Within a month winter was over and the snow that littered the streets and the countryside went with it. Quickly the hustle and bustle of the city reignited as trade and work began sprouting up once again. For Arthur and Calavia however things were a little different from everyone else.
With their apprenticeship ending during the first week of Granite and the spring they were both offered to continue working at the clinic as proper employees, however they both turned the offer down as they had plans already set into motion.
“Are you both sure?” Laelia looked at her two former apprentices with a mix of confusion and worry. You will be receiving a pay increase once you become proper employees as well as better training in restoration from both myself and possibly even Quintus if he has the time.”
“We do appreciate the offer Laelia, we really do.” Calavia began. “But both Arthur and I plan to leave the city and head up north somewhere.”
“You want to leave the city?” Laelia asked as she looked between the two of us with bewilderment. “But Antium is one of the best places for a mage to be in the whole kingdom.”
“Yes, we know that Laelia.” I quickly answered. “We did both enjoy our time here, however for the better part of several months now we have been discussing leaving and finding somewhere else to build something entirely of our own. Somewhere where I can plant and grow my own ingredients for my potions.”
“And somewhere where we can both make a major difference.” Calavia added.
For several seconds Laelia didn’t know what to say. We both knew she wanted to try and convince us to stay in the city as employees of hers, but she could see in our eyes that we were determined and there was nothing she could do to convince us otherwise.
“Very well.” She eventually lamented. “I will not oppose your decisions. Just remember if you even change your mind and want to return to the city my doors will be open, either as friends or coworkers neither I nor my healers will discriminate against you.”
*******
Within a couple of days Arthur and Calavia had bought a large wagon and a horse to bring all their things with them. Most of the large containers were placed in the wagon while everything else was stored within Arthur dimensional bag giving him an opportunity to truly discover just how much could be stored within it. In total they managed to fit the remainder of their furniture and numerous days worth of preserved food inside it.
However they didn’t actually leave until the fourteenth of Granite as they still wished to say their goodbyes to all the friends they had made in the city. Both Arthur and Calavia said goodbye to everyone in the clinic together and then they left each other to say goodbye to their personal friends.
Taking what would likely be the last trip to the mages guild alchemy club for what would likely be a long time Arthur looked over to the side of the room and found his friend Lydus. Still he was working away at the pile of paperwork as the occasional young mage tried out alchemy recipes on the opposite side of the room.
“Hello again my good friend.” Arthur practically announced as he stepped towards Lydus.
He looked up and gave a small smile at the sight of his friend. “Hello again Arthur. Do you have some more potions you wish to sell to the guild? I have noticed they have been getting considerably better over the last year.”
“Not this time, and I actually wanted to talk with you about something.”
“Of course, what do you want to talk about?”
“I am going to be leaving soon.”
For a moment just like Laelia, Lydus didn’t know how to react. He just looked at Arthur with his mouth wide open as he tried processing what he just heard.
“You are leaving? Where are you going?” He eventually managed to say.
“I don’t really know yet, what I do know is that I will be traveling northwards with a very good friend of mine. We plan on settling down near a medium-sized town, somewhere where I can grow my own ingredients and brew as many potions as I can dream of.”
“Are you dying Arthur?” Lydus asked as he looked with an almost terrified expression.
“No no, I don’t think I am anyways.” Arthur quickly clarified. “I'm just leaving the city with someone I am very close to, and we plan on building something out there.”
“And I assume by the fact that you are telling me that you won’t be coming back for a while.”
“Yes, that is correct.” For a small moment neither of the two said anything. Eventually Lydus broke the silence.
“Is there any particular reason you are leaving the city? Are the gods going to crash a meteor into the castle in a fit of anger in the coming days?” Lydus half joked attempting to dispel the awkwardness he created.
“Aside from the brewing war between the kingdom and the empire I don’t know of anything.”
“You think there is going to be a war soon?”
“I expect it will happen sometime within the year, and if not then within the next. Relations between the kingdom and the empire haven’t exactly been good since the last war.” Another awkward silence fell between the two mages as the reality of just how likely war was set in.
“Well I shouldn’t keep you waiting any longer. Perhaps I will see you again, goodbye Lydus.”
“Goodbye Arthur, and good luck with your search.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
*********
Calavia awoke with the edge of the sun shining into her eyes from the open window of the tent. Slowly she sat up and looked around. Like she recalled from the night before she and Arthur had camped out in an open field for the night. It had already been four days of constant traveling, the only stops they made were for the horse and to sleep.
Looking to her side she noticed that Arthur was missing, slowly she stood up and exited the tent where she found him readying the horse for the next trip. Slowly she walked right up behind him and once she was close enough she grabbed him from behind and hugged him tight with both hands around his chest.
“Look who finally woke up.” Arthur gave a small laugh as he quickly spun around and returned the hug. “I have just about everything packed up, all we need left is the tent.”
“What about breakfast?” Calavia asked as she backed out of the hug.
“I made us each a sandwich. I used some of the jerky and cheese with some bread, I also waited for you to wake up before eating mine.” Calavia couldn’t help but smile at his answer, such kindness and understanding was what she had come to expect from him.
“Then I will pack up the tent, you deserve a break after all this hard work.”
********
Hours passed by as the duo and their horse drawn wagon continued north east. Occasionally they would spot an animal of sorts in the distance, but there was little sign of people other than the path they were taking. Only by the time the sun was starting to set below the horizon did they find a definitive sign of civilization.
