The Nameless Drake

"You've been carving that wooden sword out for hours." My mom said, sweeping the dust out of our house, "And today is such a nice day, why don't you give yourself a rest?"

I finished carving out the rough edges and held the sword out in front of me with one arm, "Now I just have to smooth it out."

"Are you even listening?" She said annoyed, "Go outside and play."

"Ok." I said, "I'll be back when the sun is low." I started walking out of the house.

"Try to see if you can bring back some bread from the baker then." She called out.

I was only eight years old, and my family had just settled into this village after our last one was run down by monsters. My father was a blacksmith and specialized in weapons and armor. He was renown enough that knights would kill for one of his crafts, and he had made at least two royal swords for the King's sons. I had been here for less than two moon cycles, and at first I spent most of my time assisting my mother or father with chores or work. My father helped me craft my first sword, which I had done a lot of the work for, and my mother had taught me how to cook and clean. "A man who can do a man's job is good, but a man who can look manly in a baker's apron is great." My mother always said. So I engraved it on one side of the blade, while the other side my father engraved, "When all else fails, use your fists." Much to my mother and I's annoyance.

I walked to the edge of town and went to a tree. I pulled a large leaf off of a nearby plant and then used my knife to cut into the tree for sap. I coated both sides of the leaf with sap and then walked toward the beach. I covered the leaf entirely with sand and then set it out on a rock to sun dry. I looked out at the ocean, which made me uncomfortable, but I enjoyed the sound. I practiced swinging my sword, as if I was one of the king's knights. I thought of the sword that hung for me in the forge, the one that I made and would eventually receive. I swung wildly and without form, and almost hit someone who snuck up behind me.

He ducked quickly, "Quit swingin that thing 'round n 'bout." He said, "Yer gon' hit some-body." The boy had a sort of relaxed stance, and he didn't seem to know how to speak well, and his accent was fairly odd. He was shorter than me, and looked younger by at least a year. His frayed, black hair was like a bird's nest atop his head. The only thing that really seemed off about him were his clothes, which looked like they were expen-sive or city bought.

"My apologies, I did not think anyone was out here."

"Yuh, us kid children like to fight here."

"Fight? For fun?" I asked.

"No, we fight fer the tournument, all four of us 're gon to fight n it."

"Don't you need five people though?"

He shrugged, "Well beekus you're here, now we got five."

"Wait, I didn't say I would join you guys."

"No?" He said, scratching his hair, "Well no big deal, you cun just said it now."

I sighed, he wasn't even getting my point, "I don't even know you, or anybody here."

"Yuh? Well no big deal, you just cull me Tick."

"Isn't that a blood sucker?"

He scratched his head, "Suppose so, well they all cull me Tick cus they can't say my real name."

"Ah, ok."

"They cull you 'nythin?"

"Well no, I don't have a name yet." He had a confused look on his face, which told me that it wasn't a common practice in this area. "Just call me Nameless."

Another boy, about the same age and height as me walked up yawning. "Hi Tick, who's the new guy?" He said, ignoring me.

"Numeless." The boy answered, he seemed to want to talk less around the boy who just joined us.

I shook my head, "It's Nameless."

"Let it be, Tick's from the North, he can only speak and understand our language through a spell." The new boy was nicely dressed, had a near perfect stance, and had black hair. He also seemed completely calm and collected. "So you don't got a name?"

"No, I'm from the-"

"East." He interrupted, "The land of monster hunters, warriors, and kings, right?"

"Sort of, we were there for a few years before monsters destroyed the village we lived in. The king relocated us here."

"Well that works out for us then, now we have a fifth member."

"I never said I wanted to join."

"Well you got a sword, and you like to swing it right?"

"I guess..."

"Then you have no reason not to join our group." He said confidently. "I'm Darien by the way."

Before I could reply, a girl ran up, "Sorry I'm late, I had to help my dad clean up."

"Liz, you should take a dip, you smell terrible." Darien said. I agreed, but didn't say any-thing out loud. I also didn't think she was late, considering Darien had just arrived as well.

"Yea well, we just finished tanning some skins." She said, "It ain't exactly a flower shop like your house."

"My mom doesn't run a flower shop, she runs a medicine, herb, and potion shop." Dari-en said annoyed.

"So you got the fifth person?" She looked me up and down, but didn't really acknowledge that I was there.

"Yea, his name is Nameless."

"How do you have a name that is Nameless?"

I quickly replied, "It's because we save our names for when we do something honora-ble."

"That's a lot a rabbit pellets." She said, "We'll call you Stick, cause you are skinny and it rhymes with Tick."

I didn't want to argue with her logic, it was pointless for me. Darien spoke up, "You seen Red?"

"He's probably still walking here, you know it always takes him a hundred years to go anywhere."

"Yea, I could see that." Darien, "Well I guess we should introduce everyone anyways." He pointed at Tick, "That's our unarmed guy, real good at fighting without a weapon." Then at Liz, "Liz, our offensive mage. Red is now our fill in, and you are now our swordsman."

"What are you?"

"I'm our strategist, leader, and lancer."

"You can use a lance?!" I exclaimed, completely surprised.

"Well not yet, I'm still trying to work on my magic."

"You have magic?" I said, less surprised.

"I thought most did." He said.

"Well I don't have any magic."

"That's because you are a wimpy snot." Liz said, "Mom says only smart people have magic."

"Yea, but everyone has a little bit of it." Darien said. "You sure you don't got any magic at all?"

"No, my dad doesn't either."

Darien and Liz looked at each other and then shrugged, "Must be an easterner thing I guess." He said, then laughed, "Its fine really, only me, Liz, and Tick gotta win in the tournament for our team to be considered good."

"Is Red bad?" I asked.

"He usually forfeits in our fights so he doesn't have to do anything." Darien replied, "We keep him so we can have enough members."

"Well, I'm going to be the best swordsman, so you don't have to worry about me losing." I said confidently and excited. I had watched children tournaments out east, they were fascinating, though the east was known for having more emphasis on their tournaments.

Darien got equally excited, "That's what I wanna hear!" He began to chant "No magic, no problem!" With Liz, Tick, and I adding in. The three of them then suddenly jumped back about twenty feet and assumed a fighting stance. "Hey Stick, get in position!" I at-tempted to jump back, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't jump back as far as them.

"You can't jump like that without magic." Liz laughed.

I sighed and awkwardly ran backwards, so we were in a sort of square formation facing each other. Darien held out his hand and a glimmering rounded sword appeared. He jabbed it into the sand where he stood, picked up a stick and then drew the box that connected all of us together. "There Liz."

"I know what to do." She growled. She planted her feet and raised both her arms, the square he made being raised to create an arena.

"K Stick, you first." Darien said, "Tick and Liz watch." He handed me the rounded sword, "That wooden sword will be useless, and this is the only allowed sword in the children's tournament." I took it, feeling its weight and we bowed to each other. "Go all out!"

