burned in pain from having to force myself to keep them held out with the ink pot, I kept my silent gaze on my uncle.

    I knew my eyes showed nothing but hatred for him and I think it was that small glimpse into my inner thoughts, that small proof that I was still not fully cowed by him, that spurred him onto what came next.

    I told of the first time my uncle had introduced a new horror.

    He had had me brought to a room in the estate, inside the room were seven of his men and a boy. The boy was already beaten and bloody but not as badly as I was used to.

    He was clearly a boy from somewhere in the city, common born by his worn clothing.

    My uncle had ordered two of the men to force me down into a chair and hold me in place, then he had ordered Marran to begin.

    Marran.

    I hated that man almost as much as I hated my uncle.

    His sadistic glee, the twinkle in his eyes as he went about my uncle''s cruel business was close enough to rival my uncle himself.

    He was a man who enjoyed the suffering of others, but it was more than that though.

    It was as if the suffering of another was the most important thing to him.

    If he happened to gain some other kind of pleasure from whatever he was doing to them, then it was simply a bonus, a secondary but unintended consequence of his actions.

    It was their pain that was the primary pleasure for him.

    That is what lay at the core of that man.

    I was held in place and forced to watch as the men, lead by Marran raped that boy.

    It was a horror that I had never seen before, something I hadn''t even considered.

    I was untouched and unharmed in that regard, it was a horror that I hadn''t, and never did, experience personally, for which I could only be grateful.

    I watched it thought, I had no choice.

    And that was the point.

    I remember the screams, the muffled sobs, the laughing and grunts of the men. What stuck with me the most though was the light fading from that boy''s eyes.

    Even as they took from him, they didn''t stop with the violence.

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    Fists kept swinging throughout, kicks and then harsher and harder blows.

    The boy whose name I never knew, died there in that room and all for a simple lesson from my uncle.

    This is what could happen to you if you don''t do as I say.

    It was even left open to me.

    Implied that it might just happen anyway if my uncle chose to make it so.

    I had been very very subdued for months afterwards.

    Haunted by those dying eyes, that fear, the nightmares and the laughing eyes of Marran and my uncle.

    Through this I had glanced only occasionally at Marley, the face of the older man had become more and more drawn.

    A tightening of his jaw and lips as his eyes blazed with anger.

    I was telling him of my eventual escape.

    ¡°-knew the maid planned to take the coin she thought I had in my chests but it was my only chance to escape.¡± I sighed regretfully. ¡°I never wished for her death but a part of me knows that if they had caught her alive...¡± I trailed off as we both shared a look.

    The kind of men who had been after me weren''t the kind to forgive or even simply give a quick death.

    Nothing beyond the shared look between us was needed for us both to acknowledge what the maid''s fate would have been had she been caught alive.

    ¡°I managed to get a head of them but I ended up falling into a cave system near the mountains.¡± I told Marley. ¡°They didn''t find me but it took me a long time to get out of them.¡±

    I was deliberately keeping what happened next vague, I trusted Marley to keep his word about not speaking to anyone else about this... but I couldn''t help but feel that giving away specifics about that place, about the grimoire wouldn''t just be giving away my own secrets.

    Irrational as it was, it felt like it would have been a betrayal of Althalan''s hidden retreat and so I twisted the truth.

    ¡°When I got out eventually, I ended up finding something that helped.¡± I said and looked to the older man. ¡°But that is another story entirely.¡± I said firmly still holding his gaze.

    ¡°But I will tell you this.¡± I said. ¡°I am no longer afraid of my uncle. I''m not afraid of his men or anything he might try to do to me.¡±

    ¡°You''re going to kill them aren''t you?¡± Marley asked me, his voice was odd. Almost empty of emotion but there was a hint of something. It wasn''t approval or disapproval but something else.

    I raised a hand up between us and a small flame blossomed in my upturned palm, it span itself into a small orb that burned furiously and I spoke on to a now startled Marley.

    ¡°If I wanted.¡± I said quietly. ¡°I could kill them all.¡±

    I closed my fist and the ball of fire vanished.

    ¡°But I don''t want to kill them.¡± I told him truthfully. ¡°It''s too easy.¡±

    Marley swallowed slightly before he spoke, it was as if he already knew the answer before he even asked but was unable to help himself.

    ¡°What are you doing to do?¡± Marley asked the question.

    ¡°I''m going to destroy them.¡± I said, my voice serious. ¡°I''m going take everything from them, I''m going to utterly ruin them and everything they have ever hoped for.¡±

    And with those words, I downed the last of my glass of brandy and began to explain my plans to Marley.

    **************

    My plans were flexible.

    There was so much that I didn''t know yet, that they had to be flexible.

    I''d told Marley about the things I ended to do, thing I thought would work, the small back ups and contingencies I had come up with for a number of different situations.

    By that point Marley had been on board.

    There had been a subtle change in the man as he had learned more and more of my uncle and what I intended to do, by the end of it he had been offering suggestions and trying to help improve my plans.

    We''d stepped out of the office briefly at once point, to go back to the warehouse.

    The workmen had been dismissed for the rest of the day, I''d watched as his words had put fear into their eyes.

    After everything that had been going on lately, they thought they would end up losing their jobs too.

    It was only when Marley casually asked them to look for the others who had worked there and if they could be found, to let them know that he had work enough for them again.

    Their expressions changed from that unease to one of cautious excitement.

    I''d gotten more than a few glances at those words, they weren''t stupid, they knew I must have had something to do with the seemingly changing situation.

    I had helped Marley lock up the warehouse and we''d returned to the office once again.

    We spent a long time talking, we parted ways that evening as the sun was almost set.

    The fruits of our hours of discussion remained in Marley''s office, papers written up that would be the outline for contract.

    One that would be written up today by the local Justice Office.

    There was a kind of contract that could be written up, it wasn''t your ordinary contract that bound you legally by laws of the land.

    It was a contract, bordered with a complex series of runic inscriptions that could not be signed unless your intentions were true.

    If the actual contents of the contract itself were something you knew you could not or would not fulfil, then when you tried to put ink to the page, quite simply nothing would happen.

    You would not physically be able to sign it.

    The reason these contracts weren''t widely used outside higher circles were because of a few things.

    Firstly, even though any scribe worth his salt could perfectly recreate the runes themselves, the runes would be nothing but strange markings on a page without someone to actually put magic into them.

    Magic was uncommon, maybe one in every five thousand people had the ability to learn a gift, like the healer Glenn.

    These people were essentially one trick ponies albeit extremely varied in the things they could do.

    A healing gift like Glenn''s was an incredible gift, while someone else might get the ability to move a very specific and rare kind of stone or material with their mind.

    It was unfortunate, because the chances were they would never even know they had such an ability and it would go completely unnoticed and unused in their life time.

    There were even fewer people who could learn true magic, the kind that let you do more than just the one thing.

    The kind that let you pull in magic from the world around and not just simply from their own personal well.

    It was this kind of magic user that was needed to be able to push magic into the contract to activate it.

    The price to make it worthwhile for someone like this to actually come to activate your contract was costly.

    The second reason these contracts weren''t widely used was quite simple and was actually part of the contract itself.

    You can''t sign it if you intent break it''s terms or try to weasel your way through them.

    These problems weren''t issues for the contract we intended to sign because even if I wasn''t going to simply activate the contract myself, I still had more than enough coin to pay for it.

    I had no intentions to cheat, steal or otherwise break the terms of the partnership between Marley and myself and we had spent a considerable amount of time coming up with the contents for our contract with both of us having enough knowledge of the situation to be aware of the dangers.

    So both Marley and myself spent most of the morning the next day sitting around the offices of the local Justice Office while scribes went over our drawn up terms and wrote them into an official inscribed contract.

    It was almost noon when the two of us each pressed a bloody thumb to the paper before signing it with absolutely no issues.

    It had been an odd sensation to empower the contract with my magic, it felt much like the runes I''d carved into my mountain, a bleeding of force that whirled around and was sucked into the runes to hold a steady thrum of power.

    Only once the contract was actually signed, all the power it had contained simply vanished.

    We were left with a contract that had all the same inscriptions as before but couldn''t be activated again.

    While I wasn''t sure if I would be making another contract like it myself, I still had a burning curiosity to study those runes, to pick them apart to find out their secrets.

    We were both given regular copies of the true contract, which was filed away into the official records of Moreland''s Rest Justice Office, they were sealed away and this was witnessed by the Justice himself.

    It would be legally binding to us both anywhere that the King of Gresh held power, which was most of the land this side of the Clearwater Ridges.

    We had entered the building at different times but we left together as business partners.

    I turned to Marley with a grin.

    ¡°Marley, how about we get some lunch?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Sure, Edo.¡± Marley replied with a mocking tilt to the name.

    Who was Edo? I was Edo, or I would be.

    I''d signed under my own name, my true name, Ash Blackthorn.

    I didn''t want the name Blackthorn out there for the world to see though, especially my uncle. I could even now imagine his outrage that some commoner in another kingdom shared the Blackthorn name.

    Edo was actually the word for a Blackthorn bush in one of the dead tongues I had taken from Althalan.

    It was a childish and literal translation but I had no fear of the small deception being discovered because as far as I knew, there was no one living who spoke that tongue any more.

    I was to be known as Al Edo from now on and I would be no mere commoner.

    But that was to come later in truth, a different part of my plan and one that would have to wait at least until I reached the city of Gresh.

    For now, I was simply Edo, new business partner of Marley, of Marley & Edo.

    We still had much to discuss but lunch would come first.

 Chapter Twenty - Carving Runes

    Marley and I had eaten our lunch and returned to the workyard.

    We had two orders of business to take care of and could begin them both at the same time.

    We sat in his, no in our, office, like we had the previous day and we set about designing my wagon. All the while men who had previously lost their jobs came by the offices to ask if it was true that they could have their jobs back.

    Marley did most of the talking, mostly it was him just telling them that, yes, it was true and that if they would like to then they could have their old jobs back.

    I was impressed with how these conversations were handled, Marley was apologetic but not obsequious when it came to the men he would rehire.

    Each of them all already knew that he hadn''t wanted to let them go and while some of the men were still a little sour about being one of the workmen chosen to lose their jobs, they quickly got over it after the brief conversation.

    Not all the workmen returned, whether it was because they hadn''t heard, had found other work or just didn''t want to come back, I didn''t know, but the number of workmen that were rehired were enough to open up another two of the other workshops inside the warehouse.

    In the mean time both me and Marley were furiously sketching and discussing the plans for my wagon.

    It had taken Marley the better part of five minutes to fully understand what exactly I was going for and then he quickly became enthusiastic about the project.

    I wanted a wagon fit for a high noble, a noble who had power, wealth and magic.

    I would be using this wagon as part of my plans.

    It would be a huge affair, like the size of the wagon I had returned to Moreland''s Rest on, a wagon with size enough to haul huge amounts of raw ore out of Diggin.

    Only my wagon would be closed top and would be for luxury, not utility.

    Lord Al Edo would not be seen in anything less, not least because I hadn''t truly created the persona I would take on yet.

    For now, I was simply laying the foundations.

    We came to the mutual understanding that while Marley was a master at his craft, he had no magic or talent with runes and so the two of us would have to personally work on this project together.

    It would be a grand piece once it was finished but it would require some hard work from both of us.

    We parted ways once more that evening and returned to the office again the next morning.

    Marley was busy working on the exact physical plans while I scribbled out runic configurations in a note book.

    Marley stopped once to file an order for a wealth of new materials, not only for my wagon but for the mostly empty workyard too.

    It was around mid-morning when another former workman came into the office and it was one I had spent some time with.

    More surprising was that he actually recognised me almost immediately.

    ¡°Al!¡± Jessep exclaimed in surprise at seeing me.

    ¡°It''s been a while.¡± I said with an easy grin. ¡°Still doing everything you can to avoid working?¡±

    Jessep laughed a little bitterly but shook his head and glanced at Marley.

    ¡°The opposite actually, I heard I might be able to get my old job back?¡± Jessep said with a questioning note at the end of his words.

    Both Marley and me nodded at the same time but it was Marley who spoke.

    ¡°It''s true.¡± Marley said and gestured to me. ¡°With my new business partner, I''m trying to rehire all the men I had to let go.¡±

    Jessep''s eyebrows shot up at this.

    ¡°I''m mostly going to be a silent partner.¡± I explained. ¡°All I''ve done is put a little coin into the business and managed to get my name on it. Other than that, I''m not really going to do anything else.¡±

    ¡°That might be the case.¡± Marley interjected and looked at Jessep. ¡°But Al is still a full partner in the business now, just as much as I am.¡± The words were half informative and half light warning to Jessep, whose usual mocking attitude probably got him into the some hot spots.

    ¡°You don''t have to call me Boss though. Al will do.¡± I said, then grinned as I added. ¡°Or you can call me Sir if you''re into that sort of thing.¡±

    Jessep stared at me for what must have been five seconds, in complete silence before bursting out laughing and walking the rest of the distance to myself and Marley.

    ¡°I think I can manage to remember to call you Al.¡± Jessep said and offered me his hand, I shook it firmly then watched Jessep shake Marley''s hand too.

    ¡°When can I start again?¡± Jessep asked and a few minutes later he was heading out of the office door, on his way to stir up trouble in the workshops no doubt.

    Around noon I took my leave and promised to see Marley again tomorrow, as I had a few things to do today.

    I headed back into town to find myself some lunch and ended up back at the small tea shop once more, enjoying the gentle breeze as I sat outside with some tea and sweet cakes.

    I was lost in my own head.

    So many plans to put into place and many of them would probably have to change as situations themselves changed.

    I would eventually be heading to Gresh, I would take on the role of Lord Al Edo, a powerful lord from a land that probably no one had ever heard of.

    That land was of course Althalan''s home, long since gone.

    I planned to keep an aura of mystery around myself and that, coupled with my clear wealth and possibly a few displays of magic, would hopefully be enough for me to move into the higher circles of Gresh.

    That is where I would truly have to play the part of Lord Al Edo, I had to cultivate a reputation as I travelled so that by the time I eventually returned to Clearwater once more, my identity would be as real as truth.

    Reputation was very important in the higher circles and it provided a convenient weakness to exploit.

    Questioning my credentials as nobility would be as much as admitting that the questioner didn''t know something, this was tantamount to admitting a weakness so I didn''t really expect any of the major lords or ladies to do this publicly.

    Oh they would do everything they could in secret to try to ferret out information on this strange lord who had appeared in their ranks, but unless they sent ships out into the ocean in the exact right direction, then they could never truly verify if I was who I claimed to be.

    Marley wouldn''t give any information on me that wasn''t already known, if anyone asked then he would be vague. I was simply a rich noble who had offered to help his failing business.

    I would be counting on subtle things to give credence to my new identity.

    Coins minted from a kingdom they had never heard of, but still very real gold.

    I would have to use up a lot of the gold ingots and the other wealth I had in my chest, and use them in such a way that it made my prosperity obvious.

    I would be able to feign ignorance of certain things, certain protocols or situations under the guise of being a foreigner.

    It would help me with a lot of things.

    I finished the last of my tea before heading back onto the streets to collect the clothing I had ordered days before.

    I ended up back at my room in the inn to inspect my new outfits.

    There were three outfits.

    The first was much like the clothing I had bought all those years ago, rough and dark material that could take some heavy use though clearly of a much finer make.

    Shirt, pants, underclothes and a good belt, all of them dark grey, save the black belt.

    I would be wearing these clothes tomorrow when I returned to the workyard, I would have to get my hands dirty and get some carving done as I worked through the runic configurations I planned for my wagon. I had to test them and see if they did what I intended them to do and that they allowed the magic I would put in them to flow freely.

    The second outfit was much like the one I was current wearing, it was almost the exact same kind of cut, a strange design for this part of the world. The overlong shirt was a deep forest green, as were the loose fitting pants. The embroidery didn''t have the simple hawk I had fashioned on my self-made clothing, but the patterns that accented the shoulders, cuffs and sleeves were of a much much finer quality and a far more intricate design.

    While the cut was the same as my own, this outfit had a robe with it, one that was just as thin and light as the fabric of the other pieces.

    Wide sleeves and a deep hood that had a very small strip of dark leather sewn onto the inside of the hood''s rim, this was to keep the hood in place as the fabric was so light.

    I had thought about ordering a heavier fabric but with the summer heat in full swing, I decided that I could put it off for now and wait until I reached Gresh.

    The third outfit was simple noble finery that was common amongst nobility here in this time and place. Silken shirt, high quality pants that were mostly plain but would mark me as a noble or at the very least a wealthy merchant.

    I would need to buy new boots, I would need some that fit with each outfit and each of their different purposes, but for this day, I had had enough.

    I already knew what I wanted to buy and knew where to buy them, I could pick them up sometime tomorrow morning before I went to the workyard.

    I put away both of the finer outfits, leaving out what I thought of as my ''work clothes'' out for the next day.

    I retrieved my notebook, flopped down onto the bed and got back to drawing possible runes for my wagon.

    **********

    The next morning I was up and out early, I''d hurried to buy my new shoes and boots and taken them back to the inn.

    A pair of sturdy workmen''s boots, hard-toed and thick leather. I''d put them on right away with my workmen''s clothing.

    The second and third were left in my room.

    A pair of shoes that were close to sandals, these were for my ''foreign noble'' outfit and then a pair of rich, high topped leather boots that shone for my other noble outfit.

    I''d headed back out to the workyard and managed not to be the last to arrive for the morning.

    Marley, was of course already there.

    I saw the light coming from inside the office building, I walked by it without entering though as my destination was elsewhere.

    A few of the workmen were standing outside one of the open bay doors, some chatting, others smoking their pipes.

    ¡°Morning¡± Said an older looking man with a plume of smoke coming from between his lips.

    ¡°Morning,¡± I returned and gave the group a nod as I moved through the open bay doors and into the warehouse.

    I moved through the semi-lighted warehouse to one of the unused workshops, it was here I planned to spend most of my day.

    I set about opening up a few boxes and looking through several drawers and taking some tools with me to one of the empty workbenches.

    After looking around briefly to be sure no one was watching too closely, I pulled out my book of chests and retrieved my own set of finer tools.

    They weren''t anything special and their quality was honestly about the same as the rest of the tools in the warehouse, but they were for more finer and intricate work and more importantly, they were tools I was used to using.

    I set down the small case on the workbench too, I pulled up a stool but rather than sitting down on it I headed back out in search of some scraps of wood and stone that I could use to test out my runes.

    I got a few odd looks from the workmen, mostly ones who had arrived while I was inside, as I picked through the bits and pieces of the scrap piles.

    I was on my second scrap hunt when I heard someone call out.

    ¡°Al!¡± Jessep''s voice sounded out and I stood up straight and turned around.

    ¡°Morning.¡± I greeted the man as he walked over to me, I noticed the group of workmen who stood back over by the open bay door were watching while pretending not to be.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± Jessep said with his easy grin. ¡°What are you doing? You do realise you are allowed to use better stuff than scraps now right?¡±

    I snorted.

    ¡°I''m planning on ruining the pieces I use on a few tests, so scraps will do.¡± I told him.

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Jessep said as he finally reached me. ¡°What do you need?¡± He said looking at the pile of scrap wood I was currently looking through.

    ¡°Mostly solid pieces, nothing with too many splits or holes. About this big.¡± I said and gestured with my hands to indicate the sizes I was looking for. ¡°I''ve got some stone in the workshop already, just need a few good pieces of wood to carve into.¡±

    Jessep nodded and we both started digging through the pile. We found several planks buried further into the pile, they were in great condition but had been discarded because at one end of their five foot length, there had been a huge knot that ruined them for their intended use.

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.The kind of thing you could only find once you''d started milling the wood down and opened it up.

    The two of us lifted them up and carried them together with several smaller block pieces I liked the look of, they were balanced on the flat planks.

    Once we got inside, we set them down in the workshop I''d started getting ready.

    ¡°Thanks, Jessep.¡± I said as I dusted off my hands.

    ¡°No worries.¡± Jessep said and I could see him eyeing my small engraving tools. He nodded towards them. ¡°You know how to use those?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Mostly.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Been using them for a few years so I''ve figured out how not to poke holes in myself.¡±

    Jessep grinned. ¡°Well let me know if you want any pointers, I''ll only charge you half price for the lessons because you''re the boss.¡±

    ¡°Piss off.¡± I said with a laugh and Jessep''s own laughter followed him as he headed back to the rest of the workmen.

