Ambush

Despite the bumpy ride D never stirred from his sleep. Bouncing along Larian considered all he knew about the boy and pondered why he found him so interesting. There were many orphans on the Fringes and while he hadn't been lying about needing to replace his apprentice turned assassin that wasn't the whole reason he'd taken the boy along. No, Larian did so because of his sixth sense, the sense for adventure. Larian had been born to an influential family in the Del Denote kingdom. Gifted both physically and magically the world seemed to be but his playground.

By the time he was eleven, he'd won a swordsman tournament placing him against the mightiest warriors in the kingdom. By fifteen he'd been given the title of Arch-Mage for his contributions to the kingdom's magic libraries. Providing more than a dozen unique spells that were able to replace older ones that had been used for hundreds of years. He was the pride of the kingdom, gifted wealth and praise from every direction. Of course that brought with it the envy, spite, and plotting of countless people but he considered it little more than an annoyance.

No Larian's greatest foe was not found in the murderous plots of the courts or the life and death fights of the battlefield. No Larian's nemesis was boredom. Everything was easy for him, too easy. That was when he'd started his experiments. He'd find something interesting, normally people, and simply see how they would react to different situations. He'd used alchemy to make an ugly woman beautiful and a beautiful woman ugly just to see how they would react to the change of status in a world that valued beauty. He'd given the rich wealth and sunk entire wealthy lineages into poverty.

Each time he would follow his experiment until he could accurately predict the outcomes and reactions. His hobby had made him plenty of enemies but he considered it a small price to lift him even for a while from his boredom. That was why he'd taken the job at the academy. Not for wealth and he didn't feel as if the job itself would be any more interesting. But what had piqued his interest was the offer to let him bring an assistant. He'd flown through the academy in less than a year and already was years younger than his peers.

In later years he would listen to others repeat their stories of the adventures and thrills they had experienced in the academy. Struggles and success, love and loss, all of it were experiences he'd never gotten to share. So he chose a lesser mage of no real talent for his apprentice, never expecting the boy would be bought out to try and kill him. Killing the boy had caused him a bit of heartache, the loss of his chance to live the academy life vicariously through him had been the real reason for the job.

Still, he was glad to have found such an interesting specimen to replace him. D often acted differently than he expected and there was a sensation in the back of his mind. Like an itch, he couldn't quite reach that he realized was his adventure sense. There was something about D that he just knew would relieve his boredom.

Glancing over at his one hope for excitement he mentally made lists of things he would need. While the academy would provide a uniform Larian wanted him to experience as much of school life as possible. Using the excuse of collecting data for the job, he planned to hear all about it. 'The boy will never pass for a noble nor even a wealthy merchant's son. Too rough around the edges, a proper excuse will be needed. Some story that will draw enough attention to him to prevent him from being able to just blend in. I didn't bring him along to simply slink about the shadows, but we don't want him to be too popular. But definitely popular enough for a romance or two.' Even Larian felt that might be a stretch given the boy's less than friendly demeanor but he felt that might actually be better. He'd always had plenty of women throwing themselves at him eager for money or power.

He wanted to hear more of the stories of crazy teen romance like the court women loved to gossip about. The angst of if the other liked them, the nervousness of if they were impressing the one they liked. It was all stuff foreign to Larian, after all, he was perfect at everything he did.

So he thought etiquette lessons would be required. Outfits suitable for all occasions. A proper sword, most Galian nobles carried swords as more decoration than function. Larian doubted the boy walking around armed with half a dozen knives and a battle axe hidden away in his pack would blend in well.

As Larian plotted away his perfectly normal school experience he planned for the boy to live for him he couldn't shake the feeling that there was still something off. Larian often lied but he prided himself on never lying to himself. So he was forced to admit while glancing over at the sleeping boy that there was still something else about the boy that intrigued him. He wasn't sure what it was but there was definitely something odd beyond the boys strange mannerisms and upbringing. But try as he might he couldn't figure out what it was.

**********

While riding along in the wagon was an easier trip it proved to also be a slower one. Compared to their previous forced march they were making horrible time. So it was of no surprise when they were forced to camp for the night instead of making it to the next outpost. Mil pulled the wagon up next to a large wide leafed tree that Larian wasn't familiar with. This was something else he considered would make the trip alone worth it. Finding new things to study, so he spent quite a long while studying it. Taking samples of the leaves and even the bark while Mil split his attention from the boy who had gone back to sleep after eating and the strange mage. He still didn't trust them fully and his gut told him there was a storm brewing but the skies were clear. Mil's gut was normally right.

Larian was finally done inspecting the tree and moving back to the firepit while Mil told him for the hundredth time it was just a Gelian Oak. Mil was so focused on his passengers and Larian so focused on his study of the tree neither had noticed they were no longer alone. Shuffling around the darkness just outside of the fire light were several large beasts.

Just as Larian moved to sit down across from Mil the two men were startled by a loud growling sound followed by a thud. Glancing over they spotted D curled up next to the wagon he'd rolled out of hugging his growling stomach. Mil chuckled at his own jumpiness shaking his head "Is he ever not hungry?" Looking back to Larian his eyes went wide as the mage suddenly thrust a hand covered in writhing energy towards him. Mil fumbled to pull his wand out but was knocked over his head bouncing off the hard ground as darkness took him.