I charge at him immediately, but he was ready, and surrounded himself in a magic barrier. I swung my sword at it, making no noticeable break in it. "Only magic can break a magical barrier." He taunted, "That's common knowledge."

I frowned, "I don't have magic!"

He laughed, "I know!" He snapped his finger and a bolt of fire was blasted at me. It burned like crazy, but when I looked down no wound was there, "I'm only strong enough for painful magic." He explained, "No injury, but it does hurt like crazy!"

I struck several more times, taking various magic attacks with no damage to the barrier. "Try punching it." A bored and uninterested voice called. I turned my head to face the speaker immediately.

"Red!" Tick and Darien exclaimed. "Glad you made it, but don't give him stupid advice."

Red was a person who looked like he might be taller if he stood up straight, but he slouched. Additionally, he looked like he had just gotten out of bed, and still wanted to be there. He looked pretty stupid to say the least, "If I can't break it with my sword, why would punching it matter?"

"If you don't have magic, why try to break it with a sword?" He replied tiredly. "So if you're stupid enough to try a sword, why not just try punching it?"

"I'm not stupid!" I exclaimed, "I already know punching it won't work."

"Just do what he says Stick." Liz laughed, "Not like you can win anyways."

I clenched my fist, slowly becoming more and more enraged. I was made more infuriat-ed by a taunting heat blast from Darien. I winded up a punch and yelled "Fine!" as I drove it into the barrier. I remember hearing two shatters, the first was of the barrier, and the second was of the bones in my arm. The next thing everyone surely heard was my ear piercing screech and wail from the pain. Darien came forward quickly and put a sweat leaf into my mouth, I felt less pain but everything was a daze. In moments a few parents had rushed down and I was carried to the town's healer, and laid on a bed while she used magic on my arm. "What happened to him?" I heard one of the adults demand outside.

"We were practicing for the tournament and he broke his arm." Darien said, clearly more submissive to the adults.

"How?"

"H-he punched my barrier and broke it."

"That shouldn't have shattered his arm though." A mother said confused, "Single layer barriers are pretty weak to any amount of magic."

"Ha!" Liz laughed, "The kid didn't use any magic, he just broke the wall with his bare hands." Chatter arose, mostly to discredit their story, and to get a "real" reason for my injury.

"We were practicing our tree climbing, but he accidentally fell and tried to stop the fall with his arm." Was what Red suggested and was what they all agreed on. It was much more believable than an eight year old breaking a barrier with nothing but his fist.

After an hour of healing, the healer was exhausted. "Is that really what happened?" She asked nicely, trying to finish the process."Punching the barrier?"

"Yea, I didn't know I would break my arm though." I replied, "I didn't think I punched it that hard."

"No, the punch itself didn't break your arm. I would say that something after the punch caused the shatter." She pointed along my forearm, "This is the broken area." She then pointed to my hand, "Yet not a single finger or wrist bone is broken. It is fairly odd." It took another ten minutes for her to heal my arm, and when it was all done she said very kindly, "Try to be careful, you don't want to get hurt too badly."

"Yes ma'am." I said, and then she let me out. The four kids were all waiting outside, Red was sleeping against the wall, Tick and Liz were competing in push ups, and Darien was reading a book. "Hey." I said.

Darien looked up, "Oh look you're better." He said passively, "That's good, we were told not to leave without you."

"So you didn't stay because you were worried?" I said disappointed.

"Nah, we saw your arm and I've seen the healer fix better than that." Darien said laugh-ing.

"We. Missed. A. Lot. Of. Training." Liz said while doing her push-ups, I could then hear her faintly counting in the fifties.

"Yea, It'll take us at least an hour to get Red to wake up." Darien said kicking him. Red gave no response, "Sleeps like an Ursabeast. Okay Stick, for wasting our time, you must run ten laps around the town."

"Ten?!"

"Don't worry." Darien said, "I'll run them with you."

"So. Will. We." Liz said.

"Carry Red to the track Stick."

"Why me?"

"You shattered a magic barrier with pure strength, you can carry a skinny kid like Red."

I sighed and attempted to pick him up. Oddly enough, he was actually very light, proba-bly the same weight as a sack of rice. "See, he ain't that hard to carry when he's asleep, he uses magic to reduce the Earth's gravy on him while he is asleep."

"What is Earth Gravy?" I asked.

"Some four eyes nonsense. Mom says they think that the earth keeps us on the ground, and not magic." Darien replied.

"That's stupid." I replied while Darien began stretching, and then ran in place.

He laughed at me, then said, "Lets go team, I don't want to hear any complaining." Both Tick and Liz stopped their push ups and ran in place in a line behind him, "Stick, you lead the way, we will start on the edge near the beach." We all jogged to our spot and I set down Red. "So we will run ten laps around the entire town. No passing the person in front of you, no falling behind."

He took the lead, followed by Tick, then Liz, and finally me. We started our run, and I was surprised that the three of them seemed to run at the same exact speed. I struggled to keep a balance, as I would either run too fast or too slow, and I often bumped into Liz when she changed speeds. This was the first time I had been around the entire parameter of the town, and I noticed some things I didn't before. From the edge of the beach to the other side of town, there was a dense forest, what I didn't notice was that there were many decorations within it. On the side opposite that was a forest that had been used for wood, and had many paths through it. I knew that one of the paths would lead to my father's forge and armory. But I was unsure where the other ones led.

We did four laps before Liz backed out and quit, followed quickly by Tick and Darien. I was close to it as well, but endured. The run was several hours long and was brutal. "Well, we didn't even make it half way, but good job Stick." He said at the end, "I say we call it a night and rest so we can replenish our magic."

"You were using magic?!" I cried out of breath.

"Oh yea," He laughed hoarsely, "Forgot you are magicless, we don't run entirely off of our own energy, we use magic to amplify our physical traits." I fell back against the sand, "Good job though, you lasted longer than we did." He yawned, "Then again you did basically nothing today, and I numbed your senses."​

We trained like this for several months. I was impressed by how dedicated Darien was, and how powerful Liz and Tick were. I lost almost every fight due to my inability to use magic, but I did learn to destroy weak magic barriers without breaking my arm. The downside was that Darien and Liz were learning just as quickly as I was, and easily just increased the strength of their magic. Tick was unbeatable, his natural strength was pretty good, but enhanced with magic, he could beat me in less than half a minute. Red never wanted to fight, and I wondered if he even could, but when he was around he always gave good advice and every rare fight I won was because of something he pointed out for me. My parents enjoyed that I went out and made friends, and they were both supportive of my pastime. They were proud of all of our dedication, and my mother constantly told us how great the town was for me.

Soon it was time for the children's tournament, and all of us, bar Red, were excited and nervous. There were at least twenty groups, all from neighboring or our towns, and it was a crowded outdoor area in a nearby town. Darien gave us a little, stuttery speech, "Okay guys, we need to win tournament." He pulled out a small paper, "They changed the rules a bit from last year though. All five members of a group must win one of their three games. Other than that, only three members need to make it to the final for the pentamatches."

