“I sometimes miss the peaceful years I spent soaring above Common Sea along with Aéito Sídhe, but if there is a single thing I surely learnt during my life, it’s that everything comes to an end. For dragons destroyed their homelands and drove them away, fearful of younger races might.

The remnants of a once proud nation only flicker of the past, its greatest cities but dragons’ den, remembered only in sailors' tales.”

- Traveller’s Endless Journeys

Ion saw a small wooden crate when he entered his room. He put away a letter laying on it and immediately began unpacking it. What he saw inside dumbfounded him; there was just a little leather satchel. Maybe the thing his father acquired was inside it? He picked it up, the bag heavier than he expected it.

‘Strange, it’s covered with runes responsible for reducing weight, increasing durability, elemental protection, and something else…’ Ion traced tiny patterns, noticing some unfamiliar runes disappearing under a lid. He opened it, yet symbols carved on the internal part of the main compartment were twisting before his eyes. With lid opened he could sense traces of energy leaking from something inside, there was probably a mana core fuelling runes.

‘Wow!’

Ion was astonished as his whole arm disappeared inside the satchel when he put it inside.

‘Is this a Spatial Bag?’ he reached for his father’s letter and read it quickly.

The letter was written almost five months ago; apparently, his father consulted someone about an item that would be useful for an aspiring wizard, ordered it from Earthen Call and when the bag was crafted, it was sent to Ion together with that letter from the duke’s castle. Runes were fuelled by a tiny mana core located inside and its energy would last for up to two months before a satchel spills its contents out and disenchants. Placing a relatively small core decreased price, but also made the item last for a shorter time.

A trick lied in recharging it with one’s own mana; there was a detailed instruction clearly written by someone with extensive magic knowledge, not his dad, about how to prolong bag's lifetime. While it was possible to recharge the core with bursts of mana every once in a while, it drastically destabilised it, probably leading to its destruction within the first year of usage; but if one was able to keep conserving the core a few times per day, it was possible to make the satchel work for as long as five to even ten years; the limiting factor becoming wearing down of the materials engraved with runes.

It was one of the reasons why bags of holding were not a common object; a crafter would need almost two months to cover one with runes creating an extradimensional space. There was also a bigger problem with creating an energy source able to keep them working, which required a cooperation of someone proficient in artificing, runecraft and mana manipulation.

Then, if someone wanted for an item to last him for a longer time, he either needed to be able to recharge its core by utilising a spell pattern comparable to a 2nd circle spell, which was the case of Ion’s tiny core and higher for better ones, or pay someone else to do so from time to time, which was costly and less efficient concerning item's lifespan.

“Extensive damage to the bag will result in the loss of stored items. Please be warned that the mass of possessions stored inside increases the amount of energy required to teleport. Breathing creatures placed inside may suffocate, time wary by their size. T’ovenaar’s Warden doesn’t hold responsibility for improper usage of the item storage. We consider our customers wise enough to not try placing a Bag inside any other extradimensional space,” Ion finished reading instructions.

‘Hmm… I bet they placed those protection runes to prevent an accidental damage in combat… I should really learn more about the limitations of teleportation, having some vision about this topic would surely be helpful… speaking of visions, doesn’t that drunken dwarf I once saw was inventing something the instructions warned not to do?’

Ion was learning the recharging spell over the next hour.

‘Damn, it's taxing, but they have written that it would get easier with time…oh, I should return to aunts for the dinner, and write some thanks to dad for his gift!’.

****

Next morning, straight after a breakfast Ion went towards the Baaru Consortium's headquarters – it was a middle-sized merchant association coordinating various guilds businesses in Windhelm's proximity.

“Good morning, I’m a 2nd circle wizard willing to join your upcoming expedition as a guard,” Ion showed his papers to a clerk when it was finally his time in a queue.

