It was dark and cold when Reuben woke up. He had a terrible headache and his thoughts felt hazy. There was an uncomfortable sensation on his head and when he touched it he found a massive welt on the right side of his skull. It was tender to the touch and he winced.

Suddenly everything came back to Reuben as if a flip had been switched. He was working and the beasts attacked and… Louise.

There was a deep pain throughout Reuben’s chest as he remembered. It was overwhelming. Tears began to pool at his eyes and he thought he would break down right then and there. It was too much it- Then he remembered the sorcerer, the raw power he had wielded. He remembered seeing the chief beaten and the guards petrified. As he remembered the sorcerer the thoughts of Louise felt dim, the pain subsided, and his eyes began to dry once more.

The memory of the guards brought him back to everything going dark. One of them had struck him, had locked him in the worst cell the village had access to.

Looking around Reuben saw it was more like a hole dug into the ground than a cell. No, that’s exactly what it was. A ten foot deep hole with thick wooden bars at the top had become Reuben’s new home.

Once again Reuben felt tears in his eyes and the memories of the sorcerer collapsed inside his prison. How had everything changed so much so fast? Two days ago he was picking crops with Louise, they were playing tag together. Things were fine. Reuben had a small home he lived in. How did everything change so fast?

It was like a nightmare, it was too much to handle. Reuben felt like a caged animal and he began thrashing against the walls and crying out. Crying out for someone to hear him, to save him.

“This can’t be happening… this can’t be happening. Please! Someone! Anyone!” He felt himself slowly starting to hyperventilate. His heart was speeding up. He was tugging at his hair, clawing at the walls.

The only person he could think to call out to was Louise. Over and over he cried out to his friend to help him. To please save him. Yet he knew Louise couldn’t do that, not ever again. It was Louise saving him that got him turned into it… Into…

Reuben had to swallow the vomit back down his throat.

Over and over he whispered, “It’s my fault… It’s all my fault.” He fell against the soft dirt wall and slid into his knees. Through wet eyes he gazed at the Sun and kept saying, “It’s my fault… I killed Louise. I couldn’t help him.”

A deep feeling of shame washed over Reuben. Not only had he hid while his friend was eaten, but now he was calling out for him, begging for his help again. The realization was maddening, Reuben could feel everything slip as the grief overwhelmed him, trapped beside him in his new cage.

Again another figure rose up in Reuben’s mind. The sorcerer. He could escape the prison. He could have fended the beast off single handedly. Taking down two in one day was nothing more than a hobby for him.

“Strong…” Reuben whispered deliriously. “I… have to be strong. Like him.” Slowly the thought was taking hold of him. Reuben felt his heart settle and he smeared tears off his cheeks. He forced himself on his feet.

Once again he told himself, “I must be strong.” He knew it was true. No one was coming to rescue him. No one was going to break him out of there. He had to climb himself. He had to escape. He had to find the sorcerer. He had to be strong.

Reuben dug his fingers into the wall, drilling them. He reached out with his right arm and did the same, cementing himself into the wall for climbing.

With his hands pushed inside, he began pulling himself up. As he did he forced his feet into the side, digging them deeper. With his feet pushed inside he was able to move his left hand up higher.

Slowly but surely Reuben was making progress. He was getting higher and he was nearly there. He was past halfway. He-

The wall gave way and Reuben fell backwards. He landed on his back and all the air left him as he gasped in pain.

It didn’t matter. He had to escape. There was no other option. There was nothing left but dying, starving away in a hole. So once more Reuben forced his hands into the wall. He pushed himself up and kicked until his feet were lodged in.

With every new dig, every foot closer to the top, Reuben felt rage bursting within him. The chief had abandoned them, Louise had died because he was too weak, he had been locked in a cage. The whole world had come crashing down on him and left him to rot in the ground. Well he couldn’t accept that. Slowly but surely he was setting his grief ablaze with rage and hatred.

“Strong. Stronger…” Reuben was panting the words now. He clung to them, clung to the idea of strength. It propelled him forward, it launched him up the wall. With every inch he ascended he left his pain behind and clung to the anger ahead, to his mission, his desire.

Reuben reached up slowly. Tired fingers gripped around the top of the hole. A thick crisscross of wooden bars. For an adult they would have been too thin to get through, but for Reuben he would be able to just make it.

So he slid his arms through an opening. He wrapped them around and clung to the ground above him. Slowly he brought himself up more and more, pulling himself out of the hole through the ceiling.

“I wondered if you would make it out,” a voice said as Reuben stood up on the surface once more.

