great beast and the sun rose in the eastern sky casting a long shadow over the magicians. It was Alia's rune, crafted years ago that brought them to this cave not far from Colum.
“ I know this place,” Byrn told her placing his hand on the cave's wall as if he was testing it to make sure it was real. It was a piece of his past from a time that, although it was only a few years earlier, it felt like it was a lifetime away. “A pack of ogres used to live here. They always gave Colum a wide berth and we did the same with their cave. My father told me once that the guards would not attack it for fear that the cost of life of clearing them out would be too high, so we had to be content with the knowledge that as long as we left them alone, they would do the same for us.
“ One day they were driven mad by a magician who held a grudge against Colum... or maybe just people in general and my hometown happened to be an easy target. That was the day that I first realized that I could wield magic. That was also the night that my life was changed forever. I ended up in Baj for accidentally killing nine people and the magician who set the attack in motion was never caught.”
“ I am sorry,” Alia said with a somber note to her voice. She put her hand on Byrn’s shoulder to comfort him, but he barely noticed. “The gods work mysteriously at times, but if you think about it maybe that was the best thing that could have happened to you. If not for that event, you may have never discovered your true potential.”
Byrn continued as if she had not said anything, lost in his own memories. “For the longest time I felt cursed by that day. It seemed that fate had conspired against me to take everything I cared about away, but now,” Byrn paused looking for the right words, “now I still feel that loss, but I could no longer imagine myself as being anything other than I am now. If the ogres never attacked, then I would have moved away from Colum as a journeyman courier. At the time it seemed that a life where avoiding the occasional bandit would be all the excitement that I would ever need, but at some point doing the fantastic- things that I never thought were possible- has become commonplace. Spending time with you and others like us in a community of magicians has made me feel at ease with who I am and if things had unfolded differently, then I would not have grown into the person you see before you. Does that make sense?”
Alia only nodded. Her mind seemed to be in another place.
After a time they made their way to the lake although the term “lake” did not do the body of water justice. It was a great lake, larger across than many rivers, and would take a full day for them to reach the opposite end on foot where they guessed the sewer tunnel was located. The side they were on was often trafficked by Colum’s residents and as Byrn had never seen anything like a sewer tunnel emptying out on this side, then it must be on the opposite side of the lake where no one ever went except on occasional hunting expeditions when food was scarce.
Byrn calmed his mind easily focusing his thoughts dispassionately on his outward magic so that instead of generating fire as was his natural tendency he dropped the temperature in the air several degrees and froze a portion of the lake before them large enough that they could walk out on it. Byrn was the first to test his icy construct and, finding it satisfactory, held his hand out for Alia who took it as Byrn helped her aboard.
“ Hold on to me,” he told her, releasing her hand and offering his arm in its place.
“ What for?” she asked.
In answer a powerful gust of wind blew across the lake that nearly pushed Alia off her feet on the slippery surface and she instinctively grabbed onto Byrn’s outstretched arm as their impromptu ice raft pushed away from the shore.
Alia shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her slender body, but Byrn barely felt the cold touch his skin.
“ I know this place,” Byrn told her placing his hand on the cave's wall as if he was testing it to make sure it was real. It was a piece of his past from a time that, although it was only a few years earlier, it felt like it was a lifetime away. “A pack of ogres used to live here. They always gave Colum a wide berth and we did the same with their cave. My father told me once that the guards would not attack it for fear that the cost of life of clearing them out would be too high, so we had to be content with the knowledge that as long as we left them alone, they would do the same for us.
“ One day they were driven mad by a magician who held a grudge against Colum... or maybe just people in general and my hometown happened to be an easy target. That was the day that I first realized that I could wield magic. That was also the night that my life was changed forever. I ended up in Baj for accidentally killing nine people and the magician who set the attack in motion was never caught.”
“ I am sorry,” Alia said with a somber note to her voice. She put her hand on Byrn’s shoulder to comfort him, but he barely noticed. “The gods work mysteriously at times, but if you think about it maybe that was the best thing that could have happened to you. If not for that event, you may have never discovered your true potential.”
Byrn continued as if she had not said anything, lost in his own memories. “For the longest time I felt cursed by that day. It seemed that fate had conspired against me to take everything I cared about away, but now,” Byrn paused looking for the right words, “now I still feel that loss, but I could no longer imagine myself as being anything other than I am now. If the ogres never attacked, then I would have moved away from Colum as a journeyman courier. At the time it seemed that a life where avoiding the occasional bandit would be all the excitement that I would ever need, but at some point doing the fantastic- things that I never thought were possible- has become commonplace. Spending time with you and others like us in a community of magicians has made me feel at ease with who I am and if things had unfolded differently, then I would not have grown into the person you see before you. Does that make sense?”
Alia only nodded. Her mind seemed to be in another place.
After a time they made their way to the lake although the term “lake” did not do the body of water justice. It was a great lake, larger across than many rivers, and would take a full day for them to reach the opposite end on foot where they guessed the sewer tunnel was located. The side they were on was often trafficked by Colum’s residents and as Byrn had never seen anything like a sewer tunnel emptying out on this side, then it must be on the opposite side of the lake where no one ever went except on occasional hunting expeditions when food was scarce.
Byrn calmed his mind easily focusing his thoughts dispassionately on his outward magic so that instead of generating fire as was his natural tendency he dropped the temperature in the air several degrees and froze a portion of the lake before them large enough that they could walk out on it. Byrn was the first to test his icy construct and, finding it satisfactory, held his hand out for Alia who took it as Byrn helped her aboard.
“ Hold on to me,” he told her, releasing her hand and offering his arm in its place.
“ What for?” she asked.
In answer a powerful gust of wind blew across the lake that nearly pushed Alia off her feet on the slippery surface and she instinctively grabbed onto Byrn’s outstretched arm as their impromptu ice raft pushed away from the shore.
Alia shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her slender body, but Byrn barely felt the cold touch his skin.
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