I awoke in a comfy bed. It felt damp and the air felt heavy like in a mine so I assumed I was underground or at least covered in a lot of stone. Mentally I knew it was early afternoon. I sat up and looked around. Very thick dark metal bars weaved vertically and horizontally like a fabric or mesh covered everything including the stone floor and stone walls. One side of my cubed cell had light and I could see through the dark metal mesh into a hallway but that's all.

My mind goes back to when I was last awake. Where are Kat and the others? Where am I? “Scry Katilandituril” nothing happened. Is she dead? Is she… “Good, you are awake. I will let them know.” I look to see a human in solid white armor like Tal’s walking away. He must have heard me try to scry. Okay he was human…and I killed Oswin, the human court mage and I'm in a cell of some sort. Yep, I'm screwed.

I need to get out. Think Tom, think. Maybe leverage the door again? Where is the door even at? The clanging of someone wearing heavy armor could be heard approaching. “Greetings Tom.” A proud male voice said loudly before getting to the cell. A six foot tall strong proud looking man with blonde hair and almost purple eyes. He was clearly handsome and looked around thirty. He was wearing white armor with lots of gold trim and a small golden crown, “I am Zed The Prince of Eldrin and the Kingdom of Runa”

Zed was the god of protection under Xander, the one most humans worshiped. Fitting for a human leader I guess. “It is an honor, Prince Zed.” He smiled at me, “Tom, do you think you could escape from this cell?” “I would like to think I could eventually.” “Even with it blocking your magic?” So Kat might be okay! “What happened?” “A lot has happened in four days. We are in a political nightmare.” The Prince sighed. “That bad?” I asked. He nodded, “Yes we might be going to war with not only the elves of Frint but the Dwarves of Barhurim. And now the trade union isn't happy with us.”

“What happened?” I Asked. “We were escorting your entire retinue to Eldrin when Tamsa attacked and took Princess Katilandituril. We had more protection on you because, well you could be dangerous to us. We even kept you sedated.” So I was set up by Tamsa! “So they killed the Earl and his son…” “You are the only suspect but we also think that.” “What about the others? Tal and Pem?” “Princess Pemilandturil and the others fled north during the attack.” “To where?” “We don't know but most likely to Frint. We will know soon if she or her group enters a town or large settlement in our kingdom.”

So Tamsa has Kat and the others are fleeing north, “Where am I?” “Eldrin, now no more questions until you…” “No!” I bellowed, “Where is Kat?” I was clearly losing my calm. “We..We don't know right now but we think she is being taken to the Tamsa hideout somewhere north of Shasti for demaging and ransom.” “Demage?” “The Tamsa have a way to remove all the magical blood out of a being and destroy the ability to regenerate it. They then ransom the mages back to their families. Now please answer some of my questions.”

“You have five minutes before...” I take a deep breath and tell myself to calm down. “That's plenty of time then. Now why is a mage who is at least tier eight only now showing himself.” Thinking for a second, “I didn't have a choice.” He waited for me to elaborate but I didn't. “Are you higher than tier eight?” “Yes” “What is your goal right now?” “It was to get home but now it is to rescue Kat then go home.” “Where is home?” Hmm, “Not on Magarnia.” He started getting frustrated with my half answers. “You are Human correct? “Yes, mostly.”

I could sense his frustration turning to anger and while I needed to be brief I didn't want my only easy chance to get out of here be angry at me. I sighed, “Look Prince Zed I was born and raised a human then something happened to me recently that forced me to become more and travel Magarnia. Now please let me out so I can go after Kat.” “I understand, last question. Do you intend to harm Eldrin or the Kingdom of Ruma’s people?” I sighed again, “I try not to harm anyway honestly. I’m sorry about Oswin, why were they so aggressive anyways?” “I heard your princess was the aggressive one but I'm sure Oswin was provoking her. He loved dueling mages and Kat was the only mage near his level besides the Headmistress who taught Oswin magic. Well that we knew of. Then you kill him with a tier eight spell in your pajamas. He could cast tier eight magic with his ring on but I assume he didn't expect you to. We only know gravity is tier eight because our researchers looked into it for the last two days and found it in the ancient library.” “I would love to hear more about this ring and the aftermath and this library but we both know I need to go now.” “I’ll be right back.” The Prince turned and left. A moment later the dark metal mesh bars we were talking through all slowly started to retract individually spinning like a screw.

“Follow me.” We headed into the corridor. There was another cage like the one I was in closed with someone inside it. But I couldn't see any features and they didn't speak as we went by. The prince spoke as we traveled up some stairs and through what looked like storage rooms, “You will take our fastest ship to Shasti then our best horse to their base. On horse only you would arrive around the same time but you both would be tired.” We arrived at a mess hall. He pointed to a table, “Have some food then someone will escort you to your ship.” “Why are you helping me so much?” I figured I knew the answer but I would rather know for sure. “Relations are tense and if you can save the princess everything might be avoided. We also would like you to not hate us.” The prince smiled as he turned and walked away.

