Cillian came running up through the same path he had been traveling since he started training with Tygus. The air was warm and the layer of snow on the trees and ground was thin. Cillian was moving with a steady pace. He was shirtless, and the only thing on his upper body was a backpack that weighed down his shoulders. Hot clouds of steam regularly formed in front of Cillian’s mouth as he confidently strode towards Tygus. The dwarf was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, watching.
“That was the fastest one yet,” Tygus said as Cillian slowed down in front of him.
Cillian maintained a tall posture as he dropped the bag. It fell with a powerful thud. His wet hair dangled beneath his nose and he wiped it behind his ears.
“Yeah,” Cillian said between heavy breaths. “I think I have the hang of it now. Even with almost 30 rocks.”
“You’ve made a lot of progress, lad,” Tygus said. He smacked Cillian’s shoulder. “At this rate maybe you’ll actually be something by next month.”
“What?” Cillian asked. He was looking at Tygus strangely.
“I said, maybe you’ll be something next month if you keep this up,” the dwarf replied.
“I don’t understand,” Cillian said with a puzzled attitude.
“Have you got sap in your ears, boy? What’s the matter with you?” Tygus exclaimed.
“No, I don’t get it. Are you saying that you want me to keep this up for another month?” Cillian asked.
“Yes, boy. You’re running well, but you still have a long ways to go,” Tygus said.
“Are you kidding me? You don’t think that was good enough?” Cillian said while gesturing to the bag on the floor. “How much faster should I be? It’s not like I am training for a race across the continent.”
“Norwood, you begged me to train you. Why are you complaining now?” Tygus gave Cillian a stern look.
“Because all you’ve done is teach me how to run away. I need to kill them,” Cillian tried to calm himself. “This isn’t what I expected. I thought you were going to train me how to get powerful or teach me how to fight, not just how to carry a bag of rocks up and down a mountain. I get that I need to have endurance, but why is running the only thing you have made me do for two months now?”
“Because it’s the only way you’ll survive! You’re weak, this is the only way!” Tygus snapped.
The remark stunned Cillian. He didn’t know how to respond. He just shut his mouth and stared on in silence.
“No, I didn’t mean that,” Tygus sighed. He rubbed his face then resumed, “The Funnel is dangerous, boy. That’s what I meant. Running is the best way to make it through.”
“But why? Why do I need to be able to run so much? Why won’t you just tell me what happens in the Funnel?” Cillian asked in an exacerbated tone.
“I’ve already told you many times Cillian, I just can’t talk about it,” Tygus frowned.
“Why?” Cillian shouted. “Why can’t you tell me? You said yourself, the Funnel is my only path to the power that I need. So why do I know nothing about it?”
“There is a reason the Unleveled don’t know anything about the funnel. Why do you think there are no books out there describing the Funnel? There are larger things at work here,” Tygus shouted back.
“What does that even mean?” Cillian threw his hands up in frustration. “Why are you hiding so much from me? I thought you wanted to help me, but this feels like some sort of cruel torture.”
“Boy! Just listen to me. I know what I’m doing,” Tygus shouted.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Cillian spoke softly and turned away from the dwarf. “Thank you for all your help, but every second I waste running around, Amalea stays trapped in their clutches.”
Cillian started to walk away from Tygus. “I’ll gather my stuff and leave tomorrow morning.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
***
Neither the sun's light nor clouds obstructed Cillian’s view of the stars. Each of the millions of white pinpricks coalesced into a swirling pattern across the sky. He watched bright stars twinkle sporadically, dim ones fade in and out of his vision, and the fleeting streaks of light as meteors burn up in the atmosphere. Cillian searched for meaning in the randomness.
He was laying on the roof of Tygus’ cabin. The brisk air was still and there were no noises from the surrounding woods. Sleep hadn’t found him, even this late into the night.
Maybe I should have waited till spring to leave. Acting so hastily wasn’t a good idea, but there is no going back.
A memory crawled back into Cillian’s mind. It was of his father. He couldn’t remember his face, it had been too long, but he could remember what they were doing.
They were playing. It was summer, the grass was green and the leaves were dense. Cillian’s father had a bucket over his head and stomped around in front of their house. He was roaring and growling.
