He was a quick learner and already by sixteen he was able to tie with his mentor in a spar on multiple occasions, though he never outright beat him yet. Linias’s primary proficiency other than his abilities as a healer was his ability to manipulate vegetation: grass, vines, roots, or even trees, anything and everything that was tied to Mother Earth.

The secret to it all was that he could hear the earth breathe and speak, just like any man or beast, but he kept that information to himself. Such a gift was a rarity in today’s world and he knew it would cause problems for others to learn of it. To everyone else, he was nothing but a mage.

With his talent, he kept a cylindrical piece of bark attached to his hip, no bigger than an average sized thumb. It was all he needed to be able to make any weapon of his choosing, no matter how small or large, albeit he usually kept it at a simple staff. It had a perfect balance of range and agility; and speed was always preferable. The sooner he could act the better as it meant he would always be able to switch stances and shield the young lord if need be.

Today though he was practicing on his own while a maid by the name of Cybel had taken Haetia outside for a walk. Being at the little age of nine and by far the most rambunctious child in town he often had to be taken out to expend his energy, otherwise he’d mope and groan like a banshee across the home until no one could take it.

Linias used to be jealous of his freedom at one point in time but by now he had learned to get rid of those unnecessary feelings. He had a job to do after all; though that mentality he tried to keep didn’t make him any more tolerant of his young lord’s nasty attitude.

Droplets of sweat shone the slivers of brown in his hair amidst the plethora of black. He wasn’t sure for how long he had been training but it was long enough for him to steadily become worried. They had left early in the morning and now it was mid afternoon. Haetia always became peevish if he missed his afternoon snack and some part of him doubted that the maid opted to pack lunch instead.

Just as he thought to go check on them, Cybel burst into the study room out of breath and with heavy sobs, “Hck–I-I can’t find him! I’m so sorry I-I-hck-left him out of my sight for one second and then he was gone he was gone I tried looking everywhere and I can’t I can’t—!!”

His immediate instinct was panic but just as quickly he muffled the feeling, Remember what you were taught. Remember what you were taught, Linias repeated to himself. Then, with a deep sigh, he collected himself.

“Show me where you last saw him.”

From the moment they left and even when they arrived the maid’s worries and wails continued on but Linias silently drowned them out all the same. Focusing on her needless cries would just bring about unnecessary stress that would cloud his judgment.

They stopped a ways from Haetia’s hometown of Gwyneira, just by the spell’s border.

“H-Here I swear he was just here! Please you have to help me if I don’t find him–if I don’t find him–!!!”

Not even after observing the area for a few moments did the forest call out to him in a jumble of whispers, This way. This way. The branches and leaves tilted further South leading outside of the barrier. It was no wonder she couldn’t find him, almost no one ever left its perimeter.

“You can go back to the house.”

“But–!”

“It’s fine, I can find him on my own.”

Cybel opened her mouth to express further concern but by that point Linias had already walked off between the trees.

Once the guided path stretched past the boundaries of the magical ward, it became exponentially harder to suppress his dread. If even a hair was missing from Haetia’s head–No he has to focus. On the present and now, not on what ifs and what could be.

Like a rare white fawn in the midst of a dense thicket, the nine-year-old child’s pearlescent hair stuck out in a shine that couldn’t be missed even if one tried. With his head in the clouds he didn’t notice his bodyguard approaching until he was only a few feet away.

“Ew.” Was Haetia’s first comment at the sight. “What are you doing here?”

Linias sighed heavily. He almost never exchanged words with him, despite his position, but anytime he did it was never pleasant. “I’ve come to take you home. You’re too far away from the town, it isn’t safe.”

“Awww boohoo whatever. I can never have fun without it’s not safe this and what if you get hurt that.” Haetia mocks while continuing to casually distance himself from his guard, who followed in close but slow steps.

“Haetia.” He uttered his name with a reprimanding tone in the hopes of conveying to him the severity of the issue, but on the contrary - it only made him more defiant.

“How dare you say my name! You should only be addressing me as My Lord, Sire, Your Majesty, or Master!”

Again, the drained servant inhaled and exhaled in a deep heave. “... Sire ,” the ‘title’ barely managed to leave his mouth, “please come home.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Hmmmm. No!”

Just as Linias began to debate if snatching the brat and leaving against his will was worth the trouble and tantrum, the forest whispered to him once more yet now with more panic. Run…Run…Danger…Danger…!

If there was anything or anyone that he knew he could trust without a doubt, it was the foliage, greenery, and trees that inhabited this earth. Never had they ever led him astray and he knew that this wouldn’t be an exception.

“What’s that weird honking noise coming from? It’s so annoying!” Haetia’s paces quickened, and in turn so did Linias’s in an effort to stop him before he meddled with something he shouldn’t have.

A figure concealed by the tall shrubs steadily came into view the closer they encroached and so did the strange instrument-like sound. Soon enough, a face was able to be discerned…An old man.

This was too familiar. Linias could’ve sworn he read about some scenario or creature like this in his studies…

“Hey you!” The snow-white child barked at the supposed elder. “Shut up will you?! I’m trying to enjoy an afternoon play and you and my big oaf of a brooder are completely ruining it!!”

