Michael

Travel on horseback was much more uncomfortable than the carriages had been, but Michael paid it no mind he was completely taken in by Eydis and Geron talking to him about skills that he needed to survive in the wild.

They often stopped so that they could show him certain things like footprints from animals and eatable plants. In the evenings they camped outside, they didn’t have any tents, but Michael learned how to find good spots to make camp, build a campfire that would keep them warm but still be as covert as possible, and much more.

At noon on the third day, they finally arrived at the village they were looking for. When they rode into town they were greeted by curious stares from the villagers, and Michael could see one run away, probably getting the village elder. They waited until the village elder came and greeted them properly.

“You return, milord. What can we help you with on this day,” the old man said with a genuine smile.

“I am looking for a man that I met here when I visited last time, he is an older man, that came here ten years ago and was an adventurer. He has long white hair and a short beard.” The villagers looked at each other concerned so Michael added, “I just want to talk to him, he is not in trouble.”

The village elder still looked concerned but he nodded nonetheless, “You are probably talking about Kiran. I will bring you to his house at once.” He turned to the other villagers and said loudly, “Go on, there is nothing to see here.” They dispersed and the elder led them through the village.

The village wasn’t large, so they reached the house in a few minutes. The elder stopped in front of it and fidgeted with his clothing before turning around. “He is a good man, milord.”

Michael smiled at the man, “Don’t worry, I just want to talk to him.” The elder bowed and left them. Without further delay, Michael stepped toward the door and knocked.

After a few moments, the door swung open and Kiran stood in it, he was dressed in a similar linen shirt as he had worn the first time Michael had met him.

The old man first looked at Michael and then at Geron and Eydis. “It seems I misunderstood something the last time,” he said with a stern voice.

“May we come in,” Michael asked with a polite smile. Kiran shrugged and turned around, walking into the small house. Michael sniffed the air, but he couldn’t find a trace of what he was looking for as he and his retainers followed the old man in. Michael let his gaze travel through the single room, he had thought something was odd with it the last time he was here but now he knew what it was.

“You people want some tea,” Kiran asked and pointed at the table for them to sit. They followed his invitation and Michael said, “Yes please, your tea has helped me a lot.” The old man snorted at that and dipped a teapot in a barrel in the corner before he put it over the fire. Michael looked at the large water barrel in the corner with suspicion and noticed that Kiran had not put the lid back on it.

After sitting down, he finally spoke again, “So what can I help you with this time, boy.”

“I think proper introductions are in order as we seem to have forgotten these the last time we met. My name is Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan of the County of Reen and Emall.”

“Huh, so you were a little lordling in the end. Well, my name is Kiran, son of Igrin, I am an ex-adventurer.”

“I wanted to thank you again for your help with my mental blockade, my magic saved my life a while ago,” Michael said while still smiling. He was actually happy to see the man again as he owed him quite a lot.

“That is not why you came here without your whole caravan though, you have taken a detour to come here I assume, so there must have been another reason,” Kiran concluded correctly and stared back.

“You are a mage and I want you to teach me,” Michael revealed his reason for coming, he had no reason to play games. Kiran didn’t even flinch at the revelation, he just leaned back and said, “You are wrong. I am no mage; I don’t even have an affinity.”

Michael blinked at him with a raised eyebrow while he said, “I assure you we mean you no harm. I am not here to make you trouble but rather offer you a job in an environment where you don’t have to hide your gift.”

“I am still no mage. What makes you even think that?” Michael was confused, he was certain that he was a mage, why did he keep denying it after he had been found out?

“You know a lot about magic for starters. Yes, you said that you knew some in your time, but I still wonder why you should know how to become a better mage if you aren’t one and why you would have such a poor opinion of the order of purity if you didn’t feel superior,” Michael hastily explained.

Kiran laughed at that. “I hope that is not the only thing you have because I thought you were actually quite smart before.”

“No of course not,” he was starting to get a grip of his confusion. He might want to see how I found out or just test me, Michael thought while he laid out his arguments in his head.

