Malysseus hurried to the cave’s mouth, leaving the crew roaring in chaos behind him. Focusing his Mana, he followed the instructions Gurten had suggested for using Arcane magic. The method had worked once. He focused his energy, causing the combinations to slowly slip together and cancel each other out instead of forming combination spells. Once the power formed in his palm, he spread the Arcane energy into a wall.

Pushing that wall outward, Malysseus focused his energy until the round sheet of energy was wide enough to block off the mouth of the cave. He pushed once more and attached the spell to the cave walls with a basic anchoring earth spell.

He saw the cyclops’ head in front of the cave mouth, a single eye peering in at him through the shimmering sheet of Arcane magic. The monster bellowed at him in the foreign language from before. The cyclops poked one finger inside, trying to force its way through the barrier, but the shimmering force stopped it cold.

Malysseus layered another spell and then another one until three sheets of shimmering force protected the crew inside the cave. With a grunt, the cyclops disappeared from view. What the creature was up to, only the gods knew.

“Are we safe?” Gurten asked. Malysseus realized Gurten was standing at his shoulder. He probably had been for a while.

“As safe as we’re going to be,” Malysseus said. “I think it’s about time I tell you all that story about Sarah.”

Gurten’s eyebrows raised as they walked back to the crew.

“Are we safe?” Marcus asked.

Malysseus nodded his head solemnly, “For now. I need to tell you all a story. I know the timing is off, but it’s relevant. I need to explain myself. Jamie, it would be best if you went deeper into the cave. You’re the smallest one. See if you can find us a way out.”

Jamie protested, “But Malysseus! I want to hear the story of Sarah.” His face was quite sad. He wanted to be a part of the story with the rest of the crew. Being so young, he often felt left out of everyone else’s fun.

A horde of crew members, including the leadership, glared at the young man.

“Alright, alright. I’m going. Jeez.” Jamie grumbled as he slowly lit a torch and moved deeper into the cave.

As the cave shuddered from another round of violent shaking, Malysseus took a seat. The crew gathered around him, using the cyclops’ bed pallet and other furniture as chairs. It was only fair since the monster was trying to kill them all. Malysseus still held the small fireball aloft in his hand, passing it in front of his face to appear more menacing.

“First, you need to know something about me you all may not know,” the Captain began. “I was born to a family of sheepherders. My parents raised me from my early years to become a sheepherder. That is why, to this day, I refuse to eat lamb. I see Sappy, Laura, and Mocky every time I see people eating lamb. You’re all bad people.”

He coughed, reorienting himself to continue the story after distracting himself. The crew seemed uncertain if they should laugh or cry as Malysseus continued.

"I spent much time herding until I realized my latent magical power at thirteen. I practiced fanning the flames of that small power on my own. I scraped pennies together for three summers to afford one of the small tomes on magic available in the city. And I learned.”

Malysseus made the small fireball of light float around as he continued the story. The light passed over the faces of each crew member so he could watch their reactions to the story.

“Over the years, I slowly stoked my dormant powers into something to be reckoned with. Some town bullies at school often made fun of me for being a sheepherder. Despite the need for clothes and food, it’s not the noblest of professions. At least, not in the minds of the children of merchants and businessmen.”

Malysseus started to smile as he recalled the memory. To this day, it is one of his favorite memories associated with magic.

“One day, those bullies stole one of my parent’s sheep, Laura. I brought her into town to see the vet since she wasn’t eating properly. Two of them pulled her away from me by the lead she was attached to. A third, the biggest one, of course, stepped in front of me to stop me from chasing after them. He leered down at me, and I still remember his face.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Malysseus twisted the small fireball in his hand, thinning out the fire and forming it into a circular ring. He pushed the ring higher as it continued to broaden. He added more Mana into the ring of fire, making it larger, encircling the cave and hovering ten feet above them. After all, he wasn’t interested in roasting his crew like little lambs.

“I trapped the bully in a circle of fire. He tried to leave the circle and burned himself. I remember watching someone who made me feel so helpless become helpless himself. The moment changed me a little bit. That was the first moment I understood power; magic was a great equalizer. It wasn’t just something fun to play with in my free time. It didn’t matter how giant the bully was if my magic was strong.”