“Hmm…2nd circle? Aren’t you usually holed up in your guild's academies before you reach 3rd?” she said little doubtful, “Oh, but it looks like you already had some combat expertise with wyverns and it seems that some of the people mentioned here were also hired…” the woman swept through some of her files, “Yes, from that group referrals it seems like they are above our average squad level, maybe giving them some magic support, especially from someone they are familiar with would be useful…”

‘Wow, those folks must hate staying in a single place for longer periods of time, they arrived just yesterday, after spending weeks in the wilderness and immediately went to find another job…’

Even if Ion’s skills were little below a typical mercenary wizard's level, an access to some basic supportive spells was still something worth considering. Apparently, after confirming with some other documents, she was able to find out that his father was a brigadier in the duke’s forces, which also added to Ion's credibility. Afterwards, they spent some time negotiating his contract and payment.

After reaching a compromise Ion signed and was informed where and when to check in within 4 days, two days before the planned caravan departure. Then he went to a part of the building where merchants were showing their more uncommon wares; even with his constant spending on magical ingredients and spell scrolls, he should have still earned enough to buy something for his travels.

He skipped section with alchemical items – most basic potions would be cheaper to buy from local alchemists, some of the others might be useful, but too pricey for Ion. After looking through stalls searching for staffs, sceptres or wands, Ion found out that choice of the items was limited; simple staffs designed for travellers, imbued with Find Direction cantrip, some wands creating a flicker of flame or illuminating itself after saying a command word. When he asked one of the merchants he said that mages weren’t good customers, as they usually looked for more personalised items directly from artificers.

On the whole display, there were only two items that Ion found interesting, yet he could afford only one of them – a wand, creating Lightning Bolt, or a cloak, which could direct one’s mana to cast Illusory Images by itself.

Merchant selling the wand claimed that it would last up to eight casts before it breaks down; for Ion, it could serve as a last resort in a combat. He also supposed to be able to recreate a similar item if he spends enough time studying runes covering it and gets good materials.

The Cloak of Illusory Images, on the other hand, would be using mana of a person wearing it to cast a spell, and could safely do so up to three times before it would need to be checked for the enchant damage; this kind of maintenance might be annoying, but should be simple enough for any wizard.

Both items would allow Ion to use them even when focusing on casting his own spell at the same time. After a consideration, Ion decided that the dark crimson cloak was more useful for him. Usually, during the first seconds of a combat, he had a hard time deciding whether to hinder enemies first or to improve his defensive capabilities; the cloak would allow to do him both at the same time. Also, as he already knew Illusory Images spell, conserving the cloak should be easier for him.

He spent some of the remaining parts of his earnings from past months to buy some higher quality travelling clothes. Nothing which could be considered a real armour; he already tried casting in various types during his spars with his father and always found it harder and more taxing to do then trying without.

Ion also got used to being protected by Arcane Armour and Shield spells when needed. The protection they granted was decent, even if sustaining those spells might be tiring during a prolonged fight.

****

During next few days Ion was getting used to restoring the mana core of his bag of holding and experimented for a few times with the new cloak; restoring it after a single use took him around 10 minutes of the constant work, increasing to 30 if he used it twice before checking. He decided to not try it anymore without a need; after all, even if he repaired the enchant, wearing down of materials with each use of an item was still a problem.

Even more so, as he was almost sure after his investigation of the item, that crafting something similar was far above his skill. It seemed he greatly overestimated his capacities.

‘Ah…If I were a gifted Enchanter or Runecrafter life would be much easier…’ he thought not the first time, ‘At least my intensive work with those items helped me understand another 3rd circle spell, Counterspell.’

In its simplest form, it was just sending a very focused burst of mana to interrupt a pattern weaved by an opposite spellcaster. Yet to be effective in interrupting spells casted by more experienced wizards, one needed to have the knowledge about spell enemy was trying to cast and be able to overcome his concentration. It made practical applications of spell much harder for beginners, yet from his visions, Ion knew it was a very powerful spell in hands of an experienced wizard.

‘I can’t believe that today I’m going to have my farewell party, I wonder what those guys prepared…’ Ion couldn't wait for the evening.