"Pentamatches?" I asked.

"It is a 5 on 5 fight." Red explained, "It's very hectic and a lot of work." He yawned, "If we make it that far we should quit."

Darien gave him a face that was hilarious to see. It was one of extreme frustration and disbelief, and Red didn't even react to it. Darien was completely speechless. "Look, just try and, try, please Red, please."

"I'll only try if he wins his first match." He said pointing to me. He never called me Stick, and only ever used pronouns or gestures to refer to me. Although I didn't like the nick-name much, I did prefer it to nothing.

"Okay Stick, if you lose your first match, we are out of the tournament." Darien said stressed, "I hope to the skies that you don't face a good magic user."

"Me too." I said, feeling like throwing up.

The announce banged a drum, and all of the children's chatter died down. "Okay little warriors!" He called, "I bet you are all excited to get started! There are five arenas, and exactly one hundred and ten of you. Every one of you will be assigned a number, your number will have a letter associated with the arena you will fight in. The charts behind me will show you who you will fight and when." He banged the drum again, "Get to it!"

We gathered around Darien who had come back from the board. "Tick and Stick, you guys are fighting in the very first round." He said sickly, "Tick you are facing Daniel on arena D, your number is 53."

"Thuh toiller's son?" He asked.

"Yea."

"I win." He said, running off.

"What about me?"

"Your number is seven, and you are in arena B" He said, "You will be facing Thorian."

I heard Red chuckle, "Isn't that the prodigy son of the enchanter from Sule?"

Dorian ran his hand slowly through his hair, as if he was trying to push it off. "Yes it is." He moaned, "Well, better luck next year."

"I can win that fight!" I said, "I can break your barriers without hurting myself now."

"But they aren't my barriers that you will need to break, you need to break his. And even then, there is no way you could get close without passing out from the painful spells he has." Darien cried.

"Well, I should try it at least, it won't kill me right?" I said, only half a joke.

"Nothing to worry about." Red said, "they've scaled down the power of everybody's magic so that all spells are non-lethal. Relative to each other, there is no change though. Thorian is still much more powerful than any child mage here."

I began to feel sick, but I felt someone pushing me toward the arena, "Quit being a coward." Liz growled, "You had us work very hard for this Darien, don't let this rabbit quit before the fight starts."

"That's right!" Darien said, slightly more confident, "Maybe Thorian will get sick." They pushed me into the ring. "Or maybe he will quit in disbelief." He said less confidently.

He didn't. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even see his face. It was covered entirely by a mask, and all I could see was his black hair that rested on his shoulders. Darien created a rounded sword and handed it to me. The action caused Thorian to sound annoyed, "You are starting my day by having me fight a kid who doesn't even know how to make a sword?!" He shouted at the referee.

"It isn't that he doesn't know how." The referee explained, "It is more like he simply can't, the boy doesn't have magic."

"Such a waste of time." He growled.

The referee had us stand in the center of the ring, and bow to each other. I was imme-diately pushed back by an effortless spell. The boy sat down and formed a barrier around himself. "I am not going to waste my energy on this." He said, "If he doesn't have magic, he can't even get to me, so this isn't even a fight." He put a countdown up, "you have this amount of time to prove to win or forfeit."

I cautiously walked closer to the barrier, but Thorian made no effort to hurt me. I tried touching it, and found it was a simple barrier.

"Such a waste of time." He grumbled, "I was hoping at least to fight someone interest-ing."

I lightly pushed the barrier to feel it's strength. It was as strong as Dorian's, but with the effortlessness of which he made it, I was sure this was considered weak for him. I took a deep breath and prepared my body. I clenched my fist, focused my mind on breaking the barrier, and then threw a punch on an exhale. The barrier shattered, surprising eve-ryone except my team. "Hey ref!" Thorian called calmly, "Thought you said he doesn't have magic?"

"From what I could see..." He started, "He didn't use magic at all." He was looking at my fist, and then at the barrier, which was crumbling slowly.

"I surrender then." He said.

"W-what? Why?" Someone who I assumed was her team leader.

"I'll just wreck the next two people." Thorian replied, "I want to see this guy fight people he can actually beat." He stood up and raised his hand up, "Maybe you will surprise me and make it to the finals?"

I shook his hand, "It would surprise me too."

We finished the match and I exited the ring. Red shrugged, "A deal is a deal." Though he didn't seem that surprised.

Liz approached us, followed by Tick, "He beat his opponent in one hit." She said excit-edly, "it wasn't even a fight."

"Yea well Thorian surrendered to Stick after he broke his shield." Darien said, clearly disturbed, "I don't get it, why would he do that."

"Besides the fact that he broke a barrier without using magic?" Red said sarcastically. Darien just glared at him.

We played out the tournament well. Tick, Liz, and Darien managed to win all of their matches, and I only lost in the semi-finals. None of us really remember Red's matches, but the boards all said that he had won his matches as well.

"The finals!" Darien cheered, "We made it to the finals!"

"Yea!" I said, as pumped as he was. "That means we do the pentamatch?"

Darien nodded, "It's us versus Sule. Which means we will be facing Thorian and his team." He looked at me, "Thorian may challenge you to a duel, if he does, you must ac-cept."

"Why?"

Liz jumped in, "A duel can be called before the match starts. If you win, we get a point bonus. Each team gets the chance to call a duel."

"We don't fight until the other team submits?" I asked.

"We do, but there is still a point system. They are now testing our skill, teamwork, and ability to win." Darien explained, "If we lose the fight, there is still the possibility we could win the tournament."

"Is that common?"

"It's about fifty fifty." Liz answered, "It really never is a big shock."

"As long as we try hard, we should win." Darien was visibly nervous, and he was shak-ing intensely.

Red yawned, "Why don't you try using a lance?"

"Are you insane?!" Darien said, "Nobody from the western region has used a lance in the children's tournaments."

Red laughed, "That's why you should do it." He put his arm around Darien, "Think about how many points we would get if you won a duel using a lance."

Darien twiddled his fingers nervously, "Think I even have enough magic for it?" Red nodded, as did Liz, and when he looked at me I did too. "What if I lose?"

I spoke first, "I won't be angry."

"Me and Tick would be fine if you lost."

Red shrugged, "I'll go to sleep tonight either way."

Darien looked around nervously, and all of us tried to look comforting. "Well there's nothing to lose then."

Seven powerful adult mages stood in a large circle and began to do their magic. To-gether they created a large colosseum for our fight. The size of it was incredible, and I wondered if they could build entire cities with that kind of magic.​

3.
"I challenge Yorick Spades to a dual!" Darien called, standing in the small arena created within the large colosseum, "The Gravedigger's son."

A shadow crept onto the stage. When it was in the center, a boy rose out of it and stood bent over as if his body wished to return to the ground. "I accept your duel." He rasped, "Darien Snapdragon, Son of a florist." A black oily substance dripped from his body, and he breathed heavily. Darien clenched his fist, just as creeped out by this guy as we were. "I wish to use a dualist arena" He wheezed.