“Okay, the first clue I had was that you even found me. I was sitting on the side of your house and was whispering my incantations; I don’t think you could have heard me so you must have sensed my mana. The problem with that is that you were in your house and there are no windows in that direction so you couldn’t have seen my mana but must have sensed it through the wall. I can’t do that, those two can’t either,” he pointed at Geron and Eydis, “but Sola can, by feeling around her with her mana.”

Kiran nodded along but didn’t interrupt him, so he just continued.

“You also identified that I am a light mage, you claim to have heard my incantation, but it still made me suspicious. When we talked about my blockade you knew a lot of things you shouldn’t care about if you aren’t a mage as I already said.”

Kiran held up his hand and stopped Michael, and he hoped for a moment that he had proven himself enough, but Kiran just stood up from his chair and got the hot water from the fire. He poured it into a smaller pot with leaves in it and said, “It will have to breathe for around five minutes.” He then signaled Michael to continue.

“Uhm, I talked with someone about augmenting, and he told me about what effect affinities have on augmenting. The day I met you behind your house I remember a breeze of humidity coming from you, it is weird that I still remember that, I know, but it was a dry day and it just burned into my memory. I think you are a water mage and I think that you are the reason that there hasn’t been a drought in this village in the last ten years, since you moved here, even though there have been two in the kingdom in that time. And that is the reason you left the lid open on your barrel because if we were here to arrest you, you need that water to fight.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Michael looked at the man, waiting for his reaction. He sat there in silence thinking about what Michael had said. He then shook his head with a smile, “I understand how you got that idea, but you are still wrong, I...”

Before he even fully ended his sentence Michael interrupted him, “Your house is smaller on the inside than on the outside. Not by much but it still is. There is a small extrusion on the outside where I hid that is not in here.”

Kiran's words got stuck in his throat as he stared at Michael. He didn't say anything until a few seconds later Michael pointed at the shelf in the corner, "There was something odd about that shelf the first time I was here, but I couldn't put my finger on it, some kind of feeling. But now that I noticed that your room is too small, I guess that there is something behind that shelf isn't it."

"Damn, it seems I let my guard down because you are a child," Kiran said while shaking his head slightly. Michael shrugged with a smile. "You are not the first one. What is behind there anyway?"

They sat in silence for a moment until Kiran began to pour them tea. "So, you want me to teach you, what happens if I refuse." Kiran just ignored his question and Michael let it slide.

"Nothing. We will leave and never talk about you again."

Kiran didn't look like he believed him but didn't press the issue. "Why do you even want me to teach you, you have your priestess do you not?"

"You pointed out things Sola couldn't, you have another perspective on magic and more experience I presume. I learned from Geron and Eydis here," he pointed at them, "that having two teachers that follow different paths can be an enriching experience for a student."

Kiran looked at his tea, he seemed very unhappy with the situation and Michael felt slightly guilty, but he would not be denied a good teacher if he could help it. "I am sorry, it is not safe for me to show myself in public."

Michael shook his head happily, "My father has promised to protect you as long as to adhere to the laws and prevent the Inquisition from framing you."

"You really have prepared an argument for everything haven't you?" Michael chuckled at that and replied, "I fell on my nose once when I wasn't prepared adequately, so now I try to be."

Kiran was lost in thought after that and Michael just sipped on his tea, he wanted to give the man time to think and just hoped he would warm up to the idea. After five minutes of silence, he finally spoke again with a dark facial expression, "It has been a long time since I had an apprentice. I had some in my days, but they were all killed, either by monsters, angry peasants, or by the Inquisition. I don't know if I can do it again."

"I want to change things; I became a friend of the crown prince so maybe you can show him that mages are not all evil when he comes visiting and he can stop the hunt on mages in the kingdom once he is king. I think I am one of the safest students you can possibly have so let’s change things together, if not in the kingdom, then in the county. We can try to convince my father and my oldest brother as well." Michael meant what he said, he wanted to stop the hunt, mages were human as well and Kiran has shown Michael the positive effect they can have on the land and the people.

"I don't know," the man said and for the first time, he looked really old to Michael, all the weight of his past pressing on his shoulders he looked tired. Michael felt sorry for him, he had been living his life in fear of being unjustly imprisoned and burned because of something he had no control over.