By this time, every single crew member glued their eyes to Malysseus with rapt attention. They all waited on his words, learning more about their Captain in these moments than they had in years.

“I chased after the other two teenagers who stole my sheep. I told them to give her back, or they’d get the same as happened to their friend. I’ll remember their faces until the day I die, too. They were horrified. They dropped Laura, and I had to sprint after her to keep her from running away. They followed me, and do you know what they did?”

A bunch of the crew members shook their heads. There was a mixture of expressions on their faces. Many people were surprised by the situation. They had seen their Captain angry, but he never acted so vindictively as the teenager in the story.

“They begged me to let their friend go. The ring of fire had drawn a crowd. The fire was still burning; inside the ring, the biggest bully in town was bawling his eyes out at sixteen years old. The crowd tried throwing water on the flames, but they kept burning.”

Marcus finally blurted out a question, unable to hold it in, “You let him go, right?”

“Of course I did,” Malysseus chuckled. “And then I told the whole crowd that if anyone bothered my family, they’d get twice as bad as what this teenager got. But that isn’t the point of the story. The point is that my hidden magic became widely known in the town. Eventually, it got back to the capital. I couldn’t hide anymore.”

Marcus fell silent. Everyone in the room could feel the story was heading for a turn. Malysseus continued his story, returning the fire ring to a small globe.

“One of the archmages in the capital decided I needed to study with him. I became his second apprentice. The other apprentice was a young woman, one year older than me, named Sarah. We learned together, studied together, and did everything else together. Over time, we fell in love the way only two young people forced to spend every waking minute together can. But she surpassed me. She mastered every spell she could. She read every tome she could. She became a hero of a Wizard.”

The crew looked on in confusion. To the sailors, everything in the story was going very well. Kewari’s expression was apprehensive, like she knew what was coming, even though Malysseus never told her the story. Malysseus lit a cigar as he continued.

“The archmage was dead a few years later. Sarah became the youngest archmage in history, by the blessing of the previous. When the first cyclops came to attack my country, she took her role in stride. I begged her to let me join them, but she said it was too dangerous. Too dangerous for me, Malysseus.”

He punctuated the last statement by pushing his finger into his chest. He did not believe anything was too dangerous for him to handle. He had never considered that.

“She fought the cyclops, helping to kill it and saving the country. But something happened before the next cyclops came. It was hard being with someone who was outshining me in every way. I lived in her shadow. I was Sarah’s boyfriend. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I broke things off with her. She couldn’t understand. She believed in me more than anyone else, and we had been together for so long.”

Malysseus felt a tear sliding down his cheek and used his water magic to wipe it away.

“When I took away the second most important thing to her—me, she lost her abilities with the most important thing, too. She couldn’t do magic anymore. Two weeks later, the second cyclops came. With Sarah unable to help face it, I took her place, trying to repair some of the damage I had done. That’s why the archer hero died. He was Sarah’s friend, but I had no experience working with the other heroes. In two weeks, she lost her boyfriend, her magic, and a close friend. All because of me.”

Malysseus didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure how to wrap his story up. The crew looked horrified but continued to listen.

“Well,” Marcus nudged gently. “How did you fix it?”

Malysseus took a long drag from his cigar before replying, “I didn’t. Or I should say, I haven’t, yet. Instead of staying to pick the damage up, I ran. I came to Maripolos and became a sailor. Then, a Captain.”

“So, how are you going to make up for it?” Kewari asked. Something was hovering beneath the surface of her words. She hid another question, but Malysseus couldn’t figure out what it asked

“I’m going to kill that cyclops,” Malysseus said. The noise reverberated through the cave as the cyclops slammed into the Arcane magic barriers, unable to get through. The cave rumbled around them as the stone fought against the cyclops’ intrusion.

A silence fell over the group as Malysseus stood up, mentally preparing himself to face the cyclops. Everyone was deathly serious as he strode alone toward the cave’s mouth. Finally, he turned back to give his orders. It was necessary, just in case they would be his last orders.

“All of you stay here. That’s an order. I will kill this creature and help you get off this forsaken island. That’s a promise.”

Trying to maintain a calm composure, he whirled, striding towards the Arcane barriers.

“So,” Gurten prompted before Malysseus reached the barriers. “You really named one of your sheep Laura?”

Some tension was released as the crew all chuckled. It was forced, but it was something.