--- Roric

During the month after the meeting, the company faced a devastating crisis. Many mercenaries disagreed with Lowan’s decision or were just displeased by it. They took their final payment, abandoned the commander and scattered around in search of a new employer. Some remained with Palander in Sinen, working as soldiers and guards, while the rest began wandering across the surrounding lands, offering their services to the other Lords. Only the most loyal warriors, the captains and those who didn’t belong to any particular place stayed in the company. In the end, the total number of available men reduced to around sixty and the morale dropped conspicuously.

The reason behind Lowan's choice, of course, was on everybody's lips.

Roric was totally disappointed by the conclusion of the campaign. He had received a small amount of money for himself, but at what cost? The admiration he had towards Lowan, his hero up to that point, was all gone and to be honest he still couldn’t believe that such a man could just leave his place to Palander in order to be free from his responsibilities. The young mercenary kept helping Tolwin with his duties, as the company marched towards the southern regions of the Republic, but in his eyes the future couldn't look darker.

Despite the critical situation, however, Roric still wanted to uncover the truth behind the mysterious power that had aided him during the battle, especially because the old man seemed to know something. He had been careful, like the priest had advised, to not take combat training too seriously. More than an eyebrow would have raised because of that, under normal circumstances, but the general attention was all directed at the commander and his controversial behaviour. So, when Tolwin finally told him that the preparations for a short trip together were almost done, the boy couldn’t help but looking forward to it.

The mercenaries built a new encampment near the town of Aregat, in the republican south-eastern countryside, where a couple of contracts were available. Nonetheless, like they soon realized, the news about Lowan’s last moves had already outpaced them. According to some travelers met on the way there, rumours of his cowardice were quickly spreading throughout the nation. The speed and efficiency with that information had reached even the smallest villages was quite suspicious, and some of the soldiers guessed that the Senate had something to do with that. Without giving too much weight to his compromised public image, however, Lowan focused on obtaining the tasks and ordered to set up the company for at least two months of stop. It was the right moment for the priest to put his plan in motion.

During a chat with the commander, who rarely left his pavilion at that point, Tolwin informed him that he needed to travel for two weeks to search for certain uncommon medical herbs that happened to grew in the forests West of Aregat, and that he was also bringing Roric as an emergency escort. For what he was able to see when the priest came back from their meeting, the boy guessed that their conversation must have been really intense. Still, he kept his distance and didn't pry.

So, in the early hours of one of the first Summer mornings, the two departed with a couple of backpacks full of supplies and a small tent. Roric found that trip a bit exhausting since the start, due to the fact that he was forced to bring his weapons along with everything else. At least, his old friend had secured a short sword for him. It was almost new, and way better than the battered axe he had lost in the forests of the Vehra.

They walked for miles and miles, following a small river that ran deep inside the woodlands, and finally camped in a secluded clearing where they were sure nobody would have ever followed them. During the entirety of the day it took to reach that place, the boy felt his anxiety growing. It was pretty clear that the priest had his good reasons for such secrecy, but was there really the need to hide just to speak freely about that matter?

The spot where they rested, at least, was beautiful.

***

Beneath a starlit sky and beside a warm fire, the duo ate their dinner in silence.

A symphony of noises came from the surrounding trees, and Roric couldn’t help but admit that he was enjoying that unscheduled trip a lot. After all, more than two years had passed since he last could spend some time in the wilderness and that was enough to fill him with nostalgia. On the other hand, he was still waiting for Tolwin to start talking.

"So," said the priest, getting rid of a piece of food that had ended on his beard. "Where do we want to begin?"

"On the way back to Sinen you told me that I wasn't a Mage, and explained the difference between the Light and the Arcane. You asked me to keep it in mind, and I did it," replied Roric. "Let's start from there. What's the nature of my powers?"

The priest gazed at him with a serious expression.

"Ever heard of Elementals?"

Being his first time, the boy just shook his head.

"As I suspected. There is a third kind of spiritual power, one that gets even further from what we call humanity, and its origin is still unclear," stated the old man. "Many stories and legends revolve around the Elementals, but nobody has ever been able to study them. Their abilities, as you can imagine, are based on one of the four elements. The physical ones, water and earth, and the non-physical ones, fire and lightning."

"Wait," stepped in Roric. "I remember the village elders in Spjaldir were speaking about nature or something like that, but they thought air was the fourth element, not lightning."

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"Well, they were wrong. Wind seems to be just a product of the rest... But don't get me off track, now. As I was saying, the Elementals are human beings born with a special gift. Their spirits are so attuned with nature that they can almost be considered a part of nature themselves... Your element is lightning. Congratulations, somehow you seem to be a step closer than me to the Creation."

