Familiar Faces

The following morning Lionel could barely stand. His legs, arms, shoulders, and back were killing him. No matter what he did, the muscular fatigue was set deep in his tissues.

"Ugh" He groaned while swinging his legs out of the bed.

"Ank, you sound worse off than I do. Stop your whining, you're making me feel even older" Drindle was already up and had just put on his training attire. The sun wasn't even peeking through the window between the two beds yet. Drindle and Lionel were still staying at the same Inn.

"I can't help it, I feel like I can barely move." The boy complained while leaning his neck left and right in an attempt to stretch out the soreness.

"Come on, Wash up and meet me in the wagon." The old man walked out of their room and left Lionel sitting on the bed.

'Man, I am sore' Lionel thought to himself while standing and stretching his back. The same girl, who brought food to Lionel, had also been bringing warm water to fill a wash basin every morning. The boy walked over to the wash bin and began his morning routine of washing down.

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The carriage clattered noisily on the cobblestone pavement. The old man and boy could see the training field only a few hundred meters away. There was one detail that caught both of their attention. There were silhouettes of two people in the center of the field.

"Not these two again..." Drindle mumbled under his breath. Lionel couldn't make out any details of the figures other than their overall shapes. It surprised the boy that Drindle, with his old eyes, could know who the two figures were.

"Who are they?" The boy asked squinting trying to make out more details. The sun had just crested the horizon and it's light began shining in his face.

Drindle didn't answer instead he just grumbled to himself before urging Harthling on at a faster pace.

In a few minutes Drindle and Lionel pulled up to see two familiar faces, Isaac and Gil'ead. "Hoh" Isaac rose his hand while speaking a greeting. "Nice to see the two of you again, Took some doing to track you all down." Isaac's hair appeared to have turned more grey in the past week or so, no doubt due to the stress Lionel and Drindle had caused him.

"What do you want?" Drindle spoke with an impatient attitude and his eyebrows were arched up in an irritated manner. "We only have a few more weeks left to train before the mages tournament and I don't want a 'spy'.." the geezer accentuated his annunciation of the word "spy" and directed a cold glare at Gil'ead before continuing "coming to steal our secrets"

Gil'ead let his head sag some before speaking to Drindle. "I have only come to apologize for my actions at the castle, I shouldn't have interfered between you and Master Galorian." Once he finished speaking Gil'ead bowed towards the ancient geezer.

Drindle didn't move to speak to the bowed man, instead he looked at Isaac and asked, "And what do you want? an autograph?"

The middle aged commander's cheeks blushed slightly as if he was taken aback by the sarcastic words of the old man. "No, it's not that. I just wanted to come and wish you well, I will be setting off by the end of the week and headed back to Fort Le'alla." Isaac rubbed his face, only now did lionel notice the salt and pepper beard the man had grown. "I have to get back to my post."

Lionel looked towards the geezer. He could tell Drindle had a look of suspicion on his face. The old man eyed Isaac apparently untrusting. The old man finally spoke. "Very well, you have given us best wishes, unless there is something more be on your way." The geezer then turned back to the still bent over Gil'ead and spoke again to Isaac. "You taking this one with you?"

Isaac couldn't help but chuckle at the old man's strange behavior. No matter how long he had been around Drindle it appeared Isaac hadn't grown used to the intricacies of the ancient man. "Huh.. Yes Gil'ead will accompany me back to the fort as well."

Drindle's eyes seemed to lock onto Isaac's for a brief moment. The middle aged man seemed to wince in pain and close his eyes slightly. Drindle then spoke. "Just so you know, if you encounter the person behind the attack on Astia, you would do well to run" the old man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly before speaking again. "but it's your choice, just don't say I didn't warn you."

Isaac recovered quickly and had a strange look on his face. "How did you know I was tasked to hunt..." He wasn't able to finish his statement because Gil'ead butted in.

"Let's go before you give away any more information" Gil'ead was still bowed, but he stood upright. His eyes were cold but not hostile. He nodded towards Drindle and walked away.

Isaac stood for only a second more before laying his eyes on Lionel. "My you have grown quick, looks like you are losing all your baby fat." He looked back at Drindle then to the boy. "He'll make a man out of you in no time" Isaac then stood at attention and saluted, before turning and walking in the direction of Gil'ead

Lionel couldn't help but feel like Drindle had used magic on Isaac. He wasn't sure how the old man did it. Normally when magic was used Lionel could feel the fabric of reality bending to the will of an external energy force, but this time he hadn't seen nor felt magic. The boy waited until the other two figures were nowhere to be seen before asking Drindle. "What did you do to Isaac?"

The geezer looked at Lionel with a slightly annoyed countenance before answering. "Let's just say it was incredibly rude and you shouldn't do it." Drindle then smiled slyly and winked before continuing. "But I'll teach you how to do it if you can master three minor spells this week"