Path In The Forest

For a week, Nicholas had fallen into a pattern when it came to his day.

He would have breakfast with one of his ministers, usually Connor or Thomas, while Dion seemed to be struggling with some matters.

After which he would search the palace libraries for books that could be related to the stories his Uncle Glenn used to tell him. Sadly, all of his searches had turned out with him empty handed.

Nothing in Merlenian history spoke of a connection between Corporali and Cruor Mages.

He would then have lunch with his father, before he and Thomas joined the king in his chambers in order to cure the ailing king.

On his numerous visits, Nicholas noticed that the king was not healing as he had expected. The poison was becoming less and less, but the king would only have moments of strength and still not fully heal.

After his sessions with his father, they had Cruor magic training with his brothers.

It seemed that during those lessons, the king was quite eager to impart whatever knowledge he had on using their magic.

Nicholas was often exhausted after this, but Connor and Glynda both insisted that he needed to continue his lessons and training in the afternoon.

He was always waiting for Dion to burst into the room or the training yard with news from the Corporali Clan lands, but that never happened.

One day, Thomas noticed that Nicholas was quite annoyed with the predictable life he now led.

"Why don't you take a break from searching the library?" Thomas suggested. "Take a ride through the forest. I'm sure you remember how to ride now."

Nicholas sighed and nodded.

If he were to be completely honest, it was a good idea. He was simply not in a good mood to praise his friend's suggestion.

"I'll tell the stables to prepare your horse. I'm sure they will be glad to see you." Thomas said with a smile as he got up and left.

Nicholas sighed as he picked at his food before calling Jorin in to prepare his riding gear.

When Nicholas finally made it out of the stables, he took his horse through a familiar path that he knew he favored.

He looked around, observing the trees, and even greeted some mages that were also out on a leisurely ride in the forest.

As he rode through the forest, he noticed an obscured path, one that he would not have noticed if he weren't looking for a place to practice his magic.

"I wonder. . ." Nicholas said out loud as he looked around, making sure that he wasn't followed or that no one else was on the path to report his whereabouts.

When he noticed that the area was clear, he tugged on the reins of his horse, leading him towards the small path.

At first, Nicholas thought that the path was narrow, but the deeper he went into the forest, the wider the path became.

"This is not on any map." Nicholas said to himself as he continued to allow his horse to walk through the path.

Soon, they came upon a clearing. Nicholas hopped off his horse and tied it to a nearby tree.

After confirming once more that no one else was nearby, Nicholas placed a hand on a small shrub as he felt for its energy.

"All things have mana, it just so happens that the mana in mages can be used for magic." Nicholas recalled his Uncle Glenn telling him from a very old memory.

"Okay plant, show me how much mana you have." Nicholas said as he closed his eyes and tried to reach out the same way he would for a human being.

To his surprise, the mana of the shrub out in the wild was much more than of the plants in the palace.

Nicholas then proceeded to absorb the mana from the plant. He wasn't surprised that when he opened his eyes, the plant was now brown and withered. There was no more mana in the plant since he had taken it all.

"I wonder if it will work on a tree?" Nicholas asked as he looked up at the trees that surrounded him.

He knew that his current location was still too close to the main path, so he got on his horse once more and continued to go deeper into the forest.

When he was satisfied with his distance from the main path, he once more tied his horse and this time walked up to a tree.

He took a deep breath and placed his hand on it.

It was vibrant with life, it may not have as much mana as a human, but it would be enough to cast a few spells.

He then drew the mana from the tree as it began to die under his touch.

When he had taken all the mana from the tree, he took a step back as the tree fell with a loud thud.

"At least I know trees can somewhat sustain me if I need more mana." Nicholas said as he looked down at the dead tree.

Behind him, his horse was already agitated by the giant tree falling to the ground. It suddenly broke loose of its ropes, making Nicholas chase after it.

Nicholas knew he couldn't catch his horse, but to his surprise it suddenly stopped and waited for him.

When he approached it, he noticed a small cottage that looked like it had only recently been abandoned.

"Odd." Nicholas said out loud as he walked towards the cottage.

He looked around, making sure that there was no one in the area. He then walked up to the door and was surprised to find it swing open with a gentle push.

He glanced back, checking to see if his horse was still tied before venturing in.

The floors creaked and there was a thin layer of dust as he walked through what once was a dining room.

"There was a struggle." Nicholas told himself as he looked at the chairs that seemed to have been tossed around as well as the broken plates and scattered items.

He began to question if entering the cottage was a good idea, but something told him he needed to see what was inside.

Nicholas finally found what seemed to be a bedroom, and on the floor was the corpse of a man whose face was etched in his mind.

The vale mage named Dominic.