Red laughed softly, "Don't know why you guys are so afraid." He said to us, "His magic isn't much different than a mage who specializes in water."

"Why is it black then?" I asked.

"Well he uses shadows instead of water." Red explained, "But light can get rid of shad-ows easily. So as long as it is day, he has to fight against his element." He then looked up and laughed, "Unless they block the sun." As he spoke the top of the colosseum began to close. Making the arena dark as night. "Hey Liz, give us a little light." Liz snapped her fingers and an or of faint light appeared in front of us. Everyone in the arena began to do this, and to me it looked like there were stars in the crowd.

Darien took a deep breath and began to summon his lance. The spell was more extrav-agant than summoning a sword, and took at least ten seconds. The small arena they were to fight in glowed with a golden radiance, and after it was all over, Darien stood with his lance proudly. I could tell that he had probably practiced just summoning the lance for weeks. The crowd cheered and whistled.

"Hey Red, what's so special about the lance?"

"Besides being the symbolic weapon of all of our greatest kings and leaders." He began, "It is a weapon that must use a mix of both strength, magic, and intelligence to use. The weapon itself is pretty special as well."

"How so?"

"For starters, its flashy." He said with a laugh, "And the wielder can control its length by using magic, something that a sword can not do."

"It looks too big and heavy."

"That's why you need to use strength." He laughed, "The lance is very symbolic, those that win with a lance are usually very honorable." I scratched my head, but didn't ask anymore questions. I began to wonder how Red knew so much.

"Beat him down Darien!" Liz shouted, "Beat him back into that puddle! Turn it red!" The look in her eye was savage and terrifying, but Darien looked at her and was inspired.

"Combatants bow!" The referee commanded, both complied, "Fight!" Darien made the first move, lunging his Lance at the boy, who easily dodged it by throwing himself to the left. Instead of falling with a slam, he fell silently and sunk into the ground. The crowd went wild, making deafening cheers.

"Hey Liz, block the sound that comes in from the crowds." Red said covering his ears, "I can't sleep like this."

Liz grumbled, but complied. She inhaled and then exhaled, and just like that the crowd could not be heard by anyone on the arena floor. Red uncovered his ears, "Thank you."

Nothing happened for half a minute. Darien tried to look around, but the stage was dim and he knew the boy could be anywhere. After a few moments of frustration and tension, Darien just used magic to jump several feet into the air. He came down, spear first, destroying the entire stage. Yorick was thrown from a segment and crashed onto the ground. I was amazed at Darien's power, but then I saw that he was becoming very tired.

Red laid against Liz with his eyes closed. "He's going to lose." He told her, "As impres-sive as that was, we are still kids, and that kind of magic is pretty high for us."

Liz punched him in the chest, making him cough. Darien attempted to lunge at Yorick again, but Yorick nimbly leaned back, and then kicked Darien's extended arm. It effec-tively disarmed Darien and with horrifying speed, Yorick had turned the tables. Darien laid on the ground with a knife at his neck. I could the sorrow in his eyes as he said, "I submit."

The referee snapped his fingers and the arena was back to normal and the crowd could be heard again. No signs of damage. He held up Yorick's arm. "The winner is Yorick Spades!" He said, receiving a cheer. Yorick remained slouched, staring at the ground, and when the referee let him go, he fell forward back into the shadows.

We all ran up to Darien, Liz and Tick held him up. "Great job Darien." Liz said.

"But I lost..." He groaned.
"I'd say you won in style," Red started, "But Yorick had some moves as well."

"Thanks Red." Darien said in a depressed tone.

"Hey don-" I began, but was interrupted.

"I challenge the Nameless boy." I heard Thorian call, "The boy without magic."

I looked at Darien who shook his head, "If you lose this, we may lose the tournament before the pentamatch even begins." He rubbed the tears off his face, "No point in ac-cepting the challenge."

Red laughed, "We lose either way, kid."

I clenched my fist, angry that he assumed I already lost. "If I win, will that even out your loss?"

Darien hesitated to answer, but Red gave a very prompt, "Yes." He pulled out a bracelet, "Wear this." He said.

"Why?"

"It will help." I took the bracelet and put it on.

"Don't lose, Stick." Liz growled.

I nodded and walked up to the center of the arena and the referee looked at me, "Do you accept?"

"Yes."

"Do you wish to use the whole arena, or an arena built for a one on one match."

I looked at the large arena. There were things I could use for cover, and I had space to run around as needed. "The whole arena." I said, and the referee nodded.

Thorian walked up to shake my hand, "Good luck magicless swordsman." He said, "I won't hold back this time."

"Good, wouldn't want you to get bored." I growled.

"Bow." He commanded, "Fight!"

He made the first move, blowing me back with a gust of wind. I was sent flying back-wards, and landed on the ground, far away from him. Immediately a barrier was created, twice as strong as the one he used in our last fight. He fired balls of every element at me, easy to dodge as I ran toward him. I forgot to get a sword from Darien, so I had to win with nothing but my strength. As I got closer I saw his stomach grow slightly, as if he was inhaling. I dropped to the concrete and dug my fingers in, a feat that felt effortless, as if I was planting my fingers into butter. Just as I had suspected, there was a wind spell. I began to crawl closer and closer, unable to dodge his spells. By the time I mad it to the barrier, I was in extreme pain. The wind spell stopped and the masked boy looked at me. "Now what?"

I raised my fist, and it was painful. I sucked up the agony and punched weakly. The barrier held strong. "I'm disappointed." He said, "You had so much fight."

I shook my head, "I still have it." I put my arms on the barrier and pushed as hard as I could. I pushed the barrier back a few feet, but it began to weaken and my arms broke through. I pushed through with the rest of my body, and was standing face to mask with the prodigy. He didn't move, probably out of surprise, so I raised my fist and punched him in the face. His mask flew off, but he looked down so his hair covered his face. I walked over to the mask and picked it up. I offered it back, but behind me I saw the barrier become black, making me unable to see outside.

"How did you do that?" He asked, anger in his voice, "That barrier would be impossible for even magic to break." He looked up, and I realized he was actually a girl. Her face was covered in burns and scars.

"What happened to your face..." I asked.

She looked at me furiously, "My mask." I walked slowly over and placed it on the ground. "I will submit if you tell nobody my secret." She growled.

"Isn't that unfair?"

She summoned ice spikes that came close to stabbing me, "Accept the deal or I'll si-lence you with death."

"U-uh ok." I said, "I'll keep your secret and take the win..." The spikes melted away. She took a deep breath and I saw her breathing slow steadily.

She collapsed onto the ground in front of me, and the black barrier fell, revealing a lie.

The referee approached her to check her pulse, and then nodded. He raised my arm, "Winner." The crowd was silent for a moment, stunned by the win. It then erupted into a cheer. I offered to help carry Thorian to her team, but they all were there and pushed me away. I myself felt too weak to walk, and collapsed as well. My team came up to help me.

