Although trees surrounded Nathan, winds carried the sound of muffled paws through snow, and the striking of thick troll leather through ice.
Hearing this, he looked around for beasts, but found none. These were the echoes of Grival. It had been so long since Nathan had gone hunting, and his instincts and senses were being overloaded with stimuli. But then, he heard a thud overhead. It was close. Whether or not it was real wasn’t an issue, he needed to act fast if he didn’t want to be taken by surprise. He raised a hand high in the air, and with his other, he accumulated cold winds. The aura around his attacking hand formed into a crossbow bolt before being launched at the sound.
The next thing he knew, a bloody ball of flesh fell in front of him. It was a small, white-furred beast about half the size of a rabbit, but with a long and fluffy tail. “What was that?” he muttered.
“That’s a squirrel,” answered a voice from behind.
Nathan looked back. There, Julia was walking towards him. With each of her steps, ice formed below her feet, but unlike his father, its expansion did not emit a sound. Mesmerized by her air, Nathan didn’t notice the scowl on her face. “For Mage Brian to have withheld someone like yourself is a great crime.” She bent down and grabbed the dead squirrel by the tail, blood still dripped from the hole in its side. The bolt had pierced straight through. “Did your father train you?”
“Yes.”
“It’s obvious that your instincts have degraded since his death, but it’s not hard for me to see your skills.” She pondered. “Do you know what tower your father belonged to?”
“What Tower?” Nathan was confused. “The South…”
“Not which Tower, but what tower. I’m talking about the tower your father belonged to in the Southern Tower.” She only now noticed how the naming convention wasn’t the best, but that was neither here nor there.
Nathan still didn’t get what Julia meant. He’d never heard of the other towers; well, he remembered Julia telling Mage Brian that she was the tower of law's representative. But he didn’t know what that meant either. What he did know was that the Towers were unbelievably complex, and he didn’t even understand the first thing about them. “What do you mean by that?”
Julia threw the squirrel away and wondered why Nathan was oblivious to so many things, but when her eyes set on Nathan’s chest, she understood the confusion. “Never mind, I forgot that your father was a third-ranked mage. He probably rarely interacted with them. But that just means that his father or grandfather must have belonged to a battlemage tower and taught him the ways of fighting.”
“And what is that?” asked Nathan now curious to hear more about his family. His father had always been very reserved when it came to his past.
“To function, each Tower needs civilian, alchemist, and military mages like any other kingdom or republic. Some, like the tower of law, are tasked with setting the laws of the Tower and punishing those who transgress them. They are a part of the civilian towers. Now, of course, the same is applied to the military apparatus of the Tower. There is the tower of hell fires, specialized in explosive magic. Then there is the tower of floods, they specialize in grand scale warfare leveraging natural forces such as storms, monsoons, and floods. And there is the tower of battlemages, it is greatly respected and feared for producing some of the most powerful mages. My grandfather belongs to this one and seeing the sharpness of your instincts, I believe that you were trained in the ways of battlemages. We are specialized in-fighting, whether that be beasts, or mages. As such, we are often subcontracted by other towers, such as the tower of law, to enforce their rulings."
A slight bit of pride grew in Nathan’s heart. Never had he thought that his lineage had such things to be proud of. For all this time, he’d assumed that every mage would be just as much a battle maniac as his father or Julia. But hearing this brought him the hope that he may be all the more powerful and special once he’d enter the tower.
“Now, Nathan, I need you to restore your instincts of a battlemage. The more of an impact you make on your arrival, the greater a crime Mage Brian will have committed. If all goes well, I can promise you the wealth of even a fifth-ranked mage; good battlemages are a rare find. You’ll notice that even though we’ve just fought a war a little more than a decade ago, mages have gone soft. They are beginning to think that little rocks can do the job of war in place of mages. Grenold crystals have their place, but that is not on the front lines. When the next war breaks out, we will need great battlemages like yourself to lead the Tower.”
Nathan nodded and looked back into the forest. It was no longer a scary unknown, but a land he needed to overcome and conquer. He cleared his mind and kept his eyes, ears, and nose primed to detect any other beasts. He didn’t notice any right now, and so sought Julia’s confirmation to proceed, but she had already disappeared, perhaps hidden behind a tree, perhaps having turned into a wisp of smoke.
Regardless, with his mentality renewed, Nathan focused on the sounds of the forest, and proceeded forwards.
#
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The forest was much livelier than Grival’s snowy plains. Here he spotted many small animals he’d never seen like squirrels, rats, different birds, cats, and many more.
Nathan continued through the forest, remaining hyper vigilant until the sun set, and Julia reappeared. “It seems that the large beasts haven’t returned, which is good … but unfortunate. Well, we’ll be trekking the path for two more days.” She crouched down and water flowed out of the ground. Like tentacles, these streams of water extended into the air, gradually freezing, and letting more water curve up and above into the air, forming an icy dome with a small hole at its top to let air pass in and out. “You can sleep at ease tonight,” said Julia, lying down.
Nathan had now slept in the open more times than he should have lived through, so he didn’t think that sleeping in this makeshift habitat would cause him any more issues than he’d previously had.
