Le Renard

Fox 25

The sun beat down on us as we sat in a deserted park after we walked around the community for about thirty minutes. Merula was back in her cloak, shielding her face and Cano had shifted and was flying above us for the entire trek. We stopped and picked up coffee and donuts before Levi led us back to one of his favorite quiet spots. A simple cooling charm had been placed over our group so that we didn't sweat and die in the maddening heat.

My feat swung idly beneath me as I barely pushed myself on the swings. Levi sat besides me with Alistair on his lap, the two cuddled as Alistair munched on a glazed doughnut. Merula stood before us with Cano perched on her shoulder, every so often he would take off, circle above us and then come back down. Jason and Tommy flanked Mr. Corin on either side as they stood in front of us.

"Most of the kids stay inside when it's this hot out but I used to love being outside. Knowing what I am now would explain that a lot." He laughed before taking another bite of his chocolate doughnut.

"We all know what you are now, a pain. That's about it." Tommy chuckled earning a smack on his arm from Jason.

"Not to be that person or anything but can we please skip to the conversation where you guys explain everything?" Alistair questioned, clearly the most curious and impatient out of us all.

"Hmmm. Well that is an extremely long tale and since it's obvious that you know more than most children at the Academy at this point I'm not sure exactly what you know. Care to fill me in?" Mr. Corin questioned as he walked to a nearby bench and patted his lap. A blush rose to Jason' cheeks as he walked over and sat down on his Mage's lap earning a loud coo of appreciation from Merula who was practically gushing at how cute they were.

"Awww Jason, we're so happy you found someone and we're glad it was with someone we know will keep you safe." She grinned.

"Th-Thanks." Jason blushed once more, burying his face into Mr. Corin's shirt as he sat down. Tommy sat besides him and Mr. Corin draped an arm over his shoulders.

"So we know all about Helion and the Council of Mage's thanks to Alistair and we know that Merula and Cano are Tae's parents thanks to; well, Tae's parents. And we know that Jason was also Helion's familiar thanks to what just happened at the house." I explained.

"You told him you were his parents? Why?" Mr. Corin questioned. It didn't sound judgmental or even angry, simply curious as to the answer.

"Well it felt like the Council of Mages was getting closer to us while we were at Rhyeal and Tae kept sneaking out to ask us questions. It only made sense to give him the full answer before he heard some rumor somewhere that led him down the wrong path." Merula answered as a caw above us echoed her explanation.

"We will address how Alistair knows so much at a later time but for now let me explain what happened the night Helion died. Back when I attended Rhyeal Helion, Merula, Cano, Thomas and I all attended the same classes. We were great friends back then and nothing you could say could separate us.

Tommy was almost seven years younger than we were at the time so the classes we took he didn't necessarily take with us but we all still got along well. After we graduated we kept in touch and quite often Helion would keep me up to date on his work with the Council. When he first started he was so excited to be working with them and my excitement mimcked his own.

Slowly after the years that excitement dwindled down to sheer contempt for the people that he was forced to work for. He was deemed an Arch-Wizard after three years of working for them. Wizards studied decades for the skill that he had naturally and they awarded him for it, but it wasn't enough for them. They wanted more from him.