When I awoke the next morning, the strange old man was gone. Rebert sat hunched above a small fire that still burned at a steady flame. As I looked around for the man from the night before, I was surprised to find that it was still pleasantly warm. The air felt cool and warm, and the trees around us even seemed to breathe out the crisp, clean scent of leaves and bark.
Rebert noticed me and nodded. Clidale was also awake, sitting off to the side of Rebert, but he didn’t look happy. Instead, he scowled down at the fire, and I figured they had been arguing.
Clidale looked up at me, sensing that I was awake. “He left without even saying goodbye.”
Rebert’s eyebrows furrowed. “Quiet, child, before you get your wish and he returns.”
Their bickering finally woke Shay, and she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked irritated, and I couldn’t blame her. Rebert shook his head, not taking the bait. “If you knew who he was, you wouldn’t be so eager to see him again.”
Clidale’s angry face was replaced by confusion. “Who is he?” he asked.
Rebert looked at me, then at the others. He cursed under his breath, perhaps wishing he hadn’t spoken so brashly. Then he spat on the ground and rubbed his bearded chin.
“You think this is easy?” Rebert looked around at our small spot encircled by trees. “Do you think that type of cold can exist and just turn to summer in the flick of a wrist without much effort?”
Rebert gestured at the ground, then pointed in the distance. Surprised, I realized that if I looked far enough away, I could still see snow on trees, on the ground, and on the bushes, some 30 feet away. “And look at the fire, lads. Does it seem like it will ever stop burning to you?”
I looked down at the fire again and realized he was right. It was as if we had been transported to another world inside a dome and could see the outside as it was. The warmth was not only around us, and the snow hadn’t come back, and the flame at the center of it was just as tall and lively as the night before. The logs that the man had placed there were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the fire burned on nothing and floated in the air.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“I know what it is. It’s bloody magic, and it’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” Clidale smiled to himself smugly, as if he had already figured it all out, pushing his hands towards the fire.
Rebert stood up, anger transforming his red eyes into daggers. “You think this is a game, child?” Rebert kicked dirt up, and it sprayed onto Clidale, getting on his chest and covering his face with dust and grit.
Clidale yelped and stood up, shocked by the outburst of anger. Shay stood up as well, and put her hands forward to calm Rebert.
I knew the man had a temper, but I had never seen him lash out before like this. Then I remembered how Rebert had been the night before. Fear had transformed the man. He had become a creature that groveled on the ground and had forgotten how to speak in naught but quiet prayers.
“Magic isn’t a word to be used lightly. You’ve never seen it, never heard of it,” Rebert slashed the air with his hand. “Sure, they have their herbs, and brews, and tricks of the light--but even the Chantrian barely wield any power. Their true power resides in their artifacts.” Rebert breathed out, trying to calm himself, pausing for a moment. “Magic,” Rebert spat out, sneering. “True magic, real magic, is a very rare thing.” As he said that, he looked at me quickly, but looked away even quicker.
He rummaged around and tossed a stick into the still-roaring fire. The twig was small and should have curled up with the heat of the flame, but instead, it just disappeared, as if the fire’s heat was so intense it could incinerate anything that entered it.
Rebert pointed angrily at the fire. “You see that? That’s real magic.”
“But this man? He is no man. He is more of a god than a man. Did you see what he did to my sword? That was Shinarin steel, and it became ice just by him wanting it so.” For a moment, Rebert stared at the fire. Then, seeming to snap out of it, he stood and began picking up our meager belongings with a manic intensity. “And if you think he found us by chance, then you are even more stupid than I thought.”
As if he had already decided that we were leaving, Rebert threw the pots and pans, the few clothes, and the couple of knapsack bags carrying our rations into the cart without any pretense of organization.
Shay, Clidale, and I jumped in after him, and Rebert cracked the reins. The huge horses sprang into action, and we left the warm clearing. The cold hit me like a slap, and it felt like the breath had left my lungs. And yet, the cold was not what it was before. This was normal--breathable. But we didn’t turn back, and I was glad to be gone from the place after what Rebert had said.