Cypher’s eyes shot open as he awoke panicked and disoriented. He lashed out at the room around him as his vision adjusted and the darkness faded away. A bitter taste flooded his mouth and his entire body ached but he was alive. It took him a moment to realize that Glenis was standing next to him with a shocked look on her face.

Cypher’s eyes widened in horror and embarrassment. “Glenis! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

She nodded and straightened her shirt before gently pressing a hand against his bare shoulder. She pushed him back down against the bed and continued to tend to his chest wound. “I’m okay you just spooked me is all. How are you feeling? We were all worried about you for a long time,”

“How long was I out?” he asked.

“Two whole days. You’re lucky to be alive quite honestly. The paralytic in that powder was a very potent one, if not for the fact that Gelath kept the antidote on him, we wouldn’t have been able to save you. Of course, you have Agnad to thank for your rescue! If not for his quick thinking who knows what might have happened!” Glenis responded.

Cypher’s mind was a blur. The last thing he could clearly remember was Gelath standing over him and then... He struggled to remember more, but as he delved deeper into his memory, a flash of red blood filled his vision and he shook his head to dispel the image.

“All you need to know is that we’re safe and sound thanks to you and the others. Although I am quite sorry to hear about the loss of your friend Richmond,” Glenis applied a salve to Cypher’s chest as she spoke and took great care not to irritate the wound.

“I did my best, but I’m afraid that this wound is going to scar,” she continued. “It saddens me to know that a boy as young as you is going to have to carry a reminder like this around for the rest of your days. We heard your fight from downstairs and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for defending us.”

Cypher turned to face her and nodded slowly as his hand moved instinctively to his chest. He had heard her words, but they hardly registered. His mind was elsewhere at the moment. He could remember the feel of Gelath’s sword as it cut through his skin, the fear of wondering where the next attack might come from. He had handled himself well, but that was all due to the adrenaline coursing through him at the time and Jelroy’s excellent training.

If he was being honest he had been terrified during that entire battle. Not only had it been his first, but he was also facing down a fully grown adult who could vanish at will. The fact that he had been able to steel himself and fight on despite that was a wonder.

Death had been a constant companion in that fight and had he made a more egregious mistake, he would have died very early on. He remembered the feeling of Gelath standing over him about to deliver the final blow and he shuddered. He had come far too close to death for comfort. Had he truly been ready to lay down his life for people he didn’t know? What had he been thinking? What of his future? What would have happened had he perished back then?

That battle had been intense, far more intense than he had expected it to be. He wondered if this was what was in store for him should he continue down this path. Surely he had known that striving to be a warrior was a dangerous road to travel down, but the weight of what that had actually entailed only now weighed on him.

Beyond that, he had not even won his battle. He had lost and was almost slain without mercy. It was only thanks to Agnad that he was even alive right now.

‘Is it always like that?’ he thought to himself as he sat up again. He stared out of the window to his right and watched as the villagers of Gett set about rebuilding broken fences or repairing damaged houses. As it was now, he was numb inside. Was that because he had barely escaped death? He couldn’t be sure. He didn’t know how to feel. He didn’t know what to even think.

All his life he had read about the great deeds of warriors and Conductors. In all those stories they had come out triumphant and been heralded as heroes. They all had happy endings. Although the dangers were great they always overcame them with room to spare. Comparing his own experience to that showed that in the end, they were truly only stories meant to entertain.

They didn’t cover the trauma of actually having to face the prospect of death itself. They didn’t mention the fact that coming out of a battle alive left behind more than physical scars to bear. His mind was in shambles as he spent the rest of the day resting and recovering.

He did his best to go over what had happened. The difference between his initial bout with the bandits and of his one with Gelath was quite jarring. The first four bandits he had fought were weak. They were only regular men who had no skills to speak of. They were strong for regular citizens but the lack of training or experience was obvious. No doubt they had been a part of serval other raids in their time as bandits but they seemingly hadn’t learned much from those encounters.

Gelath on the other hand was a seasoned veteran of his craft. Not only did he have the power of invisibility but he also had countless battles under his belt. Also unlike his men, he had actually learned a thing or two. There were other differences as well. The regular men had only been in it for the money. They had lacked the sheer bloodlust that Gelath had shown.

Gelath had been truly evil and drew great pleasure from hurting others. Why? Why had Cypher shown him any mercy? Should he have just killed the man when he had the chance? Wasn’t that the wrong thing to do? Gelath clearly had no reservations about killing Cypher. In fact, not only was he going to kill Cypher, he would have turned his blade against the innocent villagers as well.

