The crackling of a bonfire filled the air, thick smoke rose up into the tree-tops of the woods that surrounded it.
It was the only source of light in the vicinity, and perfectly served its purpose of providing warmth, as three middle-aged men with light clothing were huddled around it.
“Buhh!” one of them exclaimed while rubbing his hands against his shivering skin.
“I told you we should have taken those robes when we had the chance, Vince!” the second grumbled as he held his hands as close to the fire as he could.
“Who knew the nights could get this cold?! Not me!” the man named Vince retorted, “Now hand over the blanket already!” he ordered as he faced the last of the trio.
“Wha? Why? I am all warm now thanks to it…” the third spoke slowly, sounding like a dunce as he tightly wrapped a grey blanket around himself.
The other two looked at him enviously, but neither stood up to take it away from him.
“Bobby, since you are all cozy already, why not let me have it for a bit?” the second man rubbed his hands and displayed an empty smile.
“No thank you Ronny … but we can share if you insist.” Bobby spoke, but Ronny only grimaced at the answer he got.
“Yeah, why don’t you go and join your brother under the covers, hm?” Vince glanced at Ronny and intended to taunt him, knowing full well that Ronny wanted to hog the entire blanket himself.
“Tch.” Ronny clicked his tongue and moved a bit closer to the campfire.
As the three of them attempted to keep themselves warm, the sound of a twig breaking outside of the range of vision the fire provided immediately drew their attention.
“Hide!” Vince whispered before running off into the darkness.
Ronny followed suit, but noticed his stupid brother already being asleep.
He quickly knocked against his head, then pulled the half-awake man away from the light source.
The three swiftly disappeared from sight, fast enough for the approaching figure to miss them entirely.
The band of hoodlums reconvened in the shadows, “Who is that?” Bobby asked while semi-whispering, still not entirely awake yet, his eyes landed on a small, hooded figure riding atop of a horse, slowly approaching the bonfire.
“How should I know?!” Ronny was about to smack him again.
“Shh!” Vince interrupted the two, he did not want to draw attention.
“Wow! What a nice horse! Looks really healthy too…” Bobby noted.
“And those clothes! That robe looks like it’s made of high-quality fabric!” Ronny stroked his chin.
“I can’t believe our luck, boys! A literal goldmine walked right into our camp, hehe.” Vince chuckled, their terrible luck finally over.
“We can sell all of that for a pretty penny! And the kid too.” Ronny smirked at the thought.
“I don’t support slavery.” Bobby interjected, causing both Vince and Ronny to give him the stinky eye.
“Fine, we won’t sell the kid, but we are definitely going to rob ‘em.” Vince decided after a long pause.
The hooded figure stopped their horse right next to the fire, they carefully dismounted, and their steed did not budge and inch as they did.
If one observed more closely, then the level of obedience was slightly unsettling.
As the figure was about to take a seat next to the fire, two men appeared at the edge of the lit part of the woods.
“I assume you are going to pay for using our bonfire, no?” Vince flashed a merchant’s smile.
“Of course he is, look at ‘im, he looks like he is carrying gold around just to throw it at beggars.” Ronny made a snide remark.
The two took one step after the other as they approached the lone boy.
The boy stopped himself from sitting down, instead faced the two who spoke to him.
“I don’t have anything on me to give you.” he said, his voice full of young innocence.
“Sure you do. There are your clothes, your horse, and you-… Forget that last one.” Ronny scratched his head.
“The horse doesn’t belong to me; I can’t give it away. I still need it too.” the boy continued haggling with the hoodlums in front of him, trying to make them see reason.
“You can’t be that dense… Have you never read any stories, boy? Hand over your stuff, or we are forced to hurt you.” Vince wanted to avoid a struggle, in which he could accidentally harm their future goods.
“No can do.” the boy shook his hooded head.
“A shame.” Vince shrugged his shoulders, then snapped his finger.
The grass rustled right behind the hooded boy, right next to him, leaving him virtually no time to react.
Vince smiled victoriously, he had sent Bobby on a special mission ahead of time, to sneak behind the boy and knock him out in one go at the signal.
But the expected hit to the boy’s head, and the subsequent thud of him falling to the ground never came.
Instead, a loud thud rang through the air, the big man that was Bobby falling to the ground like a lifeless object.
Bobby and the hooded boy stood right next to the fire, which perfectly illuminated them and their immediate surroundings.
“Bobby?!” Ronny exclaimed, and Vince gasped while taking a step backwards, the two could only look on in horror as a long and thick block of earth moved back into the ground.
It looked like nothing ever happened, except for the seemingly unconscious dunce lying on the ground.
“What just…” Ronny stumbled over his words, this was the first time his brother got knocked out in one hit, completely unbelievable in his eyes, even though he witnessed it himself.
“A mage!” Vince finally understood where this boy got his confidence from, so young and already stronger than any regular human will ever be!
