The Phantom Man

XXX - The Mentor of Magic

Upon Juan's return to the Dark Forest, he met the owl and the eagle's descendants near the cabin in the middle of the woods. The animals rejoiced at seeing him, as if they were old acquaintances. As soon as he greeted them, he remembered Dark Moon, his companion during his walks in the wildness. He missed it greatly.

According to Peter, the seer, the wolf had already died, and its pack had left the forest not leaving any cub. The animals he met confirmed that to him. He looked at the Moon beginning to rise on the sky and paid homage to his friend by asking the gods to let it be in peace along its trail among the stars. Juan shifted himself into a white wolf, like he already had done before, mainly to hunt with Dark Moon, and howled to the moon, calling the attention of each being in the woods. That was his way to honour his faithful friend.

He kept on walking and gradually shifted back into his human form. His muzzle retracted and his fur disappeared, while his brown eyes and ears had their sizes reduced. Juan was a human again. He settled himself in the tiny house to think about the next steps. He decided that the first thing he would do was to look for Philip and tell him the whole truth. He would have to teach the young man the ways of the magic, including training him to use Night's Fury, the silver sword.

The mage walked to the river. He passed his hand on the water's surface, and it became a kind of mirror. He asked it to show some images of the young man to see what the prince looked like now. He tried to retain in his memory Philip's features at the age of twenty years old in order to recognize him as soon as he saw him.

For many days, Juan scrutinized the young and future wizard's life, learning his story in order to determine the best way to approach him. As soon as he noticed the manner with which Philip treated people during his walks, always kind and ready to help, he had an idea. He would pretend to be a beggar to get near him. He would wander in the surroundings of the royal palace, where the tradesmen had their business. He thought that that way he would get the prince's attention at some point.

On the next day, the mage got ready to go to the castle of the King of Germania. He built a go-through portal and got into it by saying the magical words in German that meant to transport his body:

"Portal, Transport meinem Körper!"

The time to fulfill his promise to Elheonora, the boy's mother, had come, and he would finally look after her son.

***

Philip was sitting at the library, leafing through a book, but his mind was miles away. He was thinking about what had happened with the siblings at the well. He had felt the girl's pain, heard her cry and helped her get out of the torment of finding someone that could save her brother. That broke his heart. At that moment, the young man realized how difficult the life of a wizard would be, bearing Humankind's pain, trying to assist people and lost spirits. But even though he was puzzled by so many doubts and revelations, deep inside he was willing to continue the path of magic. According to the ghosts of his parents - he was gradually accepting the idea - that path was part of his life.

The prince decided to go for a walk-in order to clear up his thoughts. He went to the courtyard around the palace to walk among people and to see the merchants selling their foods, clothes, and ornaments. Some tradesmen would sell their goods in tents; others would deliver their products directly to the palace court. The place was crowded. Philip disguised himself by wearing a hood. He wanted to walk like a commoner, just another ordinary man among people. He felt good that way. It provided him consciousness of equality among human beings.

He had an idea: He would buy a gift to his girlfriend, Verena. Philip stopped by a tent that sold golden jewelry. He chose a golden necklace with stones to his beloved one. He paid and then returned to his walk and to his thoughts about life, until he accidently bumped into an old beggar with white beard and weary eyes, almost making him fall.