Keldon was eager to return to the prison cart cabin to write down everything he had just learned, but he hadn’t forgotten his manners. After he finishing dinner, he helped Pudge wash dishes at a stream nearby. He moved quickly, scrubbing the dishes with a soap scrapped together from leftover mutton fat and natural soda. It wasn’t the sort of gentle soap he had grown fond of living in civilization the last few years, but it served its purpose. Afterward, he returned to the cabin.

He scrambled through his belongings to find pen and paper, he wanted to record whatever he could of the dream. Or was it is a dream? He hadn’t been asleep during the vision this time so perhaps there wasn’t a need for him to be asleep in the first place. Hopefully, whoever was sending him these visions wouldn’t send them at a time that would lead to him ending up dead. Seemed counterintuitive towards the purpose of sending them in the first place. Plus, being dead would be super inconvenient.

He pulled out a pen and a small notebook he’d brung along with him for the trip, scrawling down what he could remember about the vision. After a few minutes of writing, Salem came into the cart cabin taking a swig of brandy that he had in his hands. He wrinkled his nose as he passed by Keldon, taking out an embroidered cloth and covering his face.

“Do I smell that bad?” Keldon thought, giving his armpits a sniff. He turned his body away from Salem, trying to block him from reading what he'd written down since they weren't exactly on the best terms.

Salem plopped down on the bench, closing his eyes for a snooze as a grizzly snore soon filled the cabin. Outside, the Prison Crew Boys were currently sitting around the campfire, shooting the shit as they exchanged insults and drinks.

“Honestly...might be my best chance for some practice time.” Keldon thought.

He'd toyed with the idea of waiting until they'd reached the capital, but there was no guarantee he’d be able to find an isolated space to practice then either, so he needed to take opportunities as they showed themselves.

Keldon creaked open the door, cringing as the hinges chirped with a squeak. He whipped around. But Salem was snoring peacefully, masked by the chatter of the Prison Crew Boys. With a sigh of relief, Keldon crept off into the night, wandering towards what he remembered as a small cave about 20 or so minutes of walking behind them.

#

A few minutes after Keldon had left the cabin, Salem peeked up from underneath the cloth covering his face.

Finally, the lad was gone. That Keldon boy reeked of some of the strangest smelling magic he'd had the displeasure of experiencing in a ages. He'd even smelt it before he had even entered into the cabin for the first time and squashed his perfectly good lunch. It was too musky to be any sort of witchcraft, must be some kind of archaic magic.

“I’m not getting involved this time,” Salem thought to himself, taking another swig from the bottle. “He’s practically asking to be killed for using illegal magic so blatantly.” Salem had had enough of getting involved with these lunatics. It didn’t matter which side he was on, it never ended well for him.

He rolled over onto his side, settling down for a real sleep now that Keldon had snuck off.

However, as he began to drift off, the familiar scent of bitter-smelling magic wafted by his nose. He sat up, catching the last glimpse of a dark cloak, moving in the same direction as Keldon.

“Nope. Nope nope nope. ” said Salem, laying back down and shaking his head to himself. However, guilt pulled him back upright as he looked out the window. The cloaked person was gone, leaving behind only a trail of bitter scent in their passing. It shouldn’t matter to Salem if Keldon got caught, it was his own fault after all. He hadn’t been careful enough about who might be watching, and if he was going to dabble in that nonsense, he should at least have the decency to be cautious about it. But then, he thought of Emily, and how she had him to guide her, yet still…

“Gosh darn it,… FINE” he said aloud, rolling off the bed. He threw on his coat, and opened the door, following Keldon and the cloaked man into the night.

#

“This looks like a decent spot,” Keldon said, reaching a secluded area at the back of the cave. He pulled out a handful of leftover kindling and his flint and steel, lighting a small fire. A few seconds later, the sparks caught flame, illuminating the cavern with a gentle orange light.

