The Daft Idiot

I

The Supreme Arch Magus Michael was born in 1402, in Wallace, England, to the Grand Duke Markus and Duchess Esmeralda.

Wallace, a large swathe of fertile valleys and abundant rivers, covered the northernmost area of England and was in constant threat to ravaging scots.

The grand duke was great friends with the King, Alfonse Godfrey, the good king they called him. The king wanted a peaceful solution and had been in talks with the scottish king, until, when Michael was 5yrs old, the scots attacked, in full force.

The king himself rode to Wallace, with a 30 thousand strong realm guard in full battle gear. It took them 3 days to reach the Wallace castle. The king found it in rubble, not one post standing, and what looked like 3 day old bloated corpses of thousands of soldiers and peasants, as far as the eye can see.

That day, all the king's men did was to make pyres and burn the dead, including the Duke and Duchess. The war long forgotten.

   On the 2nd day of their arrival, one of the knights, Percival, who led the scouts, asked the king to witness a strange occurrence.

   In the middle of a field, is a small barn, a large group of cows and horses milled around, very aggressive compared to normal, dozens of greyhounds appeared feral to anyone coming close.

   From a hundred paces away, they could see the cows and horses assemble. It would have been a very funny sight of warrior cows, but they all seemed intent on protecting the barn. They moved in synchronicity, as if a marching beat guided their hooves. Only the splashing and sputtering their feet made on the soft earth underneath can be heard.

   Several of the king's knights looked visibly shaken by the spectacle. The cows and horses maintained a hard stare, as they arranged themselves shoulder to shoulder.

   The king, initially staring incoherently, shook his head, and called from his saddle, voice thick and weary,

" I am looking for the grand duke's only son, Michael! The duke and I are great friends, I only wish the best for his family and have come only to fight his enemies.

"If Michael is there, please! Allow me to help him! He has no one now! But I am here, and I swear to you now, he will be treated as my son and given back what is his when the time comes! His father is family to me. Is he there? Please!"

   Funny sight indeed, for the cows stared back and the horses stopped moving. Several stood motionless, one hoof still hovering above the ground. They looked as if they understood.

Then a slight movement on one side made the animals turn their heads, a slow rustling came from inside the barn. The cows parted slowly, slightly moving to the side, nudging the one next to them, to make room for a man.

   A white bearded man, with a hooded dark brown cloak, around 5 '9, good stride, maybe 65yrs old, walked forward.

   The king watched the spectacle of parting cows, as he got down from his horse and motioned for his guards to stay. He walked to meet the cloaked man.

"Greetings" the king says, when they meet, somewhere in between at 50paces.

" Greetings" the cloaked man replies, his voice heavy and deep, earthy.

" I am king alfonse of england, we came to assist the grand duke to fight off the invasion, but we arrived with this-- and it is very baffling indeed"

"My name is Noah, I am a mage, suffice for you to know that I sensed the boy's power when he unleashed it"

"What do you mean, unleashed?"

" The boy unleashed water and wind on everyone. The northern invaders had 80 thousand men when they killed the duke and his wife-"

"80.. thousand?"

" Yes, more or less, plus the Wallace soldiers and peasants. He had no control. I think he saw when his parents were killed. I found him still screaming. He is infinitely more powerful than me, and yet still very young and new.

"I believe your words though, king alfonse, I am in no position to provide for him now, we are also in the midst of war--"

" I swear to do right by the duke"

" I hope you will, my King. I will allow you to take him, to give him a home, on the condition that you allow me free reign over him, to train him. He may be the most powerful of us all, I can help him reach his potential"

" potential--- what do you do when he reaches his potential?"

" Myself and 3 others in my family are not aggressive. The only option I can freely offer to your table is a defensive position-- no magical being will ever attack your lands, for we are more powerful than all of them combined. But we will never fight your wars for you. What happened here was self defense by a newborn mage, he had no idea what he had done"

And so the king thought, and thought, still baffled by what he heard, but still concerned with his friend's child, so he agreed.

He came out the barn door, the cows and horses already dispersed and eating grass. The child's longish brown hair playing in the wind, his light blue bright eyes slightly glowing, a mustache of milk over his top lip. He looked innocently at the king.

The king took him back to the palace after 2 weeks. The dead buried, the old mage agreeing to help rebuild the farms.

He is an earth mage, it turned out-- one who has power over the soil and the animals. And very old-- as in Noah's ark.