Rushing, I snatched some clean clothes. While putting them on, I ran my hands down my hair to make it look presentable and not like I'd just run a 50 KM marathon in a tornado and a blizzard at the exact same time. I run down the stairs to the large hall covered in paintings of former Council members. looking around, I hear voices coming from a large clear door. It looked like it was made of water. I reached for the door, only to see my hand run straight through it! "Ah hah! I see your pupil is finally awake, Mage?" An old leathery-skinned man said in a rather overly-raspy voice. "Indeed. Well it appears we shall have to talk some other time, Councilman Jyrell." The old guy left simply by disappearing straight through the door and bumping into me. Hesitantly I raised my arm through the door, watching in disbelief as it vanished through the door. I walked through the door, trying to act as though walking THROUGH doors was something I did everyday.

" Pupil, I expect you to get to training far faster. As punishment, you've lost precious food you could have used for energy on our journey. All in all, i'm rather disappointed. You'll have to work extra hard if you wanna get in my good books. Ever." The Mage said all this in a quick,but brisk voice. It was obvious as day, this guy meant business.

After that micro-speech, the Mage turns around and grins bitterly.

What happened afterward was slightly strange. I mean, maybe I didn't get enough sleep, or the lack of food was messing with my head? " Yeah, well I don't even know who you are!" I scowled and snapped at him. The dude looked shocked at first, since my reaction seemed completely out of place. I looked around awkwardly. Hey these trees are especially...green? I wonder why leaves are green usually. Isn't that strange? Hehehehe... in my brain, I REALLY hoped I wouldn't die today.

"Why you want to know, kid? Isn't knowing that I'm the First Mage enough?"He was talking in a quiet voice, instead of the usual brash, gruff one.

I paused to think for a second. "Well, that's pretty obvious isn't it? How can I trust you to teach me right if I don't know you?"

Once again, the guy looked shocked. Geez, I don't act that stupid, do I? I mean everyone knows this stuff. It's like the alphabet, you get it drilled into your head since you're three.

"Fine, but I warn you, it's not easy to listen to my story. Make sure to unwuss yourself first.

My name was Trey. Believe it or not, I was actually pretty small for my age. I got bullied. A lot. People jeered at me when I walked through the town. The kids would make fun of me. Even the adults had a certain disdain for me. You see, I was the shaman's son. Our village was founded by the Evergreen Tribe. My father was the shaman at the time, and I was supposed to be his successor. No one thought I could lead the tribe well. Not even myself. When I turned eight though, everything changed.

There was an attack on my village. An army was passing through, attacking with an enemy tribe. They all had black ribbons with a red design adorned on their armour. Everyone was cruelly massacred. I was clever enough to lock myself in our attic. None of the soldiers could reach there, because they were all so ginormous.I escaped shortly after.

After that, I spent the next few years becoming a hermit. I established a home in the mountains on the borders of Hylla. This ensured my complete isolation from other Hyllan folk. Running away, I met a lady. She was middle-aged, and when I charged her, she paralyzed me. I started to follow her, secretly of course. She was a wizard. I begged her to teach me the ways of magic, so I could protect myself. I became a wizard, practicing magic and gaining skill quicker as days turned into months, and months into years.

I also realized that there was absolutely no way I could do with only magical strength. So I started training my body. The workouts usually left me sweaty and sore, but it was worth the effort. Not too sad yet, eh? Well get ready, cause here comes the sad part.

One day I was walking through a village where I was staying the night.

At the inn where I was staying, some guys were boasting about nearly beating a demon with the Winged Amulet. They said it was in the mountains at the moment. Obviously, I feared for the state of my sanctuary.

However, when I got there, I found my Master's dead body lifeless on the ground. The shelter was gone, probably destroyed by whatever passed through there. I saw a black ribbon on the ground, with a red emblem of a red circle that looked as though it were dripping blood.

It was the exact same one as the cursed people who destroyed my village had on. I vowed to get revenge.

I went mad. I started investigating everywhere. Whoever had that logo, would be killed horribly. By me. I wanted them to PAY. For everything they took from me. Of course the Imperial Police soon caught on and identified me as a threat to the realm.

The Council Head captured me and gave me a choice. He could help me, take me under his wing, or surrender me to the Police. I believe he was fascinated with my destructive and healing magical power. He saved me from a horrible life. For that, I will forever be in debt to him" He finished with a flourish. As he looked at me, I kept my face emotionless. The First Mage cleared his throat once more. "It's time for us to leave." It all came out in a guarded, hard voice.

I sighed and asked the bipolar dude if I could get my things from home and say goodbye. And he actually agreed.

And off we went, down the yellow brick road.

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So...yeah! I'm probably going to introduce poor Brandon's parents in the next chapter. Sorry about how late this was, it took longer to write than I thought.

Here's a cookie for luck!

-Star