Our children were dying, and we knew rage. We summoned our children and together we wrought a great magic to make them all more. They were faster, stronger, smarter. But we had not thought of their rage. We made their rage greater too.

- Chapter 21, The Unwritten History of Neah-Reath

“Ow. Shit. Ow. Crap. Ow. Blast it. Ow. Ow. Ow. Owwwww!”.

Teah had spent the last 3 days practicing casting the same light spell but she still couldn’t withstand the pain enough to maintain it for more than a few seconds. She had made progress though, as she was now able to cast it without needing Cornelius’ assistance. It had taken her some time to get used to not seeing the light trail as she traced it, but she had persevered. Cornelius was also glad that she had progressed so far, as it meant that she could walk out into the forest to practice, giving him some space. Although, his actual comment had been something along the lines of

“Get out of here if you insist on practicing constantly! Or at least learn to suffer in silence!”

However, Teah struggled to blame him for this, as a near constant string of complaints and curses from dawn to dusk was hard to cope with. Teah felt certain she was making progress though. She had managed almost five seconds with her last attempt!

“Okay, one last time, then I’ll go get some food. Oh, do we have enough? Hmm, let’s see. There was still some bread, but we were almost out of the spread. Ohh, I should go back to the village again! Alright, I’ll do that after lunch.”

Teah sat and focused on her spell, feeling the natural magic, gathering it in to her as she drew the spell-form in the air. She wasn’t actually sure about the gathering part. It didn’t seem to fit in with what Cornelius had described to her about casting the spell, but it felt right to her. She drew the spell-form then pushed the natural magic through it, watching as a ball of light appeared in her palm.

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. OW!”

She swore, finally releasing the spell. As she did, the pain in her body receded.

“That was definitely five seconds! Hell yeah!”

Teah lay back on the soft grass she had been sitting on, letting her body rest. She looked up through the canopy of the forest, the mix of the subtly different greens of the leaves making patterns. She closed her eyes, feeling the softness of the grass, listening to the rustle of the undergrowth.

“Alright, that’s enough” she said to herself and pushed herself up. “Lunch time!”

Teah strolled back to the hut, still wondering at the beauty of the forest. It was odd. She remembered being scared of being in the forest alone, yet now it felt almost natural to her.

“Well, nightmares about being killed in a forest will do that I guess.”

If anything was ruining her life, it was the nightmares. While learning magic was hard, and hurt, the nightmares were worse. Each night she dreamed of being killed, waking up as she died. The imagined pain from those nightmares was far worse than even the pain of channelling the spell, not to mention the state of terror that she awoke in each morning.

Teah entered the hut and prepared lunch for her and Cornelius, setting a plate down on the table where he sat as he wrote and made notes in one of his huge books. Teah had tried reading it several times, but she couldn’t recognise any of it. She had been disheartened by that, before Cornelius explained that many different areas use their own style of writing and that his was from a long time ago, so that was no surprise.

“Hey Cornelius, if everyone uses a different writing system, how do you do books and things like that?”

“Ahh, Teah, there you are, child. Well, the simple answer is that most people don’t. Most villages or towns use their own system and create books for themselves, but they are all local things. In the Capital, at the Academy, there is a formal style that all students who enter need to learn, which is the closest we have to a proper system. In fact, one of the first things each student has to do is to translate a book from the style of their home to the Academy Style. This proves they can use the style as well as getting more books into the Academy.”

“Oh? So what book did you do?”

“Ha. You know, I haven’t thought about that in years. It was one of the first things I did that lead to me being ousted from the Capital.”

“Huh? What do you mean? What did you do?”

“Ohh, calm, child. Nothing like that. I just did what at the time I thought was a funny joke, but it led to me getting the reputation of someone who didn’t care for authority. When I was in favour with the King, it didn’t matter, but people remembered.”

“So? What did you do?”

“Well, the village I am from was very small. It is gone now, but it never numbered more than a few hundred people at the best of times. This meant that we had basically no books. In truth, we barely had a writing system.”

“And?”

“Well, when I was finishing my first year of study and had to translate a book, this was a problem. However, when I was a child me and my friends had made a habit of making up dirty rhymes. Nothing scandalous, just the jests of youth. So, when I returned to the village to claim a book, as was the custom, I wrote them down as my book. I even made a copy of the book in the local style to leave in the village, so no one could claim I just made them up.”

“Huh. Well, I can see that you could have chosen a better solution, but that seems harmless enough.” Teah said thoughtfully. “What’s the big deal?”

“Well, I had changed all of the names used in the rhymes to the names of the professors and senior mages of the Academy. They didn’t appreciate the joke nearly as much as my classmates did.”

