The two stood next to each other, but their distance had grown to a gaping chasm. The silence was deafening, and the tension was like a garrote tightening around your neck. Not even the steam helped to ease tension.

“Mages are no joke. They can and do kill people.” Norman spoke through experience.

Orel didn’t say anything. He silently took on the blows, no matter how hard they hit.

“You are lucky that it was me who you encountered at the port. Even if they don’t become a threat, you will run into dangers that are lethal to a non-mage.”

Norman leaned closer. “Do you understand?”

Orel nodded. Of course, he knew. Life is not one fun and harmless adventure. He knew there would be obstacles in his way, but until now, he was sure he could overcome them. The wall seemed too long, too high, and too sturdy this time.

“Then what are you going to do? Will you go back home?” Norman asked.

Orel Knew there was only one option for him, or else he would betray himself and his dream. If he would say otherwise, it was game over. If he was going to stop, it was when he could not continue, not when he chose. He would have lost without trying, giving up before stopping.

“No.” Orel looked back at Norman with sincerity in his heart.

Norman felt angry, frustrated by the ray of hope in Orel’s eyes, yet he could not justify his anger. He was now the one to choose, and he knew that there were not many choices. It was not like he didn’t fear danger. Of course, he did. Norman was not in any way invincible, but unlike him, Orel would have no chances, like a bird jumping off a cliff before learning how to fly. Norman knew he could stop at any moment, that he could always return to the safety of his home, but he knew, if he did that, he would never return. If Norman were to do that, his eyes would truly become empty, he would sink into the abyss, and the last bit of light in his life would be snuffed out. That fate scared Norman more than any nightmare or mage.

“You realize that you are putting your life at risk, perhaps writing your death sentence just to be able to visit places that don’t exist?” Norman became desperate.

“Yes, and that does not bother me, rather those who try to dishearten and stop me,”

"Are you insane?"

"And you?"

“...Gods be damned." Norman cried out loud. "Alright. I see you would rather die trying than give up. I cannot accept that, and I will certainly not accept good-for-nothings.”

Norman stood up from his seat.

Orel could not look Norman in the eyes after what he had said. His eyes spoke with knowledge and experience, while Orel could only give hope and naive optimism. Orel hoped he would not become a burden, but it seemed that he would have to try and face the challenges on his own.

“That is why I must teach you to defend yourself from those that oppose you in your journey.”

“Wait, what?”

“My vision is that everyone should seek all knowledge and be taught properly, not hidden and misinformed, forced or ill-advised. People should handle wisdom with care and openness, not fear and discouragement.” Norman explained.

“That is the reason why you need me, Tobias Norman of Atlas, to teach you, Orel Aislander.” Norman posed proudly, though it was less impressive when wearing only a towel and having to lean sideways not to hit his head on the ceiling.

Orel did not hang on to the overly elaborate performance; instead, he took it seriously. He smiled widely before looking at Norman, whose eyes were just a bit more colorful than they used to. The flame of passion brings love to the darkest of places, sparking hope even in the worst situations. It had kindled another flame, one that was mere simmering embers, at least for a

“I accept.” Orel bowed his head.

“Also, It’s Eislandr,” He corrected.

“Oh, my bad. Anyways, that is the formal part of the deal. Every mage needs to hold on to some formalities, you know? But yeah, I think my consciousness wouldn’t allow me not to teach you magic and leave you to die to those Magistrate people or something because you wouldn’t back away anyway.” Norman sat on the bench again.

“But we still can’t stay here. Those freaks are too damn keen not to notice us practicing. Where to go is a whole other question.”

“We can go to my home,” Orel proposed.

Norman looked at Orel, surprised by his suggestion.

“It would be the least I can do for your teachings.” Orel felt a bit ashamed.

“Hmmm. Not a bad idea, but going there is not so simple. If we leave straight out of the country now and those mages get the whiff of it, they will hundred percent suspect you and me after your little encounter at the restaurant.” Norman thought.

“Are you sure? They didn’t seem that serious.”

“Maybe they aren’t, but we can’t afford to take that risk,”

“Where is your home exactly?” Norman asked.