Without any hesitation he turned around and wanted to run, using the pair of brothers as a distraction, but before he knew it, his feet could no longer press on, like they were stuck in quicksand, blocking all movement.
Vince looked down, and tried his best to hold back his tears, his feet were actually stuck in the ground… what rotten luck!
He had no more options left and decided to turn his upper body back around, to look at the mage, as well as Ronny and Bobby.
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Ronny too was stuck, trying his darndest to pull his legs out, but to no avail.
“Hey, uh… we didn’t mean it! You can keep the horse!” Vince hoped to appease the boy, so that he wouldn’t kill them at least.
“And the clothes too! You deserve them more than we do, I mean, just look at yourself! Such a handsome and powerful… boy.” Ronny understood Vince’s intentions and quickly joined in on the flattery.
“…the nearest town…” the hooded figure mumbled rather quietly.
“Take me to the nearest town…” he repeated somewhat louder, but full of apprehension, as if he tried to suppress something.
“That, ah! Of course, Sir!” Ronny smiled like the most obedient of servants.
“Right away, we would only need you to allow us to move!” Vince added, and a moment later he could move his legs freely again.
The two of them freed themselves and got back up, they slowly walked towards Bobby while having their hands raised, signalling that they meant no harm.
The boy sat back onto his horse, and as the two hoodlums picked up their unconscious member, the bonfire was destroyed by a bunch of rocks protruding from the ground.
The trio failed to notice, but the boy’s fingers were shaking, his heartbeat going through the roof.
Cold sweat ran down his back, he had gotten lucky that his opponents were normal humans, and more importantly, that the fight had gone according to his plan.
Darkness enveloped the surroundings again, and only once their eyesight adjusted to it could they finally begin moving.
After a while Bobby woke up again, the other two filled him in on the details, he gulped loudly at the revelation and stayed silent throughout their journey, up until his stomach rumbled like roaring thunder, drawing in everyone’s attention.
“S-… uhm, Sir, do you have anything to eat… perchance?” Bobby shamelessly turned towards his ‘captor’.
Ronny instinctively raised his hand to knock some sense into his brother, fearing that the mage would lash out at them, but before he could, the young voice responded, “It is not much, but I hope it helps.”
The boy untied a pouch from his horse and threw it at the three men, who quickly emptied the travelling rations that were within.
“Thank you!” Bobby grinned at the boy, his smile almost dazzling enough to brighten their surroundings.
At sunrise the trio, along with the hooded boy, arrived at the edge of the woods, their gazes falling upon the mid-sized town built within a large clearing.
Their arrival caused quite the commotion, but the focus of the villagers wasn’t the boy atop his horse, but the three hoodlums.
A crowd gathered around them, and soon enough an elderly lady stepped out from among the crowd, glaring at the trio intensely, “Your banishment doesn’t end for another month! What are you doing back already?!”
“Uhm, sorry granny, but we met Sir on our way through the woods, and, uh, kindly escorted his Excellency to our humble town.” Vince squinted his eyes and dug to the bottom of the box containing his acting skills, retrieving what little formal etiquette he had acquired in his life.
The old lady raised her eyebrow at the explanation, she had seen many things in her time, but those three ruffians acting so timid was only ever in front of her.
She started piecing the puzzle together, and arrived at several conclusions, ranging from lost nobility, all the way to a legendary existence… a mage.
Whichever truly applied, she wasn’t about to leave a bad impression on someone like that, “Greetings traveller. Could I interest you in some tea, as well as some food? You must be tired, come on in.”
The lady didn’t wait for an answer and walked ahead through the soon dispersing crowd towards the centre of the town.
Four people followed right behind her, first the hooded boy, then the trio of wanna-be-bandits.
Once they arrived, the lady opened the door to her humble home, a mix of wood and stone, creating a two-storey house, but as she turned to smile at the mysterious traveller, her eyes involuntarily fell upon the trio, “What are you still doing here? You have a punishment to be subject to!” she scowled.
“B-But granny! We can’t leave the traveller alone with yo- I mean leave you alone with the traveller… you might accidentally be rude to them…” Vince worried for her safety, “…or something…” he mumbled afterwards and scratched his head.
The old lady sighed, “Fine, come in too…” the boy dismounted from his horse in the meantime, as Bobby approached the door, the boy held out the reigns to him, “I entrust it to you…” and spoke quietly, like before.
“Sure thing, boss!” Bobby answered loudly, imitating the movements of a salutation he had seen years ago.
The boy reluctantly let go, then turned towards the door the old lady was still holding open for him and entered.
Her hospitality caused painful memories to resurface…
She waited for Vince and Ronny to enter the house as well before closing the door behind them, “Go make yourselves useful if you insist on being here!” she shooed them off into the kitchen.
The two obliged without as much as a peep, then the old woman turned her attention to the boy and offered him a seat opposite of her.
