As Felix approached the landing, he was able to make out parts of Lara and Grandma’s conversation. Not enough to make out what they were saying, but he was pretty sure he heard the word ‘Starfarer’.

  With a sigh, he let go of the last remnant of hope that they’d forget about his embarrassing blunder. No matter how exciting the day turned out to be, there was no way they were going to forget this.

  He slowly dragged his luggage and what little he had left of his reputation to the stairs, while keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

  As soon as he rounded the corner to the front door, Lara called out, clearly flustered and worried he’d hear what they were talking about.

  “Felix! What took you so long? We’ve been waiting forever.”

  A little smile twinged the corner of his lip. She was doing it to spare him further embarrassment.

  Lara was the type of person who’d apologise to a rock after she stubbed her toe on it.

  Since the moment she could walk, they’d all had to stop people from taking advantage of her; by now, she had to be feeling terrible for laughing at him. Felix looked up when he heard the worry in her voice.

  ‘Yup, there’s the little frown that she gets when she’s worrying about someone.’

  He shot her a grateful look and a smile.

  ‘Today I’ll just be happy none of those lessons we gave her on sticking up for yourself or being mean when you need to ever stuck.’

  “I can’t believe we’re finally going to Travel! We’re finally going to learn about mana! Do you think there will be real knights? Or maybe we’ll even get to see a mage!”

  Felix’s smile quickly spread to his eyes as he lugged his belongings down the stairs. Lara’s infectious excitement quickly drowned out his embarrassment.

  Still, Felix had to be mature about this to maintain his image. So he puffed out his chest and tried to sound like he was in control of his excitement.

  “Calm down Lara, of course we’ll see all of that. Besides, Grandma’s a mage and she's standing right next to you.”

  Lara rolled her eyes.

  “How can you tell me to calm down, Mr Starfarer? Besides, Grammie is Grammie, obviously she doesn’t count; she can’t even do magic.”

  ‘Ok, maybe she learned to be a little mean after all, I guess I deserved that one.’ Fortunately, he didn’t need to think of a response; Grandma’s retribution was swift and fierce.

  Before Lara’s brain even had time to catch up to her mouth, a chop landed on her head.

  “And whose fault is it that I can’t do magic? If it weren't for this benevolent old lady volunteering to watch you twerps while your parents are off gallivanting across the stars, you'd be stuck in a boarding house.

  “Now that you’re finally graduating, I think I'll loosen up these old bones by giving those youngsters a piece of my mind.”

  Felix sent a silent prayer to his and Lara’s parents. Grandma Eleanor might call herself an old lady, but being a Traveller, she barely looked thirty. Besides, age hardly mattered when you could create a fire giant clone of yourself to beat them up on your behalf.

  Felix scrunched up his face.

  ‘Actually, never mind. It might do them some good to get a visit from Grandma.’

  As Grandma ushered them out the door, he imagined Grandma ‘educating’ their parents.

  In this day and age, there was just no excuse for an accidental pregnancy, and yet Felix’s parents managed the feat not once nor twice but a record-breaking three times.

  Lara’s parents were even worse, as long-time friends of the Novaerin couple, they thought it would be cool if their kids could get married one day. So when they heard about little baby Felix, they decided to get working on Lara.

  It was only after her mom was pregnant that they sheepishly remembered that they, much like Felix’s parents, had obligations that would keep them away from any homeworld until long after the children graduated from the academy.

  If it weren't for Grandma volunteering to look after them, their parents would have had to stick them in a boarding house. No matter how much people insisted they were ‘Marvels of child rearing’, he’d never met anyone who’d choose staying there over having their own place to call home.

  “Felix! Move those feet, we need to go, Damien will be there any minute. We don’t want to leave that boy alone any longer than we need to.”

  Grandma quickly dragged his thoughts back to the present. She was right; if they left Damien alone for too long, they’d never make it on time.

  Every porch had an eager neighbour ready to send them off. It forced them to slow down as they made their way through the familiar footpaths and over the familiar babbling brooks.

  No residential area had roads wide enough to support carriages, so they just went as fast as they could without being rude. Felix knew it had something to do with roads taking up too much living space; he was pretty sure they’d learned about it in sociology.

  He tried to reel in his wandering thoughts as they passed through their home one last time. He tried searing all his favourite places into his mind. Maybe the Crossroad would be just as lovely as their Homeworld, but he doubted it.

