Calidum

Luxurious. Slightly bombastic. Tacky. These were among the words that ran through my mind as I first entered Marias' house, now belonging to her as she has no other family. It was quite large and divided into two wings. Myself and Hera would be staying in the left wing.

Once we got settled in, Maria informed us about our duties and daily tasks, such as making sure there's no litter on the premises, cleaning our rooms, fighting off the occasional intruder and doing the dishes and laundry. After our daily chores, we go out to work. Even though Maria granted us entry into the city, we still had to get IDs of sort, which, low and behold, also costs money

Hera was able to find a steady job as a hunter gatherer for a restaurant whilst I had to stick to smaller one-time jobs like shovel snow and taking care of peoples' pets. Apparently, child labour isn't allowed in this world either. It was honestly boring, sometimes I'd cause trouble with other kids or fling pebbles at roaming officers to lighten my own mood. If I was older, I'd probably try my hand at becoming an officer too, or maybe a full-time hunter.

After work, me and Hera would meet up at the front gate of Marias' home at sundown. Sometimes I'd wait for her and sometimes she'd wait for me, other times we'd get home together. That's what my days consisted for about a month until I met Horse.

"Alright, come on in kid, that's enough." A voice called me from within the house where I was working.

Did he just invite me in, I almost said aloud, but obeyed reluctantly. Despite his light-green mana, he seemed like a good man. Being careful not to slip on the smooth stone stairs, I entered the mans home and was greeted by the warm aura of a fireplace, the whistle of a boiling kettle and a furry creature that reminded me of a Capybara brushing past my leg.

"Would you like some tea, boy?" He asked while gesturing for me to sit down.

"Sure, thank you."

The man's home was nothing more than ordinary, like all the other houses in this district it felt like a middle-class suburban house, maybe a little less furnished from what I've seen though.

"My name is Horse, by the way. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier."

"That's okay, most people don't. My name's Kenny Wat-"

His right hand shot up and a dome of wind surrounded my head and then dispersed again. "Don't bother, you're better off keeping that information to yourself, Kenny. In these parts it's in your best interest to get back home."

"And why is that?" I asked, fixing my disheveled crimson hair.

"You won't last long-"

"I meant the part about keeping to myself." Horse's expression changed, as if he transitioned from speaking to a child to now conversing with an adult. "Do the people around here have an interest in children?" I asked jokingly.

"Well, smart a*s, you never know who might have it out for you, just be careful. Anyway-" He said with a sigh "Where are you from? Patria, I assume?"

"You guessed it. I got a little lost in the woods and ended up in the swamps just outside Duratus. Now I'm forced to live here until I get the money to travel back."

"Quite the predicament eh? The hell is a kid your age doing around the border anyway??"

"Well, my aunt went missing, I went looking for her, tracked her to the edge of the woods, turned back to go report to the police and got dragged in by one of the beasts living in the forest. Do you want the long story now?"

"No" he answered annoyed "Like I said, keep to yourself."

"Right, my bad."

"Why haven't you gone back home yet? Your parents must be worried sick."

That was a dumb question on Horses' part, so I just raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my tea.

"Right, you're a foreigner. Not like a kid will have any connections anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Not just anyone can cross the border these days, you need either money or power to do so, and even then, your appeal to cross to Patria will get rejected. I'm sorry to say it kid, but you're gonna be here for a while."

"That won't work, I need to get out of here as soon as possible."

This time, Horse looked at me with a raised eyebrow, nodded his head slightly and took a sip from his tea before speaking again. "There's a roundabout way of getting back home, it'll save you maybe… A year of waiting? If you're lucky that is."

I looked at Horse with eager eyes, waiting for him to continue, he simply chuckled.

"Very well, first you'll head south, to Calidum and Antitheus. Duratus doesn't allow just anyone to enter both patria and Antitheus, but travel to Calidum is allowed. See where I'm going with this?"

"Yes. Duratus to Calidum. Calidum to Antitheus. And then… Antitheus to Patria?"

"Exactly."

We stayed silent for a bit, sipping the last of our drinks. I wasn't interested about why travel directly to Patria wasn't allowed, but I assumed it's because of the war.

The sun was starting to set and I thought back on that trick that Horse pulled on me. When he lifted his right hand up, I spotted a marking on his upper arm, almost like a tattoo.

"Wondering about this?" he asked while rolling his sleeve up.

"Yes actually, how'd you know?"

"You were staring intently." He said, deadpan. "This is a soldier's mark; it starts off at one star when you first enlist and goes up to five stars as you get promoted." Horse pointed at the five equally sized stars aligned in a V-shape, above it a strange symbol that resembled the letter M. A series of geometrical shapes that collided and intertwined with one another overlapped the stars and the symbol. "After receiving the 5 stars, you'll get a symbol which represents your fate or something like that, I really don't remember nor do I care. Lastly, and this should be kept between the two of us, always. You can't even tell your mother that you know about me or this mark, got it?"

"My lips are sealed."

"These geometrical shapes." He stopped speaking, and looked as if he remembered something that he didn't want to remember. "These shapes are exclusive to me. Most soldiers only got promoted to their third or fourth star, some got to the fifth star, very few ever got their symbol, and then there were those that got their own sigil. If I remember correctly my sigil gave me the title of Metatron, and during the war I was responsible for getting the wounded to a safe place to recover."

"Really? You have a sigil and your job wasn't to be someone on the front lines?"

