As the sun sets on the horizon, the trio walked together away from the ruins.

Rodderick kept admiring his two new companions who were filled with an air of mystery.

Edeus was the iconic image of an old wise wizard that showed up in the books he read. The girl at his side with an over sized pointy hat was a common sight in stories too, it made Rodderick felt that he suddenly jumped into a book filled with many adventures, making his heart jump with excitement.

She had long black hair and a youthful and energetic face, was she Edeus daughter or apprentice?

"Are you going to leave the corpse behind? Draconian body parts are pretty useful", Ember asked looking at Edeus.

"I don't brew potions nor do I need the money, I'm leaving it to the townsfolk, they can use the money to reconstruct their homes", Edeus turned to Rodderick. "I think we should spend the night in the town, know of a inn around here?"

Rodderick nodded eagerly, excited at the prospect of being useful to the powerful wizard.

"Yes, I know of an inn just down the road," Rodderick said, pointing in the direction. "It's called the Golden Goose"

As they approached the inn, Rodderick couldn't contain his excitement. He had seen it from the outside many times, but he never had the money to come in as a guest. He eagerly pushed open the door and stepped inside, taking in the sights and sounds of the inn.

The main room was filled with many tables with people having dinner, talking loudly and laughing heartily. A bar stood at the back of the room, stocked with all sorts of drink and snacks.

Rodderick's eyes widened as he took it all in.

As he was about to run around he felt a hand pulling him back from his collar. "Come on, let's see if we can get a room," Edeus said, leading Rodderick towards the bar.

"W-Welcome to the Golden Goose", the innkeeper, a stout man with short brown hair and a bushy beard received the trio with a shaky voice.

As Edeus and Rodderick approached the innkeeper, the old wizard asked for two rooms for the night. The innkeeper quoted a price of 10 silver coins, to which Edeus responded by putting a gold coin on the table and telling the innkeeper to keep the change.

The innkeeper's eyes widened at the sight of the gold coin, and he quickly thanked Edeus and led them to two cozy rooms upstairs. "You can leave your things here sir, if there's any problem with the rooms or other guests, please, let me know at once. Food will be ready soon downstairs"

Edeus nodded and opened the door with the key provided by the innkeeper.

Rodderick couldn't believe his luck as he jumped and flopped down onto the soft bed, but his enjoyment of the soft sheets didn’t last long. "Alright kid, let's eat", Edeus left his long wooden staff rest against the wall and opened the door once again to let Rodderick through.

Rodderick, a little unwilling to let go of the soft comfort reluctantly stood up and walked through the door.

As they walked down the stairs they quickly found their companion waving exaggeratedly at them, an unnecessary gesture, given how easy she was to find in the crowd thanks to her massive hat. The duo quickly made their way to her table and sat down with her.

"So Rodderick, ever had a good meal? You know, your parents dead and all you must have been risen in an orphanage, did they feed you dead rats or something?", as Rodderick sat down at the table with Edeus, Ember unloaded questions on the boy to satisfy her curiosity. The old mage’s face soured up at the distasteful questions from the witch, however, Rodderick didn’t seem to mind.

“Well, I never ate in an inn like this, but the food at the orphanage was actually pretty good”, Rodderick answered in a cheerful tone. He was more than happy to answer any questions, even if they were painful, he would talk about anything as long as he could talk to the amazing people in front of him.

The innkeeper approached them with three bowls in hand. "I made sure to give yours some extra meat, sir", he said with a smile while setting the bowls down in front of them.

Rodderick's eyes lit up at the sight of the food and he eagerly reached for a bowl. Inside, he found a hearty stew, filled with chunks of meat and vegetables. The delicious aroma from the meal was making his mouth salivate in anticipation.

“How old are you? six?.

“I’m ten!”, Rodderick answered almost insulted. He raised his head to look a little taller but it only made him look more childish.

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“Oh, sorry, sorry, here, eat this too, you need it to grow healthy", the girl gave Rodderick a piece of meat from her own bowl.

"Oh thanks you miss..." He stopped. He suddenly realized that he didn't even know her name. He had been so caught up in the excitement of their journey and the prospect of learning magic, that he had completely forgotten to ask.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Rodderick cleared his throat and awkwardly asked the witch for her name. She looked at him with a curious expression, and for a moment, Rodderick thought she was bothered by the question.

But then, to his surprise, the witch burst out laughing. "That's right, that's right", the witch cackled. Name's Ember, remember it kid, I will slay the Demon Lord and use her skull as a teapot one day, I will be the greatest witch to ever live!" She continued to cackle.

A spoon fell on the floor as the inn went quiet, and all eyes turned to the witch.

Edeus sighed, Exasperated he brought a hand to cover his eyes.

"This is why you don't dine with witches. Listen here Rodderick, my first lesson. If a witch ever invites you to a tea party, excuse yourself, you don’t want the trouble"

"Kihihi, they are a bunch of cowards, that's what happened", Ember took another spoonful of her bowl.

A tall man at a nearby table slammed his fist on the wooden surface and stood up, his face contorted with anger.

"Don’t ever mention that demon again! You are putting us all in danger! Do you think that’s funny?!", the man rose his voice, his tone mixed with anger and fear.

"It's hilarious!" Ember yelled raising her arms without backing down. "It's funny, the fact that you think you will be spared by being a good little sheep. She's not your friend, eventually she will get rid of you even if you lay down and wag your tail like a dog" The witch cackled as the man's face grew angrier.

"Don’t come here and invite problems! Get out of here before I call the guards on you!”. Some people also stood up, joining the man.

Ember ignored the threats and stood up herself without any intention of deescalating the situation.

"Enough", Edeus gave Ember an angry look which finally made the witch shut up.

Ember shrugged and sat down again, devouring her stew in one go with loud gulping noises.

The tall man scowled and also sat back down, still muttering to himself.

Rodderick watched the exchange with wide eyes, feeling a little uneasy.

The innkeeper, who had been listening nervously to their conversation, quickly cleared his throat and suggested that they finish their meal in their rooms. Edeus nodded in agreement with a sigh, and the three of them gathered their things and retired to their rooms for the night.

...

As they lay on the bed, Edeus slowly closed his tired eyes. It had taken a lot of him to pursue the demon, it was incredibly rare to meet one that could out pace even his familiar.

But he was finally able to rest in a comfortable bed once again.

Rodderick too was also lying on his own bed, he was reflecting on the previous scene.

It was well known that one shouldn’t bring up the demon lord under any circumstance. Stating her name out loud would have you executed immediately without any trail, although it was not a common occurrence, after all not many knew her name because of these rules.

But Ember didn’t seem bothered at all, it made Rodderick think that she was a person that lived under her own rules.

Was that the freedom that power brought? It made him dream about joining her, he too wished to live like that, free of any fear.

He looked at his right where Edeus was laying down.

"How do you cast spells?" he asked. "What kind of magic can you do? How do you control it?", Rodderick started bombarding the old wizard with question after question.

"Slow down, boy", Edeus looked at Rodderick without lifting his head from the pillow.

"Magic is a powerful and complex thing, and it takes time to learn and master. I'll teach you everything you need to know, but for now, sleep"

Rodderick was disappointed, but nodded in understanding, soaking up every word that Edeus had said. He knew that he had a lot to learn, but he was determined to become the best apprentice he could be and that meant letting your tired teacher rest.

Finally, as the moon rose high in the sky, Edeus closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, leaving Rodderick to dream of all the magic and adventures that lay ahead.