Earon spread out his arms, catching himself as dizziness took over. He was panting, hard.

“Earon, are you okay?” Lexi called out as she dashed over from the fire, where she had sat, alongside others.

It was night, and all but those chosen for the night watch had taken rest. But Earon had been acting weird, and Lexi hadn’t been able to sleep, having always kept one eye on him.

“I-I'm... I'm fine,” Earon stammered as dizzying shapes spun and the world seemed to morph in front of his eyes.

“You don’t seem fine,” Lexi said, placing a hand on Earon’s back and taking his hand.

“It’s fine, Lexi. I’m fine,” Earon said, pulling his hand free from her.

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes,” Earon shook his head. “Sorry, but there’s a lot going through my mind right now.”

“It’s fine,” Lexi said, her shoulders slumping and a quiver tickling the edge of her lip.

“No, it’s not,” Earon sighed. “You’re just trying to be helpful.” Earon turned his sights to the horizon, where patches of red lit up the night sky from the burning silhouette of Caedstad. “It’s just that... I’m sick of not being able to do anything. I’ve lost people close to me, and maybe more I don’t know about. I’ve turned away from friends, let fear rule me. And for what? It seems chaos has followed me regardless.”

“Earon.”

He turned back to Lexi. “I just want it to stop, that’s all.” A tear swelled at the corner of Earon’s eye. “And idiots like you keep following me into this mess.”

Lexi shot forward and wrapped her arms around Earon. “We’re going to survive this, okay? You, me, and everyone else you left behind. We’re going to get stronger. We’ll face our fears and become real casters capable of making a difference.”

Earon croaked as he fought back tears.

“No more dying, okay?”

Earon nodded as he nestled his face into Lexi’s back.

Early morning rays of light awoke Earon as they crept across the horizon, and his groggy disposition was eagerly roused by an already boiling pot of tea atop the still-shouldering embers of last night’s fire.

He rose, poured a cup, and impatiently blew on it, still scalding his tongue when he finally relented and drank.

The day wouldn’t wait for anybody, and soon the troupe would be up and have packed up and begun their journey again. He couldn't waste a minute, he needed to train for as long as he possibly could, every day until he was strong enough.

When the time came to move on, Lexi had to shake Earon by the shoulder to break him from his trance-like state.

“You’re so far ahead of me and it feels like you’re only getting further,” Lexi said with a downcast expression.

“I got a leg up. Not that it matters, the years are different for casters, at least from what I understand. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up.” Earon smiled and bit off a mouthful of stale bread as they walked, washing it down with his waterskin.

“So, anyway, about last night?”

Earon’s cheeks reddened.

“I was wondering, are you going to keep me safe?”

Earon chuckled, “Of course, silly.”

“Why is that funny?”

Earon shook his head. “It’s not.”

“I got my eye on you, boy,” Lexi said, pointing at Earon.

“In all seriousness, though,” Earon said, clearing his throat. “Rayets might have a safe passage into the city, but once we get in there, we don’t know what we’ll find. I need you to look after yourself, stay out of harm's way.”

“Earon, I’m not a-”

“Lexi,” Earon raised a hand. “I’m not joking around. I can barely look after myself as it is. I doubt I’ll be able to keep you safe if something happens. We made a promise, didn’t we?”

Lexi nodded. “Okay, Earon. I understand.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

From their elevated camping spot, the sprawling camp that surrounded Caedstad’s walls was an intimidating sight, but as they continued toward the secret entrance, it became clear just how far they really were from it.

The entrances had been inconspicuous. There were no signs of anything. There hadn’t even been any sign of the fog and slushy ground until they were surrounded by it.

When the caravan finally found the entrance, they hitched the wagons and began unloading the goods. This had been the second reason they were paid; besides bodyguards, the caravan needed as many hands as they could get.

It would have been a difficult job carrying all the goods up the rocky slope they found through the doorway and inside of the cave. The rocks were slippery and difficult enough to climb without a heavy burden. Luckily, a lever and pulley had been built for just that task.

“You’re lucky, we got through this trip without much incident. Wish we were half as lucky on the way to Saner.” Rayets said as they unloaded the wagon.

“What did happen to you?” Earon asked.

“Nothing too wild. Skull captains, it could’ve been worse. Not that it wasn’t bad enough. Lost three men, and they were amongst my best. I doubt you and the girl would be enough of a replacement if we ran into a similar group; if I'm being honest. But it isn’t particularly easy to find anyone in Saner wanting to travel west at the moment.”

“We can hold our own,” Earon said as he strained to pick up a crate and carry it into the cavern.

They loaded up a platform connected to the pulley system, whilst one of Rayets's men operated it.