When Reuben spun around there was an armored guard sitting down and playing dice with himself. He put his hands up and said, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone. I didn’t sign up to lock kids in cages.”

There was a feral distrusting look in Reuben’s eyes. He said nothing and instead slowly backed up from the guard. Once there was a good distance, Reuben turned and began running back into the village.

Their home was small. Even for the two of them it had always felt cramped with little room to walk around. Two blankets on the ground and a pot was all they had for furniture. They would spend hours on those blankets being up later then they should. Telling stupid jokes about the chief or how ugly the guard’s faces were. Reuben always talked about becoming chief or something meaningful while Louise said he wanted to make enough food to feed the whole village a dozen times over. Neither of them would be doing either of those things.

Reuben found a bag beside his blanket and then found some old worn clothes. He threw them inside the bag then dug under one of the pillows.

Underneath the pillow was a worn knife that hadn’t seen any use aside from cutting thin wood or vines that were growing over the crops. Still, it had enough edge to cut something. For a moment Reuben thought of going after the chief and exacting his revenge, but he had to ignore the thought. It would have been an inescapable death sentence.

Reuben grabbed it and put it in the bag as well. Finally he put the pot into the bag. That was all they owned. A spare set of clothes, a pot, and an old knife.

Reuben wanted to cry, but he was too damn angry, too damn confused. Of course everyone heard the stories. Villages on the outskirts of the kingdom swallowed up my breasts overnight. People killed, entire homes torn to shreds. He had never believed it. Never thought… He buried the thoughts deep in his mind.

As he left the home he knew there was only one place he could go. He had to find the sorcerer. With every step away from the village his resolve became firmer.

Reuben decided he was going to become a sorcerer just like the one from the village. He decided he was going to find him and make him train him. He was going to become just as strong as him and he was going to make something out of his life.

First he just had to find him…

There was nothing else to go off of but the memory of the sorcerer walking away from him before he was knocked cold. He had gone east. So that was where Reuben would go. He took a good look at where the rising Sun was, then began heading off accordingly.

As Reuben began walking back out of the village before someone saw him, he found he felt nothing for it. For as long as he could remember it felt like a prison. A cold home where he was looked down on and treated like property. In the end there had only ever been one thing, one reason he stayed. Now that thing had…

He was going to find that sorcerer.

Reuben was starving. He had never known hunger like this before. Even when the village suffered droughts they had enough crop leftover to ration or trading with villages could supply them with food.

He hadn’t eaten in two days and he hadn’t found the sorcerer either. Despite the short time between their departures he may as well be hundreds of miles behind. That is if he was even going the right way… Indeed his only stroke of luck was a river that traveled besides the trail and kept him hydrated. Unfortunately the river had only small fish that tried as he might he couldn’t catch.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

With every step Reuben wondered if he should give up. Truly what was he doing? What was his plan? Maybe if he went back he could beg for forgiveness. He would promise to do whatever the chief said. He could cut his rations tenfold. What was wrong with that idea?

He would be weak. He would be the same pathetic worm he had been all his life. He would live and die underneath another person’s power. That same worm who hid and cried as people were torn apart. In a way he was no different than the chief. Just a coward hiding away as-

“AGGH!” he roared out with defiance, and jumped into the river. He began slamming and slapping at the water, clapping at anything that swam by.

“I won’t be weak! I won’t go back! I won’t be beaten this easily! I will survive and I will find that god damned sorcerer!”

A fish swam through his legs. He kicked at it and missed. One went around him and he leapt at it. He missed. Over and over he punched and clawed at the river until finally he felt his hands clamp tightly around a fish.

It wriggled against him but he only held on tighter, so tight he nearly crushed it. Looking more like an animal then a human, he bit into the fish and tore a chunk of it from the bone. He swallowed it and his stomach growled with enthusiasm. Four more bites and the small fish was practically gone. A series of small nibbles and chews later and it was just bone.

Reuben wasn’t satisfied. He jumped again in the river, sending fish scurrying with fear. Again he began leaping at each one. He missed over and over. Each time he went down the fish swam around his arms, but he refused to give up. Finally he got his second fish.

For an hour he stayed in the river. By now he had the idea to start throwing the fish in his pot. He was slowly getting better, faster. Soon the fish were caught quicker and finally he had seven palm sized fish. He may as well have been handed a king’s dinner the way he began tearing through each fish with zeal.

When he was done he saw his hands were covered in bits of fish and blood. He stopped, slowly recovering his breath. Eight fish. He had killed eight fish.

There was a strange feeling in Reuben as he ate. He thought about the beast and the way it hunted them, the way it had killed and eaten person after person. Was he any different? What if there had been a strong fish who had killed him? Like the sorcerer?