The boy looked at his hand, like he had done many times since the battle, and wondered about the enigma behind his very existence.

"There is no way to know who will be born with those powers," continued Tolwin. "Fire and lightning are more common, while the other two are a matter of ancient chronicles. It is told of rains that went on for a year and entire lands that came up from the sea in a single night. As much as I think that the stories can be exaggerate, those people must have been incredibly powerful to inspire such legends."

"On the night of the raid on my village I was struck by lightning, but I survived," said Roric. "It's because of my Elemental nature, isn't it?"

"There is no way for that kind of energy to harm you, in theory," nodded the priest. "But your power can be much, much more. Your spirit is made from lightning, and after a proper training you should become able to summon it at will."

The two remained silent for some moments, the only sound coming from the crackling flames. Roric shoved another piece of wood into the embers, and then he asked a question that had been tormenting him a lot lately.

"Why did you bring me here? Why this secrecy?"

Tolwin sighed, before answering.

"The Elementals have always possessed a great deal of power but had no allegiance, nor organization, keeping them in check. Since the ancient times, for this very reason, they were deemed dangerous and scary. The kind of people you want to keep as far as possible from your home," he sadly admitted. "In the past, the Holy City used to hunt them like animals and I have no doubts that if anyone knew we are hiding one of them among the ranks of the company you would end up with a bounty on your head in three hours at most."

"Why? This hatred... What's the meaning of it?"

"Humans hate and fear everything they can't understand unless you give them a reason to worship it, I guess," went on the old man. "More than a thousand years ago, when Ekhar was still uninhabited and the Free Kingdoms were about to become an empire, existed a huge city that went by the name of Astra-Ker. It was the capital of a very distant country, created by the Elementals. There, they ruled as gods, surrounded by common humans who were used a slaves and soldiers. At its greatest heights, that civilization had grown so powerful it could conquer most of the known world."

Roric listened intently. Even in his wildest dreams, he had never thought to be related to something that amazing.

They... They were just like me, weren't they?

"When the threat was pressing, Lords and Kings were forced to put their mistrust towards Mages aside and begged their shady Congregation for help. With the promise of his people being finally accepted into the society, a great Arcanist named Velmar traveled in secret to Astra-Ker. There, he and his most powerful acolytes summoned their power, shaping it in a form that nobody was able to describe. Some chroniclers said it was a giant wave, others that it was an earthquake, or a blazing star... But all of them agreed on the outcome."

"What happened?" asked the boy.

"The mighty city of the Elementals was buried forever, and every trace of its existence erased by the collective memory. I never questioned the degree of truth behind this story, but even nowadays you can hardly find someone who knows about it among the common people. What's certain is that the greed and lust for power of those Elementals started a manhunt that went on for centuries, and ultimately brought them to the extinction."

"Until now," commented Roric, with a gulp. "Right?"

The priest sipped some water and cleared his throat.

"The Elementals are part of the nature. You can't get rid of them as long as the world itself keeps existing. Don't ask me how it works, though. There are many things we don't know about them, and will never be able to."

Lost in thought, the young mercenary stood up. He had absorbed an impressive amount of information that evening, but except for the history lesson he was still fumbling around in the dark.

Why do we need two entire weeks here all by ourselves?

"What did you plan for this trip, exactly?"

"As you know, I'm no Elemental. But I can still try to teach you how to tap into your spirit. It should be pretty similar to the way I do it with mine," replied Tolwin. "The basics should be enough to keep your powers from unleashing at random. That, plus I'm going to give you some serious combat practice."

"Combat?" inquired Roric. "But Tolwin, aren't you too-"

"Old?" the man interrupted him.

He invited him to sit again, and the boy silently obeyed.

"I'm not that young anymore, you are right," admitted the priest. "But trust me when I say I'm not an opponent you could take. You see, I... I haven't always been a priest."

Roric was a bit perplexed. That gentle, tired old man had surely an incredible amount of knowledge and experience, yet didn't really give him the idea of being a dangerous fighter. Like he had already realized his disappointment, Tolwin smiled.

"The Order of the Light can count on a great number of clerics. They are organized in ranks and led by the Elders, men who are chosen for their exceptional virtue and wisdom. Still, there's another aspect I didn't mention... Paladins."

Alright, now he sounds serious.

"They are the weapon of the Order, holy warriors who undergo a special training and act as agents in these lands. All of them have strong beliefs, devote their entire life to serve a superior purpose and are fierce, skilled combatants."

"So, you are actually one of those people?" wondered the boy. "Or you stopped being one? I can't understand..."

Tolwin's smile became sadder.

"I was one of the best, back in the day. But let me tell you the entire story from the start."