“Sorry for the late introduction, I am Mabel, just an old lady who knows a thing or two, but the people ‘round here act as if I am their mayor.” she smiled, doing her best to welcome the traveller now seated in front of her.
“Frey.” he answered plainly, deciding to keep his hood on, and keeping his spoken words to a minimum.
“Frey… So? What brings you here? I hope those three idiots didn’t cause you any trouble… If they did I could-”
“No, its fine.” Frey shook his head in response, “…I am looking for someone…”
“Oh? Out here in the woods? There is no one in this town that I do not know of, ask away.” Mabel offered her help.
“A tall and muscular man, long blond hair, his face is filled with scars… his left arm is completely burned, and he has many strange characters engraved on his body.” Frey vividly remembered the man, he who had caused him unexplainable pain and suffering.
But at the same time caused him to start his journey of being a mage… of meeting Agnes, Cykrus, and Lena… Simerlin too.
A tiny part of him felt grateful, but even then, he was fully convinced that the time had come to enact his vengeance.
“…That is… quite the description…” Mabel was speechless, “I am sorry Hon, but I have never met a man that matches it.”
Frey looked her deeply into the eyes, trying to determine whether she was lying to him.
He pondered, then thought of something that creeped himself out.
If he ordered her to answer him truthfully… would she do it?
Frey shook his head wildly, doing his best to expel the thought from his mind.
This wasn’t an option; never in a million years would he do such a thing on purpose.
Not to an innocent person on top of that!
Mabel raised her eyebrow at his curious behaviour, “Since I can’t be of any help with your search, I hope you will at least allow me to offer you a place to stay for some time.”
He wanted to refuse, but as he gave it another thought, and with one look into his empty pouch, he reluctantly agreed.
Vince and Ronny returned with a tray on which were two steaming cups of tea.
Ronny was doing the actual carrying, and Vince walked by his side with a smile as fake as can be.
As he placed the tray down, the woman picked up one of the cups, moved it to her nose and took a big whiff, “You didn’t put anything strange in there, did you?” she glared at the two.
“We wouldn’t dare!” Vince took the initiative to deny her suspicions.
“You better not have, or I might extend your banishment.” Mabel threatened, causing the two’s smiles to stiffen.
She then proceeded to take several sips, almost to demonstrate to her guest that the tea was perfectly fine to drink.
Frey took the other cup and also took a small sip.
A slightly bitter taste assaulted his sense of taste, but it wasn’t bad, just a little hot.
The day passed quickly, Mabel told him various uninteresting bits and pieces of information regarding Pinestop, its history and inhabitants.
The name was self-explanatory: Surrounded by pine-trees, and a place for travellers to stop throughout their journey as they made their way from one end of Aventia to the other.
Frey did his best to nod and appear interested on the surface, while he hid countless yawns underneath his hood.
Vince, Ronny and Bobby disappeared somewhere during the day, apparently allowed to stay as an exception due to Frey’s appearance.
Mabel showed Frey to an empty room upstairs, which belonged to him for the upcoming days.
On the morning of each, Frey would search for clues to Hodwan within the town, after lunch he scoured the surrounding woods, but by dinner he would return without any gains.
During his stay, his identity as a mage had spread all over the town, most likely due to the trio who had seen him work his magic with their own eyes.
The greenery was quite the beautiful sight, and the secluded atmosphere helped soothe one’s worries, but not Frey’s.
Every day he spent here without result was a day wasted.
He could have spent them to study runes, or to practice his spells some more, but here he was, trying to get revenge on a ghost.
Could the rumours have been false?
What compelled him to run away from the capital and get to this place in such a rush?
Was he afraid that someone else would take down Hodwan before he could; or that killing a captive wouldn’t relieve those he had sworn to avenge?
Frey sighed, he guessed that it wouldn’t be long before Agnes, or someone, came to get him back to the capital.
This current deadline was much more severe than the one for the competition, the stakes too were a lot more important to Frey.
He had considered giving up, when one day a young lady ran up to him, her face red, her breathing erratic.
She stopped in front of him and took several moments before she was able to speak words, “Plea… Please help… my fiancé… hasn’t… returned from the woods… in almost five days.” she took deep breaths throughout her sentence, looking every bit as desperate as her voice sounded.
“I don’t think I can-” Frey had enough problems of his own, but the woman did not relent so easily, “I beg you, Sir mage! I can’t bear to live without him! I doubt people like us can possibly offer something of interest; but I promise to do anything I can for you if you bring him back to me…”
Frey began to waver, the kindness within him stirred, and then he had an idea: what if… this was the lead he had been looking for.
The sudden disappearance of a villager in a remote little town was a big matter, after all.
“Which direction do you remember him going?” Frey gave in and accepted the poor girl’s request.
“Thank you, thank you! In this direction, right behind the mill.” she bowed several times and quickly pointed out the direction her fiancé had left towards several days ago.
Frey listened to her description of the boy, then set off once more.