"How did you do that..." Darien asked astounded, "We couldn't see anything inside that black barrier."

"Tell us what happened!" Liz exclaimed.

Red just looked at me and smiled slyly. I shook my head, "I just punched him really hard." I touched the bracelet, "Thanks for the bracelet, it really helped me."

He shook his head, "That bracelet diminishes you greatly, it's a handicap."

"You handicapped him!?" Darien shouted angrily, "What if he lost?"

"I'd prefer that whatever energy he has be contained." Red explained, "The kid was too angry, I was concerned that he would injure himself again, or even worse, his oppo-nent." I looked down at the bracelet and took it off. Almost immediately I felt more alive and less feeble. I tried to hand it back to him, but he shook his head, "Keep it, I don't need it anymore." I slipped it into my pocket, sure I would never use it again.​

4.
"They are canceling the pentamatch for tomorrow." Darien said, "The tournament's mages were called back into Cent."

"The capital?" I asked.

"Yeah, nobody was told why."

"So who wins?" I asked.

"Both teams will be treated as if they had won." Red answered, "Or as I like to think of it, both have lost."

Liz clenched her fist, "It's unfair, we worked hard for this."

"Everyone just get to bed." Darien said.

All of us dispersed and walked to our assigned tents. I sat inside mine and nibbled on a piece of bread. I heard someone outside, and immediately Thorian slipped in. "What are you doing?" I asked.

She pulled out a dagger and held it up to my throat, "I just came to assure you that I could easily kill you." She growled.

I gulped, "No way I would doubt that." I said, "But seriously, I would've kept your secret without you having to forfeit."

"I don't care about that." She growled, "I don't want to owe you anything." She stabbed her dagger into the ground and it crumbled into dirt.

"So what are those scars and burns from?" I asked.

"It's what happens when a girl has a father who wanted a son, and just happens to be very good at enchanting." She said behind her mask.

"Did he really do that to your face?" I asked.

She held out her arm and pulled the sleeve back, more burns and scars, "If only it was the face."

"Is he here?" I asked worriedly, "Who else knows about it?"

"He's been dead for a year now." She answered, "Torn apart by beasts on a return from Cent." She laughed wickedly, "He deserved so much worse." She took a piece of bread from my basket, "With him dead, you are the only one alive who knows."

"Why are you telling me more?" I asked nervously, afraid she might try to hurt me.

"I'm contemplating whether or not to kill you."

"If you want, you can try." I replied, trying to keep calm, "Don't expect me to beg for my life." I looked at the basket of bread. There was more than I could eat anyways.

"I don't want you to beg for anything." She growled.

"Then what is keeping you from killing me?"

She thought for a moment, "I want to learn how you fight without magic."

"I just, well, uh..." She grabbed me by my collar and stood up, forcing me to stand too. She shoved my out of the tent and she pushed me until we were deep into the forest. "What else can you do?" She commanded.

"I can increase the power of my movements, and see very well." I said, "Also I can punch harder than Tick if I focus."

"Prove it." She clenched her fist, channeling magic through it, and then punched an oak tree so that a hole appeared through it. The hole was controlled and small enough to not topple the massive tree.

I looked at a nearby tree and inhaled. My hand didn't glow like magic did when someone channeled it. It actually looked fairly normal, but the feeling was one of painless burning. I punched the tree and it exploded into splinters. A quick and reactive barrier from Thorian shielded me from the shards of wood.

"At least I know you are no liar." She said. Her eyes shifted from a purple color back to her normal brown color. "I didn't see a hint of magic in you or that punch." She sighed, "But that isn't normal human strength at all. The energy I saw is similar to that of some animals."

"What do you mean?" I asked, "You can see energy?"

She sighed, "I'm sure the brutes from the east have at least some enchanters correct?"

"They are rare, and I was never told what they did." I admitted, offended by my homeland being called one of brutes.

"Enchanters are like scribes. But instead of writing words and stories, we record senses."

"Senses?" I asked. "Like smell?"

"Exactly. It's hard to describe senses in words, so we record them with magic and store them in the nearest library." She looked to confirm that I knew what a library was, then continued, "Enchanters can also store magic within weapons, which is probably all the eastern ones do. Anyways, Enchanters use magic to enhance their senses and as protection for when they gather information."

"Makes sense." I said, though my exhaustion was making it hard to concentrate.

"Anyways, I watched and recorded what you did, there's no doubt that was energy." She said.

"Isn't magic an energy though?" I asked, "So I do have magic."

"Lightning is energy, but when it comes from the sky it isn't magic." She responded, "Neither is the rolling of a rock, or gravity."

"What's gravity?" I asked, though she just sighed.

"Anyways, you are channeling a more pure, more natural energy than magic. If I had to guess, you can't affect anything without physical contact." I nodded, surprised that she had learned so much from just punching a tree. "Furthermore, I deduce you were holding back in our fight."

"What, no." I stuttered.

"When you punched me, there was little to no extra energy involved." She said, "And you only attempted to punch the barrier once before pushing it in."

"I uh, knew it wouldn't break..." I said defensively, "And I didn't want to hurt you?"

She pulled a piece of wood out of the dirt and quickly held it at my throat, "That's holding back." She growled. "But you don't have restraint." She grabbed my arm, "Where's that bracelet?"

"Here" I fished it out of my pocket. I tried to hand it to her, but she refused to touch it.

"You carry that thing around?!" She exclaimed.

"Yea, I mean I only got it today, and it doesn't do anything when I don't wear it."

"No, it always saps energy, that bracelet is only amplified when worn." She shook her head, "To carry one around for this long and still be able to walk and obliterate trees is horrific."

I put it on the ground and immediately felt even more alive than before, "I thought it was normal." The grass around the bracelet began to turn brown.

"It's designed to absorb energy. Some parents get weaker versions for small children who can't control their magic. Their original use was on prisoners, though that one seems to have been custom made." She reached out to touch it, but immediately pulled her hand back. "I wouldn't carry that around anymore. You seem to create more energy than it drains, but it may not be safe."

I picked it up, feeling weaker. "It doesn't feel unsafe." I replied, "And I could use it for training."

"That is incredibly stupid." She snapped. "How does an idiot get so much power."

I began to reply, but I felt the ground shake, "Did you feel that?"

"Yes." She replied quietly.

"Earthquake?"

"We aren't near any plates." She replied, "That would be very unlikely."

"Plates?" I asked, but she ignored me. Another, longer tremble under our feet.

"Did you hear a faint roar?" She said as it ended.

"No."

"I don't think this is good." She concluded, "Let's get back to the tournament grounds." I simply looked out into the treeline and nodded.​

As we arrived at the grounds, we could see that there were others who had felt and heard what we had. The sounds of speculation and complaints filled the air. I split off from Thorian to find my team. Liz was the first one I found. "Why's everyone hyped?" She muttered tiredly.