The mess hall was large and had mostly empty long plain wooden tables and benches. Where we had just walked out was where I sat down. Besides the cook bringing me two large bowls of meaty stew everyone seemed to keep their distance from me. Deep in thought about the most recent events I had registered the female guard but took no notice until she spoke to me, “Mage Hero Tom, your ship awaits.” She was around five eight and covered head to toe in heavy white armor. I couldn't even see her eyes through the slit of her heavy full helmet. She carried a large wide claymore and a small shortsword which were also white. “Please follow me.” Her deep feminine voice was muffled by the helmet.

We exited the keep and I was greeted by a beautiful sight. The keep overlooked the entire port of Eldrin and also had an amazing view of the deep blue and endless looking world lake. The port had large ships and small ships and many in between. Most of the larger ships looked like medieval ships but some looked steamboatish like Lady Harmony.

The port itself was along the entire coast that I could see both ways. Lots of variety in buildings from new stone buildings to old wooden ones scattered throughout. We headed down the path to the port. It was very scenic with lots of landscaping and trimmed gardens along the way. The small paved trails criss-crossed all the way down. Many of the gardens were tiered. There were also many rest stops and people sitting at them chatting away.

It took us over fifteen minutes to get down to the port. Once there we headed almost straight towards the World Lake. After a few minutes we stopped next to the piers. My guide raised her armored arm and pointed at a small ship. “That’s us sir” The ship was about half the size of Lady Harmony but once on board it felt more roomy. “This will be your home for the next sixty hours Hero.” A proud deep voice said rather loudly. My armored guide walked up to the man who was big with a big belly and beard, “We are ready to leave.” He nodded, “Prepare the lines and weigh anchor!”

She returned to me, “This way sir. I will take us to our quarters and leave the sailors to their work.” Down the stairs and past many hanging cots we arrived at the door to our room. Inside there were two beds attached to the walls, one on each side. At the foot of each bed between it and the wall was a small desk and chair. “Your equipment is there sir.” She nodded towards one of the desks and sure enough there was everything of mine.

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My halberd was repaired and my chain mail armor was now bigger and white other than those changes, my belt, knife, and pouch of coins was here. I was missing about fifty of the eighty gold I had but at least I had something. Thirty gold was almost a year's salary here for a lower middle class worker. “Where's the rest of my gold?” “I wouldn't know sir but we can ask when we get back.” “We most certainly will.” “Fifty gold is quite a lot to be just missing.” her head shot up from whatever she was doing, “Fifty gold is missing?” “About that, yeah.” “That is quite a lot to carry on you at one time. Why would you not leave it at home or at a bank?” “Long story short, I can't return home right now and I don't know about banks.”

“Oh… sir, we also took your measurements while you were sleeping for your armor and clothes, which should be inside the desk drawer.” “Thank’s...What's your name?” “Oh I’m sorry sir. My name is Toryani, Master in Arms and I am ordered to help you in any way I can!” She said dutifully. “Anyway you can?” She clearly tensed up. I could see fear, “Yes sir.” Her voice was almost scared. “Wow, that's terrible. Has what I'm assuming you are afraid of been asked before?” She nodded, “Once sir.” “I’m sorry to hear that Toryani and I'm sorry for bringing it up like that. It is a pleasure to meet you officially though.” I smiled trying to bring the mood back up a bit. “You as well sir.” “Well I'm going to scry on Kat and see if I can learn anything, Scry Katilandituril.”

She was bound, gagged, and unconscious in the dark. After a few seconds of looking around and listening I knew she was in a covered wagon like the one I took a trip in. For about seven minutes there were no other sounds other than wagon wheels hitting dirt, Kats loud breathing, and I could hear real quiet whispers on occasion but couldn't make out anything. The image faded. “Anything sir?” “She's asleep in a covered wagon and I think they know I can scry so they won't speak or make any noise around her to give their position away.” “When can you next scry?” “I don't know. The quickest between the two times I've done before is about twenty two hours apart.” “I will be back sir.” “Okay.”

I finished going through my things and checked out the items in the drawer. It was some padded armor and two sets of clothes. I also noticed my sword was not among my belongings.

A few minutes went by and Toryani returned with some food. “Welcome back.” “Thank you sir.” She sat down and fiddled with her visor then opened it. She had short red hair, full lips, and a strong jaw but I couldn't see much else. “So what's with the super heavy armor?” She looked up from her food then turned to face me. “I am a champion. My home is my armor.” “Champion?” “Yes, you haven't heard of us?” “I am very far from home.” “Oh, well we are a small military faction that trains with bows, claymores, and of course armor. Armor this heavy is hard to get used to so we live in it. After a while it feels normal to us and we know its limits like you know yours.” “What about washing and other things?” “In private sir.” “Right. So do champions have a special role? “Yes we are the elite. We live for combat and die for our king and kingdom. Our close range fighting is unparalleled and we train in armor with our bow so we have no apparent weakness.” “What I meant was more like are you guards or frontline soldiers?” “Right. We are guards to the king and go on missions that an army or mages can't do, so like this mission they would normally send six to ten of us and two to four mages.” “Thanks for sharing.” “Anytime sir.”

