Two soldiers escorted Nero through the crowd and outside the village. The soldiers were gripping both sides of his shoulder tightly. Each soldier wore silver armor that clanked together with each step and a white cloak muddied at the bottom. In his hand, he carried his bag; It was a knife lighter than before. He’d almost forgotten the bag upstairs, but luckily the tavern owner reminded him to grab his things.
The bag was too precious to leave. Nero didn't know what the medicine truly did, but it didn't seem wise to test whether Stavos was telling him the truth. He was already lucky that the inquisitors let him keep the medicine. They deemed it nothing more than an ordinary tonic.
“Will I be riding in the carriage with the inquisitors?”The soldiers ignored his question and continued to guide him outside the village. A few young spectators followed along, but the soldiers didn’t send them away. The village had a thin rock wall the size of a man. On the outside of it, toward a large hill, was a small campsite. The small encampment comprised a little over a dozen horses and a large wagon slightly bigger than the inquisitor's carriage. A few soldiers sat on watch.
“Come on over.” One of the soldiers on guard stood and waved the three of us closer. He was an older man with wrinkles and a close-cut head of white hair. “Don’t worry. We didn't waste time putting the wards up.” There weren’t any tents put up or any campfire either, from what Nero could see.
“Master Levan, we got another one, but he doesn't come from the village. The inquisitors left for a farm to the east to check his identity with an employer.” one of the soldiers escorting him pushed him forward. He stumbled, nearly dropping the bag, but caught himself before running head-first into Master Levan.
“Watch yourself, little man; you almost knocked me over.” Master Levan gave Nero a large smile. “Don’t let these muscles fool you. My bones are old and brittle under here.” Nero could tell through the armor that the old man was telling the truth. He was quite larger than all the other guards, so much so that the armor didn’t seem to fit him.
Nero glared at the soldier who pushed him but bit his lip to stop his mouth from saying what his mind was thinking. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Don’t worry about it, lad.” Master Levan put his hand on Nero’s shoulder and walked him side by side into camp. Master Levan looked back at the soldiers that had led Nero to camp and said, “Waylin! Boyle! Get something to eat while it’s still hot. The inquisitors should be back soon. Take advantage before everyone starts clamoring for a bowl of my stew.”
“I’ve tasted your stew before, and somehow I doubt that. I’ll wait for Wabe to cook,” one of the men responded.
“Starve to death then and see if I care.” Master Leaven led Nero to the wagon in the center of camp. The soldiers had tethered the horses to a tree nearby, along with the free mounts. “Don’t listen to Boyle. I’m close to getting the recipe right, but being out here on the road makes finding fresh ingredients difficult.”
“If they don’t want their portions, I would happily eat them. I haven’t eaten anything since mid-day yesterday,” Nero said. Stavos kept most of the journey's rations for himself. The food Nero received on the road was scraps consisting of apple cores, tough meat strips, and moldy bread. At the very least, being the only passenger guaranteed him all of the scraps instead of having to fight others for them.
“Good man! These heathens don’t know how to be grateful. I slave away over the pot for hours, and all I hear are complaints. They are quick to say things like, ‘Why is this stew so salty? The fish is still alive!’ Or even, ‘I think you gave me food poisoning.’ It’s preposterous the lengths my brothers in arms will go to discourage me. It’s good to know our youth still have manners.”
Master Levan was waving his arms around like a rambling madman, but Nero’s eyes were on the three boys sitting behind in the back of the wagon. One was a soldier, older than Nero but younger than all those he’d seen so far. He was alert and watching the other two boys so intensely that he didn’t notice Nero and Master Levan approaching the wagon.
The other two were dressed in similar garb as Nero and wore the same silver cuffs. One boy, sitting directly across from the soldier, had short-cut hair like most in the area. Nero’s hair was the same though his hair was cleaner cut. This boy's hair was uneven, and patches of hair stuck up where they shouldn’t. His ears were comically large, and his nose was narrow rather than rounded. The other boy had a gut on him and tucked his short Afro into a head scarf.
“Jack, we have a new prospect joining you in the wagon.” Master Levan stepped back and nodded toward Nero. All three heads turned in tandem to acknowledge the arrivals. Jack bolted up into a rigid stance, with one hand across his chest on the side of where his mana heart would be.
“At ease, Jack. I told you to save the saluting for the inquisitors.” Jack hesitated for a moment before complying with Master Levan’s order. “This here is…. I just realized I never got your name. What’s your name?”
“It’s Nero.”
“Of course! Of course! Nero is a wonderful name. Jack, this is Nero. He will accompany us to the academy, so take good care of him.” Master Levan patted him on the back and left the group behind, muttering something about salt as he went.
