Ezmeralda ran a finger across the spines of the books on Rolf’s shelf. She wondered if it could even be called a shelf. It was a couple holes carved out of the wall of the interior of his tree, with several books stuffed into each. She felt disdain for how the books had been treated, they were all worn out and some pages destroyed, but she was also amazed that he managed to have any at all, considering that he lived in a tree.

And what a tree it was. The whole thing was perhaps seven feet in diameter, and the space that Rolf had hollowed out inside of it made for a cozy little living space. A deer hide covered the small entrance, and inside there was a tiny pile of furs and blankets for a bed, a few baskets full of nuts, and a couple clay pots filled with dried fruits and jerky. Another tiny hole in the side of the tree lead to a small hearth – which was a clay stove that had been built into the side of the dwelling.

The walls were thick, perhaps a foot all around, so it was probably structurally sound. Still, the mage worried that the whole thing would come crashing down on her. After all, the amount of tree above her head was vast. It was a conifer like the ones around it, but a bit taller and much wider. She’d heard of such trees in stories of the north before, but never seen them. For a bit she tried to recall the name, but it wouldn’t come to her, so she settled for reading one of the titles from Rolf’s little library. It was in Ursish, but even though Ezmeralda could read the language the text was not very legible. It was some sort of tale about a bear, but beyond that she couldn’t make anything out.

She heard a voice from the small entrance. “Reading about the founder of your country?” Rolf said, as he poked just his head inside of the dwelling. He had a rather stupid grin on his face and a childish look in his eyes. For that matter, he looked boyish in general.

“This is about Queen Aericia?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, then glancing at the text. “I didn’t know. I guess that makes sense. She was called the she-bear of the north. She was this country’s hero first, after all.”

Rolf squeezed into the tree, making sure to not open the hide entrance too much, and thus preserve the warmth inside. “Of course. You couldn’t tell by reading it?”

Ezmeralda shook her head. “I can’t tell what is says. The writing…it isn’t easy to read.”

“Oh.” Rolf replied, looking a bit disappointed. “Well, hopefully that will improve someday.”

“You wrote it?” she asked, surprised.

“Well…yes. I copied most of it though. I was trying to improve my writing actually.” He explained, stepping over and taking the book. “I was only taught how to read after all. Father and mother thought that was all I would need, to read the Revelations.”

“You’re a starlit as well? Like Axel? Oh my gosh I thought I’d be free of twinkle worshippers this far up north…” she said, sighing and rolling her eyes. What a joy the remainder of this adventure was going to be, she thought. “Instead I get stuck with two of you.”

Rolf shook his head and shrugged. “Don’t be too hasty to judge. I don’t worship any stars. If anything, I worship the earth, but even that is a stretch. My parents are followers of light though, and that is why they are this far north. They thought it would get them away from persecution. It didn’t help. ”

“Oh. Well, I stand corrected then.” She replied. “You are a strange one.”

“I guess so.” He said, smiling. “I prefer it that way though. I like my life the way it is. Away from people, able to do what I want. It is a good life.”

“About that, I was wondering, what is it you do anyway?” she asked. “Axel called you a ranger, but I understand that rangers patrol forests for law breakers. Surely you aren’t one of them?”

Rolf returned a blank expression, as if confused. “I don’t see why that is so hard to believe.”

“Well, you aren’t that much older than I am.” She said, motioning with one hand from herself to him. “Comparing the options of you being a ranger and you just being a kid living in the woods, the former doesn’t seem very likely.”

“Well, hate to break it to you bookworm, but that is exactly what I am.” He said, winking. A proud grin appeared on his face. “I journeyed to the capital, passed the king’s tests, caught a rabbit with my bare hands, wrestled a stag to the ground, and earned my title.”

Ezmeralda raised and eyebrow. She wasn’t enthused by his heroics, and she didn’t quite take the story as truth either. “And how am I supposed to believe that? What would you even do out here?”

“How is it so hard to believe?” he asked, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a small metal coin. It had a unique crest on it. “This is my ranger’s crest. It proves I’m one of the king’s men, guarding the forests and borders of his highness. And I’ll have you know I do lots out here. I stopped a logging operation that did not have a writ from the king, and I stopped a nobleman from claiming a great deal of lands that weren’t his to claim. Furthermore, I help the village with threats from wild beasts.”

“Truly frightful things.” She replied with a smirk. The expression hid her surprise. Even she, a noble of Aericia, knew the crest of the Bear King. Of the many things this young man was, he wasn’t a liar.

“Besides, you’re one to talk. You’re some wizard out to slay an old enemy. At your age? You’re probably not even fifteen years. I’m eighteen as of this winter. I have every right to have my own profession.” He argued. He walked over to the small hearth and was putting a few large sticks into the smoldering coals, then began to blow on them with light breaths to keep the fire going.

Ezmeralda sighed. He also had her there. It wasn’t as if she could be surprised at his youthfulness when she had set out on this quest at a much younger age. That was different though. She was different, and she knew that. Yet here she was, getting these poor people caught up in her business.

“Look, Rolf, I don’t think that you need to come with us. Axel doesn’t even need to accompany me. It’s my fight.” She said. It had been bugging her the entire time he had been gone that this was yet another life she was putting in danger, when it was not necessary. Besides, her quarry was not for mortal men. They would be useless.

Rolf shook his head and opened one of the jars containing jerky. “Can’t do that. It is my job to keep evil from my forest. I’ll be hunting this wizard whether you’re after him or not.”

“You know, I don’t understand that.” She said.

“What do you mean?”

Ezmeralda placed a finger on one of his books. “I mean, why a ranger? Why this profession?”

“I knew it was something I could do.” He replied with a shrug. “Father didn’t think so. He thought I was too frail for farm work too. He said I’d make a good merchant, but that was a useless profession. I proved him wrong.”

Typical, she thought. Some boy trying to prove to another man how tough he was. What a waste. Though, at least he seemed to be enjoying his life. Still, that life was putting him on a dangerous path. A path that Ezmeralda wanted to stop his progress on as fast as possible.

“Hm, well you could probably become a scholar if you wanted, or a writer?” she said, looking over at his books. They were indeed mostly love poems and stories, but a couple were of a different variety. She’d choose one of these just to keep things from being awkward. She pulled another off the shelf. “This title is the legends of Sigurd. Perhaps you could record folktales? I’m sure you’ve heard a few that scholars have yet to record!”

The ranger snickered and nearly choked on a piece of jerky, coughing for a moment before regaining his composure.

“Ez, how on earth would I do something like that? That’d be crazy. Where would I go, to the capital? They’d never accept a peasant like me, with what story ‘oh I’m a ranger that likes to read?’, I’d have the door slammed in my face!”

“Ez?” she replied. At first she raised one eyebrow, and then gave him a glare as her eyebrows furrowed.

His eyes twinkled. “Yeah. I’m not going to say your whole name all the time. Stars know it’s a mouthful.”

“No.” She said, and then continued without addressing it further. “The point is you could do a lot more with yourself. My uncle already applied for my attendance at the University of Aethera, and they accepted me. I’ll be going there once I’m done with my task here. I’m sure there is some institute of learning in Ursulam that would take you.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll worry about that when I come to it though. For now, we’ve got the task ahead of us. Besides, it should be fun. I don’t get to meet many educated people, so I’m sure this will be a fun adventure.”

Ezmeralda sighed. Well, that settled that. She knew that if she were a more persuasive person perhaps, she’d be able to find a reason to convince him to leave, but no such reasons came to mind. But as he walked over to his little nook of books, picked out a title, and began to talk about it, she wasn’t sure that she felt almost certain that she would at least continue to try.