Sam was swimming with his friends in the dam. It was a warm summer day.

The drive had taken more than an hour from home. One of his older friends had a car so they had made it a habit to drive out to the dam on weekends.

Today was much the same as the other weekends, except for a new crowd of people. They were a group of university students making a racket further along the edge of the dam.

The students had two jet skis and were racing each other up and down the dam.

Sam and his friends were floating in the water, enjoying the heat of the day.

Sam ignored the jet skis and focussed on relaxing.

He thought about how soon the summer heat would be gone. Back to school, back to dealing with fellow teenagers.

He shook away those thoughts. He had to enjoy the moment, enjoy the heat. Maybe he could get a tan this time, he doubted it.

His friends started heading back; they waved for him to do the same. He acknowledged but kept relaxing wanting just a bit more sun. Its warmth felt good on his pale skin.

He was definitely going to be burned at this rate and would probably get another scolding from his mother.

A scream interrupted his thoughts. He quickly turned to see a girl in the water; a driverless jet ski was slowing down quite a distance away.

Knowing he was the closest, Sam started swimming over. He had had swimming lessons in the past so he wasn't terrible but not the best by a long shot.

Whenever he came up for air he looked for the girl. He didn’t want to lose her in the waves. She didn’t look like a strong swimmer and was being buffeted by the water of the waves.

Her head kept bobbing deeper underneath the water with every wave. He focussed on her and he swam as fast as he could. The waves were rougher the closer he got to her. He heard shouting in the distance but he ignored it and kept swimming.

When it was about ten metres away from the girl he lifted his head to breathe. He heard the sound of an engine and then everything went black.

He felt disconnected from his body, like it was miles away. He tried to reach for it but he had no body, he just was there.

Suddenly he felt his very soul shudder and he fell unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerald was fishing with his son at the pond. The pond was at the corner of his property and he shared the water with his neighbour. He had never had to quarrel with the fellow farmer about it because the area had never been affected by drought. Floods or bandits from the nearby mountains were much more frequent.

Both of the amateur fishermen had been carefully watching their floats, looking for any movement. Jerald didn't have much optimism but since new rains had refilled the pond with new water, he held onto his hope.

The pond wasn't very large or deep. Deepest part was the centre. Jerald had helped his father look for crabs a few times in his childhood. Whilst carrying out his chores, he used to explore the pond. It never had much life in the first place. He had seen a few fish and crabs, most of them from the marsh that fed the pond.

Most of the life in the area was represented by trees. The dark green oak and elm trees made the area a nice spot to hide away from the sun, especially in summer. The promise of cool water was enticing.

Jerald had even brought some past girlfriends here, he blushed at the thought. He looked away so his son wouldn't see.

Not that it mattered. He had a wife and a good one. His thoughts drifted to memories.

Suddenly there was a disturbance in the centre of the pond. His float disappeared under the water. Jerald grabbed hold of his homemade rod with both hands. He was strong enough to pull out a deer, a fish was no problem. His strength was truly impressive but the rod was made of simple wood and wouldn’t be able hold any strong contender.

Jerald knew this so he gripped onto the fishing line with his left hand. He wrapped it around his arm a few times, the line immediately attempted to cut into his skin from the tension. He held still, putting his feet into good footholds, waiting for the fish to start moving and fighting.

Yet there was nothing, he tugged softly and just felt weight but no change in resistance. The weight was uncharacteristically heavy for a fish. A bit confused by the behaviour, he began pulling the line. He didn't want to pull too quickly and possibly snap the line.

Jeremy watched as his father pulled the line slowly and steadily. He wondered how big the fish would be.

The two men watched as the surface of water was disturbed by a large object. The swell of the object brought a wave of water with it. The object suddenly broke through the surface and Jeremy gasped. It was a person, the teenager to be precise.

Jerald frowned in confusion at the discovery.

Why was there a person in the pond? Had they drowned? When did they enter the pond?

He put aside the many questions that appeared in his head and looked at his son.

'Son, prepare to heal him.'

Jeremy blinked at the words and then acknowledged. He began preparing himself to perform the most basic healing magic, Lesser Healing. His mother had begged him to learn it when he was growing up. She had stated its usefulness and convenience on numerous occurrences. Jeremy had agreed but his father was no fool and managed to avoid learning the magic. He stated that he was strong enough to withstand and recover from any wound.

Jeremy, however, could not fault his mother. Healing magic was useful. He could not argue the number of times the simple healing magic had saved his life or the lives of his friends. His mother had tried to convince his father to learn the spell as well but without spending mastery points there was no way father would be able to cast the magic and its mana requirement was no joke either.

His father was a stubborn man who cherished his masteries above all else, he had said before that it was a gift from the gods and he would not use up his mastery points without consideration and deep thought. Jeremy had watched his father's beliefs become much more engrained as his mastery levels improved. Even Jeremy could not argue that a mastery point spent on an ability from the higher mastery tier would be much more powerful than the first level of healing magic.

Jeremy had put it to use enough times to convince himself that it was worthy investment. He had even pondered on investing further in healing magic since he still had many years ahead of him.

Once the teenager's body was near the shore, Jerald quickly got into the water. He grabbed the teenager and carried him ashore. He shook the boy but there was no response.

Jeremy could see a huge gash on the boy's forehead. It was still bleeding and the flesh was bruised. He was grateful for his father's foresight. He rushed over to the boy and placed his hands on his torso. Jeremy released the healing spell that he had been preparing.

Yellow light shone brightly from Jeremy's hands before moving into the boy’s body. The healing magic moved through the boy's body until the cut on his head began healing.

Jerald watched the fascinating magic work and said a silent blessing for a wife. He was a lucky man. He picked up the boy and looked at Jeremy.

"As soon as you can cast again, let me know. Let’s head back to the house, your mother would be able to assist with the healing."

Jeremy nodded as he started grabbing their belongings. Jerald already started moving back to the farmhouse. Jeremy could hear the thud of Jerald's feet as he ran.

Jeremy paused as he looked at the rod, he would fetch it tomorrow.

After checking their fishing spot once more, Jeremy headed back into forest after his father.