Argent stood in a calmer part of the river's edge nearly up to his knees, his shoes on the shore and his pants and sleeves rolled up. He could feel his feet beginning to go numb in the frigid water, but he didn't dare move. A large, silver fish swam around lazily nearby, getting closer and closer each passing second. Just a little farther, and...

The boy dove forward, plunging his hands into the water. For a glorious second, he could feel the fish's scales gripped between his hands, but just as he moved to bring it to the surface, it shot from his hands and lept out of the water. Argent gave a startled shout as an icy spray splashed him in the face. He stumbled back in a futile attempt to get away from the droplets now running down his shirt, only to trip on a stone and fall into the water altogether.

"Did the fish hit you in the face?" an amused voice asked behind him, and he turned to glare at Darin.

"No," he replied petulantly, unsteadily rising to his feet and trudging to the shore. He heard Darin and the old bridgekeeper laugh before returning to their previous conversation. At the moment, both he and Darin were stranded on the other side of the river. The bridge had been flooded over and damaged due to a freak storm a few days prior, and the river was too swift and too deep to swim across. They were forced to find another route. Darin said his goodbye to the bridgekeeper just as Argent began squeezing the water from his pants, and the old man returned to his post.

"So what did he say?" Argent asked before Darin could mock him.

"He's heard from other travelers that there's a ferry up the river, right at the edge of Vecjivi Territory." Darin pulled his spellbook out and flipped through its pages. He found the spell easily—this wasn't the first time he had to use it in the last couple of days—and within seconds Argent was significantly drier than before. "You're going to catch a cold at this rate," Darin commented, rolling his right shoulder in discomfort before returning the book back in its place.

"It's not like I do it on purpose," Argent muttered, slipping his boots back on and looping his bag around his shoulder. "So we gotta take the long way around?"

"Mhm. It'll add another few days to get to Langerich, but that's not a problem," Darin said. "We aren't in a hurry, right?"

"Right," Argent nodded, trotting ahead alongside the river with Darin following behind at his own pace. "So the Vecjivi, you said they were the...traveling people?"

"Nomadic," Darin corrected. "But yes, they're constantly traveling from place to place, home and all. During the warm season, they're usually by the sea, but now that it's becoming colder, I believe they should be starting to move back inland so they don't get caught in the first snow."

"Will we meet any, then?"

Darin shook his head. "Unfortunately, that would be unlikely. It's still too early, but I'm sure in a few months there will be a commission to buy the shells they bring back from the sea. The apothecary would grind up oyster shells and sell them as a remedy for indigestion, for example."

"Does it taste good?" Argent turned his head to look at Darin curiously.

"Most medicines don't taste good," was Darin's answer as he grimaced.

So that's a no, Argent thought, his shoulders slumping.

This had been their routine over the last few days since they became master and apprentice; Argent asking an assortment of questions and Darin answering them to the best of his ability with the patience of a saint. The man was surprisingly knowledgeable in many fields, from geography to history, as Argent slowly learned about the world they lived in. Back at the mines, all he ever knew was the harsh ground beneath his bare feet and the sting of the whip. It had been an impulse decision to run with the rest, many being shot down behind him as he escaped into the woods by the skin of his teeth. He was truly fortunate to have run into Darin, even if their meeting was...unconventional. While he owed nothing to the world, he certainly owed the man for saving his life.

The sun was high in the sky, but barely any light filtered through due to the thickness of the trees. Large boulders stood on either side of the path.

"Argent," Darin called out to the boy ahead of him, feeling suddenly uneasy. "Walk closer to me."

The boy gave him a questioning look, but obeyed nonetheless, moving forward to rejoin Darin. But before he could take any more than a few steps, several cries rang out. A group of a dozen men jumped out from behind the rocks. One grabbed Argent and put a knife to his throat. Darin made a grab for his spellbook, but it was too late as both of his arms were restrained. In a harsh motion, the man to his right wrenched his arm back while shoving his shoulder forward, forcing him to bow. Darin grunted in pain as he felt the unseelie wound tear open, and he could feel his clothes dampen as blood began to soak into them. His spellbook was tossed to the side carelessly.

"Darin—" Argent gasped when the knife pressed harder against his skin.

"Just sit tight and don't make a fuss, and no one will get hurt," said the one holding Argent hostage, the boy's eyes wide in horror as he stared at Darin's shoulder. The man chuckled. "Well, hurt any more than before. Search them, boys."

Darin kept a careful eye on the knife at Argent's neck, not even turning to glance as he was stripped of his bag and his pockets searched. The boy was treated the same; his bow and quiver were thrown away like his spellbook was. Arrows scattered the ground.

"Bah, there's nothing more than bread and a few stones in this one," the one who searched Argent's bag said.

