Will

"What does it mean?"

Will raised his eyebrows questioningly. "What does what mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I didn't want to ask, but..."

"But curiousity got the best of you," Will finished, a sly gleam in his eyes. "I know. It means young steel. Or steel youngling. Do you not like the nickname?"

"It's... Okay," Jon replied indifferently, but he seemed satisfied. "What language is it?"

"Charran. From the southern Charra tribes."

It was probably for the best that Will didn't mention the more literal translation of the word ferrej. It was closer to iron boy than anything. He had a feeling his travel companion wouldn't appreciate that meaning.

They had finally arrived at the outskirts of the nameless villages, where the massive peaks glared down at them coldly. Some of these villages were always in darkness save for a few hours per day. Food was scarce and disease was plenty. Will did not wish to linger. Luckily, the villagers gave them weird looks but wide berths. He and Jon didn't interact with anyone other than the local shop keepers. And, well, a tavern barman who refilled Will's flask. Jon had watched silently and grudgingly.

"We're heading to the mountains," Will had slurred, completely sober but used to talking carelessly. "What if I got another wound? You need something to clean it up."

Jon didn't say anything, instead locking his bright green eyes with the ex-bounty hunter's deep brown ones.

"Whatever," Will had grumbled.

Here they were now, standing side by side at the edge of the last village and looking up at the towering peaks. The cast on Will's arm had fallen off a while ago and the wound was almost fully healed. It would leave an uneven circular scar, right at home with the others.

"It's going to take us a long time, isn't it, Will?"

"Yes."

"But... Food won't be a problem, right?"

"I don't think so."

"I'm going to miss my home."

"Are you, really?"

"Of course I am!" Jon turned his head to look at Will, eyes blazing. "They're my people!"

"Superstitious, ignorant bunch. If they're your people, you've chosen wrongly."

"I didn't have a choice," the boy replied hotly. He sounded a little hurt. Will didn't sympathize with him. "You don't get to choose your family."

"A bow would've been useful for the mountains," Will said after a bit, changing the subject. Jon seemed relieved. "Hunting with throwing knives isn't exactly efficient. They're more for agility than accuracy."

"We can go back to the village and get one."

"One of those rotting branches? No thanks. I meant a real bow, one crafted from Khatir or Prookian wood. Those things are built to last."

"Khatir is the forest behind the mountains, right? I've heard stories about it."

"Yes. It's not a dense forest, but the trees are the tallest in the kingdom. Must be the soil or something."

"How do you know so much? Who are you, Will? And where are you from?"

The grizzled man pursed his lips, watching the sun set to his left.

"Those are a lot of questions. I'm me, Will Paragon. A simple man with nothing left to lose. I'm from a town called Drenchwood, near Tufella, although whether it stands or not does not concern me. What concerns me is getting this issue over with."

"Tufella? What are you doing all the way over here?"

"None of your business. I don't interfere with your life, you don't interfere with mine. Now let's retire for the night. Tomorrow we start climbing the mountains. I'm done traveling through the night."

"Agreed."

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As usual, they reached the local motel and rented one room. Jon would lay still in the itchy bed, sleepless, as Will drank in the bottom floor.

A few hours later, a drunk Will would stumble into the room, often with a prostitute. They would make love in the other bed and Jon would pretend to sleep. It wasn't that he WANTED to be awake. His whole body ached and his eyes burned. But sleep wouldn't come easily. He'd eventually fall asleep to the steady breathing of Will and the girl when they were done having sex. A small corner of his heart burned with jealousy and shame. If Will noticed, he showed no sign.

When he woke up in the morning, Will would already be up, fixing their gear and getting ready for another day of traveling. There would be no sign that a girl was even there, no sign that Will had been drinking other than his bloodshot eyes.

That day was no different, from start to end.

The grizzled man was organizing the contents of his waist pouch, which never seemed to run out of useful tools and gadgets.

"Morning," he said gruffly, knowing that Jon was awake before he stirred. Jon nodded in response then sat upright on the hard bed and stretched his limbs.

"So today's the day, huh?" Jon tried to speak conversationally, but it ended up like more of a croak. He was surprised by how tired he sounded.

Will allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. He looked as tired as Jon sounded.

"Unless you'd like to stay here another night."

"Heavens, no."

It was a miracle they hadn't picked up any diseases, and it seemed both men realized it.

A few minutes later, Will was pouring a handful of coins into the innkeeper's open palm.

"Tell me more about the Wizard," the older man said coolly, once they were out of earshot and on their way to the base of the mountains.

"You know NOTHING about him? Have you been living under a rock?" Jon asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't it 'have you been living under a fern'? Anyway, I've kept my head down the past few years. So I'm... A bit out of touch. Tell me."

"Pretty sure it's 'under a rock'," Jon frowned. "Anyway, a little more than a decade ago, strange lights started appearing on Mount Wyvern. A few years after that, people started disappearing into the mountains. They came back... Different. More aggressive. And they spoke of a wizard in the mountains. Demanded taxes from the local folk. That's all we know."

