When Valar had volunteered to guard the young woman, he hadn’t expected it to be this awkward. The woman, maybe 17 years of age, had been bound with her hands tied behind her back and ankles together. Valar had initially thought that they could travel on the wagontop he had read and rested on, but Viktor had crushed that idea immediately. They would be going double-time compared to the normal pace of the caravan, so the wind mage wanted both the captive and Valar inside the wagons.

  So that’s where they sat, inside the storage area of the second wagon. Both the young woman and Valar sat on chairs, although Valar’s position was much more comfortable due to the obvious lack of restraints around his body. She was staring at him, making the situation much more awkward than it needed to be. He really didn’t know what to say, or if he should say anything at all.

  “So…. What’s your name?”

  The woman just continued her staring contest with Valar, making him even more uncomfortable than he was already.

  “I’m Valar… Nice to meet you, bandit lady!”

  “Alyssa.”

  “That’s your name? Well then, nice to meet you Alyssa!”

  That seemed to be the end of their discussion, the woman turning her gaze down to the floor and proceeding to do her best avoiding eye contact with him. She had cried for a while, but had stopped shortly after they got into the wagon. It was understandable, her bandit group having been completely wiped out by the adventurer team outside. Even Valar, a teenage boy, was threatening in a situation like that.

  Valar didn’t try to open talks with the young bandit for no reason. He was confused on why a young woman like her, probably awakened within a year or two at the maximum, would stoop down to banditry. It wasn’t known for being a nice occupation to say the least, and fresh iron rankers had lots of opportunities—especially if they were interested in fighting. Gauging by her attire, she was.

  Getting to be an adventurer wasn’t hard. Even Valar knew that the guild provided prospects with training and internship opportunities. Adventuring wasn’t a popular job at the end of the day, as the mortality rate was quite a bit higher than normal jobs. Normal jobs wouldn’t get you to silver or even bronze rank though…

  “Why did you become a bandit?” Valar asked, his tone showing his genuine interest in Alyssa’s answer.

  Alyssa raised her gaze to meet Valar’s. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were full of rage, seemingly aimed at him.

  “Boy… Do you know who the man that attacked you was?”

  Valar shook his head, his eyes getting a haunted look for a brief second. That man’s final moments were drilled into his mind, and he wasn’t sure he could get them out even if he wanted.

  “That man’s name was Brian. To you he was a cruel and violent bandit that attacked you without cause,” Alyssa’s voice broke. “To me, he was my father.”

  Valar didn’t respond for a long time. In reality, he simply didn’t know what to say. He of course felt bad for the young woman, but to say that he felt sorry for the actions of his group? No… The bandits attacked us. It was an us or them situation, and the bandits were clearly out for our lives. When he responded, he tried to be as respectful as possible:

  “He died a quick death. I can’t promise you that it wasn’t painless, and I certainly am not sorry for it, but it was quick. There are worse ways to go, trust me.”

  To accentuate his point, Valar raised his hand and pointed at it. Alyssa cringed when she noticed the burn scars running up from his hand and disappearing into the sleeve of his shirt.

  “I’m not a child of nobility, Alyssa. I’m… I’m an orphan, so I think I can relate to your situation somewhat.” Valar took a deep breath. “Talk to me.. I want to understand you, and I want you to live past this day. There has been enough death for one day.”

  Alyssa looked into his eyes, searching. She was clearly hesitant and didn’t want to speak to a stranger, especially since that stranger was part of the group that killed her father. Still, she was bound and without any other company, heading for Rhondell’s prisons or even execution. She wanted to talk, so she did.

  Alyssa’s story wasn’t a peaceful or a pleasant one. Valar’s question on why a young woman like her ended up as a bandit was answered quickly, as both of her parents had been bandits when she was born.

  “My childhood was in these forests, although we visited Rhondell often to buy more supplies for the group. Those trips ended for me, when the guard caught my mother. I was six.”

  Alyssa hadn’t seen her mother since, and she didn’t even know if the woman was alive anymore. After that incident, the young woman’s father had turned cold, the love of his life jailed or even executed.

  He had started training the young Alyssa, often utilizing violent means to make the young girl obey his orders. She had been forced to train for years, and even killed her first victim when she was only 14 years old.

  “This was supposed to be the last attack… Father said that if we could get one more caravan, we could pay out our debts…”

  “Hang on, who are you indebted to?”’

  “Oh… We were only a small bandit group in the forest, but everything’s working around the bandit king.”

  Valar archived that piece of information in his mind. I don’t want the woman to die… She deserves a chance. Her path until now has been decided by her father, not herself.

