Seventh Day of August, In the Year of the Empire 6777

Hartson's Point of View

When I woke, it was dark, and I was in bed. Someone was with me, it is Sienna, of course. She was rocking nearby and reading.

I began to think about what had happened. How long was I out? Did I heal Sienna enough? Not wanting to wake her, I gently pushed some healing mana into her body again. Everything was fine.

But what had happened? After healing her, the magic that remained in her came slamming back into me while I was still pulling more from the ground. That's the last thing I remember, that moment when those two waves of mana crashed together.

What did all that mana do to me then? As I did with Sienna, I slowly added healing magic to my body. Most of my body was in good shape. The rest had small breakdowns that were slowly spreading and growing worse as I watched.

The backlash should have killed me instantly. Now it looks as if the healing mana saved me then, and I'm dying now?

When I had healed Ava and the girls, there was nothing like this. But neither did I throw every ounce of mana I had into their healing.

What I did to heal Sienna, I did that in mindless madness. That should have killed us both. I shuddered. Losing control like that, it can never happen again.

Bit by bit, I found all the damage and fixed it. I felt bruised and battered, but I was able to breathe better. I had not moved in days and could not because my mussels seemed to be locked. Slowly, I became well again, hole, and my body relaxed.

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I would have to investigate this further, but only after finding a safe way to do it.

The morning light was starting to brighten the room.

"Hey"

Her smile is excellent, greeting me.

"How are you feeling now? Do you need anything," she asked.

Smiling back at her, "You're safe and well. That is all I want right now."

We went downstairs. It was early morning, but Rita was there with hot tea already.

"Hartson!" she shouted in happiness. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you up, you damned fool of a boy! "

"Uh?"

"Uh? That's all you've got to say about casting that damn war spell. What were you thinking? Did you even think at all?

What if those bandits would have attacked from the direction of this house?"

Behind Rita, I saw Sienna smiling, finally glad it was someone else getting the ear full, but her smile disappeared quickly, replaced by horror as her mom continued to shout at me.

"Did you think of that? Ever think about your target area? You could have killed your father, your sister, Sienna's father, and everyone else here! What if you faced your new fort area? All of those poor soldiers would have died! Then what would you do about your barony and everything else? Never mind the Kingdom executing you for killing all those innocent people!"

I was crushed, but when Rita paused for a breath, I jumped in. "I thought I would lose her! Everyone! I didn't know what else to do!"

Rita grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, crying.

Rita spoke softly, "We're all okay. Everyone's safe. Sienna is safe."

After nearly another minute, Rita calmed and released me.

"I'll train more, I promise."

Suddenly Rita grabbed onto this idea. "Train? It takes more than training. You will be out with your soldiers on missions." Her voice was now cold and deadly. "You will become a real war mage so you can protect her, or you'll never see Sienna again."

No longer am I talking to Sienna's mother, no this is the war mage I was warned to fear.

"Of course."

Sienna found her voice, "Are you going to leave?"

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm going to go ahead. I'll go to the frontier, make a safe, and build our own home there, just for us. When it is ready, I'll come back and get you to live there with me. Then we will grow our own family."