Again, I was jolted out of sleep. Somehow my cell phone alarm clock was more pleasant in this respect, it only used soft music instead of brute force. I tore my eyes open, but could not see anything. No wonder, since it was the middle of the night. Why was I awakened? I asked myself, disoriented. Then it came back to me, it was my turn to be on guard duty. In the darkness, the sounds of Tim and Bob could be heard, just making themselves comfortable on the ground after their watch was over.

The campfire was already completely out, with one or two coals still glowing faintly through the ashes. I could barely see my hand in front of my eyes. The night sky was clear, but the starlight didn’t make it any better. Only now did it occur to me that I had not yet seen a moon in this world. Was it just new moon or did this world have no moon at all? That was a question I couldn’t possibly ask a native. Whether islander or not, the existence of a moon was known all over the world, so there were no excuses. Worse, if there was no moon, they wouldn’t even know what it was. In that case, I would look even more foolish. In time, the question would answer itself.

“Shouldn’t we put some branches on the fire while we can?”, I whispered to Orthok, whose silhouette loomed like a hole in the darkness beside me. “No way,” he replied. “Next to the fire we would be clearly visible, while even in the surrounding area we would not be able to see anything. Besides, the fire attracts uninvited guests at night.”

We moved a little away from the sleeping people and sat down on the ground. The grass was damp and I scolded myself for not bringing my blanket. The hunter didn’t seem to mind in his leather pants. Silently, we sat there listening to the sounds of the forest at night. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so I could at least make out the outlines of the nearby trees. Orthok’s face was visible as a pale blur in the darkness.

My thoughts returned to the hunter’s equipment, rather his remarkable quiver came to mind again. “Orthok...”, I addressed him. “Where did you get that quiver? It has such a strange symbol on it, what does it mean?” For a while, he said nothing. “I found the quiver in the Devastation,” he finally answered reluctantly. “It is magical. When it’s not full, extra arrows appear in it, but no more than two per day. Probably the symbol is a sign of that, no one knows.” Before I could ask any more questions, he added, “Another rule on guard duty is to keep your mouth shut and listen for the noises.”

Thus, the conversation was over. I continued to think about the magic quiver. This symbol... it clearly came from the same corner as the symbols Nigel used when casting spells. The apprentice was using the primordial language, that was undeniable despite his terrible accent. Were the symbols something like runic characters of the primal language? As I pondered this, I realized that while I could speak and understand the primal language, I had no idea how to write the words. With the language that Vaari had magically taught me, it was different, there I also mastered reading and writing immediately. Strange, because the primordial language I have also learned somehow magically. Why was it different here? Was this another argument that the signs of the language were related to magic?

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I went through the few symbols I already knew. One of them clearly stood for fire, the other I had seen in the luminous sphere was probably the sign for light. On the third, Nigel said “fly,” so flight or flying? As far as I knew, there was some room for interpretation of the runes, since they could not be translated exactly. In a magical incantation, it was certainly a double-edged sword. And what did the symbol on the quiver stand for? For arrow, perhaps?

My fingers were itching to do some magical experiments. I didn’t want to do anything with fire yet, it was too hot for me. Light would be too conspicuous at night, should I make the flare appear, Orthok would surely be upset. I had gotten along well with the hunter so far and didn’t want to strain our relationship unnecessarily. Besides, I had no intention of revealing myself as a mage, not after the embarrassing scene at the inn last night.

I felt the ground beside me and found an old pine cone. I placed it on the palm of my left hand so that my body covered it from Orthok and pointed my hand toward the forest. Then I imagined the flight sign and was amazed myself when it obediently appeared above my hand. Despite the darkness surrounding us, it was easy to see. I noticed that the magic pendant my neighbor wore on his neck suddenly stood out with a yellow glow as well. Had the Magic Gaze activated automatically while casting spells? It seemed so.

Now I mentally drew a thread from my magic core to the magic sign, but nothing happened. I concentrated on the magic core until I felt it like a source of warmth inside me. I tried to channel that warmth through my body, up to my left shoulder, down my arm, and into my hand. There was no change in the magic sight, even though I thought I could feel the warmth in the palm of my hand. Maybe it was just my imagination. I thought again.

All those gestures and spells, they were just crutches, mnemonic techniques to remember the spells better and concentrate on them. It had to work without them. On the other hand, if that helped a beginner... I looked at the symbol and made with my lips, “Fly!” The pinecone disappeared from my palm in an instant. I heard it plop to the ground a moment later. I couldn’t see exactly where, unfortunately, but from the sound, it couldn’t have gone far.

Orthok seemed to have heard it, too. He rose silently and crept a few steps in that direction, but then stopped again and listened. In the forest, something falls from the trees all the time, doesn’t it? I mentally cheered: I could do magic! I was a damn magician! But back down to earth. The first question in a scientific experiment is whether the result can be reproduced. This is exactly the point I wanted to make clear.

I scanned the earth for another cone. This time I placed it on my right hand since the hunter was now on my left after its movement. The flight symbol could be called up without complaint and glittered glassily in the air in anticipation of activation. Without taking my eyes off it, I thought emphatically in the primordial language, “FLY!” The sign glowed briefly, and a few seconds later, the cone crashed into one of the trees standing around the clearing.

Wow! Now the missile had clearly had more momentum. Orthok found the impact sound unnatural. Disturbed by this, he took out his bow and put an arrow on the string. He held the weapon loosely at waist level and watched the surroundings carefully, ready to fire at any intruder. I felt sorry for the false alarm, but I didn’t know how to give the all-clear. It would work itself out, I thought, relaxed, as a distant scream shattered the night’s silence.