“Goodbye, Richard. Like the quest says, try not to die.”

Gods, I hope I didn't summon Ikar's Champion to this world only to get him killed the first day he arrives. I don't know if Ikar would forgive me for that.

Evelyn ran off towards the west. She saw Richard hesitate for a second, before he turned and headed off towards the south like she had asked him to, and she silently breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way she could keep him safe right now if he stayed with her.

She ran, hearing the howl of the hounds a distance behind her. She could run much faster in the woods than Richard could, but the people behind her likely could outpace her in the woods. She had spent much of her childhood in these woods, but that didn't mean she could outrun someone with a [Hunter] or [Scout] class, at least not over a long distance. She was going to have to do something to throw the dogs off.

She ran for another 10 minutes, making sure she was a good distance away from where she separated from Richard, and then stopped in a clearing in the woods. She saw the plant that she was looking for, piperaceae. Sometimes used by herbalists or potion-makers, it was well known for having a very strong smell and was sometimes purified and used as a spray to blind opponents.

Pulling several piperaceae shrubs out of the ground, she quickly piled them up in the middle of the clearing. Just handling the leaves with her bare hands, she could feel a little bit of the burning of the plant's oil irritating her skin. I have to remember to not touch my eyes after this.

Once she had a large pile of the plants sitting in the middle of the clearing, she called upon mana, feeling it move into her skin from the surrounding forest, and used her affinity to transform into fire mana. Holding that mana, she cast a spell. The standard flame bolt spell was a set of arcane syllables that after much practice she could now chant in seconds without making a mistake, but this was a variant that she didn't use very often, and it was more complicated and trickier to get right. Still, she managed to channel the spell, and could feel the energy for the Delayed Firebolt appear in the air above her like a storm about to break. Before it could, she ran off in a different direction than she had entered the clearing from, heading northeast now, hoping to confuse her pursuers.

A few minutes later, she saw a sudden flash of flame behind her, followed by a very different kind of howl from the dogs and yelling from the men. She hoped that meant that the delayed firebolt had stuck the piperaceae just before the dogs got there and had created an unpleasant, stinging cloud of pepper smoke that would prevent the dogs from tracking anyone for hours if they got a face full of it.

I don't get “notifications” like Richard described, but hopefully next time I check my Status books I'll see that Ikar awarded me with a few points of cunning for that one.

She ran on, changing directions a few times, but after that she no longer heard any dogs behind her.

As she traveled, there were several times that she saw groups of what were clearly the Duke's soldiers traveling through the woods. They didn't seem to have any idea where she was though, and it didn't look like any of them were trained woodsmen, as they made lots of noise as they tromped through the woods talking to each other. They were fairly easy to avoid. I'm guessing they're following orders to search, but none of them really *want* to be the ones to actually find the hostile mage who is practicing forbidden magic.

After traveling for a few more hours and avoiding several more groups of soldiers, she was able to get to the outskirts of the town of Bromwich by evening. Bromwich was not part of the Duke's lands, and his men were unlikely to come this far, as that might start a war. The old growth forest she had been walking through became more uneven and broken as she got into areas where some trees had been cut down for firewood or lumber, which slowed her down, but she took an old path she knew through the smaller trees and underbrush and came out of the forest behind a farm. Standing out of sight for a few moments, she observed the farm house. Not spotting anything unusual, she carefully walked around the fields and knocked on the front door of the farmhouse.

A large man came to the door. He was tall with wild, curly black hair, deeply tanned skin, a heavy beard, and was wearing a tunic. “Evelyn? Is that you?”

She smiled. “Hi, Harry. It's I...well, I've gotten myself in some trouble, I'm afraid. Can I come in?”

He smiled. “Of course, you have.” He leaned forward and hugged her tightly for a minute. “Come in, please, Kateryn will be happy to see you.”

After Harry led Evelyn into the farmhouse and had sat down by the fireplace, Kateryn came in from the back room, and did not look happy to see her. “Evelyn.” She paused. “What have you been up to, exactly? The constable has been all around town asking people if they've seen you.”

Evelyn sighed. “Something stupid and dangerous.” She paused. “Big things are going on here. Bigger than me. Can you please go into town and ask Padre Stevenson to come here and speak with me? I probably shouldn't be seen in public, and I need to talk to him. It's...Ikar's business.”

Kateryn shook her head. “Stupid and dangerous, huh? Then of course it's Ikar's business.” Finally, she stopped and hugged Evelyn. “I am glad to see you, girl. You know,” she glared at her husband for a second “my mother always told me I shouldn't get involved with followers of Ikar, that you guys always get mixed up in things that are stupid and dangerous...”

Harry laughed, and kissed Kateryn. “But if you weren't married to someone like me, just think of how bored you would be...” Harry winked, and Kateryn started laughing.

“Evelyn, of course you know we'll help you, no matter what trouble you've gotten into. You've been like a daughter to Harry and me.” She looked at Harry. “I need to go into town anyway to buy a few things. I'll let your Padre know that Evelyn is here.”

