Koda walked into Arrelion’s small study. Books of ancient fables and mysteries lined the wall and fireplace mantle. A set of red, comfy chairs stood at the center and the fireplace warmed the room, staving off another blistering cold morning in Twin Cliffs. Koda pulled one of the more slender books from a shelf. He wiped the dust off the cover, reading the title with a curious intertest

“Ko’Veck: A People Lost to the Stars”

Koda flipped through the brittle pages, careful not to tear a leaf. He stopped on an illustrated woodcut of a large dragon feeding on the stars and planets. A footnote entitled the picture as “Urd’Draak feeds on the cosmos.”

Koda looked up from his book as Wildeye strolled into the study followed by Arrelion’s rusty furred familiar, Scarlet. Both took a seat by the fire.

“Wildeye, can you speak to her?” Koda asked, gesturing to the other wolf.

“Yes, and she and I have conversed a lot about Nashoon and how we miss the forest and our pack,” replied Wildeye

Koda placed his book on a table and leaned forward. “So Arrelion really was one of Grandfather’s apprentices?”

Wildeye nodded.

Koda sat back and folded his leg over his knee. His grandfather mentioned two humans that served as his apprentices who eventually betrayed him. Arrelion was one, but who was the other?

“Wildeye, can you ask Scarlet who trained alongside Arrelion on Nashoon?” Koda asked.

Wildeye turned to Scarlet and held her hand to the wolf’s head. “Scarlet, tell me who was Arrelion’s brother on Nashoon.”

Scarlet’s silver eyes flashed pink before Wildeye turned back to Koda. “She says Mateo was Xile’s other apprentice.”

“Mateo?” Koda’s eyes widened. “Of course. Mateo and Arrelion started the Arcana War together using Nashoon’s Magi. Why didn’t I make the connection?”

“Mateo hasn’t been part of our lexicon in almost a century. Arrelion has made sure of this,” explained Wildeye.

Koda narrowed his eyes. “Wildeye, ask Scarlet if Mateo is still alive?”

Wildeye gave Koda a sigh but did as requested. Once more Scarlet’s eyes flashed pink and once more Wildeye gave Koda an answer. “She believes he still lives. Both Arrelion and Mateo were heavily exposed to the Magi, thus the raw magic prolonged their aging while shortening the aging of the forest elves.”

His grandfather mentioned this too. That they were no longer ageless once the Magi was ravaged. Mateo… What became of him? A mage so ambitious, in exile for eternity? No, that didn’t add up to Koda.

The room grew quiet save for the crackling logs on the fire. Koda finally spoke. “Ask where Mateo is.”

Wildeye shook her head. “It is best to leave that question alone, Koda. Seeking Mateo would bring only pain.”

“Don’t you even have the smallest inkling of curiosity, Wildeye? The other most powerful mage in our history? The wonders we could ask him?”

Wildeye grew silent.

“Please,” asked Koda again.

Scarlet’s eyes glowed pink.

Wildeye avoided Koda’s gaze. “She doesn’t know, Koda. Perhaps this is for the best.”

Koda nodded slowly. “Perhaps you are right. I…I need to get back to my training.”

Wildeye caught Koda’s sleeve. “I’m proud of you, my friend.”

Koda turned back.

The cobalt blue wolf stood and cupped Koda’s hands in her own. “You have gone so far without the Magi and become so much stronger for it.”

Koda gave her a meek smile.

“You are now the mage I knew you could always be,” Wildeye finished.

***

“You have learned so much over these last few months, but now you must learn the final step.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Koda and Arrelion sat with their legs crossed on the ledge of a cliff looking out over the city. The frigid wind blew through Koda’s now icy, blonde hair as the arctic weather numbed his chin and nose.

“A-Amplification,” Koda said through chattering teeth. “M-Master, why must w-we train in the cold? W-We are going to c-catch our death!”

“Channel fire and warm your body, Koda,” Arrelion said.

Koda grabbed his ilrune and quickled flared the red magic. Instantly, a flood of warmth relieved his freezing body with the welcoming sensation of a toasty fire.

“Good. Now keep that fire magic channeling until morning when I come fetch you. With a lot of talent and little luck you won’t be a frozen corpse.”

Koda’s concentration broke instantly, blowing out his fire. “Wait! What?”

