A week had passed since the kwach’a attack, and the Wyn family was gathering at the edge of the town with their bags and luggage atop a wagon.

“I know it would be selfish of me to try to convince you to stay, but I must look out for the village, is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

Tulia and Duncan gave Chief Hemuk a smile and shook their heads, “Sorry Chief. My family seeks answers and we cannot find them here. This past week, we’ve been preparing you all a gift to soften our departure.” Duncan held three wooden crates, two of which were filled with a dark red vial and the other filled with a cool blue. The chief’s eyes widen at the three crates and absentmindedly accepted them while Duncan just smiled. “My son and I have been working this past week on a parting gift, and we’ve been only able to make this much. I hope this helps,” Duncan said.

“Ah, yes. Yes. This is more than enough, it’ll last us for nearly half the year. How were you able to produce so many tonics and tinctures within a week, if I may ask?”

“My son is quite handy as an assistant,” Duncan gave a cryptic response with a smile. Only he knew about his son’s seemingly-miraculous ability with alchemy.

While their two parents were bidding their farewells, Gaius was filled with excitement and enthusiasm. For the first time in his life, he felt like his steps had purpose, however the same could not be said for his brother. This should be a period of excitement for both boys as they were venturing outside of their village for the first time in their lives, but Gen could not get into the mood while he was thinking of parting from Kumi. Seeing them off, the village guard saluted their former captain as the Wyn family left the village.

“Huff. Ha. What I, ha. Don’t get. Huh, ha, is why. Ah, ack, ha. My boulder is bigger than yours,” Gaius complained through each breath as the wagon besides him finally stopped— signaling time for a break. Looking over to his brother, who was equally in pain, Gaius noticed that the rock he was carrying was significantly smaller than his own, by at least half its size.

“If you have enough energy to complain, then you don’t need a break, yes?” Tulia shouted from the wagon seat, and seated beside her was Duncan. The wagon was gifted to them by the chief along with two of their best horses, it was one of the ways the chief expressed his gratitude for their contributions to the village.

“C’mon you two, quit playing around. It’s only been two days since we left the village. And South Calet is still three more days away,” Tulia shouted. After thinking for a bit she continued, “How about this, if you two are able to carry those boulders for two days without a break, then the two of you may rest in the wagon for the last day. How does that sound?”

“Ugh, two straight days without a break. But man, how sweet it would be to lay down on the wagon,” the two boys thought to themselves along the same lines. Reinvigorated by the promise for a whole day of rest the two boys gave it their all.

Duncan looked wryly at his wife and decided not to say anything to the boys.

To leave the boys to their own devices while carrying 100 kg rocks would be too cruel, so Tulia maintained her aura to wash over the boys and refresh them. Although Gen did condense his own Aspect, his control was nowhere near as great as his mother. As for Gaius, so long as there was an aura around he could draw some of it into himself to restore his lacking stamina.

Their physical training only lasted for the day, while they were on the move. At night however, was a different world altogether. The four of them were sitting around a campfire with some small game roasting on a spit, while Tulia told them stories about her childhood—a mystery that had only been recently unveiled.

“When your Uncle Viktor and I were kids, we would always spend our time in the city. This one day . . .”

“Where did you and Uncle Viktor grow up?” Gaius interrupted.

“In the capital, Alir. So one day, while your uncle and I were walking down the streets, we spotted a pickpocket. I was about to bind him with my Aspect, but your uncle—the righteous person that he is, decided to give him fair warning, so he shouted ‘Stop! Thief, give back what was stolen and you may pass judgement!’ Remember, we were only 9 or 10 years-old or so. So the thief stops and looks back at the high pitched voice of a child and grins. I had just finished condensing my Aspect and bound his feet together just as he lunged at us. Good thing the pickpocket wasn’t a mage or warrior, then who knows what would have happened,” Tulia chuckled at the memory. They camped under the starry sky chatting and laughing like any other normal family, but that only lasted until sunrise.

“Up, up, up!” Tulia yelled from her wagon seat. “The longer it takes for you two to get moving the faster the wagon will move! You two better hurry it up.”

Gaius woke up to his mother’s ferocious roar, still half asleep and in a daze he looked around to see all of the bedrolls and utensils from last night’s meal stored away. The only thing in sight was his brother’s bedroll next to his, otherwise their campsite had already been cleared. Next to the road laid two boulders, the bigger of the two was obviously for him and with a grunt Gaius quickly kicked his brother awake, tucked his bedroll under his arm, and sprinted towards the boulder as the wagon began to pick up speed. This day was much like the day before, but what drove the two boys was that after tomorrow, they would be able to relax for the rest of the trip. Hope, it was a powerful unknown force.

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The next night the two boys plopped down onto their bedrolls with bellies full of a hearty stew filled with wild vegetables and small game, sleep quickly overtook them. Their parents smiled lovingly at their sons, hoping that Unle Viktor will provide their family with answers, and though they were in a hurry to reach the capital it didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the trip. After a few whispered laughs and suppressed chuckles, the couple’s loving smile turned mischievous.

