- "Elder..." Kiril started to say.

- "My decision is made", she started to walk and took a bag before taking bread and cheese and packed them for the trip. "Prepare two soldiers to accompany me, I am going to the shrine."

- "Elder, it's dangerous" said one of the elders who stood up. "You are way too old for this sort of thing, the trip will wear you out!"

- "And then what else ?! I'm not an old crouton like you" she retorted, giving him a cold look before resuming her preparations and burying a blanket in the bag.

The captain then looked at her, the one who had raised him, had taught him how to handle a sword, how to take care of the vegetable garden. She who had taken care of the children of the village all her life and who now was going outside for some unknown fate. He felt sick to his stomach, but at the same time, he was delighted that she was so energetic.

For a few years now, she had been cloistered in the house, watching the children play from the hill and the peasants in the fields. Kiril had noticed it, many thought that she was watching so that everything is going well and that no one was lazy. But the captain knew exactly what she was doing.

She envied them. Her heyday had passed and now she had to stay inside. Often tired and in pain, she could no longer take care of the children or her vegetable garden. She was sad and felt useless.

Kiril had understood it easily. Seeing her preparing for her departure, he then came to stand, attracting the attention of the two elders and a smile of sympathy appeared on his face.

- "Granny..."

- "What else? Are you going to do it too ??"

He gave a light laugh and walked over to her, a smile on his face. The elder then turned to him, her gaze threatening.

- "Do not even try to stop me, little rascal, perhaps I can't spank you anymore, but you have not tasted my cane strokes yet!" she pushed.

He then continued to laugh before taking a thicker blanket and stretching it the old fashioned way with a smile on his face. The elder then looked at the blanket, silent.

- "It's cold these days, you're going to need something thicker."

The elder then looked at the blanket in the captain's hands and then her face before a smile illuminated her wrinkled face. She then came to take her new blanket and buried it in her bag before approaching the counter. The captain watched her do it before seeing her take her cane.

"Mmh? What is she doing?" he said to him.

A cane suddenly fell towards him. He placed his arm in front as a reflex defense, surprised by the old one. "But what did I do?"

- "I told you to go prepare your soldiers to accompany me !!! What are you doing here again? !!!!" she yelled, hitting Kiril.

- "Okay, calm down! You're crazy" Kiril pushed, heading for the door.

- "Huh? !!! Did I hear what I heard?" she said, following him slowly, her cane spinning in the air. "Come back here! You haven't been beaten enough with the cane, come and see !!"

The captain then left the house running. "That's it, she's gone mad, it's official" he thought with a smile. Behind him, the elder stood in the doorway, a smile on her face as she watched Kiril leave. She then turned and looked at the two elders.

- "What do you have you ?! You also want to feel my cane?"

The two elders turned pale before nodding negatively. On the way to the stable, Kiril saw Rebecca come out the door, immediately heading towards the captain.

- "Rebecca, you are not yet rested. You have to go to sleep!" he told her calmly.

- "To hell with sleep, I need an answer !! Are you going back?"

Kiril didn't respond and took her by the shoulders, lifting her off the ground so she couldn't touch the ground before he started to pull her back to his house.

- "Kiril !! I have to know, I want to know! I want to go, if you go, I want to come too. Please, you know how it feels!"

- "I know what it feels like to stay awake and ask too much of your body, yeah. And frankly, I'm not recommending it to you."

- "But Kiril! He's a mage! A MAGE! And an elf on top of that !!"

- "Yeah, and? Do you think an elf will want to take you, a human, as an apprentice?"

- "So! I can try! I missed my chance, I was too scared, but if we go with the elders, it means that they will negotiate and talk. Please, I beg !! I have to ask him. "

The captain then sighed and thought, "The women of this village are way too stubborn. Is that an innate gift besides that of the shadows?" He then paused for a moment and looked at her.

- "Okay. There is no way that I will let you go in this state. So we are going to make a deal, you, you rest here. Me, I go with the old one and I ask to the elf if he wants to take you as an apprentice. "

Kiril had already decided to go with the old one to keep her. What's more, what soldier could endure his unpredictability? Making this deal with Rebecca was just a bonus.

