Four days later

“You ready?” Scott asked as I walked in to the kitchen in the morning.

“Yeah.” I said, though inside I was nervous as could be. Would the gods strike me down as soon as I set foot in the church? Necromancers were hated across the land, and by how so many of the people I had grown up around acted it was for good reason. These last four days had been eye opening. Ellie gave her love freely and openly, there wasn’t ever going to be a dark corner in her heart. After I had come clean about what I could. I still played at having a bit of amnesia, but I let it out that I was thirteen, not ten and that Argos had passed on three years earlier. Keeping with the habit of mixing in a bit of truth, I told them I was blamed for the death of Argos and thus was barely given enough food to stay alive for three years, and that the bruises and broken bones were because the other friends of Argos would attack me when nobody was around to supervise.

In reality, I had spent the last three years sitting in a prison cell. Being the reincarnation of Melnon, I was given a comfortable cell, but it was still a cell. Bread and water were my meals, with a bit of meat and vegetables every third day to ensure I stayed healthy. But every afternoon my father would stop by and do everything in his power to get me to hand over the legacy. Some days it was with honeyed words and promises, telling me of how life was moving in our city. Others it was mental attacks, trying to break my spirit. The worst were the physical days. I guess in my absence, dear old dad had taken Eric under his wing and was raising him as his successor. So Eric got to watch the first two sets of days with Argos guarding him, but the third day he learned how to apply physical torture at the hands of an expert.

When one of your skills is to see the death energy in a body and you have the research of several lifetimes of doctors with zero restraints into the limits of the human body, torture becomes an art form. They knew what angles and strengths to strike to bruise bones and walk them to the edge of breaking, ensuring that there were no bone shards that could give me an escape into death. They knew where the nerve clusters were, and which ones were pain and which had other functions. But pain wasn’t their only method, oh no. They could overstimulate you in a thousand ways, and each one was guaranteed that it wouldn’t cause permanent injury. Through it all there would be some small temptation. Dad would be eating a fragrant meal, giving Eric pointers. Or they would “accidentally” leave a glass with a few drops of juice. But Eric’s favorites were the days where he got to play with Argos in front of me like the dog was still alive.

There was no way that I could tell them any of this. Ellie had already had me replace their lost one, and Scott. Well. Scott cared in his own way. As soon as the snow had stopped, he showed me around their farm. We took turns shoveling lanes to the important places, trading off when we got tired. We did lose an afternoon to building defenses for a snowball fight with the little ones in the village, but that was fine. We had already gotten most of our shoveling done, and they had been watching us for a day and a half after they found out that there was a new person in the village.

“Relax. Father Tomas is a good person, even more accepting of people than Ellie is.” Scott chuckled, putting an arm around my shoulder and giving me a gentle shake. “We’ll introduce you to a few people your age. Let you join them watching the sheep tomorrow and have them show you around a bit.”

“Thanks Scott.” I said, relief evident in my voice.

As we neared the church, I took a look around the rather simple village. Every building had a severely steeped roof, preventing snow from building up on it. Each door also sported an overhang nearly ten feet long that had its sides going down to near the ground, and there were colored walkways everywhere.

“Looking at the overhangs?” Scott chuckled.

“Yeah, how did you know?” I asked, turning to him.

“Easy. It’s the first thing everyone asks about. Unless the wind is making the snow drift directly towards the door, the overhang ensures that there’s an area free of snow so we can start making our tunnels in the really bad winters. Stone paths are painted different colors so we know which direction to follow if we have to leave. The color always treats the house as the origin and the destination to determine the color. Important if you stay with us for another month or so, but don’t worry. We’ll teach you. Right now you just need to know that yellow heads to church, and blue for barns. Red heads to the village entrance.”

“Scott! Ellie! So glad you could make it.” A boisterous voice interrupted, and I took a look at what had to be Father Tomas. He seemed to be late twenties, nearly six feet tall. I couldn’t tell how thick he was due to the coat he wore, but I could see that his hairline was just starting to recede, leaving just the hint of a protrusion of hair at the middle of his forehead. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a three inch beard confined to the width of his mouth on his chin, he smiled at me as soon as he saw me. “And who might we have here?”

