Journey

Lionel's ethereal figure floated in the purple fluid of his Vervane. Darkness surrounded the scene. Lionel was meditating and absorbing his life force into his mind.

It had been almost two weeks since Lionel first used magic on the gravel bank near the steam. The duo had since made it a little more than halfway to the capitol city, Kylia. The journey had been relatively quiet. The day after the two resumed travelling, Drindle told Lionel that the only thing he needed to do to become more proficient in magic was to fortify his mind. which lead to the current situation, Lionel sitting in the back of the wagon meditating while the old man drove Harthling on.

The pace had become much slower now that there were no beasts chasing them, but Lionel didn't let up on his training. He never wanted to be caught in another situation where he was helpless again. Not only his parents had died to protect him, but also most of the residents of Astia died as well. Even if those citizens had died unknowingly of Lionel's call to the beasts, The boy still felt responsible.

'I must get stronger, that is the only option.' Lionel sat thinking while he took a break from submerging his conciousness into the Vervane. Drindle had told him the only way to fortify the mind was through constant exposure to the Vervane. His mind would grow accustomed to the force of the energy and become more naturally able to draw on its flow of power. Most mages eventually built up a mental fortitude strong enough to use their magic for extended periods of time. Drindle had even told Lionel that as his mind grew it would change the physical composition of his cells allowing for even more energy to be stored in his brain tissues. He even said most master mages were smarter than the average human by leaps and bounds due to this change.

'Its been only two weeks and I can keep my ethereal figure in my Vervane for almost an hour now. I wonder if I can use magic now without it going haywire.' as he sat thinking the idea came to him to try it. 'Just a little wouldn't hurt' he reasoned.

Lionel ate some food to help replenish the energy he had already spent meditating. He climbed up onto the bench beside the old man.

"Eh, seems like your mental fortitude is coming along nicely." the geezer eyed him up and down while speaking. His eyebrows had regained some of their volume in the two weeks since they were singed.

'"I guess so. I just feel like it's taking forever to even be able to use magic." Lionel complained while trying to gauge his own tiredness from the meditation. 'I really want to try out magic again but I need to rest more before I do.'

"Boy, you are way more advanced than any twelve year old I have seen, so stop your whining." The overgrown brows raised in frustration. "Your lucky I even decided to teach you." The old man seemed annoyed by Lionel's comment.

"Why did you choose to teach me anyway?" Lionel asked seriously. He had been wondering for a while now what made the old man want to spend time teaching him.

"When you're as dumb as you are someone's gotta take care of ya." The old man moved his eyes back onto the road.

'Man.. He's right though..' Lionel sat quietly thinking.

"We are getting closer to the capitol We should be there in a little under a week." The ancient man never moved his eyes from the road as he continued to speak. "We will be passing Fort Le'alla in the next day and a half. so don't do anything stupid." As the geezer finished speaking he looked over at Lionel with an accusatory stare.

"What do you mean??" Lionel felt compelled to defend himself.

"Oh I don't know, maybe we should go back to Astia and see how they are doing." The old man's words cut like knives but Lionel knew he was right.

'Guess I won't be trying any magic until we get past the fort then.'

*

*

*

A tall wooden structure came into view long before the two arrived at its gates. The land was still flat but trees began to pop up here and there along either side of the road. It seemed the closer they drew to the structure the better kept the road became. it was almost nightfall when the two arrived at the fort.

The road ran straight through the fort. There was a metal portcullis that blocked the path forward. Drindle looked forward at the few guards on either side of the road. Lionel stared up at the opposing figure of the structure.

There was one main tower that could be seen behind a small wall of timbers. The timber wall had a small walkway above the iron portcullis. Two guards could be seen near lit torches. Lionel wondered what the upkeep of a fort like this would cost. 'I wonder why they even have a fort seemingly in the middle of nowhere.'

"Bastion, why is there a fort here?" Lionel remembered to use Drindle's false name since the old man had berated him profusely until they arrived.

"Bout time you learn..." the old man spoke under his breath. "This used to be the fort that protected the old capitol city, Krithian, from the empire. Now it's just kind a bump in the road" The old man shrugged his shoulders while explaining.

"But isn't the Great Canal a week further east?" Lionel remembered Drindle's lesson about the Wastrial Nation and the Eastern Empire sharing a border at the River known as the Great Canal.

"Aye, that it is. But before Kylia even existed the empire would make it this far into Wastrial during their yearly invasions." The old man spoke matter-of-factly as the wagon continued toward the imposing structure. "keep your mouth shut, understand?" Drindle gave a sharp look to Lionel who responded with a curt nod of affirmation.

"What business do you have in the capitol?" A young looking guard yelled out at the carriage pulled to a stop. There were three plate armoured guards on either side of the road and the portcullis was lowered. They all wielded 3 meter pikes, with a short sword attached at their waists.

"We are just lowly merchants trying to make a living." Drindle spoke with a shakily old voice. It almost caught Lionel off guard.

"What wares are you to sell?" An older guard in his mind to late forties spoke before the young guard to say another word.

Lionel looked at the older guard and saw suspicion in his eyes. He was wondering what had the guards on edge when Drindle replied in the same shaky voice.

"Oh just a bit of this and a bit of that, but mostly books." He sounded so believable that Lionel even questioned if they were only going to the capitol to sell books.

"By order of the Queen we will seize your wagon and all your wares." The six guards lowered their pikes as the old guard continued to speak. "I suggest you get out of the wagon now." The guard's serious expression stayed plastered on his face as he motioned for the two passengers to get out of the wagon.

Drindle's voice resumed his normal steady rasp as he spoke under his breath. "Boy, I swear you are a bad luck charm."

"What was that?! Get off the wagon before you become a pin cushion." All of the guards stepped closer to the wagon as the eldest amongst them continued speaking. "You have til the count of three to move or die."

"One.."

"Ank, close...

"Two.."

"your eyes.."

"Three.."

"Now!"

The last thing Lionel saw was the guards thrusting their pikes forward. He clamped his eyes closed but could see a sudden flash of brilliant blue light behind his eye lids.

"STOP!!"

The bright light Lionel had seen behind his kids vanished as quickly as it appeared. He cracked his eyes to see a very old man in and orange robe standing behind the well lit portcullis. The man was staring daggers at Drindle's robed figure when he spoke again.

"Drindle.. is that you?" His eyes became as big as saucers when he recognized the old geezer.

All of the guards were on the ground still rubbing their eyes but all of their faces shown with recognition at the sound of Drindle's name. Lionel looked at the awe in each of their faces as their vision returned. He turned to see the orange robed man kneel on the ground as he spoke again.

The reverence could be heard in the voice of the kneeled man "Why didn't you tell us it was you?"