A small city situated atop a hill looking down upon the nearby countryside, the Niveis mountains visible in the north. Slowly they made their way to the front gate and were greeted by a set of stone walls around the height of a one story building.
“Stop!” One of the city guards yelled as the duo were just a few meters from the thick wooden doors that constituted as gates. “Routine inspection, please do not resist.”
Arthur and Calavia looked at each other with slight confusion for a moment and back to the guards who started looking through everything we had in the wagon, one however extended his hand for the bag around Arthur’s shoulder. Without resisting he handed it over and the guard started looking through it, but after a few moments of pulling out random objects he noticed something was off about the bag.
Everything he pulled out was perfectly legal, but something about the size of the objects was bothering him. When he looked back to the bag he eventually understood what was bothering him, the objects which consisted of several large pouches of preserved food and what appeared to be alchemy equipment shouldn’t have fit within the bag.
He rapidly looked between the objects now on the ground and the bag. This eventually caught the attention of the ranking guard on duty, the same one who ordered us to stop.
“What are you doing private? Continue your inspection.” The ranking guard ordered his subordinate as he stepped forwards.
“There is one small problem sir.” The private nervously replied as he looked up to his commanding officer. “You see all this on the ground sir? All of this was inside of this bag here.” The private handed the bag to the ranking officer who looked at it with confusion. He looked to the objects littering the ground and back to the bag several times before his eyes widened in shock.
Hastily he opened the bag and reached his arm inside as far as he could. His eyes outside the bag showed him the truth, the bag was far larger on the inside which could only mean one thing.
“My apologies sir mage.” The ranking guard nervously said to Arthur as he bowed deeply. As he rose up he handed the bag back to the private next to him and pointed to everything he tossed to the ground and whispered into his ear. “Return everything to the bag, and make certain there isn’t any dirt on it. We do not need an angry mage right now.”
“It is of no issue, you are just doing your job.” Arthur gave a soft smile to the ranking officer he recognized as a sergeant based on the insignia. “However, if I may inquire, why are you searching travelers as they enter the city? Are you having problems with smugglers or other criminal elements in the city?”
“Unfortunately no, there are no smugglers we know of. What we are trying to catch are bandits transporting goods into the city. Starting around half a year ago the amount of bandits within the region has exploded, they did quiet down during the winter but since then they have dug themselves out of their burrows and started looting again.” The sergeant looked almost defeated as he explained the situation the small city was dealing with. Both Arthur and Calavia could emphasize with him.
“We could help.” Calavia suddenly exclaimed, surprising both Arthur and the sergeant.
“I do appreciate the offer young lady, however I cannot in good conscience force a kind young woman such as yourself into such a dangerous situation.”
“I will have you know that I am an accomplished mage, specifically a pyromancer capable of casting tier four pyromancy spells.” With a quick wave of her hand Calavia conjured up an orb of fire roughly the same size of a cat if it were curled up. She raised her hand high, showing it off to all of the guardsmen and anyone else that might have been watching from inside the city before quickly dispelling the orb.
“My apologies lady mage, I didn’t know you possessed such mastery of magic.” The sergeant said as he gave a deep bow.
“I will forgive you… if you tell us about these bandits giving you all trouble.” Calavia gave a smug smile to the sergeant who was starting to sweat a little under his iron chainmail.
“Very well, I shall tell you of the bandits. But if you would be so kind I would prefer if we did so away from the street, anyone could be watching us.” With that the sergeant ordered his men to allow Arthur and Calavia through the gate where they parked at the nearest tavern. The duo followed the sergeant inside and upstairs to a secure room where they could discuss the bandits without anyone listening in.
Like the rest of the tavern the room they were in was old and dark, the light from the window casting deep shadows in the corners of the room. Thankfully both Arthur and Calavia were more than skilled in pyromancy to conjure up a decent light to fill the room.
The trio each took a chair in the far corner of the room and brought them to the center, each took a seat forming a circle as Arthur conjured up an air barrier to prevent any easedropers.
“There, no one without magical knowledge will be able to listen in on our conversation.” Arthur proudly stated, and the sergeant seemed to relax at his confidence. “Now tell us about these bandits that have been troubling the city.”
The sergeant hesitated for a moment before relenting. “I suspect the bandits are under the command of the young lord Tullus.”
“You suspect the heir to the land is the one leading bandits to pillage it!?” Calavia stood from her chair in a mix of surprise and shock at the accusation. “Why would anyone in such a position even consider doing such a thing to their own inheritance?”
“That would be because the young lord was banished a handful of years ago. When that happened he lost his inheritance to the young lady Gavia. I suspect he wants revenge against her for taking what he believes was rightfully his.” The sergeant slumped in his chair as he finished, clearly the thoughts were weighing down heavily on his mind.
“What about the bandits themselves? Assuming we can deal with the bandits we should be able to prove or disprove this theory of yours.” Arthur leaned forwards in his chair as he began to think out loud “Have any been captured and imprisoned by your city guard?”
“A small handful have, but they don’t seem to be high ranking members of the bandit gang. They claimed Tullus Sellic was leading them, but had no evidence of the claim. They didn’t even make the claim of seeing him in person.”
“Then I think we will need to speak with them. Lead the way if you would.”