As the wagon continued on its way heading west, leaving behind the group of guilt-ridden merchants, Noa and Soreq sat quietly on the back observing their new companion. Seeming too weak to walk by himself, and too shocked by Noa’s words, the boy collapsed in the priest’s arms. Calling Donmus for help carrying the boy, the man came almost instantly, seemingly expecting to be called at any moment.

  Taking the unconscious boy back with them, as well as a small bag containing his few possessions, the group of merchants had no one protesting at the boy’s departure. Some people appeared to be relieved to be getting rid of the child, regardless of the method used for it, while others looked disappointed for not getting to burn him at the pyre.

  Upon reaching the rest of the group, Noa was met by a surprised Soreq, who watched confused as Domnus unloaded the boy into the back of the wagon, as if the boy had almost no weight at all.

  “Is this what you meant by helping them?” - giving the priest a questioning look, Soreq moved to the inside of the wagon, as Domnus took the reins, ready to go - “Care to explain?”

  “I will, just not here…” - throwing a glance to the other group’s wagons being slowly moved from the road, as a few of the members of the other group gave them curious looks, Noa knew they should put some distance between them before speaking anything.

  Sitting on the back of the vehicle, the priest watched over the boy as he slept, carefully analyzing his condition. Despite looking to be older, the boy was seriously emaciated, his worn out clothes looking baggy and almost falling apart in some areas. It was clear that the rest of his group either didn’t care about him, or were the ones responsible for his current sorry state.

  Around his mouth and wrists, the marks from where the rope was used to bind and gag him could clearly be seen, his pale skin red and bruised. It took almost a full hour on the road before Noa called out to Soreq, who stayed in the front, to join him inside.

  “Ready to talk now?” - failing to hide his curiosity due to his young body, Soreq was clearly begging to be filled in to the details of what had happened.

  “Take a seat,” - motioning towards the space beside him, Noa took a deep breath - “we have to talk…”

  With Soreq listening carefully, the priest began recalling the details of what he had seen with the merchant group. The pyre, the furious people, and their story about how the boy had ‘used a dark mist to scare off the wolves’. Upon reaching this final detail Soreq’s eyes widened, and he turned to face the unconscious boy almost as if looking at him for the first time.

  “So you believe that…” - Soreq began talking, silently inspecting the boy.

  “He’s one of us? Yes!” - gripping his hands together, Noa tried not to think of the life the boy must have had up to that point, as many just like him faced countless misfortunes due to not understanding their own abilities - “Probably doesn’t even know it.”

  “We didn’t know either at first.” - noticing the poor state of the boy's physical condition, Soreq started to understand his companion’s abrupt decision - “If you’re right, he’s lucky we found him in time.”

  “I’m positive about it.” - with his expression serious, the priest turned to look straight into Soreq’s eyes - “It was faint, but I could still feel the remains of his magic when I approached him.”

  “So what are your plans now?” - knowing there was little that could be done now that they had already taken the boy from his previous group, Soreq sighed deeply - “Take him back to the citadel and have him inscripted as an Apprentice?”

  “If he wishes to join the Children he might,” - realizing that his actions so far had only taken into account now allowing the boy to be killed unjustly, Noa had not thought seriously about what the next steps were going to be - “but at the very least he’ll learn how to control his power.”

  “Guess we better ask him then…” - Soreq turned to face the boy, who began wriggling as he started to wake up.

  Eyes blinking quickly, as his mind tried to understand where he was and what was happening, the boy suddenly tried to move away from the others, hitting his back on the wagon.

  “Wh-Who are you?” - fumbling his words, the boy began glaring at both Noa and Soreq - “Where are…”

  “Did you forget me already?” - trying to sound as serious and important as he did while speaking to the merchants, Noa leaned closer to the boy, staring straight into his eyes - “I’m the one that stopped you from being roasted alive!”

  “You… You said…”

  “That’s what you get by using necromancy in plain sight!” - he repeated the words once again, enunciating it slowly to ensure it’s importance would be understood - “And I meant it!”

  “It could be a lot worse, actually.” - breaking his silence, Soreq didn’t even try to pretend to be a normal child, speaking in his normal mature tone - “Have you seen what happens when those things are held in a city? People go crazy…”

  The boy seemed ready to run at any moment, his weak looking legs trembling as he didn’t seem to have the strength to move more than a few steps by himself, before collapsing again. Seeing through his intentions easily, Noa moved back, giving the boy a sympathetic smile.

  “What’s your name, child?” - sounding much more friendly than before, Noa observed as the boy appeared to have relaxed as he distanced himself from him.

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  “Doyle… My name’s Doyle…”

  “It’s nice to meet you Doyle,” - trying his best to smile, the priest offered his hand to the boy - “I’m Noa, and this is Soreq. You don’t have to worry, we meant you no harm.”

  “Where am I?” - cautiously accepting the man’s hand, Doyle kept glancing at Soreq through the corner of his eye.

  “This is our wagon, we’re headed west towards the dark forest.”

  “My stuff…” - getting up suddenly, and immediately falling as the movement of the wagon affected his balance, Doyle didn’t seem to mind the fall - “Where’s my stuff?”

