[https://i.imgur.com/VGCFMQy.png]

"As I was saying before the idiot child interrupted us. If I'm going to teach you this, you've got to listen to everything I say." Hecate said, clearing her throat.

Refenial nodded.

"The first thing is learning to see the flow of mana. It'll take you time, you won't get it today or this week even, but once you do, it's very important that you don't try and control it. That lesson will come later. If you are foolish, people will die that don't need to die. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Old Mother Hecate." Refenial nodded again

"Right, now sit still, back straight, no squirming and close your eyes."

Refenial straightened and winced slightly from the pain of his injuries as he closed his eyes.

"Good. Now sit even more still. You'll need to breathe, but even with that, breathe with only the slightest of movements."

Refenial focused on his breathing, slowly minimizing the movements as he sought to school his body into stillness.

"Well, that's a start, I guess. Keep working on that, and I'll tell you when to stop." He heard Old Mother Hecate say.

Refenial sat there as still as he could, trying to focus on his breathing, but as he did, he felt his thoughts kept drifting back to the forest, the sound of Maxit hitting the tree and of his father's anguished sobs.

"Stop it!" Hecate snapped. "I said, sit still. That means your mind too. I can see your thoughts all over your face."

Refenial tried to focus back on his breathing but struggled to. Every time Refenial's mind began to wander, usually back to thoughts of Maxit, Hecate would scold him.

With his eyes closed, Refenial couldn't tell how long had passed, but eventually, Hecate said, "That's enough for today, boy."

He opened his eyes and saw the old woman still sitting in front of him. "Your mind is too unfocused. Why can't you concentrate?"

Refenial stared intensely at the grass between them. "Maxit." He said softly.

Old mother Hecate sighed, slowly raising a hand to rub her temple. "I forget that you're a child sometimes. You're more mature and competent than I'd expect for a child of your age, and your soul, well, you aren't a child in many ways. I suppose that was the first death you saw."

Refenial nodded, his eyes hot and stinging.

"I remember the first death I saw. I was four, maybe five. He was an old drunk, I'd grabbed his purse, and he was chasing me. His heart gave out. Damn lucky, too. I'd have got a thrashing for sure if he'd caught me." Hecate stared into the distance as she spoke, "I remember looking into his eyes as he died. I was too scared to do anything else, too scared to run. I saw as life left his eyes."

Hecate shook her head gently. "Anyway, death is a part of life. The more you live life, the more you'll see death. Some mad hermit living alone in a cave might not ever see another person die. Someone who makes friends, family, enemies, takes risks, enjoys the rewards of life, they will see plenty of death and loss. It's the price of a life lived, so you can either accept it or let it destroy you."

After several moments Hecate cleared her throat and spoke again. "Anyway, that's enough magic practice for today. There's other stuff you'll be needing to learn." She pulled out a book similar to the one she had given Obit but smaller and thinner.

"Can you read?" she asked as she handed the book to him.

He took it awkwardly, placing it in his lap. Slowly he opened to a random place, looking down on its musty pages. As he first looked at it, the letters hand-scribed on the page made little sense, but as he continued to stare at it, a feeling of understanding slowly washed over him, and he began to read aloud. "And thus, it is often speculated among scholars that the realm of the fae is present in all places and times, not just at the boundaries at which they may cross. Some, in this author's humble opinion, less reputable scholars even posit that the fae are always able to watch all places in this realm and often do so. While this would explain their uncanny ability to know secrets and obscurities-"

"Good, that makes things easier," Hecate said, interrupting him.

"Wait, might these fae know why I was in those ruins?" Refenial asked hopefully.

"Maybe, though, who knows. And no, before you ask, dealing with the fae is very dangerous. They never give a straight answer unless you force them to. Their minds are like twisted mazes of scheming, cryptic smugness."

The conversation made Refenial think of the dreams he'd had about the ruins. He decided to ask the Old Mother. "I keep dreaming about the ruins. In the dreams, the ruins aren't ruins, they're a temple, and there are men in red robes who chant."

