“Hey you! You’re not supposed to be in here!” The young, clean shaven guard with short bIack hair I assumed was named Morrison yelled to me.

I was still processing what happened, chastising myself for being so stupid, and trying to figure out how to get away, that I just stood staring at the two guards running at me. How could I have been so stupid? I had no idea what would happen to me if I got caught here, nor did I know what would happen to my father’s job, yet I still made such an idiotic decision because of my own curiosity. It also didn’t help that the brat I was so curious about was now relishing in my misery, a wide grin still plastered across his face. Coming to my senses just when the guards were about to reach me, I quickly let energy flow through my Soul. I felt incredibly fatigued, my arms and legs growing heavier with every second I stayed connected to the snow on the ground, but I had to try. I saw no other way out. Grabbing onto all the snow around the four of us, I swung my arms up to do the snow cloak spell once again, but instead of covering all of us in a blinding white mist, only a small amount of snow directly in front of me launched into the air, hitting Morrison on the bottom of his jaw. It was like a snow uppercut.

The guard Morrison stumbled backwards, and I would have laughed at his surprised face if I didn’t feel my legs turn to jelly. The snow was soft, catching me in a cold embrace as I fell backwards onto the ground, my muscles aching from the overuse of my magic.

“Oy, that was a neat trick kid, but don’t think that a little magic is gonna get you out of trouble!” Morrison said, standing over me while rubbing his jaw, “Now get up! I oughtta give you a piece of my mind!”

Morrison reached down and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me to my feet, which still felt incredibly weak. I could barely stand, so as soon as he let me go, I fell right back into the snow.

“Hey, what the hell is wrong with you! Get up or I’ll–”

“I think he’s used to much magic. Look at him, he’s exhausted,” the other, much older, guard observed, cutting the furious Morrison off, “He was probably the one who kicked up the snow at the front gate, allowing him to sneak in. Impressive for such a youngin. Don’t think I’ve seen one as young as you use magic. A smart one, aren’t ya?”

The guard knelt down and ruffled through his pocket, scratching his long, gray beard with his other hand. He took out a small piece of bread and gestured for me to take it. Not wanting to eat dirty pocket bread, I shook my head. The guard gave me a small, wry smile, and then shoved the small piece of bread in my mouth, causing me to choke on it. The guard chuckled as I chewed and swallowed, and I felt a bit of energy return to me.

“My name is Cade,” the old guard said, his smile turning it to a frown, “Sorry to say this, but you have to come with us. You're in quite a bit of trouble.”

I looked up at Cade’s face. He was very old, much too old to be a city guard I thought, but I guess people have to make money somehow. He looked sorry that I was in this situation, and seemed almost regretful that he had to punish me, unlike Morrison, who seemed excited at the chance to take his revenge for the uppercut I had blessed him with.

“Hold on a moment, Cade, Morrison,” The brat who snitched on me said, “I made a mistake. He’s my friend. He didn’t mean any harm, he simply wanted to ask if I could come out and play. I was so focused on my training that I got confused and mistook him for someone else. So I think it would be alright if you let him-”

“You don’t have any friends. All you do is train,” Morrison replied, not letting the brat finish.

“Yes I do! One’s right there!” The child yelled, pointing directly at me.

I was completely lost. What is wrong with this kid? Why is he pretending to be my friend? What is happening right now?

“Oh really? Then what’s his name?”

“It’s…It’s…um–”

“It’s Sean,” I interrupted.

I didn’t like the idea of going along with whatever the brat had planned, but I didn’t see any other way of getting out of this. I just hope he doesn’t flip sides again.

“Yea, it’s Sean. I’ve known him for a while now. I go and play with him when Mother lets me have a day off.”

Morrison gave a look of doubt, but I could see Cade give in to our lies.

“Even so, your friend still entered a restricted, and dangerous, area. He’s done something very wrong, and it wouldn’t be good if it happened again. He should be punished for it.”

“Cade, please. I promise he won’t make the same mistake again. He’s just a kid.”

“Might I remind you, you are a child as well,” Cade responded, taking a few moments to think, his face scrunching up as he did so, “Alright, fine. I’ll let you off with a warning, child. You’ll have to wait for your friend outside of the training grounds from now on. Got it?”

