Rhispla crawled out of the tent, every part of her aching from yesterday’s ride. Zander sat by a small fire. He smiled when he saw her and motioned her over. “Sore, aren’t you?”

She swallowed a small cry as she got to her feet and said, “A little.”

Zander chuckled. “It will pass, and food always helps.” As she sat, he spooned eggs onto a plate and handed them across the fire to her. She accepted them gratefully and dug in with the fork provided. Furo peeked out from behind a curtain her long, golden hair that had fallen over her shoulder. She gently set him on the ground, and he set about munching some of the delicate clover growing there. She went back to devouring the eggs. Zander passed a water canteen across the fire and she took a swallow before finishing off the eggs. When she was done, she set her plate and fork on the ground. Zander was watching her with a slight smile. “Eager to get going?”

Rhispla nodded once. “I can’t wait to get to…” She paused. “Where are we going again?”

Zander smiled. “Creón. The City of Water, on the northern coasts of Le’Reful Lake and just to the east of the banks of the Le’Reful Branch of the Canaras River. In Cemaet. We’re lucky; it’s actually a fairly short ride. The city where your school was, Enefun, lies on the same road as Creón, just to the northeast. “

Rhispla nodded and picked up Furo, who was trying to figure out why he couldn’t climb into her lap. She settled him in her lap, stroking his back slowly as she quietly tried the name of the city. She smiled, liking the way it rolled off her tongue. Zander smiled in return. “Don’t worry, if you don’t know maps now, you will by the time I’m done with you. I feel that knowing how to find your way around is nearly as important as training your magic.” He thought for a moment. “Almost. Not quite as important.” He smiled, and Rhispla noticed the smile was beginning to remind her of the way she had pictured the smile of a jolly old man in a child’s fairytale she had loved when she was small. That was before…she clamped down on the memory, hiding her temporary dread at the thought of her fateful vacation to the seashore last year.

Zander cleared his throat and plucked Arder off his inconspicuous perch behind Zander. The seagull murmured in momentary displeasure, then settled on Zander’s lap. Zander sighed and cast a glance at the seagull that was almost pleading. Then he cleared his throat again. “Rhispla, I do, however, have a concern for you. Your teacher’s reckless actions have…damaged you. In forcing your own magic, a part of you, to go against it’s own will, you caused your magic to rebel against your body.”

Rhispla gazed at him, scared. “What happened to me? I feel fine! I’m a little sore, but you said it was normal. Can I be fixed? What’s wrong with me?” In her eagerness, she leapt to her feet, remembering Furo just in time to catch the terrified turtle in mid-air.

Zander picked Arder out of his lap and stood also. “Calm down, child. I fear I’m not good at breaking this sort of news, and perhaps I was too blunt.” Rhispla cradled Furo, who had pulled all his limbs into his shell, to her chest, a storm of tears sliding down her cheeks and looking for all the world like the terrified, orphaned nine year old she had been last year. Zander sighed and put Arder on his shoulder and pulled Rhispla to him. “It’s just your growth, child. You won’t grow like normal children. Your growth spurt will be small, if it happens, and your metabolism won’t function as it should.”

Rhispla sniffled and drew back to look at him. “Meta-what?”

Zander smiled, producing a handkerchief from a pocket and wiping Rhispla’s tears away. “There’s a good girl. Don’t cry, it’s alright. Metabolism. It’s what burns fats that enter your body and helps you stay thin. Because it won’t function correctly, you’ll need to exercise much more to stay healthy. But that’s not hard, is it, my dear? We can exercise even when we’re riding. That’s why you’re sore, because your muscles were working. So it’ll all be alright, my child.”

She sniffled again, petting a mollified Furo, who was still clutched to her chest. “So, I’ll just be short and need to exercise more?”

Zander smiled. “Yes, that’s all. I’m sorry for frightening you. I’m not used to younger children. It’s been a long time since I had a student.”

Rhispla nodded weakly. “It’s alright.”

Zander smiled. “How’s this. I try to remember to be more gentle with my words, and you exercise hard to keep yourself healthy?”

Rhispla sighed, making a face. She hated to exercise, but she hated even more to be scared by those she trusted. She nodded. “It’s a deal. How about we start now?” She tucked Furo into the front of her dress and walked to her tent, ready to disassemble it.

