"It's so nice to have you boys with us," the female recruiter said happily. "We've got the accomodations for all types, but you'll most likely be living with four others. There will be four roommates in total, each with your own rooms, but you must share two bathrooms between you."

  "Do we know who we'll be rooming with?" Paxton asked curiously.

  As the lead female recruiter conversed, Goddard gazed out of the window. The rolling country-side was nothing but farms for miles around. Even the lazily strolling horse-drawn carriage was barely able to make the endless farmland appear exciting. The dull conversation between this strange woman and Paxton didn't interest Goddard, he already knew everything about the school. He knew what enrollment he should take, what classes to choose, and even how to optimize everyone else's training.

  His thoughts eventually drifted over to Crystal, the dragon who lived in Paxton's head. Her ability of telepathy was amazing, but Goddard was a little worried about the side-effects. Nothing was ever truly free, but sometimes the reward was worth the price. It was a huge gamble whether this dragon could make Paxton powerful in the time they were given, considering that she didn't do it last time.

  There were so many new variables to think about, Goddard was almost overwhelmed already. His past life had been a hectic hell, but now every day felt like a sword was dangled over his head by a thin hair. Things needed to be done, people needed to be met, networks had to be established, everything had to go right this time or the world would lose this fight with the demons.

  As the farms changed to forest, Goddard found himself blankly staring into the forest. Something caught his eye, waking him from his intense pondering. There was a light in the forest, barely imperceptable through the trees. There was a fire of some kind, a raging inferno that appeared as though it was a speck in the distance.

  "Hey," Goddard spoke up, interrupting the discussion, "There's a fire over there." He pointed in the direction he noticed the flames, and the two other carriage occupants tried to spy some sort of fire.

  "I see it," Paxton acknowledged, having glimpsed the flames through the many trees.

  "That's terrible," the female recruiter mentioned, "to have a house burn down in this kind of economic climate. It's at least fortunate that the weather won't permit a forest fire."

  Goddard ignored the doldrums of the woman, instead, sparking a memory from his past. He remembered one of his great friends who told a horrific story where his house burned down, forcing him to venture alone through the city. It was the bane of existence to discover that he was a very strong red mage, blaming himself for the fire.

  "Let's stop and help," Paxton suggested.

  "As much as I want to, there's a tight schedule to keep," the recruiter replied apologetically.

  Despite her words, Goddard opened the door, then stepped out of the moving carriage with his warrior's magic on full blast. Running rapidly through the trees, the large fire became closer with alarming immediacy. Slowing to a run, Goddard witnessed a house consumed entirely by flames. Inside he heard the cries of people, so he hardened his skin and took a deep breath.

  Rushing into the fire, Goddard felt the heat on his sheilding and the smoke in his eyes. He looked around a living room, then across two side rooms. Another scream permeated the air from the staircase, so he followed it up. Up the uneasy stairs and through the only open door, Goddard located the person inside of the house. It was a woman clinging desperately to a man who had an injury on his head. Goddard took a second to analyze the situation, then he acted.

  Grabbing the woman in one arm and the man in the other, Goddard released a booming shout, "Galbro!" that shattered the window and blew away the flames for a moment. Goddard leaped through the window, flames licking his feet as he just barely managed to land with two people in his arms. There was a scream that lasted the entirtey of his heroics, and which ended when he set the woman down outside.

  "What the heck is wrong with you?" Paxton demanded, appearing after a brief flash of light. "Why would you just leave with no warning? I thought we were supposed to have a signal when we were going to ditch the carriage."

  "This isn't that," Goddard excused his behavior, "this is... different. First off, look at this man's injury. It doesn't look good."

  Paxton glanced at the man, his right arm scorched to the shoulder and still exposed with horribly red and mangled skin.

  Reaching down, spreading a bright white flame across the poor guy's injured arm. The arm suddenly healed, bursting with fresh skin and some hair.

  "He's healed," Paxton stated blandly, "now what is this about?"

  "A healer," the woman whispered in awe, causing Paxton to roll his eyes without her noticing.

  "Momma! Poppa!" came a shout, and a child a little shorter than the Byron brothers suddenly came charging through the scene. He was crying ferociously, his nose dribbling snot everywhere. The boy desperately ran to his father's side, hugging and crying all over him. The mother joined them, embracing her boys for a family snot fest.

  "I'm sorry for yelling at you, mommy!" the boy screamed, his voice cracking several times over.

  "I'm sorry two, dumpkin!" the mother cried as well.

  "I need you to calm them down," Goddard whispered to his brother.

  "Why me?" Paxton wondered.

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  "Because you're first impression to the future 'Flame Emporer' is very important," Goddard hinted with a grin. Paxton realized that this wasn't just a random act of kindness, and he glanced from the little boy to the burning house.

  "People, please," Paxton announced with a mature voice, getting the family's attention. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but I need to know what's going on."

  "The house," the mother blubbered incoherently, "it just caught fire! One moment I smelled smoke, and the next moment the flames were already above my head! Jerry, he was hit by one of the beams and I had to drag him away, but then I couldn't leave him!"

  "Do you have any idea what caused the fire?" Paxton asked like an investigator.

  "No, we didn't even have a candle lit!"

  "Okay, but what about you?" Paxton addressed the boy. "Did you see anything, or anyone, that started the fire?"

  "No," the boy mumbled, afraid of Paxton's authority.

  "Please, give me your hands," Paxton asked kindly, "I'm going to heal your bodies in case you have any injuries you don't know about."

  "We can't possibly pay you for that," the woman told Paxton, holding her son over his father. "All of our belongings, everything we own was in the house! Oh goodness, all of our money!"

