When I was younger, I discovered that I could use magic. At first, I kept this to myself and used my new-found power to make my toys come to life for short periods of time. As I got older, I continued to keep my magic a secret from my family without any concerns. Using tombs, I found in the old library I quickly discovered the different types of magic and their practical uses. Soon I put what I had read into practice, conjuring up glyphs and barriers. Manipulating the elements to help with my daily chores. Every spell I read quickly became second nature to me, weaving the arcane arts as if I were a conductor leading his orchestra. Being the son of a woodsmen and baker kept my days full of work. In the early hours, I would help my mother with her shop, then I would hurry off to join my father and elder brother in the forest. We would cut down only the old dying trees for firewood, the adult trees would be used for building supplies and various other things.
By the age of seventeen I had mastered dozens of spells, I had kept my power a secret from everyone; except my older brother. He caught me using an arcane attack spell. He didn’t ask too much mostly about when I started and what I could do, then he gave me a warning to be more careful where I practiced. If anyone else found out about my magic I would be sent away from home to train with the master mages at their remote fortress. I promised him I’d be more careful in the future. Word of advice: Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
It was mid spring the day that my life changed.
It was a regular day same as any other before, I helped my mother with her bakery then hurried off to help my father and fellow woodsmen cut down some old trees. When we stopped for lunch, I wandered off deeper into the woods. I came to an area where dozens of fallen trees that made this area more open. So, there I was minding my own business when out of the corner of my eye I notice something moving. I stopped and turned to look at whatever was there. Not more than three yards away stood a beautiful wolf with reddish-brown fur and blue eyes. As my eyes fell upon her, her gaze fixed upon me.
I dared not move lest I force her to attack. Silence fell upon the area, as we stared at each other wondering what would take place and who would make the first move. As it turns out she was the first, but her demeaner suddenly changed as her ear twitched. Her once calm and relaxed features tensed as she turned her head to her right. Her fur stood up on end and her snarl alerted me to the sound of something big crashing through the brush.
I could tell what ever was making its way over was not far off. Considering that I started casting glyphs around the area. I figured the wolf would run off, but I would have to stay and keep whatever was coming from getting near the town. Once my glyphs were in place, I moved to position myself to that I would be the first thing the creature saw.
There was just one problem. The wolf, she hadn’t left yet. In fact, she was having trouble moving. It was then of all times that I noticed her legs were badly injured. The front right and back left legs were bleeding and she was barely able to limp more than three feet without having to stop for a moment.
With what little time I had left I place a barrier around the wolf and conjured up an arcane spear. I am not a hero, make no mistake that any thought ever crossed my mind. But if I can prevent something terrible from happening than I will do anything in my power to stop it.
With my arm at the ready I focused on my sight and hearing, waiting for the perfect moment to lose my spear. I could see the trees and the bushes swaying as the creature continued its charge toward the wolf and myself. Whatever this thing was it was big and pissed off. Someone or something must have forced away from its territory.
They say that certain moments can stretch on for an eternity, this was one of them. Time seemed to slow down as the creature came into view, it was not just big but huge. It resembled a bear, but it had bone spikes growing out from various places on it’s body. Just before it broke into the clearing, I threw my spear with every ounce of strength I could muster.
The arcane spear soared through the air, racing toward its target. My aim was off just slightly but enough to miss the beast’s head, instead the spear struck the right shoulder. The arm was nearly severed, so when the beast’s weight came down on the right side it crashed onto one of my glyphs. But it did not stop, the beast slid over three more.
In my haste to set my traps I did not regulate the power, the result of that was a chain reaction that set off every single glyph. With the combined power of each glyph the area erupted into a rather large explosion of arcane and elemental magic. Even if no one could see the light show that occurred the thundering sound of the explosions would bring people to investigate.
Once the magic dissipated and the dust settled, I crawled out from behind a boulder to look at the fallout. Surprisingly enough there wasn’t a huge hole in the ground. The once moss-covered ground and fallen trees, however, were non-existent. I looked around searching for the wolf hoping that my barrier had been strong enough to protect her from the aftermath. A sigh of relief escaped me as I saw that my barrier was active and protecting the wolf from the still falling debris.
Walking over to her I removed the barrier and sat down a few feet away. Reaching out one hand I started casting a healing low level healing spell that had helped me out a few times as a kid. It did not do much other than help a wound close. The blood loss and any torn muscle or damaged bone would have to heal on its own. Healing magic was not my forte it seemed. It took about five minutes or so for my spell to stop the bleeding on both of her legs. And seal the wounds.
