Rune mage

Chapter 55: another addition

The winter was brutal.

We brought the animals inside and did our best to keep ourselves warm.

The villagers only came once, during a break in the weather. I suspected they might not have come at all if they hadn't wanted me to help a young fire mage. He and his father had traveled from the next village over, quite a distance in this weather on foot.

He didn't want to have his power suppressed.

He just didn't want to go to the school.

He was the same age as Ivan and Ian.

I wasn't sure what to do. I wouldn't suppress his power against his will. But I understood him not wanting to go to the school.

I asked that the family - both boy and father-stay a week while I worked on the problem.

A week turned into two.

I came up with a solution. I created a multi-part answer. He needed to gain control of his power. He was safe in the fort because there were fire suppression runes everywhere.

He could stay with us until he was old enough to attend the school. Then he could decide if he wanted a suppression or a façade.

I didn't want to send a fire mage untrained into the world with unsuppressed power if he wasn't a decent sort, so staying with us would also give me an idea as to what type of person he was and if he could be trusted with fire mage power.

His father of course didn't like this idea, they had hoped he would return home and be a part of their community.

I suggested a third option, that they send him to Fredric's parents. Their youngest would be close in age, and the whole family was fire mages. Since the father worked for the school, it was unlikely he would be mistreated.

I could send him with a letter of recommendation and the implied message that taking him in would make us even. After all, I had allowed their son to live in peace all these years thanks to suppression runes.

They decided the boy would stay for a while, and I would help him prepare for his training should he decide to go.

He father had to leave. There was still work at his home to do.

So now there were nine men, four boys and a woman.

Jess.

Because she wouldn't respond if I forgot and called her woman.

The men and I trained the boys to fight, even the youngest. My boy. Levi. Because when I used his name he smiled at me brightly.

Sometimes the happiness- his happiness- was too much for me, and I would slide on the unseen rune and make my way to the heart of the fort and lay in the dark with a hand on the column and an arm over my eyes.

Which is where I was when I felt someone approaching. I flashed a signal across the fort, letting everyone know they needed to be ready to fight or flee depending on what their role was.

The boys would gather in the kitchen with Jess. Their job was to protect her if needed.

It wouldn't be needed even if thousands came, but it made them feel needed.

I ran up and up and up the stairs.

And then up some more as I traveled from the deepest depths to the ground level, and then from ground level to the highest battlements.

My sergeant met me there.

"I don't see anyone," he said.