《Innate Light》 Prologue A few soft footsteps followed by a deliberate cough jolted Aaron''s concentration from the book in front of him. He furrowed his brows, trying to desperately recover his train of thought with the passage in the book in front of him. Letting out a quiet sight as it slipped away, he looked up to see a servant standing off to the side waiting for his acknowldgement. Closing the book he nodded to the servant, "Ok, what do you need?" Bowing to Aaron, the servant said "Pardon the intrusion, but the masterasked me to bring you to his study." Aaron nodded and closed the book before standing up. He clicked his fingers together and a distortion formed in the air, settling into a roughly humanoid shape. "Clean up and put away the books," he ordered the force servant before standing up and heading towards the door. "Let''s go," he said to the servant. Passing through the sliding doorway, Aaron quickly made his way through the tastefully decorated halls. Upon arriving a a doorway. The servant stepped quickly ahead and knocked on the door frame before sliding it open in response to a muffled sound. Aaron stepped in and tilted his head towards the sole occupant in the room. "Father, you called for me?" He mentally shook his head while looking at his father who was nearly hidden behind a giant wooden desk. With his spare frame, thin wire rimmed glasses, and balding hair, his father looked like nothing more than a simple scholar rather than the local lord. Yet somehow, he caused everyone encountering to treat him with the utmost courtesy. It was a trick Aaron had yet to figure out even has he succumbed to it every time. "Yes, that''s right." Like Aaron a moment ago, his father was still regaining his focus of the real world outside the papers on his desk. "It''s about time for you to be heading to boarding school in the capitol, so I wanted to talk with you before you go." Aaron nodded his head as he recalled that this fall should be the start of his first year of boarding school in the capitol. The school he was going towas somewhat ostentatiously named The Preparatory School ofArms, Arts, andthe Affairs of State. It was by no means the only, or even best school in the capitol, but it was the one his parents had attended and so it was considered something of an automatic choice for him to attend as well. His father opened a drawer and pulled out a book and a ring. "As you''re now 15 and considered an adult as far as inheritence goes, I''ve had a signet ring for our house made for you. It''s a bit special, however, in that you can use it to leave a mystic signature in place of a standard seal. Also, it''s enchanted to protect you from being affected by overly hot or cold weather. I also obtained an extra copy of this year''s almanac, which includes the latest maps in addition to the usual calendar and auguries for the year."The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Aaron stepped up to the desk and picked up the ring. Looking at it, he saw a swan on top of a fluer-de-lis, the symbol granted to his parents when bestowed with the house name of "Swan." Sliding it onto his thumb, he immediately felt the temperature change slightly. Then he carefully picked up the book. "Thank you father, I''ll take good care of these." "See that you do," his father said before hesitating a moment. "Do you remember what your mother told you about mystic spellcasters?" "I do," said Aaron, "I''m an innate spellcaster, which is extremely rare. Most of my classmates will be both older than me, and have studied to become extrinsic or acquired spellcasters similar to yourself. I follow in Mother''s footsteps in that regard." "Right," his father said. "Just remember that the very first spellcasters were innate spellcasters and all that followed was a result of their efforts. Although most ignore or are unaware of that fact, and are even dismissive of innate casters, don''t let that affect you. Just continue to forge ahead on your own path, and that will make both of us happy." He then picked up the paper he had been reviewing earlier. "Have a good trip, you should leave in the next few days. Your mother is off settling some disputes, so you won''t be able to see her before you leave." Aaron thanked his father before backing up and stepping out of the room. Looking thoughtfully at the book in his hand and the ring on his finger he shook his head. Now, out of his father''s presence, a smile formed on his face and an excited twinkle shone in his eye. For the first time, he was going to be able to travel on his own, and it was to the capitol at that! Three days later, early in the morning, Aaron stood at the gate leading out of the manor. He was plainly dressed in very standard traveling clothes covered with a simple leather armor. A crossbow and backpack were slung across his back, while a light mace made of ironwood hung at his side. Held in one hand was a spear. He had spent a couple hours in front of his mirror ensuring he looked the part of a traveling fighter. He rather hoped no one would notice the brand new spear hole in the wall next to his mirror. Young spellcasters are all too often seen as easy prey, so he had decided to dress the part of someone with a different specialization. Besides, it''s not like he had never wielded a spear before. Aaron clicked his tongue and made a gesture, causing a horse to appear next to him complete with saddle and bridle. Launching himself into the saddle, he nudged the horse into a walk as he passed through the gates, waving at the guard. It was finally time to embark on his trip! Chapter 1: Hangover? Aaron woke up with a splitting headache. This was not the kind of headache that he had after drinking wine at a banquet all night. After consideration, this was the kind of headache that happened when the weapons instructor he had was teaching him to avoid a miscast even when being struck on the head. As he winced he recalled the other thing he was taught: namely to pretend to still be unconscious if you don¡¯t remember why you were knocked out in the first place. Keeping his eyes closed he strained his hearing to figure out what was around him. ¡°Psst, your breathing changed. Might as well wake up before they get insulted by your atrocious acting.