The Mage by the Road

The stroll of the carriage down the road was quite smooth. It was a truly relaxing ride, with the clear sky and sunshine beaming down onto the surrounding scenery. I was astounded at how vast the yellow fields spread out to the west and east and continued into the distance toward the south.

The driver didn't offer much in terms of conversation, but I was able to keep myself busy while sitting inside. Back in town, I had decided to keep a journal to jot down my adventures and a sketchbook to practice some drawing. So, I used the time while the carriage moved to make progress in these two minor ambitions.

Because this was my first time out in the world, I wanted to note all that I witnessed, all that my senses took in, all that I experienced. One day, after I returned, I wanted to share everything I wrote down with the folks back at Kolm, especially my mom and Akane.

Not only that, but I also wanted everyone back home to see what I saw on my journey. Although my drawing ability was quite terrible, I still wanted to sketch as much as possible, so I could share all the beautiful sights the world had to offer.

Because the weather was quite warm, the driver and I only brought along two days' worth of food, wanting to prevent any excess from spoiling too quickly. We took a break around noontime and ate some lunch in the grass by the side of the road.

When the driver finished his lunch, he went back to his seat on the carriage and waited for me to return. I sat there for another fifteen minutes, basking in the calm wind blowing around me and the scent of the fields close by. I didn't think that the impact of leaving Kolm had entirely hit me yet, but this scene sure provided a little spark of homesickness.

The carriage continued its trek through the afternoon. Once the sun was almost set, the driver steered towards a grassy patch on the side of the road, as our destination for the night. While the driver was lighting a fire and preparing dinner, I set up the tent. We enjoyed our dinner, another peaceful but mostly silent meal together. The driver immediately went to sleep afterward, but I finished up my writing and sketching for the day, before dousing the fire and following him into the tent.

The next day was practically the same as the previous, sunshine all over and the wind gusting calmly through the air. I continued to focus on my writing and sketching as we passed through more lush yellow fields. And even though my drawing ability was still quite amateurish, today's sketches looked slightly better than yesterday's.

There was still one whole day of food left, so the driver and I followed the same routine for lunch and dinner as the day before. And for the second straight night, I dozed peacefully inside the tent.

On the third day, the carriage left the grass fields and entered into a deep forest. The driver mentioned the forest stretched all the way to Machuren, but that we were fortunate because we needed the right environment to hunt and forage for food on this part of the trip.

The weapons I had on my armor proved quite useful, the bow and arrows to slay the birds and rabbits, and the knives to cut open the carcasses for the animal meat to be cooked later. During the evening, we stopped at a free space in the forest right next to a clear pond with freshwater, so we refilled our water canteens, which began to run dry.

Before I went to sleep, I took a look at my journal and sketchbook and was amazed at how much I already filled in just three days. The shock of having left home hit me even harder this time. Still, I reminded myself again of the necessity for this journey.

The fourth day began a little more ominously, as dark clouds scattered the sky. When we stopped for lunch, the ground was still dry, and we felt fortunate rain hadn't halted our travels yet.

The carriage continued on for another hour when the driver coughed to get my attention. "Sir, we are about to pass by someone on the left side of the road, but I would advise we ignore this person and continue on."

"What?" I opened the curtain further to get a better look at my surroundings. As the driver mentioned, I saw a rather slim person, dressed in a body-length mage outfit with the hood up, and leaning on a large staff. I couldn't tell if the mage was a man or woman, as there weren't any visible signs of the person's gender.

As the carriage drove closer to the mage, I noticed the mage's robe was somewhat ragged, as if the mage had been in quite the struggle. Even though I couldn't sense any treacherous creatures around, I felt concerned for the mage. I wasn't comfortable wanting to just leave the mage alone with such evident injuries.

"Driver," I said. "I would appreciate it if we could stop and help out this mage."

"It would be best if we didn't. You've been in Kolm this whole time, so you might not be as fully aware of the dangers going on in the world right now. There have been many reports of vandals on the roads posing as victims. I think it would be best if we just leave this person alone."

"But…" I tried to refute the driver's claims, but he ignored all my pleas. The driver signaled for the horses to continue on, and we passed the mage without even slowing down.

I looked back at the mage, but there was no movement at all. Maybe the driver was right, and that mage didn't need any help after all…

After two minutes passed, I suddenly heard a loud scream from behind the carriage. It sounded like it came from the mage, and what got my attention more was that the voice was female. I shouted to the driver, "Stop right now!" and jumped out of the carriage.

When I turned around, I saw a pack of wolves attacking the mage. The three beasts tore into the mage's robe, and the mage continued to scream, "Help me! Someone, please help me! Help!!!"

I immediately took out my bow and shot arrow after arrow at the wolves, not with the intent to kill, but just to scatter them away. I was successful in hitting the creatures on a couple shots and felt relieved the wolves retreated shortly after that.

The mage remained on the ground, cuddled up, and shaking from fear. As I approached her, I sighed in relief, glad she only suffered from minor cuts and scrapes, avoiding any serious physical harm. The hood to her robe was down, exposing her long beautiful black hair and a rather adorable face. Her clothes were very loose-fitting, but I had enough evidence to confirm the mage was a woman, at the age of about 17.

I waited for the mage to compose herself, and she finally stopped shaking when she noticed the wolves no longer attacked. I knelt down and offered her a hand. "Are you right, miss? Can you stand?"

"Oh… thank you." The mage took my hand and stood up, grabbing her staff in the process. "I guess I can still stand... oops…" Her knees buckled, and I reached out for her arms quickly enough to catch her.

"Oh... thank you so much again," the mage said meekly. "If you wouldn't mind, I don't think I can walk on my own right now…"

"Let me take you to the carriage over there, and I'll work on those injuries you have."

"Thank you so much, kind sir…"

As I provided some support to the mage, we walked back to the carriage. After she sat down on the trunk, I applied some ointment over the numerous cuts on her arms and legs. Fortunately, her face was unblemished. But though her robe wasn't torn enough to be too revealing, it would need to be replaced in the next town.

After I finished treating the mage, I realized I had forgotten to introduce myself. "Oh, sorry, I should have done this before. My name is Haru Kurotaka."

"I'm Cathy… Thanks again for all your help… Umm… before you saved me, where were you heading to?"

"I was on my way to Machuren, and we're still about three days away."

"Oh! That's where I was heading, too, before my group had an unfortunate accident, and we all got separated… If it's not too much of a bother, could I come along with you?"

"I don't see any problem with that. Just wait here and let me clear it with the driver."

The driver already wanted to ignore Cathy's plight, so I wasn't surprised he was still unwilling to relent. After a few more minutes of silent bickering, I convinced the driver to allow her to accompany us to Machuren.

I then helped Cathy into the carriage, and our new group of three continued on our way. When I pulled out my journal and sketchbook, she immediately stared at them and asked question after question about the contents inside.

I felt giddy she was so enthusiastic about my interests, and again, I couldn't help thinking how adorable she looked sitting across from me.