I nodded my head furiously.

“What! I didn’t agree to this! Cade, what are you doing!” Morrison yelled, his face growing red with anger.

“Please Morrison. Do you really want to deal with this right now? I’ll escort the kid out. You go and calm down.”

Cade began ushering me towards the front gate, but behind us, I heard the child with the sword call to me and say, “Sean, meet me outside the gate. I’ll be out as soon as I’m done.”

I didn’t nod, nor gave him any sign of acknowledgement. All I was thinking about was getting as far away from here as possible. Cade gave me a slight push when we reached the gate, and warned me.

“Run along now Sean. Be good and stay out of trouble. I only have so much grace I can give,” he said, waving goodbye, wearing a strange, playful smile.

Cade was definitely weird, but since he had helped save me from Morrison’s wrath, I decided to look past it. I waved back and started walking towards the bench that was by the fountain in front of me. After brushing the snow off of it, I sat down, trying to decide if it was worth waiting for the brat to come out. With my anger and confusion beginning to wane, I started to look at things a little more objectively. It was my fault. I had made the stupid decision of revealing myself. The kid was simply following the rules. However, it made absolutely no sense that he would back track and suddenly pretend I was his friend. What was his goal? Why the hell was a kid even training with city guards in the first place? I was left with too many questions, and only one way to get answers, so I decided to wait.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

A few hours passed, and the brat finally came out of the front gate. I saw him look for me in the crowd that had begun amassing after a nearby church finished one of its services. A loud bell began ringing at the top of it, striking twice. I waved down the kid, who still couldn’t find me through the crowd. Spotting me, he smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile, but more like a proud, mischievous smile. One that would only be worn on a child who’s up to no good. The boy got closer and stood right in front of me. He really was short, barely taller than me when I was sitting.

“So,” I started, my mind sifting through all the theories I had as to why the kid wanted to talk to me, “What’s your–”

“Teach me magic,” He said, not letting me finish.

The anger that had subsided from my previous encounter with him quickly rose back to the top of my mind. I thought this one would be different. He seemed so much more mature than all the other children I’d run into, yet here he was, acting just like the rest. After all my troubles, I really hoped that something interesting would come from it, but I was wrong. I could feel my ears growing hot.

“You are the–what the hell are you–why did you–what!” I yelled, my confusion and anger blocking my ability to speak.

The kid began to laugh at my stumbling words, and I could see several adults giving us weird looks as they passed by. I felt like hot steam was rising above my head, my anger slowly dissipating at the embarrassment of my outburst. I covered my face in my hands, trying to hide myself from others.

“Just, leave me alone, ok? You had your fun, now go away,” I told him, standing up and walking into the crowd.

“Wait!” he yelled through stifled laughs, grabbing onto my arm, “Why are you ignoring me? I said teach me magic!”

“Absolutely not,” I told him coldly, staring him straight in the eyes.

“You owe me,” he responded, not missing a beat, like he expected my answer, “I saved you from Morrison. He likes to punish people y’know. Gets some sick thrill out of other’s being in trouble. A real sadist.”

I sighed, “So this is why you helped, even after ratting me out? You saw magic and instantly wanted me to teach you?”

“Yep, basically. I’ve never seen anyone our age use magic. And when you hit Morrison square on the jaw just by using your mind, I knew I had to learn it,” He said, gesturing as if he was uppercutting someone with his free hand.

“It’s more than just using your mind, you have to… Wait… what do you mean our age?” I questioned, comparing our heights quickly with my hand, “You’ve got to be at least a year or two younger than me.”

“Nope, I’m definitely older,” he said, not even acknowledging my insult, “Now, what were you saying? How do you use magic? Something about the mind and–”

“Shut up! I’m not teaching you! Why do you kids always have to bother me with this! I barely know how to do it, let alone teach it! Now let me go!” I yelled, trying to wrestle my arm out of his grasp.

His grip was incredibly strong, and he was showing no signs of letting go. After fighting for my freedom for a few seconds, I heard a voice come from behind me in the crowd, “Sean? Is that you? What are you doing out here all alone?”

