The Demons of Rome

XVII - Discussions in a Ditch

"Well, that went well, I thought," Aelith said, regarding the two boys lying in the dirt, nearly dead.

Iatus groaned and sat up. The morning had come, and the three of them were in a ditch, some miles from the city.

"Well, what do we do now?" Aelith asked, "Another city is burned, Harzu is gone, and we have now acquired luggage."

He gestured a wing towards Ates.

Iatus sighed, "Well, the first thing to do is decide what we are going to do about the 'luggage'. He's a talented mage, he could do well for himself if he came with us to Rome."

"You want to drag the boy half way across the known world? He's a kid!"

"It's only about a quarter of the way..."

Aelith gave an exasperated huff.

"Why don't we ask the boy?" Iatus asked.

"You want to ask a 12 year old to make a life-altering decision."

"Why not?"

"You think 12 year olds can even begin to comprehend the enormity of the situation we are in?"

"I could."

"You could barely figure out how to put on a toga at that age."

"I was summoning gods at that age."

"And you died!"

Iatus shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, we have to do something with him," Iatus said.

"Why don't we leave him here, it's his home after all."

"You want to leave a 12 year old alone in a desert?"

It was Aelith's turn to shrug, "It's not really a desert, it's more of an arid plain..."

"Don't get technical, it's hot and dry and there's sand, it's a desert."

"I saw a farm not a half mile back."

"Okay then, why don't we ask him if he feels up to killing a goat?"

"The survivors from the city couldn't have gone far, we could find them and give him to them."

"Aelith, ask the child if he wants to come with us or if he wants to see if any of the survivors want to take him in."

Aelith rolled his eyes, then turned to Ates, saying a few words in a language Iatus didn't understand.

The boy shook his head. He had sat up now, listening to them talking while clutching his legs to his chest.

"Well, there you go," Aelith said.

"Did you ask him if he wants to learn magic?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"I can tell when you are lying."

"What? I could look Loki in the eye and tell him the sky was pink and he would believe me."

"Who's Loki?"

"One of the northern gods, a trickster god of some kind, lying, cheating stealing, etc., I didn't stick around to get all the details."

"Have you ever met this Loki?"

"No."

"Then ask the boy if he wants to learn magic. And tell him if he gets really good, he can help us get revenge on the demon that killed his parents."

Aelith rolled his eyes, turned back to Ates and spoke a few more words.

Ates considered them for a moment, then, his face fixed in grim determination, nodded, and stood up.

Aelith said a few more words, but the boy continued to nod, causing Aelith to throw his wings up in frustration.

"Okay, fine," Aelith said, flabbergasted, "I guess he's coming too. I guess I'm teaching another 12 year old magic, you know, there was a time I was a councillor to kings, leader of armies, a warrior of great and noble reputation. Now, twice in a decade, I'm teaching a brat how to summon his first imp. Fine. So, now that that is sorted, how are we going to defeat Harzu, because, in case you hadn't noticed, while you were unconscious in a ditch, the horde left."

Iatus rubbed his forehead.

"If they are stopping to destroy every city the come across, we can catch up to them by taking a ship across the Aegean, around Greece and get to Rome before they do. Rome should be better defended and that is where we will have the best chance of stopping them."

"Well then, I guess if we are travelling by ship, we had best get to work educating the boy, at least to the point where he doesn't set everything on fire every time he uses a spell."

"That would be good."

"If I remember correctly, there is a port a few miles south west of here, it shouldn't take us more than half a day to reach it."

Iatus nodded and stood up, dusting himself off, and they set off towards Rome.