“Wake up,” said a gruff voice, nudging Keldon in his sleep.

Keldon grumbled, rolling to the side. He needed rest.

“You’ve got five minutes to get yourself together or you can kiss your training goodbye,” said the voice.

“Training?” thought Keldon, the heavy allure of sleep drifting him back and forth between consciousness.

…

Right. Training with Salem.

Slowly, Keldon pulled himself out of the comfort of the bedroll, warmed by the embers of last night’s bonfire as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

His vision was bleary and dark. However, with slow blinks, he realized the quiet morning sun had just broken through the night sky, gently illuminating the campsite. But where did Salem go?

Keldon stretched his tired body, letting out a bearish groan as he tucked away his bedroll and wandered out into the forest.

After a few confused minutes of searching, finally, he found Salem perched on top of the foothill, watching the sunrise.But as he approached Salem to talk, He caught a glimpse of the view and understood.

No longer obstructed by the canopy of trees, the majesty of the forest was simply… nourishing.

Rolling hills of emerald covered the land as puffy white clouds stretched far across the morning sky as the hues of oranges and pink light melted away the night. It was pure serenity. Keldon tiptoed up next to Salem, taking in the vast scenery of the rising sun as the two of them sat in peace.

“I can see why you do this so often,” said Salem, finally speaking.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

“Mm,” grumbled Salem in agreement. “Wish I’d started sooner. Too late for an old man like me.”

“You’re not that old, you’ve still got some time.”

Salem stared out into the horizon.

“If only… ready to start training?”

“I could use another nap to be honest. Though I doubt I’ll get one,”

“Correct,” said Salem promptly.

“Wow, thanks. Ever-compassionate as always, brother Salem,”

“Funny you should say that. Did I ever tell you compassion was my sword’s name?”

Keldon blinked. “No? You’ve got a real messed up sense of humor if it is though.”

“It was my little sister’s idea, she had a very different point of view on what I did as a peacekeeper. But either way, you’ve got to be a little messed up to do what I’ve done. Now c’mon, we’re burning daylight.”

#

“Karyx,”

The familiar passion of fire rose within him once again as heat coursed through his veins. Burn, move, rise, called the name, urging him to action.

“Move with it Keldon, follow through,” said Salem, guiding him from the side.

Keldon took a step forward, sending power to his leg as he kicked himself off the ground. It had been four hours since they’ve begun their practice, and by now, Keldon was covered in bruises. His body ached, weighed down by the chills and fatigue of constantly using the name of fire. However, with Salem’s aid, he’d managed till now. This time, however, Keldon felt it! A surge of confidence filled him inside as he leaped into the air, empowered by the name of fire.

And then, he flew.

Sort of.

Keldon whizzed through the air, feeling the liberation of the name of fire. All the built-up tension he carried in him over the few days disappeared as the name of fire’s influence took over his emotions, causing a rush of adrenaline to course through his body. Keldon slammed into a boulder at an angle, pushing off it like a springboard and rocketing into the air. He soared higher and higher, laughing maniacally as he defied gravity.

Until fortune laughed back that is. Oblivious to the world, Keldon let himself go higher than he had ever gone before, only to slam his face straight into a startled goose’s asshole.

When Keldon launched himself into the air, he hadn’t noticed that his trajectory had sent flying straight into a flock of geese overhead. Removing the salty chocolate donut from his lips, Keldon and the goose screamed in surprise and confusion as the shock had snapped him out of his adrenaline-fueled state of mind. He plummeted to the ground, flailing wildly as he called out for help.

“Salem!!” yelled Keldon, falling through the air. But he was too far away to do anything as Keldon realized how hard a habit gravity was to shake.

He fell through the canopy of trees as luckily, the intertwined branches of the tall oaks broke his fall, landing him on his back into a bush with a thud.

As stars swirled his vision, a few moments later, Salem stepped into his field of view, looking down on Keldon with a slight smirk and a twinkle in his eye.

“Still alive?”

“For now.”

“You know, In all the years I’ve been alive, I’ve never seen a goose blush until today.”

“First time I’ve made anything blush, I guess,’ said Keldon

“Couldn’t blame you, only thing around the Hissings to swoon are tar-eyes. Let’s wrap up for the day. I need you to gather antidote components for me around the forest, wouldn’t want them contaminated with any more geese dung,” said Salem.

With a nod and a sigh, Keldon wordlessly nodded his head as Salem pulled him out of the brush as the two of them worked on creating the medicine throughout the night.

#

A few days later

“Wake up,”

Keldon grumbled as the sun peaked through the window, this time, however, he pulled himself out of the bedroll rather quickly, having gotten used to the abrupt wakeups in the mornings. It had been a few days since both he and Salem had started their training regimen. And well… it could be better. Collecting various barks, fungi and roots had gone smoothly enough as he’d had some experience doing so before (albeit not during his most pleasant experiences, but still, he remembered some of the tricks of the trade.

It was the name magic where he was really struggling. It was failure after failure, he’d constantly get launched at awkward angles and crash his momentum. Although, after trying to resonate with the name of fire again, it seems that the cosmic embodiment of fire approved of such tests in the name of progress, so he didn’t have to worry too much about rebounding magic in his efforts.

But it was frustrating. Clearly, there was something missing, something that he didn’t understand about the properties of the name of fire. And after Salem was all healed up, he’d be leaving Keldon to head to the DarkSpine mountains, and then he’d really have to face this on his own. Progress needed to be made, and fast.

However, a few hours later, Keldon was on his back, staring up at the sky in defeat. Again....

(to be continued)