Zander chuckled. “Nothing can put a damper on your enthusiasm, can it child?” Rhispla responded by yanking out a tent stake and smiling triumphantly as the entire tent collapsed. Zander laughed outright and nodded. “Alright, I’ll douse the fire and then we can pack up.”

******************

Krisa awakened at the first light touch on her arm. She leapt out of bed and towards the nearest shadow. The hand that had been meant to shake her awake closed on empty air. Krisa’s eyes roved the brightly lit room, hunting for a welcoming pocket of darkness as she racked her brain to remember where she was. And then it came to her. The earth mage who lead the light mages, in the dungeons of Narcul, the capital of the continent. He had her kept here until his “friend” arrived, some person who could “train” her “magic”.

Krisa straightened out of the slight-crouch she’d been in. The servant who had been sent to wake her was an aging woman, obviously not easily startled. She gazed at the child momentarily, and her eyes flicked nervously back to her hand holding the empty air for a second. Then she shrugged, squared her shoulders, and beckoned to Krisa. “There’s a bath waiting for you in the adjoining room. I’m to help you scrub and make sure you don’t miss a speck of dirt.”

Krisa wrinkled her nose. “I dun wanna take a bath.”

“You have to.” The servant was just as obviously well accustomed to such arguments.

“Give me a good reason.”

The woman sighed and shuddered slightly. “Master Cremoil said the faster you are clean, the faster you can see the snake.” Krisa’s eyes lit up at the mention of Sither, and she practically flew into the next room, a flurry of flying clothes as they fell where she dropped them.

The servant was momentarily startled. She hardly ever found such a cooperative child. She thanked her blessings and strode into the adjoining room to assure Krisa washed behind her ears and the soles of her feet.

Once Krisa was clean and swathed in a fresh shirt and pants, she scampered past the servant towards the room she had met Cremoil in the day before. The servant shrugged. The child seemed to know where she was going, and the woman had other things to do. She left the child to fend for herself and walked the other way.

Krisa padded up to Cremoil’s office gently. The door was open, and she could hear voices inside.

“—kept a golden cobra for me?”

“Yes, but it seems to have taken to the child.”

“You let a child touch a golden cobra? Without even warning her or giving her gloves?”

“It’s not like I could stop her, Nya. The snake was accepting her, and as soon as I moved, it went on the defense. I was worried it would hurt the child.”

The woman snorted. “You can be such an--”

Krisa took that moment to stride in. She brushed past the short, dark woman and Cremoil to Sither’s cage. The snake rose to greet her. She drew the two-foot long cobra out of his cage, rubbing his head to her cheek lovingly and murmuring things to him.

The woman, Nya, leaned over to Cremoil. “The child, I’m assuming.” Cremoil nodded, then cleared his throat.

“Krisa, won’t you come meet my friend?”

Krisa turned reluctantly, letting the cobra slither up her arm and around the back of her neck so he was draped across her neck. She walked slowly over to the two adults. “Hi.”

Cremoil sighed. “Nya, this is Krisa. Krisa, this is my friend, Nya Duskmark. She’ll be your teacher.” Under his breath, he added, “gods willing.”

Nya elbowed Cremoil discreetly. Krisa concluded that, despite Cremoil’s label as “friend”, there wasn’t much love between the two. Nya crouched next to Krisa. “Will…Sither,” Krisa nodded, to let the woman know she was right, and Nya continued, “let me touch him?”

Krisa tilted her head slightly towards the snake’s, as if listening, then sighed. “If you’re gentle, and you only touch his head.”

Nya reached out two careful fingers and stroked the snake’s head a few times, then she touched Krisa’s shoulder. Her hand leapt back, as if bitten, but Sither hadn’t moved. She stood, rubbing her hand. “She’s coming with me. We’re going to Sur’da’dun. And the snake is going with her.”

Cremoil looked as if he was going to protest, but Nya cut him off. She somehow, despite being half a foot shorter than Cremoil and considerably lighter in build, seemed many times more imposing. “I don’t care how you protest. You have no use for her, and I don’t care about her record. Absolve it. If you don’t, you’ll be hearing from me, and so will a number of other high-ranking officials. She is my student, and a mage’s student’s record is swept clean.”

“But the snake…he is valuable…”

“Not if he’s bonded to the child, Cremoil. Then he is worth nothing. They’re both coming with me. We leave by noon.”

“Pay for the snake, Nya.”