Cillian was small. He was wearing a blanket as a cape and was armed with a stick.
“Stop, foul beast!” The words played in his mind. “Your reign of terror over this realm is over! I, Sir Cillian the Mighty, will slay you once and for all!”
Cillian could imagine it vividly now. After his proclamation, he charged his father and whacked him on the leg with his stick.
“Ouch! Okay, you win!” He remembered his father said, while Cillian was repeatedly hitting him. His father made an exaggerated show of falling over. “Enough! Stop! I promise I won’t eat any more children.”
Cillian remembered putting one foot on his fallen father and placing his hands on his hips in victory. He missed his father. He missed living without worry. He missed having his parents take care of him. It was his father who introduced Cillian to the tales of adventurers he loved so dearly. The spectacle of swords and magic, the perilous foes, and the treasure and fame were always Cillian’s comfort. At least he could always share it with Amalea.
Now, he was living his fantasy and everything felt wrong.
“Are you trying to freeze on my roof?” The voice of the old dwarf interrupted Cillian’s thoughts.
Cillian shot up.
“No, I, uh...Mr. Dronbar, I’m sorry about my outburst today,” Cillian said as Tygus sat beside him. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, but I meant what I was saying. I can’t leave Amalea alo-”
“Hush, boy,” Tygus interrupted. “I want to tell you a story.”
Cillian kept quiet and listened.
“There was once a mighty dwarven ruler who was traveling alone through a forest. After some time, he became lost. He searched and searched from hilltops, but could not find anyone. Soon, it became dark. So he kept traveling until he saw a light in the distance. He walked in that direction until he reached a hut. Outside of the hut, an old woman was reclining on a rocking chair. She thought the king was a soldier from the army, so she invited him inside,” Tygus started.
“She gave him water, spread out a nice place for him to relax, and went into her kitchen to prepare him food. She came out with hot Borwul, a type of dwarven bread made out of moss, and steaming rabbit curry. The king was so hungry that he shoved his hands into the hot food without thinking. He burnt his hands and spilled some of the food onto the ground.”
“Seeing this, the old lady said, ‘You seem to be impatient and hasty like your king. That is why you lost some food and burnt yourself,’” Tygus continued.
“The king was surprised to hear that and asked her, ‘Why do you think that our king is impatient and hasty?’
The old woman smiled and explained, “My dear, our king wants to be the one to conquer all the other tribes and unite the kingdoms. But his desire is so large that he ignores the small forts and only tries to capture the massive ones.’
The king interrupted, ‘But that is a good strategy. What is wrong with that?’
The old woman replied, ‘My son, like your impatience in eating caused you to burn yourself and waste food, so too does the king’s impatience for a swift victory cause the loss of his men. If you waited for the food to cool and ate the less hot food at the edge, instead of the center, you would not have gotten burnt and wasted your food. So too, the king should slowly capture the small forts to strengthen his position and then strike the massive ones when he is ready to avoid needlessly losing men.’”
Cillian thought over the story.
“So you think that I’m impatient?” Cillian asked.
“No, boy. But I think that you youthful ones have a tendency to be hasty and do not stop to think. I don’t want you to fall into that trap. It will take time for you to get to where you want to go,” Tygus sighed. “The truth is Cillian, you’re right. It is about time we added more to your training.”
Cillian’s eyes widened.
“Do you really mean that?” Cillian asked.
“You’re still gonna be running, and if that scares you I won’t stop you from leaving. But, if you stay, you will be doing more. You won't be such a weakling anymore and I'll teach you how to fight,” The elder dwarf said.
Cillian thought for a minute, then spoke.
“Okay, I’ll stay,” he said.
“Come on then, this roof isn’t made to be slept on,” Tygus said as he got up and helped Cillian to his feet.
Together, they climbed down the ladder and went back inside the cabin.
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[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990816889657778196/1011742587348074547/jfkeondowiwnskwoej_looking_up_at_the_stars_in_a_snowy_forest_fa_0e654ed3-3feb-4c8a-9d66-8f633573ecdb.png]
Gazing at the stars