“Ha! Good one!” Teah laughed cheerfully. It seemed like something she would do if she got the chance.

“Oh, I almost forgot. After lunch, I’ll head to the village and pick up some supplies. We’re almost out of the berry spread, and I’m bored of this cheese. I’m sure that Mr Timon will have something else.”

“Ahh, good idea, child. While you are there, you can take that book to the Village ” he said, waving his hand at a book on the end of the table. “He had asked me to rewrite the village history, as the copies they had were falling apart.”

“Ohh, wow! That must’ve been interesting. Anything good?” she asked as she picked up the book and started leafing through it.

“Careful, child! That book represents six months of reading through the scraps of books they had, listening to villagers share the stories they knew and cross-checking it all. If you damage it before giving it to the Mayor, there will be words said!”

“Alright, alright. I got it. Do you want anything else from the village?”

“Hmm, no, as long as you take care of the food, that’ll be fine. Oh, the Mayor will not pay you for the book, as I have arranged that with him already, but he does have a book I have been hoping to borrow. It’s the Book of Ages. It’s a book about the history of the land.”

“Why do you want this book? Surely you would have read it already, right, if it’s a history book?” Teah asked.

“This book is special. Each village has different stories about the land. While most books do have the same contents, finding where they differ has been something of a hobby of mine. Some people theorise that by finding the differences, and determining why they are different, we can discover a secret truth about Neah-Reath.”

“Oh, is that why you do it?”

He sighed.

“Once, when I was a younger man, I would have answered yes to that. However, those days are done. Now I just do it as a hobby. Something to pass the time until my worn out body finally stops working.”

He rubbed his head, as he sighed again.

“Enough of that. You should get moving, otherwise you’ll be walking back at night. The forest is safe enough, but you should still avoid doing that if you don’t have to.”

“Right, I should go!”

She jumped up from where she had been sitting and found the pack that she had used to bring the supplies last time. Cornelius handed her the book, which he had wrapped with a red cloth.”

“Now the Mayor’s name is Tiber-Crelis.” Ask Timon and he’ll help you find him.”

“Alright, see you later!”

With that, she left the hut and started walking to the village.

The journey through the forest was uneventful and she made good time. She had tried practicing her spell as she did so but found it too hard to make the spell-form properly while walking, so she just spent the time looking at the forest. She soon reached the village again and walked towards the inn, nodding at the people. They seemed to be the same old people as the last time she had been here, sitting in the same place.

“Huh. Well, I guess there isn’t much for old people to do in a farming village, is there?”

She carried on through the village, making her way to the inn. She entered the inn and approached Timon, who was busy serving customers. After waiting briefly, he looked her way and smiled at her.

“Ahh, the no-one girl! How can I help you today?”

She grimaced at the nickname, but when she saw the warmth in his smile she relaxed again.

“Something tasty. We’re out of the berry jam and I’m bored of eating that cheese. Maybe Cornelius doesn’t mind eating the same things each day, but its boring!”

“Ahh, that’s my fault, I reckon” he apologised. “I got used to just giving him the same stuff every time, makes it easier for me. He’s never complained, so I didn’t think to change it. I’ll make sure the next lot has a bit more variety. We’ve got some good peach preserve in, even got some marmalade, although I dunno how good it is. Not my sort of thing.”

“That all sounds great!” she smiled at him happily. “How about different cheeses?”

“Aye, we’ve got a few special ones, got herbs and what not in them. I’ll put in a bit of those.”

He grinned slyly at her.

“Actually, if you can do me a favour, I might be able to rustle up a few samples of them, just so you know which ones you like.”

She grinned back “I think I can do that. Oh! I almost forgot! I have to do something for Cornelius. He gave me a book to give to the Mayor.”

“Ahh, old Jaspen. That’ll be easy enough. It’s not like he’s busy. Not much to Mayor over in a place like this” he laughed.

“Alright, leave your pack here, and I’ll take you to see Jaspen. Then you can try the cheeses while we discuss the favour.”

“Thank you” she said, following him out the building, as he yelled into the kitchen for someone to mind the bar.

“What is the Mayor’s name again? Tiber-Something.”

“Tiber-Crelis.”

“Isn’t that your name?”

“No, I am Molnon-Tiber.”

“See, the name is the same! Are you related?”

“Cousins, actually. He is my mother’s, brother’s son. He’s a bit older than me, so we didn’t see each other much growing up, but he’s a good sort. And educated! He even went to the capital once.”