  “When we get to Rhondell, be sure to inform the guard about this bandit king of yours. I’m not an expert on Leorian law—far from it—but I’d bet any information on the bandits’ leadership could lessen your sentence considerably.”

  For the first time in their discussion, the young woman’s eyes showed some hope. Her father and mother were probably both dead, but she saw a chance to see another sunrise. It was a chance that Valar was intimately familiar with. He didn’t have a lot of life experiences to lean on, but he had fought for his life. The hope of living another day gave everyone hope—some just took that hope for granted. They had not seen true danger in their lives, so they couldn’t understand the indescribable value of each and every day of life. He knew that value, and so did Alyssa.

  “Are you sure? Could that help me?”

  Valar just shrugged, a sad smile on his lips. No… I don’t know, but I don’t want her to die too. One family member is enough for today.

  He looked out of the enchanted window. Endless trees were turning boring fast. He was sure that they would be getting out of the forest soon, but it was hard to tell.

  Occasionally he would spot one of the adventurers dashing around the trees, Carla’s ice lances and Rodrick’s axe being easier to see than the others. They were hard at work, as beasts seemed to like the idea of a caravan quite a bit. It made a lot of sense though. He had wondered why there weren’t more caravans moving through the cities, but the need for adventurers seemed to be a critical one. Without team Cookie Sandwich, the caravan would have been destroyed ten times over.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The lack of silver or gold rank threats was interesting though, the forest famously infested by silver rank beasts with the occasional gold rank beast mixed in. He would need to ask Viktor or one of the adventurers about that.

  The boring forest view was suddenly replaced by open sky and fields, breaking both Valar and Alyssa out of their musings. Alyssa had been in deep thought, probably spending her time either remembering lost loved ones or planning for the future. Valar really hoped it was the latter option, the woman needing a lot of planning to live a normal life from this day onward.

  Even without reading the Leorian Society, Valar knew that banditry was a pretty serious crime. He assumed that most of the time, the lower ranked members would be imprisoned for many years, the higher ranked targets executed on the spot. Imprisoning a silver rank was already hard, only the central prison of Lyndale able to hold prisoners of that rank.

  Rhondell and Rosthorn had gold rank prisons, but if Valar remembered correctly, Alistair had told him that those prisons were only meant for important targets—those that had vital information and assets of similar value. Silver or gold rankers that were just bad people? Those were killed without mercy—bronze and especially iron ranks often getting lighter sentences instead. If Alyssa had knowledge to share, she could have a chance of getting out with a very small sentence, but Valar wasn’t sure. The only bases for these thoughts were the orphanage’s meager teachings and Viktor’s boring talk with Alistar—something that Valar hadn’t focused on overly much.

  “When we get to the city, I’ll try to talk to Viktor so that he can speak for you. I kind of relate to your situation, being newly awakened too and all…”

  The young captive froze, her eyes soon lighting up as she identified Valar. She had to do a double take, her eyes flashing with a white color once more, and the young woman’s jaw dropped. Her eyes flashed for a third time, Alyssa finally managing to form a coherent thought.

  “You… You’re awakened? How old are you, Valar?”

  “Somewhere between thirteen and fourteen. Can’t tell you the exact age though.”

  That left Alyssa even more shocked. This reaction was becoming a common sight for Valar, and he had to admit to himself that he was starting to enjoy it. Awakening so young was basically unheard of, although Viktor’s words when they were still in the city led him to believe that he wasn’t the only one. Still, he had awakened in pretty harrowing circumstances, and any enjoyment he got from them made them hurt a bit less.

  “If I may ask, how did you awaken so early? I only awakened some months ago when I turned seventeen,” Alyssa’s tone had both curiosity and envy as she asked her question. That made Valar want to tell her what he had gone through—clear the envy and replace it with something else.

  “Long story short, I killed both an iron rank and bronze rank beast while alone and unawakened. That left me awakening alone in the forest outside Lyndale with fatal injuries. I did all of that to escape the orphanage I was trapped in for the past ten years.”

  Venting out what had happened to a seeming stranger felt good. The only person who he had explained the whole situation to was Viktor, although Valar was not going to tell Alyssa about the fire like he did to the wind mage.

  Telling Viktor about his experiences had been necessary, but the man wasn’t relatable to Valar. He was an onyx ranker, able to erase a bronze rank man in a fraction of a second. Valar was at iron rank and had been powerless for his whole life. Alyssa felt more relatable to him, as she was powerless to affect her own path of life just like him. Strangely, he wasn’t sure if that was true for him anymore.

  Alyssa’s expression had turned from envy to pity and Valar wasn’t sure if he liked it. Envy had felt bad, making his own traumatic experiences seem like something good—something to be desired. Pity on the other hand… It amplified the trauma..