I turned to see my mother and Ailisa, walking out of the crowd towards us. She was wearing a long white dress with a black overcoat, her best clothes, and the ones she always wore when she and Ailisa went to church. Ailisa was wearing something similar, but her beauty always shone through whatever clothes she wore. It amazed me that the dwarf-like Baird managed to convince her to marry him. It made me think I should get tips from Baird in the future. Ailisa waved to me and shot me a sweet smile. Mother, however, seemed quite upset that I was fighting a random child on the street.

“Um… Hi mom. I was just–”

“Why are you out here without Baird? Do you know how dangerous it is! Someone could come and–”

“Cori,” Ailisa interrupted, putting a hand on my mother’s shoulder, “He’s with a friend. All young boys come out and play around here. It’s a very safe part of the city. They’ll be fine.”

Mother’s face tightened, and I could tell she was still upset with me, but then she sighed and said, “Ok, ok, fine. You can have fun playing with your friend outside, but make sure your back at Baird’s shop by nightfall. I’ll be sure to get a full report from him.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure Mother,” I said, thanking goddess Ailisa for calming Mother’s rage.

“So, what’s your name?” Mother said, looking over at the brat, “I’ve seen Hector, Lennox, and Wells, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around. You do look familiar though.”

“It’s nice to meet you ma’am. I’m Blair” the boy responded, shaking her hand, “Me and Sean just became friends, actually. He and I get along super well.”

After he finished, Blair wrapped his arm around my neck, having to stand on his tiptoes to do so. I struggled to let out a small smile, going along with Blair’s story, hoping Mother would leave soon so that I could punch him.

“Such manners. Ok then you two. Please be careful. Oh, and Sean,” Mother said, turning back as she and Ailisa walked away, “Make sure you don’t go with Baird on your birthday in a few days. I want to spend the whole day with you, ok?”

“Yes Mother!” I yelled to her, watching as she disappeared back into the crowd.

Me and Blair stood in silence for a moment after she left, until he said, “Your mom’s hot.”

I turned and looked at him like he was crazy, then hit him in the arm, but he gave no reaction other than a smirk. I started walking away, and I could hear Blair following behind me. I had no energy left to run away like I had done with the others, so I just let him do what he wanted. Given how strong he was when we were wrestling, I doubted I could outrun him anyway.

“So… When’s your birthday?” Blair asked.

“The fifteenth. And no, you can’t come to my house.”

“What? I didn’t even ask that? Is it really the fifteenth?”

“Yes, it is. And you would have. They always do.”

“Stop comparing me to others. There’s only one me. Just because others have annoyed you in the past doesn’t mean I’ll annoy you.”

“Except you are annoying me. Right now.”

“Oh. Well too bad then, because you're stuck with me.”

I turned to face him, “And why exactly am I stuck with you?”

“We’ve got the same birthday. Clearly it’s a sign from whatever god rules this world. You and I are meant to be friends. I can just feel it. Also, you're supposed to teach me magic. So do so, please.”

Blair talked incredibly fast. We have the same birthday? That was strange, but something else he said was even stranger.

“What do you mean, ‘this world?’” I asked him.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just forget about it,” He responded, his joking and mischievous demeanor turning slightly serious for a second.

My brain began to spin wildly out of control. Things suddenly began to click, and everything started making sense. There was a reason I thought Blair was different from the other kids at first, and it’s because he was. His mature attitude and serious tone was a rare sight, but it just it existing was strange for what looked like a five year old child. That, coupled with his strong sword skills at an early age, and his assurance that he was older than me, led me to one conclusion. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility before, and probably wouldn’t have if not for Blair’s carelessness. Perhaps I had made similar mistakes in the past as well, but no one around had the same knowledge I had to pick up on them. I couldn’t be sure until I asked him, though. It had to be something simple. Something I could take back the second I said it, but would ultimately confirm my suspicion just by his reaction.

I looked him straight in the eyes and asked, “Blair, do you know what a car is?”

Several emotions flashed over Blair’s face. Confusion, worry, fear, doubt, but finally it settled into a wide, ecstatic smirk.

“Yes, Sean. Yes I do.”