"You didn't feel the earthquake?" I asked.

"A giant mountain bear couldn't wake Liz up." Darien laughed. I noticed he was almost entirely awake. "I felt it though, while I was meditating."

"Don't you ever sleep Darien?" Liz muttered.

"I can regain my strength after deep thought." He replied, "Concentration is key to a great mind."

"Rumble." I heard Tick say from behind me.

"Where's Red?" I asked.


"He doesn't sleep on the ground." Darien said, "I wouldn't doubt that he has no idea what is happening." He took a good look at me, "You don't look tired at all," He looked at my wrist, "And that bracelet has changed sides since I last saw you."

"I was taking a walk, I couldn't sleep." I replied, slightly nervous.

Darien shrugged, "Walking can be a type of meditation." He felt the ground shake again, this time powerfully. A monstrous roar silenced all of the people.

"I hope you are ready. I hope you are wide awake." I heard within my mind. I looked around, but nobody was close enough to have said it with such clarity. "Look to the skies." I looked up and a hulking, demonic figure spread it's wings. It seemed to shroud the entire night sky, and I could feel the power it emanated. It flapped it's wings once and shot into the clouds.

Panic began immediately, the adults scrambled to find their children, while the officials and referees attempted to organize the chaos. The beast reappeared on one side of the tournament grounds and flew in a straight line over it, breathing its fire upon all under it. It finished it's row and shot back up into the clouds. It came back down and did another row right next to the last, as if it was sowing seeds into a farm. I saw one of the powerful mages use a barrier, which was immediately shattered and I watched as he was
incinerated. I began to feel sick, and looked around frantically for my parents.

Red appeared, calm as always. He held both of his arms up in front of him and pulled them to his chest. He pushed his arms out and a wave of magic was sent to Tick, Liz, and Dorian. Red immediately collapsed like a rag-doll, and I watched in horror as his body began to disintegrate. I dropped to my knees and flipped him over, but there were no pupils in his eyes, nor was there any expression. I began to feel fear overcome me as people ran frantically around. In the corners of my eyes I saw three more beasts sur-round the grounds, trapping all of us within. Tick grabbed my arm and stood me up. Red's body was completely gone, and I starred into dirt.

"Look Up!" Darien commanded. "Quit crying."

I raised my head to see that Darien and Liz both had weapons ready. Darien wielded his lance effortlessly. I could also see an orange tint in their eyes. Liz spat on the ground, "This has to go exactly as it went before." She said to Darien. She sounded older, tougher.

"I know." Darien looked back at me and grabbed my arm. He looked at my bracelet and tapped it quickly. I could feel myself become stronger. "Escape." He commanded, "Run or die."

"What about my parents?" I cried, "Where do I even run?"

Tick jerked my body to the side, forcing me to look. I saw my father rallying other adults to make a stand, and I saw my mother attempting to create barriers. My father charged in with the group, all of them leaping onto one of the beasts as it swooped over. Their swords did nothing, and the beast carried them high into the clouds. I saw the figures of people rain from the sky, falling into the fires below. I tried to struggle forward, but Tick held me back effortlessly. My mother watched in horror too, and I saw as she tried hit the beast with spells. It was effortless and she too was caught in the flames. "Save them!" I yelled, "Why are you letting them die?!"

"This is how it is supposed to be." Liz said, looking away from me. She seemed to be holding back her own tears.

"Run, right through the flames." Darien said, forcing me to look at him, "We will be fine, just find us after you remember." He added in, "When you find her, have her touch your bracelet."

"Who?" I asked confused, but I was pushed by Tick and I received no answer. I ran for-ward, weaving through the panicked crowd like a squirrel through a forest. I came to the edge of the wall of flame on the west side and looked up at the sky to see the beast make it's next round, straight toward me. Fear set in and I was unable to move. I felt myself get dragged back, above me was Thorian.

"So quick to die?" She snapped, "Or do you think you are invincible?" I couldn't speak, and I became aware to my uncontrollable shivering. She kicked the ground, "My team is not here." She said, "Gone, and there's no way out. Completely surrounded by those monsters." She pointed outside the wall, "Notice how the fire doesn't burn the trees? That means its from magic, its a controlled fire." She pointed inside the fire, "Even buildings are being destroyed, meaning it is probably targeting humans and anything made by them."

I just starred at the ground, unsure of how that helped.

She kicked me, "Say something!" She barked, "Perhaps gratitude for allowing you to live a little longer? Or maybe something to prove to me that you aren't a baby?"

I was about to yell at her, but she was right. "They told me I needed to have someone touch this bracelet." I said gravely.

"Who said?"

"My team."

"Your team is still in there?!" She snapped, "And you were about to just die?"

"No, I..." I couldn't find an excuse, "They forced me to go."

She seemed to be angry, but I couldn't tell. "Hold out your arm." She commanded. I complied, "Your bracelet was tampered with, altered. I'm not sure how." She looked at me to confirm that I approved of her touching it. I nodded and she reached out with her hand. The moment she touched it, my entire mind and body shut down.
​

I pushed him out of bed. "Lets go Nameless." I went through his dressers for clothes.

"What? Thera?" He grumbled, "What are we doing?"

"I need you to come with me for an enchanting." I replied, tossing him a simple shirt and pair of pants.

He sat up and slipped on the shirt. "What do you need me for." He sighed, "You're the strongest mage in this town." He also slipped on the pants lazily, "Also don't you do this every day?" I pulled out a few more sets of clothes and walked up to his gear.

"Yes, but Gumard told me to take you out for training." I picked up his sword, "Why not try getting a shield? This sword is so light." I easily held it in one hand without using magic. It felt too light, nothing like a weapon. I gently set it down, afraid to break it.

He rubbed his head annoyed, "I finished training with him last year." He looked his window, and groaned, "It is still early morning, the sun is hardly up."

"Quit your whining, its a three day trip and I want to start as early as possible." I looked around his room for a bag, "Do you have a backpack?"

"No." He said passively, "I haven't had a reason to leave this town."

"I've seen you leave town for weeks." He never seemed to get smarter, which I always saw as a major inhibitor to him.

"I've left town to visit a personal place, no need for backpacks." He replied as if it was common knowledge, which I knew he knew it was not. "So where are we going again?"

"I think I found a lead on where we came from." I replied excitedly.

"Why do you care so much for the past?" He said coldly, "We were abandoned here as children, no memories, nothing but names."

"Doesn't that confuse you at all?" I asked, "Don't you wonder why you don't have any magic, or why I seem to be exceptional at it?"

"Its been five years." He replied calmly, "Nobody has looked for us. No Friends or family, if they don't care, why should we?"

"What if they had died?" I snapped, "Or what if they were captured?"

"Then what killed or captured them, can kill or capture us." He stood up and strapped his sword on.

"Then why are our memories gone?" I asked, "Why were we found perfectly fine and alive as kids?" I pointed at his bracelet, "Why is that the only thing we came with besides the clothes on our backs?"

