Small pinpricks of light appeared, speckled throughout the void that was a shining crystal. The air grew thick, buzzing at the edge of hearing, the crystal creaked like a bowstring stretched to its limit. One of the figures threw back their hood, revealing a man’s face; plain, short brown hair and a trimmed beard. With a bare glance to the left, he took two quick steps forward and wrapped both arms around the crystal. With a great shout the others thrust their arms into the sky. The man, along with the crystal, vanished.

Fornost, Foothills of Mt Thyrah; westernmost mountain of the Thy’gath mountain range.

Fornost was a typical mountain trading village. Small town centre packed with log and stone buildings. The air carried scents of wood smoke mingled with cheeses and curing meats. Narrow streets wound through to the main road like veins to the artery. After registering Mico's name with the local Town Hall Cutter and Mico traded off their winter furs for lighter clothing. Having gained a small amount of silver in the exchange Cutter decided to purchase some additional supplies for the changing season, leaving Mico a few copper to spend while he looked for a good deal.

Mico spent the next half hour paralyzed by choice before stepping up to a small stand in the corner of a winding alley, drawn by the mouth watering scent of spiced meat grilling over charcoal. “Excuse me..” he half whispered, already questioning his choice. “Could I have one of those”, small hand raised to point at the meat skewers still sizzling on a metal rack. A pair of large brown hands reached from behind the stand, deftly swiped a skewer, wrapped the base in paper and held it out in one hand. The other hand pointed to a sign on the right of the stand '1 Stick - 1 Copper'. Realizing it was definitely too late to back out, Mico placed one of his coins on the benchtop before grabbing the skewer by it's base. Surprised by the weight, he almost dropped it, flinching at a barked "No Refunds" from behind the stand. Barely managing to correct, he scurried over to the other side of the alleyway and sat in a cleared area, on the ground. Feeling the heat radiating off the meat in his hands he opted to wait for a few minutes, blowing gently to cool it. This close, the smell was hard to ignore, and he was salivating heavily. While a good portion of his day to day diet was meat, spices were a luxury that Cutter seemed disinclined to indulge in. He generally stuck with salting and drying the game he caught, occasionally grilling a few cuts from fresh kills. So you can just imagine Mico's disappointment when, as he was finally ready to take a bite, a hand reached over his shoulder and knocked it to the dirt.

Mico turned to find a face, suddenly up close, lips twisted in an ugly sneer. "What's a little noble bastard like you doing having that. There's no way your delicate digestion would cope!" Mico scrambled back a bit and the sneering face resolved into that of a... girl? Squarish dimensions and short hair threw him a bit, despite the distinct swelling around the chest. They couldn't have been much older than about 14 but twice his age apparently meant at least twice his size. Noticing the now soiled meat squishing under his hand Mico felt a heat start to build in his face, his chest tight. The girl's sneer somehow got uglier, "Now now, I've just done you a favour! Imagine if you'd eaten that and gotten sick. You might have died!" Looking self satisfied in the way only a bully can she nodded, "In fact, I've just saved your life! What say you give me a reward." A meaty hand was unceremoniously thrust out, spiced grease staining the fingers. "Come on now, I haven't got all day."

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Mico was almost too confused to be angry, 'what kind of insane person behaves like this?' he wondered. Having not encountered a great deal of people in his time with Cutter, and almost none outside of Cutter's looming supervision, Mico had little concept of social conventions. Despite that, he was very sure that this was wrong. The more he thought about it, the less he was confused and the more he was just angry. Unfortunately, this young 'lady' was not possessed of a great deal of patience so his internal musing earnt him a greasy whack on the head. "I said I haven't got all day! I'm sure you've got more than the copper that stick cost on you so hand it over!" Mico, still in disbelief over this crazy situation, looked around wondering why nobody had stepped in. On person was glancing at him as they passed but nobody even looked like stopping. The man behind the stand hadn't bothered to get off his chair, busy reading some kind of book. The tightness in Mico's chest was blending with the heat in his face, his hands were shaking, yellowed light leaking from his clenched palms. The girl suddenly looked a bit uncertain, stepping back half a pace, ugly sneer dropping into something like shock. No, not quite shock... fear? What was she... Mico's brain stuttered for a second as he rewound his thoughts... his hands were glowing?

Cutter stepped out of a store, just over a block away. He had a brown package clutched under his arm and was muttering to himself about greedy fops when the ambient light suddenly shifted and he heard an enormous crash. Instantly, his expression tightened up. All wasted motion was gone as he stowed the package, tied his pack on tightly and rushed off in the direction of the noise. His arms pumped, feet light and eyes darting rapidly as he sped through the milling crowd. Sometimes brushing people aside but never colliding, he made it three blocks in under 20 seconds. He spotted Mico flat out on the ground down a small alleyway, arriving just in time to see a burly man shoving a mostly destroyed meat stall off of himself, face red and eyes fixed on the small boy on the ground. In a flash, Cutter was between them "Now now sir, let's not be hasty."

"Hasty, hasty! That boy just destroyed my cart with his out of control tainted magic! You get out of my way right now or I'll take the price out of both your hides."

Seemingly unwilling to wait on Cutter's response the huge man stepped forward, clearly expecting his size to be sufficient intimidation. Slight hesitation crossed his face at Cutter's complete lack of concern but that wasn't enough to slow him and a massive right fist came hooking in for Cutter's face. At the very last moment Cutter leaned back, a hand darting up to push the meaty arm up and away. Taking advantage of the overswing, Cutter stepped in, left hand jabbing up into an exposed armpit with decisive force. The man stepped back, visibly struggling to lift his arm now. Instead of taking further advantage, Cutter waited, once more standing loosely. Seeing the man's hesitation, Cutter reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver coin before flicking it across. "That should cover the damages and then some, are we finished here?" Anger visibly blunted by a shiny coin, the man stepped back, hands raised. Cutter turned and scooped up Mico before heading out of the alley muttering "I leave him for barely an hour and this is what I get..."

The next thing Mico knew he was having that dream again, balls of light, flashing eyes and dark figures. Somehow recognising it for the dream that it was, he shook it off and forced his eyes open. Feeling confused to realise he was in the hut in his bed Mico was also unsure what he had been expecting to see. Feeling incredibly drained in a way he couldn't even explain, his confusion failed to hold his attention for more than a second before he rolled over and went straight back to sleep.