  “Stop looking at me like that. I don’t want pity,” Valar’s tone was harsher than he had intended, making Alyssa flinch.

  “What do you want then? My pity isn’t wanted, nor is envy. What do you want from me, Valar?”

  In truth, he didn’t know. The pity in Alyssa’s eyes had felt bad, as had the envy, but he had no idea on what he wanted. Valar had experienced trauma, largely unprocessed and ignored at the moment, but he had gained enormous potential. Valar didn’t want either of these things to be ignored in the face of the other.

  The discussion ended there, both the people in the wagon’s storage room immersed in their own thoughts. That didn’t last for long, as Viktor opened the wagon door some five minutes after Valar’s and Alyssa’s brief discussion. He had a calm expression, standing in the doorway—sunlight streaming through the person sized opening.

  Behind him was a dirt road, bordered by golden fields of grain. The fields seemed to extend to the horizon, Valar not seeing the forest’s edge anymore.

  “I think you two can come out now,” he said. “We are getting close to Rhondell and you deserve to see the walls from afar, Valar. The girl can come to the wagontop with you as we need to hand her to the guard after we arrive in the capital.”

  Valar hesitated a bit before answering, formulating his thoughts carefully. The boy didn’t want to seem pained by the day’s happenings—a brave front was important for him in many ways—but he still wanted Alyssa to have the best chance of making it out with a light sentence.

  “Viktor, could you vouch for Alyssa here when we reach the guards? I talked to her, and she seems to have grown into the bandit life more than chosen it. The man you killed… He was her father.”

  Viktor looked at Valar for a while, seemingly looking for something in his expression. After some time, he moved his gaze to Alyssa, his eyes fully emerald with little to no silver. Alyssa looked back, her eyes watery, but no tears falling.

  “I will not apologize to you, Alyssa. Your father, no matter how loving he was to you, tried to kill someone under my protection.”

  Alyssa gulped and stared at Viktor for a long time, eventually managing to nod mechanically. She was holding her demeaning and mean words to herself, mature enough to understand they would only cause her pain. She would probably never forgive Viktor, even if what he had done was in self defence, but she didn’t have to. Just acting polite for the moment was enough…

  “That being said, I am willing to give you a chance. If you are willing, you will come to the first wagon and talk with me for the rest of the trip, however short it is. If you manage to convince me, Alyssa, I will try to convince the guard in your stead.”

  The young woman didn’t think for long. She was undoubtedly in a tough spot, but the word of a caravan protector was quite a bit more influential than a captive bandit. The young woman and wind mage walked off together, Alyssa’s feet unbound as she climbed on top of the first wagon, Viktor following suit. After a bit of an awkward staring contest, the two started their discussion.

  Unfortunately, Valar wasn’t able to listen, the sound inaudible when it reached his ears on the second wagon. Watching the rolling fields wasn’t as exciting, but it was better than most of what Valar had been doing for his whole life, so he was satisfied enough.

  Valar didn’t have to look at the golden fields for long though as a welcome sight waited for him after the next hill. The golden fields were replaced by a great wall, the light grey stone reaching almost twenty meters high. This wall wasn’t a perfect circle like Lyndale’s, Rhondell being a way older city than the smaller settlement. The serpentine wall was absolutely massive, confusing Valar on how he hadn’t spotted it earlier.

  Only a few buildings were visible above the massive fortification around the city, the most prominent ones being the Rhondell cathedral and the royal palace. The cathedral was closer, its white peak reaching for the sky as if it was trying to reach the realm of light itself. The royal palace didn’t reach that high but was way more massive as a building. It was built of white stone and gold, an enormous Leorian flag flying atop its highest tower.

  Even from outside, Valar was left speechless by the enormity of the capital. While Lyndale had been impressive, it had been nothing compared to this titan of humanity. The city stole the gaze of the young boy, discussion between bandits and onyx rankers forgotten, irrelevant compared to the awe Valar was experiencing.

  I didn’t think I would ever see the capital… I wished for it, but never took it for granted. Now I’m looking at its walls, nearly ready to enter the prestigious academy within. It feels way too fast…

  He would be inexperienced compared to the other students, even common bakers knowing more about magic than Valar, but that didn’t discourage him. He had time to learn. Time to learn about life, his affinity. Time to learn more about himself.

  But if he was honest to himself, truly listening to his heart, Valar knew that his life affinity was merely an afterthought compared to something way more mysterious. Could I wield that fire once more? He wouldn’t need to cower behind others’ backs. Valar could fight his own battles. If only the fire didn’t burn his own body with his enemies.

  That would be nice too...