The Arcane Tides

"You are Kaelan?" she asked, a slight bit of surprise in her voice as she glanced back at the large man.

"I am he."

Kael stood straight, only to find the witch of ruined skies was now directly in front of him searching his eyes. He didn't flinch away, expecting this. She had done much the same when they first met, while he was standing in line with the other slaves. Like then too, her eyes began to glow as she looked him over. Her lips parted a little in surprise. The Sword God cleared his throat. "Is everything alright, ma'am?" he asked, a little hesitant. It was quite rare for the Archmage to show emotion publicly. She waved him off.

"I am fine." She narrowed her eyes a little at Kael. "Your Aura is shifting between green and blue. Were you aware of that?" Kael was indeed surprised by this, since he'd never gone beyond green in his past life. He shook his head. "I was not...is that important?" Lirael's face twitched- she was clearly resisting showing what she really thought of his reaction, instead looking to his parents.

"I take it you are this boys parents?" The both nodded. She continued- "Then you must have been bringing him to me. Well. Good news to you both then. I will take him on as my-"

Kael interrupted.

"Actually, I have some...requirements, if I'm to come work for you."

Lirael cocked a brow and the Sword God outright scowled, opening his mouth to chastise him when the witch held up a hand, stopping him from doing so. She felt intense curiosity at this little boy, who spoke with a total disregard for the authority her position held. In fact, she liked that about him. Now...he was issuing demands as though she needed him and not the other way around. The brutal truth of the matter being that he was correct. So she said- "What requirements?"

He cleared his throat.

"Well. I assume you live in the city, which is fine. I'll come live there too- but not with you. I'll need you to bring my family with us, and they'll need a stipend. Consider it...a paycheck for my work. It'll need to be enough to cover the cost of living as well as any necessities they have. My father will also look for work but I want it to be for their pleasures, not because they want for something. Included in that would be money needed for their protection."

Lirael opened her mouth but Kael continued, causing her to slowly close it.

"Second, any discoveries we might make together due to my direct input will have my name attached to it. Not as a foot note, but at the top, next to your name. If you agree, I can promise you the things we might discover will change the world."

Lirael stared at him, a small smile coming to her lips before it grew into full bellied laughter. Will blanched, while the others went a little pale in shock at her cackling. She moved forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Very well, Kaelan of the village of Ashwood. I agree to your terms- however, should you fail to meet my expectations....I'll have you and your family thrown in prison for wasting my time. Does that sound fair?"

Kaelan gave a small smile back.

"Quite fair, thank you."

His mother and father stood there, shook at the fact that their son had negotiated something like that on their behalf without telling them. Every family, in every small village yearned to live in the capital. Wealth and security were abundant and there was no shortage of new things to do or sights to see. Magic was inundated throughout its structures, which strange glowing lamps, magical stoves and dragons passing overhead- it was all a wonder. In fact, Jack had never been to the capital himself, he'd only seen it from the outside when doing escort missions in his youth.

"K-Kael, she doesn't need to-"

Kael moved over to his mother and father, taking their hands in his.

"Mom...dad...I couldn't imagine living in a city like that and not having my family there with me. I want to see my sister when she is born, and I want you to be safe. If I have that, I feel I can really dedicate everything to investigating magic and Aetheric mana and all sorts of wonderful things. Please...come with me!"

They glanced at each other, then at Lirael who had pulled back up her hood before giving a small nod, still chuckling a little to herself.

"Alright, Kael." His father said. "To the city, then."

"To the city!" shouted Guinevere Van Nellis, pumping her fist. Everyone paused, looking at her and her little brother, who was standing beside her holding her hand. Kael gave a nervous chuckle, having totally forgotten about them. "Ah...r-right...we should probably get them back home too. Their Uncle is Edgar Van Nellis so...he might be happy to see them."

Lirael rolled her eyes, before waving a hand over the camp. The tents began to lift and fold themselves, a shirt drifting from his parents tent to land on Jacks shoulder as the whole placed packed itself up neatly into the rear of the carriage.

"We need to get going...even riding it'll take a while to get to the city and I apparently have quite a lot of work ahead of me." She glanced at Kael, who returned her look with a little smile. She still felt intense confusion about this boy, no older that 10, who knew how to use magic in ways she didn't. He was too young, and he felt too old. She would take her time with him and get to the bottom of it- after all, an apprenticeship could last years, even decades.

As an elf, she had all the time in the world.

_____________________________________

As they reached the gate, Lirael (who was sitting in the front seat next to Tuddi) flashed a brilliant colored badge at the guard. The man looked at it a moment, then shouted "Let them through!" the secondary guards stepped aside as they rolled on in, their cart passing those that needed to be searched or who's identity was in question. William had his helm on again as was walking beside the cart, keeping his eyes fixed on everyone around them.

As they passed through the gate, the city blossomed into view, and Lirael grinned at the look on his parents faces.

"Welcome to Asheron, Capital city of Auburn Vale. Sometimes referred to as Ashervale for that very reason-"

She went on, trying to play the good host but to Jack and Petra, the sound of her voice was just background noise. The city was in great splendor, the castle far in the distance resting on a hill and banners billowing in the wind. Asheron had three layers of protections- the outer wall protected the outer city. A vast majority of the residents lived there. Some had small plots of land for cows and pigs but most of the houses were crammed together. The streets there were made of either dirt or (as you got closer to the inner wall, cobble stone. The inner wall protected the Inner city, or "Noble Venue". Houses there were made of brick, stone and wood. The roads were pure stone and laid perfectly, and each house had a few acres of land. There was an Inner city market as well, with buildings close together but mostly stores and shops. Blacksmiths, magic shops and of course, the Grand Academy. The last layer was the most robust defensively, the walls twice as thick and royal guards dressed in armor with red rabric trussings. The Royal Suite. There contained the castle as well as homes for visiting royalty and dignitaries.

The closest houses to them were made of wood and "wattle and daub" plaster, the best houses built in the time of an earthen middle age. People walked the streets and it was surprisingly busy. Overhead, you could hear the WHOOSH of wings and the roar of the Dragonriders, and Kael grinned. He missed the grand age of humanity, before the wars and the invasions.

He had six years.

Six years to stop the desolation of Ashwood and prevent a pointless war that would burn the continent to the ground.

Time to get started.