“You didn’t stop her from touching Sither, and they’re bonded now. It’s not my fault, it’s yours. Pay for your own idiocy.” Nya turned away from the man, cutting off further retaliation on his part. She smiled at Krisa. “How does a little trip sound?”

“Where are we going?”

“To the City of Fire. I have a student to train.” Nya smiled and lead a beaming Krisa from the room. Already the young girl had picked up on a bit of Nya’s dignified, stern attitude. However, it wasn’t enough to keep her from shooting a triumphant glance over her shoulder at the baffled earth mage.

********************

“Cierco? Cierco! Child, listen to me, for gods’ sake!”

Cierco’s head jerked up from watching Palpu slowly devour a leaf of lettuce from her salad. “Oh. I’m sorry.” Tears welled in her eyes, but didn’t spill over.

Emphne sighed, setting down his fork. “Are you alright, Cierco?”

Cierco nodded timidly and fed Palpu a thin carrot slice. Resona let out a breath in exasperation. “But she hasn’t even touched her food! How can she be well?” Cierco gently stroked Palpu’s back, picking up on the fact the question wasn’t directed at her. Resona caught sight of the rabbit and nearly went cross-eyed with frustration. “And must you bring that filthy, dirty beast to the table?”

The tears spilled over now, and Cierco wept silently. Emphne got up from his chair and wrapped an arm around the thin girl’s shoulders.

“Shh, shh. It’s alright.” In her mind, Cierco heard, Please, Cierco, Resona knows as little about being a mother as you do about being a light mage. Give her a chance, and try not to let her hurt you.

Cierco nodded and brushed tears off her cheeks, facing Resona with a small amount of strength in her posture.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try harder to listen, Lady, I promise.”

Resona sighed. “Mother, Cierco, I’m your mother. Not ‘Lady’, mother. What did you call Casseda?”

Cierco looked confused for a moment before her mind made the connection that Casseda was her mother. “Mommy. I called her mommy. I want my mommy! Where is my mommy?”

Resona smiled. “Right here! I’m your mommy. Why don’t you give your mommy a big hug and stop crying so you can eat all of your lunch?”

Cierco looked around, and with all innocence, faced Resona and said, “But my mommy’s not here.”

Resona deflated and gave up, attacking her food viciously with her knife and fork. Emphne gave Cierco’s shoulders a quick squeeze and returned to his seat. Cierco fed her little cottontail another leaf of lettuce and studied the two adults. She loved the way the light played across Emphne’s brown hair, which had strange streaks of blonde just on the top layer. She also liked the color of his eyes, an emerald green that reminded her of her mother’s.

Resona had the same emerald eyes, but they were calculating and hard rather then peaceful and patient as Emphne’s were. Resona had the same red-gold hair as Cierco, but Cierco’s eyes were more of a bright green than either of the adults. Resona dressed prim, proper and tight, very much like the nobles that had occasionally passed through Keeptown, where Cierco had grown up. Emphne, however, dressed more for comfort then for show.

Cierco closed her eyes, listening to the scrape of fork and knife against plate and Palpu gently munching on the crisp lettuce leaf. She wrinkled her nose slightly. She had been at the Keep, one of the continent’s four dragon breeding locations, for a little over a day, and already she could see stone playing across her eyelids when she closed her eyes. It was everywhere, strangling, choking, cold, gray stone. She had grown up in a small wooden cottage that, while being only a tiny fraction of the size of the Keep, seemed about eighty times as roomy, and at least that many times as welcoming.

She opened her eyes and focused on the only thing that made sense in this new world. “Emphne, when do you get to teach me?”

Resona cut in before Emphne could even speak. “He’ll start teaching you next week. But for this week, starting after lunch, you’ll meet your other teachers.”

Cierco’s expression fell. “Other teachers?”

“Yes, my dear. You have one for mathematics, and one for sciences, and one for reading and writing, and one for etiquette, and a few others, I’m sure.”

Cierco looked confused. “But…I thought Emphne was my teacher…”

“And he is. For magic.”

“If I may interject, my Lady. I have actually worked basic science, math, and reading and writing into my teachings. I just assumed that, while she needs to know them, that I would be teaching her only what she needs to know.”

“Yes, and that’s all she can learn.”

Emphne stood. “My Lady, as much as you feel you need to educate her ‘properly’, let me tell you right now that she is, and has to be, a mage first and foremost. That means that what she needs to know to understand the world and to get by, I will teach her. If she has a particular interest in something or another, by all means, get her a tutor then. But it is most important that she learn what she needs to know.”