“That should do it,” Keldon said, wiping his forehead. He sat cross-legged and stared deep into the center of the fire. He had soaked his cloak in the river on the way over in case he needed it to put out the fire, as well as he made sure that there wasn’t anything around that could easily be set aflame. The feeling he had when he first called for the name of fire was still quite fresh in his mind, Passion was what had driven him to call the name in the first place, well that and the loud voice in his head but neither were here. Perhaps the heat in that sense had been his own emotions?

“But I’m calm now though. Should be fine. Probably. Okay, deep breaths Keldon, hee- hoo heee-hoooo” he thought to himself. He felt a bit stupid but no amount of preparation could fix that.

“Karyx.” He whispered recoiling, preparing himself for the worst. However, nothing happened.

Well, at first.

Then, the fire flickered slightly, awakening to his voice. It danced on the pile of kindling, undulating in a strange pattern. Keldon smiled brightly; this was progress! Now, for the suggestion. He carefully placed a small branch nearby the flame, mentally forming a connection between the kindling flame and the branch as the flame slowly spread. Seemed easy enough, although what he had been suggesting to the flame hadn’t exactly been out of the ordinary.

“Haha Keldon my boy! Eager for training are we?!” Salem bellowed, walking into the cave with a boisterous laughter. Keldon whipped around, his heart pounding against his chest. Training?! More importantly, why was Salem here? He was supposed to have been asleep. How much had he seen?! Keldon’s mind raced, thinking about an excuse.

“Salem? I-“ Keldon started, before Salem interrupted.

“No need for explanations, just make sure you wait next time!” Salem said with a jovial expression.

“What is he going on about? Was this some sort of trap?” Keldon thought, eyes darting around the cavern.

Salem walked over to Keldon, planting a firm hand on his shoulder, glaring directly into his eyes. He squeezed tightly, and handed Keldon his book So You Want to Become a Skill Orb User too?. It was the familiar sort of glare that Bertram gave to Keldon whenever he’d been caught day-drinking by Hilda; Salem wanted Keldon to play along.

Keldon faked a laugh as well as he could, “O-oh, right. Haha, sorry about that Salem” said Keldon.

Salem’s expression softened a touch, pleased with his response. “Good, Good.” He said, patting Keldon on the shoulder.

“It’s alright there, Jorhund. He’s with me.” Salem said, turning to the mouth of the cavern. But there was no one there.

“Uhh…” Keldon muttered, but was interrupted by Salem.

“Sicut van Shalash mon Vristay.” Salem said, spoken in a language Keldon had never heard before.

Then, around the corner stepped a man in a dark cloak, pulling down his hood. Shockingly enough, it was a familiar face.

“Holy fuck, it’s Tanner MightyCock.” Keldon said without thinking.

“What? Watch your language.” said Salem.

“What?” said Tanner MightyCock(?).

“Uh sorry… Forget I said anything.” Keldon said quickly.

Luckily for him, it seemed like Salem and Tanner(?) wanted to get off the topic as quickly as possible as well.

“Anyways, so who are you…Salem was it? And how do you know those words” said Tanner(?) in a low growl.

Salem reached into his pocket as Tanner(?) quickly lowered himself into a fighting stance, threatened by the sudden movement. Tanner stepped forward, about to attack as Keldon readied himself in reflex, before Salem pulled out a small insignia that shone in the moonlight.

Tanner(?) quickly stood up straight, giving Salem a reluctant salute as he lowered his head.

“My apologies PeaceKeeper. I wasn’t made aware that you would be present during this trip.” Tanner(?) said in a strange tone. The relationship between the two seemed strained but Salem appeared to hold the upper hand.

“Peacekeeper?” thought Keldon.

“No need for formalities. You’re dismissed Jorhund. Nothing noteworthy to see here.” Salem said, waving him away. However, Tanner(?)/Jorhund didn’t move.

“With all due respect Peacekeeper, I have direct orders to report back on anything of note. And it is of my judgment that my presence here is necessary for the sake of my mission objective.”

