Chronicles of a Mage, Book One

Chapter 27: Syransellon

The next day I was riding a horse, a brown mare in my brand new robes. These new robes were black ebony, matching the colour of my hair and the edges and seams were embroidered with gold. They also came with a cloak and just like my old robes, a hood. Other than that the overall design was quite the same. After I got my outfit, I paid a visit to one of the  luxurious bath houses of the noble's quarter and then went to the stables to buy a couple horses, one for me and one for Mathra who was riding another brown mare beside me. All in all I was left with 8 gold. You might think that wasn't much and indeed, to someone like Mathra who grew up in luxury, it probably wasn't. But 8 gold pieces is more than some people earn in a year, and more than enough to buy food and bed for quite a while, provided you didn't waste it."Hey look up ahead. Maybe we could rest there for the night?" Mathra pointed to a town that we were steadily approaching, as his deep blue hair fluttered in the wind.

"We have been riding since noon. I guess we should give the horses a rest." Not to mention give us a rest. Horse riding can be surprisingly tiring. Before I finished the thought however, my horse tripped on something, tumbling to the ground and sending me to the ground. 

"Ow!" And just after I got new robes. Thankfully Mathra was able to stop his horse before it tripped as well. I stood up, dusted myself and looked at what made me tumble like that. It was some sort of wire connected to two trees that sat on each side of the road.

"That's weird. Why would something like this be so near to a town?" Eeuna asked.

"Hehehe. I see you fell into my trap" From behind one of the trees came a muscly man with an eyepatch and an axe on his shoulder. 

Mathra drew his sword and promptly dismounted his horse."Who are you? Are you saying you are the one responsible for my friend falling off his stead?" Mathra said with a stern look on his face.

"That's exactly what I'm saying" The man took hold of his axe with both hands announced "I'm Ramlin the Ram and I'll be taking all your gold. Or else you'll why they call me the ram."

"We will not hand our hard earned money to a brigand like you! Stealing is wrong!" Mathra exclaimed.

"Big words for some spoiled rich kid! I'll bet a hotshot noble like you hasn't worked a day in your life!"  True to his monicker, the bandit then charged wildly with his axe at Mathra, but Mathra deftly dodged the attack and feinted with his rapier, distracting the bandit momenarilly. I then stepped out from behind my companion and fired a jolt of lightning at the Ram, giving Mathra enough time to thrust his rapier twice into the man's chest who, with blood dripping from his shirt said "Ah screw this! I'm not paid enough to fight no mages!" And promptly ran away. Mathra and I stopped to examine my horse. 

"He's a bit roughed up but he'll be fine" I said.

"Hopefully we won't run into that man again. We'll have to be on the lookout for traps in the future as well."

"Something tells me we'll meet him again soon enough. But for now let's find something to eat." And so we left our horses at the stables and entered the small town of Syransellon.

"It's getting late. Let's find someplace to sleep" I was browsing the markets with Mathra in the sunset. I was going to visit the library, but Eeuna insisted we go shopping instead (even though I wasn't going to buy anything). That green haired bint can be a pain in the rear when she wants to. I was about to leave the markets when suddenly, in the middle of the square there was a commotion. I looked and I saw a boy who was shooting flames from his hands at a random man and abruptly fainted to the ground. Wait was that magic?

"Sorace! That man's clothes are on fire!" Mathra looked around trying to find a way to douse the man's clothes while I stepped up and pointed a hand at him.

"Aqua creo" a stream of water burst from my hand and the man stopped panicking.

"Thank you my sir. " The man said gratefully.

"It's no problem but... what just happened here?" I responded

"I don't know. I was talking to that kid one second and the next thing I know my pants were on fire."

"Was that magic?" Said a bystanding woman, as if reading my thoughts.

 "It would seem so..." I said, examining the scene for a moment. There was a young boy, unconscious on the floor. I could sense magical energy within him. Not just residual mana from casting a spell, but mana quite literally flowing in his blood. Most people don't have any naturally occurring mana. I wonder, is this what they call sanguine magic?

 "I'll take your word on that... you do look like someone who'd know these things" The man said as he looked at my clothes.

"The boy at least seems fine to me. He has a slight fever though." Mathra stated, looking at the boy's body.

"I bet he's just tired from casting such a complicated spell. Even I get tired when I use too much magic in a short amount of time. And I doubt this boy has casted many spells before. If he did, this wouldn't have taken so much out of him. A little rest and he'll be fine."

"Then I shall carry him. Where does he live."

"Aye. He lives with his grandpa just over that way. It's the small house with the red roof, you can't miss it."