“I must have not made myself clear. In order to be my daughter, she needs to know everything. Sciences, mat—“

“Resona! Listen to me! Her element will begin to consume those she loves if I don’t teach her! If you want to die of sunlight poisoning, or have yourself blinded by the sun and fall off the edge of a building, or stumble into something because the light is too bright and break your neck, then by all means, teach her all the other crap. But I, personally, don’t want to see anyone die, and I believe that I need to teach her the basics of magic and get her magic under control before you begin to clutter her mind with all the things you consider important. Because you abandoned her when she was small, I’m somewhat sorry to say it, but she must first be a mage, and then she can become the heir to the heir of the Keep, because I don’t think she will ever consider herself your daughter.”

Resona leapt to her feet, face scarlet with anger. “Hold your tongue! You have no right to speak to me like this! I can dispose of you at my slightest whim!”

“And then you’ll die!”

“No! Stop fighting! Please!” Cierco, who had spoken up unexpectedly, was sobbing heavily and clutching a quivering Palpu to her throat. She ran over to Emphne and threw her arm around his waist. “If you get rid of Emphne, I’ll run away! I’ll go back to my mommy! My mommy! I want my mommy! What’d you do to my mommy, cruel lady? Where is my mommy?!” Cierco was screaming and her face was dark as a typhoon of tears came down from her pretty eyes.

“Hush! Cierco, hush! I’m your mommy!”

“NO! No you aren’t! You stole me from my mommy! You’re mean! You’re bad! I hope you die! Give me back to my mommy!” Cierco buried her face in Emphne’s hip and sobbed, Palpu rubbing her cheek with his ears. Emphne picked Cierco off the floor gently.

“I think lunch is over, Resona. I don’t really care where she’s supposed to be. I want a month with her as my sole pupil. Whatever else you have planned, cancel it, or die.” Emphne strode from the room, the sobbing child clinging to him and Palpu like they were her last friends in the world.

********************

Rue woke up and opened his eyes. Immediately, he threw his arms across his eyes and squeezed them shut. “Ennnh. Gods, by the next time I nearly blind myself, maybe I’ll remember the light.” He sighed and slowly removed his arm. He blinked several times and swept the tear off his cheek that trickled out of his abused eyes. He realized, with some amusement, how good it felt to be physically able to cry.

He slowly raised himself to his knees in bed, turning around to face the wall that was behind him. On it was a small, neatly written chart in several different hands. It recorded when he had been fed, when he’d been bathed, when he’d woken up. He stumbled over a few of the names of the medicines he’d been given at various times before giving them up for un-readable. By finally locating the date of when he’d last woken, he discovered it was only the next day, about the same time. He sighed when he saw the huge notice printed at the bottom. He wasn’t supposed to get out of bed for nearly three days.

Rue, however, was fully awake. He felt stronger than he’d been in a very long time, and his skin was almost normal again. Nothing felt chapped or dry, and he could feel the flesh slowly rebuilding under his skin after it’s complete destruction on his little un-guided air journey.

He set his feet on the floor carefully. Solid ground felt strangely unfamiliar, but he wriggled his toes, slowly getting used to the feel. He pushed himself off the bed, and promptly fell back onto it. Baffled, he tried again, with the same result.

Just as he was preparing for a third try, Amia opened the door. She stared for a second, taking what was going on, then rushed to him. “Rue! You aren’t supposed to move for some time! Get back in bed.”

Rue looked back at her defiantly. “I can’t sleep anymore. I need to get up and move.”

“You can’t!”

He smiled. “Not without help.” He pushed a mass of his dirty-blonde hair, which had gotten quite long, out of his green eyes and looked at Amia pleadingly.

She backed up. “Oh no, don’t look at me like that. I’m already on Sarun’s list, I don’t need to move up any ranks.”

“Please? I need to move. I feel so cramped.”

Amia shook her head. “I can’t! You aren’t supposed to! What if you hurt yourself?”

“I won’t.” Rue stuck out his chin and continued to plead with his eyes, trying to look pitiful.

Amia peeked out in the hallway and then shut the door firmly. “Three steps, and then back. That’s it!”

Rue nodded gratefully and a smile formed from ear to ear. Amia strode over and gripped Rue’s arm, helping stabilize him as he stood.

