-Vandlind-

The forest of massive trees I’d called home for three decades slowly faded in the distance as the carriage moved forward (the three wagons behind ruined the picturesque scene of the prodigal son leaving home I had in mind, but it was better than walking).

Theo and Clara chatted quietly while Veylin bartered with Dramur. The dwarf’s eyes were practically sparkling by the time the deal ended. Dramur wanted 6 silver (1 for each of his companions and himself) to transport us to their destination a few days away. Veylin managed to get the price down to 4 silver by arguing that we would help protect the caravan in the event of an attack.

Currency in Iris consisted of metal coins. From highest to lowest, the currency went as such:

Copper Silver Gold Platinum

One-hundred copper coins equaled one silver, one-hundred silver coins equaled one gold, etcetera.

Considering a single copper was enough to buy a decent meal, charging 4 silver to transport two people for a few days was price gauging to the extreme, but it wasn’t like we could’ve just said that. I also wondered if the dwarf knew that four wasn’t divisible six; someone was going to get shortchanged, probably Theo because he was the youngest and had a steel-colored pendant. I almost felt bad before I remembered that he’d still be getting much more money than he deserved.

Veylin agreed to part with half the value now and then half when we reached Aerilon, the city we were headed to. I recalled my mother’s history lessons after hearing the city’s name: Aerilon was the capital city of the Rainian Kingdom (pronounced ron-e-in). It was led by King Elias Rain and his family, direct descendants of the kingdoms' founder, Edwin Rain.

Aerilon was a port town on the Southwest coast of Iris (yes, Iris was the name of the continent and the world. Even with magic, no other landmasses were discovered, but not from lack of trying. Expedition ships sent across the oceans just never returned. Made me think about what was really out there. The constant battling with other kingdoms and monsters weren’t helpful either).

The city was famous for its three massive, concentric walls. Designed primarily for protection during times of war, the walls served to segregate the wealthy from the poor in times of peace like we were in now. Nobles occupied the inner wall, merchants and skilled craftsmen occupied the middle wall, and peasants and unskilled laborers resided in the outer wall.

The massive export industry served to increase the divide even further. Agriculture from the surrounding fertile farmland, fish from the ocean, and various precious metals and gems from the Ironhill Mountains, which we were currently traveling through, meant there were plenty of goods to sell. All in all, the rich got richer, and the poor got worked vigorously to make the rich richer. It was nice that my first fantasy city would be one with such character.

My mother taught me a lot about Aerilon, but I never knew that we lived so close. I thought that might’ve been on purpose.

“Wait.” I suddenly shifted my head up to look at Dramur. “If we’re headed to Aerilon, and these are the Ironhill mountains… The forest you guys came through was…”

“The Forest of Illusion,” The dwarf nodded.

You’re kidding.

I swallowed; I’d heard about this forest too. “I thought everyone that went into The Forest of Illusion always got lost, starved to death, or eaten.”

I can’t believe my mom never told me we were living in the most infamous forest on the continent!

Clara, the blonde cleric, excitedly spoke, “Yes, that’s usually the case. But the benefactor of this caravan has a pair of magical gems that always point towards each other. One was left in Aerilon, so we’re able to cut through the forest and reduce travel time by weeks. All the drivers have to do is make sure they follow the one in front.”

“Ah,” I said. They must be pretty powerful rocks to get through my mom’s wards; she must’ve updated them every day for centuries. Not to mention the naturally high mana content of the forest.

“Of course,” Dramur said, “The forest is full of powerful monsters who’ve absorbed the plentiful mana-”

“That’s why we’re here,” Shayna grinned ferally; her small tusks seemed to get bigger, “To kill anything that gets in the way.”

“Yes,” Dramur continued, “We picked up the quest at a guild hall back in Amaranth.”

Amaranth was a river city on the East side of my home forest. It wasn’t nearly as big as Aerilon, which housed around a million people, but it was still fairly large.

“Why didn’t your benefactor just send your cargo by ship?” I questioned, discreetly shifting my hand to better grab my sword without anyone noticing. Not using the river threw a wrench in their story.

“Our benefactor’s cargo is of…sensitive nature. He didn’t want to risk going by ship,” Will explained, tensing up. It looked like I wasn’t so subtle.

“So he sent it through The Forest of Illusion instead?” I asked sarcastically, hand reaching further, not so subtlety this time.

Dramur quickly answered, “There’s no need for violence. The cargo can’t get wet is what Will meant to say -- not unless the ship it's on wants to go boom.”

“Ah, I see.” I retracted my hand, but I kept it close to the hilt of my blade.