    I felt the grin still on my face as I lit up a couple of lanterns with a whisper of will, then I got to work.

    I didn''t start with the wood but instead I set down a block of stone and took a seat on the stool.

    The stone block was roughly one foot in length, half that in width and about three inches thick.

    Besides the chipped off corner on one end, it was completely smooth and the edges crisp and straight.

    I guessed that it had supposed to have been some kind of inlay for something at one point because it was a rich dark colour, something that was supposed to look nice rather than serve a function.

    I opened up my small notebook, found the right page then I picked up a charcoal pencil and began to draw in the shapes I wanted.

    I could use magic to alter the shape of the stone, I could even get a few of the more simple runes to open themselves in place on the stone''s surface but there was too much detail for me to do it all by magic so I would carve them by hand.

    I''d found that even if I could use my will to put a rune onto stone, albeit a simple rune, that when I carved the same rune by hand, the one I had carved always seemed to be slightly better than the one produced by magic alone.

    I had no idea why this was but I couldn''t deny that it was so.

    Pouring magic into a hand carved rune was always easier than one I had forced into place by magic, even the function of the rune itself seemed to work better as any power I put into it moved more freely from it to other connecting runes.

    I had figured this out back in the mountain, I had spent weeks, months probably, carving runes but at first I had just tried to will them into the stone with my power.

    I''d started getting frustrated with them because the memories I had from Althalan and the reality of the runes I had willed into being were different.

    They were less effective, almost sluggish and power hungry despite the fact I knew they shouldn''t be.

    I had no idea why this was, nothing from the grimoire and the memories I''d received gave any hint that there should be a reason for this. It was when I had started reading one of the other, ''normal'' books that Althalan had left behind that I got a clue.

    It had been a book about runes, although book implied that there was structure and organization to the contents, there wasn''t.

    It was actually a collection of notes and small reminders on runes and runic configurations that I noticed always referred to carving the runes when it ever referenced the act at all.

    Never once did it say anything about using magic to shape the stone, and I knew that moving or shaping stone was something that Althalan knew how to do.

    When I started carving runes into the stone by hand, I noticed the difference almost immediately.

    I had been happy to have discovered the correct way to use runes but still annoyed that I didn''t know the reason for the difference.

    I had a theory that something about forcing the stone to change it''s shape, about shifting the densities of the stone itself had something to do with it but I didn''t truly know.

    It was just my best guess from the partial knowledge I had.

    Carving runes into stone by hand took a long time, you couldn''t rush them because one small chip or groove put into the wrong place could ruin the entire thing. I ended up settling on a good balance between willing the stone to change and carving by hand.

    I would will splits into the stone, splits that released small chips of the stone that would allow most of the material I needed removed to come off and away from the stone. Then I could use my tools to carve them into their more intricate and final forms.

    They were still slightly less effect than carving the entire thing by hand but they were worlds above using my will alone to reshape the stone.

    It was a balance between function and time.

    I was using a small file to deepen a groove slightly on the block before me when a hand tapped me lightly on the shoulder.

    Slightly startled I looked up to see Marley standing there.

    ¡°Sorry, I guess I was caught up for a minute there.¡± I said and set down the file, turning my full attention to Marley.

    ¡°Longer than a minute.¡± Marley told me looking a little amused. ¡°It''s lunch time, that''s why I came here. I''m going to take all the lads to lunch, we''re going to come back afterwards and wait for a big material drop.¡± Marley explained.

    ¡°I''ve told them once they''ve put everything we get delivered away properly, they can have the rest of the day to themselves.¡± Marley said as he was examining the stone I had been working on. ¡°I asked you if you want to come with us or are you going to stay here?¡±

    I stretched my back slightly and it popped, having been hunched over for hours apparently wasn''t good for your back.

    I sighed then stood up.

    ¡°I''ll come.¡± I said. ¡°Where are we all going?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Three Hens.¡± Marley told me. ¡°Just back up the end of the street, back into town, at the corner on the right.¡±

    I thought for a moment and the image of the large tavern with window boxes with flowers came to mind.

    ¡°With the flowers in the windows?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That''s the one.¡± Marley nodded.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll just clean this up a little first.¡± I said and gestured to the stone block.

    It was both dusty and damp, I''d splashed water onto the carvings occasionally in an attempt to keep the dust levels down and a few of my tools had the grey wet dust on them still.

    ¡°Alright, but remember to close the bay door to when you leave.¡± Marley reminded me and turned around to head out. ¡°I''ll have a drink ready for you.¡± I told me as he walked away.

    ¡°I will.¡± I said. ¡°And thanks!¡±

    I set about cleaning up my small mess and making sure my tools were clean and ready to use once more.

    It was no more than ten minutes before I closed the big bay door to the warehouse and jogged my way out of the yard.

    *******

    The next day I was once more at the workshop that I had to myself.

    I sat on the stool, working on my stone as the sounds from the rest of the warehouse rang out around me.

    Cheerful chatter, the sounds of tools impacting on materials, jokes and good natured ribbing passing between workmen at other workshops and the odd emphatic curse when someone hammered their own nail rather than the iron one that went into the wood.

    The favoured response to this seemed to be one of the other workmen shouting out ''Wrong nail!'' while the others laughed, and whoever was unfortunate enough to have caught themselves would swear all the louder for it.

    I mostly managed to block out everything else but found myself grinning silently at my little workbench at the swearing.

    The lunch had been a little awkward yesterday, at least at first.

    It wasn''t until Jessep has started throwing meaningless insults in my direction that I had swiftly returned that things began to get better.

    The rest of the workmen relaxed a little more and as they did so, so did I.

    I wasn''t used to being around so many people all the time, having mostly hidden away in my mountain, but once that awkwardness was gone, I quickly found myself enjoying the company of the workmen.

    When I had arrived this morning, I''d gotten another round of nods and the occasional good morning but there had been a more relaxed feel to the casual greeting.

    I would have to thank Jessep for mocking me, it seemed bizarre but, I was pretty sure he knew what he was doing when he did it.

    He was a lot smarter and more thoughtful than he seemed with his mocking attitude and barbed tongue.

    I was almost done with the runes on my block of stone, they were intentionally left incomplete though.

    I needed to carve the fine details onto the last rune, it was this last rune that I would push my power into once it was complete, from this rune that power should spread into all the other runes on both sides of the stone.

    It was actually a habit to leave the power tap rune until everything else was done, the logic being that if you couldn''t empower the runes then there was less chance of an accident while you were still working on them.

    It was a habit that wasn''t actually my own, or at least it hadn''t been my own.

    It was just another one of those half-impressions I had picked up from Althalan.

    In this case, it was probably pointless but it didn''t make much difference in how long it took for me to complete the runic configuration, and I thought that it was just a good practise to have in general.

    First though I needed to use a drill and a little magic to bore a hole through the piece.

    There was a small mark on the stone that marked the centre of where I would bore my hole and so I changed the tip on the small drill, set myself to the mark and slowly began to turn the drill.

    As I did this, I let my focus settle into the stone and softened the area I was drilling through. A surprising amount of dust came up as the holesaw drill bit dug into the stone. It was more than would be considered normal as the stone I was focusing on lost density and the bit moved through it more easily.

    A few seconds of careful turning of the drill and the tip pierced through.

    I held up the stone and examined it.

    My runes were neat and moderately well carved, the hole I had just put into the centre of the stone was clean with no chips or cracks on the edges.

    I was satisfied with how it had come along so far.

    I dusted my stone off, then replaced the drill and bit back to their proper places before carving my final rune.

    I forced myself not to rush and keep my work steady and not too long later I was done.

    All I had to do now was empower the runes and see if they worked.

    Such a complex piece of work for something that would, if it worked, have such a basic and simple function.

    It wasn''t even something new to me, I had made something similar back in the mountain. Only back there, I had used my will to shape the stone as it was before I had discovered the reason for the mild nature of my runes.

    Air flow.

    That''s all this was.

    Pull in fresh air from one side and push it out of the other.

    Back in the mountain, I hadn''t needed a very effective rune for this, I could have probably just had a regular hole in the stone and it probably would have done a good enough job, but this was different in a way.

    It was the same basic idea only scaled down a lot, the hole that would take in air was also tiny when compared to the ones I had put into the mountain.

    And the other thing was that this work was clearly of a much higher standard than the work I had put into the runes back at the mountain, I had only just been beginning to learn what I could do back then after all.

    I had improved my skills considerably since my first few attempts into runecraft.

    Which was more important than the actual function that the runes would serve, this kind of work was something you needed to pay a professional a lot of gold to do, it was something only the wealthy could or would buy.

    Throw coin away for their own comfort, no matter how much it cost.

    I set my focus on the last rune I had carved upon the stone and began to let my power flow down into it, the raw forces from with me, sank easily into the rune and I both watched and felt as power then bled out from it and into the rest of the runes.

    I held myself like this simply letting the power sink into the rune and the stone at it''s own pace.

    Then a pressure against my focus and I ceased my flow of power as the rune let me know that it would take no more.

    A silvery sheen than no ordinary person could see, seemed to ripple into and out of the runes as the power they now contained settled.

    I waited for perhaps a minute or two before another light touch of my will directed at the stone activated their function.

    I felt a coolness to my fingertips as I held the stone and knew it was from a new current of air that was being pulled in and pushed out of my stone.

    I turned the stone in my hands and as I directed it up towards my face, a small gentle woosh of air stirred my hair slightly as it brushed up against the skin of my face.

    I grinned, willed the runes into inactivity and then set my stone piece back down on the workbench with a little satisfaction in my movements.

 Chapter Twenty One - A Short Reunion

    Three days had gone by and each day I had returned to the small workbench to work on my runes.

    I tested out several principles of varying runic configurations, I did not make something in the sense that I completed an item, nothing that I could sell or even put to use.

    Rather I worked on configurations that would be pieces of a larger whole, to have a proof of concept before I truly made something that would be put to use.

    During this time Marley and I had settled on a final plan for my wagon''s design, he had even begun putting together the thick wooden beams that would make up the base of my wagon.

    It was enough progress, that I felt it was the right time to begin my own work on the wagon in earnest.

    I had brought in several cut pieces of stone and wood with a little help from the workmen.

    The stone I had to work with was mostly dark grey, almost black save for the beautiful bluish marbling along it''s smooth surfaces.

    It added a richness to the stone that spoke of a high quality.

    Now I simply had to produce some high quality rune carving for it, otherwise the materials would be ruined.

    I took my time just marking down the configurations on them with a pencil, checking them over then rechecking them again to be sure they were perfect.

    In the end I didn''t actually do any carving that first day but instead marked out all the pieces I would have to work on, both the stone and the wood.

    I ended up back in the office building with Marley at the end of the day.

    ¡°Are you sure you don''t want the coin?¡± Marley asked me again for what seemed like the tenth time.

    I sighed slightly, Marley had come to find me specifically to ask about the coin.

    It was coin that had been made since I had bought into the business and Marley was still unsure about spending my share of the profits despite me telling him otherwise.

    ¡°I''m sure, Marley.¡± I said once more. ¡°In fact, I think it''s time we talked about our first expansion.¡±

    Marley seemed a little surprised by this.

    ¡°So soon?¡± He asked me. ¡°Don''t you think it''s a little early to buy another place? We''ve barely got started again here and the coin we''ve made so far won''t be enough for that yet.¡±

    I shook my head and waved this away.

    ¡°I can always put in a little more coin for now, it''s not a problem. My share of the coins afterwards can be used to pay myself back.¡± I told Marley.

    ¡°I''ve thought about this and I think the sooner we get going with this particular idea, the better.¡± I said and shifted a little in my chair to get more comfortable before I explained. ¡°We''ll be able to buy existing buildings and yards in most places but I think for this, we should have one built in Diggin.¡± I told Marley.

    ¡°We don''t have to have a place as big as this one because at Diggin, we can specialise in wagon repair and other things that the miners will need.¡± I told Marley.

    ¡°It''s something they actually need there and the way I see it, if we build a place there, the wood and stone for the building would be cheap and up in no time.¡± I explained. ¡°We could have a team of workmen there whose job it is to repair or even build wagons for the mines, they could also do all the other things the miners might need and if that isn''t enough to keep them busy, then they could make things for the village too, furniture, do general repairs. It would be like all the things that go on here just as a secondary priority.¡±

    Marley was frowning in thought but he was also nodding along slightly, as he examined the idea.

    ¡°I think our biggest problem is going to be finding workmen.¡± Marley said after a moment of deep thought.

    ¡°Hm.¡± I hummed out as I too thought it over.

    The two of us thought in silence for a while before Marley broke it.

    ¡°If we can... No, that won''t work.¡± He cut himself off.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, wanting to hear anyway.

    ¡°It won''t be viable, not if we expect to make a profit.¡± Marley said shaking his head.

    ¡°Tell me anyway, it might help me think of something else.¡± I said.

    ¡°I was thinking that I could ask some of the lads from here to move down there but we''d have to make it worth it. Some of them have families here in town and asking them to move away or take them with them is too much.¡± Marley explained but I tried to work through solutions for it.

    In the end, neither of us could come up with anything that didn''t involve hiring men from Diggin which was something we didn''t want to do.

    Marley had a reputation to maintain and he only wanted workmen who he knew were good at their job, we both parted ways that evening but the idea still lingered in my mind as I returned to the inn.

    I felt like a moved around in a daze when I went down for an evening meal, my mind still working over possibilities for expanding to Diggin.

    I doubted myself at first, thinking that I''d had the idea back when I came through Diggin and it had just stuck since then.

    I thought I was clinging onto the idea for no real reason but after the meal and when I had returned to my room I was struck with the beginnings of a solution.

    I had been laying in bed, trying to fall asleep but I sat up quickly and got up and out.

    A small orb of light flickered to life in the dark room and floated in the air, at the same time I hurriedly found my notebook.

    I began writing down my idea.

    If we were going to buy the land to have a huge workyard in then we would have plenty of room, the idea was to build up a smaller warehouse with workshops in that land as well as store materials.

    Because there would have to be room for wagons to come and go too then the land we bought would have to have plenty of extra space, space enough to build a second building.

    I could easily pay for this, hell I could probably help build it myself and cut down on what would already be a fairly quick build time.

    The more I thought about it the more sure I was that this was a good idea, it even had long reaching effects that could come in very useful.

    ****************

    ¡°So once this second building is done...¡± I was explaining to Marley the next day as we both sat in the office. ¡°We can have it filled with rooms for workmen and any apprentices they take on. They can spend a week there and a week back home, that''s if they don''t want to stay in Diggin full time.¡±

    Marley was looking thoughtful but he didn''t speak up as I clearly had more to say.

    ¡°A little of the profits from the workshops there can go to looking after the apprentices and a little extra to the housing, it won''t cost anything for maintenance because the men can repair most things, I think most of it will end up going on food and clothing for the apprentices.¡± I told Marley and took in a breath before continuing.

    ¡°Think about it, it''s a perfect place for the apprentices to be trained by men you trust and when we eventually open more places there will be lots of locations for them to choose from where they''re guaranteed work.¡± Then I asked Marley. ¡°So what do you think?¡±

    The older man chewed on his lip a little and rubbed at his moustache before he spoke.

    ¡°It''s a good idea.¡± He admitted. ¡°Especially about training up the apprentices but won''t this cost you too much? I know I keep going on about this and you''ve told me you''re not hurting for coin but...¡± Marley trailed off and I sighed.

    ¡°If I prove to you just how little this coin is to me, will you drop this?¡± I asked him as I reached for my leather satchel. It was time to put this worry to rest and I had an easy way to do it at hand.

    I set down the leather satchel on the desk and looked to Marley who had a curious expression on his face, after a moment though he nodded and watched.

    I opened up the satchel and slid out my book of chests.

    I knew that Marley could clearly see the runes all over the oversized book but I could also tell that while he knew it was obviously magical in nature, he had no idea what this had to do with coin.

    I flipped open the few pages, stood the book up and pushed power into the runes.

    They shimmered to my eyes and I pulled on the small handle.

    ¡°Gods above!¡± Marley exclaimed as he watched a chest sized compartment slide out of the apparently flat frame.

    Almost immediately he made a choking sound as he got a good look at the contents.

    There was probably more wealth in it than had ever been in the town at one time, not just in gold coin or the ingots but the gems were clarly on display too.

    I picked one of the hefty pouches of coins I had minted and tossed it onto the table before I slid the chest shut.

    Marley remained silent as I put away my book of chest and set my satchel back down on the floor.

    I met Marley''s eyes when I spoke next.

    ¡°That''s just what I decided to bring with me.¡± I said seriously. ¡°I could have brought a lot more.¡±

    ¡°Do you believe me now?¡± I asked after a moment.

    ¡°Damn it, lad.¡± Marley said. ¡°How can I not? I''ve never seen the-¡± He cut himself off and shook his head, even though it was only mid-morning, he headed over to a wooden cabinet and poured himself a drink.

    He wasted no time in downing the contents before carefully replacing the bottle back inside. He squared his shoulders and turned back to me.

    ¡°Alright, I guess we''re expanding to Diggin then.¡± Marley said and I couldn''t help but grin.

    It would almost be worth taking Marley to the mountain to show him the true hoard just to see his reaction, almost.

    I took my leave and headed back into the warehouse to get back to work, feeling a little thrill of excitement at the small expansion that would be coming soon.

    More days went by as I worked and during that time a few more of the workmen returned, I ended up having to move from my workshop to the one at the far end where Marley and his team were rapidly making progress on my wagon.

    The workshop I''d previously occupied was now home to another team of workmen, leaving me to take up a single workbench in Marley''s workshop.

    Marley had told the workmen about the plans to build another workyard in Diggin, he''d explained, which a little help from myself, about the housing we would build there and asked that the men think it over.

    There were several men who were interested, one of which was Jessep.

    Having to take on an apprentice was a mixed blessing according to him when we were talking one afternoon in the Three Hens over another group lunch.

    The idea of actually having to teach an apprentice was anathema to the man because naturally, it involved actually having to work.

    The fact that he complained about it actually being hard work was a good sign though, because it meant that he fully understood, even if he bemoaned it, that he would have to do a good job at it.

    He might be lazy but he knew how to work when he needed to.

    The other side of the coin though was what had convinced him he should take on an apprentice and head to Diggin.

    He would essentially get an assistant that he could order around all the time, he would get free housing and would be one of, if not the most senior workman at the new location which he informed me, ''would practically make him one of the bosses''.

    He was joking and poking fun the entire time as he usually did but I could see a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

    I had noticed that while he worked, he complained loudly, much to everyone else''s amusement, he was frequently found sitting around in his own or another team''s workshop chatting away but despite all of this, his work always got done.

    His work was always good quality, according to Marley, and he was never last to finish either, despite the many many breaks he took from actually working.

    He knew his craft and he knew it well to be able to have such free time during his work day without falling behind.

    I''d brought this up to Marley privately in the office and he had told me that he''d been trying to light a fire under Jessep for years to get him to have a little more ambition, but the younger man had proved too stubborn about his lazy persona to do anything.

    It seemed that potentially being one of the bosses of an entire new workyard had finally awoken something up in the man.

    Initially, there were three other workmen who were interested in going to Diggin, though only two of them were willing to move there full time.

    One of them was what Marley considered ''seasoned'' and would be a good fit for a leadership role.

    Bistan was a grizzled looking workman who was no nonsense, a long time hard worker and a master at his craft.

    We both agreed that Bistan would be a perfect counterpoint and partner to Jessep, someone needed to be there to keep the mischievous man in check sometimes and Bistan was the man to do it.

    We decided that both Bistan and Jessep would be nominally in charge at the new location based on Bistan''s well known and long-standing reputation as a hard working and sensible man, while Jessep would be his partner as someone who had the charisma to deal with customers as well as being a great craftsman.

    Under them would be the other two workmen and each would take on an apprentice too.

    That would have four workmen and four apprentices to assist and learn at Diggin, it was more than enough for the use of one workshop, it might even be enough for two depending on what they were working on.

