15.1 Young One

General Summary

Day 170

Our first full day of travel passes easily, teaching our new apprentices as we ride. After dinner around the campfire he takes a turn telling stories. He tells us of his childhood in the Capital where his mother was a butcher (where he learned to use knives) and his father was a retired soldier. Well...soldier in the sense that he served some small imperial lord. He joined my (real) army because it pays better and he wanted to send his little sister to the Academy.   A small part of my brain files away this information - perhaps his sister (Nit, though she may have a new new name by now) would find a place learning from Alwen or we could at least sponsor her through the Academy.   He tells us about his first captain, Whisper. She taught him to bake because the people who prepare fanciful food can get inside any important place to reach a target. He learned so much from her and she probably would have continued to teach new warriors had she not fallen to the Collective. Usually skilled soldiers become teachers at some point but she felt she had one more risky mission in her before it reached that point.   And lastly he tells us about some of the Capital gardens he used to sneak into and I tell them about my small orchard. He took his name from the alder trees in those gardens and only learned later on that the shade of the alder tree is favoured by the Empress herself. So many elves take names that let them carry their home with them, just like him. Names are for things you want to keep with you, things you want to protect, things you want to treasure forever and build your life around.   “What about you, young one? When are you going to pick a grown-up name?” he teases Bran. I wonder if Bran will take a new name at all. Humans seem to be so attached to their bloodlines and their blood family - perhaps the name your parents give you holds more meaning for them than it does for us.  

Day 171

As the sun lowers in the sky we see a large plume of campfire smoke in the distance. Alder returns from his investigation with the assessment “One man alone, incredibly dangerous - roasting an enormous beast. He’s injured though - might be friendly!”   And so with our characteristic friendliness we approach the camp to find a human man with a roughly bandaged arm and torso. Over the fire is an enormous creature with wicked antlers. He greets us with a smile and laugh and invites us in. Camellia takes a look at his injuries as we get acquainted - his magic is strong and very unusual but not quite comparable to mine.   He introduces himself as Amytri. Over dinner he tells us the story of fishing and being attacked by this creature which can apparently see magic and ripped right through his wards. When I examine the horn I find that it simply has specialized penetrating power - it probably wouldn’t struggle to cut through even Haze’s hide (though it would probably only land one hit).   As we analyze the magic together (he is remarkably astute) I get the sense that he is remarkable amongst humans for many reasons (the least of which is that he is 200 years old). The feeling is confirmed as he asks me about elves, about the Collective, and remarks that I’m the oldest elf he’s ever met. As we continue to discuss the nature of magic and the races on this side of the Barrier I make the connection - he’s learned from Magdalena!   He grins when I ask and confirms it. Apparently he’s met two other of her students before in his travels - Diedrie, a member of an avian race from across the sea who is trying to map the whole world...and a dragon named Smoke. I recall Magdalena’s amusement that I now counted Haze as part of my family and wonder if Haze and Smoke are related somehow.   Amytri is out here looking for mysteries and answers - unlike so many humans he realizes that this land is so full of ancient magic and strange happenings and he wants to understand. The way he talks about the nature of magic and knowledge and how it’s all blurred and connected is so very like Magdalena. I wonder what I say that would make someone else read our connection in my words!   It seems that we’ll be travelling together since we are heading to the same place. He intends to make one stopover at a town on the way which he says we’ll be interested in.   I think this means that he will inevitably learn everything I know about Council Rock and probably about Drakken and the Master as well. Tomorrow I’ll have to see what I can learn from him as well; presumably he has a well-developed theory about the Master that might be more informative than anything I’ve found so far.   As we settle down for the night Bran and Alder organize a watch for us. Between Alder’s scouting and our general competence we rarely set a watch but having seen the beast that Amytri dealt with, tonight is certainly a night to be cautious.