The steps Rue took were laborious and hard, but he took each one. He carefully set his feet and prepared himself for the next step, making his muscles remember how to walk. Amia was struck by the slow patience that would someone much beyond his years showing so firmly in Rue. When she returned him to his bed, he was sweating, but beaming triumphantly. “Thank you,” He whispered just before falling asleep once more.

She shook her head and dabbed his forehead, then turned to leave. Just as she opened the door, Master Sarun stepped up to it. Amia jumped back, surprised. “Master Sarun!”

The master nodded. “Yes, Amia, that is who I am. Checking on your pupil?” Amia nodded meekly. “And how is he?”

“Sleeping peacefully now, Master.”

Sarun nodded. “Good, good. He might even be ready to get up and about before we expected.” Sarun brushed past Amia and into the room. Amia slipped out, closing the door behind her, before she collapsed against the wall in a fit of relieved giggles.

****************

Kron didn’t sleep well. He hadn’t in years, frequently waking up to the sound of his sister’s violent coughs. However, now he only woke to silence, and each time he had to re-make the painful realization that, as annoying as the coughing had been, he’d never hear it again. He woke the next day drawn and tired, wishing to cry, or, even better, join his sister.

Teran sighed when he saw Kron. “I know it’s hard, my boy, but try to move on. Live your life better than you would have in her memory, so she can look down upon you and smile to know that her brother is doing well.”

Kron nodded meekly and spooned some of the thin soup Teran had fixed into his mouth. Teran could see that Kron was immobile on the subject, no matter how bad it might be for him. He was young, and had obviously been very attached to his sister. The thought that he had been killing her was probably tearing Kron apart. Teran sighed again and attempted a smile.

“Well, Kron, the good news is we get to leave all of this behind. We’re going to Epperron, in Tompenya. It’s a bit of a ways from little old Doval here, but it’s the best place for you to train.”

Kron looked up and fixed Teran with eyes that held suppressed self-rage, hatred and sorrow. “Can you teach me how to never kill anyone? So that I can’t do that ever again?”

Teran paused. “I can, but sometimes dying at the hand of an essence mage is much kinder than any other form of death, Kron.”

Kron shook his head furiously. “Not for my sister. Not for that man. I don’t want to learn how to kill, even nicely. I never want to learn.”

Teran sighed and gave it up. “Alright, Kron.”

Kron fixed his gaze back on his soup, blonde head looking far too heavy for a ten-year old. Suddenly, he murmured, “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow, weather and horse-buying success permitting.”

Kron nodded. “What’s Epperron?”

“The City of Essence, the essence mage capital of the continent. There are special barriers and such there that will allow you to train without fear of harming someone. It will also allow the both of us access to a wealth of information on your magic, both written and in the form of the knowledge of others.”

Kron took a moment to decipher it all, then nodded. Rhidolin jumped into Kron’s lap in the form of a small house cat, purring for all she was worth. Kron seemed hesitant to touch the creature, so she arched her back, bumping into his hand. Upon discovering that, despite the fact that she looked as if she were made of crystal, the texture of her fur felt real, Kron began to pet the cat slowly. Soon she had a small but genuine smile forming on Kron’s face.

Teran smiled in return. “After you learn control, my boy, the first thing I will teach you is how to create life. Your own familiar, once you master the technique, will be your first, and probably only, permanent creation.” Rhidolin hopped onto the table lightly and strode to Teran, rubbing up to his hand gently. “And a wonderful creation they are. They’ll never desert you, and they will always be your friend.” Rhidolin transformed into the small salamander again, crawling into Teran’s outstretched hand. “Come, my boy. If we are to leave tomorrow, you need a proper mount and we both need some supplies.”

Kron rose, eager to leave the city of Doval, and all it’s memories, behind.

*****************

The first thing Sergo noticed was the sweet smell of cooking, and he smiled as he thought of the great Sunday breakfast his mother would have spread. The next thing he realized was that the room on the other side of his eyelids was bright, whereas his room had always been dark, being an interior room of the house. And then he remembered. His whole family, mother, father, siblings, grandmother, was gone. Buried under a mysterious pile of roots and dirt. His eyelids flew open, and he sat bolt upright in bed, eyes searching the room for anything familiar. They landed upon the orb, the source of the lightness, and it all fell into place. The punishment, and the strange occurrence that had saved him, and then the hermit and his splendid home. Aradun. Aradun Cliffwalker. And earth mage. And he, Sergo, was Aradun’s student.

