Thorn sat on the banks of the Rewbeck River. He stared into the fast-flowing clear waters idly tossing stones into its tumultuous depths. He often came to this spot to clear his head, after all, it wasn’t as though this was the first argument he’d had with his father, nor the first time he’d been ‘disinherited’. He tried to remember a time when they’d ever shared a kind word and came up blank. This latest argument had been the worst so far, never before had Jasper told him to leave and never come back, the threat had sounded very real. Thorn angrily wiped the tears forming in his eyes and launched another stone into the river.

“Perhaps this is a good thing?” he said to himself.

If he were to be really disowned, then he’d be free to do what he wished. The brief spark of hope was quickly dimmed, however, that wasn’t who he was. He cared for Linden and its people and truth be told he had long dreamed of one day being Lord of the land.

Suddenly his thoughts were disturbed by what sounded like a woman screaming for help. He scrambled to his feet in alarm as her shouts grew closer and closer. He tensed, not sure what to do. The decision was made for him as a dark-haired woman burst out of the tree line, her green and brown cloak billowing out behind her. She was frantically clawing at something in her long black hair. Thorn’s eyes widened in surprise as he spotted the tiny winged creature clawing at the girl’s head.

“What in the world?” he exclaimed.

The girl was now running around in circles, her cries mixing with the foulest swear words Thorn had ever heard in his life. He looked to his left as a man ran out of the woods and skidded to a halt in the shingle. He too had black hair, but his was short yet scruffy and had a wispy beard covering his chin. In his hands, he held a hefty looking book and was frantically flicking through the pages.

“Meric? Is that you?” Thorn said as he recognised the man.

Meric jumped in alarm.

“Who the- oh, master Thorn. Yes, it is I, Meric the Magician. I’m currently in the middle of something as you can well see.”

“Get this bloody thing away from me Meric! I swear I’m going to kick you in the balls so hard you’ll be spitting them out of your fucking mouth!” the girl raged.

The creature had now taken a handful of her hair and was trying to drag her along the shingle beach.

“Is that an Imp?” Thorn asked, genuinely fascinated by the tiny winged being. It was ugly as a hatful of arseholes and as mean as a wounded mountain bear. Its little shrieks sounded like malicious cackling.

“It is master Thorn. I’m amazed someone from this backwater, no offence intended, would recognise a creature of the Void such as this. Tell me where did you stud-”

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“MERIC!” the woman screamed.

“Ah yes. Sorry sister of mine I think I’ve found the correct spell!”

Thorn watched the scene unfold in wonder. He’d not seen Meric in several years after the tall skinny lad had been sent to the Mage School in Old Kastador when he was ten.

Meric held the book in front of his face and muttered an incantation in a language that resembled old Nivonian. The Imp shrieked at the words and to Thorn’s surprise, the little creature began to glow. It let go of the girl’s hair and to Meric’s horror fixed its mean little eyes upon the magician.

“Oh dear!” Meric cried as the Imp flew straight at him.

Thorn reached down and picked up a stone from the shingle. He took aim and hurled the projectile. It struck the Imp causing it to miss Meric’s head by mere inches and crash into a tree.

“Take that you little bastard!” the girl cackled.

Meric continued his incantation and soon the Imp began to writhe about on the ground. The glow grew and grew in intensity until with a cry the Imp exploded. Green blood and guts covered Meric from head to toe.

“Are you alright?” Thorn asked as he failed to keep a smile from his lips. Meric blinked a few times and then wiped the green goo from his face. He nodded and chuckled.

“Well, I must say that went better than I expected,” he said proudly.

The mysterious girl stormed over to the magician and shoved him.

“Better than you expected? You were supposed to have summoned an Imp we could control so that it could help around the house. Instead, the little monster tried to kill me!”

“Forgive my sister Thorn. Nix here doesn’t understand the subtleties of magic I’m afraid. She must get that attitude from mother.”

Thorn’s jaw dropped. He’d not seen Nix since she was just a small girl, now here she stood a woman and a good looking one at that. She noticed his gormless expression and rolled her eyes.

“Is your friend a simpleton Meric?” Nix said as she walked over to the river and checked out her reflection in the water. Her hair was a total mess.

“Nix this is Thorn. Son of the Lord of Linden. We’ve not seen each other in many years. How long has it been?”

“Er-almost eight years I think. I thought you and your family moved to the city so that you could attend Mage school.”

Nix laughed. Meric frowned.

“We did, but err I didn’t get along too well there. I lasted a year before I got booted out. The masters didn’t like my tendency for dabbling in things I shouldn’t.”

“Tell him about the incidents,” Nix interrupted with a coy smile.

Meric frowned.

“The final straw was probably when I accidentally turned the headmaster's favourite dog to ice and er… shattered it.”

Thorn laughed before pulling his old friend into an embrace.

“It’s so good to see you, my old friend. I can’t tell you how much I need some friendly faces around me.”

“Well. Now that this Imp business is taken care of, why don’t we hit the tavern and we can have a good old catch up? What do you say?”

“I’d say that’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard all day,” Thorn replied.