“It’s an island on the gulf of Tanlen at the border between Pohjola and Milieu. My uncle could fetch us a ride from his route if we get to a port.”

“Even if we were to go back to the port of Alanland, we can’t go there by train. I read that they are temporarily out of action because of the bad weather,”

Norman planned. “I think we need to continue our journey north, crossing the border of Swadia and then descent to the capital Agnafit. It would take us as long as trying to get back to the port of Alanland, and we can avoid suspicion by heading where we told we’re going.”

“Do we wait for the storm to go by?” Orel asked.

“We have the room for a week, so there is no need to leave beforehand. We can get our food from the grocery store next door. We need to lay low for the time being.”

“Alright.” Orel felt confident about the plan.

They spent the rest of the day in their room, with Norman going to the shop and bringing food, though most of it was on sale or with a short expiration date. The next day Orel was already bored of containment in the room with only the TV and their phones and started asking questions as he lay on the bed.

“What can you already tell about magic, or are you saving that for once we get out of here?”

Norman stopped eating his meal.

“I guess I can tell some things, but I would first like to ask you how magic works,” Norman chewed the food in his mouth.

“Hmmm. I guess I’ve always thought that magic is this thing that comes from our bodies. I don’t know the smaller details.”

“Truth to be told, there is no right answer, but I think this is the best explanation I approve myself. Magic is formed in our bodies, much like other energy that makes our muscles move. Our bodies don’t release magic much unless necessary or in special circumstances, so the ability of magic comes to two basic points. The first is to make your body form magic. The second is to control the magic to create a spell’s desired effect. Both of these things have their dangerous sides, but the latter is the most dangerous part.”

“Can you teach me how to form magic here?” Orel was fascinated.

Norman thought about it for a while before answering. Orel didn't know if he was struggling with the choice or just coming up with how to explain it.

“I suppose I could,” Norman said.

“Alright, so this is quite simple. Learning how to form magic is much like exercising without movement. Perhaps meditation would be a closer example. You need to look inside yourself and picture how your magic flows, and then you need to concentrate on it. With practice, competent mages can trigger this in an instant. Extreme emotions can make it stronger, but there's a chance you can't control it. There’s also a risk that goes along with using magic in general. Much like excessive exercise, trying to use too much magic exhausts your body. There have been cases of people losing limbs because of overexertion. You can try training now if you want, though I don’t think there will be much to see.” Norman explained.

“...Alright,” Orel wasn’t sure how it would work out.

Orel closed his eyes and lay limp on his bed. He concentrated his mind on his body and soon could hear his heartbeat as he calmly breathed in and out. It pumped in a regular rhythm, with force and warmth. He felt his blood circulating his body, pumping fluid all across from the insides to the tips of his fingertips.

Norman observed from his bed, not seeing much action.

“How am I supposed to feel the magic flowing?” Orel tried not to break out of his meditation.

“It’s all up to personal preference. It can be shocking spikes of electricity, fluid flowing in a wave, radiation. Whatever comes as natural,”

Norman hid the fact that people cannot usually actually open their magic just like that. It takes years of practice for someone outside of the mage family circles. One way around this is to apply his own magic to Orel, but Norman was not about to risk it. Training this way isn't completely useless either, as it makes activating your magic later on easier.

Orel continued meditating, now just thinking about blood flow, as he didn't feel anything else. It wasn't that unusual, but it got his attention. Orel started to feel a strange force moving along his blood as if power was being built inside him more and more with his heart racing. A warm stream of power ran through his veins like a summer wind. Soon it became overbearing, like a cramp building up yet fast enough to not be stopped. Orel didn't know if he was supposed to feel this tense.

Norman started to feel anxious as he saw Orel lying down and twitching. He stepped out of his bed and grasped Orel’s hands.

“Orel! Stop! That’s enough!”

Orel jumped and opened his eyes as he gasped for air. Norman let out a sigh of relief as he let go of Orel’s hands. Orel could tell that something was wrong. Whether that was his fault or not was a different matter.

“What type of mental image did you have?” Norman asked.

“I just felt my blood flowing and concentrated on it,” Orel gripped his hands. He could feel the power slowly evaporating away.