Jack grabbed a sword from the seat beside him and climbed out of the carriage. His face was intense, and his eyes constantly darted like a hawk from Nero to the others. “You can sit down over there, next to Carter.” Jack pointed to a padded seat next to the boy with patchy hair.
“When do we get these off?” Nero lifted the cuffs and tugged on the cord, but it didn’t budge.
“You’ll get them off once we get to the academy. They’re for your safety while we are transporting you.”
“I think I would feel just as safe with my hands-free. The metal is digging into my wrist, and I might need my hands. What if I get lost, or I need to take a piss?”
“See! I told him the same thing, but he keeps ignoring me. I peed all over my shoes two nights ago. It was windy that night, and I didn’t realize the wind was blowing in the wrong direction until my willy was already out of my pants. They made me ditch my only pair of shoes,” Carter said. His accent was thick. Nero glanced down and saw that Carter was barefoot, wiggling his toes against the wagon floor.
“Stop complaining about the shoes. Captain said that they’d get you a pair of shoes once we reach the academy,” Jack said.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“But they were my favorite ones. My daddy trekked through the forest daily in those shoes, and not once was he attacked by a wandering animal. When he passed those shoes down to me, he said, ‘Carter take care of these shoes. These lucky shoes will protect you from danger and help you run like the wind.’ I didn't believe him at first, but one day when I was out hunting, a snake the size of a river slithered out from the forest and attacked my village. With the help of these shoes, I evaded the snake and led the snake toward a cliff. I tricked it with the help of my magic and made it fall off the cliff.”
“That’s not true! I'm getting sick and tired of listening to your fabrications. That's the story of the great mage of Tamorlin. You are a liar and a street urchin who lives a life of thievery. If you didn't have a mana heart, your head would be in a basket below a guillotine.” His face held a deep scowl as he glared at Carter. The other boy in the carriage, sitting next to Carter, put his hand over his mouth to hide his laughter.
Jack made a deep sigh and strapped his sword to his waist. “Nero, hop in. The inquisitors will return soon, and we’ll have to depart for the next village. In the meantime, I’ll go see if any of the villagers have a spare pair of shoes.” Nero stepped in the wagon and sat in Jack’s seat across from the other two boys.
“Don't cause any trouble. Reshi will be watching over you for now. If you need to leave the wagon, tell him first.” Jack pointed to a soldier with a hood over his head, leaning against a tree stump. The soldier was carving something in his hand with a knife. “We can locate you even if you run off, so don't bother doing it.” Jack was staring directly at Carter when he mentioned locating escapees.
Carter bolted up and gave a salute to Jack. It was the same salute Jack gave Master Levan; however, his face held a goofy smile instead of Jack’s serious expression. Jack shook his head side to side in a sulky pout and left them in a huff. He stomped off toward the village entrance, which caused a fit of unrestrained laughter to spur from the second boy.
“I think he might hate me,” Carter said. He plopped back down in his seat and went back to scratching his patchy hair. His vigorous movement produced flecks of white dandruff all over the wagon floor.
“It’s because you won't stop pestering him. Not every random thought that comes to your mind needs to be said. By the end of this trip, I might hate you too, and I’ve only been traveling with you for two days. I can’t even imagine the full week the two of you spent in the wagon alone,” the other boy said.
Nero watched the two interact carefully. He'd grown up around boys his age but none quite like the two before him. They didn't take the cuffs seriously, they didn’t respect authority, and they didn't adjust themselves to defend against a possible attack when he stepped inside the wagon. Lackadaisical instincts in the compound got you killed. Carter and Asaad were too carefree by his estimation.
“Nice to meet you! I'm Asaad, and this is Carter.” He reached out, grabbed Nero's hand, and gave it a vigorous shake. Asaad’s hands were clammy. Nero wiped the sweat off using his shirt. He would need to wash it again later. “I wondered if Carter and I would be the only ones chosen from the area. A couple of villages back, the soldiers were talking about a girl who just missed the qualifications, but everywhere else had been duds. I honestly can’t believe my luck. We're going to be mages!”
Asaad had a radiant smile. It was the first thing Nero noticed, besides Assad's chubby exterior—that Asaad talked with his hands as much as his mouth. The distance in the wagon from bench to bench was two people wide, but somehow Assad had still managed to point his finger in Nero’s face. Nero gripped the bench tightly and frowned at the other boy’s actions. Asaad did not take notice.
“Hearing you talk about mages all the time makes me wish my head was really on the chopping block,” Carter said.
“Me? Don't act like you're not just as excited to become a mage. Jack said you would be dead if you weren't here, so who are you to complain? We get the chance to protect the empire and become legends. I have dreamed of being a mage my whole life, and my dreams have finally come to fruition. Maybe being a simple thief, you can't understand the magnitude of being selected.”