“Are you all from Amaranth?” Veylin defused before putting her head back down. I could tell she was trying to gather as much information about our new friends as possible.

“No,” Samuel said, “We’ve all been traveling from place to place together for a while now. We’ve never stayed in one city longer than a few months.”

“What about you?” Theo’s gaze shifted to me as he spoke for the first time. “Where are you from?”

I felt Veylin tense only enough for me to notice.

“Ah,” I began. “That’s… a long story.”

“We have time.” Theo’s eyes didn’t waver. “Several hours ‘til the sun goes down.”

“Where to start…” I sighed. I knew Veylin couldn’t save my ass with her silver tongue this time. “I was raised in a small village, no name type of small. Hell, it was basically just me, my parents, and Veylin.”

“You grew up together?” Clara asked.

“Yeah, she’s like… an adoptive sister,” I said, feeling Veylin’s annoyance at me for giving away the details.

‘It’s easier to just give an abridged version of the truth than a complete lie,’ I consoled her. The truth was, I just couldn’t come up with a believable enough lie in a short period. They were probably going to find out anyway, better sooner than later.

“I thought you were married?” Dramur scratched his beard, pointedly looking at Veylin’s head on my shoulder.

“It’s safe to say we share a great connection,” I pointed out. “But we’re not married, no.” If my father was dead, he probably would’ve rolled in his grave.

“Ah, so it’s safe to say you are a free man then?” Shayna gave another feral grin, one of the only expressions she seemed capable of.

“Define free?” I asked, not knowing how to reply.

“She wants to know if you’re free enough to plow,” Samuel sighed. “She has this thing where she’s obsessed with having strong children.”

Uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I felt Veylin’s hand tighten on my arm enough to bruise.

“Brother, you’re embarrassing the poor man.” Will saved me from having to answer.

“We are getting distracted.” Dramur looked accusingly at Shayna for interrupting the story, “Continue.”

“My father was an Enhancer, and my mother was a mage-”

“Talk about a power couple,” Samuel snorted.

“Brother! Let him speak!” Will scolded.

“R-right, sorry.” Samuel gestured for me to continue.

“And they both taught me a little of their trade. When I became an adult, I left home to find work. I did a few jobs here and there, and eventually, that led to our last job where things went south, and here we are.” I tried to keep it as general as possible to avoid any complications.

“See?” Theo raised his brow, “There’s still plenty of time in the day.”

“Are you guys not part of the guild?” Dramur asked. “I don’t see any pendants on your necks. Lose them?”

Veylin answered, and I was thankful for it, “We’ve never been a part of the guild. We worked as mercenaries.”

The faces of the entire group turned a little sour. It appeared adventures didn’t like mercenaries very much.

Veylin continued, “Yeah, we’re aware of the reputation. But by the time we left our village, we were already capable of completing jobs far above the average adventurer. Starting all the way from a copper pendant seemed like a waste when we could be a mercenary and get paid much more.”

She really was good at lying.

“And then you took a job you couldn’t complete?” Will's wording was understanding, but the underlying message appeared to be ‘you should’ve expected that.’

“Unfortunately,” Veylin confirmed.

“Such is the life of a mercenary,” Samuel said. “They get paid a lot. They die a lot.”

“And what now? You guys have to report back to whoever commissioned the job?” Will’s voice was much softer this time.

“No.” Veylin shook her head. “The deal was we’d get paid half for entering the rift and half upon closing it. Since we didn’t make it out… well, the rift either broke by now or got closed by someone else, and there would be no point going back. You should be thankful. The money we gave you was part of the first half.”

“What about joining us?” Clara chirped. “I’m sure you’ll need work in Aerilon, and we could always use competent members. My dad’s a really important person to the guild. I’m sure he could get you guys to at least a steel pendant if I asked him.”

“Clara,” Will warned. “Your father doesn’t like you using his name to get things, and we literally met them less than an hour ago." He turned to me. “No offense.”

“S-sorry. L-Lyros was telling me they were trustworthy, and I just thought that they would be more likely to join if I could get them steel pendants,” Clara stuttered, her previous enthusiasm gone.

“Lyros told you they were trustworthy?” Dramur put his hand over his beard; his expression was impossible to read.

“I-it was more like an inclination.” Clara shrunk back. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s fine,” Dramur raised a hand. “What do you think, Shayna? You’re technically the boss.”

“In name only, Dramur. I just like to crack heads, no thinking involved. However… they are strong, and if Clara says they’re trustworthy...”

The dwarf scratched his beard for a moment. “What about you it, you two? Would you be interested in joining us? We’d have to go on a trial quest and vet you, of course. I can’t just take Clara’s word for it. Though, she’s never been wrong about anyone before. That’s how we found Theo, actually. He just joined. This is his first mission with us.”