****

‘Why Ryan had to bring this dwarven ale yesterday? I’m going to have a hangover on the caravan meeting,’ It was one of the first thoughts he had in the morning.

Ion also had problems with remembering what exactly happened later during the party. At some point, Ion, guards' trainees and some of Aaron's friends went past few taverns and inns, but a memory was almost as fragmented as his visions.

He checked the equipment prepared yesterday for one last time before going down from his room to say goodbye to aunts. Ion hoped that he doesn’t look as bad as he felt now.

‘I’m going to make a great first impression…at least we signed everything earlier’.

‘It's good they decided to start a debrief on the evening…’ it was already after midday when he finally left uncles' house after a late breakfast. At least his cousin hadn’t felt any better in the morning.

‘…I can’t believe that I never found out any arcane spell for curing a hangover…’ sounds of the bustling town were painful for him.

After Ion drank some water from a well, it got much better and he could feel almost normal, maybe little sleepy. He left a letter to his father on the way; it would arrive faster using postal animals comparing to Ion taking it with a caravan himself.

When he reached the Baaru Consortium's headquarters, Ion went to confirm his arrival with one of the guild's clerks. Further forward he saw a courtyard where around twenty people, both men and women, talked to each other in smaller groups. Most of them were clad in leather or metal armours, but he could also see a handful of more elegant merchant grabs.

“An unaffiliated spellcaster I see…well please head this way,” the clerk said to Ion when he gave his papers and afterwards showed wizard where to go.

He moved past a crowd looking around.

“Don’t you think that war with orcs is going too easily so far?” a woman spoke to someone from her group.

“Ha! Maybe for us, I heard that when dwarves attacked one of their outposts orcs broke some kind of a dam, flooding little rock-diggers… I bet they never learned how to swim in their caves…” a big, muscular warrior answered.

“…Aren mighty! Aren brave!

Crushed his enemies on the way!

From his rapier no monster save,

Slain a dragon and sav’d the day!”*

From a different group, a melodic voice of a youth little bit older than Ion came along with sounds of a lute.

“I’m sure bards aren’t supposed to write ballads about theirselves,” a female fighter in an armour adorned with leaves and flowers chided him.

“You have no idea what a true art really is, Arde,” the musician answered, his face reddening a bit.

“To be honest I kind of liked a melody...” some archeress cut in.

He went past another group, this one discussing a strategy with some of the merchants quietly. They were the biggest and the most unusual group here; four heavily armoured fighters, one of them giving a fairy dangerous vibe despite having size of a twelve years old child, another a little bit taller, looking similar to a small elf, his armour with lines of brown and green runes, holding a shield with a depiction of a racoon on it. There was also an archeress with a bow runed so intricately that Ryan would go nuts after seeing it. The one who caught the most of Ion’s attention was a sorceress assisting them; she was a second proficient spellcaster, first being Archibald, that he could see from this close. Even if she didn't look old, her hair was almost white, face pale and eyes in the ice-blue colour of her robes. Ion could feel the air cooling in her proximity.

Not wanting to spend too much time staring at them he went on. Apparently, while the middle of the yard was occupied by people who already worked in their own teams, there was a similar number of people spread in sections near the wall; most numerous were those clad in leathers wielding various melee weapons, followed by smaller groups of archers and more heavily armed fighters. The smallest group, one where Ion was heading consisted only of four people so far.

“So tell me, do you know why a dragon is angry?” a blond-haired handsome man, probably around Ion’s age was trying his best to entertain two girls.

“Because it's hungry!” both women were staring at him dumbfounded; one of them wearing something that could pass for an unadorned wizard’s robe, second one clad in a chainmail, a small parma shield on her back, her mace attached to a belt.

“Do you get it? It ate 'h'.” the man laughed for a moment until he found out that nobody else was doing so. An older man standing a little bit further away from them, wearing a half-plate and supporting himself on a beautifully runed black glaive facepalmed.