He thought for a moment and shrugged, "I'll go with you then. There might be something fun to do."

I sighed, "It isn't about fun, its about answers."

"Well that just shows how we differ then doesn't it?" He put on armguards and shinguards. "Regardless, it beats what I was going to do."

"Training?" I asked, tossing him his knife, which he slipped onto his belt.

"Today was carrying that boulder to bottom of the hill, and then rolling it to the top." he replied, "Then normal technique practice."

We walked out of the small somewhat house that he built. "Maybe we could find a way to get your magic back. Then you wouldn't have to do such extreme training."

"That certainly depends on whether or not I had magic to begin with." As we walked out of the town he began to want more answers, "What is your lead?"

"Well its less of a lead, and more of an idea." I said, "We are both really great fighters, and after seeing all of the recent buzz about the tournament in a few months, I realized we may have been involved in one."

"I suppose so." He said.

"The idea came to me several weeks ago, and it took a while to get records of previous tournaments."

"And we are going to ones nearby now?"

"No we are going to one that no longer exists." She said. "Essentially, one of the towns that usually holds tournaments stopped holding them entirely, whats more, the town isn't on any maps." I began to get excited.

"Doesn't that just mean the town was run down by monsters or has been destroyed by some storm?" He said, "It isn't uncommon for towns to be removed from maps because of abandonment."

"Yea, but we can at least search the ruins right? Maybe we can find something that triggers our memory, or someone who stayed behind!" He shrugged casually.

The day was extrordinarily beautiful. The sun shone through the thinned forest and warmed all that it's light embraced. There were no clouds to cover the orange, morning skies, and the tree leaves looked their greenest. After a harsh winter, and a cold spring, this summer heat was perfect for leaving town. We walked effortlessly through the forest. Without a road with signs that led to our destination, we had to use a map that I had marked as our only guidance. I decided to cut through the wilds for our straightest path, which wwas half the reason I wanted to take him.

"Thera I'm hungry." He began to whine, "Can we stop so I can hunt down something to eat?"

"I have food with me though." I replied without stopping, "It makes no sense to just hunt something down when I'm carrying food."

He sighed, "That isn't fun at all. I thought we were going to live off the land." I looked back to see him moving his head around, trying to scan the area for prey.

"If we run out of food then we can, but the point of this isn't to go camping, we are trying to learn something." I looked at the sun to check our direction. After the sun had reached it's peak in the sky. "Lets take an hour break." I suggested, stoopping in a clearing next to a river. "We have been making progress just as well as I expected."

He kneeled next to the river and dipped his hand in. Then he thrust his entire face in, coming up with a gasp of relief. He wet his hair and face, while I made some additions to my map, drawing landmarks. "Hey Thera, can somebody float if they are unconcious?" He asked suddenly. I saw him splash through the water and pull in a body. "I think she is still breathing." He said placing the young girl down, "Can you do something to help her?"

I rushed to her side and used my enhanced vision to look for water in her lungs. There was none, but I could see that she had bruises on her head. "I should be able to help her with a simple healing spell." I took a small breath and within minutes her injuries were gone. "She will be unconcious for a few, should we leave her here?"

"Are you crazy?!" He excalaimed, picking her up in a cradle, "We don't know if she was attacked."

"It could be an accident though, that if people are looking for her?"

"Then she can tell us she wants to go them when she wakes up." He snapped, walking ahead. I caught up to him and apologized. "No need to be sorry." Is all he said.

The girl woke up about two hours later, at first tiredly, she became much more aware and paniced. "Who are you people?!" She snapped, pushing herself out of his hold and onto the ground.

"We are friendly." He said offering to help her up.

She slapped his hand away, "Friendly people don't go this deep into the forest." She growled. "What do you want? A herb? Some flower for your girl? Poison?" She leaped up, "Go find another forest then, nothing that is in this forest is allowed to leave."

I stepped up, "By who's authority?"

"The forest" She snapped as if there was no other obvious answer.

I sighed, "We are not here to take anything, we are just passing through to get to a town."

"Fine." She said, "We will be watching you." She leaped away and merged into a tree, disappearing.

"What was that?" He asked, "Looked like she just turned into a tree."

"If I remember correctly, all of these trees are connected by a series of shared roots. She possibly uses the roots to travel using magic." I looked around and then continued walking.

"Can you do that?" He asked.

"No, very few people can alter their own physical form using magic. Even with immense training, it is not possible unless you are born with it"

"Don't you change your eyes and ears for enchanting?"

"I enhance them, not change them." I replied. He sighed and kicked the dirt. We walked until the sun set and the forest became dark.

"Lets camp here, I'd rather not wait for a clearing." He said, droping down against a tree. "This is such a boring trip."

"Don't you mean safe and quick?"

"No, I mean slow and boring." He took off his armor plates. I rolled my eyes and began setting up barriers around where we were camping out. Last thing I wanted was all of our things getting stolen, or for some animal to mistake us for food. It took five minutes to set up the barrier, and yet as soon as I returned, he was gone.

"Hey!" I called, "Where did you go?" I scanned the area, walking to where he had been laying. There was no trace that he had walked off, so I wondered where he had gone. I looked up in the trees, nothing. I looked in the river, nobody. I sighed and sat down where he was. I figured he would be fine on his own if he needed to be.

An hour later, as I began to drift off to sleep, I saw him step out of a tree with a stupid smile on his face. "Guess what." He said excitedly.

"What?"

"I made our trip through this forest a lot more fun!"

"What the hell did you do?" I asked suspiciously.

"Remember that girl we rescued?"

"Yes..."

"Well she brought me into her home, the heart of the trees."

"Wait, how did she get you to change?" I asked confused, "It isn't a magic that can be applied to others."

"She said I was special." He said, "She could tell I don't have magic." I eyed him suspiciously. I decided that after this trip, I would do tests on him to further study what he could do. "Stop looking at me like that." He said discomforted, "Last time you did, I ended up at the top of a mountain with nothing to eat or keep me warm."

"All fairness, I was watching the whole time, and you had no signs of frostbite at all." I defended, "Also, I found that you could go many days without actually needing food. Perhaps had I let you stay up longer, you could have gone months without food."

He seemed slightly afraid, but then remembered his good news. "Anyways, she was curious of my lack of magic, so she pulled me in to that tree, and took me through the roots. It was strange because my body was stuck in the tree, but my mind was within the roots."

"The girl's body is likely within one of the trees in a similiar manner. I'd bet the tree fell, and her body fell into the river."

"Thats what she said happened. She said sometimes the larger monsters of this forest are careless, and knock over trees when attacking prey." He light up at merely saying larger monsters, which made me nervous. "She asked me a bunch of questions, and then thanked me. She promised to help me with one thing in return."

"Did you ask her for a quick and safe passage?" I asked foolishly.

"Nope!" He laughed, "I asked her to direct as many monsters our way as possible. Also I told her that it is more fun to be in danger, so she promised to make our trip as fun as she can!" I looked at him with amazement. There were not enough words for me to express my feelings.

