Wyll

As I reached the tall gates of my family’s estate, I went through my excuses one more time.

The hospital had discharged me, and I wanted to go send a message to Cas to tell him I’m okay. He was in the middle of an operation, so I had to wait a bit until he was free. That’s why I took so long to get home. Also, in order to get back into shape I’ve taken some additional private lessons from a tutor in the city to practice my mana shaping, so I’ll be out for the next few nights too. That tracks, right?

Honestly, I would much rather skip the inevitable family meeting and just go upstairs to practice what Fyron taught us, but I decided it was best to keep a level of normalcy. Above all, my father could never know what I was really getting up to.

A rune on the gate recognised me by my blood and gracefully folded open, each metal pole twisting out individually to clear the way. I always found it a bit of a pain - a regular gate would be easier to get through - but mother had always insisted that appearances were vitally important for someone of our standing. I suppose that’s why as I walked through the front garden, there were various exotic summons prowling around the house. One, a kind of luminous imp with a glowing green tongue that trailed along the floor and long, peacock-like feathers protruding from its back, passed the hewn stone path in front of me.

“Hey Gralax!” I waved at the conjured creature.

“Aochgrraugh.” croaked Gralax, giving me a polite bow before continuing his patrol.

The house itself was large, and inspired by the Dwarven architecture from Gottlan. Large stone pillars framed the front of the house, and statues of various war heroes were spaced in between those. There weren’t many lights on that I could see in the house except for the dining room, so I was probably about to enter right in the middle of dinner. Not ideal when I’m trying to avoid a fuss, but Gralax had seen me now.

I took a deep breath, being once again reminded of the tightness of the freshly healed skin on my chest, and knocked at the door. After a short moment, it swung open to see our Butler, Hobbins, standing there. Hobbins was another summon, if more sophisticated. He was a flowing mass of different kinds of fabrics, as if someone had made a pile of rags up to the height of a human. He had his silks on the outside for answering the door, but could switch to a cloth for cleaning, a towel or mop for drying, or a tougher kind of reinforced linen for manual work. Hobbins was always my favourite. I remember dressing up as him once by throwing a bunch of blankets over my head and running around the house. That had ended up in tears after I ran into a bannister, but Hobbins had dabbed my tears dry with a silken handkerchief.

“Young Master, it is so good to see you home again at last.” said Hobbins, his voice muffled like someone speaking from under a pile of laundry. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, that potion did wonders. Am I interrupting dinner?”

“Not at all, I was just about to fetch the starters. Please, come in.” Hobbins lifted some cloth resembling an arm to gesture inside. “Allow me to get your coat.”

I hadn’t even unbuttoned my coat before it tore off me in pieces, before reforming in perfect condition on a hook in a corner of the foyer. I made my way into the house, over plush heated carpets and under crystal chandeliers, to find my family sitting around the table.

Father was sitting at the head of the table. A tall man, well built, with a shaved head and perfectly trimmed moustache. His white button-up shirt had his medal pinned to it, as always, and a sturdy looking wand hung from his belt. Mother sat opposite, wearing an elegant, off the shoulder red dress that looked more suited for a royal ball than a family dinner. Her dark brown skin was painted with flecks of gold that accented her very expensive-looking gold and crystal necklace - an engagement given from father and a fairly unique evoker.

In between them were my siblings, Sammie and Milo. Milo was the youngest, and wore his favourite “Dragons are COOL” shirt that was somehow already stained with food. He had been insisting that he gets to use the “grown-up chairs” recently, and seemed to have gotten his way since he could barely see over the table. Sammie was next to him, leaning back in her chair with a wet cloth over her eyes. She was older than me, and very responsible. I’d be damn surprised if she was hungover, but it certainly looked like it.

As soon as I turned the corner, the entire family rushed over.

“Oh my baby! Welcome back!” “There’s my soldier!” “You’re back!” “WYLL!” Their voices overlapped each other as they all spoke at once.

“Hi guys, sorry to make you all wait.” I said sheepishly. “I’m home.”

“Are you all healed up?” asked mother, pulling up my sleeve to see my arm. The skin there was still tight and hot pink, but not nearly as bad as it was the last she saw me.