If not for Agnad’s timely arrival, Cypher would have died alongside everyone else he was supposed to be protecting. Cypher bit his lip as Glenis wrapped his torso in bandages. Because of his hesitation to kill, because of his weakness, and the silly idea that he could refrain from killing a dangerous opponent, he had almost lost everything. Justice, it would seem, was not so simple in the real world.

What did that mean for Cypher moving forward? He couldn’t say right now. He felt miserable. Not only did his entire body ache, but he felt as though he had perhaps lost something in this encounter. Before he had been some silly kid with dreams of grandeur. He had wanted to be a righteous knight like the ones in his stories, one who protected others, brought evil to justice, and preserved life. But now he realized that those ideals had just been the fantasies of a stupid kid.

The real world didn’t allow for such lofty ideals. It was much more complicated than that. Even his own life was a testament to that fact. If the world were so cut and dry he wouldn’t have to suffer under the cruelty of Eiden. He wouldn’t have found himself serving under nobles who refused to tell him anything about his origins, they wouldn’t turn a blind eye to his struggles. If it were so simple, he wouldn’t have had to face down someone as dark-hearted as Gelath. Right?

Cypher’s mind was overcome with countless questions about everything he had thought he knew. As the day turned to night and he drifted off to sleep he found that even his dreams didn’t bring him any answers or peace. He tossed and turned the entire night, even waking in a cold sweat from nightmares that hadn’t plagued him before.

With the dawn of a new day, he found himself wandering through the village helping out where he could. With the threat of the bandits gone things were back to the way they had been before that harrowing battle. The villagers didn’t seem to even think much of it. Perhaps it was because this was normal for them. After all, they lived out here in the real world every single day. Threats like this were commonplace.

He moved from place to place helping out where he could, but all the while his mind was enveloped in these difficult questions. Cypher hadn’t ever had to deal with the fear of perhaps losing his life. At the Galvan mansion, there were guards, sturdy walls, and of course Galex himself to protect everyone. These villagers didn’t have that security and didn’t seem to mind that their lives could be upturned at any moment. Even now they worked to repair the damages caused during the raid as if nothing had happened.

Of course, it was true that there had been no casualties among the villagers themselves, although a few of the guards from Gett had lost their lives or suffered serious injuries, still they acted as if it was just another day. Among Cypher’s group, only Richmond had died. His body had been wrapped in cloth and placed into one of the carriages for transport back to the Galvan mansion.

The bodies of Gelath’s men were hauled away from the village and burned. They would find no rest in the village cemetery. Such was the fate of the bandits who died in this country. As for Gelath himself, what remained of him was loaded into another one of the carriages for transport back to the mansion. His body would ultimately be handed over to Galex and from there, it would fall under the authority of the land and be dealt with according to their methods.

His equipment, including the magickal necklace, was kept by Agnad for safekeeping. He was the leader of this expedition after all. He would ensure that it would all be handed over to Galex along with Gelath’s body for inspection. Cypher wasn’t entirely sure what would happen to it after that, but he hardly cared. Right now all he wanted was to return home and sleep in the comfort of his own bed.

With the Celebration of the Sun coming to a close the following day, Cypher and the others prepared to return to the mansion. Glenis and several others from the village all gathered to wish them a safe journey. They offered their thanks and even held a feast for everyone, both to partake in the Celebration of the Sun as well as honor the dead and, of course, to thank their protectors for their service.

It wasn’t long before, in the distance, they could see the mayor of Gett and his party returning from over the horizon. At that, Cypher and his group took their leave. The road home seemed much longer and quieter than the trip to Gett had been despite them moving at the same pace. It wasn’t hard for Cypher to imagine why.

Agnad and Tym had held quite a somber attitude since Richmond’s death, and Cypher himself had been changed quite drastically as well. He had a lot to consider in the coming days. Did he still want to continue down this path? Was he even suited for it? He wasn’t sure, but before anything else, he wanted to talk with Jelroy and see what his teacher had to say about things.

At dusk, they finally reached their destination. They quickly unloaded the carriages and, after explaining to Delmond what had happened in Gett, Cypher was told to wait in the main office of the guard’s barracks. He sat upon a chair in front of a large oak desk and fiddled with his fingers for about thirty minutes until Galex, Delmond, Agnad, and Jelroy came into the room.

He stared at the four men as they all took up positions around the room, with Galex seating himself at the desk. He wasn’t sure what this was about exactly, but he could guess that it had to do with the events in Gett. Sure enough, Galex cleared his throat and began speaking on the matter.

