Huh?

They had avoided it. The cave lizard landed off balance but recovered quickly, turning around to initiate another strike. Just as it dipped its head in preparation for its attack, Servan’s lantern collided with the side of its menacing maw with a dull thud that sounded sort of squishy. Steel hissed as Servan drew his sword with a look of grave concentration. The cave lizard recoiled and turned to face him, letting out a menacing hiss as it eyed its new prey. He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, his movements much more agile than Alistar would have imagined possible.

Sidestepping a snap from a powerful mouth that was littered with dozens of jagged teeth, Servan skirted his way to its side and raised his sword in a double-handed grip. With a mighty swing, he cleaved the huge reptile down its midsection and split it cleanly in two. The limbs on each half kicked in futility as the lizard’s life quickly left it. Green blood pooled around the now still carcass of the lizard, the persevering light of Servan’s undamaged lantern finally disappearing.

A moment passed before a small flame suddenly flickered into existence above the upturned palm of his free hand, warm air buffeting Alistar’s face as his vision returned. He squinted his eyes for a moment, and then removed his hand from Kaila’s face. They stared at each other for a few moments, before he pushed himself off of her and helped her up with the utmost care.

The first thing her eyes landed on was the cave lizard’s bisected carcass. As her face contorted in horror, her gaze drifted to Servan. He stood there watching them, his sword stained green with gore, a fireball of the purest red hovering above his left hand.

Kaila began to cry, and ran over to Servan. She jumped onto his midsection, clamping her arms down in a frightened hug and wailing uncontrollably while she clung there.

“Whoa now,” said Servan, raising his left arm and extending his sword off to the side, away from her sobbing figure. “That’s dangerous, you know!” He tossed his sword aside with a flick of his wrist, and lowered his hand to give Kaila’s head a soft pat. After a few moments, he looked over at Alistar, who hadn’t moved since the confrontation had concluded.

Although only moments before he had been drowning in a state of soul-rending fear—much of which still lingered—he couldn’t turn his gaze from the flames that Servan had just conjured. The fireball was a bit larger than Alistar’s head, and although no physical fuel existed to sustain it, the flames continued to flourish.

Breathing heavily as his fearful shivers began to subside, Alistar blinked his eyes a few times and then stammered, “M-Mister Servan! That—is that magic?”

“Oh, this?” He cast a glance at his hand and then nodded. “I can’t do much, but the gift of the arcane resides within me.”

“You can do magic!”

Servan laughed bitterly in response to Alistar’s awe. “If manipulating small-time flames is your idea of magic, then yeah, I can.” Seeing the look on Alistar’s face, he sighed. “But I can’t hold a candle to… Well, at my level it would be generous to call me an apprentice mage, if anything. That aside, thank Lucian you two are unharmed! You’re lucky that was a regular cave lizard and not one that had become a danger beast, else it wouldn’t have waited so long to attack.”

Following his words, he tugged a metal necklace out from underneath his clothing and equipment, with a simple oval of lustrous steel as the focus of the piece. He closed his eyes and gently touched his lips to the metal, murmuring a string of strangely constructed sentences in a grateful voice.

Alistar was loosely aware of the concept of God, the Lord Lucian that was worshipped by many guards and slaves alike, along with most people of the world, apparently. Alistar didn’t see any value in muttering to himself in the hopes that his problems would suddenly be solved at his convenience. He had once tried his hand at praying. He’d begged and hoped with all his might that the next time he awoke, his father would be waking up with him, a heavy arm around him and his mother. But at the end of the day, his father had still been dead. Really, how could the adults be so foolish?

As his father had always said, the best way to get something done was to address the problem yourself. This is what Alistar truly believed.

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He gulped excitedly. As if Servan’s words had gone right through him, he exclaimed, “Mister Servan can do magic!” He ran up close and inspected the flames from a distance that caused his eyes to water. “Can you make the flames any larger? Can you throw them? Does it hurt? How many times can you do it?”

“Ease up now.” Servan rolled his eyes. “Always full of questions, this one. Well, give me a moment then. I can’t keep this up forever, you know.”

After motioning toward the flames above his hand, he asked a teary-eyed Kaila to give him some space and then knelt down to relight the candle of the fallen lanterns. He then dispelled his magic and had them sit down. They began talking, Kaila clinging to his right arm and showing no signs of releasing him. She was still very scared.

