The First Mage

“What do we do if they don’t wake up?” Riala asked as she watched Tomar sleep. She was uncharacteristically worried about him and their situation. Tomar had given Miles control, so he could test using scripts without a stone, and it had worked well at first, but then they suddenly collapsed. The young girl remembered what it was like to get knocked out by your own mana vividly, and while she had been scared initially, she figured Miles would just go through the same process as she and Tomar had, and eventually they would wake up. However, it had been a day since then, and there was no sign of either of them waking up in Tomar’s body.

“Everything will be fine, don’t worry,” Berla said, trying to reassure her, even though she was even more worried than Riala. Based on the deal with the mayor, they would have to produce results within six days, and they had now already lost an entire day. If neither of them woke up soon, Berla and Riala might have to try to flee, and they would most likely have to leave Tomar and Miles behind. If it came to that, however, she would do it. To protect herself and Riala. The young girl might not have had the same firepower as Tomar, but Berla believed that they could manage. He and Miles had kindled a fire in her. A will to survive.

Berla walked over to Riala and patted her on the head. “I’m sure they will wake up soon. You said it yourself, right? Miles just has to get used to the mana. And then they will finish this job in no time.”

“I want to be older...” Riala said. “I want to fake the Sourcerer Calling too, then I could help them!”

“I know, Riala. But we can't do anything but wait at the moment.”

Suddenly there was a short knock on the door and the mayor entered the room. Riala hurried to move closer to Tomar, but in that brief moment where she had been a few meters away from him, the mayor thought that the young girl seemed to give off the same air as Tomar. However, the feeling disappeared almost immediately as she got closer to the boy, so he wasn’t entirely sure whether he had been mistaken.

“Morning, ladies,” the mayor said. “I just wanted to check in. Looks like he isn’t up yet, hm?” He approached Tomar and looked at him with slight worry in his eyes. “It would be a shame if it were to end as soon as it began. I’ve heard about the initial results, it seems like it was a sight to behold.”

“We have reason to believe that he will wake up eventually, it might just take a little while,” Berla said.

“Is that so? Sounds like you know what is going on.”

“Not exactly... but something like this has happened before. He should wake up soon,” she said, trying to reassure him that they would continue in time. She would have to make sure he didn’t kick them out or sell them to Alarna early. Miles was optimistic about their deal, but Berla was still skeptical of the mayor and his intentions.

“Very well. Say, why don’t we go and eat a quick lunch? You two must be hungry, right?” he said while looking at Riala with a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Thank you, Mayor, but we don’t want to leave Tomar alone.”

“I see. I’ll have someone bring it up then. I’ll see you later.”

The mayor turned around and left the room without saying anything else, but Berla had picked up on him having noticed something. She knew that they had to be more careful.

***

From a distance, two shadows monitored the mayor’s house. They couldn’t make out anyone through the windows at the moment, but they knew Tomar, Berla, and Riala were inside, ever since they had entered the building the day prior, in the middle of the night.

“The soldiers are gone and the mayor accommodates the boy and the girls... curious,” Reurig said. He and Nier had followed them ever since they found them on the road, waiting for a good moment to potentially strike. However, such a moment had never presented itself. The three were surprisingly active, even at night, and the boy seemed to somehow never sleep at all. Ever awake and watchful. When the three got involved with the mayor, however, they truly became out of reach, because it would be tricky to even approach the house without someone noticing. From a bird’s-eye view on the roof of a nearby building, they could see that the house wasn’t nearly as unguarded as it would initially appear, with guards always being close and monitoring it, although they didn’t seem to stop anyone from approaching it if they seemed harmless, like three young people.

“We could go back and report everything to the High Priest, some of the information we got is useful,” Nier said. “And we’ll probably not make any more headway here.”

“Maybe... but I think we should stay a little longer. They won’t just stay inside forever, and we might get a chance yet if they leave the house.”