    A few other men agreed that if the need arose they would go to Diggin to help out for a week or two if their numbers weren''t enough to manage the workload, though they made it clear that they would not be doing it permanently and they expected to be compensated for travel and food.

    Both Marley and myself thought this was fair and agreed.

    What was surprising though was that they agreed to take on apprentices too though they would be apprenticed here in Moreland''s Rest but would travel with their masters if they needed to go to help out at Diggin.

    We would be losing four men here in Moreland''s Rest but we would be gaining three apprentices who could at least help out as they learned.

    After many hours of discussions, Marley would be heading out to Diggin with plans to buy some land.

    Being his partner meant that while Marley was gone, I would technically be in charge of the workyard here in Moreland''s Rest.

    While Marley was only going to buy the land and make some arrangements, he would still be gone for the better part of a week including travel time.

    I had been a little apprehensive of being in charge of the business, I just didn''t have the experience with pricing up potential builds, nor with estimating how long things would take to make.

    I could follow the project schedule easily enough but that only told me what was currently being worked on, what came next and in what order.

    I had a brief bout of inspiration though and Marley agreed that it was a good idea.

    Bistan and Jessep would be the ones to actually run the business in Marley''s absence.

    It would be a great way to test how well they did while getting me off the hook, I would still be here to give official approval if it were needed but I could probably spend most of my days finishing off my carving.

    I hoped I would be able to, though I would probably have to spend a lot of time sitting in the office.

    ****************

    I stepped out of the inn and onto the streets of Moreland''s Rest, I followed the now familiar route to the workyard after making a brief stop and soon enough I was using the keys Marley had had made for me.

    I opened up the warehouse first then I unlocked the office building to put my satchel inside after taking out a small bundle from one of my chests.

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    I relocked the door and headed into the warehouse to wait for the workmen to arrive.

    This was the first day I would be in charge, Marley would probably already be on his way to Diggin by now even though it was still early.

    I made myself useful in the mean time though.

    I was in the small ''break'' area, it was mostly just tables and chairs but it had a small kitchen area and I headed towards the fireplace.

    I piled up some wood and focused on it for a moment before the smaller pieces began to smoulder, I waited until the first few licks of true flame took hold before I turned my attention to the counter.

    I opened up the top of the ridiculously large kettle and with a little more will, a steady trickle of water began to fall from my palm into it.

    I felt my brow tighten as I frowned slightly and I pushed a little more power out. The trickle of water increased in size to a steady pouring and even then, I still had to stand there for a while to fill the thing.

    I replaced the lid and hung the now heavy kettle over the flames to boil.

    Next I spent a little time walking along the warehouse, lighting lanterns and opening up the rest of the bay doors.

    By the time I was satisfied with the light levels and the soft breeze in the warehouse, I headed back to the break area.

    Naturally the water in the oversized kettle hadn''t boiled yet but I could already hear a couple of voices outside. As I set about taking some cups out of the cupboard I focused my will on the hanging kettle.

    I began to shift the density of the metal that made it up, nothing dramatic though, if you looked at the kettle it would look no different that usual, but that wasn''t the point.

    The rapid changes taking place in the metal heated it even faster and by extension the water it contained heated up too, I quickly pulled my will back when the lid of the kettle started chattering, bobbing up and down as the water came to a boil faster than I expected.

    I took it off the flames using a cloth and brought it over to the counter setting it down next to the cups.

    I turned around to collect the bundle I''d set down on one of the tables and as I did I saw Jessep, Bistan and two other workmen entering the warehouse all chattering away.

    Well, Jessep and the other two workmen were talking, Bistan was looking around the warehouse distractedly, I could tell he was thinking through the day ahead.

    ¡°Just in time!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°The water just boiled and I''m sure I heard Jessep bragging about his tea making prowess the other day?¡± I ended it at a question but there was a grin on my face.

    Jessep laughed and so did one of the other workmen, Bistan looked slightly amused but the last workmen was the one who spoke up.

    ¡°I heard that too!¡± The man lied good naturedly. ¡°Something about how he''d prove it to us all just as soon as he got the chance!¡±

    ¡°Piss off!¡± Jessep said still laughing.

    ¡°And just think, I bought all these sweet cakes to go with a world famous Jessep tea!¡± I said with mock disappointment as I opened the bundle to reveal the mound of sweet cakes. ¡°I guess I''ll have to throw them all away then.¡±

    ¡°Bastard!¡± Jessep cursed me as he eyed the prize. ¡°How am I supposed to refuse now?¡±

    ¡°That''s not what you should be worried about.¡± Bistan said in his gravelly voice.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jessep asked as the men started taking their seats near me.

    ¡°You should be more worried about how long you spend arguing about it.¡± Bistan told him. ¡°Because the longer you argue about it, the more men will show up...¡±

    It took him a moment of looking confused before his eyes widened with understanding.

    ¡°...the more I''ll have to make!¡± Jessep cried out in horror and dramatically jumped to his feet as if someone were about to attack him.

    He snatched a sweet cake, shoved most of it into his mouth and ran towards the kitchen area as the rest of us laughed.

    I only ended up having to be the boss once that day and even then, it was only a small thing.

    A man named Bryll came to the office to commission a complete set of furniture for the tavern he had opened, I had called in Jessep and Bistan to talk over design with the man and they had taken care of the rest.

    Jessep had set a reasonable price for the man once the Bistan and the man were happy with the design they had agreed upon, I''d simply overseen a contract signing for the commission.

    It was on the second day that things got interesting.

    I was sitting in the office reading about life in the desert when a knock on the office door interrupted me close to lunch time.

    The door opened and in walked Captain Holt followed by the dark skinned southerner Sal.

    I was surprised enough that I froze in place momentarily, wondering what the hell was going on.

    Luckily, I was sitting so it wasn''t really noticeable.

    ¡°Captain Holt.¡± I said a little warily in greeting as I stood, I nodded over to Sal who returned the nod with a frown.

    I saw the moment that both of them recognised me.

    Their eyes widened slightly and Holt caught his breath.

    ¡°Lad?¡± Holt said questioningly.

    I shrugged slightly.

    ¡°I used to be.¡± I told him.

    Holt was a little greyer than he had been but he looked just as sturdy as ever.

    I''d only once caught a glimpse of him during my visits back to Moreland''s Rest over the years and even then, my look at him had been a fleeting thing and from a distance.

    He still had the same piercing blue eyes though, I saw them clearly as he gazed at me.

    ¡°Would you like to take a seat?¡± I asked after a moment of silence, gesturing at the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

    Holt''s shoulders lost some tension I hadn''t noticed and he glanced back at Sal.

    ¡°You can get back to the guardhouse, I don''t think you''ll be needed after all.¡± Holt told the man.

    Sal simply nodded at these words then nodded once more to me before turning around a leaving.

    While Sal left Holt took one of the chairs and sat down heavily.

    ¡°So you''re this young lord who has bought into Marley''s business.¡± Holt said, it wasn''t a question but his voice had the tone of wanting to know more.

    I nodded once I''d reseated myself.

    ¡°I am.¡± I admitted. ¡°I take it that''s why you''re here?¡±

    Holt smiled a little under his thick beard but nodded.

    ¡°I heard about some strange young noble who had bought into Marley''s business, I was curious after-¡± Holt stopped to censor himself briefly. ¡°-After what happened, but I didn''t think much of it. I heard rumours about expanding and a few other things. Thought I''d come see who you were...¡± Holt trailed off and seemed uncharacteristically embarrassed.

    ¡°Well.¡± I said ordering my thoughts. ¡°I can only give you my word that I''m not trying to pull a scam or steal from Marley? I''d say you could ask him yourself but he won''t be back from Diggin for at least a few days yet.¡±

    I half shrugged and half raised my hands in a gesture that meant ''what can I do?''.

    ¡°You can always talk to the workmen I suppose...¡± I said.

    ¡°I might.¡± Holt said but his tone said that he thought it would probably be a waste of time. ¡°I''d like to know what you have been doing all this time, lad.¡± Holt told me. ¡°And why you''re back too, first though, why did you buy into Marley''s business?¡±

    ¡°I''m just passing through really.¡± I said which wasn''t a complete lie. ¡°I heard about what happened to Marley and had the coin to help out.¡± I admitted. ¡°I''m more of a silent partner really, I don''t actually have much to do with the actual business.¡± I gestured to the office we were sitting in.

    ¡°I''m only in here right now because Marley is in Diggin, I doubt I''ll be here in a months time though.¡± I said honestly.

    ¡°I see.¡± Holt said. ¡°I don''t mean to accuse you of anything, lad, but I will be asking Marley when he comes back.¡±

    I nodded, not offended.

    ¡°Feel free.¡± I said. ¡°Do you want a drink or something?¡±

    ¡°No thanks but feel free to have one yourself.¡± Holt said in a voice that told me he''d said the same thing a thousand times. I guess he didn''t drink when on duty.

    I shook my head slightly with a little smirk.

    ¡°Don''t want one either, just thought I''d be polite and offer.¡± I admitted.

    Holt''s beard twitched with a slight smirk of his own.

    ¡°So are you going to tell me where you''ve been all this time?¡± Holt asked me after a moment. ¡°I''m guessing you managed to sort out whatever it was you were running from.¡±

    I shook my head slightly.

    ¡°Not exactly.¡± I told the older guardsmen. ¡°I''m not running away any more I guess, but I''ve managed to stay out of sight long enough that they probably think I''m dead.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Other than that, I''ve been around, just not often.¡±

    ¡°It''s evasive answers like that that make me want to start getting some better answers from you.¡± Holt said pointedly.

    I rolled my eyes, I couldn''t help it.

    Holt really was a guardsman, a Captain no less and it showed.

    I wondered idly when was the last time the man had just had a normal conversation with another person without his job bleeding through.

    ¡°I''ve been in seclusion.¡± I said. ¡°Studying my, gift?¡± I said it questioningly not sure what to call it other than ''magic''. I shrugged it away and continued. ¡°Like I said, I''ve been around occasionally just not very often and not where people might recognise me.¡±

    Holt just raised a thick eyebrow at me.

    He wanted to know more but a mischievous part of me didn''t want to just tell him anything he wanted, just to see what would happen.

    I raised an eyebrow back at him but said nothing else.

    We stared at each other, the silence building between us, neither wanting to be the first to speak and after what felt like an hour but was probably closer to a minute, Holt grunted.

    ¡°I see.¡± The Captain said. ¡°Well, I hope you managed to learn some better control.¡±

    The mood soured slightly between us at that, pulling up my lack of control that day when Miller had attacked me.

    ¡°Shouldn''t have brought that up.¡± Holt admitted. ¡°Sorry, Lad.¡±

    I waved it away.

    Holt had clearly been trying to make a joke of it but hadn''t thought it through.

    ¡°It''s alright.¡± I said. ¡°But I have learned some control, I''ve learned a lot of things since then.¡±

    ¡°I''m glad to hear it.¡± Holt said then after a moment he spoke on a little hesitantly. ¡°He''s not here any more you know? Miller that is.¡±

    I was conflicted at the words.

    I didn''t really want to talk about it but a part of me still wondered what had happened to the man afterwards.

    I managed to raise an eyebrow in question but not to ask aloud, Holt seemed to understand though.

    ¡°Lost his job of course.¡± Holt told me. ¡°But after all was said and done though, he ended up only having to pay coin for what he did and that was paid by his father.¡± The bitterness in Holt''s words was as clear as day.

    ¡°He was here in town for a while but once everyone found out what he''d done, when they saw the marks on his-¡± Holt cut himself off. ¡°-Well, he ended up leaving anyway. Rodrick-his father, swears he doesn''t know where he got off too but it was clear he left on his own. Took some of his belongings from home and if I had to guess, he probably took some of his father''s coin with him too though Rodrick wouldn''t say so.¡±

    I was silent for a while, just digesting this information.

    ¡°Why only a fine?¡± I asked eventually.

    ¡°Town politics.¡± Holt said with that bitterness in his voice again. ¡°His father is a respected man, he might only have started out at the town miller but he''s put a lot of coin in other places since then.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow at this but Holt was shaking his head at his own words.

    ¡°I made it sound like he''s up to no good.¡± Holt told me. ¡°As far as I know he''s mostly an honest businessman but he''s made a lot of coin in the town for the last decade or so, so the higher ups listen to him when he wants to say something.¡±

    ¡°You think he did ask them to let Mil-his son off lightly?¡± I asked Holt, correcting the name midway through, even after all these years it still tasted sour in my mouth.

    Holt sighed.

    ¡°I don''t know, lad.¡± He told me. ¡°I just don''t know. Maybe he did or maybe he didn''t need to ask. Either way, I was told that I was ''too close'' to it and it got taken out of my hands.¡± Holt admitted. ¡°All I could do was wait to see what happened.¡±

    We both stayed quite for a while, lost in our own thoughts before we were interrupted by the office door opening.

    Jessep walked in and I could see him about to throw some clever barb at me but then he froze as he caught sight of Holt.

    ¡°Captain Holt!¡± Jessep said, sounding slightly panicked at the sudden appearance of an authority figure. ¡°Good afternoon, sir!¡± He greeted quickly and in the most respectful tone I''ve ever heard come from the man''s mouth.

    ¡°Afternoon, Jessep.¡± Holt said back. ¡°Your mother well? Hows her leg?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Jessep answered. ¡°She''s just fine, she says it''s stiff sometimes but that''s about it. Thank you for asking.¡±

    There was a story there but I didn''t think it was the time to ask about it. The reaction Jessep was having to Holt was certainly interesting though, he was uncomfortable enough that it was noticeable.

    ¡°Did you need something Jessep?¡± I asked. ¡°Captain Holt was busy interrogating me to see if I''m trying to con Marley out of his coin.¡± I stated with a grin but Jessep''s eyes went huge.

    Holt grunted.

    ¡°No need to exaggerate.¡± Holt said though I thought he sounded a little amused. ¡°Just lookin'' in on Marley''s new partner to see if all is well.¡±

    Jessep seemed to feel the need to speak in my defence though, despite his obvious wariness of the guardsman.

    He managed to work up the nerve.

    ¡°Al''s a good boss!¡± Jessep said then quickly corrected himself. ¡°Well, he''s been a good boss so far. What I mean is, we''ve known him since he was a boy and he wouldn''t do anything like that! Besides the boss said-Marley that is- said they signed a contract, he didn''t say what but he told all us workmen that there''s nothing to worry about because of it.¡± Jessep got out in a rambling rush and seemed to realised just how he sounded to us.

    He took a breath then spoke in a calmer voice.

    ¡°Hall can go f- Well, it''s better now than it was before.¡± Jessep finished a little lamely after correcting the obvious curse he''d been about to voice.

    ¡°I see.¡± Holt said. ¡°Well, I suppose I''ll leave it at that for now.¡±

    Holt stood up and so did I, I moved around the desk and held out a hand to the old guardsman.

    ¡°It was good to see you again, old man.¡± I said with a grin as we shook.

    Holt grunted at my words but his eyes twinkled.

    ¡°I''ve got my eye on you.¡± Holt told me in mock warning, or at least I thought it was a mock warning.

    It was hard to tell with Holt.

    Captain Holt left the small office building and Jessep immediately set in on trying to dig some gossip out of me.

    He continued to pester throughout the work lunch, which had been the reason he''d come to find me in the first place.

    Jessep speculated wildly and loudly with ever increasingly improbable scenarios to the other workmen, who all got a good laugh out of it.

    My favourite of his many guesses was that Holt suspected that I was in fact Hall, Marley''s old partner and that I was really a shape-shifter.

    That I''d returned to cause more trouble for Marley and the men.

    I''d dryly responded that I was very disappointed that having been found out so easily.

    Even Bistan had snorted his half-ale and spluttered at that.

 Chapter Twenty Two - Turning the Fates

    When Marley returned it was with good news.

    He had bought a plot of land, it was just on the edge of Diggin between the rest of the growing village and the road that led to the actual mines.

    He''d paid for a lot of cut stone to be delivered to the land as well as paying for some lumber to be stored securely elsewhere in Diggin.

    By his report, the land was mostly flat already but it had many tree stumps that needed to be pulled out of the ground or burnt out.

    He had hired some men to begin clearing the land in the meantime and had left them with two large areas to prepare for building upon, marked out by him personally.

    We spent the better part of another week coming up with building designs, the building that would house the workshops wasn''t difficult for Marley to come up with because he already knew exactly what would be needed.

    It was the housing for the workmen that took the longest.

    We had no real reason to wait to get started on the expansion other than my wagon, the rest of the work here in Moreland''s Rest could be done by the workmen, it was only the work that Marley and myself had to do on my wagon that would have to wait.

    Depending on how long the building took, or more specifically, how long both Marley and myself needed to be there to work or oversee the building process, we would have to hold off on working on my wagon for probably three weeks.

    That was our best guess as how long the two of us would have to stay in Diggin.

    ****************

    I was standing with Marley on the new land we had bought in Diggin, looking for the first time with my own eyes at just how much work we would have to do.

    Bistan and Jessep had been left in charge of Moreland''s Rest while both Marley and myself, along with four workmen, had travelled to Diggin with some carts, tools and a few other things we would need.

    There were a lot of tree stumps still in the ground but there were three areas that were free of them entirely.

    The first two were clearings that were very obviously where our buildings would be built.

    The ground in these two places was already prepared, and the laying of foundation stone almost completed by the time we had arrived.

    The third cleared area was also the largest, it was where a mass of materials, labourers, tools and horses were. Carts were loaded up with stone, horses pulled them and their burdens and labourers chatted as they went about their hard tasks.

    I was left alone as Marley left my side, followed by the workmen and carts as they too jumped into the thick of things.

    By the end of that first day, I had used my magic once.

    It had caused a round of hushed whispers from all the workers as the foundations they had worked with, the mortar that was poured onto the large amounts of stone, all became solid by my will.

    I did my best to ignore them, instead I remained aloof and acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I had walked away from the building to go read in one of our carts.

    My part in all of this building was to use my magic.

    Rather than cut the stone we would build with using tools, I would separate them into easy to handle bricks. They would be laid by hand then eventually they would have to be lifted up higher by using the ropes and horses.

    All the while, I would step in at certain points to rejoin the stone bricks back together.

    It wasn''t so simple of course, there were support beams that needed to be fitted, frames put in for windows and doors and there were a hundred other smaller details that had to be seen to, but for me and my own involvement, that was mostly it.

    Show up when I was told the time was right, sink my will into the stone bricks and let them blend back into one whole.

    The first three days of this were tiring, I''d been moving between the two buildings constantly as the work being on the ground allowed things to move rapidly.

    The labourers were able to carry and set down bricks under the direction of the skilled workmen, all under Marley''s watchful eye.

    It was only when the walls reached a good height that I got to take a little time to myself during the days of work.

    While the workers hoisted up the bricks to their new heights I was able to finally keep atop of the workload, even Marley and Rhys, one of the workmen who had come with us to Diggin, began to spend a little time building some essentials out of the lumber they had had delivered.

    The days passed a little smoother for me after that, I was required less and less until eventually the roof beams were being lifted up and set into place and I wasn''t needed at all.

    I''d gone into the village to have lunch at the inn and was taking my time to wander back to the workyard, pleasantly full from the stew and knowing I wasn''t needed urgently, if at all, I decided to take a roundabout away back.

    I''d been to Diggin plenty of times over the years but those visits had been short things, visits with a purpose to buy things I needed.

    As the small outpost had expanded into a true village, I''d become more and more unfamiliar with the place, instead heading directly to the places that I knew during my infrequent visits.

    Having the time to spare now though, I wandered the streets, looking at small shops that had sprung up, at the new streets where homes had been build for the booming population.

    I made the mistake of cutting through a small alley way when my exit was blocked by three brutish looking men.

    They weren''t dressed as workers or even guardsmen, they were in rough nondescript clothing and the only remarkable thing about their appearance seemed to be their thuggish looks and large size.

    ¡°Come with us.¡± One of the men grunted out at me, his expression was blank but his eyes were hostile.

    The tone of his voice made it clear that this wasn''t a request but an order. All three of the large men seemed to try to make themselves appear taller and more menacing by glaring at me in a poor attempt at intimidation.

