There was a crackle of magical energy. Ash held out his hand. He felt the power of his mana flowing through him, taking form, turning thought into reality. He concentrated. There was a *Snap* in the fabric of the universe. A dozen small, lumpy potatoes fell into the pot of water in front of him.

Ash frowned. The potatoes were spotted with green and black patches. Small pale eyes were already sprouting on some of them.

Ash was thin for a teenage boy. He was tall and narrow, like a plank of wood left in the sun. His dark eyes were shadowed by his curly hair. Every piece of clothing that he wore was stained with soot at the edges and corners. Most of his hair was too.

He held out a skinny arm and concentrated again. He used his power to summon again. There was a clattering sound as a few wooden spoons landed in a pile beside him.

Ash picked out the least bent one and used it to stir the pot of boiling water.

“Didn’t you want to peel those first?” Luke asked.

“It’s fine. The skins are full of vitamins and minerals.” Ash replied.

Luke and Ash were the same age and the same height. Luke had light, short, straight hair that he combed playfully to one side. His youthful muscles were well defined and his fingernails were kept clean and trimmed. He had a strong nose, wide eyes, and always sat with an upright posture.

“It’s been a while since I ate boiled potatoes. Back in the castle the kingdom’s finest chefs used to prepare our meals. I had poached eggs for breakfast, rotisserie roasted pheasant for lunch, and salmon in a lemon butter cream sauce for dinner.” Luke said with a far away look in his eye.

“Well if you want to summon us a meal fit for a king I’m not going to stop you.” Ash dripped sarcasm into the conversation.

“But I will.” Ave cut in.

“No summons. We’re on the run from the guards.” She said plainly. “It takes roughly twenty eight days for a person’s mana to recharge enough so that they can perform a summoning. We need to save our mana for emergencies.”

“What kind of emergencies?” Luke asked.

“Search the area men!” A voice shouted from down the road.

“Those kind.” Ave sighed.

#

Ash, Luke, and Ave peeked out from behind some bushes. They could see a line of soldiers riding down the road towards them.

The Guardsman at the head of the group shouted to the others. “Keep a lookout men! They could be hiding anywhere.”

“There sure are a lot of Royal Guards out here. What do you think they’re looking for?” Luke kept his voice down.

“They’re looking for you.” Ash replied dryly.

“But not all of them right? I thought it was only the ones in the city.” said Luke.

“These ones might be on a different mission…” Ave speculated.

“Keep searching for the Royal Summoner everyone.” The Guard hollered.

“No. They’re definitely looking for you.” Ave admitted.

“I can’t believe they caught up to us so quickly.” Ash said.

“We could have made better time if you didn’t keep falling off of your tarpan.” Ave said.

Ash frowned at her. “It was my first time riding a tarpan.”

*Montage of Ash falling off of a tarpan*

“That animal is really grumpy too.” he said.

“You mean Buttercup?” Ave asked.

“More like… butter-crap.” Ash grumbled.

“Let’s get back to the tarpans. Ash, do you think you can slow them down?” asked Ave.

“I think I can. After today I feel like an expert in annoying tarpans.”

Ash hopped out of the bush and scampered down to the edge of the road. He held out his hand and concentrated. There was a plopping sound as several objects landed in the road. Ash finished summoning and raced back up to the bushes.

“Wait! The potatoes.” Ash exclaimed.

Ash turned around. He ran over to the boiling pot of tubers. He grabbed the handles on the sides of the pot. There was a half a second as he lifted the pot into the air before his palms registered the heat of the metal.

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

“Aaaah!”, he shouted.

With a discus-like spin he hurled the pot down the hill.

“Damnit!” he shouted in anger.

“Ash try to be quiet. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.” Luke chided him.

“I burned my hands.”

“You were yelling.”

“I burned my hands!”

“Hopefully no one heard you.” said Luke.

“Ride ahead men. I think I heard something!” came a voice from the road.

Luke put an arm round Ash’s shoulder. “Let’s just go shall we?”

#

A group of four soldiers galloped down the road.

*Naaay!!!*

Suddenly, with a terrified neigh the lead tarpan reared back on its hind legs. The other tarpans followed. The soldiers made an effort to control their mounts in the middle of the road.

