The Final Life

  ***

  At the next break, Azrael started drawing a map of the continent in the snow before there campfire, over which a pot bubbled. Glint recognised the diamond like shape of Shien immediately. Azrael poked a hole in about the south of the shape. “This is where we are right now,” he said, then poked another hole far to the north, “And this is where Mount Ash is. It is our final destination, and where I shall be leaving you so you may take up the test of the guild, so I may go my own way.”

  This was news to Glint. He hadn’t considered what Azrael would do after they reached the guild, but he supposed it made sense. You can’t keep a lifelong guest in a guild with you, he thought to himself. “What’s our route?” he asked instead

  “We won’t be going straight to the mountain,” answered Azrael, his gaze set upon the dot representing their destination. “That would take a few months of full speed travel, and I would like to have more time to teach you about the theories of power, fighting against either magicians or psions, how to put your abilities to purposes other than combat,” he paused, “and a few other things.”

  “Why go through the trouble?” asked Glint, brushing sandy hair from his eyes. He knew that he was the one who asked Azrael to teach him, two months ago, but he couldn’t figure out why the man would go this far for him. The youth was thankful, yet curious.

  “I have my reasons. Besides, I am enjoying myself.” Azrael’s answer was vague as usual. He sipped some tea, which Glint had noticed the man was rather fond of.

  “Now, I leave to you the choice of either going west or east before we head towards the mountain. We shall keep training, take requests from the locals for our daily bread, and in general live the lives of Agents until your training is complete,” the man finished. Glint once more stopped himself from asking what an “Agent” was, not wanting to sound ignorant and assuming they were a little like mercenaries. Azrael had expressed opposition towards using Glint’s sizable sum of money, calling it lazy.

  Glint was still unsure. “Are we supposed to just travel together until I finish learning everything it is you have to teach me?” He knew he needed to learn as much as possible from the man, because he seemed more knowledgeable than anyone else the youth knew. He also understood that for the trials that will await him in his prospective guild, he needed to be as prepared as possible. It all still sounded sketchy to the warrior.

  “I may have to leave you sometimes for a few days at a time, but nothing major. I daresay we’ll get to know each other,” answered the man, dusting something off of his raven black cloak. Azrael had switched back to his old clothes, just as the youth had. Almost as if to reassure Glint he added, “Besides, I will probably need your help too, along this journey. I have my own things to finish up, friends to meet, so on and so forth. It wouldn’t do for a magician to travel without protection, now would it?”

  That sounded decidedly fairer to the warrior despite Azrael’s obvious strength, and he nodded with approval, not saying what he was worried about. He thought about home and said, “West, then. We go west.”

  Glint left the magician singing a tune that sounded like a lullaby in some unknown language, and went looking for mushrooms. He found a few that were of a pleasing shade and looked edible, which he took back for dinner.

  It had almost sounded like Azrael had wanted him along for romantic purposes. The youth shuddered, for although he’d known of such things during his time with the Boar and was sure they were pleasant for some, Glint wanted no part of those particular activities.