¡± Aaron opened his eyes to find himself tied to a tree, and just next to him was a person similarly bound and hitched to another tree nearby. It was a young looking and surprisingly cheerful face, given the condition they found themselves in. There was also a fire and a couple of tarps tied to provide some shelter to whomever owned the camp. ¡°Where are we,¡± he asked curiously? ¡°Now now, there¡¯s no reason not to follow courtesies. I¡¯m Brendan, from the western mountains, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± The young man smiled at Aaron, still ignoring the whole being captured and tied to a tree. ¡°Um, I¡¯m Aaron. Forgive me, but this is the first time I¡¯ve been captured and woken up tied up to a tree. My friends call me Light, and if meeting while being prisoners at the same time doesn¡¯t qualify someone as a friend, nothing would.¡± Aaron, not entirely relaxed, decided it best to become friends and work together. However, he was unable to keep himself from asking again: ¡°So, does that mean you do know where we are?¡± Brendan nodded. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m an Initiate, so naturally I¡¯d keep track of the nearby lands. I was on my way to the capitol to start my training and saw a fire in the woods. Wound up walking right into this bandit camp.¡± He shrugged and shook his head, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m guessing you travel by road. We¡¯re about a day from the capitol and maybe a ten minute stroll north of the main road. Aaron thought to himself for a moment. ¡°You said bandits, but where are they?¡± Brendan chuckled, ¡°If you think for a moment, it¡¯d be obvious they¡¯re off being bandits. I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll come back tonight. I was figuring on waiting until they¡¯re all here before escaping, so we don¡¯t run into any of them by accident on the way out.¡± ¡°Escape? You don¡¯t think it¡¯d be easier to escape now while no one¡¯s watching?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Brendan shook his head. ¡°Nope, for a couple reasons. First of all, there probably is someone who has at least a view of this camp and is scouting around. We can talk quietly like this, but actually getting away without someone missing our presence is unlikely. Secondly, I¡¯m particularly skilled at training animals, and they never caught sight of my falcon. She can tear apart these ropes before anyone knows what¡¯s happening and I doubt these fellows are more adept at moving through the woods than I am.¡± Aaron nodded, ¡°I suppose there¡¯s some logic in that. On another note, I don¡¯t suppose you know where our things are?¡± ¡°Nope, sadly not. I figured once they come back we¡¯ll see where they put any new stuff. Failing that, we can just ask them and maybe they¡¯ll tell us.¡± ¡°Hah, like that¡¯s going to happen. Still, they haven¡¯t really hurt us, so it¡¯s unlikely just asking is going to cause us any issues. Still, depending on the number of bandits, I¡¯d rather kill or capture them than simply escape.¡± Aaron smiled wryly, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d be willing to help me with that? It¡¯s kind of my duty to do so.¡± Brendan shook his head, ¡°I figure we hit them hard once to make them cautious and then we retreat. It may be your duty to eliminate illegal forces like this, but I¡¯m assuming you have some flexibility in how you go about it. For example, informing the local lord and letting him send troops? I¡¯m not too familiar with how this stuff works, but I know that us druids get awfully offended when someone foreign to our land takes action without giving us the opportunity to handle the responsibilities of our territories.¡± Aaron blinked a few times at Brendan. ¡°You know, I never thought of that. We¡¯re trained to carry the responsibilities of executing high justice when needed, but now that I think about it, I¡¯ve always been trained to rely on myself to take action if at all possible.¡± ¡°Well, I hope you take a bit of time to think about how you carry out your duties. I¡¯ve always been taught that laws exist to highlight areas where you should take further consideration before acting. There¡¯s a penalty associated with every law, and sometimes risking the penalty is still worth it. Just the same, the path of least resistance in arriving at your goal is just as important.¡± Brendan looked down a bit embarrassed, ¡°At least, that¡¯s what my master always told me.¡± Aaron gaped at Brendan, ¡°You already have a master? Why are you going by yourself to the capitol for training then? Isn¡¯t he going to teach you?¡± Brendan just shrugged, ¡°He has taught me, and now the lesson he wants me to learn is how people live outside the forest.¡± He chuckled a bit with his toothy grin coming back out, ¡°Now I¡¯ve learned about bandits and I¡¯ve not even arrived. I guess I¡¯m an overachiever.¡± Suddenly, the harsh sound of a bird called out nearby causing Brendan to sit up straighter. ¡°That¡¯s my girl, apparently the bandits are almost back.¡± He turned to face the entrance to the little campground where the faint sounds of feet and voices could just barely be made out.