Maybe that was all there was to being strong. Who could kill who and survive till the end. He ate the fish, the beast could eat him, and the sorcerer could kill the beast. It seemed like the world was governed by some sick food chain and he had spent his life on the bottom. He didn't want to be eaten or even crushed by people higher up in society. He didn't want to feel this way ever again.

Till he was strong enough for that, the fish made for good practice. So Reuben dove back into the river and continued soaking his clothes as he plucked more and more from the water until he would have enough to last for the next two days. He tossed them all in his pot and continued his journey.

As night began to approach, and the Sun met its horizon, Reuben saw smoke in the sky. He couldn’t help but get excited as he broke into a run towards it. It was inside the nearby forest and he went in without a second thought.

Excitement filled Reuben more and more as he continued dashing through thick branches and jumping over criss crossing vines. His bag bounced up and down from his speed but he had no interest in slowing down. At last he had come close to what he had been chasing for a week.

Finally he made it to the other side, huffing and panting. He came face to face with a small fire and the sorcerer from before. He had his cloak off and was sitting on a thick rock as he roasted some sort of meat over the fire.

“Why are you here?” the sorcerer asked without turning around.

“I want you to show me how to be strong like you. Strong enough to kill beasts. Strong enough to not need anyone else’s help,” Reuben declared.

The sorcerer sounded offended by the idea and asked, “Excuse me? How could you even think of that? You couldn’t face one pathetic beast. You got your friend killed, and you’re barely more than a little brat. What could you possibly offer or do to make you think you could be strong?”

Reuben hadn't expected immediate resistance. Somehow he imagined the sorcerer accepting right away. He cried out, “I have nothing else! I will give everything to this. So please. Teach me,train me, whatever it takes. If I’m weak now then make me strong.”

For some time the only reply Reuben received was the sorcerer rubbing his eye and looking annoyed. Finally he said, “I’m not interested in training you, or anyone for that matter. Your goals don’t concern me. Your grief, your exile, it isn’t my battle. Here's some advice. There’s a village south of here. Go there and become a shoemaker or something.”

Reuben shot back, “I’m not going back to some village full of people waiting to die. Out there all we are is prey for whatever comes at as. Drought, beasts, bandits. We’re helpless. If I go back to that life then I’ll never be anything.”

“That isn’t my problem, none of this is. What does it even matter anyways? You don’t want to be weak or helpless? Too bad, that’s life. Some people are born weak and some people are born strong, but you know what? It doesn’t even make a difference. No matter what you do or what little children’s dream you pursue you’ll still die without ever really amounting to a goddamn thing. Even sorcerers can spend their whole life not doing a damn thing, so just stick to what you know and wait till you’re in the ground like everyone else.”

It was almost impossible for Reuben to believe what he was hearing. Here was the man who had essentially saved his life now telling him his life didn’t matter, that he would die anyways. That even sorcerers could be worthless It was outrageous. He couldn't take it.

“Doesn’t matter? How can you even say that? Of course it matters! Otherwise why the hell did you save me anyways? Why did you kill those two beasts? Why not just keep going through the damn place and leave us all to die?” Reuben demanded.

A mild shrug this time followed by him replying, “I like killing beasts. I get money for the ones I kill. Me saving you was more of a coincidence, honestly. Right place, right time.”

The sorcerer paused and turned to Reuben, there was a cold glint in his eyes as he said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t give a damn how many of you died. I could have found an empty village, it makes no difference to me. I just wanted to crush some rotten animals and get a decent meal for it.”

“But… You… You attacked the chief! You were furious he left us to die!” Reuben protested. He couldn’t believe all of this. He couldn’t believe the sorcerer’s apathy and indifference to their deaths. Yet he suddenly remembered how little he had reacted to the death of Louise, to the death of any of the villagers.

“Oh that guy was a real piece of work,” the sorcerer admitted. “I hate people who abuse their positions of authority like that. That’s all there really is to it. He reminded me of someone else I used to know, so it felt especially good to hit him,” he replied.

As Reuben continued searching for words, trying to argue his side, to make the sorcerer stop and listen, the sorcerer was getting up. He doused the fire and tucked in his cloak then said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leaving. Do not follow me.”

“No!” Reuben shouted, running towards the sorcerer. “We aren’t done here! You have to train me, damn it!”

“Actually,” the sorcerer said slowly, “Yes we are.” He waved his hand and a mass of dirt shot out and slammed into Reuben sending him on his back. As soon as Reuben had fallen, the sorcerer sped off into the woods.