"That's not a lot to work with," Will replied dryly, looking up. They were at the base of the mountains again, this time with the sun to their right and beginning to rise into the sky.

"We... They didn't ask questions. They're terrified of him, even though they've never even seen him."

"But you're not," said the ex-bounty hunter with a savage gleam in his eyes. "And that's why you're here, with me."

"That's... Part of the reason," Jon shuffled in his place. He didn't say anything else, and Will didn't prod.

They stood at the base of the mountains yet again, side by side yet again, staring up at the massive peaks yet again. But this time, they didn't turn around and go back. This time, they glanced at each other in a form of mutual consent, then stepped towards the slope together.

><><><><><><><><><><><

Both seemed to agree on a steady pace up the incline. It guaranteed they crossed a good distance without exhausting themselves. Luckily, the slope was far from steep yet, and they could trek up the mountains without struggling for balance and footholds. The Wizard's men had left clear trails and footpaths, even a person who wasn't a professional tracker and hunter could see that. After a bit, even the sickly little stumps of trees started thinning out, replaced by shrubs and weeds that didn't look healthy to eat. Will confirmed that.

A few hours through their journey, he looked up and saw a spot where the ground flattened out a bit.

"We break camp there," he said between breaths, nodding uphill.

But when they arrived at the flat ground... Any sleepiness or weariness they had was gone. There was only place for anxiety and alertness.

><><><><><><><><><><><

The flat area wasn't that wide, see that, and the hard rocky ground underneath their feet gave no room for any plants to grow. In a way, it was the perfect place to rest after a long day of hiking. So, of course, it was the perfect place to leave them a message.

In the middle of the clearing, a large cauldron sat on a dying fire.

"Will, I'm going to throw up," Jon whispered with a green face. For inside the cauldron, giving them a ghoulish grin, was the corpse of a man, boiled to death over a merciless flame. It looked fairly recent as well. The skin was unusually red and was still steaming.

Will didn't linger on it for too long, instead looking around for anything else that could be left for them. And he found something; a pile of dry branches, perfect to start a fire with. But they were placed directly next to the cauldron, meaning that they would have to get close to it to grab the firewood.

"Quick," Will murmured. "Let's get that cauldron off the fire and kindle it. Starting a fire here will be a little difficult, so we should take advantage of that fire, which is already burning. We can talk later."

It was easier said than done. The cauldron was VERY heavy and still too hot to touch for long. They tried to coordinate their efforts, pushing with their backs, then with their shoulders, then tried kicking it in unison. It would not budge, not even tip over.

Will managed to move a few of the burning logs to another pile nearby, and every now and then he'd toss a branch into it to keep the fire running. Eventually, as the sun neared to touch the horizon, they gave up on the cauldron and collapsed next to their new fire. Even in the setting sun, the ghoulish face still seemed to grin at them.

"That was the act of a 'demon'," Will said, raising an eyebrow at his companion.

"One of the worst," Jon whispered, still shaken up. "Azrael."

"He's just a man, ferrej. You don't have to fear him that much."

"Oh, he's much more. You'll see, if this cauldron was left for us. Because if it was, we're bound to meet him sooner or later."

"Oh, I'm sure we will. I'm counting on it."

Jon was silent for a few moments. Then he shivered and looked away.

"Are we at least going to give that man a burial? It seems cruel leaving him in that cauldron."

"The ground is too hard and rocky to dig deep enough. The animals will get to him anyway."

The young man with the straw colored hair pulled his knees to his chest, his anxious face outlined by the roaring flame of their fire.

"I'm going to sleep," he sulked, turned away from the corpse and the cauldron, spread a blanket on the ground, and curled up on it.

Will didn't blame the young man. It didn't help that he was secretly going to keep watch by himself. He shifted uncomfortably. It was going to be a long night.

The corpse seemed to be staring right at him, grinning its gruesome grimace.

:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷

A chapter long overdue. But it's here.

Hello everyone! Welcome back. The journey has officially begun, and we finally have a sighting of a villain. Well, other than Seraph in the prologue, which is besides the point. Oooooooo.

I hope you enjoyed this week's entry. And by this week I mean, uh, this month. It's how long the chapters need to be, and how hard I have to work to make sure they work. These chapters are almost twice as long as Cilyber's and contain much more content as well. I'm happy with what we have so far.

I think I like both of the characters equally so far, even though the story obviously revolves around Will 'Flamefist' Paragon. They somehow contrast and complement each other at the same time. Even if Jon is disappointed in how Will turned out to be, and Will enjoys messing around and teasing the boy, there remains a kind of mutual respect, one we will be exploring soon enough. I'm looking forward to that, and finding out ways to make them work well together.

If you've gotten this far, please leave a vote and/or a comment. They really help promote the story. I'll also be grateful to hear any opinions, negative or positive. Finding out how to improve my work is one of my priorities, and I don't take any comments or advice personally. As long as they're not direct insults. I don't take those into consideration.

Thanks for coming. As always, have a wonderful day/evening. And I'll be seeing you in... About two weeks. Three if I have writer's block. Until then, peace out!