“I’ve heard something similar, but nothing like this."

“Is there something wrong?” Orel asked.

“I wouldn’t say wrong, but unusual,”

“Can I try again?”

Norman glanced at Orel, contemplating his choice.

“No, not now. I have to ask your parents some things once we get there and do some research.”

“Ok...”

“Oh, don’t take it too seriously. I couldn’t take it if something happened to my first and only student. Think of this as a minor setback.” Norman saw Orel feeling hurt.

“okay.”

“We will get through this. I promise.”

The two spent the last days preparing and planning before leaving the hotel. They left their room in the afternoon and walked to the reception. As they gave back their keys, the owner had something to say.

“Have fun out there. I hope you see lots of fox flames. They are common this time of the year.”

“Fox flames, you mean firefoxes?” Orel asked.

“No-no-no. Firefox is the animal, and fox flames are the effect. The myth is that the firefoxes make fox flames in the sky with its tail as they run around and paint beautiful colors. People used to hunt them for the fleece. They say it’s made of gold. Some people say it grants wishes, but I don’t believe in myths. Did you read one of the brochures at the station? Those things are old. We don’t have the festival anymore. Nature preservation stopped it.”

“Your commal has improved.” Norman pointed out.

“I picked up a book from the library.” The owner said. “Thought it would come in handy with more foreign visitors.”

“How nice, but we have to go. Goodbye.” Norman walked out of the hotel.

They had decided to rent a car until the border, and the car had been delivered close by yesterday. It was nothing too fancy, just a black four-seater, but Norman had thought that it would be the best option. They packed their stuff into the backseat and headed off. The car had a GPS on it, and by setting their destination to the border, they began their trip on the calculated route. Norman was the one driving while Orel sat in the passenger seat.

“I don’t think you have a license, so I think I have to drive,” Norman started the engine.

“Do you drive often?”

“Somewhat in the past, but I didn’t have my car, so I used to borrow my sister’s car,”

After leaving the town, Orel noticed that the sky was full of waving colors, blue, green, and purple floating beautifully, like a colorful blanket. Orel almost squished his face to the window as he wanted to take a closer look.

“So those were the fox flames the owner was talking about,” Orel looked through the window.

“They are elegant indeed.”

“Oh, I’ll take a picture of them and send them to my mom,” Orel started taking out his phone.

“Should we stop the car for a moment? You’ll get a better picture that way.” Norman asked.

“Oh, that would be nice.”

“There’s a spot to stop there.”

Norman drove the car to a stopping point, and Orel jumped out of the car to take the photo while Norman stayed inside, keeping the engine running and warm. Orel looked for the perfect angle to snap a picture for a while. After finding it, he snapped a couple of photos and sent them to his mother with a text saying, “We ran into the northern lights!”

Yet, as he returned to the car, Orel noticed some lights in the nearby woods. The lights shined brightly with a yellow tint like flashlights or torches, moving surprisingly fast and evenly. Orel couldn’t make up the source, but he began to think it wasn’t any vehicle as he couldn’t hear any engines’ sound, but it was also moving too evenly through the thick woods to be anyone carrying a lantern. Orel decided to return to the car and report his sightings to Norman.

“There are some weird lights in the forest,”

Norman looked to the forest and saw the same. His suspicion started to rise.

“Indeed there are. Do they seem to get closer?”

“When you say that...” Orel watched the lights go around the area and their lights illuminating more and more. He could almost get a glimpse of some shadowy figures from time to time, disappearing before too long.

Norman sensed something was not right.

“Get in the car,”

Orel walked back into the car, and Norman stepped on the accelerator. The car slipped out of the parking space back to the road. Orel could see the lights following them in groups behind and beside them on the road and in the woods. After gaining on the car, the lights seemed to stop safely, following the car in the woods, forming shadows that darkened the road as they passed a tree. Orel could now make up what was following them: The lights had no source at all; they were floating balls of lights themselves. A group of them had now surrounded the car. They kept swimming in the forest for some reason rather than coming close. Norman was getting anxious about them.

“This was just what I was afraid of.”