“Firstly, I want to thank you all for coming. I know the last couple of days have been difficult for some of you and that winding down is probably what you need most of all. That said, there are matters to be handled that are best addressed while they’re still fresh in your minds,” he said, gesturing to Cypher and Agnad.

“I want to give my personal thanks to both of you,” he said, still addressing the two of them. “Without you, and of course Tym, I fear that the shipment to Gett would have been taken without much resistance. On that note, I am sorry to hear about the loss of Richmond. I know he was a dear friend of yours Agnad and his presence will be missed. You have my condolences. I’ll make sure that his family wants for nothing as a testament to his years of service in my employ.”

Agnad bowed his head and then sipped solemnly from his wineskin before wiping his mouth.

“As for you Cypher, from what I heard you performed quite admirably. It would seem that your lessons with Jelroy have not been a waste. You have served me well and you will be rewarded for that service I assure you. However, before any of that, I need to hear from you about your experience during the bandit raid that night.”

Cypher gulped hard and nodded.

“It would seem that although you fought well, you didn’t quite manage to defeat… what was his name again? Gareth?” asked Galex.

“I believe it was Gelath the Ghostly, sir,” added Delmond.

“Ah yes, well it hardly matters now, does it?” replied Galex. “In any event, it cannot be expected that an eleven-year-old would be able to sufficiently handle a criminal of that level. Not to put your methods to shame Jelroy.”

Jelroy simply shrugged and motioned for Galex to continue.

“Still, I’d much rather hear your version of events before I make any judgments on the matter. What exactly happened during your battle?” Galex asked.

At this, Cypher cleared his throat and began telling them about his battle with Gelath. He made sure to leave nothing out and was quite forthcoming about his reasonings and what techniques he used during the battle. As he finished speaking the room was quiet and they all stared in silent contemplation.

To the four men, his account was difficult to believe. It wasn’t impossible to be sure. Both Galex and Jelroy would have had no issue defeating an opponent like that even with the aid of a magickal item as dangerous as Gelath’s pendant. They were after all Conductors. Someone like Gelath would have posed no more difficulty to them than a rat would to a cat.

Delmond and Agnad, on the other hand, would have probably fallen victim to his trickery. He was a notorious criminal and one that was tough for regular soldiers to handle. Therefore, it was surprising to them that Cypher was able to hold his own even if ultimately, he had lost.

“That is quite the tale… Magical items are hardly easy for commoners to acquire. You’re sure that you’re speaking the truth?” asked Galex.

At this Agnad seemed to remember something and excused himself. He returned a moment later holding the bloodstained pendant in his hands. “Aye my lord, the boy speaks the truth. That bandit bastard was able to turn himself invisible with this thing. He used it to kill Richmond, I saw it with my own two eyes.”

Agnad set the pendant down on the desk in front of Galex and continued, “I don’t much understand how he got ahold of something like this but in the end, it didn’t do him much good. What gets me though is that while I tried to warn the boy here about it, I wasn’t able to tell him anything before I was stuck battling another opponent. That means-”

“That means,” interrupted Jelroy, “that despite having the advantage of age, experience, physical size, AND a magickal item of such power, Cypher was still able to not only do battle with Gelath but keep him at bay long enough for reinforcements to arrive. If you ask me that shows just how potent my training has been.”

“Aye,” added Agnad with an affirmative nod.

“Hmm, so it would seem,” Galex said as he laced his fingers together and stared at Jelroy. Something seemed to pass between the two of them as they locked eyes and Galex simply nodded before he turned to Cypher and asked, “You seem awfully quiet for someone who managed to accomplish such a feat. What is troubling you? Are you concerned that I’ll be angry with you for losing?”

Cypher was a bit shocked that Galex was asking about him like this. He had never shown any interest before. Still, Cypher shook his head and said, “It isn’t that I’m worried about you being angry, it’s just…” he paused, trying to find the right words. “It’s just that I don’t know if I’m cut out for this kind of work. I did my best but I realize now just how close I was to not coming back. I… I’m afraid that next time I might actually die.”

“So, a fear of death then?” Galex sighed and pulled out a long pipe. He lit the bowl and puffed on it for a few seconds before saying, “There isn’t a warrior alive who doesn’t fear death. That is nothing new to our profession. I was under the impression that you knew this.”

“I do but…” Cypher began, however, he faltered and went silent instead.