Sacks of feed had already been stored in the cavern, and with its source of clean water, it had become a home for the horses. A couple of Rayets’s men stayed behind to man their little outpost and look after the horses, whilst the rest climbed to the upper ledge and placed the wagons on the platform.

When they reached the end of the lower sewers, the wagons had to be abandoned. However, the crates and pots only needed to be lifted into the upper section. They would carry what they could the rest of the way and organize for additional hands to assist with the rest of the cargo after checking in with Fane.

Earon skipped his steps and stared ahead, providing absent answers when spoken to – to Lexi’s growing frustration. However, Earon had explained why he was distracted, and she reminded herself of this whenever her annoyance with him started to bubble over.

As the group emerged from the cold, damp brick coffin of the sewers, a cacophony of screams echoed. The walls shook and debris loosened as the sounds of explosions erupted from somewhere above.

Sunlight pierced through a crumbled opening that had once been sealed by a metal grate, and the group quickened their pace.

Earon blinked and shielded his eyes against the bright, midday sun.

Another explosion rumbled across the city, and flaming boulders flew by, smashing into a three-story townhouse, caving in its walls and setting it alight.

Armored men rushed by; warpicks and halberds in hand as they charged toward the direction of the explosions.

“Come, this way,” Rayets said, turning down an alley in the opposite direction.

Earon turned to Lexi. “Go with them,” he said, nodding.

“We both are, aren’t we?”

Earon shook his head. “I haven’t been learning magic just for fun,” he smiled as he produced a pebble and ran after the small group of soldiers.

“Earon!” Lexi reached out.

“Come on girl,” Rayets said. “If you’re not a fighter, you have no business following him.”

Lexi watched Earon’s back as he disappeared down the road flanked by burning buildings and scattered debris.

“Come on,” Rayets said, growing impatient.

Slowly, she took a tentative step backward before turning on her heels and following the group.

Dozens of men manned a partially collapsed wall, exchanging blows with a group of dwarves that they surrounded. The heavy armor and immovable builds of the dwarves saw them kill or knock off several men from the wall for each of them that fell.

Earon watched as the group of soldiers charged up an external stairway toward the rampart - a screaming comrade falling past them as they fearlessly charged into battle.

Bolts and arrows struck against the exposed side of the dwarves, but unless they found an opening, they were of little effect, bouncing off harmlessly.

Charging forward, Earon ran into range and began shooting off his weighted pebbles. The dwarves were powerful warriors and draped in heavy steel, but the constant rain of the blunt, hammering strikes from Earon’s stones forced several into cowered stances. Halberds followed and Earon focused his attacks against the right flank of the dwarven rank as it began to falter.

Desperately holding their shields up, the dwarves fell into a hopeless, defensive stance, no longer throwing back their own offense. It was over for them. The halberds crushed down on cowered dwarves, one strike after another until they dropped their shields from exhaustion and were crushed by the relentless strikes.

With their right flank collapsing, the remaining force was exposed, and fresh men from the rear rushed past those still hammering down the lingering dwarves and engaged the left flank from behind. Earon followed, pelting them with a rain of pebbles.

Within minutes, the remaining dwarves had either fled back over the parapet or were cowered in fetal positions as soldiers pommeled them with picks and hammers.

Rushing up the stairway, Earon made his way up to the rampart and toward the parapet. It had been a relatively small assault group, and they were already fleeing back down and toward their camp, but Earon wouldn’t let them off that easily and began raining down crushing pebbles. From here, the sporadic hit he landed wouldn’t kill, but at least he would injure a few.

Breaking Earon’s violent trance, an armored hand grabbed his shoulder, and he spun around, panting.

“Whoever you are, I have thanks to give.” He was a bearded man, maybe thirty or so with weary eyes and covered in dirty, plate armor.

Earon stared back wordlessly for a moment as he panted.

“Sir Goyat,” the knight said, extending a hand.

“Earon.”

“I have no doubt I would’ve lost more men, if not for you. And that’s something I can hardly afford at this moment.”

“No problem,” Earon nodded, not sure how to respond.

“You should see the commander. We’re running low on casters. If you’re here to fight, he would no doubt want to hear from you.”

Before Earon could respond, a figure appeared in the street below the wall. He looked different, and refined, and wore felt and satin with hair that had clearly been taken care of. “I can hardly believe my eyes. Who’d have ever thought we would meet again like this.”

Still catching his breath, Earon turned toward the voice. It was Fane, flanked by Lexi and Rayets, sporting the widest smile Earon had ever seen cast across his face.

“And what’s more, you’re casting spells now.” Fane shook his head with delight. "We've got a lot to catch up on, it would seem."

Earon nodded in disbelief as his lips slowly curled into a smile.