“Up, up, up!” Tulia shouted like every other morning. The boys groaned in protest, their body and minds on the brink of exhaustion. “Wakey-wakey! It’s only been 4 days, quit acting like a bunch of old men. C’mon, your father and I will leave without you.”

“This is our day off! You promised!” they both yelled from their bedrolls, their heads still under a blanket.

“You won’t have to carry the boulders, but that doesn’t mean you get to sleep in. C’mon we need to beat the morning traffic,” she urged.

“Morning traffic?” the two boys thought to themselves, and with stiff aching muscles the two finally pulled themselves up eager to plop right back down again onto the wagon.

As the two boys tucked their bedrolls in the back of the wagon and began to climb into it, a shrill voice stunned them, “What do you think you’re doing? Get over here and walk besides the wagon. Front and center.”

“But you said that we get to relax on the last day before we get to South Calet. You promised!” the two boys shouted indignant.

“Yes. I did. But it seems that you two were so focused on your training and walked so fast that I miscalculated, because we’re already here,” Tulia responded with a smile.

The boys couldn’t believe their ears and they turned to look over their mother’s shoulder and saw the city walls rising above the horizon. With watery eyes, Gaius and Gen plopped to the ground and started crying. The pain that their bodies had to endure these past 4 days could only be cured with the hope of a day’s respite, but that was taken away just as they were about to taste it. Tulia’s and Duncan’s heart almost broke from the sorry state that their sons were in, and in a bout of softness the two allowed their sons to rest in the wagon for the rest of the trip; although it wouldn't be a full day’s rest it was infinitely better than none.

The wagon meandered slowly and steadily towards the city of South Calet. Even with an early departure, the wagon was lost into the sea of people making their way into the city. Gaius and Gen propped themselves onto the seats in the back of the wagon, happily enjoying the slight breeze in their face and the gentle sway of the slow wagon. He was surprised by the sheer number of people within eyesight. Being born and raised in a small village of 4,000, Gaius could definitely say that he had never seen this many people before. If the sea of people were not enough, the walls that he had spotted earlier now loomed enormously over him. Like a beautifully carved mountain the walls stretch for dozens of kilometers in both direction. To top it all off, the gate opened to the whole height of the wall, as if a gigantic mouth was swallowing all of the people.

“She’s a beaut’ ain’t she? First time seeing her eh?” A grinning old man with missing teeth carrying a basket of vegetables walked besides the wagon while attempting to talk to Gaius.

Speechless and unperturbed by the man’s comment, Gaius could only slowly nod his head.

The old man chuckled, “I remember when I first laid my eyes on her. Love at first sight it was!” To the old man’s side, an equally old and frail woman with a sunhat and a basket of crops elbowed him playfully, “Always admiring the wall, you never save such sweet words for me!” she jested. “Ah, that is because my love for you cannot be described in words by the best poets, so I do not even attempt such a frivolous endeavor,” the old man playfully replied.

After admiring the wall Gaius asked the old couple, “Would you like to sit within our wagon?”

“Oh! What a courteous young fellow. I believe that you should have asked your parents beforehand, hmm. Yes?” the old man glowed.

“Ah,” Gaius was embarrassed at such an oversight and turned to his parents who had been listening all along, “Mom, dad. Can they join us? It’d be a waste of space if it were to remain empty.”

Her loving smirk was quickly replaced by a mischievous grin, Tulia replied “Well, of course! But it would not be proper to have these two squeeze within our small wagon, how about you and your brother trade places with them?”

Gaius, stared at the near-crying face of his brother and could only mouth the words ‘sorry’ before he said, “Of course that will be okay.” Since it was his idea to let the two old folks onto the wagon, he couldn’t very well backtrack, so much to his dismay the two elderly couple graciously accepted their seats with much room to spare. If the two elderly couple had known how the two boys fought for the privilege of the wagon ride they might not have been so eager to accept, or perhaps maybe it would have made it even better.

The two boys were walking besides the wagon and Gen angrily glared at his brother and elbowed him in the ribs, while pinching his arms, and stomping on his foot. Gaius, full of guilt, took it all in silence.

Smiling at themselves, Duncan and Tulia shared a married-couple-telepathic moment and nodded at each other. Soon Duncan got up from his seat and sat in the back with the elderly couple while making small talk. Tulia whistled at her boys for their attention and signaled with her head while patting the empty seat beside her. With a smile, the two boys clamored up the wagon’s driver seat. Tulia adjusted so that she was in the middle of them. Gaius couldn’t seem to understand just how something so mundane like sitting can feel so pleasurable. The two boys relished in their comfort as the wagon slowly swayed back and forth while occasionally hearing laughter from the elderly couple.

“Wow! Mom, what’s that!” Gen yelled as he pointed to a man sitting upon a large beast. The man stuck out like a sore thumb, as he was a full meter above everyone else while sitting on the beast.

Tulia smiled and said, “Well, why not ask the man yourself?”