“Terrance, sir.” I said, unsure of what honorific he preferred.

“Please, call me Father or Father Tomas if you must. I’ve known too many people that keep getting called sir and start putting on airs. What brings you to our village Terrance?”

I froze, unsure how to answer him. Would he be able to tell if I lied?

“I got lucky and found him falling in the snow just before the big storm.” Scott said. “He’s having a bit of trouble remembering, and we were wondering if you could help us out. Don’t let his size fool you, he’s about 13 or so from what we can tell.”

“Oh. OH! Well we can work with that. Alas, I was never good at healing magics, let alone mind magic. You are about the age where magic starts really blossoming Terrance. Can you remember if you have any?”

“I don’t recall what mana I did have, but I do know I have some.” I replied, hoping they didn’t have one of the rare crystals that could tell so much about a magician.

“I see. Well, after the sermon can you all please see me? I have a cloudy crystal that should be good enough to determine if you are powerful enough to need training. I can give you the basics, but. Well, let’s just worry about that when the time comes, no need to go borrowing trouble.”

“Thanks Father.” I said, following the two into the church. Despite the nervous breath as I crossed the threshold, I wasn’t struck down in a blaze of divine wrath. Instead it felt like I was sitting in front of the fire with Ellie and Scott only increased. Looking around, I could immediately tell why. Melnon’s temples were uncomfortable things, with unyielding stone benches decorated with undead motifs. This place had comfortable chairs arranged in what could generously be called rows, with several pillows up front for the children.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Mister Terrance!” One of the snowball fighters had snuck in behind us and had immediately grabbed my hand and started tugging. “Come on up to the front with us! Father Tomas tells the bestest stories, and you can’t hear them in the back.”

“Kellen, let mister Terrance sit where he wants.” Father Tomas gently chided from behind us as he closed the doors.

“It’s ok.” I replied with a smile. “I saw how the little missus here throws a snowball and I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.”

“That’s right! I’m the best!” She crowed, pulling me along. For a second I felt bad for her parents, as she would surely be ruling their house by her teen years if not before. “This is my spot, and Karse normally sits here but he’ll move down for you and let you sit between us.”

I really wished I heard more of that sermon. It was something about how the faith of humans had given rise to the lesser gods, those that tended to embody an idea. Instead I was stressing out about the crystal test I was going to have to go through. That was just the first obstacle. How long would it take me to recover? Would I be able to outrun my past? Eric was still out there, and I was sure he wouldn’t take my escape lightly. This far from the heart of the necromancer kingdom, he was more likely than not to try and kill me, and I definitely couldn’t win with these wounds. Then there was the couple that had taken me in. If I left them, Eric would kill them just for spite.

“Terrance?” I heard a gentle voice ask, and looked up to see Father Tomas standing there. “Copper for your thoughts?” He continued, plopping down beside me.

“Just worried.” I tried to shrug it off.

“Anything I could help with? As Reagan says, a load shared is a load lessened.”

I sat for a second, and really pondered what he said. I hadn’t interacted with many people here, but it was obvious how they all came together as a community first. While we had been shoveling paths, I noted a few people had been going around with a wagon and refilling firewood while others were delivering baked goods. If they were like Ellie, there was no way they wouldn’t help me even though I was an outsider, but it was hard to go against a lifetime of training. Dad had literally beaten into my head how people were just waiting for me to turn my back so they could stick the dagger in. Any sign of weakness was a way they could exploit you.

“Could we get the crystal test out of the way?” I heard myself asking, and I shoved all my other issues to the side. I couldn’t expose myself to these people, not yet. If they found out about who I was, I was positive this priest would be sending immediately for an Inquisitor. Those blessed by Callumen and Loreli and entrusted to hunting down and eliminating necromancers.

“Sure. Just take this and hold it in your hand for a few seconds.” He said, pulling out a greyish white crystal. If this is what he considers cloudy then granite must be just a little opaque. I nodded, and took the crystal in hand.

“Anything I have to do? Focus on anything in particular?”

“Nope. It’s enchanted to draw out your mana. If you start feeling light headed, let me know and hand it back.” I nodded, then looked as the crystal gradually started to glow. After about five seconds, it was as bright as a candle. Ten seconds and it became a torch, and by twenty seconds it had slowly grown to be what Scott had built the fire to that first night I arrived.

