The world around him slowed down, like he was floating on the raindrops pouring out of the terrifying cloud. Then—as if by a snap of a God's fingers—he fell and kept on falling.  With flailing arms, he plummeted to the ever-growing ground below him.

If only he were a bird or a proper Air Magician, he could ride on the waves of the wind. But he wasn't. He was but a Fire Magician, blinded by the God of Pride. Regret always came too late.

"Katl—" As his death cry reverberated through his entire body,  something snapped inside of him. He opened his mouth again, allowing fear to use his voice, but the air had stolen all breath out of his lungs. Even the tears streaming down his cheeks were silent.

A gust of wind swung him sideways. He tumbled, again and again, until he could no longer tell the sky and ground apart. Too afraid to watch himself dying, he shut his eyes and braced for a landing that would lead him straight to the Heavenly Halls.

Or the Seven Hells. He had performed unspeakable sins. The marble merchant was dead because of his flames.

He would never see Mother again.

Then came the impact. Softer than expected, yet his bones jangled in ways they shouldn't. The wound in his shoulder ripped wide open, which made him howl.

He cried for his life, the pain, and the shock of it all. Hot drops mingled with the rain as a foreign pair of arms cradled him. 

"It's all good. It's over. I got you," a deep, singsong voice called.

Fox opened his eyes. The stranger who had caught him was a blur, yet his salt-and-pepper hair stood out, as did his eagle beak-like nose. He was bobbing up and down, the forest in the distance still moving.

Below him was a black horse with white spots on its hind legs. The man had saved him while riding; what kind of magician was he?

"You're not Katla."

"I'm not Katla," he confirmed. A deep wrinkle formed along his mouth as the man peered at him. "But you can thank your Gods I was here. First time flying?"

"I did it...  before... but never by myself," Fox said in between sobs. "I'll never do it again—it's so scary, Master..."

"Storm. And you are?"

"Fox."

"Well... Fox, Air Magic isn't more dangerous than any other element. All you need is a good teacher." Storm man raised his arm into the air. A beam of bright light shot out his hand and created a hole into the grey cloud.

Something between ten and twenty raindrops still landed on Fox's head, then the rain stopped.

"Are you a Water Magician?" Fox remembered the name 'Storm' from somewhere, but he couldn't recall from what. It was like that time Katla had stolen his memories of Seb.

"Air Magician. But my Fire and Water magic aren't too shabby either."

"I'm a Fire M—"

"He's mine!" shouted Katla in the distance. His breathing was fast and shallow, the thumping of his boots grew louder, as did his voice. "I had everything under control. I was gonna catch him."

"Didn't seem like it from where I was riding, Fire Master." Storm kicked the horse into motion.

The sudden movements sent waves of searing pain through Fox's upper chest. Groaning, he clenched his teeth together. Then, as Master Storm tugged at the reins, the horse came to a quick standstill with hooves sliding across the muddy underground.

 Fox pouted as he rubbed the wound on his shoulder. Master Storm was such a brute.

"I wanted to teach him a lesson," Katla said with ragged breath as he arrived.

"Teach me a lesson?" Fox sneered. "You're a bad teacher. I could have died."

"No, no, I wouldn't let anything bad happen to. I was gonna pick you up. I swear."

Not looking at him, Fox stuck out his tongue, then reluctantly allowed Katla to help him off the horse. His master swung an arm around him. Fox leant against his chest, which helped to make the pain bearable, yet poked his elbow into Katla's guts. That would teach him a lesson!

"What brings you to Moondale, Prince Storm?" Katla asked.

"An invitation from the Grand Master."

Fox's mouth fell open. Now he remembered where he had heard the name. Before winter, Grand Master Hawk had held a discussion in the Council meeting about the usage of Air Magic to alter the local weather. She had mentioned that Prince Storm of Ice used it all the time.

"Did she say why?" Katla asked.

"Research." He cast his eyes on Fox, his forehead wrinkled in the deepest wrinkle Fox had seen since Farmer John had scolded at him for trampling his cabbages. "Are they true—the rumours about him?"

Katla audibly ground his teeth and snorted. "That depends on what you've heard."

"Are you questioning my loyalties now, old friend?" Storm patted his horse on the neck, one eye on Katla, who didn't say anything, so Fox kept his mouth shut as well. "Fine, we don't need to discuss politics now. Please tell me The Antler is still open. Before I enter the dark realm of Moonstone Castle and Mage Tower, I'm gonna need some of Doe's finest ale in my stomach."

"You haven't changed one bit, Storm." Katla pursed his lips into an unexpected smile. "It's good to have you here to liven up this place. Winter has been tough and dreary. An early Spring is a blessing from the Gods."

Storm cracked his fingers, then jumped off his horse with a vigour that Fox didn't think a man his age would still have. He gazed at the sky. "It's too good to be true. Greed makes the Summer Dragon weak and will allow the Winter Bear to return for a final showdown. I've lost count of the years that an early Spring led to a harsh After-winter."

"I know those tales about the Winter Bear and the Summer Dragon." Fox gasped. "I wished dragons were real so we could have a fire-spewing competition."

"Who says they aren't real?"

"Nick. He's..." Fox tilted his head as Storm grabbed his horse by the reins and followed them across the meadow. What was Nick now: friend, acquaintance, the enemy? "... somebody I used to know. He was an annoying know-it-all. A bit of a busybody too."