    Maybe their size or whatever reputation they might have was usually enough to cow most people, but I didn''t know who they were and had the means to defend myself.

    This being the case, the attempt at intimidation was a failure but I couldn''t help but be curious. I wondered what was going on, it didn''t seem like an attempt to rob me.

    We were already in an alley way, out of the way of people, if they wanted an out of the way place to try to take my coin or even attack me then this was a prime location.

    They wanted me to come with them and I couldn''t help but wonder what was actually going on or what they were trying to do..

    In the spur of the moment, I made a snap decision and I played along in an attempt to find out.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, hoping to project the voice of a man who was scared but trying not to show it.

    ¡°Doesn''t matter.¡± The first thug said and one of the others made a show of sneering at me. ¡°The boss sent for you, so you''re coming with us.¡±

    ¡°Don''t try make trouble or else you''ll regret it.¡± The third thug said and it seemed like something he had said many times before.

    ¡°Who is your boss?¡± I demanded trying to sound brave but intentionally lowered my eyes down to the ground, as I couldn''t bring myself to keep my eyes on the man''s gaze.

    The two thugs moved to either side of me and put a hand on my shoulders while the third turned his back to me as he spoke.

    ¡°You''ll find out soon enough.¡± He told me in what probably would have been frightening to someone else, someone who couldn''t turn them into ragged chunks of meat with a thought.

    The hands on my shoulders gripped tightly almost in unison and pushed me forwards, I moved along with them and the three of us followed the thug in charge.

    I kept up the act as I was led out of the alley and into the village streets.

    I demanded to know where they were taking me, who they were taking me to see and along up some weak and empty sounding threats.

    Do you know who I am? My partner is an important man! and people will be looking for me. All the while the men smirked at what they thought was a scared man, trying to be brave.

    My two, friends, kept close to either side of me as we followed the third.

    One of them whispered down to me, interrupting one of my dire assurances that people would be looking for me already.

    ¡°If you make trouble where people can see, I''ll make sure you can''t do much of anything after.¡± The thug told me in a low voice, the other was looking around at other villagers who we passed by.

    I noticed that the majority of them took one look at the situation and lowered their gaze, some people outright turned around and walked away.

    Apparently these thugs were known to the village-folk and they wanted no part in whatever was happening.

    The third man led us in the direction I had been heading originally, towards the outer edge of the village.

    Instead of heading towards the workyard though, I was directed down a street to a stout stone building that yet another large thug was standing outside of.

    There were no other people on the street, this was apparently a safe enough place for them to get a little more forceful with me.

    The same thug who had whispered this threat to me used the hand on my shoulder to push me forwards, I stumbled slightly prompting my two escorts to laugh.

    The leader was standing outside the door to the building, looking at me expectantly. My idiot thugs walked towards me with malicious grins, herding me towards the door.

    I did what they wanted me to do and walked into the doorway, as I breeched the entrance to the building I was thrown forwards by an impact on my back and when I looked up and around from the dusty floorboards, I saw that the man who had been guarding the door was looking down at me with a self satisfied smirk.

    ¡°Get up.¡± The original thug told me as he made his way inside, followed shortly by my two escorts.

    I stood up and made a show looking around with what I hoped was a slightly panicked expression.

    I was in a room that was dimly lit, besides the dusty wooden floorboards there were, two thick and roughly build wooden tables, each of them placed in front of the two murky windows of the bulding.

    Sitting around the tables were three other men, bringing the total to six thugs inside and the seventh, who had kicked my back, remaining outside as the door was closed.

    Turning around to look at the rest of the room, I saw a door in one wall and a small staircase to the right.

    A large hand set down on my shoulder once more and I looked to see the thug leader pointing a fat finger towards the stairs.

    ¡°Move.¡± He said and pushed me in the direction of them. ¡°Don''t make me tell you twice.¡±

    I said nothing.

    I walked towards the stairs, pulling my shoulder out from beneath his grip in the process. I went up the narrow stairs as they turned and into a small hall that contained three doors.

    Two of them were slightly ajar and only darkness could be seen from the unlit rooms.

    The third door was closed but in the dim hall, but I could clearly see light coming from under the door. Without having to be told, I moved towards the door and was about to push it open when the hand gripped my shoulder once more.

    The thug squeezed tightly and pulled me back a little, he glared at me as he moved past me to knock one the door.

    ¡°Come.¡± A voice said from the other side of the door and the thug opened it. The light from inside the room lit the dim hall briefly to reveal more dusty floorboards and not much else. I moved forward into the room while the thug stood just to the side of the doorway glaring at me.

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    ¡°Brought him, boss.¡± The thug said to a man sitting behind a desk.

    This room was an office of some kind, presumably belonging to the man behind the desk. There were several drawers and cabinets that looked at home in the office but were mostly empty of things to be displayed on them.

    The desk had some papers on them as well as ink pots and writing equipment.

    I examined the man who was presumably the reason I had been brought here ''against my will''. He looked to be in his fifties, hair shorn tight to his scalp but the short hairs bristled with plenty of silver. He wore what I thought of as merchant garb, it was a kind of outfit that merchants thought that nobility wore, though made from much cheaper materials.

    He stood up and his stubbled jaw moved as he spoke.

    ¡°Ah, the little earth mage.¡± He said and seemed to make a show of smiling at me as if this were a pleasant encounter between two friends who had happened upon each other while out in the village. ¡°Take a seat, boy.¡± He said and the thug pushed my shoulder from behind to get me moving towards the seat on this side of the desk.

    I didn''t even look back at the thug, just walked silently to the chair and sat myself in it.

    ¡°Why am I here?¡± I asked, my voice held no hint of fear or false bravado now.

    I was here now, I could get my answers.

    The man raised his eyebrows as if in surprise at my words, his lips smirked though and his eyes glinted with anticipation.

    ¡°Well, that is no way to speak to your new boss.¡± He told me. ¡°I am Samuel Filch and you boy, will call me Mr Filch or Sir.¡± The man named Filch told me

    He sat back down in his chair and looked at me, as if waiting for something.

    ¡°Why am I here?¡± I asked again, ignoring his attempt to intimidate me.

    Filch tutted at my words and shook his head as if he were sad or disappointed.

    ¡°You, boy.¡± Filch said and pointed a finger with a fat gold ring on it in my direction. ¡°Will learn some respect in due time, be sure of that.¡± He told me. ¡°But I''ll let it go just this once while I explain your new situation.¡±

    Filch sleaned back in his chair, making a show of seeming relaxed as his gaze moved behind me.

    ¡°Bart.¡± Filch said. ¡°Fetch me a drink will you.¡± He said and gestured lazily with a hand to one of the only cabinets that was moderately filled.

    I watched as the lead thug, Bart apparently, moved over to the cabinet.

    He took a bottle and filled a glass with his thick fingers before bringing the glass over to set down upon the desk.

    The room was completely silent throughout this and I got the feeling that this was a performance, one they had done before.

    Bart moved away to stand back behind me, near the door, as Filch simply nodded at the small service.

    ¡°Now, boy.¡± Filch said taking up the glass and drinking a mouthful of the amber liquid inside. ¡°You''ll be coming to work for me now, you''ll be using your earth magic up at the mines.¡± He told me.

    I felt my own eyebrows rise at this.

    ¡°I will?¡± I asked without inflection in my voice.

    ¡°Yes, boy.¡± Filch said, clearly not liking my empty tone. ¡°You will.¡±

    He set down his glass and leaned forward, his voice dropping in what he thought would be a menacing tone.

    ¡°And you''ll be grateful for the opportunity too.¡± He told me. ¡°Not just anyone can get a contract to operate the mines. I have the connections necessary to get one and you will be clearing out the mines with your magic.¡±

    ¡°I already work for Marley & Edo.¡± I said, leaving out that I was in fact the very same Edo. He clearly thought I was just a worker who lucked out with a useful magical gift.

    ¡°Not any more you don''t.¡± Filch told me then took another drink of his glass as he watched me over the glass. ¡°I''ve spoken with your old bosses, they''ve decided to give you the opportunity to work for me and make some real coin.¡± Filch lied smoothly to me.

    I didn''t answer but my mind worked.

    This was why I was here.

    Apparently I was being intimidated into becoming a magical workhorse.

    No doubt Filch would get a contract to operate in the mines if he could boast an earth mage in his employ.

    He was wrong though.

    Firstly, I wasn''t an earth mage.

    I was a wizard.

    I didn''t just have some gift that allowed me to control the earth, no.

    I had no such limitations on my magic.

    Secondly, he wasn''t trying to employ me.

    He was trying to press me into working for him with bullying and lies, a petty village bully with delusions of grandeur and a heart full of greed.

    I could see it plainly, in his eyes, I was just a young man who could be forced into being his golden chit.

    With my magic, I could strip the mines and at a pace no mundane team of miners could match. Hells, I could probably give a genuine dwarf a run for his coin.

    I could pull out a lot of silver from the mines, silver that I''m sure Filch would love to get his hands on.

    Call it the experiences of a traumatic childhood surfacing.

    Or maybe I was just in a bad mood after having been treated this way by a petty bully and his thugs.

    Whatever it was though made me angry and I might have overreacted in my response.

    My mind focused and two bands of air, invisible to the thug and the bully in the room, appeared behind me, first those two and then two more.

    With my will alone, they were held in place around Bart''s ankles then his wrists.

    A fifth flexing of my will and a ball of air hovered completely unseen before the thug''s face.

    Bart didn''t know this though, because they weren''t actually touching against his skin in any way.

    Instead, they were like invisible vines, like shackles just wide enough not to make contact with the man, but floating there.

    Waiting unseen, ready for my command, ready to tighten and constrict.

    The ball of air in front of his face, just itching to dive forward and snuff out any sound that might come from his mouth.

    I gave no sign of this, no indication that unseen magic was taking place behind me.

    Instead gave Filch my coldest glare.

    ¡°You''re a fucking idiot.¡± I told him in what I thought was a calm tone.

    I saw his lip curl slightly as if he wanted to snarl at me like the mangy dog he was.

    ¡°You, boy are-¡± Filch began, but I cut him off.

    ¡°Shut your fucking mouth.¡± I interrupted him, my tone carrying a little more inflection than before.

    The was a brief sound behind me that died away to nothing, but both Filch and myself showed no sign of hearing it.

    I knew what had happened but the fool hadn''t realised yet.

    I spoke on before he could open his mouth again.

    ¡°You''re petty little man.¡± I told him in a conversational tone. ¡°You think you can just bully and lie to me to get what you want, don''t you? I bet it works all the time for you, doesn''t it?¡± I asked rhetorically, as if I were just speculating about an idle thought.

    ¡°Just lying and trying to scare people into doing what you want.¡± I continued. ¡°You''re clearly the kind of lazy piece of shit that would rather have others do work for you than do it yourself. I mean it''s obvious after just having been here for five minutes. Just look at you.¡±

    Filch''s face grew red at my words and I could see his rage about to spill out.

    ¡°But you''ve fucked up this time.¡± I told him. ¡°You really fucked up this time.¡±

    I wish I knew what my face looked like because just as he was about to spew forth whatever rancid words he planned to say, we locked eyes and it was like his own body forced itself not to respond.

    He looked away from me to Bart and his face took on a confused expression.

    I knew what he''d see behind me.

    Bart, the lead thug, straining his thick muscles, wide-eyed and seemingly unable to move or make a sound.

    ¡°I''m not an earth mage.¡± I said and it him took a moment to realised I had spoken, for him to look back at me, his face still confused.

    ¡°I''m not a mage at all actually.¡± I informed him. ¡°You didn''t even bother to find out my name did you?¡±

    Filch just looked at me, he was clearly about to panic so I stepped up my own intimidation.

    ¡°DID YOU?¡± I demanded and the bully flinched at the sudden volume of my words. ¡°WHAT IS MY FUCKING NAME?¡± I practically screamed at him, half standing and leaning over the desk.

    ¡°Al!¡± Filch got out. ¡°You''re Al! You work for the crafters!¡±

    ¡°You''re more of a fucking idiot that I gave you credit for.¡± I told him my voice returned to that conversational tone as I sat back down in the chair.

    It was me who leaned back in his seat, trying to seem casually relaxed now.

    I can admit to myself that I was probably enjoying this too much.

    The man reminded me too much of my uncle, even the way he had called me boy, that same tone of disdain.

    As if being a boy was some kind of mistake, something lesser than he was, as if because of it I had to make it up to him for personally offending him, offending him just by existing.

    There was a ruthless satisfaction in having my own power now, in not having to just try to survive and endure a situation, but instead actually being able to turn the fates.

    I was angry.

    I could feel that nest of cold anger I carried within, that mania of rage, begin to heat.

    It was like small flickers of the true fire within were springing up, trying to come to life and explode forth.

    My fist swung down and smashed into the desk between us.

    At the same time my well of power flexed as I poured out pure force in rush of furious will.

    The stone wall behind Filch, the wall that separated the office from the village outside, shattered.

    The stone cracked in that instant before flying outward in chunks as if a great giant had taken a hammer to it, the mess littering the street below.

    The clattering of stone hitting the ground sounded almost like the tinkling of bells after the ear-splitting roar of the shattering wall.

    Filch looked around behind him, gaping at the missing wall.

    I could hear men screaming and shouting from else where, I even noticed the thug who had been guarding the door outside on the street below, pulling himself up out of the rubble and getting shakily to his feet.

    The thug below gaped up at the office that was now exposed to the air.

    I thought Filch might be about to have a heart attack but I didn''t care.

    I stood up and the sound of the chair scraping on the floor of the office brought the man''s attention back to me.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce myself.¡± I said as I casually waved a hand to one side, making the desk between us slide roughly to the left side of the room.

    I took the two steps to cover the distance between us, I set my hands down on the arms of his chair and leaned down until our faces were almost touching.

    ¡°I am Lord Al Edo, of Marley & Edo.¡± I whispered. ¡°And if I ever see you or your thugs again, I will keep you all alive while I turn your flesh inside out.¡±

    My hand gestured once more and Filch along with his chair flew to the opposite side of the room that the desk had and out of my way.

    I could hear men still shouting but those who had managed to make it outside had joined their thug friend in staring up at us dumbly.

    I could hear footsteps pounding in the building, presumably men coming to aid their boss or find out what in the hells had happened.

    I released my focus on Bart as I took a step off the gaping hole in the building.

    I heard the door to the office crash open behind me but it didn''t matter, the thugs below got out of my way as I floated at an unnaturally slow pace down to the street.

    Not a word was said to me, nor were there any moves made to impede or get in my way.

    I dusted myself off then casually strolled away down the street.

 Chapter Twenty Three - Stalling

    I''d taken some time to myself turning down another alley way, out of sight of anyone who might be watching or following me.

    I''d stood for a while and couldn''t help but tremble a little.

    It was the first time I had really ''let loose'' in a way, but it wasn''t the confrontation that had shaken me. It was the fact that I knew that what I had done, despite it being devastating to a building and no doubt terrifying the thugs and their boss, was only a fraction of the power I could wield now.

    I knew it, I knew I could do much more.

    I had to take that moment to come to terms with the fact that if I chose to, I could leave Diggin a smouldering pile of rubble. It would push me to my current limits, my well and the density of the power there would be emptied, but I could do it.

    Lives could be destroyed just as easily as physical things, even without meaning to.

    It was the thought that an uncontrolled and wild moment of magic could have unintended consequences to people I had no wish to harm.

    There could have very well been a child walking on the street below when the wall had fallen down onto it, there hadn''t been, but that was only by chance.

    I knew that I would feel no remorse for the kinds of men like Filch or those who worked for him if they were hurt or even killed. I even knew that I would probably take many lives before all was said and done and had long since accepted this, but I didn''t want to blood of innocents on my hands and certainly not because I was reckless or foolish in my actions.

    I had sat down at some point without realising it, I slowly came to terms with a new resolve, a personal vow to do what I could to think through my actions before I risked wielding the kinds of forces that could harm the innocent.

    I had to accept a balance within, one that wouldn''t hamper me from acting but also wouldn''t allow me to act without forethought.

    It was a small epiphany but it was a truth that was soul deep, that any who had the kind of power I held should wield such power with caution.

    I wouldn''t be some meek fool who refused to do what must be done out of fear of causing harm, but at the same time I wouldn''t knowingly risk the lives of innocent people because it was convenient or because I didn''t care.

    I had risen back to my feet and headed for the workyard a slightly changed man, a small change perhaps, but one that I felt was profound.

    I was subdued as I explained what had happened to Marley, as perhaps the only person who I could consider close to a friend in this world, and one who knew about my past and my uncle, he was more understanding of my actions than most anyone else would have been.

    He thought it might be a good idea for me to return to Moreland''s Rest though and I couldn''t disagree.

    I wasn''t needed here now, neither was Marley, the other workmen we had brought were more than enough to direct the remaining labourers and work at their own tasks.

    It seemed like a good idea to be gone from Diggin for a while, at least until people forgot.

    We wasted no time, the two of us gathered our things then went into the village proper buying up a few supplies.

    We were headed back down the western road out of Diggin before the sun began to set that night.

    When we reached Moreland''s Rest a couple of days later, I had taken my room back at the inn once more and spent the rest of that day in quiet contemplation.

    I re-evaluated my plans and all the countless contingencies I had come up with. I picked through them to see if I had overlooked something that was needlessly harmful to those who deserved no ill fortune at my hands.

    I found that while my plans had their more ruthless parts, they weren''t the kind of things that concerned the uninvolved or innocent. I felt a little easier inside when I came to that realisation, something unclenched and the moroseness of the last few days lifted from me.

    The next day I had returned to the Moreland''s Rest workyard and both Marley and myself had set about continuing the work on my wagon with a vengeance.

    While we had been gone, the other workmen had been crafting smaller parts for the wagon in their ''spare time'', while they hadn''t actually fitted any of them, they had prepared a lot of things for Marley.

    He was able to spend more time putting the wagon together and less on stopping work and having to prepare pieces.

    While he did this, I was at first carving runes onto the bare frames on the wagon and the parts that would be soon hidden away. As we progressed together I eventually started setting rune carved pieces into larger parts of different materials that would be going into the interior of the wagon.

    Stone inlays covered in runes were set into mundane wooden frames, small iron workings were attached to rune covered wooden pieces I had painstakingly carved.

    When one was done, Marley would take it from me and fit it into the wagon while I moved onto the next piece.

    In a surprising amount of time, my wagon was almost finished.

    All that was left was some upholstery that would be done by an outside professional once the paints and finishings were dried.

    And before long even that was done and I found myself having to make preparations to leave.

    I was putting it off as I examined my wagon once more.

    The thing was huge.

    I felt like you could run out of breath trying to sprint around it.

    The entire exterior was a dark wood, it was finished with protective coating that made the already finely worked wood look all the richer.

    The front of the wagon, were the driver would be was a semi-covered cabin almost.

    While it had the conventional bench seat that almost all working wagons did, just behind that bench seat, deeper under the overhanging roof of the rest of the wagon, was a small room-like space.

    Rather than wooden benches here there was instead plush seating in a semi-circular shape, broken up by a small but highly polished cabinet door directly in the centre of the back wall of this cabin area.

    In the ''space'' in the centre of the seating, the focal point other than the view out of the front of wagon, was a beautifully polished and ornately carved table.

    It was a small but rather than being entirely wooden, almost all of the table top itself was actually stone.

    More specifically, stone I had carved runes into that could make the stone either very cool or very hot without burning the wood it was housed on.

    The overhanging roof curved downwards slightly as if it would bend to reach the front of the wagon, the lip of the roof was even curved slightly to match the mildly rounded shape of the front too.

    Under this roof was a hollow ridge that stood out from the otherwise smooth wood.

    If you unlocked it and opened it up, wooden slats would then fall free.

    These slats were woven into strong cordage that held them in place like blinds in a house, only they created a wall of sorts that once fastened to the floorboards below, would stay in a place and provide privacy for the cabin behind the drivers plush bench seat.

    If the driver chose to, these slatted ''blinds'' could instead be fastened to the very front of the wagon, closing off the front entirely to the outside word.

    The entire front section was high up as they usually were on most wagons, but under what was the floor of this section was a large hollow space beneath for storage, accessible from a panel on the outside of the wagon from the ground.

    This was the least of what the wagon had to offer though.