The dull ache in Reuben’s head returned as he thumped onto the ground. Yet more than that was the outrage bubbling up within him. He forced himself back to his feet and hissed, “No we aren’t!”

At once the chase gave way. Keeping track of the thick emerald cloak in a sea of green leaves was difficult, but Reuben refused to give up. Where before he had become exhausted from a mad dash now he was forcing himself through the fatigue.

From up ahead he heard the man shout, “Leave me alone and go find someone else to annoy!”

Another wave of dirt shot his way but Reuben just kept his head low and pressed onward. He shouted, “I’m not going anywhere! I have nowhere else to go. you bastard!” And as he ran he realized it was right. He had no friends, he had no village. If he didn’t convince the sorcerer to teach him he truly had nothing else. He couldn’t accept that fate, he had bet everything on this and there was no going back now. So he gritted his teeth and continued the mad chase.

Another tidal wave of earth launched up and broke around him, covering him in soil. Reuben coughed slightly, but refused to let up in his chase. He shouted, “You’re going to have to do more than that if you want to shake me off because I’m not going anywhere that easy. Come on and throw more at me! I can take it!”

This time there was no reply. No protest or magic. The emerald cloak disappeared on the other edge of a thick wall of trees and Reuben ran past it.

He shot forward and made his way into another clearing. As he made his way into the open space he realized he had lost the sorcerer. How was that possible? He had been right behind him.

A thud behind him made him turn around. It was the sorcerer springing from the treetops. He loomed over Reuben as he took a step towards him.

“You will-”

The sorcerer cut him off, “Why? What’s so special about you? What makes you think you could ever be anything more then some farmer from a nameless village? You think you can keep up with me? You think you can slay a beast? With what? How do you even know you can wield magic? How do you know you aren’t some empty husk?”

By now he was shouting as a whirlwind of soil spun around the two of them. The trees were shaking and churning as the ground ripped out underneath them and began forming massive chunks in a circle around them. The display of raw power made Reuben’s heart pound. He was gazing at the true extent of the sorcerer's power.

“I… I have to be!” Reuben yelled back.

The sorcerer laughed in his face, “Have to be? Have to be? Who the hell do you think you are? What are you owed?”

“I’m someone who won't leave you alone till you teach me. I mean it. I'll keep going after you, I'll keep demanding you teach me. I need this. I need to do this. I can't go back there- back to the village to where... I have to be strong! So just teach me alr-!”

Reuben had never felt so much pain. The sorcerer had slammed his fist directly in his stomach and sent him flying away from him. Suddenly Reuben remembered the thick arms jutting from underneath his cloak and knew there was more than just magical strength to the man lumbering towards him.

“If you think you have what it takes to be my apprentice then you better survive this,” the sorcerer said with a devilish grin.

And then the tornado around them exploded.

Everything from grains of sand to head sized chunks of mud slammed into Reuben. He was no longer inside the tornado but he became a part of it as he was tossed, thrown, and beaten at every side.

Which way was up? How could he stop the onslaught? Should he cry out for the sorcerer to stop? To let up?

No. He knew this was it. This was his chance to prove himself. He steadied his body and got into a crouch, then he charged into the woods away from the sorcerer.

“Hmm,” the sorcerer mused. “Running away? I suppose I can't be surprised. At least now I can finish my- God damn it!” He shouted, seeing bits of dirt had coated his venison. He began moving his hands to toss the pieces off until it was suitable for another bite.

Before he could take a bite, Reuben’s fist collided into his stomach. The boy had snuck up on him and declared, “There! I got a hit in! Now you have to train me!”

“A hit?,” the sorcerer replied, not remotely fazed by the punch, but despite that seemed to be huffing and puffing slightly, He repeated, "A hit?! Oh, I'll show you a hit alright, little one."

Once more the entire world seemed to go on the offensive. Reuben felt a barrage of the elements slamming into him and knocking him every which way. Each time he tried to stand up he felt a rock slam into him leaving him with a new sensation of pain. He tried to move closer to the sorcerer only to be knocked down again and thrown several feet back. Any moment now he would lose consciousness or get severely injured.

Then all at once the onslaught stopped. Everything fell back down. Reuben was confused. He looked up and saw the sorcerer was panting, the sweat on his hands and face visible despite it being night.

Between deep breaths, the sorcerer said, “Seems no matter what I do here you won’t leave. Fine. I’ll take you back to my place. At least... at least there I'll have more means to get rid of you.”

“I already told you. I’m-”

“Just shut the hell up," he barked at the youth. "Not another word until we get to town. Not another word.”