The young archer grunted.

‘What do you think?’ Veylin asked me. ‘Wanna’ tie the knot here and now with these guys?’

‘There are worse things that we could do. But…’

‘But?’

‘I kind of figured it was just gonna’ be the two of us, bond and bonded, against the monsters, criminals, and scum of Iris -- exploring the continent together,’ I said wistfully. ‘That’s what I had in my, anyway.’

The biggest wave of pleasure I’ve ever felt came through our bond as Veylin answered, ‘I… I would like that. However…’

‘However?’

‘We’ve both only been training for years. I was an adventurer once, but I was a kid. Maybe we should get some experience with people who know what they’re doing. Then we’ll strike out, us against the world.’

‘Okay.’ Although her reasoning was solid, I was a bit disappointed.

The entire wagon was staring directly at us, waiting for our answer.

“You guys use some spell or something?” Samuel asked, tilting his head. “You’ve been staring at each other for some time now.”

“A mage as powerful as Vandlind is sure to have telepathy,” Will nodded. “Why do you think our father had us work on mental strengthening techniques?”

Theo choked, breaking his mask of indifference, “Telepathy? What the fuck are you guys talking about? I thought mind reading was just a legend?”

The entire wagon shifted to Theo this time, and his cheeks dyed slight crimson.

“How old did you say you were again, kid?” Samuel asked.

“F-fifteen… But I’ll be 16 in two months!”

Fifteen!” Samuel roared. “You’re telling me you’re that good with a bow at fifteen, but you didn’t know mages could use telepathy?!”

Theo seemed to get even smaller as he curled back in his seat, “I-I’m self-trained. I was lucky enough to learn how to use Enhancement at a young age, so I figured that I should practice something that could make me a bit of money. Nobody ever told me about this, and mages are rare enough as it is-”

“Sam, it’s not often you meet a mage capable of telepathy. Most steel plates can’t use enhancement to half the effectiveness Theo can. And most silver plates…” Dramur looked pointedly at Sam’s chest, “can’t block telepathy even if they're aware of the techniques. You’re also atypical.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, kid. I forget how young you are because of how mature you act,” Samuel apologized.

Theo brightened, “You think I act mature?”

“Well, yeah-” Samuel started.

“We’ve gotten distracted again,” Shayna interrupted. “I believe Vandlind and Veylin are waiting to give their answer.”

Sam cleared his throat and sat back in his seat.

“What do you guys say? You willing to join?” Dramur raised a bushy eyebrow.

I looked at Veylin and she nodded.

“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll join.”

The wagon came under another silence.

“I thought they’d say no,” Will confessed.

“Yeah, it’s not every day you get a competent Enhancer and a mage in one sitting,” his brother agreed.

“Wow! You guys mean you’ll really join us?” Clara practically bounced on her seat; her eagerness was back in full.

I smiled at her; she reminded me of Ron, “Yep, we’re really going to join.” I turned to Shayna and Dramur. “If you’ll have us, of course.”

Shayna gave a real smile this time, not a grin, “Absolutely. I might have to do a bit of hazing to make sure you can take the pressure, but…” She shrugged.

Dramur nodded, “She’s the boss.”

The rest of the day’s ride consisted of us making small talk just to pass the time. I found out Theo was raised in a small village like me (well, not exactly like me, but close enough. It explained why he didn’t know mages could use telepathy at the very least). He'd picked up the bow by the time he could walk, and he used it ever since

Sam and Will were the fourth and fifth sons of some Rainian noble; they danced around giving the exact family name, so I didn’t press them. I doubted I would’ve known it, anyway.

Surprisingly enough, Clara’s family lived in Aerilon, and she said she’d introduce us if her parents weren’t busy.

Shayna didn’t talk much about her parents; I didn’t dare ask why. The books I’d read on Orcish mating were far from family-friendly. Even half-orc parents were known to have a more brutish side when it came to… well, everything.

Dramur got lost in thought when I asked him about his family. Books on dwarven custom and tradition were rather scarce in my mother’s library, so I only knew the basics. They had their own language, with a guttural, straightforward dialect. And their capital city, Durglador, was in the Durglador Mountains to the far North of Iris in the Kingdom of Kaiden.

Dwarves weren’t typically rare. In fact, they were the second most populous species on the planet. But to see him so far South with no others of his kind led me to believe there might be more to his silent gaze. A topic for another time, unfortunately.

*

It took the rest of the day to pass through Ironhill Mountains. Thankfully, no monsters attacked the caravan (which I was told was rare because the mountains were home to many species of monsters. Goblins and ogres were the most common. Dramur and his crew weren’t just there for show). The Rainian government would send kill squads to clear the more popular roads; however, there was simply too much mountain and not enough men to make regularly clearing it feasible.