    At the rear of the wagon, where the tall back wall stood there was a single large and very ornate looking wooden door.

    Even though the dark wood was the same that made up the rest of the outside of the wagon, the door was polished so that it gleamed, light caught on the numerous ridges and panels.

    The frame of the door gleamed too with the myriad of runes carved upon it.

    Below the door, was a panel of wood that once opened would allow you to pull down three small but sturdy steps that would let you walk to to reach the height of the door.

    Inside the rear of the wagon was not a simple roofed space for the storage of goods and materials, instead it was a tapestry of wealth and comfort.

    Rich wooden panels on the interior walls, plush rugs upon the beautiful wooden floorboards and furnishings fit for any noble.

    By design the furniture was both familiar and yet slightly different in small ways, rather than a chair being high backed, it was instead much wider and lower down. There were small differences that were meant to give the impression of the noble who rode within was indeed from a foreign land. A land with their own designs and quirks, the little details just different enough to be believable.

    Along each side from roughly chest to head height were what appeared to be windows, despite the fact that the exterior was clearly solid wood, yet the outside could clearly be seen from within.

    If you ran your hands over these ''windows'' you wouldn''t feel the clear glass that you would expect but instead smoothly worked stone with a surface only marred by the delicate runes that bordered the piece.

    They were small copies of my glass stone from the mountain, they hadn''t actually been worked as two large stone pieces but instead were actually smaller panels of stone that were joined together seamlessly after the fact.

    On one side sat what looked like an ordinary but small fireplace that held within it, a small wood burner.

    One that would funnel any smoke up a pipe and out of the top of the wagon roof, the runes carved upon the burner proved it to be more than meets the eye though. It would hold heat for much longer than a mundane version of the same thing, it''s flat top would keep heat hours after any fire from within had died down.

    Faux stone bricks that were actually just cladding decorated the rear of this small fireplace, the rich wooden mantle that arched over it had a small lantern on each end, fastened down to the wood so that they wouldn''t fall.

    In fact most of the things within the wagon were fastened into place or could be, the two rich arm chairs that sat either side of a small round table were all fixed into place discreetly but were able to be undone and moved freely.

    Below the ''window'' level along the side opposite the fireplace were various cabinets and drawers, their height allowing them serve as desks and even one stone topped one that was intended as a workstation of sorts.

    Each drawer and small storage space had the means to securely sore certain contents within, some of them designed to store specific things while others were for general use.

    A small drinks cabinet with a glass door would serve only for the bottles and glasses, while several drawers had a small ''sheets'' inside that could be fastened to the rear of the drawer, holding any contents that were put inside firmly in place.

    At the far end, on the wall that was opposite the entrance was a large bookcase and while the shelves weren''t filled completely with books there were still many upon them.

    Each shelf had an odd looking metal bar that ran against it''s edge, small hinges to each side of the shelves would allow the thin metal bars to lift up and lock into place, barring any books from falling from where they sat.

    This was not simply to prevent any of the books from falling down while the wagon travelled but instead served for another purpose.

    The entire bookshelf could be disconnected at it''s top rear edge and would swing down on large strong hinges at the bottom to reveal a bed upon it''s backside.

    What looked like two seemingly pointless but decorative protrusions at the corners of the top of the bookcase could be pulled to slide out and lock into place as small supporting legs for what was now a bed.

    The wagon had the utility of being designed for travel but it had the grandeur of something else entirely.

    The overindulgence in comforts and appearance were fit for nobility and that was by design too, soon Lord Al Edo would be residing here as he travelled upon the roads.

    Housed above everything on the ceiling was a glowing stone, it was in fact a diamond. It was fastened in place by a surrounding rune-carved piece of common stone and was a source of power for all the various runic workings on the wagon.

    It glowed like a pure brilliant star, an unintended side effect of the raw magical power it housed, one that lit up the interior of the wagon but could be covered by a small dome shaped piece of wood that would lock into place.

    Rather than bleed my power into the small air vents that kept fresh air circulating in and out of the wagon, I could instead ensure that power remained inside the diamond and from there it would give power to the runes upon the vents without my focus.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.There were of course other runes in the wagon and without, long planks of wood that were covered in protective runes that were hidden between the interior and exterior of the wagon.

    Strengthening runes on the foundations of the wagon itself, upon the wheels and axles.

    The door that had a frame littered with powerful runes, runes that would prevent many kinds of hostile actions, trying to force the door open either by picking the lock or by trying to break it in.

    I had even taken the time to make another ''chest'' similar to the ones I had in my book of chests.

    This one was larger and was actually hidden at the back of one of the cabinets.

    Rather than expend my own energies on powering the runes each time I wanted to use it, I could simply focus just so upon it and power from my shining diamond would flood the runes by my will.

    I wasn''t so stupid as to make this the only source of power for my wagon.

    The were several smaller power sources, lesser stones that were hidden and could power the protective aspects of my wagon while another served as the back up to my more luxury orientated runes.

    Even one ruby that was held in place and covered over entirely that was housed under the wagon itself, it''s only function to power some of the more functional runes on the base of the wagon, ones that lightened the over all weight of the behemoth, albeit only slightly.

    The horses I would have to buy would thank me though, if they could.

    I would still have to buy those four strong horses and it was what I was putting off.

    I had filled the bookcase with plenty of books, I had bought various materials and supplies that I would need or might need, I had even stocked up the drinks cabinet with more spirits than I would be able to drink on the way to Gresh.

    I had spent time buying bedding for the new bed, then spare bedding, then cushions for the chairs and a flat cushion for the fold away desk chair.

    I had stocked up the cabinets and drawers with various things, oil for the lanterns, cutlery, crockery and fine utensils.

    After I had finished stuffing away foodstuffs into the wagon''s hidden chest I had even bought up more seeds just in case I ran out of a few things, knowing that I could force several kinds of seeds to sprout and grow using my magic.

    And yet I still put off buying the horses, I didn''t realise I was stalling until Marley asked me pointedly if I was doing to try to install a bath in the back of the wagon before I finally decided it was fit for travel.

    He wasn''t trying to get rid of me I knew, but I think he felt it was a sleight on his work that I kept adding things to the wagon.

    I steeled my resolve and the next day I found myself walking out of Moreland''s Rest to a familiar farm on the outskirts, looking for some horses to buy.

    As I was walking along the road, I was passed by many times by people coming to or from the town, it was only when someone called out in a tone of voice that implied they had called out a few times already that I snapped out of my own thoughts and looked around to find Captain Holt atop his horse looking down at me.

    ¡°Ah, sorry Captain!¡± I said a little embarrassed. ¡°My mind was wandering.¡± I explained.

    ¡°Figured that out.¡± Holt told me dryly and continued to ride along side me as I walked. ¡°Where you heading, son?¡± He asked after a moment of silence.

    ¡°To buy some horses, I hope.¡± I told him.

    ¡°Ah.¡± Holt replied knowingly. ¡°You finally moving on then?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I''ve been putting it off long enough.¡± I said, unknowingly letting out a sigh at the end of my words.

    ¡°Is Moreland''s Rest really so bad you don''t wanna say here?¡± Holt asked me.

    I smiled a little at that.

    ¡°No.¡± I answered. ¡°It''s a nice place and I''ll probably come back eventually.¡± Moreland''s Rest really was a nice place to live, granted I didn''t have much experience living many other places but the town seemed mostly peaceful.

    ¡°Then why leave?¡± Asked Holt.

    I shrugged but answered.

    ¡°I have things I need to do.¡± I said. ¡°Things I''ve put off for far too long already.¡±

    We were silent for a time as we both travelled down the road.

    Holt knew where I was going, he''d been the one to recommend the place actually, as the man who raised the animals was married to his cousin.

    I assumed that he was heading to the same place for whatever reason, probably a visit to his cousin.

    Holt eventually broke the silence.

    ¡°You going to face whoever it was you were running from?¡± He asked me seriously.

    I frowned slightly but nodded.

    ¡°Eventually.¡± I admitted. ¡°I need to do some things first but eventually, that''s where I''ll be heading.¡±

    We continued on in silence once more and again Holt was the one to break it.

    ¡°You know.¡± Holt said conversationally. ¡°Heard tell from a wagon driver out of Diggin about something interesting that happened a while back.¡±

    I knew what this was about and my chest tightened slightly, but I asked anyway.

    ¡°What did you hear?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Heard about someone doing some magic on the local bully boys.¡± Holt told me. ¡°The way I was told, someone blew up an entire house and walked away like it was nothing.¡± Holt said and his eyes were looking at me intently. ¡°You wouldn''t know anything about that would you?¡±

    I met his said evenly as I spoke.

    ¡°I heard something similar.¡± I said to Captain. ¡°Only I heard those bully boys dragged some young man to their boss and tried to force him into working for him.¡± I said taking a cue from Holt and keeping the retelling about ''someone else'', someone who wouldn''t force Holt into possibly having to take action if the law demanded it.

    ¡°I heard that the man took exception to this and happened to have a little magic.¡± I continued. ¡°I heard from someone who claimed to have been there, that only one wall of the house was destroyed when the young man left, not the entire building.¡± I looked back to the road we were moving down.

    ¡°That and that no one was killed.¡± I added. ¡°Though the young man could have.¡±

    Neither of us spoke after that but instead we moved in silence, me walking and Holt keeping a slow pace besides me on his horse.

    We turned down the narrow lane that led to the farm and half way down Holt picked up his pace a little to hurry on his way.

    By the time I reached the end of the lane, both Holt and Mart, the husband of Holt''s cousin, were standing outside the complex of buildings.

    A nice farmhouse, the huge barn and the massive stables.

    Mart was looking over Holt''s horse though the horse looked fine to me, probably it was a habit for the man.

    ¡°Good morning.¡± I greeted him as I walked up to the two men.

    ¡°Morning... my lord.¡± Mart said, adding the second part after a brief hesitation.

    I waved this away and spoke on.

    ¡°I''m looking to buy some horses.¡± I said, my previous experience with the man had taught me that he liked to get straight down to business.

    ¡°What for?¡± Mart asked me, not in a tone that said I was an idiot for wanting to buy horses but rather the tone of a professional that wanted more information.

    ¡°Four of them.¡± I said. ¡°To pull a wagon, they''ll be moving some distance too but they''ll be well cared for.¡±

    Mart frowned in thought for a moment and was interrupted by Holt.

    ¡°I''m gonna go see Bernice, I''ll leave you to your business.¡± He said.

    Mart nodded and so did I.

    Holt moved off towards the farmhouse and Mart beckoned me to the stables.

    Mart showed me several horses and we spoke for a while, he eventually remembered who I was, or rather the boy I had been.

    It was amusing that he had only remembered because of the mule I had bought from him and then later sold to the farmer Brigg, the old farmer had apparently come to Mart to check that it wasn''t stolen. Mart had tried to cover up the fact that he''d only really remembered the mule but it was still amusing nonetheless.

    I''d explained that I had only needed the mule for a short time but hadn''t wanted to abandon the beast of burden or leave it with someone who couldn''t care for it, this had earned me a little respect in the man''s eyes and our business moved along quickly after that.

    About an hour later I had bought four good horses, a saddle and ropes to secure the horses together for the journey back to Moreland''s Rest. I''d already bought the straps and harnesses needed to fix them to my wagon, it had been one of the many purchases I had made during the time I had been putting things off.

    When we led three horses outside by their ropes and we were about to fasten them to the fourth horse which we had saddled for me to ride, Captain Holt rejoined us.

    ¡°You can tie two to mine.¡± Holt said and gestured to his own horse which was tied to a fence. ¡°We''re heading back now anyway.¡±

    Shortly after, both myself and Holt were making our return journey to Moreland''s Rest, each atop a horse and leading the others.

    Our pace was slow but still faster than it had been while I had been on foot, we didn''t speak for a long time but Holt had something he wanted to say to me.

    ¡°Do you know what you''re doing, son?¡± Holt asked me and I frowned a little, slightly confused.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°Am I doing it wrong?¡±

    I looked back to the single horse I was leading and couldn''t spot anything that might be a problem.

    Holt made a grunting sound and I looked back to him.

    He was frowning at me now.

    ¡°I don''t mean the horses.¡± Holt said slightly annoyed. ¡°I mean with whatever it is you''re planning.¡±

    That got my attention along with the seriousness of his tone. I didn''t answer right away, not wanting to give away specifics. Like it had been all those years ago, I knew that if I told Holt too much that he would try to become involved.

    It wasn''t that I couldn''t use the help of a good man, it was just that I felt as I had back then, that getting Holt involved with this would be dangerous, more dangerous than Holt would expect.

    I refused to put the man in danger, it was needless risk for someone who didn''t have to be involved in this, he would do more good staying in Moreland''s Rest.

    ¡°I know what I''m doing as far as I can know.¡± I tried to explain. ¡°I have a general plan but I know things will change and I''ve planned for that too.¡±

    ¡°You still not going to tell me what it''s all about?¡± Holt asked.

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Can''t.¡± I said. ¡°It''s not something you would want to know.¡± I lied.

    We were silent for a time longer.

    ¡°You know.¡± Holt began. ¡°Someone like that young man back in Diggin could hurt an awful lot of people.¡±

    ¡°That.¡± I replied grimly. ¡°I already know.¡±

    I looked to Holt until his blue gaze met my own eyes.

    ¡°Believe me.¡± I said. ¡°I know.¡± There was no bragging in my tone, no confidence or anything resembling a fool who carried a dangerous weapon, instead my voice held only a knowledge that I knew what I was capable of.

    I hoped Holt would understand without having to be told that I knew the dangers, I knew the dangers that not just I would face, but that others around me could face too, simply by being too close.

    We kept our gazes locked for what seemed like an endless moment before Holt''s face soured slightly but he nodded to me.

    ¡°When you leaving, son?¡± Holt asked.

    ¡°Tomorrow I think.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe the day after.¡±

    We were approaching Moreland''s Rest now and the traffic on the road and the noises were getting louder.

    ¡°You think you will end up coming back here?¡± Holt asked, I''d said earlier than I thought I would but that wasn''t what Holt was asking.

    ¡°If I can.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll probably be able to visit a couple of times but afterwards... I guess it depends...¡± I left of completing the rest.

    It would depend on if I could come back or if I ended up as the corpse my uncle always wanted me to be.

    I led Holt back to my inn and the stable-hand took the horses from us after I gave him some coin. Holt had dismounted when I had and he came to stop in front of me.

    He sighed and offered me his hand which I took and shook.

    ¡°You know where I am, son.¡± Holt told me. ¡°You know where to find me if... Well, you know where to find me.¡± He said, trailing off and leaving the words unspoken.

    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I appreciate it, I really do, it''s just something that has to be done though.¡±

    Holt nodded and withdraw his hand.

    He got back up onto his horse and looked down at me.

    ¡°I hope to see you again, son.¡± Holt said. ¡°And good luck.¡±

    I watched the Captain ride down the street until he turned off at the end.

    I turned away and headed into the inn to stay for what would be my last night here, maybe for a long time or maybe the last time ever.

    Only time would reveal the answers.

 Chapter Twenty Four - Darkness and Death

    I''d awoken early that next day and spent the morning with Marley.

    We reaffirmed the things we had agreed upon and the older man had warned me repeatedly to be careful.

    I had eventually had to leave to go get the horses from the inn.

    After they had been hitched to my wagon and as I was about to set off on my journey, Jessep had approached to give me a small cask of ale that he and the other workmen had bought for me.

    It was a small thanks for what I had done for them, for putting new life into the business, for them being able to get their jobs back.

    I''d been touched but thought I''d hidden it well.

    I''d thanked them all and assured them that it had been not trouble, they in turn claimed it was just a bribe to get rid of me.

    Naturally I had told them all I was glad to be seeing the last of them and hoped never to have to do so again.

    Such is the way of men.

    I''d put the cask away in the back of the wagon then finally headed out of the workyard.

    I had a little trouble manoeuvring the wagon through the town but I eventually managed to break free and get out onto the western road, then it was just myself, my horses and the wagon.

    One of the first things I did, when no one was within sight, was address a problem I had with a temporary solution.

    A lord needed attendants, he needed those who he could set tasks to be carried out in his name and in this case, a lord needed someone to drive his wagon for him.

    Thus Tep was born just as soon as I created him.

    I closed off the partition to the inner part of the driver''s cabin, as if Lord Al Edo was within and simply wished for privacy.

    The illusion washed over me and my features changed but the good quality work clothes I wore remained the same.

    I was now Tep, my own driver, or rather I was in service to the mysterious Lord Al Edo who, for all anyone else would knew, was probably behind and inside the cabin enjoying his privacy.

    I exchanged nods with several passers by, partly to be friendly and partly because I felt that a mere driver would have no problem doing so socially.

    I was more conscious than ever before that as I travelled, I would have to be Tep when Tep was called for and I would have to be Lord Al Edo and all that he should be too.

    I had been very free and easy with my role as Lord Al Edo during my time in Moreland''s Rest, I hadn''t really considered my time here as a beginning to my plans in that regard. It had been more like a place to finalise my preparations than a place to grow into my role of Lord Al Edo.

    Lord Al Edo might be a mysterious and strange foreign lord, he would have his own quirks and ''customs'', but he was still a lord, one who would not drive his own wagon, nor would he be nodding a greeting to every passing farmer on his cart.

    The customs and behaviours I would have as Al Edo were half based on reality, albeit a reality of the past.

    I had pulled most from my knowledge of Orlette, the place that Althalan had called home.

    Not all of the ways and customs I would display were from Orlette, some where of my own design and hopefully would be to my advantage. I hoped that they would cover for any missteps I might make as I brought life into Lord Al Edo.

    I had had a lot of time to consider my role and would have even more as I travelled, and travel is what I did.

    As Tep, I followed the long western road and didn''t stop until the sun began to set.

    While the wagon was designed to fit a role, I cannot say I was disappointed at having such luxuries to myself.

    That first night, I had pulled into a roadside clearing, one of the many on the well maintained and more well travelled roads in the kingdom of Gresh. I had first cared for the horses, they were tied out and given food and water.

    I''d then retired to the back of the wagon and set about feeding and watering myself.

    With the vast amount of food and drink I had hoarded away into the wagon''s hidden chest, I dined as a nobleman would that night.

    Rich cuts of pheasant, fresh bread, a selection of cheeses at my disposal, far too many sweet cakes and some wine to wash it all down.

    It was only my first day of travelling but I felt surprisingly exhausted, I had snuffed and covered the lights after pulling down the bed and had been out in minutes.

    The next day was much like the first, though there were less people on the roads and I had taken my lunch from the cabinet that was housed within the cabin. I had eat a more reasonable amount of food for my evening meal that second night and continued to do so as I went on.

    The days went by and were filled with a monotony that, at first had been a refreshing change. I had enjoyed the journey, watching the trees sway gently in the wind as the road lengthened behind me. I spotted the occasional rabbit scurrying away but soon enough I became bored with the tedious repetition

    I understood why those who drove wagons would stop to talk or freely take on passengers, they were desperate for any kind of distraction.

    The pleasant landscape changed as the farmlands were left behind and I entered the Moreland Forest in truth once more, what had been large cleared landscapes of fertile farmland were replaced by the huge and ancient trees that my road cut through.

    I had to pick and choose my stopping times as the cleared waysides by the sides of the road were more infrequent here, if I found one anywhere within sight of sunset then I would stop early and pull my wagon into it, rather than risk having to struggle leading the horses through the darkness in hopes of finding the next.

    I had only seen one other travelling wagon the past few days and it had been heading back the way I had come.

    It was one night when I had stopped for the evening, though the sun had only just been setting, that something out of the ordinary occurred.

    I had decided that after tending to the horses that I would spend my evening outside of the wagon, with a small fire and a simple meal as I had done all those years ago.

    I''d taken some time and I had gotten my fire going.

    Then I''d set a small pot of rice and vegetables to cooking and I had dragged out from further within the forest to sit on.

    I was still close to the road, but just inside the treeline behind my wagon.

    For the last ten minutes or so, while the sun had begun to truly leave and give way to the night, I had been trying to read while my food cooked.

    At first I couldn''t get comfortable enough, and so I''d shifted around a little.

    Then I found myself having to reread the words on the page because I wasn''t truly focusing upon them.