"What questions did she ask you?" I asked quietly.

"She asked where I came from, my name, where exactly we were going, why I didn't have magic, and what I could do instead."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her I can't remember where I came from, I don't have a name, I couldn't remember where we were going, but it was boring to go there, and basically I don't know to the last two as well." I heard a roar in the distance, closing in on us. I didn't worry though, I had the barriers set up. "Don't worry, I can take care of the barriers!" He yelled suddenly. He ran toward the barrier and stood in front of it. On the other side was a twelve foot tall bear, standing on it's back legs, staring down at him visciously.

"No don't!" I yelled.

He laughed and looked back at me, "She sent a twelve foot bear! It is massive!" He said, much like a little child with a new toy. "How many people have you heard say they have fought a twelve foot bear, bare handed?"

"None, because they all die!" I snaped, moving slowly toward him. "Now just keep the barrier up..."

"Ha, then I'll be a first won't I?" He punched the barrier, shattering the entire thing. The bear let out a terrifying roar, and immediately the nameless boy pounced in for the attack. He was easily swiped away by the beast, thrown violently into a nearby tree with a loud thud. I moved to assist him, but the bear had set it's sights on me. He locked his gaze with mine, bared his teeth, and charged. I took a defensive stance and began to contemplate which spell to stop him with, but before I could even make a hand motion, the bear was tackled to the side. I could hear the nameless boy laughing and making a taunting roar. They tumbled in front of me, with the obvious advantage to the bear. The boy held it's neck, preventing it from biting at him. "Hey Thera!" The boy laughed, "If I beat this thing, you have to call me Ursoul until I find out my real name."

"Why would I do that?!" I called, watching carefully in case I needed to step in.

"Well it is a play on words-" He said kicking the bear off of him, about two feet away. His strength always managed to surprise me. "Ursus means bear, and I mixed the word soul in. Bear soul." He leaped onto the recovering bear and punched it in the chest and face.

"I understand the etymology." I retorted, "Why do you need a fake name?" He stood up and dusted his hands off. The bear stayed down out of submission.

"I don't like being called a Nameless boy." He said, "Everybody else has a name, and just because I can't remember my birth name, doesn't mean I can't make my own up."

I scowled at him. "The name you were gifted with by your parents is what defies you, carries your honor. It allows you to give glory to your family, and it is the most personal thing you can possess?"

He became angry, "Then why don't I have a name?" He spat, "Why did you remember yours?"

"Maybe my amnesia isn't as bad as yours?" I said, trying to calm him down.

"Does amnesia remove magic?" He yelled, "What about friends, family?"

"Maybe they lost their memories." I said quietly.

"Maybe they wanted to forget us." He stomped the ground so hard that the ground cracked bellow him. "You can search for the people that abandoned us." He grabbed the bear by the skin of its neck and stood it on all four of it's legs. It growled, but he growled back, scaring even me. The bear lowered her head and he hoped on her back. He kicked her hind legs and she ran forward. I ran to try and catch up, but it took no time for them to outrun me.

"Come back!" I called, but no answer. I rubbed my forehead in frustration, thinking of what to do. I began to doubt that he told me the truth about what the girl had said to him. I traced our steps back to where the girl had jumped into a tree. I used my eyes to look for her, and when I found her, I tore the tree open and threw her out. "What did you say to him?" I yelled.

The girl looked tired and confused. Though she quickly came to her senses and became angry, "You can't tear open trees like that!" She yelled, "This forest is protected!"

She began to run away, but I encased her leg in earth. "Answer my question or I burn many more trees."

"Who?" She asked innocently.

I put my hand on fire, "No games, I am not very patient today."

She just laughed, "It was just a nice chat." I placed my hand on a tree, scorching it. "No, stop." She screeched, "You're hurting him!"

"I'm controling the fire now, but what would happen if I let it go out of my control?"

"Please, I can hear him crying, I'll tell you everything." She pulled as hard as she could to get to me. So hard that I saw her leg break. "You're hurting him." She sobbed. I relinquished my flame and healed the tree. I then quickly ran to the girl and released her. She immediately began dragging herself to the tree. She rested her head on the root, as if it was that of her sick mother.
I put my hand on her leg to begin healing. "Who is he?" I asked softly. "The tree?"

She rubbed her eyes, "The man who sleeps within the tree's heart."

"Like the main tree?"

"No." She replied, "It is an actual man. He has been asleep for a very long time. Deep underground, where the heart of the tree lies. They are linked."

"Is he a mage?" I asked finishing up her leg.

"He has no magic." She said,

I was surprised to hear her say such a thing. "What... Did you say to my friend?"

"I asked him basic questions, none of which he could answer." She rubbed her leg, "I saw that he didn't have magic, so I showed him the man within the tree."

"Did he know him?"

"No." She said sadly, "Though I figured they must be related in some way, so I told him I would make his stay here enjoyable."

"We aren't staying here." I replied, "We have to find out why we lost our memory. We are going to try to find our hometown."

"He has to stay!" She yelled, "Just until the man wakes up, I don't want him to feel alone."

"How long would we have to wait?"

"I've been watching him sleep and the forest grow for close to three hundred years now." She said quietly,

"Three hundred?! But you don't even look over the age of twelve. Are you human?!"

"Humans don't live that long?" She asked confused.

"No!"

"I didn't know that."

The girl was raising too many questions. It was something I decided to come back to later. "If you allow us to do what we came to do, then after we finish, then we will come back and help you."

She thought hard, and nodded, "We have waited so long..." She said slowly, "and I would like to sleep too. We can wait a little longer." She stood up and walked slowly to a tree. She entered the tree with tears in her eyes. A few minutes later the bear had come back with the nameless boy asleep on her back. The girl hung her head out of the tree, "She will take you out of the woods to where you wish to go." She began to go back into the tree, but her final words were, "He is so lonely..."

I walked slowly toward the bear, who looked at me blankly. I climbed on her back and she ran in the direction we were going initially. She stopped directly at the end of the forest and refused to go any further. I climbed down and laid the nameless boy on the ground. The bear put her nose to his chest, and he woke up. He coughed a few times and then jumped up, "I think I hate some poisoned berries." He said, "How did we get out of the forest? How did you even find me?"

"She brought us here." I said, pointing to the bear.

The bear seemed to bow, "Please return.... Ursoul." It said in a womanly voice. Both of us stared in amazement, but we said nothing as it walked back into the forest.

"I definitely ate some poison berries." He said quietly, walking away from the forest, "Thera."

"Yes?" I said, supporting him as he walked.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerly, "I was wrong to get so angry. I just don't understand why we were left alone." I looked at him to see that he had tears in his eyes, "I don't understand who I am either."

"That is why we search for answers." I said in an attempt to comfort him, "Knowing is much better than leaving unanswered questions." He mumbled something, but quickly fell unconcious. I kept moving forward, more determined than ever to find answers.​