Every tree around them rustled in place as if screaming, Danger!!....Danger!!!...Run!!!!

The old man shuffled - his movements were too heavy for a man with his face.

Linias’s eyes flared, he finally remembered.

Manticore!

In the same moment that he rushed to grab the ivory boy the creature leapt to secure its meal, revealing the rest of its form. Only its head was humane while its body was that of a blood orange and beastly lion. Rather than the likewise tail of a feline, it had a venomous, ebony thorned scorpion’s tail with a pair of scaled wings to match.

The roots and branches of the conifers extended forward to shield the pair but with a single swipe of its claws the wood shattered into a thousand misshapen splinters. Linias didn’t take any further time to assess the situation, instead he immediately threw Haetia aside to get him out of the manticore’s immediate range. He thudded against the base of a tree from the toss and before he could even get up a wall of bark formed around him.

“Hey!! What the hell is wrong with you get me out of here before I tell my father–!”

In a flash the manticore slashed again with Linias barely dodging the swift attack.

“Respectfully my lord please shut the fuck up for a second!!”

What followed after a disgusted gasp was a barrel of insults and threats but Linias didn’t and couldn’t listen to a word of it all in the slightest. The mangled beast didn’t give him even a second to breathe as it threw forward a variation of rapid slices with pierced talons and launched venom from its spiked tail, most of it he was forced to block with vines or roots as he couldn’t triumph over the manticore’s speed at so congested of a distance. Running wasn’t an option either - with its ability to fly it would only be a matter of mere blinks before it caught up to them.

Stuck on the defensive, Linias struggled to unsheathe his staff to attempt to turn the tides as he scarcely blocked and deflected blow after blow. He had no qualms with sustaining a light to mild injury, after all he could just heal it after the beast was felled. It was more a matter of finding an opening to counterattack through the flurry of slashes.

Venomous thorns began to break through the consecutively erected bark faster than it could regenerate, causing a few to dart past and thinly slice his skin. He knew the venom wouldn’t affect him so he paid it no mind but likewise it still only served to keep him on his guard. What he needed was for the creature to lean into an attack enough to where it couldn’t recover quick enough to strike back or nullify the counter.

Until, something small struck the creature. A...pebble..?

It stopped in its tracks, turning to the side.

And there stood Haetia, the rare white fawn currently shielded by roots. Steadily realizing the drastic mistake he made, his face dropped and if his face could lose any more color he would’ve become transparent altogether.

“HAETIA-!!”

Linias’s feet moved on their own, body reflexively wedging between his master and the rapidly converging wild manticore. In one bash it demolished the roots and in the next a cloud of red dyed and obscured his vision but he didn’t have the time to think about what it could’ve been, the only thing he knew was that the beast had lunged into a full force maul with its claws just as he was waiting for.

Like clockwork his muscles knew exactly where his staff was located without the need for clear sight, and so he swept the wood from his waist without hesitation, recasting it into a spear. Its mangled talons lifted high in the air once more, giving an open shot of its torso. And before the talon could descend he struck fast and firm, lodging the spear upwards into its mouth as far as his strength allowed him to propel it.

The same paw descended, now with the same lifeless wilt as the rest of its body which plummeted to the ground with a thunderous thud and dull pupils. Linias didn’t stop to catch his breath after felling the monster, instead he immediately crushed the manticore’s tail with his roots then removed the spear and shrunk it once more into the piece of wood attached to his hip.

With the adrenaline fading, his mind could finally process the searing pain that throbbed his skull. He tried to touch the source but only felt a pool of ichor clinging onto his face. His right eye, he gathered. It had been mutilated in the process of defending his master. Speaking of…

Linias turned to Haetia, who was frozen still.

“Are you..alright?” As much as he hated to admit, he was exhausted. He came too close to letting harm befall them, more training was undeniably in order.

Haetia looked between the deceased creature and his bodyguard before him until finally remembering how to speak, and so he did so in a shriek, “Alright?!!! I nearly died!! And I told you not to say my name!”

Another deep inhale and exhale left Linias as he attempted to ignore the pulsing wound that screamed in agony. “..Yes…Master.”

“Ugh. I can’t even bear to look at you with how disgusting you are right now,” he retched, “blood and-” he gagged, “Ugh! Just you wait until my father hears about this! Better yet your teacher who seems to be doing a bad job if you can’t protect me all that good!”

“Master, you put your life in jeopardy by coming out here alone and antagonizing a wild–”

“Are you telling me what I can and can’t do?!”

“It’s my job to protect you so please–”

“Protect me then! If I throw myself into danger it’s your job to protect me so protect me! Hmph!” Haetia turned tail, walking away from his guard once more. “I’m going back home! And you better stay away from me because if I have to look at your bloodied up face for another second I’ll lose my appetite for dinner!”

“I can’t do that. My first order is to do whatever it is that prioritizes your safety, even if it means disobeying you.”

“Then if you walk next to me I’m going to gouge my eyes out how about that?”

The pale child didn’t wait for a reply and immediately resumed his trek. Linias watched until his master was barely discernible through the trees then followed, ignoring the surging blood from his wounded right eye the best he could.