"Anything else you can remember from the dreams?"

"Yes, it's really hot, and there are these strange black symbols running across the temple. Does it mean anything?"

"Probably. Tell me again exactly where the ruins were in the forest. I think I'll visit them tomorrow."

Refenial described the path he took from the ruins as best as he could, and after that, Hecate took the first book back but gave him several more. They were all hundreds of years out of date but detailed the history and culture of the region. Refenial even learned that the village was situated on the edge of a country known as the kingdom of Frull.

They went to bed after supper as usual, and eventually, he drifted asleep to the same dreams as always. When he woke the next morning, Hecate had already left, so he went through his daily chores as he'd been instructed yesterday. Once he was finished, he sat by the window reading. Several times as he glanced up, he noticed Obit still hobbling, walking up to the village's adults and pointing to specific words in the book to help him read it.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]

It was getting dark by the time Old Mother Hecate returned, her steps slow and shaky as always. She sat down on her stool wearily and gratefully took the bowl of stew Refenial passed her with his working hand.

"Did you find anything?" Refenial asked.

"Yes, more bloody questions," Hecate said gruffly.

Refenial gave her a pleading look, and she relented.

"I've worked out a little about you, boy. Nothing that'll do us a whit of good by sharing it, though."

Refenial glared at her.

"Oh, you mad, boy? Try traipsing here and there through miles of forest to find two small stones, based off vague directions at my age, only to get there and find nothing about that place made a lick of sense. Try that. Then you'll know mad, boy." Hecate was glaring at him, but as he drew back, she visibly calmed herself.

"Look, I'm not explaining it to you because I've worked out too little to be useful for solving anything. I don't want you going off and getting into trouble with a head full of half-baked theories and then coming crying to me later when it all blows up in your face. Now I'm tired, the conversation is over, and I'm going to bed." Old Mother Hecate said, leaving her bowl of stew almost untouched as she got up to go to bed.

As the days went on, a routine began to develop. Refenial would get up and spend the morning doing chores, though they were still a struggle with his hand. After that, several hours of practising sitting still followed by reading until it got dark, then it was supper, bed, and dreams of the ruins.

Refenial would often see Obit walking around the village. The younger boy always had the book in his hands and was constantly pestering Refenial or the adults to read specific words or explain their meaning. On several occasions, Refenial caught Hecate staring at the boy, a complicated look on her face.

On the rare moments Refenial had free; he would stand in the centre of the village, looking out of its gate at the murk of the forest outside. He hadn't left since the fateful day, and Hecate never asked him to go out.

Soon the greens of the forest started turning to rich oranges and browns, with the occasional black of a crow. A chill entered the air that seeped into his bones, leaving him always slightly too cold.

As he sat during his magic lesson on the chilly grass, his eyes closed as he focused on nothing. Hecate spoke, "You're getting there, Refenial. I think you're ready for the next step. This is the difficult one."

He'd slowly made progress, memories of the wolf's attack often resurfaced when his mind was idle, but he'd gradually got to the point where most days he could bury those thoughts away when he practised being still.

Refenial listened intently, his eyes still closed.

"Lots of people who teach this include lots of mumbo-jumbo and fancy words to make it sound like they know what they're talking about. Truth is, all you have to do now without moving any part of your body, your eyelids included, is open your eyes."

Refenial's face twitched involuntarily as he tried to follow the seemingly paradoxical explanation.

Hecate continued, "A soul has eyes, not in a real, literal way but in a true way. You won't be able to feel them til you use them, though."

Refenial felt his concentration slip as he tried to understand Hecate's explanation.

"Let's leave it here. Just remember this, once you open your soul's eyes, you'll see mana, and most folk who do, the first thing they do is try and reach out and touch it. Do that without knowing what you're doing, and you'll die, and most probably, so will everyone around you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Old Mother Hecate." He said dutifully, opening his eyes.