“Koda!” Arrelion hissed. “You will keep the magic channeled through the night. It is your test. If you die, then I will know you have failed.”

Koda quickly flared the magic once more. “Please, Master Arrelion! There must be a safer way!”

“When the sun goes down, the temperature will go down as well. You will need to figure out amplification in order to live through the night,” Arrelion said sternly.

“Master Arrel—”

“Koda!” Arrelion barked. He knelt next to Koda and draped his long silver coat over the boy’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t have you go through this if I thought you didn’t have what it took to pass this test.”

Koda sighed, his flaming sword fell to a simmer.

“Prove me right, Koda. Once you do, I will see to replacing your sword and we will move onto your final test.”

Koda pursed his lips and glared at his hands. I can do this! He said to himself.

With a spark of energy in his mind, the fire roared once more.

Arrelion gave Koda’s shoulder a reassuring pat. “Good luck, kid.”

***

The moon reached its zenith in the sky above Koda, and just as Arrelion told him, the temperature in the air was now below freezing. Koda could only shiver as his energy began to wear thin. He practiced channeling magic for the last month, but only an hour at the time, not for an entire day and night. Channeling magic for this long drained his stamina and fortitude to continue such a brutal task. How could Arrelion be so cruel?

Slowly his pool drained lower and lower and his once blazing fire was now just smoldering embers on his curved blade.

“If you used the Magi, you could make a fire that lasted for days…” Tezhok gruff voice called at the far back of Koda’s mind.

Shut up. I can do this on my own. I just need to place the water.

“The Magi is an endless fountain. Do not be afraid to drink from it, my friend” Tezhok whispered with a haunting chuckle.

I know, Koda sighed. He slowed his breathing and focused on his fire magic and once more his ilrune lit up with the red glow.

“If you do not have it burn hotter, you will surely freeze…”

Koda ignored the black wolf’s taunting, but Tezhok was right. He needed to delve into the secrets of amplification or else he wouldn’t survive the night.

If my magic is the water, my concentration is the level of the water, and my sword is what contains the water…

The night air grew colder with each minute that passed. His tears glossed over his eyes as his joints cracked with each motion of his adjusting fingers or neck

If my magic is the water, he repeated again and again in his mind. The fog of sleep billowed in his thoughts, the Hands of Alanna reached out for him.

If…my magic is the…water

If…my magic…is…

If…my

If…

If.

“If your magic is the water, your concentration is the level of the water, and your sword is what contains that water. Then your amplification is…”

Tezhok’s low growl woke Koda from his delirium. Then my amplification is how much water there actually is. My pool must be an ocean!

Koda gripped his sword tighter and roared with energy. He pumped more and more fire magic into the sword, to the point where his excess magic began to quake his hands and vibrate his blade. His vision grew blurry, his teeth rattled, and his eyes grew brighter. The ice in his hair melted as his long locks and braid floated and wavered in the air. Small stones and pebbles rose to his eye level and a thunderous whirring cracked through the night.

What was this amazing power coursing through his body? Was it the Magi?

“No. It is not the Magi. It is your own power,” answered Tezhok.

Then this was amplification. This was the strength of a spell through the foci of a sword. He was a silver mage now. For the first time he knew that even without the Magi, his potential was limitless.

***

Morning arrived and Koda still burned with the fire of a sun. His senses were sharp, but his mind remained at peace. Tezhok no longer spoke to him and his doubts fled from the inferno blazing in his soul. Koda found himself. He was no longer the weak willed boy that his enemies took advantage of. He was no longer the child his people saw him as. He was a true mage—no—a silver mage. A beacon of power for all to know he was no longer one to be trifled with. For once in his life, he knew the meaning of strength.

“You live.” A voice came from behind him

Koda lowered his sword and extinguished the flames. “Yes, Master Arrelion.”

“Then you have learned to amplify your magic,” Arrelion asked.

Koda turned to his teacher. His eyes were without tired bags. Instead they were hardened with magic. Crisp, vibrant, strong. The kind of eyes that would no longer fear what the darkness brought.

“Yes, Master Arrelion.”

“Then it is time to test all that you have learned,” Arrelion said. “You must earn your wind magic.”

Koda grinned. “Yes, Master Arrelion,” he repeated.