“Blessed Calumen!” Tomas whispered, staring at the crystal.

“What does it mean?” I asked as I handed it back to him.

“Well, first it means congratulations are in order young Terrance! You have more than enough potential to get referred to the Magical College in the capital.”

“That sounds rather expensive.” I hedged. Capital? I was in enough danger here in the middle of nowhere. No way in oblivion was I heading to the capital.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Years ago the king decreed that anyone with enough magic potential would be trained at the College with costs covered by the crown, with the mage required to pay it back within ten years. The army is always an option to graduates, and guaranteed to pay off the debt in four years with the fifth giving enough salary for the mage to get set up in almost any city.”

“But why would they take such an expense?” I asked, confused. Training mages was expensive, and finding good trainers was even more so.

Tomas gave a sad sigh. “Back then there were too many mages that couldn’t afford to be trained. Most it didn’t matter, as they didn’t have the strength to cause issues. But several times a mage with extreme potential wouldn’t get trained, and something would set them off. Their mana would run rampant, in the best cases slaying only the mage. The worst and final case was when an important silver mine was destroyed when a mage was abused and broke. From that day on, the King vowed that all mages would receive training to protect the people.”

“Sounds like he was just protecting his pockets.” I muttered, but got an unexpected snicker from Tomas.

“Oh no doubt, no doubt.” He agreed. “But no matter the reason, you will be getting a free education from some of the most powerful mages. And don’t let anyone bully you too badly. While there are some issues with the nobility, noble rank won’t matter for the majority of things. Everyone receives the same equipment, and nobody is allowed to bring their own. What do you think? Interested?”

“Kinda.” I shrugged. I highly doubted they had anything to help me, but at least they could provide a safe place to learn what I could. “But I doubt I could get there anytime soon. I’ve recovered a good bit thanks to Ellie and Scott, but I can barely work for a half hour before I need a break. I doubt I could make it to the capital anytime soon.”

“Ah, that’s a good point. But don’t worry, we’ll help you hitch a ride on one of the caravans in the spring. That’ll give you a full five months to recover, and they can expect you once I send out the weekly report.”

“Weekly report?” I asked, trying to hide my concern.

“Yeah. Gotta keep in touch with the home church. Don’t worry, we won’t tell them that you came in from the Lost Lands.”

“Why not?” I asked, confused. “Why lie for me?”

“It’ll be hard enough at the capital for you if you have to claim here as your hometown. If they found out you weren’t from the kingdom they would all just assume you were a necromancer. I’m not about to put your life in danger like that.”

“Thanks.” I muttered, nodding to him though I felt like one of the backstabbers.

“That’s enough of the heavy stuff. We don’t have to deal with it for a long time, so go ahead and head on back with Scott. Looks like he stayed while Ellie went to cook.” Tomas said, patting me on the shoulder as he headed out the door.

“It’ll be fine. We knew you wouldn’t be staying for your entire life.” Scott said as I walked past him. He fell into step beside me after he closed the church doors, and continued, “That doesn’t mean we won’t treasure the time we will get to spend with you. And despite how Ellie might seem, we know you aren’t our Jonas and aren’t here to replace him. That doesn’t mean we won’t treat you as a grandchild.” The heavy implications of the fact that they would never get their own grandchild wasn’t said, but I could read his pain.

“Thanks, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that Paw Paw.” I said, bumping him with my shoulder.

“Come along then, you’ve got a big day tomorrow. Everyone works in this village, and you get the joy of working from the bottom! Nick and Sheila will be waiting for you at the gate at dawn to take the sheep out to pasture.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

That night I snuck into the room and look Scott over again. There was a small patch of disease on his liver that was swiftly dealt with, then I turned to the major issue. His lungs were lit up like a forest glade filled with fireflies. I could see the life energy flowing between them, outlining the tubes in the lungs. While I knew my control wasn’t good enough for the smallest branches, I could at least take out the four largest chunks from the inside without risking hurting Scott. That should buy me enough time to train my skills to the point where I could destroy the disease within him.