    Then I noticed that horses seemed slightly restless tied to their spot, but there was something more, something that was unsettling me. It was only now that I realised it, that I also realised that this feeling had been creeping up on me for a while.

    I felt a frown on my face as I set down my book and stood slowly.

    I looked around into the dark trees but didn''t see much of anything, I strained my ears and tried to ignore the unsettled huffs and snorts of the horses.

    When I let my other senses flow out from within myself I cast my awareness out in all directions and still there was nothing.

    No person was lurking behind the trees, no animals or dangerous beasts were creeping upon me.

    I stood still for what must have been five minutes, my mind beyond my body, my body attuned to the mundane.

    I began to notice what was wrong.

    The magic in the air was off.

    It was hard to understand what I could feel at first but I eventually came to the realisation that there were empty places.

    Small motes, like spores almost, that held none of the raw forces of the world.

    They seemed to flow slowly to me, moving gently before simply vanishing?

    Being empty as they were, it was probably more accurate to sat that they unvanished.

    As if they were suddenly filled and so ceased to be the empty drifting motes that they were.

    I realised that these odd specs of emptiness seemed to be drifting their way not in my direction but simply drifting out from further within the trees, I just happened to be here.

    Now that I knew what I was looking for, or rather, what had unsettled me, I was able to pull back my focus and come back to myself.

    I took a moment to take my food off of the fire and to pat and murmur the to horses in an attempt to reassure them.

    Then I turned to face the deeper forest.

    The Moreland Forest was vast.

    I was travelling through it on one of the many roads and soon I expected to come upon another one of the villages or towns that were within it''s expanse.

    These towns and villages weren''t quite in the Moreland Forest though, not really, because each town or village had several things in common.

    The people who lived there or had founded their homes had cleared out to trees around them.

    They had needed to to make space for crops, this left each town or village with several miles at least of cleared land surrounding them.

    Adding to that, there were the roads, while the roads themselves were usually well maintained, at least most of the larger ones were, they too were just more space that had been cleared of trees and were usually well traveled.

    They had no real order in their placement though, instead they were more reactionary and had been cut out as needed simply to connect one place to another.

    This ended up leaving Moreland Forest, the giant expanse of ancient woodlands, with roads cutting through it at seemingly random places.

    It provided a way to travel freely from one town to a village but left a lot of the Moreland Forest entirely untouched.

    Without any real need to go there, why would a humble villager want to traverse into it''s true depths?

    It was also less safe the further in you travelled, as the deeper parts of the forest were left unclaimed by any peoples of the world, they were left as wild places.

    There were your more mundane animals and beasts through all of the forest but as you went deeper into its depths, you would encounter stranger, more dangerous things.

    Even some of the plants were known to be threats to those unfortunate enough to encounter them.

    I didn''t really expect to find anything I couldn''t handle, not being so close to the road as I was, but this magical disturbance was out of the ordinary.

    As I wandered in deeper into the dark trees, the spots of emptiness became more common, it was easy to follow them from where ever it was they were coming from.

    I was just too curious and wanted to discover the source and so I should have been more prepared than I was.

    Instead of stopping to think things through, I pushed on, my boots crunching and rustling as they carried me over the under brush and leaf-litter

    It was becoming increasingly difficult to see and so I raised a hand, a small orb of light coalescing to hover over my palm, then with a gesture, I flung it out to hover in the air some distance in front of me.

    It kept it''s distance in front of me as I moved forwards and I made sure to avoid looking directly at it, not wanting to blind myself to all else.

    I moved through the trees steadily after that without anything to imped my progress, time went by with nothing but the increasing number of empty spots to mark any difference.

    Then I started to smell something.

    It was a sweet and sour smell, faint at first but as I kept my course in following the empty motes as they moved in my direction, the smell increased in intensity.

    My inner mind recognised what it was before I did, I became slightly nervous even before I realised that the smell was the smell of death.

    The smell of rotting flesh, of something foul.

    I stopped in place and the only sound I could hear was my own breathing.

    I listened hard for any signs that I wasn''t alone and after several minutes I had almost convinced myself that the smell might simply be a dead animal, something that happened naturally out here in the woods.

    Almost, but not quite, even as I forced myself to acknowledge that these empty spots weren''t just something to be dismissed, I spotted something.

    On the ground, about ten feet away from me, I saw a boot.

    That wasn''t all though, I could clearly see that the twigs and other small forest fall had been disturbed enough to reveal the loamy earth beneath.

    This wasn''t the origin point either, I could see now that I was looking for them that something had been dragged through this place, dragged from back in the direction I had walked but clearly had not noticed the signs.

    Either someone dragged something through here and lost their boot, but inside, I knew that really, it was the other way around.

    It had been something that had dragged someone through here.

    A someone who had worn boots, a person.

    My heart began to pick up its drumming in my chest and I licked my suddenly dry lips.

    Rather than follow in the general direction the empty spots seemed to be coming from, I instead moved to follow the tracks.

    The stench grew thicker as I moved under the dark trees, so much so that my eyes began watering.

    I didn''t even need to cast out my senses to feel the empty spots in the air, they were everywhere, almost too many of them to be comfortable.

    I froze in place when I spotted something else.

    My first feeling was one of rising horror at what I thought what a man-sized spider clinging to the side of an enormous tree trunk.

    As I held still, my watering eyes eventually let me see what was truly there.

    It wasn''t a spider but was in fact a humanoid creature clinging to the bark of the tree trunk, I''d mistaken it for a spider because it''s grey-black coloured limbs were long, thin and spindly.

    The position it held left it''s joints sharply folded as it hunched up against the tree.

    It was then that I realised that it wasn''t alone either.

    A second was on another tree, it was actually much closer than the first I had spotted. I could even see that where a person would have fingers that ended in nails, these... things, had fingers that ended in talon-like tips.

    Tips that they used to dig into the bark of the trees to hold them in place, tips that were no doubt extremely strong and very sharp.

    I saw a third much further back, only discernible by it''s odd shape against the tree. I then spotted the movement of yet another, it''s silhouette standing out starkly because my floating orb of light was some distance behind it already.

    I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end, not just at it''s unexpected proximity but at the way the creature moved.

    There was something distinctly unsettling in the inhuman movements, almost spasmodic, jerking movements, that didn''t seem wild or uncontrolled but instead closer to something more insect-like.

    The moving creature that was walking towards me, it stood probably four feet tall, it''s head was too large for it''s thin body and even though it was simply a silhouette to my eyes, I could clearly see the pointed tips that the fingers ended in.

    I made a mistake, one that I didn''t figure out until later.

    I pulled my orb of light back to me, wanting to illuminate this thing, wanting to dispel that instinctual human fear of the dark, that fear of the unknown.

    As my pale orb moved back in my direction, it had to pass by the creature and as it did so, the orb of light, my magic orb of light simply vanished and plunged me into darkness.

    There was complete and utter silence in the darkness, I realised that for some unknown amount of time that even the normal sounds of a night time forest had been absent.

    No insects, no shuffling of nocturnal animals, absolutely no sound at all save for the gentle rustling of the leaves high above.

    Then a horrifying sound rang out, one that was quickly echoed several times over by more than the number of the creatures than I had actually spotted.

    It was a sound that what somewhere between that last stuttering gurgle of water empting from a basin and the hiss of an enraged snake, only the volume was far far louder.

    It was the hunting cry of these forest horrors.

    I reacted as I thought many would have done in my situation.

    I wanted the light back, something deep inside that made me human instantly rejected the darkness and made me grasp for illumination.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    I was also absolutely certain that one of the creatures was already diving towards me, I expected to feel the sharp talons sink into me in an instant.

    It was something I just felt in my heart.

    As I jumped backwards my arms lashed out and with their movement a red hot woosh of flame flew out from me, throwing the darkness of the forest into an orange glow for a moment.

    I was able to see that the creature hadn''t moved towards me much further before my thrown burst of flame burned out.

    The flame seem to vanish too quickly, much faster than it should have done.

    I turned my palms upwards and instead of wild flame, two concentrated balls of swirling fire appeared above them.

    The light they gave off was enough for me to see by, at least to see my immediate area.

    I could see the closest creature in more detail now, the most startling thing about it''s appearance was it''s enormous eyes.

    They were the size of my fist and I could see the glow of my fireballs reflected in their completely black and glossy surface.

    Even as I met it''s eyes, it moved forward in a more aggressive way and I knew it was attacking in earnest now.

    I threw both of my flaming orbs at the thing and something unexpected happened.

    Rather than the two orbs of condensed flame hitting the creature and burning it, as my orbs of flame were just about to make contact with the creature they somehow untangled, as if they had lost their cohesion.

    The condensed orbs fell apart into a wild roar of loose flame, a flame that singed the creature but didn''t even slow it down.

    Panicked, I threw two more fireballs as I backed up hurriedly.

    The same thing happened again, only the creature let out another horrifying cry, one that I felt was more anger than pain.

    With another gesture, I threw more magic at it, but this time rather than flame I sent out a razor sharp blade of air at the creature''s chest.

    Again, what I expected to happen, didn''t.

    I expected the blade of air to cut neatly through the thin abdomen of the thing, I expected it to drop dead in two parts that would fall to the forest floor.

    What happened instead was that as my deadly blade of air was just about to cut into the creature, it fell apart rather than the creature.

    What should have been hard and sharp enough to bisect the creature ended up coming loose and a half condensed mass of air impacted like a blunt object against the creature''s chest.

    It knocked the thing back easily enough, it tumbled backwards but was almost immediately scrambling back upright.

    I raised both my arms and an explosion of lights shot out from me in all directions.

    Pale orbs of light flew out and stopped randomly in place, some floating in the air, others coming to rest against the underside of the canopy and some, some simply vanished.

    I was left with more than enough light to see by though.

    I took in my situation in an instant, even as the foe I had been trying to fight was moving towards me once more, screaming out it''s horrifying cry.

    More of the creatures than I had seen before were in sight now, and at least three of them were moving in my direction while others scuttled about but hung back.

    I threw out a single large blade of air at the creatures that were coming at me, and like before, as soon as it was just about to hit them, to cut into the things, it unravelled and became simply a blunt club of air instead of the sharp killing blade I had intended.

    All but the furthest of the creatures went down, having been knocked over by the unintended lance of air. The furthest simply screeched out a noise as it stumbled slightly and then sprinted faster than any of the others had, in my direction.

    Even as I was still stumbling backwards in a panic the thing ate up the space between us.

    I raised one of my hands about to send another ineffective blade of air at the thing, if only to buy some more time and distance between us when I thought struck me.

    I reached down with my other hand and pulled out the knife at my belt.

    I sent out more air but rather than a blade of air to cut the creature and presumably send it off it''s feet and flying backwards, I sent out the lance it would turn into instead.

    It was even less effective than the other attempts but as the creature was almost upon me, the lance dissipated quickly but had enough force left behind it to slow the creature almost to a stop.

    It gave me enough time to bring my other hand swinging down and sink my belt knife into the top of the thing''s skull.

    The sound of the blade stabbing through it''s skull was a sickening crunch, like the sound made when you stepped on a bug, only louder.

    If I hadn''t had more pressing problems, the feeling of the bottom of my hand as it gripped the knife, sinking slightly into the shattered head that gave way under the force of my blow, would have made me vomit at any other time.

    As things stood though, I had only enough presence of mind to watch as the creature''s screech was cut off and the thing dropped lifeless to the ground.

    As I continued to back up I realised three things atop of one another.

    Firstly, I realised what these things were.

    I had read about them though I never hoped to see one in person.

    They were known as Geliks, small humanoid creatures that fed on death and magic.

    I didn''t know much about them other than the basics that had been written in one of my books and what had been written there was not much more than a mere footnote.

    The second thing I realised was that my magic would be almost completely useless if I used it directly on them, the reason my magic failed as it got close to touching them was because the magic was being consumed by them.

    More mundane methods of attack would work just fine though, assuming I wasn''t swarmed by the things, my belt knife had proven that much to be true.

    That brought me to the third thing I realised.

    As I had backed up I had foolishly left my knife stuck in the skull of the gelik I had killed and now I was surrounded by the things without a blade to strike them with.

    I turned and ran.

    As I ran, I threw out orbs of light, better to see where I was going rather than trip on a tree root in the darkness.

    Better yet, if an orb winked out into nothing it would tell me that clearly there was a gelik close to that place.

    In between casting out orbs of light, I threw out blades of air in random directions.

    I hoped that I could hit any geliks that managed to get close to me, if not to kill them then to at least throw them back as my magic lost it''s power upon finding a target.

    I was stalling to give myself time to think.

    Running through the forest, the darkness surrounding me as I desperately tried to illuminate my surroundings and at the same time throwing out deadly but ineffectual blades of air that I heard smash into the bark of trees more often than not, was not the best situation to try to think of something that might save my life.

    My heart was pounding in my chest, my breathing was heavy and I stumbled more than a few times before something managed to form in my mind.

    I quickly changed the direction I was heading and sprinted back towards the most brightly lit part of the forest, the spot I had first come into contact with the geliks.

    I kept up my steady stream of light orbs and air blades as I ran, trying to ignore the ever tightening noose that the creatures were forming around me.

    I blocked out their screeches and just kept moving.

    I burst into the lit area and had enough room to sprint to my fallen foe, I reached down and gasping for breath as I ripped my belt knife from the crumbled skull of the dead gelik.

    I spun in place, throwing out powerful blades of air, far more power than I had earlier.

    The first few geliks to catch up to me were thrown backwards and completely off their feet while the next ones were simply pushed backwards into a stumble.

    Looking up, I sent out another blade of air into the canopy above and moved out of the way as a thick branch fell down to thump loudly onto the earth.

    Throwing out more blades of air in all directions, I moved to the fallen branch.

    I spotted an offshoot that was the right size for my purpose and sent one of the powerful blades of air that I had been about to throw at the geliks, in its direction instead.

    The blade was far too powerful for the purpose I needed it for, it did cut through the branch, which is what I intended, but it continued through the branch and cut deep into the earth below.

    It gave me another idea.

    I spun around, making a punching gesture with the hand that wasn''t gripping my belt knife, my will sinking into the earth and smashing up huge chunks.

    The soil, stones, twigs and leaves sprayed out in all directions as I turned and hammered my power down into the ground at an angle.

    The debris flew out to the encircling geliks and pelted them.

    No magic was in my flying weapons to be dispelled, simply fast moving earth and stones was all that there was and they could do nothing but screech, be hit or try to dodge.

    I yanked up the limb of the branch I had cut, a sharp gesture with the hand holding my belt knife, sent a circular blade of air along it''s length, cutting off most of the offshoots and leaving me with a gnarled staff of sorts.

    Three more blades of air directed at the tip of the wood, in between three other powerful but wild blades sent out to my foe and I had a rough but useable spear in one hand and my belt knife in the other.

    It wasn''t ideal but I hoped it would be enough.

    As the first gelik came in range, I thrust out my wooden spear and the starkly sharpened tip sank into it''s oversized right eye.

    I pulled it back and spun in place, my arm already swinging with me and in a downwards arc to sink my belt knife into the skull of the gelik that had almost reached me from behind.

    I spun again, throwing out a single continuous blade of air, pushing back all the approaching geliks then with a gesture the earth erupted to my rear, showering those behind me.

    I thrust forwards with my spear into the thin neck of another gelik, it''s screech cutting off but it held my weapon with it''s taloned grip.

    I let go of it for a moment, stepping forward to sink my belt knife into the top of it''s skull.

    I had only enough time to yank my wooden spear out of it''s neck before I had to throw out more magic to push away the rest.

    Again and again I threw magic out as air then down into the ground to keep the geliks at bay at one side to give myself just enough time to fell one or two who came from another.

    The screeching, the sound of my own roars of defiance along with tearing earth and shattering tree bark was all a haze.

    I had to use small but quick blades of air to resharpen my crude spear three times, each time my spear decreased in length and my reach was shortened.

    It was during the third sharpening that I took my first injury, one of the screeching creatures coming up beside me and digging it''s talons down my arm viciously.

    I struck out with my belt knife, a slash across it''s face then back around with a heavy stab into the side of it''s oversized head.

    I fought on, my use of the earth had torn out a small ditch surrounding me, having to spin and lash out in all directions had left me with a small encircling moat, it was my only real line of defence and I ended up fighting on a small, self-created island beneath the trees.

    I pulled my spear out of the guts of another gelik when I caught the movement of another out of the corner of my eye, unable to do anything else I swung my spear at it in a clubbing movement.

    I hit the thing, a loud thwack as the wood impacted against the side of it''s head, but it was followed instantly by a crack as my makeshift wooden spear snapped.

    I felt talons rip down my back and I screamed in pain.

    I spun wildly, throwing my shoulders around to dislodge the gelik that was clinging to my back.

    It held fast and I had to jump into the air and intentionally down onto my back, my weight coming down hard onto the ground with the creature trapped between.

    It was enough to stun the thing and I rolled away.

    I looked around to see perhaps twenty more of the horrors still up and rapidly closing in.

    I made a desperate move, I threw a huge amount of power into one of the nearby ancient trees. I sank heat and air deep into it''s thick trunk, an overwhelming fury of power for the solid tree to hold.

    At the same time, I scrambled forward into the ditch I had torn up during the course of the battle. I held over me an almost solid sheet of air and even as I closed my eyes and put my hands up shield my head, the sound of the tree exploding was like the world coming to an end.

    I screamed both at the noise and at a sharp pain ripped through my left leg and I felt my hasty shield of air vanish. I was pelted by what I thought must have been falling chips of sharp and jagged wood and I curled into a ball in my ditch.

    When I stopped screaming and unfolded myself long enough to look over the lip of my ragged ditch, I saw that the surrounding area was a ruin.

    There was a small crater where the shattered and blasted stump of the tree remained, the earth around it was torn up and twisted.

    Beyond that were the bodies and parts of bodies of the geliks.

    Almost all of them were still but some of them, even some of the now unattached parts were twitching or shaking.

    I saw three of the creatures that still looked mostly unharmed though two of them seemed as dazed as the things could be.

    They were on all fours, blinking their enormous eyes rapidly.

    The third was some distance away and looked to be trying to scramble up a tree.

    I threw out a blade of air at the thing, which turned into a club as it was dispelled.

    It was enough to knock the creature down and away from the tree through.

    I got to my feet, or at least I tried to, as soon as my left foot tried to take any weight I was assaulted with pain than shot up my entire leg from my ankle.

    I cried out and ended up on my knees.

    After an unknown length of time, the sounds of the remaining geliks managed to snap me back into focus. I saw that my knife was close by and rather than reach for it, I used my magic to pull it to myself.

    It twitched then snapped across the space between us and into my waiting palm.

    I forced myself to kneel upright, wanting to finish this I wrapped my knife in air.

    I took aim and sent my small belt knife flying through the distance between myself and the furthest of the creatures.

    The magic was dispelled, but the knife wasn''t.

    Pulling the knife back to myself as the gelik dropped dead, I did this twice more until I was left alone, surrounded my ruin and death.

    I just held myself still for a long time, the only sounds that accompanied my laboured breathing were the occasion scuffle of a twitching limb and a falling chip of the destroyed tree dropping down from the canopy above.

    I eventually sat down and focused through the pain enough to send my magic deep within my injured leg.

    I could feel the numerous other cuts and slashes over my body and while some of them really hurt, it was my leg that needed the most attention.

    Slowly, ever so slowly, my hurt and resisting leg seemed to allow power to sink into it.

    Begrudging at first, as it always was with healing, then slowly the magic worked around my snapped bone, I groaned aloud as I felt the bone move inside me, as my body used the magic to move it back into the correct place.

    I could feel the sweat running from my hair, down over my face, down the sides of my cheeks and over my closed eyelids.

    I endured and simply tried to keep breathing.

    I was light-headed and faint by the time I felt my bone start to harden and rejoin but I didn''t have to focus any more, I simply had to wait and so that is what I did.

    In the ruin of the small battle I had had, I sat there and waited until I felt strong enough to move once more.

    The boot I had found, the mess of the forest, the dead and dismembered geliks were all forcefully pushed out of my mind as I stood.

    It could all wait for now.

