I feel no pain now. This must be what it’s like to be dead. I let my eyes open slowly. My vision is out of focus and I see only a blur. Once my eyes are able to regain focus, I look next to me and see – Margaret? “Wait. Am I alive or dead?” I ask.

“Souladonis you’re alive!” she says excitedly.

How the heck? I look around to get my bearings. I’m lying in a bed in what seems to be a girl’s bedroom. On the floor next to the bed is a bucket of red water with numerous arrow tails sticking out of the sanguine pool. Also on the floor, just to the side of Margaret, is Katherine’s unconscious body. My head is spinning. I have no idea what’s going on.

“How am I still alive?”

“It was Katherine. She dragged you here while casting the Mend spell to keep you alive. We thought that maybe if we took out the arrows and then she used her Life Magic that you’d recover. But when you weren’t waking up, we became scared. So she decided to try using your magic staff to increase her power. But when she cast the Mend spell with your staff, she suddenly fainted. Right after that you woke up, but now she’s down and I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

I sit up straight and scoot over to the edge of the bed. Margaret’s story doesn’t entirely make sense. Given the severity of my injuries, there’s no way that Katherine could have kept me alive using the Mend spell, which is the weakest of all Life Magic spells. Not to mention the fact that even if she had used my staff, it wouldn’t have made that dramatic of a difference for her magic power since my staff lost almost all of its potency when it was turned to stone. Still, I can’t deny the fact that I’m alive and well. In fact, I feel fine. My favorite outfit is completely ruined, but other than that, I’m as good as I’ve ever been.

I push myself out of the bed. Margaret steps back and lets me kneel beside Katherine. I reposition her from her side to flat on her back. Then placing my hand over her mouth, I check her breathing. Her breath is faint, but consistent. Her skin is pale and cold. Margaret notices me checking Katherine’s temperature, and she does the same. “She’s so cold. What’s wrong with her?”

I relax unworried. I know exactly what’s wrong with her.

“Mana shock.”

“Mana shock?”

“Yes mana shock. It’s what happens when a mage overextends his or her mana supply. This happens all the time to rookie mages at magic schools.”

“Well is it serious? What do we need to do?”

I summon my medical supply bag and whip out a small mana potion. “No it’s not serious and Katherine has a very light case of it. She just needs to drink a mana potion and she’ll be fine.”

Gently, I tilt Katherine’s head forward and slowly pour the potion down her throat. Her body instinctively swallows the liquid, and in just a few seconds time, she wakes up coughing. “Oh thank goodness!” Margaret exclaims.

Katherine looks up and sees me standing over her. Quickly, she springs up to her feet. “Souladonis I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I know that you said not to follow you, but I wanted to help, and I wanted to see where the goblins were, and I’m so sorry!”

I shrug my shoulders indifferently. “It’s alright Katherine. I’m fine now. Thanks to you apparently. I had no idea that you two were mages.”

Margaret chuckles a laugh of modesty. “Oh, goodness no. Katherine and I are not mages. I know one or two Nature Magic spells, and Katherine learned a few Life Magic spells from a book that I had bought her one time in Magali, but neither of us knows very much about magic.”

Margaret’s words astound me. If what she says is true, then my miraculous recovery makes even less sense. The magic power of a mage is almost entirely determined by two factors: education and genetics. A man who inherits little magic power from his bloodline can study until he’s blue in the face and still never be able to cast a single grandmaster-level spell in his entire life. Whereas someone from a powerful magic bloodline, like myself, could study only for a few years before being able to cast a spell of the highest order. This is also why practically all of the world’s notable mages are nobles. Hereditary magic power plays a huge role in negotiating marriage arrangements within high society. It would not even be unfair to call it selective breeding.

I give up on trying to understand my recovery. I’m alive and I just have to keep moving forward. My next stop is Magali. As soon as I get the promised potion from Margaret, I’ll head out right away. “Margaret,” I begin with a polite tone of voice. “Might I have the magic potion that you promised me? I don’t mean to be rude, but I wish to make it to Magali before the Mage Renaissance festival begins on Monday.”

Margaret and Katherine exchange concerned looks. I notice the subtlety of their gesture and begin to grow concerned myself. “What? What’s wrong?”

Katherine answers, “Souladonis the Mage Renaissance festival began today.”

“What? That can’t be right. Isn’t it a week long festival that begins on Monday and ends on Friday?”