The sound of a snapping branch forced my attention to the edge of the clearing. In complete disbelief, I sat stunned as I watched the bear creature stumble on its hind legs toward me and the wolf. The beast let out an enraged roar, anger emanated from its body as it ran on three legs toward us. Having had enough of this encounter and with the last ounce of magic I could muster I thrust my hands onto the ground pouring everything I had into the earth. I grit my teeth as I commanded the earth to do as I bid it. Suddenly jagged rocks burst from the ground to skewer the beast and sever its body into several pieces.
Drained and weak I fell to my side and rolled onto my back. Panting heavily, I looked to wolf to see my barrier shatter away. Now was the moment of truth, would the wolf attack me or would it wander off? The wolf took a third option I had not expected, she limped over to me and laid down at my side to lick my neck and cheek. I assumed that this was her way of thanking me. Ever so slowly I reached up and placed my hand on her shoulder. She glanced to my hand before laying her head on my chest. We stayed like that for some unknown amount of time, both trying to relax and regain our lost stamina. I could only guess how far she had traveled with her injuries.
The wolf lifted head to the sound of crunching brush, and I let out an exhausted groan. I could not fight off another creature, let alone create another barrier to protect the wolf and myself. The wolf then growled and moved to stand over me. She was protecting me. I turned my head to look at what was coming for us, whatever it was I knew that I would be of no help. To my surprise I saw a woodsman with axe in hand move into the newly made clearing. He was soon joined by several others, including my father and elder brother. They all stood firm stunned at the sight that lay before them. With a sigh I gave the wolf a gentle pat on the side than sat up. I moved her, so she stood at my side before I got to my feet. It was time to face my fate.
Testing the motion in my right hand I looked at the woodsmen and sighed, taking a deep breath, I raised my arm with my palm open toward the sky. I called upon the moisture in the air to gather in my open palm. Slowly a sphere of water began to shape growing to the match the size of my head. Carefully I reformed it with both hands into a crescent shaped blade, then I threw it at a dead tree to my left. The woodsmen turned their heads to watch the water blade as it spun and struck the tree. At first, they were confused and wondered what I just did, then the tree slowly began to move and then it crashed to the ground.
I looked down at the wolf who also watched the scene unfold, once the tree fell, she looked up to stare at me. I smiled crouching down to pick her up, she was heavier than expected but I held her without much trouble. “So, I can use magic. And I killed that thing skewered on the rocks there and caused that explosion that you must have heard. I’m an unofficial mage?” with that said I started to carry the wolf away from the clearing. As I passed my brother, he only gave a nod before following a couple steps behind me. My father it seemed was still in shock.
I returned home to find my little sister putting the laundry out with our mother. It was little Eris who announce my return, at first, she must have thought I was carrying a dog. She had started to run toward me only to have our mother grab her and hold her back. “Stay clear Dear, your brother carries an injured wolf. Not a gentle dog but a wild animal, best keep your distance. And no loud noises, don’t want to startle it.”
I took the wolf inside and up to my room, where I placed her down on my bed. To be honest I was quite surprised that wolf hadn’t tried to leap out of my arms and run off, more so when she simply laid on my bed without a care as to where she was or why I had brought her there. My brother was leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. I did not even need to look at him to know what he was thinking, let alone what he was going to say. “You know those other men will be reporting this to the mayor, after that someone from the magus association will arrive to take you away from us. The question little brother, is what will you do? Will you run off before they arrive, or will you wait here and allow them to take you to their so-called school of sorcery?”
“It was only a matter of time before I was found out, at least I was able to prevent a wild beast from running amuck in our hometown. I will not run from the fate I have set in motion. I will wait here for the magus emissary, perhaps at their so-called school I can learn more about my gift and what I can do with it. Who knows I might just become one of the strongest magus in the land.” I chuckled at the last part to lighten the mood, sadly that failed quite badly.
“Don’t make light of this! We will never see you again, let alone get a single letter! Mother knows this better than anyone in this town. Her little sister was taken by the magus and not once did she receive a letter. Twenty years, that is how long its been since mother last saw her sister. The same will happen with this family. Eris will lose her brother and mom will suffer the pain of losing another family member. So, don’t you dare act like this is something to be laughed at!” My brother of course was right but what was I supposed to do? Break down and weep like a child? No, I did not have the time to feel sorry for myself or worry about the pain that my family would have to endure. I had to make sure that this wolf would not be left lame.
“Jarl, I know this is serious. But its my mess, my problem and I must face the consequences of my actions. Do I want to be carried away to some far-off place and be forced to listen to old men drone on about the dangers of magic and lecture me on how I could cause more harm then good? Of course not, I hate this… I really do but nothing can be done now. So just accept it.” I turned look at my brother, the one I trusted most, and I knew that this cut him just as deep as it did me. “I’ll be fine brother; I killed a mutated beast with magic. That has to count for something right?”