“Woah. Woah!” The Eyepatch Guard yelled. “What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

“Sorry sir.” The Maquillage Guard shouted back. “The tarpans were spooked by something in the road.”

“What is it? What scared them?” The leader with the eyepatch asked.

“Snakes sir!” The subordinate with the eyeshadow replied.

“What?”

“There’s a load of snakes in the road sir.”

“How many?”

“At least a pit.”

“There’s a hole in the road as well?”

“No. That’s what a group of snakes is called.” said the Maquillage Guard.

“So how many is that!?” asked the Eyepatch Guard.

“More than a few, less than a lot.”

The Eyepatch Guard hopped off of her tarpan. “Move aside. Out of my way. I’ll deal with this.”

“Yes sir.” The Maquillage Guard scooted back on his horse.

The leader of the guards walked down the road. She passed in front of the other guards and their tarpans. In the road ahead of them she saw that there were a number of long black shapes blocking the path. The tarpans whickered nervously.

*Gulp*

“This is nothing. Even a child could drive off a few snakes.” said the Eyepatch Guard.

“That’s great to hear sir. We believe in you.” The Maquillage Guard said from the rear of the group.

The Guardswoman frowned. She drew her sword. With a series of tentative steps she approached the snake pit of snakes. When she was finally close enough that she could see the black viper sizzling in the heat of the sun she leapt forward.

“Yah!”

Her sword cut through the air and sliced the snake clean in half. One sticky half attached itself to the end of her blade. It flopped wildly at her.

“Yeeeh!”

She hurled her sword into the middle of the road. The rest of the snakes waited patiently without concern for their slain brother.

“... wait a minute…” The Eyepatch Guard squinted her singular peeper.

She picked up her sword. She wiggled it. The snake on the end wiggled back.

“These… these are just rubber hoses!” she shouted.

“Huh?”

“You incredulous cowards. Get down here and help me get these out of the road.”

The Maquillage Guard snapped to attention. “Yes sir. They’re not sticky are they? They look sticky.”

“Now!”

“Yes sir.” The other guards dismounted and began cleaning the road of the rubber decoys.

#

Ave was in the underbrush off of the side of the road. She was getting the tarpans ready so that they could make their getaway.

Luke jogged up through the bushes. He grabbed a saddlebag and tossed it over his shoulder. Ash stumbled after him.

“Ave, we should go. There are guards just down the road.” Luke said.

“What did Ash do this time?” she asked.

“Nothing.” Ash replied.

“Then why are you holding your hands like that?” she looked at Ash’s hands.

“This is unrelated.” Ash rubbed his red palms against his shirt.

Ave turned to Luke. “Get the rest of the gear and lead the tarpans deeper into the forest.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“I’ll help Ash with Buttercup.”

Ash approached the third tarpan with a blanket in his hands. As he got close the tarpan shifted her haunches and flicked him in the face with her tail.

“Blarg!” Ash fell backwards spitting horsehair from his mouth.

Ave walked over and took the blanket from him. She laid a gentle hand on Buttercup’s flank and calmly storked the tarpan. When she was ready she threw the blanket over the tarpan’s back and started to secure the saddle.

“I could have finished that.” Ash pouted.

“Not before sunset you couldn’t.” Ave continued tending to the horse.

“Hmmph.”

“Do we have a problem Ash?”

“No.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Also no.”

Ave didn’t turn around. She secured the stirrups on Buttercup's saddle.

“It’s nothing personal. I just think that it’s weird.” Ash put his hands on his hips. “All the Royal Guards from the Capital are out searching the countryside to arrest my friend Luke, except for one. You.”

*Buttercup grunted*

“It’s hard to believe that you’re not going to turn us in. That’s all.” Ash continued.

“I have as much to lose as you do.” she said.

“I still find that hard to believe.”

“Then let me prove it to you. Let’s get out of here before we get captured.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Ave led Buttercup away though the bushes deeper into the forest. Ash rubbed his hands on his shirt sleeves again and went to follow her.

They saw the tarpans a few meters ahead through the trees.

“Luke!” Ash called out. “Did you find a path we can use to escape through the woods?”

Luke was standing still. As Ash and Ave stepped around the other tarpans they noticed the long metal blade of a sword pointed at Luke’s chest.

Luke smiled sheepishly at them. “Sorry guys. I think I found the opposite thing.”