  And if it weren’t, he wanted to make sure he brought his memories of home with him; he’d miss it too much otherwise.

  ‘That’s where Lara and I practised sword fighting.’ He squinted at the tree, just barely making out the markings before clicking his tongue.

  ‘She’s two wins ahead.’

  He felt a heaviness settle on his heart, trying to smother his excitement as they passed the stream where he used to catch little fish with James.

  He wanted to Awaken, of course he did! But at the same time, how long would it be before he could do things like this again?

  He looked over at Lara and realised she was trying hard to blink back tears. If Grandma hadn’t been trying to distract her, she probably wouldn’t have managed it.

  Felix had to blink back tears of his own when he remembered they might not even go to the same Crossroad.

  He shook his head as if the sad thoughts would fall off when he did. Plastering on his best fake smile, he decided to help Grandma. Even if it didn’t do much, it should at least keep his mind off the butterflies in his own stomach.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Fortunately, a constant stream of encouraging neighbours guided their way. It was a strange feeling to be on the other side of the so-called ‘annual migration’.

  They had to put aside their melancholy as the main road came into view.

  A large crowd gathered around the pickup point. They were too far away to see what it was, but far too jaded to not understand who caused it.

  They let out a collective sigh and all said the same thing, “Damien.”

  Felix had no idea what Damien did working on a Homeworld, but he had to be good at it. He didn’t need to know what he did to understand that no sane person would keep employing him if he wasn’t very good at his job.

  As they got closer to the commotion, they saw exactly what they expected. Damien looked a lot like what Felix might, once he had some time to grow into his features.

  He could almost pass for handsome if it weren't for the fact that he hadn’t shaved for a few days.

  Well, that and instead of getting dressed, for some inexplicable reason, he looked like he’d styled his outfit by wrestling a dinosaur wearing nothing but pyjama bottoms and a bathrobe.

  Today, Damien must have gone above and beyond for the special day, as he wore only one slipper and seemed to have styled his hair by licking a jolt stone.

  Felix nearly tripped when he saw the massive, angry two-headed lizard standing next to his brother.

  “He might have actually wrestled a dinosaur, just to make sure he nailed the Damien look.”

  Fortunately, Damien had the amazing ability to act as a lightning rod for Grandma’s anger; otherwise, Felix might have gotten an earful.

  Damien’s eyes brightened as he spotted the trio walking towards him.

  “Grandma! How is it? On time, exactly as promised! And that despite our carriage not working. Ha! You can’t say the ol-D’s unreliable now, can ya?”

  Felix could swear it started getting warmer while Grandma started doing her breathing exercises.

  “First off, the next time you call yourself the ol-D, you and I are going to have another etiquette lesson.”

  Damien winced.

  “Cough, yes mam!” He gave her a salute so sloppy, it would make any drill sergeant apoplectic with rage.

  “Secondly, care to explain where you got a lightning salamander and how it ended up pulling our carriage?” Grandma asked, sending Damien a glare that would give a snowman chills.

  “Uhm, well, I ran out of gale stones, and the delivery was going to take another week! You know how hard it is to get decent materials onto a homeworld!

  “So I salvaged, uh, no… borrowed some from the carriage and since the carriage couldn’t drive to pick you up, I stole, uh— I mean, borrowed the research institute’s lightning salamander.”

  Seeing that Grandma was about to launch into another lengthy but ultimately futile attempt to lecture the crazy out of Damien, Felix bravely stepped in.

  “Grandma, we’re going to miss our ship if we don’t get going. Can this wait until you get back?”

  Having her piercing glare turn on him, Felix shrank back.

  A moment later, Grandma let out another sigh.

  “Fine, Damien, you and I are going to have a nice long conversation once I get back. Heaven knows if I leave you here alone after the kids are gone, I’ll get back only to find you turned the house into a sentient slime or something.”

  Another glare from Grandma immediately had Damien swallowing any and all questions around whether such a thing was possible and how one might go about accomplishing such a feat.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, she shooed them onto the carriage. A moment later, they were on their way.

  For the first part of their journey, Felix and Lara discussed the strange idea of having a carriage pulled by a beast. They'd read about such a thing in stories, but all the carriages they’d seen were self-propelled.

  Honestly, they didn’t understand why anyone would want a carriage pulled by a beast. Looking at Damien getting shocked every few seconds while trying to stay on top of the lizard, it seemed like a terrible idea.