  "I'm sorry about that, trust me, I know what it's like to feel like you've lost everything," Paxton said with a deeper meaning. "But I need you to ignore your house, and look at what's in front of you. Your husband and son are alive, and so are you. Trust me when I say, not everyone is as fortunate as you are. Don't think about what you've lost, just be aware of what was saved. You have a strong husband and a big boy looking after you, that makes you wealthier than most.

  "I'm not trying to steal the clothes off your backs, I just want to be sure that there's nothing more that could go wrong. You've lost something today, don't let yourself lose anything else. Besides, this one's a freebie."

  Paxton held out his hand, but he let it hang there so that it wouldn't appear as though he was forcing it on the family. Lifting her hand, the mother placed her palm onto Paxton's, then the little boy joined them. Paxton pushed a significant amount of healing into both of them, curing them of any diseases or infections. If what Goddard said was true, this could be a valuable asset for them in the future, so he wouldn't let it go to waste.

  "There," Paxton said, letting go of their hands, "it's done."

  "Thank you," the mother weeped, letting tears fall from her eyes as her husband began to stir. The family embraced once again as the father witnessed his house in flames. They cried together as their livelihood crumbled, burning in the embers of flame.

  "Paxton!" called a distant voice, "Goddard!" From the woods emerged the remarkably dressed recruitment officer from Wiseman Academy, watching as Paxton and Goddard stood by the weeping family. "For goodness sakes, you boys are so spirited. You would just leap out and try to be heroes!"

  Paxton and Goddard exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything.

  "What am I going to do?" they heard the man weep. "All of my seeds for next years harvest were in the basement! I'm ruined!"

  "Excuse me," Paxton interjected, "but what crop were you harvesting here?"

  "Aye, I'm a Racon farmer," the man stated.

  Racon was a kind of nut that could be ground into a fine powder and mixed into a delicious drink. It was a delicacy in the northern tundra nomads, especially due to their refusal to eat anything that came from killing an animal. The nomads didn't farm, and the nuts were difficult to find naturally. Despite their moral high grounds against harming nature, buying Racon powder from established farms was a way to get it en masse.

  It was quite lucrative, especially if they're close to the nomadic borders.

  "Who is your lord?" Paxton asked, "maybe they'll be willing to offer you lodging and help?"

  "Lord Rychter doesn't see people like us. We pay him tax and he pays the guards, that's the extent of our relations. If I fail to produce his tax, he'll move my family out! We won't even have a farmstead to manage!"

  "What about the crop you have now?"

  "We well, the barn still has my equipment. I'll take some losses, but as long as we can stay strong, we'll live through this."

  "That's a great attitude to have," Paxton congratulated the man. "Allow me to extend a hand if you can't make up the difference. My father is Lord Byron, he runs the fiefdom just west of here. If you are moved from your homestead, go to him and ask for the land with the brook. It's some land with a stream running through it. The air is too moist for our usual cash crop, but it would be perfect for Racon."

  "Dear boy," the man was taken aback, "you're a Lord's son? Apologies, I didn't know!"

  "Well, I didn't introduce myself," Paxton stated, putting his hand out. "Paxton Byron, son of Lord Byron."

  "Greggory Rex," the farmer shook hands with Paxton.

  "It's a joy to meet you."

  "Goodness gracious," came the recruiter's voice as she tumbled through the woods, "I guess it's a good thing you boys decided to run off!"

  "Mrs. Recruiter," Goddard spoke up, "I just felt magic over here and thought there was a magic beast."

  "Magic?" the farmer stated curiously. "If a magical beast found a way here, I wouldn't bother staying!"

  "I don't think so," Goddard mentioned ominously, "the magic is still around here. And very close."

  The two attendents focused their minds for magical energy, and they both looked in the direction it was coming from. Their sights intersected on the boy, the farmer's son. Goddard and Paxton had to hide their smiles as the recruiter's spoke among themselves.

  "Excuse me, sir?" the female recruiter began with the farmer, and Goddard let slip a soft grin. The brothers listened as the recruiters worked their magic, and the boy who would one day become the 'Flame Emporer' willingly created his first flame. It was a magical moment as much as it was harrowing. The boy wallowed in guilt for having burned down his family's house. The recruiter's soothing words barely managed to keep him listening.

  Paxton placed a hand on the boy's back, administering a calming trickle of magic. 

  *sniffle* "Thank you," the boy said. 

  "Deary, you're going to be a mage!" cried the mother, going through emotional turbulence. "I don't know whether I'm happier or sadder!" 

  "But," the boy cried, "I ruined the house!?" 

  "Ah, hell," swore his father, recieving a careful glare from his wife for his choice of words, "a house can be rebuilt. But opportunities may never come again. Go. Learn your power. Just come back once in a while and see your old pop." 

  The family came together again, hugging and cuddling as wonderful, flowery words were passed back and forth. The recruiters watched in silence, having seen the same scene hundreds of time about their recruitment drive. The two Byron brothers excused themselves from the lovey-dovey huddle became more embarresing. 

  "What was that all about?" Paxton demanded from Goddard. "It's going to be more difficult to justify OUR leaving if we start recruiting others?" 

  "I think I just got a better idea," Goddard said with a smile. "Our friends, the ones we have in the future; maybe we could save them before we ever meet. If we can lead these recruiters to the right locations, maybe we don't have to bridge the year gap."

  "But what about the demon deterrent? Isn't that a little bit more important than getting our friends into school?"

  "Trust me, we'll get to that," Goddard mentioned, "but there are some important events that need to happen. Trust me, if you could remember what these people did in your life, you would want them to be happy, too."

  When they made it back to the carriage, the recruiter woman introduced herself, "My name is Melany Winters. What's your name?"

  "S-samson," the little boy sniveled meekly. "Samson Rex."