Bandits.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, which was a relief. As the sun began to sink in the sky, Lissa took the wagon off into the woods, down a path that was barely noticeable from the road, which I guess was the point.

We trundled slowly over rough ground for a few minutes, before entering a small clearing, where we pulled up.

I climbed over the back of the wagon and sat on the edge, looking around at the trees surrounding us. Rath was doing a circuit, checking the perimeter, I guess. Lissa came into view, just as Rath finished her check.

"Looks all clear to me," she said. 

"Right, I'll put the wards up then," Lissa replied.

"Mother! Are you going to do magic?" I asked, excitedly. I mean, I had seen her use healing before a couple of times, but nothing else.

She sighed, but then nodded and lifted me down from the wagon to stand next to her. "Very well, you can watch, but you must remain still and quiet, do you understand? I have to concentrate, make sure I don't leave an area unwarded."

"I shall simply observe," I replied.

For some reason, that made Rath giggle.

Shaking her head, Lissa took my hand and led me to near the edge of the clearing. Letting me go, she raised both arms and uttered a low prayed to the Blessed Mother.

This was magic, but it was a different to what I had been studying, and one reason I wanted to observe. From what I had read, divine power came from some higher (or possibly lower) being. In this case, the Blessed Mother, a very powerful deity indeed in the scheme of things.

The spell was still crafted using mana, but mana that was sent from the goddess. 

I adjusted my vision, and sure enough, a haze of power had enveloped my mother. It was mana, but more of a pure white, to my eyes, than the golden type I usually observed. I guess it was holy energy.

Yet the art of casting was the same, nearly, it seemed, as Lissa's prayer became more of an incantation. 

As a result, a complex circle of intertwined writing spread out from where she was standing, to cover an area about a quarter of the circumference of our clearing.

The incantation done, Lissa dropped her arms and looked carefully down, before taking my hand again and walking a quarter of the way around the edge, where she repeated the process. Once that was done, half of the perimeter was covered by her wards.

The procedure was repeated twice more, at the other two points of the compass, and glowing white runes in protective circles covered the ground all around.

"Phew, done," Lissa said, finally, wiping her brow. I realised she was sweating.

"But mother, won't the glow from the magic attract attention?" I asked. Indeed, the wards were quite bright.

Lissa looked at me, startled. "You can see them?"

"Of course. They are actually very pretty." I squinted at the marks below my feet, which slowly swirled about with a life of their own. The runes within twisted about, and made reading the actual words impossible. "I can't read them though."

"By the Blessed Mother," Lissa gasped. She picked me up, kissed my forehead, and started walking back to the wagon. "I swear you will be Archmagi someday Theo."

I giggled as she pinched my cheek.

"All good?" Rath asked, as we returned.

"The boy can see my wards, clearly," Lissa replied, putting me down. "He asked if the glow wouldn't attract attention."

Rath raised an eyebrow, but then shook her head. "Unless bandits have recruited some high level wizards, I think we'll be safe."

I shrugged. If my mothers weren't worried, then I wouldn't be.

"Now, come on, let's have some food, then bed. I've made some meat rolls."

Rath's meat rolls were delicious! I clapped my hands. It seemed I really had been blessed this time round.

~*~

We set off early the next day. Both my mothers were eager to cover as much ground as possible. As the previous day, Rath roamed around on foot around the wagon, whilst Lissa took the reins. I took my lookout post to the rear, although this time I had a book with me, which I read whilst glancing up every now and then.

We made good time, only stopping briefly for a couple of quick breaks. Lunch was taken as we travelled, leftovers from the previous night, cooked by Rath again. 

I did fall asleep after that though – damn this baby body – and resolved even more to stay awake. To this end, I ran through my offensive skill spells, making sure I was ready to cast them, should the need arise. 

And the need actually did arise.

It was probably about three in the afternoon, watches were not common here, so I wasn't really certain, when the wagon came to an abrupt halt. Looking out of the rear, all seemed clear, so I scrabbled to the front to see what was going on, only for Lissa to push my head down, out of sight. I took the hint and peered very carefully around her.

Three men, all wearing worn leather armour and brandishing plain, but effective looking swords stood in our path. I couldn't see Rath anywhere, but I wasn't worried.

"You'll give us anything of value," the man in the middle was saying. He was a big chap, with dusky hair and a scar running down the entire length of his face. "If you're lucky, we'll let you walk from here."

"Oh dear," Lissa said, using one hand to push me back into the wagon. "Whatever shall I do." She hissed at me under her breath. "Get back."

Confident my mothers had this under control, I slid back to my post, and peered out, just as several shouts, and the sounds of metal on metal came from the front of the wagon. It seemed Rath had made herself known.

I peered through the cloth to scan the area behind us. It was odd no one was there, surely an ambush would include at least a few people to stop a retreat? Although the wagon was hardly something that could do a quick one eighty.

There was a horrible scream from behind me, a man's scream. A sound I was familiar with. As I said, I was no saint in my previous life. Though I was against killing, I had taken a few lives when it was unavoidable. Well, except for once…

Ah ha! There was movement on the road behind us! A tall, thin fellow, dressed in black and holding a sword in each hand had appeared from the undergrowth, and was making his way towards us.

I smiled. Excellent. Time to test my magic.

Standing up, I threw the cover back in what I felt was dramatic fashion. The man faltered for half a second, and then saw he was facing a toddler. With a grin, he leaped forward once more.

Good. That told me he was a murdering thug. 

"Concentrated Storm ball!" I cried, holding a hand out and activating one of my more powerful spells. Well, it was a low intermediate, but I pulled in a lot of mana to cast it.

And yes, I need to work on the name. Working title, okay?

The explosion that erupted from my palm threw me back the length of the cabin, where I hit my head on the back of the seat Lissa was sitting on.

"Oh. Too much mana," I groaned, just before my vision faded.