We walked slowly through the dark woods, the torch shining over the dirt path, a dozen feet in each direction. I marched first, leading the pace and balancing the mage on my shoulder, blowing a cloud of steam from my mouth from time to time, to entertain myself during this long and boring journey to come, after all it's been only about ten to fifteen minutes since we left the farm.

  "I have to say, I am amazed." Abi stated, carrying the torch, as she tried to keep her walking speed up to mine. "I would not be able to lift a grown man for that long. I doubt I could fully lift him up myself in the first place!"

  I could hear the excitement in her voice and enthusiastic movements. Her step irregular, giddy and rushed, but she seem to be overflowing with energy.

  "Yeah, I'm strong." I spoke calmly, being careful about my response. Usually people were not so carefree around me to casually chat about my physique, as my strength was often the source of suspicion. But then a surprise flew over me, as I felt Abigail's hand on my arm, feeling up my defined muscles.

  "I never before saw a woman with body like that. Is this the effect of those potions that adventurers drink? You know, the ones that increase the strength and what not."

  "No, not really. I umm..." I tried to quickly look for a plausible answer, that would give me more time before I would be forced to uncover the truth. "I was blessed? A freak of nature? No clue."

  I've shrugged, forgetting about the man on my shoulder, who yelped painfully. "You ogre of a woman, stop doing that!"

  We both stopped as we looked over at Kastan for a second, then over each other. I guess it was time for talk, so I've slowly put him down and braced his back against the tree trunk on the side of the path. As I've looked over him, his face was as red as his tunic, with unknown emotions running through him. He changed expressions at least four times, before his throat clenched and he bared his teeth. I expected him to curse at me and Abi, maybe even try to bite me in anger. But he sniffed and I could see droplets of water build around the corners of his eyes.

  "Why did you do it?" There was no reason for being aggressive, I asked him in a calm voice, as I've crouched to be on his eye level. His response was very slow to come, and once I had to stop Abi from speaking to let him gather throughs.

  "I wanted good..." The mage sniffed and kept looking down at the ground between us, not daring to look me in the eyes. "The northmen told me, that he was a brutal man! I wanted to protect them!"

  "Northmen? You mean the people living past the fort?" My mind went back to a day previous, when I've gazed upon the wide and endless expanse of the wilderness, where the wild people lived. Kastan nodded and looked me in the eyes.

  "I've hid in one of their encampments, they've told me that the men living in the fort often sallied out and attacked them. I wanted to scare off the soldiers. But when I stood on the roof, I saw all those servants... There were barely any soldiers inside..." He continuously sniffed, the tears streaming down his cheeks.

  I've slowly stood up, looking at Abi. She already knew, just as I did. No matter if we believed his story, it was very obvious. I checked towards my companion again, but she simply shook her head, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. I've exhaled loudly, looking down at the man.

  "You're an idiot. It was a defensive fort." He looked at me slowly, not sure why he was insulted over what type of building he have burnt. "You've sabotaged military infrastructure. That's a capital punishment." I wanted to continue speaking but seeing his eyes open widely, I took a moment - longer than I wanted. "When I'll bring you back, you gonna be executed. I recommend keeping all information to yourself, in case any of your close friends or loved ones would end up in danger as well."

  I was a mercenary, killing was part of my profession, so no matter how I felt about his motives, I would still bring him to justice, if only to be paid. But I had enough humanity to not make his fate even worse than it had to be. And so we've watched as this man was ready to end up in prison for potentially years, but he was just informed about his incoming doom. It broke him and he simply looked down, letting the tears flow freely.

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  It was a silent hour, walking through the night. I could feel Abi's eyes on me, she wanted to talk about me, about the situation, about anything. I've already witnessed how talkative she is when the situation allows it, so she wanted to keep herself away from discomfort of the moment by talking, but she couldn't make herself talk casually, when she was also bringing a man to his death.

  So I've observed the forest, this thanks to my enhanced sight. The trees were old, most of them covered in moss as thick as second layer of bark. Some branches as thick as trees in any other forest around the continent. I've never before seen nature so dense, where trees fought each other for space, where the forest floor was as dark as a cave, with thick leaves covering up the sky. Is this how those jungle in far south looked?