Sergo flung the covers aside, startling a sleeping Malthu, who had been standing on the bedside table, resembling a tree without a pot and a sleeping face. She quickly clamored down to the ground in a practiced manner, and trailed behind Sergo with a grace that seemed flowing for such an awkward mode of walking. “Ah, I can smell breakfast now! Kirsk is actually quite a good cook, but Aradun is not. Never let him convince you he is.” Sergo heard the whisper of her leafy “hair” as she shuddered at the thought. He turned and picked her off the floor, carrying her with him.

“I won’t, don’t worry.” He plopped down at the table, where Aradun was reading some sort of fat book. Aradun smiled at him over the edge of the book.

“Ah, good, the lad is up, and Malthu with him.” He set the book down. “I trust you feel better, and that your nerves as well as your mind are somewhat calmed.”

Sergo nodded and Malthu said, “I made sure he slept well, Cliffwalker.”

“I have no doubt about that, Malthu.” He poked her in the stomach. “You’d make an excellent mother, the way you fawn.”

Malthu beamed and went to help Kirsk bring the food to the table. Aradun focused on Sergo. “Well, Sergo, I’m sure you have many questions. Hopefully I can answer them all, but that is thinking wishfully. Ask away, but one at a time, if you can.”

“What happened to my family?”

Aradun sighed. “Yes, I had a feeling that would be top in your mind. When a mage of any element is born, no matter how strong, the element becomes somewhat attached to that person. As they grow, the element feels that the training of the person’s magic should reward the element’s devotion to the person. However, many young mages go untrained for quite a period of time. In particularly strong mages, the element is more devoted, and more angered when the magic is not trained. Somehow, the elements found that our families and friends were a distraction to that training. All elements are jealous, some more than others, and thus, they eliminate the competition so the mage can devote their entire attention to their magic. What happened to your family was the element of earth claiming you as its own, and trying to force you to train.”

“How can the elements think? They’re just the weather and the earth and sky and such.”

“Ah, yes, in the general sense of the word. However, the elements I speak of are not the wind and the soil beneath your feet. In the heart of the Crescent Mountains, impassible to humans and creatures alike, there’s a place called the Black Mountain. It is where the main river of the continent stems from, and it is the home of the elements of which I speak. They are living, breathing incarnations of the things you usually consider the elements, like soil. They are great mages, with powers beyond those anyone can fathom, but they are bound to the Black Mountain in such a way that if they leave, they lose that power, and their lives. They are ancient, and the creators of magic.”

Sergo dug into the food that was now before him, eating hungrily. He loved the way Aradun spun the tale, making even this short statement of facts seem eloquent and flowing like an ancient fairytale. “How do we know all this if no one can get there?”

“No one can get there physically, in body. Many a powerful mage has seen the elements during meditation, or even in their sleep. The elements are the ones who counter the dark forces, and who long ago gave us the Seven when those dark forces threatened to take over.”

“The Seven?”

“One mage of each of the elements, more powerful than any others. They formed a group called the Seven, and collectively defeated the rising power of a Black Lord. I believe it took place in—“

“Aradun! Aradun! Master, please!” A tiny dryad was sliding down the stairs, his voice barely a squeak. Aradun’s face darkened and he left the story hanging in the air as he got up to help the tiny tree-person.

“Catch your breath, Couris, then speak.”

“No time! They’re coming, Aradun! Someone saw you take the boy, and they’re coming for him, and you! They want you both, the boy for his sentence and you for defying justice. Oh, you must leave, Aradun! Don’t let them catch you!”

Aradun sighed. He spoke one word and most of the orb-lights extinguished. “Go and hide, Couris. If you can find the help of someone strong, find me in Berringar in two weeks. And thank you, my friend.” Aradun set Couris at the top of the stairs and the tiny tree-man fled. Kirsk and Malthu had whisked the food off the table, and Sergo was standing ready for something to do. “Come, Sergo, we have a few things to finish and not much time to finish them in.”

Aradun led Sergo into his room, where he hastily packed a few things. He pulled a bulging sack out of a wall that opened with a look towards it. Then he picked up Kirsk, and Sergo took Malthu. Aradun handed Sergo a walking stick, and took one for himself. “Horses are no good where we travel. The path to Berringar, the City of Earth, from this little map-dot of Targu goes through the Diamond Forest.”