He gave a heavy sigh and turned to leave. “Tend to your new pet, I’ll talk with our family and hopefully nothing else will happen before you’re taken away.”
Several events took place before the mages arrived to take me to their ‘school’. The first was making the wolf my familiar since she refused to leave me once she was fully healed. Second was that the townsfolk saw me in a new light, they did not shun me or anything. In fact, it was the opposite, they would call me during the evenings asking me to show them what I could do. I used my magic to help the town in some minor ways. The third event was an encounter with another magically deformed creature that I was forced to kill. Then I decided to try a couple spells I had only read about. The first spell would allow me to hear my wolf’s thoughts, so I could communicate better with her. The second was meant to allow the wolf to change into another form. The form I had in mind was simple. I sought to make her into a larger version of herself. She would become the same height as me if not slightly taller, with enhanced muscle and bone fibers she would be stronger and faster. I wanted her claws and fangs to become stronger than steel, and her pelt while soft to the touch would be strong enough to deflect metal weapons.
The first spell worked simply fine, however, I quickly discovered that my wolf had a rather unique personality. She enjoyed toying with me, a lot. It did not help matters that her voice was rather… let us say quite pleasing to listen to. The second did not work out the way I had planned. The catch for the spell to work properly was for me to visualize the form that I wanted her to take on. Changing her into a ridable Dire wolf was easy enough but changing her back to her original form was the issue. I had made the mistake of asking her if she wanted her regular form changed in anyway. I am not sure if she was messing with me or not at the time but the image, she forced into my mind was that of a naked woman, who rivaled a goddess.
Long flowing auburn hair, sapphire eyes that seemed to pull at your soul. Her face was that of an angel, soft and angular. Her figure was athletic yet held perfect curves in the right places. She was tall just slightly shorter than me. for lack of words she looked as though the gods themselves had created a living work of art. For some unknown reason the human form retained some of her wolf features; such as her ears and tail, her claws while short were still imposing, her fangs couldn’t be missed whenever she smiled and there were little tuffs of fur around her wrists and ankles.
To keep the sanity of my family I later found a spell that allowed her to become a true shapeshifter. This enabled her to shift into three forms. Her wolf form, human and a third of her choosing. It was a mix of both her forms. I had to remove the previous spell for this new one to work.
Thus, began a long and mentally taxing week of my familiar teasing the hell out of me in every way a woman could possibly think of. I decided to call her Lucina.
Not long after that a carriage arrived transporting two Magus officials, it was not a pleasant meeting. And after several hours of discussion from both my family and the two officials, Lucina and I were stuffed into the carriage and enjoyed the long ride back to the Mage’s school with the Magus.
“And that is every important detail that has guided my life up to this point. I must admit that this place is more of an actual fortress than a school, but I don’t know your long-standing history.” Said the dark-haired young man sitting rather comfortably in a luxurious chair, with an auburn-furred wolf curled up on the floor at his feet. The young man looked across the old oak desk to the rather ancient looking man seated behind it.
******
Chapter one: Trial by fire
Several hours after his meeting with the Archmagis the youth was given his own room, and clothing suited for an apprentice Magi. His wolf companion was registered as his familiar, while unconventional she was originally an animal thus by way of loop hole her presence was permitted within the Magi Sanctuary. She was also given more suitable clothing to wear, while in human form.
Upon arriving at his private quarters, he was told that he would be tested and assigned to a class befitting his talents. He was also informed that his name would be changed to one granted by the Archmagis, such was customary with the magi, the life before was to be cast away and forgotten. “Rest now young apprentice, fore on the marrow your test begins. The trials you face will determine your skill and worth to our collective, I pray the gods find you useful.” With that said the guide took her leave.
Opening the door, he found his quarters to me only slightly larger than the room at his family’s home. “Well I didn’t expect much. At least it isn’t a broom closet, like the rumours claimed.” He said with a slight chuckle. “Well what do you think? Will it suit your needs my dear companion?” he asked while scratching Lucina’s left ear.
“Tis smaller than I would have envisioned for us, but it shall do for the time being. Mayhap once these foolish mages see your true skill, they will give us more suitable accommodations.”
Hearing her thoughts no longer felt foreign to him, in fact it felt as natural as breathing. “Best get some sleep, I doubt the trials will be a simple matter.”