When the sun began hiding behind the mountains behind us, the wagon drivers slowed to a stop to set up camp. They took the same circle formation as yesterday, providing a small amount of protection against whatever might be out there. The West side of the mountains was pretty much all grassland, with a few trees scattered here and there. Sightlines were decent in all directions, but I felt a little uneasy staring out into the thigh-high grass: it was the perfect height for a midget-sized monster to stab me in the dick while I took a piss.

The fire this night wasn’t nearly as festive as the one they had in my home forest, probably a combination of the lack of fuel and not wanting to set the entire grassland on fire. I sat beside Veylin and chewed on the biscuits my new buddies came back with. They offered me a beer to wash the dry food down with, but I declined. I had bad memories when it came to drinking.

“Aren’t you worried about getting snuck up on while your drunk?” I asked Will, who had been steadily sipping from a bottle. It smelled like it had a higher alcohol percentage than a keg of rum from 1693.

“No, not really,” he shrugged. “Even with the alcohol in my system, Enhancement would filter it out if I needed to fight.”

“Hmmm. I knew that mana could expel toxins, but I didn’t know you could still use enhancement with your thinking impaired,” I admitted.

“Well, I guess it’s possible to get drunk enough to not be able to filter the alcohol out, but no Enhancer – hells, no intelligent man --- would get drunk to the point where he couldn’t think rationally.”

“So, what you’re saying is if you’re not blackout drunk, then it doesn’t matter?” I asked.

Will burped, “Exactly.”

I guess there’s no harm in it, but I’m still not going to do it.

I feigned looking around the camp for a bit so I could ask the question that had been bugging me all day, “What about sentries? I don’t see anyone standing guard.” The fact that I had been able to sneak up on these guys worried me. Did they just not care, or was my locator glyph just that inconspicuous?

“Ah, that would be up to the other adventurer team. It’s their turn tonight. Personally, we just like to leave someone up in shifts, so they can use their mana pulse. Those guys might leave a traditional guard up after everyone else hits the sack. Who knows?” Will took another sip.

“There’s a second adventurers team here?” I frowned. I had checked everyone earlier and again when the camp was being set up. That was when it hit me, “Oh, they’re the guys in the back wagon.” I used mana sense, and sure enough, the wagon still had seven people in it.

“Yeah, those guys were told by our employer to stay concealed in case someone attacks, not that it would be very surprising to someone who could use mana sense.” Will shook the bottle in his hand and sniffed annoyedly when he realized it was empty.

What the hell is in those crates if their employer is so paranoid about someone attacking? Gunpowder? But this world doesn’t have firearms?

I itched my longer than usual right ear. “Do you think Dramur would mind if I set up a few wards? I would feel better if I did at least something to make sure we don’t get attacked.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t think so. I’d still ask him, though,” Will replied.

“All right, I’ll do that.” I stood up and turned towards the dwarf; he was currently discussing something with one of the caravan guards.

Veylin grabbed my hand as I started walking. ‘Come back here when you’re done. I trust Will and his buddies, but I’m not so confident about anyone else.’

‘Worried about me?’ I teased.

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’ I didn’t expect that. ‘Don’t. I’ll be right back.’

She nodded and turned back to the fire that had begun to die out.

“I don’t care what you think, Mr. Greyforge. Your contract stated that you and your team wouldn’t question my authority in any way during this expedition. Refusing to follow my orders concerning the disposal of the two stowaways is a direct violation of that contract.” An older man, probably mid-forties, practically hissed at Dramur.

“Mr. Blake, I apologize for any confusion you might have. Those two stowaways are actually members of my team,” Dramur replied.

“What?” Blake squinted down at the dwarf. “Do you expect me to believe that?”

I took this opportunity to introduce myself. “Hey, boss.” I made a point to smile at Blake as I walked to Dramur. “I was wondering if I could put up wards around camp? Nothing serious, just something to keep anything out that goes bump in the night.”

Dramur sniffed, “You will have to ask Mr. Blake.”

Blake’s face froze stiff. “You’re a mage?”

“Yeah?” I looked side to side. “Unless there’s another abjurer here? In that case-”

“No, no. Please, feel free to place a few wards. It’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow caster. We are quite rare. By the way, what academy did you train at? I, myself, went to Aerilon Academy.” Blake’s demeanor did a full 180.

This fool is a mage?