Norman saw a person standing in the middle of the driveway. It was not moving anywhere, as if waiting for something. Even if the traffic rules would say otherwise, Norman was not stopping for that person. Instead, he was going to drive past him. But as the man lifted his hand towards the car, signaling them to stop, something had flattened one of the tires. Norman believed it was not safe for him to drive hastily with a broken tire and grudgingly stopped the car next to the road before the man. Norman stared at the man, looking out for anything, prepared to retaliate. The lights continued to float freely, making the car stand out as if in the spotlight, with shadows forming towards it from all sides. The man started walking towards the car, and Orel recognized the figure. The dark jacket was covered very much in the snow.

“That’s one of the mages I ran into,” Orel said.

“I figured that out already,”

“What do we do?”

“Let me do the talking,” Norman decided.

Norman stepped out of the car and saw the person for the first time with his own eyes. He made the same observations as Orel did. The black attire all over, the fearsome symbol on the chest he recognized, an eye patch going around the face, and a weird eye that was seemingly observing him sharply. Norman had no intention of walking toward the mage, mostly waiting for him to approach them.

“I request that you not return here. Continue to the border and never come here again, or there is no turning an eye for you and your disciple.” The man said.

The man spoke with his serious stone face as he came closer. It snapped Norman’s tension from before, only to replace it with a tightening grip of his own. Norman’s fears and rumors of them were all coming true in the shape of this small yet menacing man, whose eye looked down on them as prey.

“I see,” Norman couldn’t form a better answer.

Without saying more, he stepped back into the car. Orel was confused about the situation and asked as soon as Norman returned to the car.

“What happened?” Orel asked.

“He let us go but said that we could never come here again,”

“What are we going to do?”

“We do as he says and drive away. I’ll fetch a new tire from the trunk. You stay in the car.”

Norman then exited the car, opened the trunk, and leaned inside to get the tire. The man and Orel waited for him to return as the lifted trunk door blocked their vision. After a while, Norman came back with a new tire and a jack and changed the tires. Norman was very sweaty from both the job and the situation but completed the task successfully. He then went back to the trunk with the flat tire. Norman disappeared again behind the trunk door for a while. Orel and the man waited for him to return. They waited, but Norman did not return. The man stood still while Orel asked himself what was taking Norman so long.

Orel observed the situation from his seat. Before he knew it, the man had swayed backward with his face turning from a sudden strike to his chin. Then the man stepped back, seeming to be on guard. As Orel watched the situation, he noticed that the car door slammed suddenly, and something pushed the gas pedal down. The tires slipped on the snow as the car sped past the man just recovering from the injury. Orel screamed towards the empty seat inside the vehicle that seemed to drive by itself until he looked back at the man from the rear window. As he did, he heard a familiar voice beside him.

“Screw them,”

Orel jumped from his seat and saw Norman safe and sound, driving the car. Norman was both smiling and thrilled, with a fire burning in his eyes.

“Sorry, Orel. I think I put us in more trouble because of that, but I felt like punching that guy. I hate those snobby arrogant academic people, especially the Magistrate. Telling us what to do, threatening us if we don’t comply, and always wanting to look superior. That makes my blood boil.”

“Is he following us?” Norman couldn’t see from the side mirror.

Orel looked again to the rear window but saw the man standing still with the orbs of light in the distance. He then turned back to Norman.

“I don’t think so,” Orel answered.

They continued their travel north with adrenaline. They drove off, not respecting any traffic law for some time until Norman decided it was safe again. Norman was left wondering, and Orel noticed it.

“What is it?”

“You were right about that eye. There’s something weird about it, but I should have taken a better look at it rather than punching him.”

The two escaped into the night, leaving the man on the roadside. It did not take long for a pair of headlights to come and pick him up. The car stopped, and his fellow seemed curious by his face peeking out of the window.

“How did it go?” Fynn asked.

“I don’t think they respect our proposal.”

“Should we teach them a lesson?”

“No, we have plenty of time if they wish to return. That mage, Norman, was it? He has some invisibility spell. It caught me off guard.” Daniel brushed his hurt chin.

Fynn made a face. “You didn’t see him?”