Nier looked at his companion with suspicion. “You want to stay? Even though the chances that we’ll have any success here are slim? Even though we can’t even approach them?”

“It can’t hurt, right? We’re essentially one step ahead of the king again now. We’re here and we know exactly where they are.”

Nier thought about the proposition for a moment, but he understood that Reurig wasn’t purely thinking about their mission. Ever since they had seen the soldiers leave town, he had been erratic. “Promise me this has nothing to do with you hating your job or your delusions about leaving Alarna and your duty behind.”

Reurig had never been a Fighter by choice and had dreamed of a world where he could just go where he wanted and be what he wanted. At first, the task of following the fugitives had felt like a curse on top of everything he felt was wrong with his life, but when he saw how light-hearted two children and a disabled Fighter had traveled through the Wildlands, he felt like he had seen what he wanted his life to be like. He didn’t want to be an agent anymore, not a soldier, nor a guard. He didn’t want to be trapped behind the walls of his hometown for the rest of his mortal life and only do what others wanted him to do. He believed that these kids might be his path to a new life. If only he could talk to them and figure out how they were doing it. There was a chance they could help him, or that maybe he would be able to accompany them as well.

His partner, Nier, was a problem, however. As with many temple agents, he was deeply devoted to his job and the High Priest, even though he wasn’t technically a big fan of putting himself in danger either. He did it, however, and he believed deeply in the town’s laws. He didn’t want his companion to be unhappy, but he wouldn’t accept going off script either. Reurig was aware of Nier knowing his feelings, as well as that he would never let him go. He could try to run away, or continue to try to delay their departure until he got some better idea for what to do, but it seemed like he was reaching the end of the rope.

It was difficult for Fighters to leave Alarna, as they swore loyalty to the town shortly after their Calling. It wasn’t fair, as they were pushed into this role, but for the safety of the town and its citizens, Fighters were being forced to do their job. With the limited and random number of new ones that were joining their ranks every year, and the number that they regularly lost in fights against beasts, the town needed every one they could get. Though as a compromise, the Fighters were very well paid, and some even lived in the south-west, where the aristocracy resided.

To Reurig, however, none of that mattered. He didn’t care about money or a nice house. He didn’t have anyone waiting for him in Alarna and he believed that his future was out here. He couldn’t do it all alone though, and he didn’t want to go to another town to do the same job there. He saw this as his chance, and he wouldn’t let anyone stop him anymore.

“Nier, I...” he started and then drew his dagger. “I’m sorry. You can go, but I’m staying.”

***

A ruckus and screams of citizens alerted the Guards of Cerus of something happening in the south-east of town. When they arrived where they had first heard the noises, they deduced that there had been a fight, as they found blood at the scene. Initially it seemed like whatever was going on was already over at that point, but when they saw shadows jump from roof to roof above them, seemingly chasing each other, they knew it was not. More guards gathered and evacuated bystanders, while others were trying to find a way onto the roofs to stop the fight.

From below, they could hear metal strike metal, combatants crashing into roofs or chimneys, and wood breaking. While squabbles between Fighters weren’t all that unusual, such serious fights were a rare sight, since endangering citizens oftentimes led to death penalties. Fighters were too strong and could easily kill normal citizens and bystanders by accident, which was why they were prohibited from engaging each other like this. Worse yet, it seemed like these were enemy combatants, because they were dressed like Alarna agents.

The first two guards that made it onto the roofs tried to stop the two fighters. “Stop! Hands in the air!” However, the two quickly distanced themselves from the guards, jumping from roof to roof, making it difficult to follow them, as the guards weren’t as agile. Within seconds, they had lost sight of the two agents again, though they could still hear their fight.

They followed the noises and repeatedly tried to stop them, but they failed every time. It wasn’t until minutes later, that the noises subsided and the guards found one of the two agents lying dead in a sidestreet. No matter how much they searched, however, they could not find a trace of the other one.