Now that I had a better look, he did have that mage appearance to him: thin, pasty skin, a slight slump in his posture from reading too much. But shouldn’t he have noticed the glyph I placed on the wagons? It was a shame I couldn’t inspect his focus without alerting him to it. Though the depth of one’s focus didn’t directly correlate to magical sensitivity and power, it would give me a general idea.

He also wore an intricate, crimson robe, something I probably should’ve noticed earlier. My mother said mages tended to wear robes because it was easier to conceal magic items. Fabric was much easier to enchant with spatial distortion magic than metal.

“I didn’t go to an academy,” I replied. “I had a private tutor.”

Blake’s slight smile practically fell off his face, “Oh.” He cleared his throat, attempting to recover. “What school do you practice? I made my studies as an evoker. I’ve tended to focus on fire magic, though I have dabbled in transmutation for utility purposes.”

I stared at him blankly, Are you only supposed to know a few schools? I guess that explains why he didn’t sense my ward. He’s probably too linearly focused.

“All of them,” I answered. “But I focus on conjuration, evocation, and abjuration.”

“A-all of them?” Blake’s stared in disbelief. “Surely you jest.”

“I joke about a lot of things, Mr. Blake, but my ability is not one of them. It’s not wise to lie about your capabilities,” I deadpanned.

Blake turned to Dramur, “Did you know of this?”

Dramur looked at me for a second before replying, “Yes.”

Wow, he lied for me. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Blake coughed, “I know half-elves inherit long lives from their Fae side, but you looked quite young. I apologize for my rudeness. Please, excuse me.” He scurried off deeper into the camp.

How old does he think I am? I’m only thirty for God’s sake. Well, forty-eight, technically.

Dramur turned to me as Blake left, “Do you truly know every school?”

“Yes, I do.”

Dramur shook his head, “Now I’m even more confused as to why you decided to join.” The dwarf muttered something else unintelligible before walking off into the darkness.

Was it a bad idea to tell them I’m familiar with every school?

Probably.

*

The warding went smoothly. I set up an imprisonment ward along the perimeter to make sure no monsters decided to stumble in the camp at night. Making a large enough area around the camp sucked, but it made me feel a little safer. The wards were too large to use my body as a medium, so I had to use glyphs, which meant more prickies of my finger. Apparently, professional abjurers had warding wands that contained a medium inside them that would expel as they wrote the glyph. My mother never thought to get me one.

I came back to the camp feeling drained, a slight headache to go along with it. My mana replenished slowly when I was awake, even with mana cycling to speed up the process. Worse, I was also only at half capacity this morning.

I didn’t want to set the barrier too close so that we could have a little breathing room if something broke through, meaning I had to ward an even larger area, meaning I drained even more of my precious stores. I sighed, The things I do for peace of mind.

I sat down with a huff next to Veylin, unbuckling my sword belt and removing my quiver. She found a spot next to the wagons and tied the canvas from one of our tents up, making a lean-to esc cover to sit under.

“Don’t you want to set up the tent normally?” I asked.

She shook her head, “It’s hard to see when you’re inside a tent.”

“Ah. Yeah, good point,” I coughed. “Anyway, I’m going to trance so I can restore my mana. I’m still looking shabby. You can sleep if you want.”

“Lucky elven bastard,” Veylin muttered as she laid down in front of me, “You have no idea how useful being able to trance is.”

I smirked, “Yeah, it’s pretty convenient. But it’s not like I can use it indefinitely. I still have to sleep normally every few days. In fact, I prefer normal sleep. Trancing is like being in a lucid dream, but the dream sucks, and you’re aware of the stuff that's going on around you.”

“You... complain about... everything..." Veylin yawned, her voice drifting.

“Out like a light,” I smiled. “Now then.”

I sat with my legs crossed and began breathing deeply, focusing on drawing in the mana around me. I never actually tranced of my own volition before. My avatar did it when I was hyper-speeding a few times, so I had experience; it just wasn't my own.

Unlike D&D, trancing for elves in Iris was only a substitute for actual rest. I still needed to sleep; I could just put it off longer than pretty much every other race. The ability had its utility, but the sleep I got after trancing frequently was pretty much an abridged coma. I was out, and I would stay out for a few hours.

My breathing became slower as I felt my mind drifting, and I closed my eyes.

Hey, this is pretty cool. Maybe I do complain about everything? I was just going off my memories, but this isn’t so bad.

My thoughts continued to wander as hours began feeling like minutes. The moon crossed the sky, illuminating the night with its silver glow. My half-lidded eyes absorbed the little light, painting my surroundings in a monochrome scheme; elven night-vision wasn’t good at differentiating color, just different shades. Still, it was better than not seeing at all--

My eyes shot open. Something had just triggered my ward. Somethings… a lot of them.