As the light of dawn filtered through the window, the youth and his companion were ready to start the day. His apprentice attire was not what he had originally expected. What he thought would be large stuffy wool robes, was instead a sleeveless cloth shirt-vest with leather padding sown on the chest. It had lacings on the side for adjustment. It was a dark blue colour nearly black. The trousers were like those of the common folk, his new boots were made of leather and covered most of his shins. He was also given a pair of forearm bracers. In truth he looked more like a knight’s squire than a mage.
“Judging from this attire, learning how to cast spells and master new ones is only a portion of what is taught here. Perhaps there is also physical training that is required of a mage.” He said after stretching to see how the clothes responded to his movements.
A knock at the door announced the presence of the escort. He and Lucina were led deep into the lower levels, the further down they traveled the more the walls and stairs seemed to change. He could feel ancient magic emanating from the old stones. What awaited them at the bottom was no mere test, but a daunting task that he doubted many had passed.
Upon reaching the final floor his eyes scanned the room. It was quite large, perhaps bigger than the courtyard he had seen while ascending the tower to his quarters. He found several patterns on the walls and floor, magic circles or perhaps seals. Now matter their origin or purpose he assumed that they would play a part in his trials. Which begged the question, what was his trial to be?
“Welcome young mage, welcome to your trial. If your skills prove you worthy, then we will be allowed entrance to our collective and undergo training to become a true mage. However, know that should your skills falter here there is a chance you will die.” The voice of the Archmagis called out from across the room. “There are six stages to this trial, each will be more difficult than the last. But the trial itself is in a sense simple. You must defeat the summoned creatures. You will be judged on what magic you use and how long it takes you to defeat each creature. Now stand in the center most circle and your trial shall begin.” The old mage said as several hooded figures stepped out from the shadows to stand around the largest circle. “Oh, and one more thing, your companion will not be allowed to help you. She will bound if tries to interfere with this test”
“Giving you a handicap would not be a fair test of your power anyway, but I can wish you luck.” Lucina stated as she moved to stand in front of the youth. Her form quickly shifting from wolf to human, a very naked human. With a mischievous smile she pressed her body against his and gave him a deep and passionate kiss. She smiled hearing the faint gasps and murmurs from the hooded mages. Pulling away she gave him a wink. “Have fun and do put on a good show my Aryn.”
“You always have to make a scene, don’t you? Once I learn how I’m making you clothes that shift with your form.” Aryn said as he shook his head and made his way toward the center of the designated circle. “Now then, shall we begin?” he asked while looking from the hooded mages to the Archmagis.
The first stage had Aryn fight a pair of goblins. Short ugly creatures with primitive weapons and no clothing. At first, they were confused as to why they were in the cavern but, the moment they spotted Aryn they charged at him with raised weapons. He took a breath to clear his mind before igniting his hands with red flames. With a wave of his left hand a trail of flames erupted from the ground, one of the goblins dived to the side while the other was engulfed in fire. It died screaming in agony.
Aryn let the survivor get in close; after leaping away from its swinging axe he created a pillar of flames where it stood.
“Well those were kind of easy to deal with. Maybe a horde would cause a huge problem, but a couple is easy enough to deal with.” Returning his attention to the matter at hand he turned to look upon the Archmagi. “I’m ready for the next stage of this test. Unless there happens to be an issue that needs to be addressed.”
“Continue with the trial! Our young mage desires to prove himself!” Upon the Archmagi’s order the trial resumed.
As the hooded mages began to chant their summoning spells, Aryn scattered several dozen runic traps around his testing ground. Once he was satisfied with the amount and their locations, he gave a smirk and cast one more spell. Holding out his hand palm facing the ground he focused solely on one point. From the ground rose a war-axe made of dark stone, once it was in his hand, he returned his attention the chanting mages. Just in time to see their summoned creatures appear.
He watched with a cocked head as what he assumed were undead bandits rise from the edge of the circle. “well that’s interesting. Going with numbers to overwhelm me? Now I’m glad I prepared for this round.” He said with a smirk. Slowly he turned in a circle counting each undead that had risen. “thirty eh? Alright, this should be a challenge.”
When the undead noticed Aryn they rushed toward him. being of simple minds their only desire was to kill the lone human inside the barrier. This was their undoing. The closer they came to Aryn more traps would be triggered, thus in a few moments their numbers had dwindled down to five. Before any of the survivors came within swinging distance, he imbued the war-axe with flame magic. One by one he cut down his foes, taking care not to get surrounded or mortally wounded. That said he did receive a few lashes and several cuts on his arms and chest.
With sweat dripping down his body and his new attire a ragged mess, he turned to face the Archmagi again. “Next stage or do I get a small break after that round?” Aryn asked while wiping his brow with his arm.