    I had a single goal in mind, I cut myself another length of wood, another staff but instead of turning it into a spear, I cleaned it up as best as I could and used it to support my still healing leg.

    I slowly and laboriously made my way back through the forested battleground in the direction of my wagon, dispelling the mess of bright orbs as I moved.

    It felt like snuffing out the candles in a room before you left.

    I left the forest in darkness behind me as I made my way back out of it''s depths.

 Chapter Twenty Five - Circle of Ulmar

    As I had travelled back through the dark forest, searching for and eventually spotting the dying embers of my small camp fire through the trees, I had become more and more nauseous.

    It had taken me an alarmingly long time to realise that something had been wrong with me, something beyond my gained battle injuries.

    Perhaps my symptoms were enough to excuse the fact that I hadn''t recognised them as symptoms of something more, not at first anyway.

    It was almost by accident that I caught a clue at what was happening to me as I mentally reviewed what I could remember reading in the short passage about geliks.

    The vague notion that I had read something along the lines of disease or some kind of infection had finally made me pause and really take stock of myself.

    Soon enough I had noticed the slight tremors in my hands and the fact that my vision seemed to blur in and out of focus while I looked at them.

    I had been thankful for the impromptu walking staff then, it helped me move on my still healing leg, if not much faster then at least steadier.

    I hadn''t even acknowledged or checked on the horses when I reached my wagon, too worried at the rising panic that was growing within me. I had struggled up the drop down steps and into the back of my wagon, staff in hand and directly to the large bookcase that doubled as my bed.

    It had taken me several minutes to find the correct book, owing to the fact that I had a number of books of a similar size that were simply plain but worn brown leather.

    When I had found the right book it took me ten minutes more to find what I had been looking for, ten minutes that let my nausea build up, my randomly focusing and unfocusing eyes to worsen and my trembling hands struggle to hold the book.

    I had ended up having to set the book down and take a seat before what I considered my ''working'' desk, the one topped by smooth stone.

    When I discovered that I would shortly fall unconscious and likely die during the night, the next morning at the latest, I panicked in earnest.

    I was fortunate in that I had the means to cleanse myself at hand, though in the moment I was convinced that of the several ingredients I would need, that I had surely passed over purchasing something vital.

    I hadn''t.

    Though if I were observed in my actions, no one would have been able to tell.

    I broke several vials and a beaker in my mad scramble to unfasten and retrieve them from their places in the many cabinets.

    My trembling hands did not help matters, especially when it came to trying to accurately pour and measure water, ichor and various herbs.

    Just trying to grind down the herbs and cut a small type of fungus was incredibly difficult.

    In point of fact, I had such a difficult time during one particularly strong bout of tremors, that when I was trying to open up the box filled with secured jars that contained what I needed, I actually screamed aloud in frustration and fear.

    Frustration at my own inability to do something that I knew I could do and fear that my rapidly deteriorating state would be my death.

    I had eventually gotten everything brewing over a small oil flame, I had sat just staring at it as I waited, unable to do anything more.

    I had at one point looked at the mess I had made, broken glassware, spilled herbs both ground down and whole, small pools of water, coin sized to plate. I had even made more of a mess by leaving smears of blood on things.

    Unable to bear sitting still, I had tried to clean some of the wreckage I had caused in my panic, but as soon as I tried to stand, the movement had my head swimming, and I came very close to vomiting.

    And so I just waited, my trembling bouts came on faster and faster, I grew tired and my tongue felt thick in my mouth. It was at one point that I realised that I wasn''t even worried any more and while I had known that that should have been alarming to me, I just physically or mentally couldn''t bring myself to panic any more.

    I had eventually noticed that my small concoction had been ready, I had wondered at the fact that I hadn''t immediately grabbed for it and it was probably a good thing that I didn''t.

    Had I not been numbed to all, the panic that I surely should have been feeling would have had me grasping for the hot vial with barely functioning hands.

    I had little doubt that I would have dropped it.

    Instead, I had been almost trapped by my own body, my movements very shaky and slow and because of that I hadn''t tried to reach for my life saving vial physically. Instead, I had used what seemed like the last remaining dregs of my focus on snuffing the flame below then to pull the vial towards me, the hot glass had stung my lip as it touched briefly but at the time, I had been barely able to feel it.

    I can''t even remember tasting the contents as they went down my throat, I only remember hearing the sound of my own body hitting the floorboards as I toppled off my seat.

    I don''t know how long I had been out of it but when I had awoken, aching and feeling exhausted, it had been dark outside still.

    I had taken the time to stagger drunkenly outside to relieve myself and judging by the horses and the amount of droppings near them, I had been out for at least an entire day.

    It wasn''t still dark, it was dark again.

    I had done my best to care for them, having to stop frequently while I fed and watered them. I let them drink and eat before I refilled the large copper pots I used for their water.

    I had also left plenty of the oatcakes out for them and nearby, where they could easily reach.

    I hadn''t had the energy nor the will to clean myself or the wagon, I had managed to relock the bookcase and pull it down before I was on top of it.

    I had been out in seconds.

    When I awoke again, it was by thirst.

    I rolled off the bed, ignoring the mess of bedding, I was on my knees in seconds opening up one of the cabinet and pulling out one of the small barrels of water.

    I felt weak still but I managed to pull it up to my lips and drink greedily from corked tap hole.

    I felt the water spill out and run down my neck and over my body but I didn''t care.

    I eventually pulled away gasping and it took me a moment to remember to plug up the hole, the water that had escaped onto the floorboards was a minor thing compared to what I saw around me.

    My bleary eyes moved over the wagon, inspecting the mess I had made.

    I looked back to the bed and briefly considered just climbing back in but even the bed was a mess. The crusted blood and dirt that clung to my ruined and battle-scarred clothing had made a mess of the sheets.

    I sighed and pulled myself to my feet.

    The first thing I did was go outside into the dipping sun and tend to the horses once more, shortly after I stole away one of their huge copper pots and after getting a fire going in place of my long dead one, I set the water to boiling.

    I returned to the wagon, I picked up and collected everything that could be salvaged that was on the floor and put them onto a clean cabinet top then I set about cleaning the broken glass and other things off my floorboards.

    Once I was in no danger of stepping on broken glass, I stripped down completely and examined the clothes I had been wearing.

    There were many small nicks and tears that probably could be repaired, but the large slashes on the back, the sleeve and at the bottom of one of the pant legs, were clear signs that repair wasn''t a viable option.

    My boots, while filthy seemed fine though.

    I walked outside, entirely nude and carried my ruined clothing with me. I threw them into my fire and watched for a moment as they burned before focusing an effort of will on the large copper pot.

    As the water inside rapidly boiled, I took the pot off and set it down on the ground.

    After stopping off back inside the wagon briefly once more, I ended up sitting on my log and dipping my wash cloth into the water once it had cooled slightly.

    It took time, a lot of soap and three more wash cloths to clean away the dirt, blood and grime that clung to my body.

    During this time I got to examine the many cuts and bruises that were scattered over my body. While I washed and cleaned each wound or scrubbed gently over every bruise, I sent my focus into them, sent power flowing into myself and eventually, my body accepted it and began to use it in the effort of healing itself.

    I was trying myself off with a small twisting cone of air when I realised that I was essentially bathing myself, entirely naked right next to the road.

    Granted, I was off to the side by a ways and behind my enormous wagon but anyone could happen by and likely they would stop to use the lay-by too as the sun was almost set now.

    I hurried back into my wagon, still slightly damp and closed the door firmly behind me.

    I dressed in the black clothing that I had made myself, then after putting the sandals on my feet, I picked up my filthy boots and exited the wagon briefly once more.

    I tossed them down next to the log I had been using as my seat, quickly returned to the wagon to collect a few things and set myself on my rear once more.

    After I''d prepared another pot of rice and some vegetables and set them onto my fire, I set about cleaning my boots while I waited for it to cook.

    After I added a few herbs and a little spice to the mix, the simmering pot released a delicious scent that woke my stomach with a roar.

    I was barely able to move away from watching my food cook long enough to go empty out the copper pot I had used to wash up with.

    I managed it, but it was a close thing.

    The rest of my evening involved eating my food, forcing myself to wash up afterwards, then checking on the horses once more.

    After that I had returned to the wagon, unable to keep myself awake for much longer.

    I ignored the rest of the mess inside after I pulled the dirty sheets from the bed. I tossed them onto the floorboards and just flopped down onto the mattress.

    When I woke up again, it was light outside.

    It took me a couple of minutes to wake up and truly evaluate how I felt.

    Eventually I came to the conclusion that I was still weakened but feeling much better than the previous day, or at least I hoped I had only slept for one day.

    Once more I got a fire going and let some water boil over it.

    Not too long after tending to the horses, who were become increasingly frustrated at being stuck in this place, I ate a breakfast of porridge and washed it down with some tea.

    I found myself standing in a completely cleaned wagon, it was spotless and there were no signs of the messes I had caused.

    I actually looked over everything for a third time before I sighed to myself and looked out of the window.

    It was just past midday which meant that I still had plenty of time to do what I had been putting off with my excessive cleaning.

    I needed to go back into the forest, needed to look for the owner of that missing boot and at least do something about the corpses I had left littered there.

    I retrieved the same walking staff I had used to help me make my way out of the darkened trees and despite not really needing it to help any more, I kept it with me as I returned into the now lightened depths.

    I took my satchel with me too, knowing that in one of my chests, I had some portable implements and ingredients for any potential brewing I might have to do.

    As I walked my mind was playing over the events of my small battle and amongst the multitude of things I silently berated myself for doing wrong, one thing stood out.

    I had gone into the the situation and relied only on my magic.

    Had I taken a weapon of some kind with me, I suspected that things would have turned out much differently, even the simple belt knife I had used had been a huge boon to me during the fighting.

    I vowed to myself that when I reached the city of Gresh, I would seek out a master weapon smith and see if I could have an omaran forged.

    An omaran was a type of sword that was commonly used in Orlette, well, commonly used by their version of nobility. It was a sword blade of an unusual design, if I were to describe it to someone from this time and this land, I would say that it had the shape of two chisels joined, flat side to flat side.

    Instead of a sharp point on the end, it was squared off into another, smaller, sharpened edge, same as the sides.

    An omaran was typically very narrow, somewhere between two or three finger widths wide. It was designed for a fighting style that was about slashing and deflection, though when the tip of one was used, it was used with extreme speed and force.

    Having no actual pointed tip on the end, using the tip of an omaran to ''stab'' with, was like smashing the sharpened edge of a regular sword onto someone, only that impact was all compressed into a small area.

    Imagine a three finger wide shaving blade, tied to a metal bar and swung directly at you with as much force and speed as could be managed.

    Now imagine that even though that blade edge was only small in width but not in length, that if the blow was hard enough, it could pierce through and sink into you like a regular sword.

    Such ''stabbing'' attacks with an omaran were usually directed to the face or heart and to generally devastating effect.

    I had a mastery of an omaran, a mastery that I had never even touched, nor practised with.

    I knew exactly how to move with one, I knew how my feet should be placed, I knew just the right angles to turn my wrist and lock it into place to parry or deflect an otherwise perfect blow.

    I knew all this and yet, I had never held such a blade myself.

    I knew that even with all the knowledge I had of their use, that I would need the physical practise if I had any hopes of being able to wield such a blade like a true Orlette noble.

    I had Althalan''s memories, fractured pieces of sporting duels in strange and alien looking halls.

    Sometimes they were of Althalan himself duelling, an overwhelming sense of joy and a rush of excitement during these, but I had even more of duels he had witnessed from afar.

    Flashing blades, twirling bodies that held an almost hypnotising grace to them, then suddenly a lashing strike, like lightning striking from a roiling cloud.

    Men or women, swaying almost gently in place with their blades held up and out before them, like two enraged snakes showing their ire, standing up and ready, to spring forward in an instant and deliver death.

    I knew that once I had a blade of my own, even once I had come to practise with it and developed the physical mastery of using one, that had I been back in Orlette, back there during it''s prime, there would have been masters of the omaran there who could have killed me in less than a second.

    Those Althalan had witnessed, those shocking displays of speed and grace didn''t inspire fear in the man, but rather a sense of admiration.

    He had been a master himself, though just barely.

    He had had enough skill to be considered a master by his peers but enough knowledge to recognise that he had been one of the least amongst ''equals'', only just being counted amongst those highly skilled elite.

    Even without having taken time to train with an omaran myself, having such a blade with me during my battle would have changed the entire way that things had played out.

    I had relied on my magic and it had nearly cost me my life.

    I had this skill, one half-remembered and gifted to me unknowingly, yet I had not utilised it.

    I would correct this mistake, and I would remember this lesson.

    Once more it was the stench that I noticed first; I had been a little unsure if I had the right bearing, though I knew my general direction had been correct.

    Eventually I began to notice the disturbed underbrush, and after followingit backwards, I came upon the ruin I had left that night.

    One thing I noticed that was not as I had remembered, were the flies.

    There were hundreds of them, thousands even.

    It looked like their dark forms were the physical embodiment of the stench that rose from the larger forms below.

    The ground was of course, still a churned up mess, even if it hadn''t been littered with bodies and body parts.

    With the light of day overhead, I could clearly see the thousands of chunks, splinters and chips of wood that had spread out over a shockingly large area.

    I reached up to push at one chip that had embedded itself into the dark bark of the tree I stood by, it didn''t even wiggle it was so deeply embedded.

    I tried to put the idea out of my mind that there was probably much more to the length of ''chip'' I could see sticking out of the bark, like a dagger made of wood, one that could easily have found a home in my own flesh rather than this tree.

    Setting down my temporary walking staff, I took a clean rag out of my satchel and tied it over my mouth and nose before raising my hood.

    I raised my hands and stepped into the carnage, and as I did, a powerful gust came from behind me.

    The thousands of flies were blasted away from their grisly meals, further from me, into the trees.

    I pointedly ignored the few dismembered limbs that rocked slightly with the wind and kept moving forward.

    As my feet came upon the first cold dark mass that lay unmoving on the ground, I brought my hands down, back, and then pushed forward as if pushing a great weight.

    The body, other bodies and the pieces of bodies near by all rolled forwards.

    Rather than follow them, I made my way around the perimeter of this dead battlefield, pushing everything towards a centre point, the very same centre point that I had fought on.

    I had to stop what I was doing, retrieve my walking staff and use it to push several corpses over, corpses that had become stuck in the furrows and tears in the ground.

    Twice I had to pause to throw out gusts of wind at the flies that tried to return, on the third time, I sent out a wide gout of flame with a grimace on my face.

    I never thought to hear the sound of a thousand flies pitter-pattering to their deaths all at once.

    With all the bodies piled mostly in one place and pieces of wood and leaf litter mixed in with them, I took the time to search for dead or mostly dry pieces of wood to add to the pile.

    I collected up dead fall, making several trips before I ended up setting down my staff and satchel and going a little further away in search of more.

    I managed to fell a single dead standing tree; I felled it without too much trouble and took the time to cut it into manageable pieces, using sharp blades of air.

    I took armful after armful back to the makeshift pyre and distributed them as best I could amongst the corpses.

    Still more flies had returned.

    When I was sure there was enough dried wood to start a good fire, I set my hands on one exposed cut of wood after another, pausing each time to be sure that the piece caught fire then moving further around to the next.

    When I was done, I moved back around to collect my staff and satchel, I stood for a while just watching the pyre burn. I looked hard at the small dark corpses, trying to spot the moment that they actually started to burn along with the wood but it was so gradual that one moment they seemed to still be resisting the heat then the next they were burning themselves.

    I waited for a long time until the pyre burned down, not wanting to leave an unattended fire of this size, so deep within the forest.

    I watched and occasionally looked up to see how far the sun had moved across the sky.

    It was close to sunset before it was over, I raised both of my hands, water building up in orbs on my palms, then focusing more, the orbs grew to balls, larger and larger.

    I willed the air to take them and the two huge balls of water that were held above me, trapped in place were suddenly torn apart and taken my the gust.

    I did this three more times, each time the water spread out over the smouldering pyre, casting up thick smoke and steam.

    Once it was settled, I moved in a direction I hadn''t yet gone in, the direction that the geliks had come from.

    Using the remainder of the setting sun, I kept my eyes roaming over the tree trunks, looking for those telltale marks in the bark where sharp talons had gripped onto them.

    I followed them further into the depths of the forest, and eventually my nose that had been deadened by the assault of smoke throughout the day, once more picked up that scent of death.

    After a little searching, I came upon a mound of earth, no grass grew on it, only fallen leaves and some few twigs lay upon it where they had fallen from above.

    This mound of earth had a hole in it, partly at the bottom of one of the sides of the mound and partly dug out of the ground itself.

    I''d found the gelik''s burrow.

    I checked the rag on my face, ensuring it was still firmly held in place then I sent my focus into the earth before me. I could feel the burrow or more accurately I could feel the earth that the mound itself was made out of but as to what was inside, it was like a giant one of those dead floating motes.

    Empty of any raw magic, just blank to my senses.

    With my eyes closed, I reached down to my belt and drew out my belt knife, sincerely hoping that I wouldn''t have to use it again but unwilling to risk not drawing it in advance, I gripped the earth of the burrow and tore it up.

    I opened my eyes almost immediately after I let my focus release the earth, I opened them in time to see the mass of dirt, sticks and leaves jerk up and away almost holding their shape completely before it all came loose and broke apart as it fell away.

    I looked at the exposed hole, maybe a man''s height in depth but easily twenty paces across. It was circular, like the inverse of the domed mound I had ripped from it.

    The stench hit me like a physical thing, like a wave of rot and filth that flew in my direction and enveloped me.

    It was lucky that no more of the geliks remained hidden within the burrow because all I could do was bend over and retch.

    Unfortunately, I knew what the source of the sickening stench was.

    Not who they had been, but rather what they were now.

    I wiped my watering eyes on my sleeve, steeled my nerves and moved forwards.

    I stood over the side looking down into this nest of rot; I could see old bones, bones of animals and several that were definitely human or humanoid.

    There was more though; I could make out the half rotten carcass of what looked to have been some kind of deer, and I could also see the remains of the person who had owned the boot.

    I could clearly see the other boot on the dead man''s foot.

    By his size, they had been a man, but any features that had been on their face had been torn away. What should have been raw pink and red exposed flesh was grey and rotten.

    No eyes, no lips, nothing of the sort.

    There were some remains of clothing upon them still, though the only thing that was really intact on them looked to be a travelling cloak.

    Even that was covered in what looked like some sort of slimly substance that had dried and crusted over.

    I looked away; I couldn''t help it.

    It was what I had hoped not to find and yet known that I would.

    Then something I had seen sprang to the forefront of my mind and my eyes snapped back to the gruesome sight. On both the remains of the dear and on the remains of the man were grey black... somethings.

    They looked like small sacks, and I instantly knew that they were some kind of eggs or cocoons. The things looked to be joined against parts that still held flesh, likely feeding from it, they were small things that were almost rhombus shaped.

    I knew that I wouldn''t be leaving the forest until after dark, my mind resolved to burning this place too.

    As I was examining one of the strange stacks, I noticed something metallic, though dulled by the filth that covered it, against the chest of the man.

    I reached out a hand and pulled with my will.

    I cried out in shock when the dead man moved and jumped backwards, falling on my rear, my body reacting while it took a moment for my mind to realise what had happened.

    In that split second before the corpse moved, there had been something stretching between the metal thing I had pulled towards me and the corpse itself.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    The metal was, of course, a pendant, the band of which was still around the dead man''s neck.

    I''d cause the dead man to move, I''d pulled him by the neck.

    I couldn''t help but look around the darkening trees, as if someone would be standing there, mocking me for my foolishness.

    I swore quietly to myself.

    I stood back up and moved back to the rim of the hole and without being gentle, sent a small blade of air at the pendant''s binding, ignoring the hollow thunk that I knew came from the blade sinking into the man''s remains.

    I pulled the thing up and out of the pit of filth and not wanting to touch the thing with my hands, I let it rest upon the ground.

    After a not inconsiderable amount of conjured water, the filth that had caked the pendant had come loose and been washed away to reveal The Circle of Ulmar.

    It was a holy symbol of sorts.

    It was not something an actual priest would wear, but something someone who had respect for the gods would have.