Behind him, he heard a commotion and leaned around while still sitting.

At the gate were several wooden wagons surrounded by weathered men and women. Since arriving, this was the first time he'd seen outsiders in the village. Villagers had already begun to flock to the caravans. Children laughed and ran, clearly excited by the visitor's arrival.

"What's happening?" He asked, turning back to the Old Mother.

She nodded sagely, "It's a merchant caravan. They come a few times a year; this'll be the last one before spring." Several small coins appeared in Hecate's hand. "Take these, then take my stool back to the house. After that, go to the wagons and tell them you want as much scrap cloth as you can buy with that. Between your growth spurts and carelessness when fighting the wolf, I'm about out of cloth. Tell them it's for me and that if they don't give you a good deal, I'll come have a word with them later. I've had words with them before, so they'll remember."

[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]

Refenial quickly obeyed and was soon in front of the wagons that were surrounded by a large crowd of villagers, some coming with sacks, baskets and barrels to sell, others with coin to buy. Most seemed to want to do both, as well as talk to the merchants about news from outside the village. It took Refenial several minutes of politely but firmly moving through the crowd before he got near the front.

After selling a pan to a villager, a young man from the caravan with a lethargic disposition turned and looked down at Refenial. "What'd you want, pipsqueak? We ain't giving out free sweets no matter how many times you ask. The weird kid with the book already tried."

"No, I'm here to buy some scrap cloth." He said, holding out the money. "It's for Old Mother Hecate. She said she'd come talk to you later if you didn't give a good deal."

The lad gave an unimpressed look. "She could be the King's mother for all I care, were the last caravan here before spring, she'll get what she gets for the price she paid, like it or lump it."

Another older man from the caravan with a striking family resemblance to the young man grabbed him by the arm, dragging him a few steps away. The older man whispered something urgently to him. The pair both looked at Refenial before the man whispered again. The young man nodded, and the older one let go of his arm.

The lethargic youth returned visibly sweating and looked a little pale. "Look, I'm sorry. Um, it's my first trip on this route. I didn't realize. Here I'll get that cloth. It'll be a good deal. I'll even throw in some of those sweets the other boy wanted out of my own pocket. Please don't tell Old Mother Hecate I was rude about her." The young man looked nervous as he finished speaking.

"Don't worry, I won't," Refenial said, taking pity on the caravaneer.

The lad flopped slightly in relief before fetching a sack full of scrap cloth and a handful of hardboiled sweets. As Refenial stepped away from the crowd, he noticed Obit watching him eagerly.

"They gave you sweets!" the young boy exclaimed excitedly, rushing over, his leg long since fully healed.

Refenial shared them out between them.

"I knew if we kept asking, they'd give us some sweets eventually," Obit said as he sucked happily on his first sweet.

"How are you getting on with the book?"

"Oh, this thing, it's going well. I can read lots and lots of words now, though I still don't know what some of the words mean. I've memorized a little bit of it too. Old mother Hecate said I had to remember everything in this book. Do you think she'll be impressed? Mommy and Daddy were super mad that I talked to her, but when I told them that she wanted me to read this book, they were super surprised. I told them that I thought she might get sad if I didn't learn it all, so they've been helping me with a lot of the words and even said I could do less chores so I could spend more time studying it. Daddy even promised to buy extra candles so I can study in the evening when it's dark. They're expensive; Daddy must really want Old Mother Hecate to not feel sad."

Refenial smiled at the Obit's evident enthusiasm. He felt a little guilty since it seemed like Obit's belief that Refenial was a noble was the boy's motivation. He hoped Obit would never find out the truth.

"Anyway, these are lots of sweets, and Mommy says it's nice to share, so I'm going to give the rest to the other kids. I'll be like a real hero making people happy." With that, Obit ran off to distribute sweets.

Refenial returned to his home, and Old Mother Hecate nodded in satisfaction at the sack of cloth.

[https://i.imgur.com/3vZaHAB.png]