"That's life. You meet people, have fun, but then you leave and estrange from them. Next day, you make new friends." Storm shrugged, heaving a sigh. "Talking about old acquaintances, Katla. How is Cobra holding up? We received the news about Panthera. Horrible... truly horrible."

"She's..." Katla paused, as if to find the right words. "... managing, but it did something to her. To Ariel too. I understand what they're going through, but I can't talk to them about the loss of a child. We're not that close." 

"Any idea who could be behind it?"

"I got a few ideas, theories..." Katla puckered his brow. "Nothing substantial."

"Ariel has faith in you. You were mentioned in his letter to Mother," Storm continued. Fox pulled at Katla's hand to walk faster. He didn't wanna chat about boring matters, he wanted a piece of Doe's pie in his stomach. It would kill the ache of his wound. "He values you for saving Felix. I'm not gonna lie, Katla. I had my doubts on my cousin's intentions with you, but it seems like you've grown on him.  Seems like your powers don't only work on women and children."

"What powers?" Fox squeaked. "He's a Fire Magician. And a really good one too, except for in Winter. Then I caught rats and sold them to Falcon for silver coins. With the coins, I bought food."

"Your sword." Katla smacked himself in the head. "Tomorrow, we'll continue our hunt, son. Storm and I need to catch up."

"Alright, I'm tired anyway because you almost dropped and killed me." 

Fox blew up his cheeks, which his master squeezed playfully. "Yeah, yeah... just admit that you like Doe's pies better than chasing rats."

"That too." He clicked his tongue against his teeth and made some shrill noises. "But what are those powers of yours?"

Katla grinned. "I can make grumpy Foxes smile even when they're angry at me."

"No, I'm not gonna."

"I think you are."

"No." Fox shook his head. "I'm still angry."

"No, you're not."

Fox let go of his hand. "I am."

"Don't believe you, son."

"You better do. I am so angry that I'll still be angry tonight and tomorrow, and next week. And maybe even the week after, so it's not possible that you have powers like that. They don't exist."

Storm chuckled. "Stubborn kid you got there."

"Yeah," Katla said. "Keeps things interesting."

In the Antler, after getting showered with Doe's warm hugs and receiving an even warmer blanket, Fox sat down on his favourite high stool by the counter while Storm and Katla huddled in the chairs by the crackling fireplace. Doe quickly brought them three pies of the day, ale for the men, and a big cup of warm apple juice for her favourite little predator.

The conversation between Storm and Katla travelled from the Jade Islands to Ice, and to another wide range of topics that Fox understood little of. Stuffing his face with the creamy cottage cheese filling of Doe's bacon pie was all he needed.

Almost all. The Prince of Ice fascinated him. Taking another bite, he turned to Doe and let his curiosity speak. "Doe, are Katla and Storm friends?"

"Friends is a strong word, darling." The plump old lady dipped a frying pan into the soapy water and rinsed it. "But they meet up whenever Prince Storm visits."

"Why?"

"I guess they have a lot to talk about. They're both powerful magicians. And Katla's wife, Cinder, used to work at the Ician court. Hunter came from a village near Bigtown too."

"Oh." He let the information sink in. "Do you like Prince Storm?"

Doe leant over the bar counter and whispered, "No, I... want to—he's a nice man— but I don't trust Icians."

"Why not?" Fox kept his tone low as well. There weren't that many people in the bar—there hardly ever were—so they could easily be overheard.

"Too close to the Greenlanders. Prince Storm is the eldest of the four children of King Alder. He was destined to be King until his youngest sister, Crystal, married into the Greenlander royal family. She's their Queen now."

"And Prince Storm?"

"Just a Prince now. I don't know what the Greenlanders offered him to give up his birthright. Or whether that bear and dragon of theirs agree with it."

Fox scratched his head. Since he was the bastard son of Lord Brandon, then Queen Crystal was his aunt. "Doe, is Prince Storm like... my uncle?"

"In a way, yes. Why do you want to know, darling?"

"Just because." He shuffled in his seat, his shoulder twinging painfully. The Ician prince was family... his family.

Prince Storm buried his laughter in his hand, then patted his thigh. Lord Brandon used to do that too. This must mean something—a sign from the Gods, perhaps?

After picking the last of the crumbs from his plate, he slid down from his stool and walked up to the two men. He placed his hands on the chair's armrest and barged into their conversation about... whatever... he didn't care. "How long will you stay in Moondale?"

"Son!" Katla raised an eyebrow. "Rude."

"No, it's fine." Prince Storm made some gestures to Katla. He turned to Fox and smiled. "A couple of weeks, maybe a moon or two. Depends how much I like it here."

"Then you don't have to spend too much time with Hawk. She's mean," Fox argued.

"Is that so? In that case, I'll hang out with other royals." Prince Storm gave him a wink.

The God of Pride stirred inside Fox, tempting him to spill the beans, to tell this Prince that he was a prince too and that the chances of him ever becoming King were as non-existent as his. 

Katla was shaking his head slightly, his eyes stern yet concerned. 

Yet his master had played him too. Fox wasn't so easy to forgive, nor did he believe in those silly powers that Katla supposedly had. "While you are here, can you teach me Air Magic? I need a better teacher—one who will actually catch me when I fall."

From behind the counter came a shattering crash of a plate breaking into a thousand pieces. Katla looked at him with wide eyes, like he had just done the unspeakable.

Storm leaned backwards in his chair, locking his hands around his cup of ale. "I'd like that, Young Master, Fox. I'd like that very much."