“Come on Cyrus,” Ezra said.

“I’m coming, hang on,” Cyrus replies. “You’re really giddy today,” Cyrus continued.

“Of course I am. I love teaching magic,” Ezra said with a smile.

Twelve-year-old Cyrus and Ezra made their way through the small village, going through the alleyways to stay out of sight. Cyrus had a bad feeling. He felt like someone was following them. They found the entrance to the sewer, climbed down the ladder and walked through the sewer. After descending down the set of stone stairs, they found their quiet section of the sewer. It was here that they waited, and the later it got, more people showed up. Eventually, everyone that they would teach had arrived. Cyrus and Ezra began teaching the group conjuration. Cyrus still had a bad feeling about everything. He had trouble focusing on teaching as he kept finding himself staring off, listening. Ezra noticed this, and he had to get his attention multiple times. Finally, in the evening, Cyrus and Ezra ended their class and everyone left the sewers, except for the two of them. They would wait until the middle of the night so they could sneak out unnoticed. As they were getting ready to leave when they heard something. They stopped and listened. Cyrus’s suspicions that they were being watched from earlier that day were confirmed when they were cornered in the sewers by a few men. They didn’t know who they were but they attempted to defend themselves. Cyrus was able to take down one of them, as Ezra took down another before they were overwhelmed and knocked unconscious with a certain type of powder. They awoke in the school, in Professor Whitlock's office where the men, who they now discovered to be authority, were telling Professor Whitlock about them teaching magic.

“I had a suspicion that you two were up to something. This is unacceptable,” Professor Whitlock said.

“I don’t see what the big deal is, we are doing a good thing,” Ezra said.

“You cannot teach magic unauthorized. You two are also much too young. You could be teaching magic incorrectly,” Professor Whitlock said.

Cyrus looked at Professor Whitlock, confused. He was never like this.

“I don’t get it! It’s so unfair that we can’t teach magic! Tell me what’s so bad about it! We are sharing the gift of magic! That’s a good thing in my eyes!” Ezra yells.

Professor Whitlock had nothing else to say and they were dismissed. Both Cyrus and Ezra were suspended from classes for two days, being forced to stay down in the sewers of the school, to serve the suspension by doing bookwork. Ezra was oddly quiet and angry, as was Cyrus, but Ezra was more angry than Cyrus, not uttering a word for the two days of suspension. A few days later, after the suspension was over, Cyrus was sitting in his dorm room. He hadn’t seen Ezra since the suspension. He began to ask around, finding out that Ezra had been expelled. Cyrus felt enraged. He ran to Professor Whitlocks office and kicked the door open.

“So what’s this! You expel Ezra but you don’t expel me? I was caught doing the same thing as Ezra!” Cyrus yelled.

“Cyrus, relax. I expelled Ezra because I feel that he is dangerous,” Professor Whitlock said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What? Dangerous? Why, because he had an outburst? Just like I’m doing now? Am I dangerous?” Cyrus exclaimed.

“Son, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. You wouldn’t understand. He can be dangerous,” Professor Whitlock said.

“Where is he?” Cyrus asked.

“I have put him in a cabin not too far from the school,” Professor Whitlock said.

“I’m going to see him,” Cyrus said.

“No. Do not leave the school Cyrus, it is forbidden. You’re too young,” Professor Whitlock said.

Cyrus was very upset with Professor Whitlock and didn’t speak to him for a while. One night, while sitting in his dorm room, Cyrus finally had enough. He left his room and snuck through the school grounds and got inside. From there, he snuck through the halls of the school, avoiding the school monitors and stole a map from Professor Whitlocks office and snuck out of the school and traveled to the cabin to see Ezra. He would do this occasionally at night to visit with Ezra where they would go on nighttime adventures. At first, Ezra’s personality seemed to be back, albeit with him being a bit more gloomy. He was happy to see Cyrus, and they would have fun on their nighttime adventures. Exploring caves, picking plants and brewing potions, fighting off creatures in the woods, practicing their magical abilities and sparring to improve their hand to hand skills. However, after only a few short months, Ezra became increasingly cold. He started to change. He was now angry, less talkative and started to become reckless. He wouldn’t smile anymore, he didn’t want to participate in anything except sparring, where he was more aggressive than before. He wasn’t the same Ezra that Cyrus had known his whole life, but despite this he continued to go and visit him, as he was his best friend. One night, Cyrus arrived at the cabin and saw that it was on fire. Cyrus was young and not too proficient in water magic, but he knew the basics and the skills to form a small rain cloud above the cabin that extinguished the fire. Cyrus ran inside and pushed through some debris out of the way. It was there, where he saw a body laying on the cabin floor. It was too burnt to identify it. Cyrus’s entire world almost died in front of him. He had just lost his best friend. He was unsure if it was done by Ezra himself or if it was done by attackers. He knew Ezra’s mental state had declined, but he didn’t think he would resort to suicide. Cyrus believed he was attacked. Cyrus buried the body right outside of the cabin before returning to the school. He walked to Professor Whitlocks office no longer being sneaky. He walked right past all of the monitors who had called out to him. By the time he got to Professor Whitlocks office, about six ground monitors were following him. Professor Whitlock waved them off. Cyrus then told Professor Whitlock that Ezra had died.

“What? What do you mean?” Professor Whitlock asked.

Cyrus placed the map down on the desk.

“I had been going to see him. I got there tonight, and the cabin was on fire. I found the body inside and buried him,” Cyrus said.

Professor Whitlock had nothing to say, he was confused and shocked, causing him to be lost for words. Cyrus turned around and walked towards the door, grabbed it and opened it.

“Cyrus, wait!” Professor Whitlock called out.

Cyrus stopped when he heard Professor Whitlock, he stood there holding the door half open. There was a pause for a minute, with no words being spoken on either side.

“I just thought you should know what your unfair expulsion did to him,” Cyrus said.

Professor Whitlock tried to call out again but Cyrus walked away, closing the door behind him, ignoring Professor Whitlocks words. This started Cyrus’s hate for battle and confrontation. It also exposed him to the brutal side of the Mystic world, at a young age. They were supposed to be living in a time of peace, with no more wars. But Cyrus felt different. His best friend was sent to live alone and he was attacked and killed. Cyrus’s older brother Mercer had also been killed as well a few years back. His parents were killed in war as well when he was just a baby. It made Cyrus wonder if peace was just a fairy tale, and not a goal that could be achieved. He wondered if death by battle is what awaited all Mystics.