"Same with this one," grunted the one with Darin's, passing the bag to the next. "Nothing more than food."

"No money?"

"Check under his shirt. He probably keeps his coins around his neck."

The one stepped in front of him, knife in hand. Darin grit his teeth as the man sliced down his shirt, leaving behind a harsh cut that quickly began to ooze red. Snapping the string, he tossed the coin bag in his hand with a grin. "Yep. Here it is."

"Hey, you missed something in here," said the one now holding Darin's bag.

Darin winced as the man turned his bag upside down and shook out its contents. His rations, having since been unwrapped, dropped unceremoniously onto the ground alongside the glass orbs containing various plants and mana potions. There were five bottles in total, and only two contained any of the potions. He was glad he enchanted the glass items to be less fragile. Stooping down to inspect the filled bottle, the gruff man held the potion up to the light.

"What is this stuff?" he asked no one in particular.

"That's a mana potion, you thick lard. Every wizard carries them," the one keeping Darin restrained said with a roll of his eyes.

"Is it valuable?"

"Not to us."

"Well, then," the man popped off the cork and slowly began dumping its contents to the ground, making sure Darin was watching. The others laughed at the action and cheered him on. "It won't be any value to him, either."

He dropped the bottle once it was empty, the impact finally shattering it, and he reached to grab the other one.

His head was neatly cleaved off his shoulders before his fingers could brush against the glass.

Everyone seemed to have frozen in shock, all except the tall, sinewy man who raised his claymore in preparation to fight. Another dark blur dashed from the rocks, ducking under the warrior's arm and swiping cleanly at a second's neck in an almost graceful manner. Ice blue met umber brown as the sword-wielding elf locked eyes with Darin. "Move!"

Shaken from his stupor, Darin elbowed the one on his left below the ribs, earning him a wheeze. Darin shook him off easily after that, turning to the one on his right and flipped him over his shoulder. His right shoulder screamed at him from the movement, but it was ignored as he dove for the spellbook. The book flew open as his finger brushed the tab for the barrier, and in an instant he cast a barrier around Argent's throat, soon sending the man holding him flying back. The man did not get up, and Darin didn't care for restraining his magic in this situation. Scrambling to his feet, he ran over to the boy.

"Take your bow and climb up the rocks," he commanded. Argent obeyed with a nod, grabbing his bow and quiver, only having time to gather some of his arrows, before scaling the rocks. Darin kept the bandits at bay below until Argent had situated himself, sniping those who straggled too far from the crowd.

Down on the ground, Darin stuck near the edge of the action, alternating between sending powerful pulses of magic and erecting barriers. The bandits had recovered from their shock by then, quickly crowding the two swordsmen in the center as they fought back to back. They were becoming overwhelmed. He fumbled a bit with the tab, not used to handling his spellbook with his right hand as he doubted he was able to raise it very high, before teleporting into the center of it, crouching low to avoid the swinging swords above. Another tab and a pulse wave arched around them, throwing the bandits off balance. The swordsmen paused momentarily but quickly jumped in to slash at the stunned bandits closest to them. And thus began a deadly cycle: Darin blocking or stunning those who came too close, the swordsmen cutting down those stunned, and Argent striking those who stumbled out of the ring until he ran out of arrows. It wasn't long before only a few remained.

Looking around at the carnage, the remaining bandits swiftly turned and fled. The claymore wielder ran after them, leaving behind Darin and Argent with the elf. Darin's legs ached terribly after being crouched for so long, and he stood, repressing a groan. I'll get that later, he thought through a pounding headache, referring to the spellbook that now laid harmlessly on the ground, the wind turning a few of its pages. The elf was quick to take hold of his arm and steady him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Argent climbing down the rocks before getting impatient, jumping down and stumbling forward a bit on impact. He ran over to them once he had regained his balance, stopping a few feet away at a loss for what to do. Darin knew the boy was panicking, trying to hold it in, but the elf spoke before he could reassure him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, glancing down at Darin's chest and grimacing. "Obviously not."

The elf's hands glowed with a faint light as he reached forward, but Darin took a step back with a shake of his head. "Check the boy first," he said, nodding his head towards Argent.

"What? No! I'm fine!" Argent insisted. "Darin, you're bleeding!"

"Well, that is what people do," Darin quipped with a small smile.

"Now's not the time to joke!" Argent turned to the elf, who looked equally as worried about Darin's condition, and pleaded, "Please, heal him!"

With a firm nod, the elf grasped Darin's good shoulder to keep the other from moving and went to work on healing the cut down his chest.

"You should sit down," the elf commented, bringing Darin to a nearby rock and pressed down on his shoulder, urging him to sit. Darin sighed and obeyed, knowing that the two of them wouldn't let up until he did.

