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On his sixteenth birthday, Xandor bid farewell to his family and friends in Vagar to honor a dying tradition. He would travel to the distant city of Omensound to visit the Seeress and receive his Age Quest. The Seeress would only bestow such a quest upon a person aged sixteen or older. Those who sought such a quest and completed it were destined for greatness. According to Xandor’s parents, there had been a time when a majority of young people made the trek to Omensound. These days, everyone seemed ready to accept mediocrity, due in part to the failure of most people to complete the quests they received. No one in Xandor’s family had ever completed theirs, and Xandor was determined to be the first.
The young man wanted to become a Knight of Trisden, to patrol the nation-state of Manwor and protect its inhabitants from the malignant creatures living in neighboring countries and the underground. No one had ever become a Knight of Trisden without completing an Age Quest first. It was said Lord Bhir, the ruler of the capital city of Trisden, made it a requirement.
Jenna, Xandor’s girlfriend, was still too young for her own Age Quest, but she walked with him on his way to the stables. Halfway there, she tugged on his hand and they halted. Looking down, her profile hidden from Xandor by her long brown locks, she offered him a leather pouch. He wanted to take it as a memento of her, but if it held magic meant to help him, he didn’t want it. “What is it?”
Jenna chuckled. “He won’t bite you.”
“He?”
A grey mouse poked its head out the top of the pouch. Jenna blew the animal a kiss. “His name is Willem.”
Xandor swiped his hair away from his eyes. “I’m not carrying a mouse to Omensound.”
The rodent squeaked. Jenna stroked the animal’s head with one finger. Lifting the mouse close to her lips, she whispered, “You have to forgive Xandor. He doesn’t understand these things.” Lifting her head, she batted her eyelashes at Xandor. “Willem is my familiar. When he’s with you, I’m with you. What he sees, I can see. What he hears, I can hear. I can even feel what he feels. It will help me not miss you so much while you’re gone.”
Xandor held up a hand, the palm flat and vertical. “I don’t want people thinking I’m a wizard.”
Jenna pointed with her chin. “No one’s going to think that with your father’s sword hanging at your waist.”
The weapon measured two feet counting the hilt. Xandor had practiced with the blade for four years, ever since he’d proven he could swing it. Now the blade and its sheath felt heavier than usual. He clapped a hand on the hilt. “Warriors don’t walk around carrying mice in pouches. I don’t want to be responsible for it. If I have to fight, it could get hurt. If you can feel what it feels...what if it died?”
“He won’t die.” Jenna grasped her boyfriend’s upraised hand, pulled it down and twisted it, a motion he could have halted if he’d wanted. “Willem is smart and tough, like me. Take him.” She rested the pouch and its contents on Xandor’s now-upturned palm. The mouse looked up with imploring eyes.
“Jenna, no.”
She stepped back, leaving Willem on Xandor’s palm. “You either take him with you or you wait two Shifts to do your Age Quest, when I can do mine too. If you’re not willing to wait for me to turn sixteen, you’re taking Willem along.”
In Pharas, the year consisted primarily of four elemental Shifts, called Stone, Wind, Flame and Water, accounting for 360 days of the 380 days in the Pharasian year. Each Shift was subdivided into ten Slides of nine days each. Of the twenty days not included in any Shift, New-Year-Day started the year, coming before the first day of Stone. End-Year-Day followed the last day of Water. The two Slides of Mid-Year came between Wind and Flame.
The nine days of a Slide had names: New-Slide, Even-Day, Luck-Day, See-Day, Mid-Slide, Rhymes-Day, Songs-Day, Rules-Day and End-Slide. Today, Xandor’s birthday, fell on Luck-Day. He took that as a sign he’d succeed in his Age Quest and become a great warrior.
“You know I’d love to go to Omensound together,” Xandor said. “Until this Slide I really thought we would. But I didn’t know how I’d feel when I turned sixteen. It’s perfect traveling weather now. I’ll make it to Trisden in less than a Slide and with any luck, I’ll find another caravan I can travel with to Omensound. I could be there by Wind’s end or early Mid-Year. If I don’t find a caravan at Trisden and have to go from there on foot, there’s no better time to do it than Mid-Year, when all the elementals are resting. I’ll come back after I finish my Age Quest, in time to go with you for yours. You won’t have to go alone, Jenna.”
“But we won’t be doing our quests together.” Jenna’s voice quavered, but she pulled herself together and squared her shoulders. “All right. You’ve made up your mind and I won’t delay you any longer. But you’re taking Willem.” She moved close and tugged at Xandor’s belt. “If you want a goodbye kiss, you’ll do as I ask. Now tie the pouch on or hand it back. Your choice.”
Xandor fastened the pouch to his belt muttering, “I know I’ll regret this.” The mouse twitched its nose at him. With one finger he prodded Willem into the pouch. He turned to Jenna. “Now give me that kiss, you evil sorceress.”
With a laugh, Jenna kissed him lightly on the cheek before stepping out of his reach.
“That’s what you call a goodbye kiss?”
The mouse poked its head up again and peered about. Xandor paused, unable to refrain from smiling. “By the gods, you’re a cute whisker. All the more reason not to take you. Warriors don’t do cute.”
Jenna waved her hand in dismissal. “The pouch is magical,” she said. “It can be seen through from the inside but not from the outside. It’s enchanted to produce a daily allotment of food and water for Willem, so you won’t have to worry about that. It lets air in even when you have the drawstring closed.”
“Impressive,” Xandor said. “Did you enchant it yourself?”
She perked up at the compliment and grinned. “I siphoned off some magic from a few trinkets of my mother’s to enchant it, yes. Now listen. Willem will sit still when others are about. No one will see him move. All you need to do is let him out to exercise when you can.”
Once more Xandor pushed the mouse back into the pouch. “I have to get out of Vagar now, Jenna. It’s not that I want to leave you behind. You know that.”
Jenna said nothing. She took Xandor’s hand and squeezed.
Her skin felt cold against his, as usual. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers one by one. “I swear, Jenna, you have reptilian blood in your veins.”
“For the last time, none of my ancestors are hoobla. I’m as human as you are. Now let’s go or you’ll miss your ride to Trisden. You’ll get your goodbye kiss at the stables, in front of everyone. I want every person on that caravan to know you’re mine.”
They walked hand-in-hand to the stables. If he had to leave Jenna behind, then the least Xandor could do was to hold her hand during their last moments together, even if such behavior in public was not considered a mark of a great warrior.