“Kateryn, do me a favor and also give a message to Alana down at the inn. A young man might come in looking for me, hopefully in the next day or two. Um, he might ask for me by the name 'Red'. About 6 feet tall, thin, probably wearing strange clothes, and he might be acting in a strange or awkward way. If he comes in, have her tell him that I'm safe, get him food, drinks, and ask to get him to stay there and wait. Let him stay in a room if she has one. I'll pay her back for it.”

Kateryn raised an eyebrow “A young man, huh? Is he...hmmm...trouble?” She laughed. “Ok, ok, I won't pry. Harry, stay here with Evelyn. I'll be back.”

Harry nodded. As Kateryn left, he went into the back room of the house and got out his old quarterstaff and his hunting bow and arrows, and sat by the window near the front door.

Evelyn looked over. She wanted to tell Harry he didn't need to worry and stand guard by the window like that, but she honestly wasn't sure if that was true. “Thanks, Harry.” She walked over and sat next to him.

He shifted over to let her sit. “So, have you been practicing your staff fighting like I taught you? Or, I guess now that you're a mage you don't need to worry about that?”

She shrugged. “I haven't had time to practice it much lately, but...it did help me the other day. It might have saved my life.”

He smiled and put an arm over her shoulder. “Glad to hear it helped.” He turned and looked at her. “You look exhausted. Why don't you go take a nap? I'll wake you when Padre gets here.” He paused. “If anyone else comes here looking for you, I want you to go down and hide in the root cellar. You remember how to get down there?”

Evelyn nodded. There was a trap door on the floor of the back room that opened up to a small, dark cellar with just an old unstable wooden ladder going down into it. The trap door blended right into the floor and wasn't obvious unless you knew it was there. When she was younger, right after Harry and Katelyn Hatch let her move in with them, she had been terrified of going down there.

“Ok. Go get a little sleep, you look like need it.”

She nodded again and went back to the bedroom.The small bed Harry had built for her years ago was still there, along the left wall of the room. She was a little bit too tall for it these days, but she didn't care; it felt like home. She took her boots off and let herself fall into bed.

It felt like she'd only had her eyes closed for a second, but she must have fallen asleep because it was dark outside when Harry coughed to wake her up. “Evelyn, the Padre is here, and so are some...friends.”

Evelyn woke up quickly and walked back out into to the room part of the farmhouse.

Padre Jehan Stevenson, the town's priest of Ikar, was already sitting in their main room. He was an older man, probably in his 50's or 60's now, but still strong and spry; he wasn't wearing religious vestments right now (he usually didn't) and was instead wearing a vest, so it was easy to see that despite his age and his holy ordination, he was still had the upper body strength of his other job, blacksmith. There weren't a lot of followers of Ikar in the town. It also probably didn't help that the kinds of divine magic a priest of Ikar could call upon, while powerful, were often considered less consistent and reliable than from other kinds of priests, so fewer people were willing to come to him to ask for healing or blessings than one of the other priests in town. So, he spent most of his time working another profession.

Four other people were here as well, sitting on one side of the table, across from Kateryn. A young man who Evelyn remembered had become Jehan's blacksmithing apprentice, although she couldn't remember his name. Two other people she recognized as believers from the weekly religious services. She didn't recognize the fourth man, but he looked like an adventurer passing through town; he was wearing mismatched pieces of armor, many of which looked magical, on different parts of his body, and was carrying two swords, one on each hip. It wasn't unusual to see an adventurer at one of Ikar's religious services.

All four of them were carrying swords and looked at her in a suspicious way. Harry stared back at them, holding onto his quarterstaff.

“Evelyn, I need you to answer some questions for me, and I will be using a divine blessing to confirm that you are telling the truth.” Jehan's voice had a firm tone of iron in it, one Evelyn hadn't heard much from him before. “I'm sorry that this is necessary, I would like to trust you, but there are certain things we have to establish as fact before we move on. Do you understand?”

Evelyn nodded. She was expecting something like this. “Yes, Jehan.”

“I am going to ask you questions, and I don't want you to give clever or equivocal answers or for you to try to get around the truth spell with things that sound like one thing but mean another. Ikar knows how good you are at that. I just want you to answer yes or no. Do you understand?”

She licked her dry lips nervously. “Yes.”

“Ikar, with the blessing of Cunning, I ask that you grant me the Vizier's Gift to Detect Untruth.” A faint glow appeared in the air around Jehan. “Now, Evelyn, first question; have you been consorting or making bargains with demons?”

“No.”

The glow around him got brighter, slightly. “Truth.” He nodded, and a little bit of the tension went out of the room. "Have you been practicing any of the forbidden types of necromancy?”

“No.”

“Truth, again.” He hesitated. “Have you been using any kind of mind magic to control the minds of other humans against their will?”

“No.”