“No Souladonis, it’s a week long festival that begins on the Friday of Princess Mathilde’s birthday and ends the following Friday. I mean, didn’t you notice that there was no one in the village? Where did you think that everyone went?”

I’m starting to have a minor panic attack. I’ve been waiting for an entire year for the next Mage Renaissance festival. I’m missing all of the opening parades and magic demonstrations. Not to mention those who arrive late tend to have a hard time finding an inn room. This is not good. I reach into my pocket for my portal record book and my face grows white with remembrance. I used my last portal script to escape the forest!

“Margaret do you sell portal scripts?”

“No I don’t. Nor do I have any. They’re far too expensive for me to buy.”

Darn it. I have to hurry. I collect my magic staff and walk to the bedroom door. “Margaret the potion please!”

I enter into their dining room and Margaret follows me with Katherine behind her. Patiently, I stand next to the table while Margaret grabs the small box from her dresser. She sits the box on the table and withdraws the tiny blue vial from within. My body begins to shake with nervous anticipation. Carefully, Margaret hands the potion over to my shaking hands. I try to pour the liquid onto my staff, but my hands start to tremble violently and I become too fearful of spilling it. Mercifully, Margaret notices my struggle. “Here, let me do it.”

I return the potion to Margaret. Then I hold up my staff with both hands as if presenting a gift. While Margaret pours the potion onto the staff, I keep my eyes closed. “Please work, please, please.”

Margaret finishes applying the potion to the staff. Slowly, very slowly, I allow my eyes to peel open. When they set on the staff, I see the familiar color of gray stone. At once, my head droops low and I nearly drop my staff. Margaret and Katherine move in to console me, but I raise my hand to stop them. My dejected lips start to quiver, yet I’m able to force them to stop long enough to whisper truthfully, “It’s okay. It’s not the first time.”

Without a further word, I head for the front door. Just before I exit the house, Katherine runs up to me and grabs at my wrist. “Wait Souladonis. I’m coming with you.”

I turn around slowly. “What are you talking about?”

“I owe you my life Souladonis. You saved me and almost died doing it. I have to repay you somehow. Otherwise, I’ll live with this guilt I feel forever.”

I understand her sentiment, but I don’t feel like she owes me anything. I simply did what was right in the moment. Besides, she’d only slow me down. “Katherine you don’t owe me anything, so don’t worry about it.”

“No!” she insists. “I have to do something to make up my debt to you.”

I lean over her accusingly just like before. “Oh yeah? What could you possibly do for me? I’m bigger than you, stronger than you, faster than you, richer than you, and more well traveled than you. What do you have to offer me?”

She answers with determination, “I don’t know, but I’ll do anything. I’ll…I’ll be your servant for one year!”

“Ha!” I mock. The very thought is ludicrous. I’ve lived alone for the past six years. I do not need a servant. I turn away from her and walk out of the door. Katherine catches me at the front steps by seizing my wrist more tightly than before. Reluctantly, I turn halfway with my right shoulder facing towards Katherine and my left shoulder towards the path that leads out of town. Then gazing over my right shoulder, I look deep into Katherine’s eyes. Her big, bright, brown eyes are watery and on the verge of tears. I couldn’t bear to see such beautiful, innocent eyes become jaded with guilt like my own.

Oh Soul, why did you have to look into her eyes? You knew what would happen.

I inhale deeply and exhale slowly in a sigh of submission. “Fine Katherine. I’ll let you be my servant. But for three months, not an entire year.”

“Great!” she shouts merrily. “Let me go pack my things!”

Katherine runs off to her room to gather her belongings. I smack myself in the head. There’s no telling how long this will take. We haven’t even left town yet, and she’s already slowing me down. But true to my word, I’ll wait for her and let her follow me around for three months – three agonizingly long months. I probably should have just said one. I got caught up in the moment I suppose. In any case, I sit down on the front steps to wait for Katherine. Margaret promptly comes out of the house to join me.

“That Katherine,” Margaret begins. “Once she gets something into her head, she’s determined to carry it through to the end.”

“I can see that.”

Margaret steps unto the stair on which I’m sitting. I move over a tad to allow her to sit down next to me. “Is my daughter going to be alright following you? I mean will there be enough food, and shelter, and money?”

I curve the corners of my mouth into a forced smile to appear reassuring. “Katherine will be fine as long as she does what I say and doesn’t get us both killed.”