“Oh, another member of our small group,” the blond guy used Ion’s arrival as an opportunity to change a subject. “I’m Hant” he was wearing a worn down leather armour along with an old rapier. On his back was a small sack, the most prominent item was a mandolin attached to it, “This cute brunette over there is Reria” he waved towards the wizard-like girl, which blushed hearing how she was introduced, “On my left stands the great cleric of Uther, Lyssa.”

“…I just finished my apprenticement…” the blond haired girl said shyly. She seemed familiar for Ion. Did they meet during the yesterday’s party? He could almost remember some sort of a drunken challenge about sneaking into the cloister…

“Finally that older man is Istaro. He is also a priest but seems to be a rather quiet type,” contrary to Lyssa whose shield was adorned with the image of the sun, Ion could not discern any sign of a deity on man’s equipment.

“Welcome, young man,” Istaro’s tone was gentle, “If you’d like me to be part of a conversation, it should hold at least a tinge of interest,” he answered at Hant’s remark.

“Nice to meet you all, I am Ion.”

Istaro’s equipment and age made him stand out from other mercenaries without their own teams; to be honest he seemed to be one of the most experienced people gathered here.

“Attention everyone!” he heard a voice coming from a group of mercenaries that previously discussed with merchants, “I think that everyone who was willing to arrive is already there, so we can begin. I am Milas, and my squad is responsible for organising this expedition. I know some of you as we have already worked for Baaru before, so until I see that some of you are capable, it will be Arde’s squad who will be responsible for the rear guard,” he nodded towards the woman Ion saw earlier.

“Now, while at least a half of us seem to have some proper experience,” warrior looked around mercenaries gathered in the middle – Ion spotted that Sae’s group also arrived in the meanwhile, “there are still many green ones, some with almost no references,” the man’s gaze swept through people gathered closer to the walls. Ion noticed Lyssa shrugging and lowering her head when warrior looked in their direction. A figure of the breaded man standing on some sort of a podium, accenting his words by hitting his morningstar against a shield was sure imposing.

“So, according to what you have told us during the recruitment we decided to put some of you into other squads and form new ones from the rest. You will have one day to better get to know your companions before we leave. With such a big group, I don’t expect attacks from anything more dangerous than some stupid beasts, at least until we reach Leisha’s Crossroads, so you will have a lot of time to learn how to work together.”

Ion noticed that some of the people were visibly scared by the mention of meeting beasts in the forest ‘Seriously guys, what are you even doing there?’ he thought.

“Istaro and Reria will join Arde’s team. Rearguard would always use additional spellcasters,” Istaro nodded hearing his name and went to his new squad; Reira followed him soon later.

“Damn, that bard is now going to have three girls only for himself, I doubt that this old man would be any competition, not to even mention their halfling,” Hant whispered to Ion who just nodded.

‘I hadn’t even notice that little guy standing between Aren and Arde before.'

“We will try with merging Nanoc's and Mchac's teams; I hope that you manage to work together fine,” Ion looked at mentioned groups, both had some barbaric and primal vibe to them.

“Now, Dorian’s squad will be supported by Lyssa and Ionathan, along with the previous group you should be the main support for Arde's and my group.”

“So I’m left alone?” Hant said sadly.

“There is always another dawn,” Lyssa tried to cheer him up, struggling with her package. Ion decided to lend her Mage Hand.

“What a surprise to meet you again!” Sae greeted Ion when they came closer.

“You know each other already?” Lyssa was surprised.

“I was sure that I will end up working with you since a clerk first mentioned this,” Ion told about his registration while the team greeted cleric.

“You look quite well today.” Thaleus said suddenly, “Had Ryan kept all that stuff he bought from me yesterday only for himself?”

“So it’s your fault I don’t remember my farewell party!”

“Ah, that’s good! I almost lost faith in that clan’s brewing skills. So, as the important guy finally finished talking, we should go to some tavern and celebrate. It’s the best way to get to know each other better!”

Seeing the group's enthusiasm, Ion was afraid of what awaited him today.