  “Easy now…” - surprised by how easily the boy came down, and seeing the priest's worried expression, Soreq pulled the boy’s bag closer - “It’s all here!”

  Mumbling to himself, the boy began going through the almost empty bag, carefully checking each and every item on the inside. Appearing to be satisfied with what he found, after rechecking three times, Doyle sat again with his back against the wagon.

  “Why did you help me?” - staring directly at Noa, the boy seemed to be uneasy about the priest’s intentions - “You know nothing about me!”

  “I know you meant no harm to that girl, just as I know you have no idea how you scared off those wolves.” - seeing himself in the boy’s demeanor, his reluctance to trust others an almost common trait amongst his kind, Noa tried his best not to laugh - “Have you ever been saved by that black fog before?”

  “Yes…” - giving the priest a suspicious look, the boy reluctantly agreed - “Once a while ago, when my village was attacked by bandits.”

  “Let me guess,” - with a mischievous smile on his face, Noa once again leaned closer to the boy - “once the bandits touched the fog they froze, falling to the ground instantly, white frot in their mouths.”

  The boy’s eyes quickly widened, his expression turning into one of curiosity, realizing that the man in front of him knew what he had seen before.

  “How do you know that?”

  “That is called Poisonous Mist,” - Soreq spoke calmly, his voice sounding more like an old teacher giving a lecture than the voice of a child - “it’s quite commonly used by those still untrained when in dangerous situations.”

  “You mean you also…”

  “Have the same powers as you? Yes!” - gesturing for himself and Soreq, Noa could see in Doyle’s expression change a little from suspicious to relieved - “We both do!”

  “Gods…” - closing his eyes with a sigh of relief, the boy’s body relaxed completely for the first time since waking up - “I really thought I was going crazy for a moment…”

  “We all do.” - understanding completely what Doyle had been going through, Noa could see that the boy had a really good head on his shoulders, being able to keep calm despite everything - “I’m just glad we got to you before something worse happened!”

  “Yeah…”

  “Why were you travelling with those people anyway?” - not even trying to hide his disdain for the merchant’s group and its actions, Soreq talked almost as if the words itself were cursed - “It didn’t seem like they cared much for you…”

  “I just wanted to reach the dark forest…” - his shoulders dropping slightly as he spoke, Doyle appeared to feel ashamed of something, his hands thumbling nervously - “So when I saw a merchant group going that way, I begged them to let me join.”

  “Why not travel with your parents?” - already guessing the answer, Noa felt that it was safer to clear up any misunderstandings right away.

  “My mother’s dead, killed by the bandits.” - still looking down, Noa didn’t have to see the boy’s face to know he was trying his best to hold back his tears - “She used to tell me that my father lived in a city at the edge of the dark forest…”

  “So you decided to go there and find him.” - completing the boy’s words, Noa could sense the still immature thinking of the child, despite not judging him for it.

  Silently nodding, Doyle quietly cried as he rubbed the wounds around his hands, the sensation of pain finally returning now that his mind was not as alert as before. Opening one of the boxes of supplies, Noa pulled out a small bottle, offering it to the boy.

  “Here, it’ll help with the pain.”

  “What is it?

  “Firewater.” - while barely holding the bottle, the boy almost dropped it upon hearing about its content, which Noa gracefully avoided - “It’s the best that we can do while on the road. Once we set camp I’ll tend to your wounds, and get some food into you.”

  “Why are you doing all this?” - trying to smell the liquid inside the bottle, Doyle had doubts about the usefulness of the drink, despite having no better option.

  “We were once like you…” - getting up and starting to head towards the front of the wagon, Soreq stopped for a moment, reminiscing about times long past - “Confused and lost, barely escaping with our lives from those too scared to understand us…”

  “And what did you do?”

  “We learned!” - seeing Soreq leave without answering, Noa understood that Doyle was to be his responsibility to prepare and train, to the best of his current abilities - “And we got stronger.”

  Seeming satisfied with Noa’s answer, the boy took a big gulp from the bottle, frowning at the taste. It was only his second time tasting alcohol, and despite hating the taste both times, he couldn’t tell if this one was better or worse than the last. Only a couple of minutes later, he could be heard peacefully snoring, still hugging the bottle as he cuddled on the floor.

  Planning to ride for a few hours longer, in order to increase their distance from the merchant group, Soreq decided to take on guard duty. Happy to simply be able to lay down for a couple hours, Noa snuggled to a bag of supplies inside the wagon, quickly falling asleep while listening to the sounds of the creaking wheels.

  As he opened his eyes, darkness surrounded his entire body, his limbs feeling light as feathers, almost as if he was floating freely in the dark.

  “Soreq?” - he called out in vain, the sound of his voice seeming to disappear as soon as it left his mouth.

  “There you are.” - a strangely familiar voice spoke behind him, while a pair of pale arms wrapped itself around his neck - “I’ve been looking for you, my child.”

  “Who are you?” - feeling a chill spread to his body from the places where the stranger was touching his skin, Noa dared not to look back.

  “I’m the one who holds your fate, and I brought you a gift!” - as the arms around the priest's neck moved to the side, the stranger stopped in front of Noa’s eyes. With pupils black like a night sky full of stars, the strange voice wore Doyle’s face - “Now, come and devour me!”