“Getting there. They said that there’ll probably be some scarring, but by next week I won’t have any more discomfort. I’ve got the week off training to recover.”

Father let out a bellowing laugh. “Eager to get back to the fight are we? That’s my boy.” He only ever seemed proud when we talked about Brimstone.

“I heard that fire magic is, like, super dangerous. More dangerous even than ice magic even!” chirped Milo, hugging my leg.

I crouched down next to him. “That’s right. Guess that just means I’m super tough, huh?”

Milo beamed at that, and I ruffled his hair.

Sammie did the same to my hair, and said “Good to have you back, Wyllie” I looked up to protest the stupid nickname, and say she was squinting in pain.

“What’s up with you? I’m supposed to be the injured one here.”

“Got a killer headache. Work made me wipe my brain again.”

“It comes with the job I’m afraid, Samantha.” Father said. “Take it as a mark of your responsibility.”

“Uh huh. I just wish that the elixir worked faster. Got any of the healing potion they gave you left Wyll?”

“Nah, they wouldn’t even let me keep the bottle. Company secret, I guess.”

“Bummer.”

“Please, you two, you’re as bad as your Father. Save the war stories for later and let's have something to eat.” said mother. “Hobbins, could you put together a plate for Wyllam too?”

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“Already done, Mrs. Darter.” came a voice from the carpet. “I’ll bring the food out now.”

We moved back to the dining table, and a plate of fresh bread and a steaming bowl of mandrake soup was placed in front of me. I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I smelled Hobbins’ cooking, and wolfed it down as impolitely as I could get away with in front of my parents.

After a few minutes of quiet eating and small talk, mother turned to me. “So, what took you so long to get home? It must be nearly midnight by now.”

“It’s eleven fifty, ma’am”. Intoned the tablecloth.

That late already? Damn. If we had lived in Gottlan, my family would be asleep by now. That said, I’m not sure if Dwarves even sleep. I’d heard a rumour that they just shut down on the spot like golems. Either way, it’d make avoiding this conversation a lot easier.

“Yeah, I went to the Horizon by the hospital to talk to Cas. He was on a mission, so I had to wait a bit to be connected.”

Father gave a disapproving look. “You tried calling him while he was on a mission? That could have been dangerous, son. When you’re eventually deployed, you’ll see that someone trying to form a telepathic link with you at the wrong moment will get you killed. There was this one time-”

“Now honey, Cas has been worried sick too. He’s been sending us messages too to ask how Wyllam has been, so his situation can’t be too perilous.”

I said a silent thanks to Cas for unknowingly helping my alibi. I really do need to call him soon.

“Did he find any dragons yet?!” asked Milo excitedly.

Mother laughed. “Cas told Milo he’d keep an eye out last time he called.”

“I don’t think he’s spotted any yet, but he said he’d keep looking.” I replied to Milo.

“Cool!!”

Hobbins came to clear the plates away, and in the same motion replaced them with the main course - spicy shredded pork with rice, topped with melted cheese. There was a merciful break in the conversation as we ate, but I decided to take the initiative to help steer the conversation.

“Regarding the accident…” I started

“Oh baby, you don’t need to explain yourself. These things happen. You’ll be better prepared next time.” I briefly caught Mother giving Father a look.

“Erm, yes. It’s okay son. It happens. Better on the practice range than in the field, right?” Father did his best to sound comforting.

“Actually, I’ve taken the initiative on making sure it doesn’t happen again. Brimstone referred me to a tutor in the city to help practice my mana shaping so I can better control the spell next time.”

Father looked pleased at that. “Wonderful! What’s their name? Are they from Brimstone too?”

Anxiety swelled in my chest. “Ah, erm, actually it’s an outside agent. Nobody you’d know, but they come highly recommended. Don’t worry, I’m paying for it out of my own money.”

“Nonsense. How much are they charging? I’ll cover the costs. I’d want to meet with them first, though. There are some real con men out there.”

Sweat began to form on my brow. “No, I insist. This was my mistake, and I want to be the one to fix it. It’s a matter of pride, you know?”

It was a gamble, but Father seemed to accept that. Sammie however, was giving me a very curious look as she chewed on her food. Crap. She was always the smartest in the family, and I hadn’t considered that if anyone saw through my lie it would be her.