I layed down and just thought in the silence. Not long after, Toryani passed out in her armor with her helmet on. The muffled snoring was kinda funny. My thoughts were on Maria and how I felt bad for not scrying in so long but also about how I could have just stayed in Eldrin and looked for a way home. I also thought about Pem and Tal and hoped they were alive and safe. But mostly I thought about Kat and magic. It hurt to see her that way. I wondered how many spells there were and if I could create new ones. Could I learn flight magic if that is even a thing?

As dawn approached I headed outside to see the dawn's light glow on the water. The large red sun was beautifully reflected on the rippling water. “Early riser are you?” The captain walked up behind me. “Yea i guess so.” “We are making good time. We will be heading down the river early this afternoon. If we keep this pace we should be in the ocean before dawn tomorrow.” “Sounds good. Hey, could I stay up here and learn to sail?” The captain laughed, “Sure just don't step on one of us.”

I enjoyed learning about the ship and how to sail one. By early afternoon I knew the basics. I also learned Urzo was the ship captain and his wife Bealia was his first mate. The captain called for preparation to go down stream then said to me, “This is going to get fast. Ages ago mages carved out half the river to go down quickly and the other half to come up slowly. You will see what I mean.”

The other half was segmented with ship locks to raise water and the ship up then they entered another and repeated until they reached the top. Four days up twelve hours down. Once the river's current hit us we started picking up speed quickly and eventually we were going so fast it was a bit scary. I guessed it was around thirty miles per hour, maybe more. The captain was manning the helm at the back of the ship and the crew was stationed around prepared for a call out from the captain. This went on until it was almost dark. Then the captain had the sails raised and we slowed down. The captain laughed then started to announce to everyone, “We are making very good time. Brennan was with us! I have never had such favorable winds. Guests come with me.” Toryani and I followed him to his quarters. It was rather cramped but he had a small table where he and his first mate ate. The captain waved his hand at the table implying we should sit and we did, “Now Tom, how about a story while we eat? I’ve heard a few about you.” “You have?” “Spiders and princes.” “Well I was…” and I replayed my story to the captain, first mate, and Toryani using the Empress’s version of events while we ate. They asked some questions and I tried to answer honestly without talking about magic or Gods much.

“What about you captain? Do you have any stories to tell?” I asked. “As interesting as your tale? Just one. It was how I met my wife. About thirty years ago I guarded caravans to the south. I was a young lad at the time and pretty fresh to the world but it was a job and they told me it wasn't very dangerous and they were right the first three times but that fourth time was simply a disaster.”

He took a drink and then continued, “We almost made it to a village in the south…I forget the name now but the night before giant gnolls attacked us and we were getting decimated before we could regroup or put up a defense. I was naturally decent at fighting and killed one but there were dozens and then I saw them. Two angelics.” Toryani gasped, which told me this was a big deal. “That's what I did.” Urzo started laughing, “I was frozen in awe. They tore through all the gnolls in seconds and I will never forget them. The beauty of it all. The beings and their grace. Their armor and voices. All of it beautiful.”

He paused for a few seconds remembering them then continued, “Once it was all over I stood up from where I had taken cover and they came to me and asked if I had seen anything evil? I pointed to the gnolls and they laughed and said actual evil, not mean or vicious. Which of course I hadn't so they left. I eventually made it to the village and at that village I met Bealia who was on her way to Eldrin. Then we made it to Eldrin and started sailing.”

“Was that the start of the current war with the gnolls?” “Yes it was. Now if you don't mind we need to get some sleep. Us being so far ahead of our schedule means less sleep for me.”

We headed back to our room and once there Toryani asked, “What is love like?” A picture of Kat popped into my head then Maria. Shocked by that, I tried to just talk, “You never loved someone? Like parents or friends?” “No.. I never knew my parents. I was given to the military right after I was born. And I had some friends but love isn't what I would call it. Partnerships and loyalty but not the love you speak of about your wife.” “Okay I'll try but it's not an easy question. Love is many things like attraction, loyalty, and affection but real love is deeper. There's nothing you wouldn't do or give to them if they needed it, even if it meant your life. That willingness to make sacrifices is love and you hope they feel the same way. I hope that helped.” “It did. thank you sir.”

Feeling guilty I tried to scry Maria but it must have been too soon because it didn't work so I just went to bed. I laid there and thought about love for hours.