"I will not pressure you to do anything. I would love to learn from you and help you live a good life without fear but in the end, it is your decision." Michael downed his cup of tea and stood up. "I know you have much to think about and I want you to take your time. We will leave now if you are interested, you can come with us; if you need more time, you can come to Reen later and meet me there. We can talk about your requirements and payment, now or in Reen.” Michael looked at the man who still showed no sign of even listening before he continued. “We will give you some space, please inform us today if you need more time to think about it, we will leave in about three hours. Thank you for the tea, it was good."

Michael rose from his chair and Kiran stayed put staring at his cup, lost in thought. They left his house without further words and made their way to their horses, bound at the edge of the village.

"Do you think he will join us," Geron asked.

"I don't know. I do hope so, I have a good feeling about him, it would be a shame to lose someone like him.”

“Do you really think he is worth the trouble? You don’t even know if he is any good,” Geron argued, he had been unsure about this idea the whole way and Michael could understand his concern, but he hadn’t experienced the aura of knowledge that this man had shown Michael.

“I just know and if I am wrong then I am wrong.” Geron nodded and said, “Just wanted to make sure you are certain.” He probably still wasn’t convinced but what more could he do but voice his concern?

They spend the time training, and after a short while an audience of children formed watching Michael go through the motions using a short sword that he had been given for his protection.

It didn’t even take an hour before Kiran came walking toward them. Michael put his sword on his shoulder and looked at the approaching man.

Kiran stopped in front of him and looked Michael in the eyes with a serious expression. Michael returned it and waited for the man to talk, even though he was pretty sure what he was going to say.

“You meant what you said about trying to change this country? Or at least the lands of your family?”

“I mean it, mages are human as well, and we should stand together as Idas taught us, not hunt each other like it is some kind of game. It makes me sick.” Kiran looked at him weirdly at the mention of Idas, but Michael ignored it.

“Okay, then I want enough funds to do it correctly, I don’t really care about being paid that much. I am old and this is the last time I can do something good for the world anyway, so we are going to do it right. We are going to need to build a room for magical experimentation and learning, but most importantly of all I won’t accept your priestess to interfere in my lessons. She can teach you about how every spell is a grace from God all she wants but once it is my turn, I will do things my way. Promise me that or I will not come.”

“I promise, we will handle it the same way as with Geron and Eydis. For the funds, we will have to see, and I might have to go groveling to my father,” he laughed nervously, “I might have gone a little overboard in buying things in the capital. But we have a large property, so we should find a lot of space to fit you and everything you need in. I don’t know how far along the renovations are though.”

“Wait, you are not living in the castle?” Kiran looked surprised and rightfully so, it was weird to not live in the castle but in the town below for a son of the count after all.

“No, we needed more space for my education and the castle is always so noisy, so we moved into a large house in the town,” Michael explained with a smirk.

The old mage laughed at that and said, “You take your education seriously it seems, maybe you really are worth my time.”

Michael cheered in his head but kept his composure on the outside, the moment the man came he was sure that he would join him. He looked undecided in his home, and he would have taken more time to think if he were to decline the probably last chance to do something different than live his remaining years in this village, always fearful of when an Inquisitor would knock on his door.

“So how long are you going to take to get your things together packed and your affairs sorted out?”

“I won’t make it in two hours, so I would recommend you just go ahead, and I will find you in Reen.”

Michael grinned with a sneaky expression and replied, “The three hours were not entirely truthful. We have all the time in the world. We will be happy to help you with packing.”

“Heh, you are devious that much is clear. You have to tell me how you have gotten like this; I never met a child like you before.” Kiran shook his head but kept his eyes on Michael, they were virtually gleaming with curiosity.

Michael knew he was odd, and he enjoyed using his oddity as a means to attract interesting people. So far, he was very happy with who he got.

“Alright, then come help me pack, I have an old horse and a cart that we can use. Most of the stuff I have can stay here anyway, I might even get some coin for them.”

They made their way back to his house and the mage began ordering them around, packing boxes, getting his horse out of the stable of a farmer, and other tasks. Many of the villagers came by out of curiosity and Kiran managed to haggle a lot of stuff he wouldn’t need anymore.

Michael was smiling the whole time, bathing in his success.