    There was an old legend about Ulmar, a man who had apparently brought peace during a time of religious war.

    His symbol had been used as a kind of catch all sign to indicate respect of all gods, all religions, just not any single one specifically.

    These symbols were common throughout most lands, though as I looked close and sent my focus into the metal, I discovered that rather than the cheap aluminium I expected it to be made from, it was actually made of silver.

    I was surprised, though I wasn''t sure why.

    I thought that maybe a part of me had expected this man to have been just a humble farmer or worker.

    While this silver wasn''t a guarantee of wealth, it was certainly unusual for a commoner to have, let alone have enough of to wear as a pendant.

    I cast my gaze at the man''s remains once more, wondering just who he had been, wondering what exactly had happened on his last night. I thought his cloak looked well made under the filth and grime and I thought that maybe, judging by the few remaining tufts of hair that he might have had brown hair.

    Beyond these few details, I couldn''t tell much more.

    I spent almost an hour collecting more wood, collecting it and filling up the pit I had exposed, before eventually, as the sun truly left me for the day, flames arose once more.

    As the sun was just rising the next day, I was already on my way back through the forest.

    I was glad to put this entire thing behind me and continue on my way, I had cleansed the pendant I had found as best as I could in the flames then put it away in my satchel.

    I walked without a staff, having thrown it into the flames during the night.

    I felt dirty.

    I had a plan in my mind and intended to stick to it.

    I would return to my wagon, I would see to the horses then I would wash myself and change. Once I was ready, I would take my breakfast on the road as I drove the wagon, I would forego the food stuffs I sorted away in favour of simple dried meat and water.

    I would be well on my way.

    And that is exactly what I did.

    I could practically see the excitement of the horses as they pulled me on my way, they must have felt as relieved as I was to finally be on the move once more.

    I resolved to do my best not to think about the events of the past few days, I would only revisit them once more when I reached the next town.

    To hand over the pendant I had taken.

    I had no need for the silver, and I honestly did not want the reminder of my brush with death.

    I thought it might give someone some closure or peace of mind ifanyone happened to know who the pendant had belonged to.

    It was ten rolls of the dice to one that someone would actually know who the man had been, but even with those long odds, it wouldn''t cost me much to try.

    I stopped once more on the road.

    I tended to the horses, cooked and ate without anything eventful happening. I slept; I awoke and kept on the journey without anything amiss.

    My horses pulled me along, and we travelled all that day until eventually breking out into the cleared trees that had been turned into farmland.

    I looked upon the small town, now visible in the distance under the setting sun.

    I moved along the road, choosing to nod at the few passing carts despite being dressed as a noble. My Tep clothing had been ruined by my encounter, and I had burned the remains, now I was dressed in the clothing I considered common for the nobility of this land.

    I wore the shirt and pants but rather than my high leather boots, I had decided to put back on my workman''s sturdy boots. Everything but the boots were the right design for a noble, I hoped that my obviously used boots would mark me as someone of lesser station, perhaps a footman of sorts.

    The closed cabin behind my bench was of course empty, but those who I passed by wouldn''t know.

    I passed through the small but sturdy looking gates, nodding to the two very bored looking guardsmen as I did so and moved further into the town.

    Those first few days on the road from Moreland''s Rest had mostly been a straight road; there had been several branching roads I could have taken to other places, but I had continued on.

    A few days before my encounter with the geliks, I had gone straight through a crossroad, one that provided me with a marker of sorts to indicate that I had been travelling in the correct destination. Beyond that crossroad, there were no branching paths, no other markers until I reached this town.

    If I had remembered correctly, this town should be a town called Hoofhold.

    Supposedly it was known for having a good stock of horses, healthy and well taken care of but truth be told, I hadn''t paid much attention to the surrounding fields as I''d moved through them. There could have been hundreds of horses or even an army of sheep for all the attention I had given.

    I was too impatient to get to the town.

    The place was clean, people moved about much like anywhere else I supposed. The road I was on currently was cobbled though I did see several smaller streets that simply had gravel or packed earth.

    I manoeuvred my oversized wagon as best I could, staying to the larger and more open streets while I searched for an inn of some kind.

    I was relieved when I spotted on because it looked to have plenty of room for my wagon and the stables themselves were also very large. I came to a stop on the hard packed dirt, as I did so two young men approached from the stable.

    ¡°Will you be stabling your horses, my lord?¡± The slightly taller of the two asked politely.

    ¡°My lord will be taking a room for a night or two.¡± I said, trying to subtly correct him into believing me a peer and not a Lord in my own right. ¡°We''ll need his horses cared for though, can you handle them while I see about lodgings for my lord?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He answered and both he and his fellow approached the horses, casting a professional eye over them.

    I climbed down from the wagon, speaking aloud to the closed off cabin as I did so.

    ¡°I will be only a moment, my lord. Once I have found suitable accommodations.¡± I said. Even as a spoke, I turned my face away from the view of the two stable hands and focused my will.

    A small, seemingly inconsequential action but one that let me perform a small trick.

    Using the air around me, I spoke, not in my usual voice but in the slightly accented voice I would adopt as Lord Al Edo.

    The sound came not from my mouth but seemed to come from behind me instead, from behind the closed off cabin.

    ¡°Very well, Tep.¡± I said. ¡°See that I am not disturbed.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± I answered myself and continued walking as my focus was released.

    Entering the inn, I walked into a noisy but cheerful common room.

    Looking around, I saw both common workers and others who looked like they might have been merchants. Behind a long polished wooden bar, the barmaids looked to be hard at work, and my eyes moved over them until I found an older man standing to one end.

    I moved in his direction and caught his eye.

    ¡°Good evening.¡± I greeted.

    ¡°Evening.¡± The man I assumed was the innkeeper or at least had some authority, replied.

    ¡°I need the use of a good room for my lord.¡± I told him. ¡°We''ve travelled a ways and he wishes to rest for a night or two.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± The man said and nodded once. ¡°Will you be needing a room for your lord that has room for yourself?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No, I will be returning to our wagon once we have eaten.¡± I explained. ¡°My Lord is not from these lands and his ways are sometimes strange, he is very particular about his privacy and sleeping arrangements.¡± I said, spinning my story.

    ¡°I see, well we can have a meal brought up to him if you wish, have you stabled any horses?¡± He asked me.

    I told him of our horses and he led me up to see if the room was fit for my lord.

    It was no prize, but it was furnished, large enough and clean. I paid him for two nights and was handed a key and a promise of a couple of meals to be delivered within half an hour.

    I left the inn to ''fetch my lord''.

    This involved some rather impressive illusions on my part and a little air magic.

    The horses were gone, stabled for the evening but there was another man standing by the open stable, another stable hand I assumed.

    I ended up carrying out another ''conversation'' with myself, if only a brief one, as I entered the closed cabin.

    To any who were watching, and that third stable hand was watching, it appeared as thought Tep exited the cabin followed by the darkly garbed and hooded Lord Al Edo.

    In truth, only I walked into the inn, I held the door open for my illusion as it entered and moved beyond me.

    I let the door close and gave a nod to the innkeeper as I ''hurriedly moved to lead my lord'' up the stairs.

    It was harder than I anticipated holding an illusion that could walk up stairs but once we were out of sight of everyone, I let the illusion fall away and simply entered the room myself and closed the door behind me.

    Just short of thirty minutes later there was a polite tap on the door, the barmaid cast a quick glance at the seemingly seated lord before looking back to me and delivering our meal.

    I can''t say that I was unhappy about being stuck with two evening meals because once she dipped an unpractised curtsy and left, I dropped the illusion and I devoured them both.

    **************

    The bed had been comfortable for what it was, but during the night I had realised that my own bed in the wagon was actually much more comfortable.

    I had been very tempted to simply leave out of a window and sneak into my own wagon and been Tep in truth for the night.

    I resisted the temptation and stayed put.

    The next morning I had informed the innkeeper that my lord had no need for breakfast today and would likely be out for most of the day.

    After me and my illusion left the inn, we stopped briefly in his wagon.

    Inside the wagon, I changed my attire, let down the small top knot that Tep wore his hair in, then I went to the cabinet that housed the hidden chest.

    I pushed my will into the runes and opened it up, instantly seeing what I was looking for.

    I retrieved the small ruby that was tied to a plain leather strap, the ruby was filled with raw power.

    I stood and cast a reflective illusion in the air before me, then began to subtly alter the appearance.

    My hair darkened slightly, my eyes remained the same but the darkening of the lashes changed their appearance a startling amount.

    I arranged my loose hair, parted then tucked it behind my ears, the slight hook to my nose straightened up very slightly and my facial expression changed from my natural relaxed look I had to something colder.

    I tied my illusions to the ruby then hung it from my neck, tucking the hanging gem under my clothing and against my chest.

    When I was satisfied with myself, I picked up a small leather coin pouch and tied it to my belt, then I left the wagon and locked the door behind me.

    To anyone who may have been watching, Tep was still within.

    As I walked away from the wagon and left the property belonging to the inn, my posture changed slightly, my walk took on a different rhythm.

    Between one step and the next, Ash, or perhaps Tep vanished, and Lord Al Edo took his place. Lord Al Edo moved down the street with a surety to his presence that others would see.

    My head held high, I moved down the street as if I owned all before me, my expression was cold and brooked no excuses.

    People moved out of my path and some few even nodded their heads in respect, a Lord walked amongst them.

    It was time to test my guise.

    I knew roughly where I was heading, I had seen the building when I had arrived in town the day before. I''d marked the house mentally as either a town hall, a mayor''s offices or some kind of meeting place where town officials would gather.

    As I walked and silently observed the reactions of the people around me, I began to feel more comfortable in my guise. I didn''t see any undue suspicion, only the looks that common folk usually gave to a noble should they happen across them.

    It was a mixture of apprehension, fear and sometimes even a little respect.

    I walked down a wide cobbled road and could see my destination ahead on my right.

    A large stone building, two wide double doors at the top of three long stone steps were open.

    As I reached the steps and moved up them, I saw that just like yesterday when I had passed by on my wagon, that just inside the building, at each side of the open entry stood a guard.

    I walked through the doorway, not even glancing at the guards to each side of me.

    My footfalls echoed loudly on the floor in this open entry hall, I stopped exactly in the centre of the room and cast a single long look around me.

    To my left, closed doors ran along the interior wall there, at the end of the row of doors, furthest away from the front of the building, were some wide stairs.

    The far wall had two more doors and like the others, I assumed that they were offices or storage.

    To my right were a neat row of chairs, a waiting area of sorts, with only a single occupant. The young man was looking at me but as my gaze moved over him, he lowered his gaze.

    I was just taking a breath in preparation to speak aloud when one of the guards spoke first.

    ¡°Uh, can I help you...¡± He said hesitantly and as I turned to face him, he looked at my face and quickly added. ¡°...my lord.¡±

    ¡°Bring me your mayor or headman or whoever it is that is supposed to be in charge of this place.¡± I said in a voice that was not my usual one.

    The accent I had chosen was clipped, as if my jaw were clenched.

    I hoped that the unusual clothing combined with my accent, that could easily be mistaken for someone who was on the verge of being very angry, would be enough to unsettle most who encountered me.

    I wanted them to wonder if I was simply a foreign noble or if I was a foreign noble who was on the verge of releasing his fury.

    I was not angry, I wasn''t even acting angry in my guise as Lord Al Edo, but this was a strategic decision I had made in choosing this accent.

    Not only that but the native language of ancient Orlette was very tight sounding, subdued and constricted sounds. Also when you used emphasis on a word or sentence, it sounded as though you were subtly trying to keep your anger in check.

    Of course, it only sounded like that to someone native to this land, someone who spoke in my native language.

    It was simply a different language, with a different rhythm and cadence to the flow of a sentence.

    It was something I thought would be useful though and so I had adopted it.

    ¡°Uh..¡± The guard said and looked to his partner, seeming uneasy. ¡°I think you might have to take a seat and wait fo-¡± He cut off his words, I could feel that his partner was trying to subtly warn against his words and he switched them mid-sentence. ¡°I mean, who should I say is waiting for the mayor, my lord?¡±

    I gave him a slight glare then spoke aloud but this time, I did want to sound angry, or at least annoyed.

    ¡°I am Lord Al Edo, Keeper of the Golden Vaults, Lord of the Mountain Hall, member of The High Circle of Orlette, Destroyer of the Yellow Madness...¡± I intentionally stopped myself, as if I had more titles to list, pretending that the obvious panic on the guardsman''s face was my reason for stopping.

    As if I had noticed that he finally realised he should be showing much more deference to the lord who stood before him.

    ¡°...Fetch me your village leader.¡± I said in a very quiet voice, intentionally calling what was surely a proud town, a village.

    The guard ran for the stairs.

    I sighed, as if extremely put upon at actually having to wait for someone to be brought to me.

    I waited for probably thirty seconds, the hall was completely silent, neither the remaining guardsman nor the waiting young man dared to look at me.

    I felt a little guilty but showed not of it.

    I didn''t want to frighten these people, but I did have something I wished to do here and I did need a place to test my new persona.

    I heard the sound of hushed voices, I couldn''t quite make out what they were saying as they were still out of sight up the stairs, but they were clearly panicked.

    Shortly afterwards the guard came down the stairs followed by an older man, probably in his late fifties and well dressed.

    They both hurried over to me and the mayor seemed to cringe at whatever expression was on my face.

    He bowed to me and I nodded ever so slightly in return.

    ¡°My Lord.¡± The mayor began. ¡°I had no idea of your arrival, I think maybe one of my aides must have-¡±

    I waved a dismissive hand and his words halted.

    ¡°You are the mayor of this place?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± The mayor told me. ¡°I''m Mayor Galt.¡±

    He looked like he was about to keep speaking but I spoke first.

    ¡°I was travelling with my footman from the east.¡± I told him as I reached down to the pouch on my belt.

    ¡°I had stopped on the road for the evening when I happened upon the creatures that are called geliks in this land.¡± I continued in a calm, even bored voice, completely ignoring the widening eyes and alarmed expressions.

    ¡°There were not many of them, more than fifty, less than seventy five.¡± I said as my fingers found what I was looking for in the pouch.

    Both the mayor and the guard looked like they might be about to vomit.

    ¡°There were no patrols or men-at-arms that I have seen, so I had to disposed of the creatures personally.¡± I said casually and the mayor looked like he was about the faint with relief, relief at not having a situation involving wild geliks close by the domain he was in charge of.

    ¡°Once I set their corpses ablaze, I left my footman to tend the fire while I searched out their burrow¡± I lied smoothly. ¡°When I found their den, I discovered the bones of the dead.¡±

    I withdrew the Circle of Ulmar and held it up.

    There was a gasp, but it came from neither the mayor nor his guards.

    It came from the young man who had been waiting in this hall.

    The young man, more of a boy I saw now, had stood and was staring at the pendant I held like it had broken his heart.

    I watched a he moved forwards, towards our group.

    ¡°No...¡± The boy was saying, he kept repeating it to himself and his eyes never left the pendant.

    ¡°You know the owner of this, boy?¡± I asked, already feeling slightly sick inside.

    The look in his eyes was grief, I could see it plainly now.

    I glanced at the mayor who looked sick as he looked at the boy, then I looked to the guard whose face had gone professionally blank.

    Yes, this was the pendant of someone close to the boy.

    I had no doubts.

    ¡°W-Where did you..¡± The boy tried, his voice sounding choked up. ¡°My lord, my cousin, is he-¡±

    ¡°Erik!¡± The mayor interrupted. ¡°It might not be what you think, let us hear what Lord Al Edo has to say...¡± He tried, and I thought I could hear guilt in his voice.

    The boy stopped trying to speak but as I met his eyes, I could tell that he knew what I would say.

    ¡°One of their kills was fresh.¡± I said as everyone watched me. ¡°I am not familiar with your local customs, but I understand that this is a holy symbol of sorts. I thought perhaps it may have belonged to a local priest.¡±

    I looked at the mayor and he was staring at the Circle of Ulmar with a defeated expression.

    ¡°But I see now that you all seem to know who this belonged to.¡± I said in a neutral voice.

    The mayor seemed to hear my words and belatedly respond.

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± He admitted. ¡°I''m afraid I do... did, know the owner.¡± Then he added as if speaking to himself, his voice faint. ¡°I was the person who sent him out of the town on an errand.¡±

    There was an awkward moment in which neither of us spoke then the mayor seemed to realise he had a seemingly very important lord standing in front of him.

    He bowed once more and spoke hurriedly.

    ¡°Forgive me, my lord¡± He said. ¡°Do you wish for refreshments? We can speak in my office if-¡±

    I looked at the boy and felt a pang in my chest so I ignored the mayor. I had come here in hopes of giving someone some closure if I could, I just hadn''t expected to do it personally.

    I didn''t back down from it though, I met the boy''s eyes steadily as I spoke.

    ¡°I see you are grieved.¡± I said. ¡°I cannot tell you with any certainty if the remains I found belonged to your... cousin?¡± I asked at the end and received a numb nod. ¡°I can only tell you what I found, the body was of a man, he wore a study travelling cloak and I suspect that his hair may have been brown.¡±

    I could see the impact my words had and I remained silent for a moment while the boy processed this information.

    Once that moment passed I continued.

    ¡°I will also tell you that the creatures had laid their young upon the remains, I had to cleanse the entire burrow with fire to prevent their spread.¡±

    The boy''s eyes closed and I could see his jaw trembling.

    I knew that feeling of loss, I had felt it myself when I had been much younger than his boy. It didn''t matter what age someone was though, being eight years old as I had been when I lost my parents, or the fourteen or so years that this boy looked to be.

    It was never easy.

    Spoke to the mayor but my words were intended to be heard by the boy too.

    ¡°If you wish to confirm my words, send your next patrol-¡± I said and was almost certain that there were never any regular patrols sent out from this town. ¡°-about two days by wagon to the east, by a way stop on the southern side. You will have to have them travel further south into the trees. It will take some searching but you will find the pyres.¡±

    I wondered if the boy would go to the spot, I knew that he obviously knew that no actual remains were left there now, but grief was a strange thing.

    ¡°I am sorry for your loss, boy¡± I said in as gentle a tone as my guise would allow but received only a numb nod of his head in reply.

    I held out the pendant to the boy and he accepted it, his expression was dazed as if he had been hit in the head and his movements automatic.

    ¡°I do not wish to linger, I have business to attend to.¡± I told the mayor. ¡°I am here simply here to inform you of what I found in your area of responsibility.¡±

    The return of my brisk seeming tone seemed to startle the man, thinking perhaps I was accusing him of not believing me.

    ¡°I will send out the men at once.¡± The mayor said and continued with assurance. ¡°I would never doubt your word, my lord, I will send them simply to check the area for signs of others.¡±

    I waved this away, not wanting to be here any longer.

    I had not expected this, I had expected to deliver a pendant to an official of the town, give them a brief account of events and test out my guise as a lord.

    I had not expected to have to deliver the news to a grieving family member.

    I wanted to leave this place and as a lord, I had the right to do so.

    So that is what I did, I simply nodded coldly to the mayor, ignored the blank faces of the guards and tried not to look back to the boy who stood in place near the mayor as I walked out of the building.

    Even as my feet started down the steps, I could hear the mayor''s voice directed at the boy.

    To my ears, his tone sounded like excuses, not one of consolation.

    I felt slightly sick.

 Not a chapter...

    Just a quick update because I haven''t posted in a while.

    Basically, I''ve been made redundant.

    So I''m finishing up at my job and will be looking to move to another soon, it sucks, but my boss (owner of the firm) has a good reason for the sudden closure.

    Money will be tight but I hope I''ll have enough to keep me going until I get another job elsewhere, I''m actively looking for another job right now in the little amount of free time I have.

    I hope, this will just be a small hurdle in the grand scheme of things, but it''s all just excuses as far as posting the story goes right?

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I''ve gotten about a half of the next chapter written up and saved, I''ll do what I can with it when I get some time, possibly in the next week I guess.

    I also finished up that rough plot outline I was writing up, so I have a more solid direction to head with the overall story.

    If you''re annoyed at not having more to read then I''m sorry you feel that way but honestly, you can blow me, I have real life issues to deal with right now. ;D

    As for the rest of you, hope to see you guys soon with some new chapters.