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Faint smoke fouled the crisp autumn air, as I stumbled through the bushes. Sleep dragged at me and hunger drilled a hole in my gut, but something drove me on. A distant need for something I did not recognize. Pain brought me back to my senses as a scale was torn free by a thorn. Silently berating myself walking through the bush instead of around, my attention was caught by odd noises and distant rustling as something moved in the distance.
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Torin
"It's fine dad, I won't forget how to hunt just because I'm getting dragged off to some fancy academy."
"Torin, you should know by now that is not what I am worried about, I am worried you will say something stupid in front of a noble and your poor mother will have news of your unfortunate demise delivered to our door." He said pointedly
"Oh please, the kingdom is desperate for Warcasters, everyone knows the Selurians are preparing for war, they are not going to let some puffed up noble weaken the army." I countered
"That kind of speech is exactly what I worry about, the nobles own the army, don't provoke them or they will kill you!" He said forcefully
"Way to scare away all the game." I grumbled
"We weren't going to get anything with the way you were stomping around anyway." He retorted before sighing "Let's get back to the village, least we can do is give them the roots we found."
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Following the strange beings was almost comically easy, they would be lucky to catch even the most dimwitted prey with all the noise they were making. There was the tall one with a burly build and heavy fur on it's face, and the smaller one with a similar build and missing the fur. What really caught my attention was the feeling the smaller one emitted, it almost felt like it was weakly tugging me as it walked. Was this how these strange beings hunted, draw in an unwary predator and strike? I was surprised when they picked up their pace a bit, did they know I was there? Were they trying to lead me into a trap?
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Torin
"Keep calm but move fast and stay alert, we are being followed." His quiet words sent a chill down my spine.
We kept our arrows knocked as we walked, the village was not far but it paid to be careful in the woods and I did not want to be the next victim of a bear or mountain lion attack. Soon we came upon one of the paths worn by hunters leaving the village, spurring us on for the final leg of the trip. The low burbling of the brook near our village, brought me more comfort then I would dare to admit as we finally reached the outskirts.
"Take these herbs to Old man Dunitz, he wanted to put them in the stew tonight." He said as he handed me a small sack.
"Don't have to tell me twice." I said with a slight shudder, he tried his best but after his wife's passing last winter the quality of food suffered dramatically.
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Delivering the herbs did not take long and soon I was free to practice the exercises I was taught during the Mage census. Taking deep breaths to steady myself, I tried to follow the feeling of mana entering through my skin and traveling from the rest of my body to rest just above the small of my back. With an exertion of will I coax the crystalized lump of mana to break up a bit working to limit the damage of uncontrolled mana growth. It was strangely calming just focusing on pulling small chunks away and carefully spreading them elsewhere.
Stretching slowly to return feeling to my limbs, I noticed the dim light and bowl of cold stew sitting in front of me. Tiredly grabbing my bowl and forcing myself to eat the stew, I finally decided to head off to sleep, our region's guardian would arrive tomorrow and I had to be ready to leave.
The guardian arrived with little fanfare, a kindly old woman named Delia, she was the one who administered the tests for the census, and she was the one who would take people to the academy when they came of age. As I was preparing to climb into her cart my father walked up to me, for a moment we just looked at each other before he hugged me and said "Be careful out there, I worry for you."
I smirked after pulling away and replied "I'll be fine, I won't say anything too stupid."
He chuckled "see that you don't" before turning and heading for the woods.
I climbed up into the cart next to Delia, and we got underway. After sitting in silence for a few minutes She said "We are meant to be protectors, you know."
"We are, aren't we? I mean the Selurians started it, and we need our warcasters to counter their own." I said
"It is rarely so simple." she replied "A caster's purpose is to protect their people, not from others, but from mana itself. We used to have caster's in every city to draw the mana to themselves and keep the people safe."
"But what use is it protecting our people from mana if the Selurians kill them anyway?" I asked
"They have lost sight of their purpose, and so for that matter have we." She said somberly
We continued in silence for a while before she called a short stop. "Would you mind fetching some water for the horses and some tea if your able" she asked "There is a small stream not far in that direction."
I nodded slightly before grabbing two buckets and moving in the direction she pointed.
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I watched those creatures and the strange structure those larger animals were pulling them along in for a while, eventually they slowed to a stop and the old one sent the other away. I realized that both of them seemed to be pulling on me, and the old one was pulling with more force than I would expect from her size. I was startled when she looked right at me and started making an odd movement with her hand, I got the feeling she wanted me to come out of hiding.
As I started to emerge from the forest, she turned and began pulling something out of the back of the structure she rode. Moving closer I noticed the tantalizing scent of meat emanating from whatever she had grabbed. When I got within a few steps of her she turned and held it out towards me expectantly. I grabbed the meat greedily, and before I was even finished with the first, she was holding out another.
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Torin
Trudging back with two heavy buckets of water was exhausting work, but I had done harder things before. Nearing the edge of the trees I began to wonder if I could get Delia to teach me about casting as we rode. I almost dropped the buckets in shock when I saw Delia calmly sitting on the cart handfeeding what must have been a 7 foot tall green lizard. Without even turning to look back at me, Delia called out "Don't be afraid Torin, he is here for you."
"Was that supposed to comfort me." I called back
"I hope it did, the horse is thirsty, and I want tea." She replied
After making my way back to the cart I set one of the buckets in front of the horse, and moved around the cart towards Delia and the lizard. With the better viewing angle I could now see large pieces of skin folded on it's sides. Those are wings I realized. Delia was hand feeding a Dragon and asking about tea.