  "Were you in the north before?" I've spoken to Abi, but when I looked towards her, she was breathing heavily. She must have jumped at the sudden sound coming from me, after an hour of complete silence.

  "By the divine, don't scare me like that!" She brought a hand to her chest, trying to calm down her breathing. "No, it's my first time this far away from the capital. Why?"

  "Can you feel it too?" I wanted to remain somewhat cryptic, not sure if she felt exactly as I did. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, confused at what I've meant. So I've continued, careful about my words, to not confuse her further. "The nature. I think it's alive, but not in the usual sense..."

  She looked over the trees, barely visible to her in the night, but then stopped and closer her eyes. She focused on something within herself, just like when she was feeling out the mana around the city while looking for the mage.

  "For me, ever since I've entered the north I couldn't get rid of the feeling, as if I've been watched. Thought its just paranoia, but I'm starting to feel, like there's something more." Saying that, I've spotted a pair of birds on a branch, giving us a curious look. For me they were black or grey, colors mixing with the darkness.

  "I do feel something weird... I feel more alive? Or maybe there's more energy surrounding us?" The redhead looked around, confused at what exactly she felt. By her reaction, I doubt it was mana.

  We resumed our walk in silence, both looking around and trying to figure it out, when suddenly our prisoner - Kastan spoke. "It's not mana, it's the spirits. The shamans of the north know more. If you want to figure out more, go and talk to them."

  Abi immediately spoke, probably already having this question in her mind for long, but unsure if she should ask it. "You're not angry at us for catching you?"

  "No, I'm not. I've killed men during my escape, I've broke the law, tried to escape and killed more. There've been many who tried catching me, who died by my hands. I've decided that a murderer like me deserves punishment, for breaking the laws of men and the heavens." His voice was monotone, but there was no sign of sorrow. Simply a man who was determined to end what he started, ready to face the consequences.

  We've continued our walk, in much more vigorous atmosphere. We've talked about some things, especially Abigail tried asking Kastan more questions, trying to figure out why the incident even happened, why he tried to cover his tracks by burning his student's body and further questions about the nature of magic.

  I've tried to not listen to them, but their words sparked curiosity in me. I never knew much about magic myself. People blessed with the arcane usually kept to themselves, picking only those already talented for further studies. But here I was presented with two mages of two opposing fields. I tried to stay quiet, but I've asked without even realizing it.

  "What's the difference between fire and water mage?" The silence that fell upon us was loud in itself. Both Kastan and Abi were baffled at my question. "I mean, beside the forces of nature. I've heard that those talented with water, have hard time learning how to cast with fire. Why's that?"

  "It's because of nature itself." Abi spoke, taking the role of a teacher. She was much younger than the fire magician, so she probably had much fresher memory of her studies. "Water requires you to move with the current, it's wild but predictable. When controlling how water flows, how it freezes and how it's stored in nature, either in plants or containers. Because water is everywhere, even in a blade of grass, to even be able to make a single drop move as I want, I have to fully commit my mind and body into moving with it. If I tried to control two different sources of water, one stagnant and other moving, I risk that the magic itself would break my arms in resistance to my moves."

  Her monologue was somewhat informative, but I guessed that I still needed explanation from Kastan to see the whole picture. Luckily he picked up where she finished.

  "With fire, it's the opposite. I cannot draw upon flames from nature. I have to create my own flames from the already existing magics within my body. Unlike with water, I can control multiple sources of flames, as long as they're self created. Fire is wild, wilder than anything else. It consumed everything in it's path as if it had mind of it's own, lives in the moment so to speak. But when you take away the fuel, it dies immediately, losing the powerful combustion, only to leave destruction behind. To be able to form fire within my palm, the process requires me to control mana in a way, that would turn a water magician into sparkly dust. The rules of each of our schools of magic is an anathema of the other. Now, can you put me down? I'll walk by myself."

  "No. You're still captured and with my dwindling funds, I won't give you a chance to escape."

  "Damn..."