"Who's to say I wasn't on the front lines?"

"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but your core is green. From a magic standpoint, you don't seem all that powerful." At those words Horse nearly fell out of his chair.

"You can see my mana signature?"

"Yeah, well I thought since you trusted me enough to tell me about your top-secret tattoo, I can share one of my secrets as well."

"Tell me how. How are you able to see it?"

I gave Horse a questioning, hesitant look, then continued "I had a… A vision. In this vision I saw a man named Sirius and he-"

"Sirius Astaseul?" His eyes grew wider with every bit of information I gave him.

"Yes, I think so at least, he never gave me his surname." I waved off his question and continued "He told me to find his 'work' and then he'll speak to me again. He then poured some of his mana into my eyes, giving me the ability to see other people's mana and then I woke up again. Says he was some great mage in his time, but I assume he's dead now."

Horse got back into his seat and gathered his thoughts. "It's true, he died during the war. He was called Raziel, that was his sigil. He was one smart bastard, one of the fastest mages to actually get a sigil."

"Interesting." I was enjoying my time with Horse, but it's already sundown, Hera is probably waiting for me. "It's getting late, can I stop by again some other time?"

Horse sighed before answering "No, you need to get out of here. Tomorrow morning you come back here, I'll give you supplies and money and then you head for Calidum. I don't know what Sirius has planned for you, but he obviously chose you for a reason." Before I could protest, Horse already pushed me out the door and shoo'd me away.

***

Maria Jensen

My expectations for Kenny were far too high, it's what I get for thinking a child could teach me more about magic, more so about elements that I can't even use. It's not all bad though, it was nice having other people in the house, especially Hera, she loved small talk and, surprisingly enough, was good at communicating. Kenny on the other hand, he always finished his chores as soon as he woke up and went out to work. Hera speculates he might still be feeling guilty about my step-father's death. The only time he really looked me in the eyes were on the training grounds. At his age I could barely control my magic, but Kenny… His reflexes, intuition and control over mana is simply amazing, for his age that is.

No, I shouldn't even mention his age, he only dons the appearance of a child, but his mannerisms and those tired eyes of his tell me a different tale. When he mentioned he'll be going to Calidum in the morrow, he reminded me of my father whenever he had to leave on an escort to Patria. Tired and fed up.

Kenny and Hera left before I woke up, before saying goodbye. Hera was nice enough to leave me a letter thanking me for my hospitality and promising me that she'll visit again, she also thanked me on behalf of Kenny.

The house felt like a shell all the sudden, the sun my only companion, now embracing me in its warmth.

I sat on the bed that Kenny slept in for the past month, thinking about nothing in particular, listening to the doves' coo outside and then flutter, their peace disturbed by a set of loud knocks resounding from the main hall. Taking a few minutes to reach the door, my visitor was kind enough to not knock again, waiting for me patiently. Upon opening the door, I met a pair of old, brown eyes.

"Good morning, miss Maria."

"Good day, sir. Can I help you?" He seemed perfectly capable and healthy, but I asked anyway.

"Oh no, I'm quite alright. One of my friends have asked me to keep an eye on you, and to aid you, should you be in need. Now, don't worry, I'm not planning on moving in, he just asked me to come and check in every now and then." Said the man with a genuine smile.

"And who is this friend of yours?"

"Oh, you know who he is." He waved "It's nice meeting you miss Maria, my name is Horse." He kindly said, extending his hand.

"I would like to say the same, but I'm not sure I can trust you."

"That is understandable, but maybe if I tell you about the mischief me and your father got up to in the military, it might change your mind. Has he told you about the time he got into a scuffle with a Faun?"

***

Kenny Watkin

Mist was thick in the morning air, my breaths were sharp and my nose numb from the cold.

"This place is brutal, can't even use magic to shield myself." I said, half to Hera, half to myself.

"It's your own fault for wanting to leave to so soon. Remind me again why we had to do so?"

"I'll tell you once we reach Calidum, it's too dangerous to talk about it here."

"Dangerous?"

I stayed silent and kept trudging through the snow. The cold wasn't letting up, but walking got easier the closer we got to the border of Calidum, where a guide would be awaiting us to help us through the woods.

"Leaving so soon?"

Those words made me stop dead in my tracks, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up like quills.

"Don't worry, Kenny, I didn't come here as a hound, but I do have a message from my boss."

That voice, it's sinister and far colder than the sub-zero winds around me.

"This past month, you've been doing nothing to improve your magic. My employer says it's quite the shame, seeing such talent go to waste."

I wanted to rebuke, tell him I was busy, not that it matters to him, but the words got caught in my throat.

"I won't keep you for much longer. We need you, Kenny. So, get strong. Otherwise, we might have to take a little trip down to Patria and visit your ole' mom and dad."

"You leave them out of this!" My blood was boiling, my mana core called out to me to be emptied. A dome of heat, of anger, shielded me from the cold air and melted the snow around my boots. A metric ton of debris at my fingertips levitating above the earth, ready to crush my opponent, all for naught. As I turned around to face mori, he had already disappeared, a single pair of boot-prints in the snow, slowly fading away as sleet filled the space.

"Let's move on, Kenny. We're almost there." Hera hadn't moved an inch from where she stood, she knew just as well as I did that we were outmatched.

I simply nodded and kept walking. Hera came closer to me for warmth, the dome of heat still present.

"You should get angry more often."