“So, Amelia, you said you’ve come from Astros? Does that mean you’re an Arcanist, then?”
“An Arcanist? No, not I. I’m not even a regular Mage, just a scholar at the library at Astros.”
“A Librarian?”
She laughed coyly. “No, not a Librarian. It takes multiple decades to become a Librarian, and more talent than I have. No, I am a simple scholar apprentice.”
“I can’t imagine a good reason for a lone scholar to be out on the road. What were you doing so far from Astros, let alone by yourself?”
She gave me a look that clearly said she wasn’t comfortable with the question.
After an awkward moment of silence, she asked a question of her own. “And what about you? I guess from your clothes and your speech that you are not an Arcanist either. Are you a Fire Mage?”
Well, I guessed it was fair enough that she didn’t want to share the details of her journey with me straight away. I may have helped her escape, but I was still pretty much a stranger to her. Maybe she had some secret business that she couldn’t share with just anyone. I would content myself with answering her question and let her decide how much she wanted to share with me and how soon.
“A Fire Mage?” I had to laugh. “I doubt the trollmen would have been able to capture me if I were a Fire Mage. I’m an Elemental Sensitive, but aside from that I’m just a simple farmer’s son. I suppose my Sensitivity means that I’m able to sense magical Beasts—that’s why the Slavers wanted me for the mines—but that doesn’t make me a Mage.”
She gave me a quizzical look, as if she was trying to work out whether or not I was telling the truth.
“But what about when you freed yourself, back at the wagon? I saw the smoke and smelled the burning. And when you fought that Slaver; I was watching through the trees, you burned him with your bare hand. I saw the flame. You must be a Mage, how else could you have done all those things?”
“Well, I guess I must have some magical ability. It’s true, I felt Mana inside myself and drew on it, and it manifested as flame. But that was just instinct. I have no idea how I did it. I’m certainly no Mage.”
She gave a disbelieving laugh. “But William, what is a Mage if it’s not someone who can conjure magic?”
I shrugged. “Well, like an Arcanist, I guess. Someone who is trained and serves the Kingdom. Those who train at Astros.” Something else struck me. “Mages are people who use vectors, like wands or swords. For all I know, what I did wasn’t even really magic.”
“Not magic? You’re wrong there, William, what you did was most definitely magic. But listen,” she said, sounding excited, “you said something interesting there. It’s true that magic users always employ vectors like weapons, enchanted jewelry, or even clothing to cast spells. That’s why what you did was so impressive. Are you sure you don’t have some item, some enchanted piece of clothing or ring that you might have been using as a vector, without fully understanding what you were doing?”
I thought for a moment. “There’s this.”
I pulled the strange dagger from my belt and held it out to her. She took it reverently, and we slowed our pace as she examined it.
“This is obviously very old, and it’s very strange—I’ve never seen anything like it before—but I don’t think it’s a vector for magic. It has no spell runes, for one. Where did you come by it?” She handed it back to me.
“It was a gift.” I felt suddenly reluctant to share the story of my foster-father with her. Not just yet. I took the precious dagger back and pushed it back into place at my belt.
“Well, you must have some kind of power,” she said. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing what you did back there. And I’m a scholar, so if it was possible, I should have heard about that by now.”
“You say you’re a scholar, and I know you’re an Elemental Sensitive, like me. We’re allies now, surely. Why won’t you tell me what you were doing out here on the high road alone?”
Amelia sighed. “I can’t explain that to you right now. I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just… Well, I was doing some research. It’s all pretty sensitive, and I could get in a lot of trouble if I shared too much information.”
I held my hands up in mock surrender and smiled. “All right then, keep your secrets. I won’t hold it against you.”
She laughed, relieved. “Thank you. Perhaps once we get to know one another better… wait. Did you feel that?”
I felt nothing. “What? There’s nothing there.”
“I can sense something approaching.”
A sudden chill smote me. I gave a convulsive shudder, as if someone had poured iced water down my back.
“I feel it now,” I said. “What is that?”
“I believe it’s a Magical Beast,” Amelia replied. “You and I are both Elemental Sensitive, so we can sense such creatures. It’s the entire purpose for which we were enslaved.”
Magical Beast? That didn’t sound good. While I had never seen such a creature, I had heard many stories of them. Magical Beasts could take many forms, from fairly normal-looking creatures to nightmarish horrors, but they all had powerful Elemental abilities. If one of those was on our track, we were in for a ride.
This was the wrong spot for an ambush. We stood in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by steeply rising land. The trees were shorter here, and closer together, and the undergrowth made an effective barrier to our escape.
I heard a rustling in the bushes about 20 yards from us on the edge of the clearing, accompanied by a loud snuffling noise. It sounded like something big was pushing through the undergrowth toward us.
“Get down,” I said to Amelia,