But, as the night set in, he realized that he hadn’t considered how much noise there would be at night.
The hoots of owls, the howls of wolves, and the barking of dogs resonated through the forest. At first, he could hear that they were far and didn’t pose a threat to him. But as he drifted in and out of sleep, his ears couldn’t distinguish distance anymore, and it was as if all the beasts of the forest were scratching at the dome.
He tried to close his eyes, and reassured himself that Julia would deal with them, however, his experience prevented him from putting his security in another’s hands. And so, unable to sleep, he sat up, and watched through misty ice for the golden eyes of silver wolves.
#
“Wake up!” yelled Julia.
Nathan’s eyes shot open, and he turned to the voice. His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t see her too well, but he could see the grey sky behind her. The igloo wasn’t there anymore.
Nathan realized that he’d fallen asleep, but it couldn’t have been for too long, since he still felt as if he was staring out the cloudy ice and listening to the howls of wolves.
Once the events were set straight in his mind, he got up, but with difficulty. He was tired beyond belief. Had walking through the forest for one day exhausted him so much?
He looked to Julia, perhaps for comfort, but she was already walking away, her steps as silent as could be.
“Wait,” he said, but his throat was strained, his body exhausted, and his words didn’t reach further than his nose.
He didn’t have a choice but to run after her. Getting up and taking a few steps, he stumbled on a tree’s root, before falling in a small berry bush where he struggled to get up, ultimately falling asleep.
#
Nathan tasted something sweet. This time his eyes shot open and found themselves staring at a golden liquid flowing out of a glass vial. Swallowing the last bit of it, Julia stepped back. “I didn’t think you’d be so exhausted after a single day. It seems those months in the mines really affected your endurance. But, I guess, I had to test the potion eventually.”
Nathan wasn’t listening to her words. His mind was solely focused on the potion she had fed him. It was good beyond belief and made his mouth water for more. “What was that?”
“It’s an endurance restoring potion made by the apothecary of Vilnus. It’s one of the most effective manaless potions.”
“Can I have another?” He asked emphatically.
Julia stepped back, her eyes examining Nathan, before freezing the vial and crushing it. In doing so, Nathan spotted a small, frozen golden drop fall into the snow. It made his face visibly twist in pain and regret.
“That’s not good,” muttered Julia. “Nathan, look at me!” she yelled, getting his attention. “There are a few potions, like the Golden Row, which are more effective, but also addictive to a few mages. It’s a rare occurrence, but it must still be tested. I didn’t think you’d be affected, but since you are, don’t ever think of taking more.”
“But if it’s more effective for me, what’s the problem?”
“It’s addictive,” repeated Julia, but Nathan didn’t understand. There were no addictive substances in Grival. Even food was rare when he left.
Julia frowned. She didn’t want to be the one to teach a kid about addiction. That should have been his father’s job. “Nathan, even if a substance doesn’t have side effects, the simple fact that one is addicted to it means that the one who controls it controls you.” Her tone was careful, but stern. “And with Golden Row, not only will it make one more impulsive, but it will rot the body of its abusers. Their teeth will turn black, their eyes become dirty brown, and their skin show signs of mould growth. Many mages use this potion in times of needs, since in limited amounts it causes few issues. But for the hyper responsive and addiction prone, they must avoid it. Stay clear of it. The momentary bliss you will feel will never out weight its woes.”
Nathan was still emphatically staring at the ground, his eyes affixed on the golden drop.
After a few more moments, Julia stepped on the drop. Nathan’s eyes shot up to her, but seeing her uncharacteristically pained look, Nathan somewhat regained control over his mind. But his body still ached for the substance, so he had to sit down against a tree and let himself regain control over his body.
“You are the most hyper responsive person to Golden Row I’ve ever seen. If I were you, I’d be careful with potions made by apothecaries, as they often have higher risks of being made with addictive substances,” continued Julia. “The potions of alchemists are more expensive, but often safer. You shouldn’t have any issues with money for a while, so stick to those. It’s worth the extra expense.”
Still shook by the flashes of heat and pain passing through his brain, Nathan nodded. This was a pain he’d never felt and one that he never wanted to feel again. At least when his fingers turned black, the relief of drinking a potion and seeing them return to normal was a gratifying proof of struggle, but this wasn’t worth it. “Don’t worry…” said Nathan, still woozy. “I’d rather not sleep for a week than feel this pain again.”
These words somewhat calmed Julia’s heart, even though the words of an addict were rarely ever worth its weight in salt. But seeing as he had such a bad withdrawal after only having such a small dose, she doubted he’d ever try it again.
Regardless, they had to move on. But she could at least spare him from combat for today. Although he was up and could walk, he was in no state to fight. This trip had more than just the intention of testing his instincts, physical and magical prowess. She also needed to increase his pride in his legacy and introduce him to things he’d encounter in the Tower … like Golden Row and liquid charms. “Let’s go, Nathan, follow behind me. We’ll be entering the territory of the wolves.”
And with those words, Nathan followed behind Julia with unsteady steps.