“Truth. Have you been drawing corrupted mana from another world, or summoning creatures from a world fallen into darkness?”

“No.”

“Truth. Have you, in fact, been using any forbidden type of magic?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

The room went absolutely silent.

“Ok. This next question, I want to answer as directly and briefly as possible. What kind of forbidden magic have you been using?”

“Wild magic.”

Everyone else slid their chairs back, inching away from her, even Harry. But Jehan merely nodded and looked relieved. “Have you been practicing any other kind of forbidden magic?”

“No.”

“Truth.” Jehan looked around the table and nodded. “Ok, it's not as bad as we feared.”

The adventurer blinked. “Not as bad as you feared? The girl is using WILD MAGIC. Padre, with all due respect, are you insane?”

“The churches of Ikar never agreed with adding wild magic to the list of forbidden magics. It is not an evil magic, not one that corrupts the soul or allows darkness into the world, and for many thousands of years, wild mages were vital in protecting humanity from the monsters.”

The adventurer shook his head. “That may be the case, but using it today is fucking stupid! She's as likely to blow up half the town as she is to do anything useful!”

The priest merely nodded. “Yes, it is, as you say, fucking stupid. But Ikar doesn't have a problem with people taking fucking stupid risks for a worthy cause.”

That silenced the adventurer for a moment, and the priest turned back to Evelyn.

“Are you still an acolyte of Ikar?”

“Yes. I could cast gambler's blessing and prove it, but I already cast it once today; I can do it tomorrow if you want...”

The priest shook his head. “No need, I can tell you are telling the truth.” He turned back to the adventurer. “Ikar hasn't turned his back on her, as he would have if she had violated his laws. I will not either. If you don't want to be a part of this, you may leave; I just ask that you not tell anyone what you have heard here today.”

The adventurer shook his head slowly. “Alright, I'll help.” He turned and glared at her. “But no wild magic anywhere close to me, no matter what happens, or I'm out, understand?”

She nodded.

The adventurer stuck his hand out. “I’m Bertrand. And I’m glad to hear that you aren’t mixed up in any demon summoning or anything like that. Your Padre here insisted that he believed in you, but Magelight Academy had delivered a magical message to each town around here that you had been found meddling with forbidden magics and offered a reward for you.”

Jehan nodded and turned to Evelyn. “The mayor will want to have you arrested and sent back to the Magelight Academy, where you will probably be either executed or stripped of all ability to practice magic. He wants the town to look good politically and won't listen to me if I try to change his mind. I don't think many other citizens would speak out in your favor either; people are too afraid of wild magic these days. So, Evelyn, we're going to quietly send you away from here. We can help you get away to safety, to one of our temples in the large cities. No bounty hunters will be able to find you there. Even if someone did recognize you there, kidnapping an acolyte out of one of the grand temples of Ikar is usually beyond their pay scale. After a few years everything will probably settle down and people will forget about this. You can even continue in your studies of magic in the meantime, or else focus on developing your divine path...”

She shook her head. “Jehan, I appreciate it, but we have bigger problems than hiding me from bounty hunters right now. Ikar has summoned an otherworldly hero from a world quite far from here and has made him his Champion.”

Jehan stopped talking. “Truth.” He paused. “Ikar has a champion in the world again? Now, after all this time? You met Ikar's Champion?”

“Yes.”

Jehan's eyes got wide. “If it wasn't for the truth spell, I don't know if I would be able to believe you. Where is this Champion?”

Evelyn sighed. “He is in the woods south of here, somewhere. I hope. We had to separate to lose the men chasing me.” She paused. “Ikar apparently told this man that he has great potential. And I believe that, I have a feeling that Richard could be very important someday, but...right now, he has no combat skills, no classes, no levels, no way to defend himself. He comes from a peaceful world and as far as I can tell has never fought a real fight or had a day of hardship in his life. He's basically as helpless as a child, and the most likely scenario is that he is wandering around lost in a dangerous forest full of hostile soldiers and who knows what else.”

Jehan shook his head slowly, trying to wrap his head around the situation. “Why would these soldiers be hostile to this champion? Weren't they just after you?”

“They were, but...the champion helped me fight some of them. Um. In a sense. More like he...fell on them.” Her face turned red slightly. “He also may have had to, erm, steal a pair of pants from one of the soldiers.”

The room went silent again, for a beat, then two. Then Jehan started laughing. Everyone turned at the priest and looked at him strangely.

“Friends” he said between bouts of laughter “when you've been a follower of Ikar for as long as I've been, you start to recognize His fingerprints in certain events that He's orchestrated. And when Ikar makes a good joke, it's your sacred duty to laugh.”

There was another long pause, and then the Harry, the priest, the adventurer, and the other three followers of Ikar in the room all started laughing together, a deep belly laugh that filled the room. The only people not laughing were Evelyn, who just became more and more embarrassed, and Kateryn, who rolled her eyes at the almost predictable lunacy of her husband and the other followers of Ikar.