“You didn’t understand the true ramifications of what that meant, correct?” Galex sighed again, “That is precisely why I sent you on that mission in the first place,”

Cypher looked up at the man and cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

“It is no secret that bandits try and attack the villages in my domain during the Celebration of the Sun. It’s my own fault for sending out such large and appealing bait with only minimal protection. I knew full well that Gett would be on the receiving end of one such raid. However, I didn’t expect that you would face such a powerful foe. You were meant to go, fight against some common trash, and come back with experience and a new outlook on the life you have chosen to lead.”

“You were not meant to have such a close brush with death. For that and that alone I apologize. Still, you learned a lesson all the same did you not? What you need to realize now is how to move forward with that lesson. Nothing in life is easy. Would you rather live your days as a commoner? Or would you instead put the gifts you’ve been given to good use and do something truly impactful?” Galex cleared his throat and took a long drag from his pipe.

“It is not our place to dole out death on a whim. That is the domain of cowards and the lawless. But what we are here to do is maintain peace and order in an otherwise chaotic world. However, I expect more from you. I demand more from you. When you agreed to train under Jelroy of your own free will I asked you then if you were willing to put your life at risk for the betterment of my son. I warned you that your life might be endangered, that you might be inured beyond saving, and yet you still chose to pursue my offer.”

“Now you sit before me claiming that this life isn’t for you. Was a single brush with death all it took for your conviction to waver? Was I mistaken in allowing you to gain these skills? Perhaps it would be better if you returned to being a simple servant. The entire purpose of you picking up the sword was to assist my son in growing strong enough to pass his entrance exams at the academy. If you cannot do that, then there is no reason for you to continue your lessons.”

At this Jelroy stepped forward, “My lord, perhaps it’s too soon to decide something like that. Cypher here has been through his first real taste of combat. He is, as you well know, only a boy. Let me talk with him and see if I can get to the bottom of this matter. He likely only needs time to come to terms with what has happened. As his instructor perhaps I can help him find his way back onto a desirable path. I trust you realize that time is short and it’s much too late to find your son another suitable sparring partner.”

Galex rubbed his chin and nodded after a moment. “Very well, I’ll let you talk to him. But I won’t tolerate anything less than complete conviction moving forward. As you said, time is short. I’ll not have my son failing his exam because his sparring partner was less than adequate.”

“Thank you, my lord. Trust me, there is nothing to worry about, we’ll iron out this little issue and have him back in top form in no time,” replied Jelroy as he placed a hand on Cypher’s shoulder.

“Despite this little hiccup, you performed well,” Galex said, turning back to face Cypher. Galex picked up the pendant from the desk and stared at it for a moment. He raised a hand to it and said “Solo, Verse 1, Minuet of Inspection!”

A dull yellow ring of light appeared around the pendant and spun slowly for a moment. It pulsed a few times and penetrated the item before fading away in a flash of light. That was the first time that Cypher had ever seen Galex cast a spell around him and he was in awe at the ease with which he had done so.

“This pendant is not a very powerful magickal item,” Galex continued, “It grants invisibility but at the cost of not being able to breathe while the spell is active. Still, something like this goes for three hundred gold. Paired with the bounty that was placed on Gelath’s head and you have earned this estate quite a lot of money almost entirely on your own.”

“After we’re done here, we’ll go over everything and decide on fair compensation for your efforts. For now, let us discuss other matters. Agnad, how were things in Gett? Did you get a chance to look over the ledger there as I asked?”

The conversation continued for another hour or so as the more technical details of the mission were discussed. By the end of that meeting, Galex and Delmond had gathered enough information to award the proper compensation for the efforts of Cypher and his teammates. All in all, Cypher walked away with a coin purse filled with a hundred glittering gold coins, the permission to keep the armor and weapon he had been issued, and two weeks off from his duties around the mansion.

He would of course still have to attend his training lessons with Eiden but beyond that, the time was his to spend as he saw fit. The worst of this harrowing ordeal was behind him now.

“Tomorrow,” began Jelroy after everyone else had left, “I want to see you in my quarters. The Galvans are taking a small vacation to their lakehouse and it will be the perfect time to discuss things and see if we can set the record straight. I expect you to be there, understood?”

Cypher nodded. He wasn’t sure what Jelroy would have to say but he could at least hear the man out. Although, it wasn’t as if he really had a choice in the matter. With that, Jelroy guided Cypher out of the guard’s barracks and he quickly returned to his room. But something tugged at the back of his mind. He felt as though he was forgetting something very important.

As he opened the door to his quarters he was very quickly reminded precisely what it was that he had forgotten.

“Just what am I going to do with you young man?! I thought I told you to be careful!” Molly stood in the middle of his room with her hands on her hips, red-faced and ready to explode.