The elf had moved on to his shoulder, Argent by the river to clean off the blood from Darin's shirt (staying within eyesight by Darin's request) when the tall warrior returned.

"A few got away, but I killed any I could catch," he reported to the elf before nodding his head in Darin's direction. "How's the wizard?"

"He will be fine as long as he restricts his shoulder usage until it is fully healed," the elf replied, taking out a bandage from his side pack to wrap Darin's shoulder. Darin chose to keep unnecessary comments to himself, but the elf seemed to have sensed them, looking at him with a frown. "What were you doing with an untreated unseelie bite in the first place? Surely someone as yourself knows they cannot be treated as a normal wound."

Darin sighed in defeat. "I'll agree it was foolish of me. I thought I could last until I got to Langerich."

"I thought all wizards were scholars," the tall warrior grunted, "but it appears this one lacks common sense."

Darin was about to retort, biting words at the tip of his tongue before Argent appeared beside him, shirt and spellbook in hand. Draping the shirt on a rock, he flitted through the book until he found the drying spell, slowly pronouncing each twisting word while focusing on the shirt. Darin could feel Argent's magic fluctuate unevenly as he struggled to fully activate it, and by nature he reached out to touch the boy's arm, aiding in keeping the spell. With their combined effort—Darin letting Argent do the brunt of it without draining his mana supply—the shirt dried.

"And drink this, too," Argent demanded, pulling the last mana potion out of his pocket and holding it out in front of him.

He must have grabbed it when he got the book, Darin thought idly and nudged it out of his way.

"It's best we save it," he said, but Argent pushed it back into his hand.

"No, you need to drink it," Argent said persistently. "You used a lot of mana."

Darin blamed it on the headache as he snapped. "Argent, I said to save it."

Argent shrunk back at that, but immediately countered it with a glare. "And you're not thinking clearly!"

"I am thinking perfectly clear." Darin grabbed his shirt and stood, ignoring the elf's protest as he slipped the garment on. "Think about it, Argent. This is Loten. I'll be able to regain mana naturally." But not fast enough. "And what if something like this were to happen again! There wouldn't be anything left if I use it now! I won't be able to—" He cut himself off before he could raise his voice any further. This wasn't the boy's fault, after all. Gods above, how could this have gone so wrong?

"Underprepared as well," the tall warrior voiced, and Darin immediately sent a scalding glare at the man.

"I would suggest you keep your opinion to yourself until you know my circumstance," he seethed through his teeth.

"Noctifer, that is enough." The elf stood to stand between them, turning his attention back to Darin. "You said you were heading to Langerich?"

Darin paused, not able to recall ever mentioning it. Perhaps his head was more muddled than he thought. "We are."

"Then perhaps we may accompany you?" The elf ignored the tall warrior's sputtering and continued before Darin could protest as well. "You are worried about the boy's safety since you are no longer in a state to act as a protector."

The blunt words stung, but even Darin's sludge-filled brain knew it was true. He glanced down at the boy who only looked up at him expectantly, offering the potion once again. With a heavy sigh, he took the potion from the boy and downed the whole bottle.

"Only if you're sure, but I'm afraid I don't have much to repay you with." He didn't remember seeing his coin purse anywhere and assumed one of the living thieves took it. However, it seemed he assumed wrong as the tall warrior, apparently named Noctifer, held the small bag up by the broken string.

"I think we can arrange something," Noctifer said with a smirk. "You carry a surprising amount for someone so unassuming."

Darin barely repressed the scowl that pulled at his lips, holding out his hand. "Then can you ever be so kind as to return what's mine?" he asked with false sweetness. "I think I've had enough of thieves for today."

"That's no way to talk to your savior," Noctifer challenged, stepping closer to the wizard and staring him down with dark green eyes. He was mildly impressed when the other showed no signs of fear even as he towered over him by nearly a head.

Before things could escalate, the elf wedged himself between the two forces once again, plucking the coin purse out of Noctifer's hand and promptly giving it back to its owner. "Providing room and possibly food would be enough." He took a step back, forcing the man behind him to back off as well. Noctifer complied with a grunt. Holding out his hand, the elf said, "My name is Iver, and the one behind me is Noctifer."

"Darin Alaris," Darin said, shaking the dark-skinned elf's hand before laying a hand on the boy's shoulder, "and this is my apprentice, Argent."

Iver gave them a friendly grin. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Darin and Argent." He glanced around the area, noting the mess. "Here, I will help you gather your things. Noc can move the bodies to the side. We may be able to make it to the village before evening and collect the bounty."

Darin didn't know what Iver meant by the bounty, but he readily agreed to the help.

Word count: 3009