Her mind had decided when Rebecca made her request. The report was most certainly true. They had met an elf, or thought they had met one. Otherwise, she wouldn't be like this.

For generations, the members of the village had never had a child capable of manipulating any magic other than that of the shadow. It was an acquaintance known to all. But that was until Rebecca was born.

When she reached the age of 3, her powers began to materialize when a fire broke out out of nowhere in her cradle. Unable to know where he came from, her parents decided to keep her in their bed the following evening after they had put out the fire in time before it spread.

That same evening, they found their baby soaking wet and trembling. Thinking that she had "relaxed her bladder", her mother began to change it before noticing that her urine was odorless and was even very cold. She immediately consulted the former, thinking that Rebecca had fallen ill, but she found nothing.

A week passed like this and every night we found dirt on the floor, open windows, the wet floor or bed. Then one day her father decided to stay awake to keep an eye on her and witnessed Rebecca's magical gifts. Immediately he took her to the old one again, explaining to her what he had seen.

At first puzzled, the old woman gave her some tests to try to find out if she really had a gift for magic. Adept at shadow magic, she set out to gather mana in front of her, invisible to her parents. Immediately, the baby suddenly began to smile and laugh as he tried to grab the mana sphere formed by the old one.

Immediately, she confirmed that Rebecca had gifts for magic. Feats far greater than any that could handle mana. She grew up discovering new talents every day, but it was when she was 16 that she reached her limit.

She couldn't find more, she couldn't make any further progress. After some research, the elder taught him that at the age of 16, promising children capable of the gift of magic reached their magical maturity.

From there, they were to follow the teachings of a Mage or an instructor. However, Rebecca had none. Although some of the villagers were adept at shadow magic, they also had no education. What is more, they did it instinctively like her and therefore had no more to teach her.

In addition, with the Treaty of Independence with the other kingdoms, Rebecca was considered an outsider in them. So she couldn't go there and ask for access to their magical academies. She was at an impasse.

After some time of negotiation and deterrence, Kiril was finally able to leave, letting Rebecca go to rest and walked towards a barracks. There he ordered two soldiers to prepare for an expedition and set off for the stables to take the three horses.

Horses were a scarce and expensive commodity. They had to be used with care and thoroughness. The scouts had been chosen for their speed. At full speed they could almost catch up with a horse running at normal speed, which was something no one blamed them for. This was their main quality that they had honed over the years. That is why they had gone to the sanctuary without horses.

A few minutes later, at the gates of the village, two soldiers and the captain waited patiently, holding the reins of their horses when the old one appeared on the central path. Some time passed before she arrived.

- "Good, very good. Nice job! Come on, let's not waste time, let's go" she declared, approaching Kiril's horse, intending to take it.

Suddenly, the captain took the old one by the hips and lifted it easily before setting it askew in the saddle before climbing up behind it. She looked at him for a moment, her gaze lost before raising her cane and began to strike.

- "What are you going to do here young man eh ?? We do not take a lady like that! And then you wonder why you do not have a wife yet eh ?!"

- "Granny... Stop! The horse!"

- "And what do I have to do with the horse! Come down and leave the horse to me, little rascal. I can still manage on my own, you'll see!"

The two elders then approached and came to lay eyes of sympathy and compassion on the captain.

- "We entrust her to you ... Try to put up with her mood, in the end, she is not so bad."

- "How do you put up with me? !! Wait a bit until I get down, you'll see!"

Immediately, the elders greeted the captain and left the place quickly before taking a cane and left for their house in the center. The captain then came to smile: "They had already understood that I was going to accompany him and did not say anything? These elders, they are really dangerous ..."

Kiril mentally noted to himself. Do not try to hide things from them, their deduction skills were out of the ordinary. It was expected of the elders.

With that, with the ruthless elder before him, the captain motioned for the two soldiers to get on the horses as the door was opened for them.

- "Forward!" he yelled at the two soldiers.

- "Don't scream like that !!! I may be old, but I'm not deaf!" the old one yelled at the same time, jumping slightly, making the two soldiers laugh as they set off.

The three horses then left the village and entered the forest path towards the huge rock formation on the horizon, determined to meet this mysterious elf.