“No, I couldn’t sense him after he turned invisible. I didn’t have time to take off my patch. Bastard smacked me right to the head.”

“What about the kid?” Fynn asked.

“What about him? Stayed in the car.” Daniel stepped inside the car. “Let’s just go. We got things to organize.”

Some time passed in silence as Norman and Orel had driven through the windswept route. Norman could see as he glanced at Orel that the boy was still far from alright.

“Are you scared?” Norman asked.

“...Yeah,”

“Good, that’s a natural thing to feel. Taking him on there was not the smartest move. I’ve always tried not to step on people’s toes, but sometimes it’s the only thing you can do, not that I take any joy from it. No one has any business telling you what you can and can’t do. I should have just realized that for myself...” Norman went silent.

“Sorry if I’m blabbering all this, but honestly, you really don’t want to go down that path, my path.”

“It’s not bothering me. I’m used to being surrounded by people, so going alone was something that made me feel off. It really is nicer traveling with someone.”

“I don’t remember when I last felt this alive.” Norman smiled, yet it faded soon.

“Orel.”

“Yes?”

“Even if we managed to pass those two now, more dangers are lurking where we are headed.”

“...I know.”

“I’m not one to choose, but I will say this now. We both know that you’re not ready yet.”

Orel silently nodded.

“You saw it there too. We were lucky, and next time we might not be so lucky. I know you want to go to Väinölä, but be reasonable.”

“You mean that we should still go back to my place?”

“That’s the only way you have any chance to reach your goal.”

The back of Norman’s throat clenched as he said those words. It hurts, but that is how the truth is. Rarely is it as pleasant as it sounds.

Orel thought for a while. Norman had turned the radio down so that they could talk, but now the quiet tunes filled the air.

Norman noticed that what was different from last time was that Orel had quite another face while thinking. Instead of silently suffering, Orel looked like a pondering statue. Suddenly, the figure came to life like a gargoyle.

“Okay, let’s go,” Orel said bluntly.

“Y-you don’t mind?”

“If you say that I need it and you can teach me, I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I don’t like waiting, but I’m not going to go die like that.”

“...Okay. Well, I guess we’re still going to Swadia.” Norman tried to find his words.

“Did you want me to say no?” Orel was confused.

“No, well. I can never wrap my head around what you will say.” Norman gave up. “Let’s-Let’s just head to Swadia.”

They had driven for a couple of hours until they arrived near the border. Swadia and Alanland never connect on land; there is always a river in the way. The most common spot was through a bridge where the two countries are closest near the end of the Cold Depth Sea. They noticed that what they thought was a bridge was carved from a clear frozen wave. Furthermore, it was colored with a new layer of ice and lit with lanterns so that it was like crossing a glowing rainbow. The workers had roughened the surface enough that no one would slip, but most cars in this part of the continent had large ice spikes in their tires.

“Is this...” Orel asked.

“It’s the Sattenkaar bridge. The rainbow road.”

“It’s beautiful.” Orel watched the sparkling ice. “Just like in the myth.”

“Maybe we’ll cross the real deal as well.”

After crossing the rainbow bridge, the two had officially arrived in Swadia and had to turn in their rented car. They looked around and saw how much less snow there was and how grass covered everything in green.

Now they had to find their way down south to the capital Agnafit where they could sail to Orel’s home for his training. They did not know how they would get there, but the two now knew that neither of them shouldn’t have such an arduous journey there, or so they thought.

Norman and Orel walked away from the car rental on the busy city streets. It was a foreign place for both, as not even Norman was that familiar with Swadia. The different alphabets in all of the street signs were like trying to read arrowheads.

“Now what?” Orel asked.

“I don’t know. In my head, I was prepared to die when I hit that mage.”

“That’s very reassuring. Then, how are we going to get to Agnafit?”

“Oh, I already got us covered,” Norman smirked.

Orel decided to follow Norman, who mostly looked for familiar signs to find what he was looking for. After going in circles for almost an hour, Orel forced Norman to ask for directions from the locals. After that, they arrived at their destination in ten minutes, which was only the starting point to begin their journey through the country.