Mercifully, the rest of dinner passed without incident, and I excused myself by saying I wanted to check out my burns in the bathroom. I locked the door, activated the runestone on the ceiling, and steaming water started to spray into the spacious porcelain tub. A set of towels flew out of the cupboard and folded themselves on a side table. Thanks, Hobbins.

I stared at my own face in the mirror above the sink. Cas said I was handsome, but I never saw it. Especially not now, with the burn scars creeping up my neck. My military buzz cut was getting a bit long after my hospital stay, and I had some heavy bags under my eyes. The nurse did say that I was going to be wiped out for the next week or so since the potion just enhanced my body’s natural healing abilities. Explains why I was so ravenous earlier.

I had to review the conversation in my head. I don’t think I gave the game away, but Sam’s look was seared in my mind’s eye. She knows something. Or thinks she does. I don’t think I gave any indication of my doubts for working at Brimstone, but why did I use the tutor excuse? Idiot! Of course my father would want to meet him. I tried to imagine a meeting with Ron and my father, and shuddered. He would take one look at his ragged robes and send him packing.

I wanted to ask Cas about all this. He’d know what to do. He’d probably say I was an idiot for getting involved with Wild Magic, but maybe when he saw the results he’d want to join too. I’d have to wait, though. If I went to go call him again so soon my parents would definitely start to wonder.

I thought about what Ron had said. Did I even need to go through Horizon to talk to him? Could I really just mentally connect with him if I really believed it would work? I didn’t fully trust him. Arryn could have been working with Ron and just lied about being mundane. But the skills Ron showed fighting against that elven girl… He was skilled, that much was obvious. Also, to be completely honest, I was desperate.

Maybe with more practice I could avoid another accident like that again. I could use it as a way to learn from my mistakes, be extra cautious in my learning. Stick to the plan. But that would expose me to more danger. I had taken some serious damage just learning. The idea of willingly putting myself in hostile territory in a forest that has trees that tear people apart with their branches and highly coordinated and intelligent magical beasts filled me with so much dread that I broke out in a sweat just thinking about it.

On the other hand, I could use Ron’s lessons (if they were true) to rapidly rise the ranks of Brimstone. I could find some undisturbed dungeon in the Scarlet Woods and plunder its treasures for an early retirement like my father had. I could get so strong that I was practically untouchable, like Ron. Or I could leave Brimstone entirely, use some kind of weird magic to make everyone forget I even joined in the first place. Go back to my life before my parents started pushing for me to “make something of myself”.

There was a knock at the door. Sam’s voice came through. “Lil’ Wyllie, are you gonna spend the whole night in there or do we get to use the shower too?”

“Won’t be long!” I shouted back. I waited a moment until I heard footsteps walking away.

I took a quick shower, the hot water prickling uncomfortably on my burns, then got ready for bed. My bedroom hadn’t changed much, though it was clear that Hobbins had prepared it for my return. He’d not touched my posters of Flaming Arrows, the best broomstick racing team in Adleth. It looked like he’d even dusted my golem figurines, still on my shelf from when I was a little kid. There wasn’t a speck of dust in the place, and my bed had been freshly made. I’m sure the sheets had been neatly pressed too, if it weren’t for my older sister sat on my bed.

“Wyll. You’re hiding something.”

Shit.

“What do you mean? I just got home.”

“Since when do you pick up a tutor on the way home from the hospital?”

“My supervisor did all the legwork while I was bed bound.” I lied.

She grinned. “I thought you said they weren’t related to Brimstone.”

“Uh, they’re not…”

“Save it. You seem to be hiding something, but I won’t make you spill… yet. Just tell me - are you being safe? Is it worth all this lying? You’re a terrible liar, by the way.”

I didn’t say anything, but I gave a very slight nod. That seemed to satisfy Sam for whatever info Sam was fishing for, so she stood up and made her way to the door, pausing with her hand on the handle.

“By the way, I spoke to Cas this morning. He’s not on a mission for another two weeks, so maybe don’t rely on that excuse going forward.”

I swore internally. I needed to ask Ron if there was some kind of magic that made you a better liar.

Sam gave a smug wave and went back to her own room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sat down on my bed, closed my eyes, and tried to figure out how to access this new, unscripted kind of magic until the sun started to rise again.