Salem’s nostrils flared, taking a step towards Jorhund who had lifted his head in defiance.

“With all due respect returned, Jorhund. Perhaps you need to be reminded that your master and I are of the same rank,” said Salem, thrusting his left hand to the side. “Or do you mean to say that our faction has lost enough respect to defy my direct orders?”

“O-of course not Peacekeeper,” Jorhund said, taking a step back. “I simply mean, that my master would be unpleased to hear that his servant had been turned away from his duty is all.”

Even from behind, Keldon could hear the soft grinding of his teeth as Salem stepped forward.

“Are you threatening me?” Salem said in a hushed tone.

Hearing this, Jorhund smiled, thinking that he had gotten the better of Salem.

“Of course not, I’m merely sugges-“

Salem summoned his skill orb, unlike any other Keldon had ever seen before. It was long and sharp, forged into the shape of a needle, and hummed in suspension. It radiated a soft red glow as Jorhund stepped back in shock.

“P-p-peacekeeper, I’d rec-“ Jorhund stammered, taking another step back.

Activate Skill: Greater Origin of Flame

Heat burst from Salem’s body as armor, crafted by the living flame, manifested from his skill orb and enveloped him. Two black horns sprouted from Salem’s forehead as each step taken towards Jorhund left glowing imprints on the stone floor.

Keldon recoiled, throwing his hands in front of his face to brace for an explosion of heat. However, it was barely more than a warm breeze; Salem had complete control of his magic, having directed much of the harmful heat away from Keldon.

“And what would you recommend hm?” Salem said, stepping up to Jorhund’s face and staring him down. The heat poured out of Salem, as sweat dripped from Jorhund, his clothes beginning to singe at the edges.

As Keldon watched, something tugged at him internally from behind. He looked down, seeing the kindling flame dance in excitement. Right now, through the link between him and the flame, it roused from its sleep in Salem’s presence. Keldon looked back between the flame and Salem, thoughts creeping up into his mind. If Salem seems to be coming to his defense, then maybe...just maybe

“N-Nothing Peacekeeper. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Jorhund said, in an attempt to maintain some level of composure. He turned around, making an abrupt departure off into the night as the flame armor dissipated from Salem’s body.

A few moments of awkward silence lingered in the air before Salem turned around, walking up to Keldon.

“Than-“ Keldon started,

“Spare me your thanks,” Said Salem. “You’re a real moron, you know that?”

“Well gee, and here I was just thinking you weren’t so bad after all,” Keldon said sarcastically before catching himself, Bertram's really rubbed off on him lately.

“Don’t get sassy with me, that Jorhund would have killed you if he caught you using illegal magic like that all willy-nilly.” Hissed Salem through his teeth.

Keldon’s eyes widened as he lowered his voice to a whisper. “You knew? How?” he said.

“Are you daft? The smell of it practically reeks out of you.” Salem said. “Where’s your warding tattoo? Dun Skill Orb? Anything?! Blast, how are you still even alive? I can’t believe you actually were dumb enough to use that sort of magic in front of the whole campsite.”

Keldon lifted up his armpit and took a whiff. “I don’t smell anything.”

Salem groaned, palming his face. “By the gods, he’s going to die.”

Keldon bluffed, shrugging his shoulders and feigning nonchalance. “Well, I guess you’re going to have to tell me more about all this tomorrow during training then?”

“Training? What are you on abou- Oh Shoot.” said Salem, realizing he'd have to train Keldon to keep up appearances.

Keldon flashed him a bashful smile. “See you tomorrow?” he said hopefully.

Salem frowned, picking up Keldon’s now-dried cloak on the ground, and tossing it at his chest. “See you tomorrow.” He said bitterly, leaving the cavern.

Just before he left, Salem turned around, “And I’m not training you for real. Got it?” and left for the campsite before Keldon could respond, leaving him alone in the cavern.

Keldon plopped down onto the ground, placing the book Salem had handed to him to the side in disappointment.

“Well, so much for that plan.”