Sergo was completely confused, but thought the better of asking at the moment. Aradun paused at the top of the stairs and spoke a second word. The last few orbs extinguished and the stairs retracted to fill the hole. As Aradun turned from the place where they had been, Sergo asked, “Aren’t you worried about your home?”

“It will wait for me. The earth allows my little alcove, and will not take it over. I always return, and I suspect I will again. If I don’t, then a new home can always be hued.”

Sergo hoped his own life from here forward would be that simple, and a newly hued home would be in his near future.

*******************

Corin gritted her teeth and reached for her toe. “That’s it. I know you’re sore now, but it will pass.” Corin muttered and sent a dark glance in Amaros’ direction. They had rode through most of the night, and slept through half the day. The sun was high, and Corin’s muscles hadn’t taken well to the long ride.

Amaros smiled, watching over her to make sure she didn’t skimp on her stretching. “Glare at me all you like, it will help.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Lack of trust, dear student?”

“You might stab me in my sleep.” She switched legs and reached for her other toe, swallowing a gasp as her muscles protested.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. You’re quite a live one for ten years old.”

“I don’t like people. I don’t trust them.”

“I’m not a person, Corin.” Amaros crouched next to her. She seethed even more at seeing how easily he moved. “I’m your teacher, and essentially your best friend from now until when you graduate.”

“How long is that?”

“Ten years.”

She grimaced and reached straight forward. “Where are you taking me?”

“To the City of Fire, Aracil.”

“Where’s that?”

“I’ll show it to you on a map sometime. I promise. Right now, we’re only a few miles from the intersection of the road that connects Mehheron and Narcul and the road north. I think we’ll be staying courtesy of the Roost tomorrow night, but we’ll stay here tonight.”

Corin folded her legs. She sighed and tried to picture the only map she’d ever seen. After a few moments, she decided she had a general idea of where they were, but as of yet no clue where she was going.

Amaros sat next to her and assumed the same position as Corin. “If you really want the pain to go away, we can start with a meditation technique. It’s something we fire mages do to put some warmth into our veins. It’s good for cold nights and sore muscles.” He shifted slightly, assuming a position that looked both stern and relaxed. His back was straight, head up and his hands were on his knees, but he seemed so natural to the position that it no longer bothered him. Corin tried to mimic him, settling herself into the same position but finding herself incapable of the ease Amaros had.

He smiled. “Don’t worry. The position will become comfortable the more you meditate. At first, it’ll be annoying. I promise. Now, try to let your mind go blank. If you can’t, think black. Not the word black, because if you do, I guarantee you’ll start seeing the word floating around in your head. Think the color.”

Corin had just begun to calm her mind when “Help!” echoed through the air. Her eyes flew open and she was on her feet in a flash. Before Amaros could even respond, she had taken off running in the direction of the voice. She glimpsed him getting to his feet out of the corner of her eye as she rounded a curve in the street, but she knew it would be some time before he could catch her. She had trained to run faster then adults all her life, to escape her father.

The voice rang out again and Corin skidded to a stop, switching onto a side street. She recognized the terrified ring to the voice. It was what had compelled the priest to open the door that first night she’d showed up on his doorstep, eye black and lip bleeding. It was what had kept the priest opening the door each time, and what had made him throw his own weight into barring the door. She rounded another curve and smashed into someone.

She picked herself off the ground and was ready to run on, until she saw who she had crashed into. A boy sat in front of her, hardly older than herself. He wore a dirty sheet hastily wrapped around his waist, and even though he was dazed, she could see the utter terror in his eyes.

Suddenly, he came out of his daze and saw Corin. “Gods, you have to help me! Before she realizes I’m gone!”

Corin crouched by him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Who? What’s wrong?”

“She does horrible things! Oh my god, Morry…and Chritis…god, what she did to them…She did it to me too! You’ve got to save me!” He clung to Corin.

“What’s your name?”

“I don’t know! I don’t remember! I’m so scared. Please, please, you have to help me!”

“It’s alright, she can’t hurt you now. We’ll get my teacher, he’ll help you.”

“She can! She CAN!” He shrieked. Suddenly, his body began to warp and shrink. Corin blinked twice, and there was no longer a boy. A green thing stood in the circle the sheet had formed, roughly a foot and a half tall. It had feet like a bird’s, two long, flexible toes in front and one sticking directly behind. A tail had spawned from the back end of the body, and a long, flexible neck. Atop the neck was a head similar to a pointy-nosed dog with floppy ears.