“To answer your questions, yes, I can increase the size to some extent. However, I’ve heard it is dangerous to nurture open flames within a confined space. Fire devours air, after all.”

“So we wouldn’t be able to breathe?”

Servan nodded, seemingly glad Alistar had understood. “This is just what I’ve heard. I’ve never been foolish enough to attempt it, so I wouldn’t know, but we shouldn’t have to worry about that with a flame of this size.”

“This is amazing! So, can you throw it?”

He couldn’t help but smile in the face of the eager Alistar. “I cannot. As I’ve said, I’m not so gifted when it comes to the arcane. But it’s possible. And no, it doesn’t hurt, but if I lost control of the spell then that might not be the case. To answer your final question, which I’m sure is not your final question, three or four spells is my limit.”

“What kind—

“And to answer your next question, I only ever learned how to manipulate fire and earth. Even if I tried to study the other natures, I doubt I’d see much success.”

Earth affinity as well…

“Who taught you magic? Did it take long? Can you teach me how to do it?” Magic! Real magic!

His excitement was at constant war with the coldness of his body. Memories began to surface like wood on water, of the fantastical tales that his parents used to tell him back when their family was whole. He’d heard stories of demons and deadly beasts, of sacred treasures, and of the majestic wonders of nature and man. Among his favourite were the perilous adventures of determined frontiersmen, and descriptions of the dungeon labyrinths that they tackled in search of wealth and glory. He’d also heard many myths of ancient dragons, and old poems about powerful magicians, along with heroic knights and the princesses that they seemed to save so often. If magic really existed, then could it be that dragons and princesses and the giant castles that they lived in were real as well? If magic existed, then there was no reason why they shouldn’t.

Servan shook his head, pinching his tear ducts as he let out a sigh. Although he acted as if it were a hassle, it wasn’t hard to tell that he truly appreciated how much his words meant to Alistar. “After I met your father, he introduced me to a retired arcanite that tutored me in the basics of earth and fire magics.” His eyes looked distant, as if he were staring at a far off place. “My time with him was not long, which you can probably tell by looking at my spellwork. And I am sorry to say that no, I cannot teach you Alistar.”

“But why?” Alistar pleaded. “I promise, I’ll learn quickly. I just want to be able to see it whenever I want.”

Servan laughed. “See it? Magic is all around you, Alistar.”

“All around me?”

“Yes, all around you. Take these lanterns for instance.” He nodded towards the light source. “Have you ever wondered why the wax is so slow to melt? Why a single wick can last for months?”

Alistar shook his head.

“Because they’ve been enchanted. Even the food you eat is carefully processed and imbued with magic so it can provide sufficient nutrition at the cheapest cost. There are also people whose job is to keep air circulating throughout the mines.”

Alistar stared at the candle’s flame, intently enough that the surrounding space seemed to darken.

Servan watched him in silence, a soft smile finding its way onto his face.

“Vigilance is indeed a reliable quality, but it is yet incomplete in the absence of bravery. You, Alistar, have both of these qualities. I would expect nothing less of Rodei’s son.”

Confused at the sudden praise, Alistar shook his head after stealing a look at the nearby carcass. Some of his earlier fear returned, and it seemed as if the energy was sucked out of him all at once. “When the cave lizard attacked, I couldn’t do anything.” His voice was heavy with shame. “Kaila…Kaila could have been hurt. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I…we…”

The tears came all too quickly, the wiping of his hands and arms unable to keep up with the sudden streams that poured down his face. Hearing his words, Kaila’s trembling lessened slightly and she looked over at him from her spot at Servan’s arm. This was the first time that Alistar had cried openly in front of her since their reconciliation, over two years ago.

“Alistar,” Servan said passionately, leaning forward and resting a hand on his head. “It’s that way of thinking that makes you brave. You thought of protecting Kaila before yourself. Even among adults that trait is rare.”

“B—but you were the one who saved us.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you saved Kaila’s life. If you hadn’t made the choice to force her to the ground and shield her with your body, then you would’ve been the only one I saved.”

“I did it without thinking,” he sniffled.

“Yes,” said Servan. “Yes, you did.” He ruffled Alistar’s hair and then withdrew his hand.