  After the novelty wore off and conversation in the carriage died down, the mood started turning sombre again.

  Only the rhythmic thudding of lizard feet, the crunching of carriage wheels and the occasional agonised scream from Damien broke the silence.

  Sitting in the quiet carriage, the realisation that they would soon be separated started turning Felix’s excitement into nerves.

  Grandma didn’t allow the two much time for introspection, as soon as things settled down, she started a clearly rehearsed speech.

  “Alright, listen up.” She waited for both of them to meet her eyes.

  “I know you both have stars in your eyes right now, but the Ways are no joke. I need to make sure of something before you leave.” She took a deep breath to centre herself.

  “Do you know why you aren’t told anything about mana or Travellers before you set off on your Journey?”

  Felix looked over at Lara as if they weren’t both clueless. He found his own look of surprise staring back at him.

  He didn’t know why Grandma was suddenly willing to break a rule she’s stuck to since he was born, but he wasn’t about to say anything that could make her think better of it.

  Sigh.

  “I won’t get into too many details since I could make things worse, but every Traveller has to find a path, a path unique to themselves.

  “We don’t tell you anything because history’s taught us that we’re more likely to push you off your path than guide you on it. At best, that could set you back a few years; at worst, it can get you killed.

  “Which is why I’m so worried that you both have your hearts set on being knights. I said this on your birthday, and I’ve said it countless times before then, but you don’t seem to appreciate the gravity of what I’m telling you.

  “You both look up to Claire. I can understand that, but if you just blindly try to become another Claire, you’ll fail, or worse, die.”

  “The Ways separates Travellers from the rest of the aspirants with a trial, the trial will test you based on—” A surprised yelp from Damien interrupted the conversation.

  Grandma shot an annoyed look at the carriage roof. After staying still for a while, she clicked her tongue.

  “Fine.”

  “I’ll just say this. If you follow a path that you aren’t meant for, and you still insist on taking the trial, then the odds are you will fail. Not everyone who tries and fails dies, but most do.

  “When you’re on the ferry later, remember the faces you see there because not all of them will make it back.”

  “I need you two to understand, under no circumstances should you take the trial unless you’re absolutely ready. If the guides warn you not to try, heed their advice.

  “Even if you don’t pass the trial before the end of the year, all hope isn’t lost; it will be difficult, but you can still become Travellers. If you die, then it’s all over.”

  Felix felt like he was going to be sick. This wasn’t the amazing secrets of magic he was hoping to learn when Grandma started breaking rules.

  The air in the carriage felt like it was smothering him.

  “Lara, you’ve always been kind, but your kindness will have people walking all over you. If you can’t learn to harden your heart, you shouldn’t try.”

  Felix looked at Lara, noticing the colour drain from her face, he saw her trembling hand and reached over to place his hand on hers.

  “Felix, I’m honestly more worried about you than Lara.”

  Felix’s gaze snapped to meet Grandma’s with disbelief clear on his face.

  “You go through life thinking you’re the main character in one of your stories. Overconfidence is one of the worst traits a Traveller can have.”

  She didn’t look away; she met his gaze with eyes that reminded him just how old she actually was. She sounded so tired.

  “You need to understand that not everything will go your way, you will fail, you will fall, you’ll be hurt and humiliated. If you can’t take those blows and learn from them, you’ll never become a Traveller, let alone an Explorer.”

  “None of us expect you two to become Travellers, you have plenty of other options that will still lead to a happy, meaningful and fulfilling life. We’ll all be just as proud of you if you choose to become bookkeepers instead of Travellers.

  “And even if you don’t take the trial, you can still become a Traveller, it will just take longer, so I beg you… don’t die. Please.”

  A sob from Grandma stopped her from saying any more. Lara quickly crossed the carriage to hug Grandma, bursting into tears of her own.

  The rest of the trip involved a lot of hugs, tears, and reassurances that they would be careful. Neither of them had seen Grandma so worried before. She’d always been an unshakable pillar of support in their lives.

  Hearing the genuine concern in her voice as she practically begged them to be careful shook Felix to his core. He could tell that Lara wasn't handling it any better.

  By the time they neared the docks, the constant patter of lizard feet and gentle rocking as the wheels skipped over cobblestones had soothed the worst of their worries.

  Still, they didn’t move back to their seats; all three of them squeezed into one side of the carriage. Wishing the trip would take just a little bit longer so they didn’t have to part.