A vast pillar of light thrummed into existence, splitting the dark clouds and revealing a startlingly blue sky. Directly above lay a burning yellow sun, the target of the powerful spell. As the beam faded to a pinpoint three of the remaining four turned to leave. The last one hesitated, saying "We need to know if it succeeds." The tallest of the four paused, "It is not safe to remain." Sitting heavily and leaning back until their hood slid off, the old man sighed, "And yet I must."

Mico awoke to the sound of Cutter rustling about in the cabin. On exiting his room, he found him loading a small pack, a larger one already by the door. "Guess I'd better take you to the forest sooner than I planned. Can't trust these mountain tribunals."

"What's a tribunal?" Mico asked. Glancing at him, Cutter continued packing. Mico stayed silent for a long minute, slowly learning that Cutter would not be rushed into speaking. Just as Mico's patience was about to fail Cutter asked, "How much of what happened yesterday do you recall?" Thrown by the apparent change in topic, Mico pursed his lips, "We headed to the village at the foot of the mountain, Fornik.. Forn... something or other. We traded in our heavier winter items then you went to register my name, and spend the last of the money. I... What was I doing again?" Face scrunching, Mico's voice wavered a little. "Why is it so hard to remember?" Cutter finally turned to look at him properly. "You channelled a pretty significant volume of energy yesterday. Doing so without complete control can have a wide range of effects on the body. Loss of memory is probably the least of those." Mico leant back, one hand unconsciously raised to point at his own chest, "I... channelled energy? I don't even know what that means. Why did I do that?" Cutter hesitated briefly and Mico spoke up again. "And what does this have to do with that tribunal thing?"

Cutter grimaced. "I, unfortunately was not there for the actual moment. You had gone off to spend a few small coins I had given you. I'm not sure what happened next but just as I had wrapped up some purchases I heard, and sensed, a large burst of power. The.. " Cutter hesitated "...type of energy released was identical to the smaller burst you released the day before, when I introduced you to Willfighting." Seeing Mico about to speak, Cutter raised his hand. "When I found you, you were collapsed in the centre of some fairly significant destruction. To return to the original question, a tribunal is where leading members of the town gather to make judgements on a crime or dispute. Given the nature of the incident one would almost certainly have been called. For a number of reasons, I decided it was best we not be there for that." Cutter chopped his hand down sharply." Now, the morning is passing and we have a long day ahead of us." He resumed packing.

Mico's mouth was opening and closing, his lower lip trembling slightly. "Wait, if I did something wrong shouldn't we have stayed?" A moment passed before Mico suddenly looked horrified, "Wait, you said destruction,. But there were people around! Was anyone hurt?" At this point Mico was breathing rapidly, eyes tearing up. Cutter suddenly thrust the now loaded smaller pack into Mico's hands. Awkwardly resting a large, calloused hand on his shoulder he coughed, "Like I said, you can't trust these mountain tribunals. Besides, I'm sure you were just defending yourself." He started to turn away, "If it makes you feel better, I left money to cover the damage, and no one was seriously hurt." With that he walked out of the hut, waving Mico forward. "The day isn't going to wait and I'm done chatting about it, hurry up."

Feeling partially relieved by Cutter's awkward attempt at comforting him, and partially shocked that he'd made the effort, Mico quickly tied the pack on as he followed Cutter out. As they walked away from the hut he looked back "What about the hut?" Cutter just grunted and waved a dismissive hand, apparently quite serious about being done chatting. As they walked, struggling to keep up with Cutter's steady strides, Mico tried his hardest to remember more about the previous day. All he could manage to recall was the distinctive smell of spiced, grilled meat and the sensation of his mouth watering in anticipation.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

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Two hours later, Mico was breathing hard. By now, the sun was beating on his back and sweat dripped from everywhere. Despite regular exercise and the generally strenuous nature of his days, he was only 7, and Cutter's legs were still much longer than his. Without stopping, Cutter pointed off the right, "you can rest in the shade over there. I'll be back shortly, there's a stream that comes up from underground about 200 paces downhill and I want to to refill the canteens." Just as he was almost out of sight he called back "Don't sit down! Keep your pack on and stay ready to move."

Mico was standing in the shade, controlling his breathing and wriggling his toes to try and stop the ache in his feet when he heard voices. He looked around, confused. Cutter appeared in the brush downhill, face tight. Mico was about to call out but a gesture from Cutter made him stop. Placing the large pack down behind the tree Mico had been standing under he said quietly "You keep going. Follow the track and I'll catch up soon." Mico desperately wanted to argue but the expression on Cutter's face was so tense that he couldn't force words past the lump in his throat. A few deep breaths as he hurried off calmed him somewhat and he turned around, thinking to at least ask what was happening but Cutter was already gone. About 20 minutes later, Mico was still walking by himself, glancing back every few steps in hopes of spotting something. Finally, Cutter came into view behind him. His face was somehow even grimmer than before and his steps were aggressive, almost stomping. "I said to keep walking boy, not stroll along looking around every two seconds!" Mico flinched at the raised voice. Cutter was always firm, but very rarely would he raise his voice. Even more rarely was his tone so harsh. He quickly turned forwards and picked up the pace. As Cutter caught up, Mico glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. His eye level was perfectly placed to see Cutter's clenched fist swing past. Spotting a few grazes on the knuckles he very nearly spoke up and asked what happened but, once again, there was a lump in his throat so big he could hardly breather.

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Another four hours later and Mico's steps were getting more and more clumsy, his feet felt painfully swollen and he was pretty sure he had the worst blisters of his short life. Cutter didn't say anything. He simply slowed slightly to come alongside Mico, reached over, pulled the smaller pack from Mico's back, and tied it to his own front before picking up the pace. The reduced weight gave Mico something of a second wind and he hurried to catch up, steps somewhat surer. He managed to last for another two hours, Cutter offering no encouragement aside from the occasional backward glance and offer of water. He'd drunk as much as he could stomach but somehow his mouth still felt so dry. He blinked heavily for a second, eyes opening to see ground rushing towards his face. Before he could even register that he was falling Cutter had caught him. Mico looked up at him, still a bit confused. The corner of Cutter's mouth twisted down. He coughed to clear his throat and Mico realised he hadn't seen Cutter drink any of the water he carried. "I am sorry to push so hard. It's good for you though, to push your limits. Well done Mico." The small bit of praise made Mico even more disoriented and he barely registered Cutter tying the smaller pack to the top of his larger pack and putting the bulky load on his back. Stooping awkwardly, he scooped Mico up. A slight grunt the only sign of strain. Feeling like he might be dreaming, Cutter had walked almost a hundred paces that way before Mico burst out, "Wait I can walk further!" Cutter let out a snort, "I do appreciate your persistence but, for now, you are too slow. Catch your breath for a while and perhaps I'll give you another chance later." Not wanting to make Cutter's task any more difficult, Mico stopped arguing and did his best not to shuffle around too much. Despite his aching feet, the awkward position he was stuck in, and the regular jolting, Mico's eyes slowly drooped. The next thing he knew, Cutter was placing him on the ground. The sun was gone, all he could see around him were huge tree trunks. Above him, way way above him, a thick canopy was punctuated by occasional glimpses of the night sky, speckled with stars.