“No, I understand the magnitude. I just don't want it placed on my shoulders. Being a thief allows me the freedom to do as I please. You'll realize I'm right once we get to the academy, and they force us to follow their rules. The freedom that exists outside the rules of society beats the responsibilities and power it offers.”
“What are you talking about? Don’t listen to him, Nero. All Carter has done these past few days is a lie. He was just asking Jack earlier about how to use magic. He’s just as interested as we are.”
“What did he tell you about magic,” Nero asked. Carter stopped scratching his hair and adjusted himself from sitting to a horizontal position; his elbow was against the bench, and his head was in the palm of his hand.
“Mostly boring stuff. Nothing that I hadn’t heard of before on the street. The soldiers don't do real magic. All they use are artifacts from the rifts. I've seen a couple of merchants using artifacts. It’s nothing special.”
“Did either of you get a chance to talk to the inquisitors?”
“Nope. They just picked me up along the way,” Carter said. Carter yawned and moved from horizontal to lying on his back.
“I did. My father is a big supporter of Lord Rakim, and the inquisitors stayed in his keep when they stopped in Lyis. I got to talk to Mister Hannibal at length during our stay. He was interested in what I had to say about the state of the town, and even promised to put a word in for me with his friends at the academy. ” Asaad puffed up his chest and beamed with pride.
“So, he didn’t tell you anything?”
“He didn't want to talk about magic. She was more interested in what I had to say.”
“I can't imagine anyone being interested in what you have to say,” Carter said.
“I’ll have you know. I'm quite well-read and got an education from the best teacher that Lyis has to offer. I am more than capable….” Assad continued to drone on about life in Lyis, and Carter continued to belittle him with quips.
Nero ignored them but kept his eyes focused on the conversation as he dug into his bag. He pulled out the bar of soap. It was a beige color and shaped like a palm-sized cube. Trying to handle it with his hands cuffed proved difficult, but he was able to place the bar of soap on his wrist, where the metal met skin.
“What are you doing,” Assad asked. The two boys were staring at him with looks of confusion.
“I’m getting these cuffs off.” Nero spat on his wrist until his mouth felt dry and then began rubbing the soap along his wrist. From the soap, tiny bubbles formed along his left hand and wrist. He scrunched up his fingers and tried pulling his hand out. It was a tight squeeze. The best he could manage was part way up to the ridge of his thumb.
“You should stop. You’re going to hurt yourself,” Asaad said. Nero kept pulling. The palm of his hand took on a red hue, and his face showed a pained expression. Every time he pulled, the cuffs seemed to get tighter. Nero stood, placing his foot on the bench for leverage, and pulled once more. Tiny strips of skin were peeling off of his thumb.
“This is really entertaining, and I don’t mean to stop you, but those cuffs are not coming off. I have already tried everything. They’re probably some type of artifact,” Carter said.
“I don't like being restrained. It’s an annoying habit. I need to be able to move at any moment. The artifact might be regular cuffs meant to keep us from using magic. So it might be possible to slip my hand through. Even if I can't break out, it does not hurt to try.”
“I don't understand why you're so hell-bent on getting them off. Don't you want to be a mage? Maybe you're unaware, being out here in the boondocks and all, but we have to go to school either way. It’s illegal for mages in the empire to not attend the academy,” Asaad said. Asaad worriedly looked out of the wagon toward where Reshi sat. Reshi wasn’t paying attention. He was busy carving.
“If it’s that big a deal, I do not mind letting you try these out.” Carter held up a giant silver ring. It had over three dozen thin silver keys. He spun the key ring around on his pointer finger, and the keys made a jingling sound. “None of them fit my cuffs, unfortunately. I stole them from Jack when we stopped in Lyis. He probably thinks he lost them in the city.”
“Wait a minute! If you had those the whole time, why didn’t you let me try them? The cuffs are hurting my wrist too.”
“Because you’re annoying.” Carter tossed the keys to the seat next to Nero. Both sides of the cuffs had a keyhole. Nero started working on the left side first. A twist from the first key on the ring presented no results. The second was the same, and so were the next few.
Nero heard footsteps rapidly approaching and hid the keys in his bag. Jack peered around the corner of the wagon with a pair of shoes in his hand and a young girl next to him. She had short light locs that went to her shoulder and a slender frame. Her hands were cuffed just like theirs.
“I hope you all didn’t get into trouble while I was away. We have another person join us. The inquisitors tested her, and it seemed this village had two people with potential. We’ll leave for the next village once the soldiers finish eating lunch, so make room for Sanai in the wagon.”
“This trip just got a whole lot better,” Carter said. His remark earned him a glare from everyone present except Nero. Nero was too focused on shifting the keys in the bag between his blanket so they would not make a sound.