Margaret nods in understanding. “Say Souladonis, Katherine has always dreamed of learning magic. Maybe while she’s with you, you could teach her a few things.”

“No!” I snap. “Bad things happen to people who get caught up in the pursuit of magic! How do you think my staff got turned into stone? I won’t be responsible for anyone becoming obsessed with magic and getting hurt like I did!”

Margaret is taken aback by my sudden flare of emotion. Thus to regain her composure, she presses on the center of her glasses and repositions them on her ears. “I’m sorry. It was forward of me to ask. But could you at least do one thing? She’s always dreamed of having a nice magic wand. I would buy one for her, but I don’t know the least thing about magical wands and staves. If I gave you the money, then could you make sure that she gets a good magic wand?”

I nod. “That I could do.”

“Good. I’ll get the money.” Margaret rises to her feet and reenters the house. I continue sitting on the stairs wondering how I got myself into this mess. About ten minutes later, Katherine and Margaret return outside. I rise to my feet to greet them. Katherine is now dragging a large luggage bag behind her. “Are you ready to go?” I ask.

“Yes Master!” she answers enthusiastically.

I tilt my head diagonally. “Master?”

“Yes, isn’t that what servants call their master, Master?”

“Oh.” Technically, she’s right. Not that I could care less whether she calls me “Master,” or, “Lord,” or, “Mister,” or anything. I just don’t want her to start thinking that I’m her master in the sense of what an apprentice mage calls her teacher mage. I’m aware that Katherine is both cunning and wants to learn magic. I’ll have to be careful around her lest she trick me into giving her free magic lessons.

I move to Katherine’s luggage and summon an empty inventory bag. Channeling my mana energy into the inventory bag, I place it over Katherine’s luggage bag causing it to magically shrink and enter into the smaller inventory bag. “Woah!” Katherine exclaims in surprise.

“It’s an inventory bag,” I explain as I hand it over to Katherine. “Keep it in your pocket.”

Overhead, I notice that the sun is starting to set in the purple-shaded sky. “We need to go now Katherine. I want to get to Magali as soon as possible.”

Just before we leave, Margaret approaches Katherine with a bag of money. I watch their interaction carefully. I’ve already decided what I want to do with their money.

Margaret says, “Katherine my daughter, I love you so much. You’ve always dreamed of having a magic wand and becoming a great mage. Master Souladonis has agreed to help you find a good magic wand for yourself. So I want you to take this money and use it to buy a wand.”

Katherine takes the moneybag from her mother. When she opens it and looks inside, she immediately shuts it as if she had seen something terrifying inside. “Mom, how much money is this?”

“It’s 60,000 âmes.”

Katherine’s jaw drops in disbelief. Seeing her reaction tells me all that I need to know. I walk away and let them finish their discussion in private. While Katherine and her mother say their goodbyes, I travel to the back exit gate: the one with the road leading to Magali. Before too long Katherine comes running and waving her arms at me. “Ready to go?” I ask as soon as she reaches me.

“Yes Master!”

“Good. You can carry my staff.”

Katherine and I then leave the village boundary. She positions my staff in her right arm and wraps her left arm around my right arm. “I’m so excited Master!” she says.

For the first time, I allow myself to take a really close look at her face. Her brown eyes are gleaming diamonds, her plush cheeks red roses, and her mouth a pearl arch ascending to heaven. A sudden strange uncomfortable feeling takes hold of me. I quickly shake my head back and forth vigorously.

“What’s wrong Master?”

“I must have caught some kind of bug. I guess from Hilda’s house.”

“Oh. Well in that case we should have soup for dinner.” Suddenly, Katherine stops moving. I pause with her.

“What’s wrong?”

“You do have food don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Oh. Goody then! This is going to be so much fun!”

I notice that she had been dragging the bottom tip of my staff through the dirt. I forcibly separate my arm from hers. Putting my index finger in her face, I sternly say, “Hey servant! Don’t drag my staff on the ground. This isn’t going to be ‘fun.’ Now that you’re my servant you’re beneath me! You will do what I say when I say, and don’t expect me to be nice about it. No great lord ever treats his servant kindly and especially not as an equal. Do you understand me?”

Katherine salutes me with her left hand. “Yes my good and noble master! If you say ‘jump,’ then I’ll say, ‘Right away Master!’”

I bury my face in the palm of my hand. What have I gotten myself into?