Teah followed Timon to a reasonable sized building, not far from the inn, but further from the main road that passed through the village. He knocked on the door, then quickly pushed it open, shouting out as he did.

“Jaspen! How are you?”

Jaspen was an old man, perhaps a decade older than Timon, he was tall like Timon, but not as heavily built. His face was wrinkled and his hair and beard were white, but he still stood tall.

“Old. I feel the years more and more each day. Getting up gets harder, but I persevere.”

Timon smiled at him warmly “Well, old people like you need their rest. You should retire from the role of Mayor and go sit outside with the other geriatrics.”

“Bah! None of that talk! Perhaps you should get out more. You’re starting to go flabby!”

Both men chuckled, before hugging each other.

Jaspen sat them down in the room they had entered, which clearly served as a combined office and main room of his house. The furniture was well-worn but comfortable, clearly of a good quality. Teah stroked the chair she sat on happily, it was much softer than the furniture in Cornelius’ hut.

“Ahh, you like the furniture?” Jaspen smiled at her.

“One of the benefits on being on a road like we are is that we have access to things that other villages wouldn’t, such as good quality furniture. Of course, it costs, but it lasts. I brought that back from the Capital as a young man, barely half the age of Timon here.”

He looked around the room, smiling fondly at the furniture before looking back at her.

“But Timon clearly didn’t bring you here for fun. I take it that you are the mystery girl that has been staying with our resident mage?”

Teah sat up straight in surprise.

“You know of me?”

“Of course. This is a small village, so news spreads quickly, and it is my duty to know about things like this. I just wish we could do more to help you, but if Cornelius can’t, then I’m afraid that I can’t think of anything that we could do.”

Teah settled back into her chair, mollified.

“Yes, that is me. I’m Teah. No last name sorry.”

“Jaspen Tiber-Crelis. A pleasure to meet you.”

He spoke with a calm voice, quiet but firm. A voice that matched the impression he gave, of someone who took his duty seriously and enjoyed doing so.

“So, what do you need of an old man like myself?”

“Actually, I have a book for you. Mister Cornelius said that he made it for you.”

“Ahh, our village history!” he said happily.

He took the book that she handed him and unwrapped it, then started leafing through it briefly.

“Please, pass on my gratitude. This means much to me. Let him know that if there is anything I can help him with, I will.” He said with conviction in his voice.”

“Actually, he said that you have a book he would like to read. Something about History.”

“Ahh, our Book of Ages. Yes, I have it here somewhere.”

He moved to the small bookcase, touching the books gently.

“Ahh, here it is. Please do be careful with it. It is old.”

The book he handed her was old. The brown cover was worn almost to grey and the pages seemed to have yellowed. Teah carefully wrapped it in the cloth that she had used to deliver the book and then held it carefully on her lap.

“Thank you, and I will make sure to tell him that.”

Timon spoke up “if that is all done, then I should best get back to the inn. Teah, shall we go? There should be plenty of time for you to try the cheeses and then get back before dark.”

“Ahh, yes! Thank you!”

“Not at all, my dear. Thank you. Please feel free to visit me again.” Jaspen said, as he opened the door for them. “Be safe, and do look after the book.”

She grinned in agreement, before following Timon out.

“Sorry about all that” he said to her. “He’s been that way ever since he spent time in the Capital. Although, truth is he always has been a gentle sort. But he’s a good Mayor for all that.”

“No, he was nice. And very polite.”

“Aye, he is. Some people think he puts on airs, but he believes in what he says. He does his best as Mayor and he does it well. I think he means it though. He ain’t gonna stop being Mayor until he keels over. We’ll probably have to break his door in one morning, cuz he’s died in his sleep.”

Teah frowned at the image “he doesn’t have a family then?”

“Ahh, I forgot you didn’t know. No, his wife died giving birth to their first child. The little boy came out wrong or some such. He didn’t live long either, a couple days.”

Teah felt a tear in her eye “that’s terrible!”

Timon patted her shoulder before continuing “aye, it was. It’s a shame that it happened back then. Now that Cornelius is near, he can help with things like that. Ahh, but that is life.”

They reached the inn, Timon indicating that she should sit at a table as he moved behind the bar.

“Just wait there. I’ll have the cheese out shortly.”

He quickly returned with a tray with three different cheeses on it, along with some bread. In his other hand he held two metal mugs. Putting them down, he sat opposite her.

“Here, have some cider to go with the cheese. It makes it even better.”

Teah took a bite of the first cheese, quickly sipping her cider afterwards.

“Ahh, that is good!”

“Ha, I knew you would like it! It’s one of our best” he laughed, then looked serious again.

“Now, about that favour…”