Corin heard footsteps and stopped hesitating. She scooped whatever it was into her arms and began to back up in the direction she knew Amaros was coming from, ignoring the momentary tingle that passed through her entire body.

Amaros thudded into her from behind, and though she stumbled, she retained her balance. As she raised her head, an old woman stepped into the street. “Ah! I’m so glad you found it. Give it back to me, child.” She reached out towards Corin, advancing.

Corin swung away from the woman, shying back a few steps. The thing in her arms had wrapped both of his three-toed feet around her arm in a bone-crushing fashion and was whimpering faintly. Corin felt her heart go out to him, but right now the woman was both of their immediate problem.

She turned to Amaros and showed him what she held. “This is a boy, Amaros. I’m not sure what she did, but he’s scared out of his mind of that lady. When she got close, he went from being a boy to being this. He’s still scared. You’ve got to help me!”

The lady scoffed. “Sir, are you responsible for this brat? If you are, tell her to give back my property. Immediately.”

Corin stared at Amaros, her eyes pleading him for all she was worth. He sighed and stepped up to stand beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “She is my student, and if this is a boy as she says, then I don’t see how he can belong to you when slavery is outlawed.”

“The state of Quishar has given him to me, for my own purposes.”

“And what are your purposes?”

“I don’t have to explain them to you, fool!”

Amaros drew himself up. “I am a fire mage, recognized by the city of Aracil. I don’t know by what means you have tortured this boy, but it most certainly involves magic. If you refuse to comply, or you do and I feel it is unlawful, I will take you before the Council of Mehheron. Do not challenge me, woman, I will defeat you.”

She sighed. “He is a criminal, caught many times by Narcul. He is too young for the jails and court systems, but is too vile to be placed back on the streets. He and his little band of friends have evaded the law too many times, so they were sent to me. I am an essence mage, recognized, however vaguely, by Epperron, and if you do not give him back, I will take you before the Council of Mehheron.”

“Yes, but you still haven’t told me what you did to him.” Corin beamed inwardly, liking Amaros more by the second.

The woman gasped in exasperation. “He is a familiar! I have spent my life trying to turn misfit humans into the perfect familiar.”

“So you transformed him. Did you have his consent?”

“Does it matter? I have the consent of the capital city of the continent to do what I wish with whomever they send me.”

“It is a law of basic trust among the essence mages. Those you transform must agree to it.”

“He is a criminal!”

“It matters not.”

The lady looked lost for a moment, then began to grin. “You said you were a fire mage. That makes your student a fire mage. And, when she touched that thing, she was immediately bonded to it. You see, my familiars bond to any type of magic. So, he is useless to me as he will no longer bond to any other mage, and your student is useless without him, as she will not bond to any other familiar. We have the same problem, and the same solution. I’ll charge you a hundred crubbles for him.”

Amaros raised an eyebrow. “You said he was worthless to you now. Why should I pay?”

“Fifty crubbles. It’s your student’s fault he is worthless.”

“It’s your own. You let him get out of control.”

“If you had controlled her, I would have been able to control him!”

“Familiars don’t cost anywhere else. Why should yours?”

“Because mine are developed off of years of research, based solely on writings that were half cockamamie and a quarter burned or otherwise destroyed and my failures. That which your student holds is by far my greatest accomplishment, and now I cannot capitalize off of him. 25 crubbles, but that is to lowest I will go.”

“I refuse to pay for your mistake.”

“If you do not pay, I will take you to Mehheron. It is hardly a day’s ride from here.”

Amaros sighed. “Five crubbles. That is more than anyone else will pay, no matter how advanced the thing may be.”

“Ten.”

“Six.”

“Eight.”

“Seven.”

“Done.” Amaros reached into his belt-purse and drew out the coins, handing them to her. Then he wrapped his arm around Corin’s shoulder and led her away from the old woman, who was still seething.

The thing collapsed in Corin’s arms, nuzzling her in gratitude. He had released his grip, and Corin could already see bruises forming. She stroked his head gently, pleased to find he wasn’t scaly. “I think I’ll call you Greedle, after that greedy old woman.”

Greedle didn’t care. He was fast asleep curled in her arms. Amaros smiled. “That was a wonderful thing you did. I’ll speak with the Council of Aracil when we get there, see if I can’t shut this woman down before she does real harm.”

“I get to keep him?”

Amaros nodded. “Forever.”

Corin smiled down at the sleeping creature. “Good.”