I woke up to the delightful smell of bacon and eggs. And coffee. Juan was cooking on the side of the fire. I sat up, looking around for Arilyn, and my heart sank; she and the troupe were gone. There were no signs they had even been there. Several feet away, Harper sat up, stretching, her hair tangled in her horns. She looked sleepily at the fire, then at the lack of other people.

  “Ah, Juan?” she yawned and asked. “Where are our new friends?”

  “Obviously, they left before any of us woke up. They filled our packs with food and drink, yet it looks like we were the only ones here. There were some eggs on top, so I figured I’d cook them first,” Juan said cheerfully and took a sip of the coffee in his cup. “And there was coffee. I haven’t had coffee in months.”

  I got up and joined them groggily at the fire. Juan plated up the food, handing out portions of breakfast. I let mine cool for a moment. “Is this normal, people vanishing without a trace?” I asked.

  “Not really, New Guy,” Harper replied with a yawn. “People tend not to disappear unless there are old magics about or—”

  “Finn, I saw you talking to the leader of the troupe last night. What did you two talk about, chico?” Juan asked plainly.

  I looked between the two of them, suddenly feeling uneasy. “I… Missana told me a story about Mages. The dangers of their particular type of magic. Worse, she told me how dangerous they get over time.” Something about her name nagged at me. Something I should have remembered.

  Juan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that was the Missana? The Storyteller?” He put his plate down, his hand shaking. “That explains…” he trailed off. Harper had placed her fork down and was now looking at me in surprise and concern.

  “Yes, she said her name was Missana, the storyteller. What’s wrong with you guys?” I asked suddenly very concerned.

  Juan shook his head. “Missana the Storyteller is a Goddess, chico. Pretty sure I mentioned her before. I’ve heard of people meeting her on the road, but the Gods usually leave our kind alone. They pretty much just stay away from people. Did she give you anything? There weren’t any deals or powers offered, were there?” he asked.

  My jaw dropped, and I remembered the conversation with Juan about the Gods that meddled.

  I replayed the night in my mind. I had been in the presence of a Goddess? The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. why I had been acting… unconcerned about a lot. The entire thing had been, well, strange. Arilyn. Oh God. I had never been so comfortable, or touchy-feely, with a girl the first time I met her. And everything she asked me, I had just rushed to tell her. She could have asked me anything, and I would have told her or tried to find out. But when she'd kissed me, that was different. Like it was genuine, more real, than how it felt to be asked and to answer her questions. Why did that stick out in my memory?

  Then I thought about Missana, and how I hadn’t hesitated to answer all of her questions. And that story. Was that going to happen to me? I really didn’t want power like that. I just needed to go home. “For the story, I agreed to owe her a favor. Is what she said true? Am I going to become a monster?” I asked. It was all a little too much. What the hell was going on with this world that gods just walked up to people and shot the shit with them?

  Juan was quiet for a moment, nodding. He stared into his coffee as if the words he needed hid in its depths. “A favor. You owe one of the gods... a favor,” he said. The worry in his voice was momentary as he lifted his cup with a smile. “Did you know coffee was not native to this world? The story is that it just showed up. First one bush, then another. One of our predecessors recognized it and began cultivating the bushes. Started the entire industry. Now there are several coffee farms and several blends,” he said before taking another slow sip. “Of all the things we’ve done to this world, this is the one most think of as an excellent addition to society.”

  I looked at the old man, confused. “Juan, what does this—”

  He held up a piece of bacon to shush me. “It’s hard to tell sometimes if a choice is going to have good outcomes or bad. I think there are many who will choose to fear you simply because you are a Mage," Juan said solemnly. "Over the days we have spent on the road together, I have come to see you not wanting power for power’s sake. While I hope that will make a difference, I don’t know if it will. The only Mage I knew died before she really showed any signs of power-hungry madness,” Juan said, scratching his head with his free hand.

  Harper interjected as the old Ranger ate the piece of bacon still in his hand. “The point is, New Guy, we don’t know what causes Mages to go all mental. From every story I’ve heard about them, Mages go mad with power, using it to plunge this world into multiple dark ages. Unless they die first.” The pained look on her face drove home how bad this was.

  Juan sighed. “I’m sorry, Finn. I really wanted to keep this off your radar until I knew for sure what was going to happen. Did Missana give you any clues or things to watch for? Can you tell us what you remember?” he asked.

  I told them what I could recall of the story. I think it was all of it. In the end, I remembered what the god had added. “Missana said that she didn’t know if a serpent or demon approached the mages, or if it was because of the magic. It sounds kind of biblical to me, but I just don’t understand it.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “A serpent, huh?” Juan puzzled, “Could be some sort of deception or outside influence, or maybe a Wyrm. Could she have meant the old magics? Or the magic specific to the Mage class?” His question seemed directed to himself.

  I finished eating my now-cold breakfast while the old man pondered. He was still sitting by the fire, deep in thought, after I had cleaned my plate in a nearby stream and brought it back to him.

  “We’re going to need some help on this one. Hey Harper, is Eric still at the Royal Library of Kathelon?” Juan said, raising his voice.

  Harper had just finished getting the horses ready. “He was the last time I went through Alsiger,” replied Harper. “But I’d rather not be around him if I can avoid it. He makes me feel gross. That eye of his is always watching me.” She shuddered.

  Juan looked up with annoyance. “Harper, I’ve told you multiple times. Ever since he lost his glasses, his lazy eye hasn’t got the correction it needs. He can’t help it. Trust me, if his wife ever caught him looking at another woman, she’d knock his other eye out of whack. And with as much as his mind is in books and research when she’s not right there, I doubt he notices most people unless he’s directly talking to them.”

  “It’s just creepy. I swear it moves independently of the other.” Harper shuddered again. She finished checking the straps and started a once-over of the camp. “Tonight, New Guy, you’re going to help me with the horses. You need to learn how to take care of your own mount.”

  “Okay, I know very little about horses. But GB and I are getting tight.” I replied.

  “GB? Short for Gonna Bite It? That's... original. You should leave naming animals to me,” Harper replied dryly.

  The Kingdom of Kathelon was on our way and only a few hours’ journey from where we started the day. Yet it would take us a few days to reach the capital city of Alsiger, deeper within the Kingdom's borders. Kathelon was named after the first ruler of the country, King Kath. Not the best way to name a kingdom, but who am I to judge? Most towns back home had been named in honor of a founding member or an older town. New York, for example. Or the ridiculous number of towns named Dwight, spanning from New England to North Dakota. There’s like eight of them. So far.

  We rode through small towns sporting maybe one or two inns; the towns got larger as we approached the capital city. We stayed at inns where I got curious looks, or at least I thought they were directed at me. Harper was unusual enough, so I hoped I just another guy in a poncho. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen a single person wearing a poncho. I hoped my clothes did not suggest my class. By the time we were within spitting distance of Alsiger, I understood the sensation that had been missing since I’d arrived in this world. It was a longing for the hustle and bustle of crowds, buildings close together, and the comforting hum of thousands of people living their lives on top of each other.

  The increase in traffic since the first Kathelon town was nice too, and I realized the lack of people traveling on the same road as us had made me uneasy. I was, in a way, returning to my roots. The city packed with people was a place I knew how to fit in. Granted, I could deal with camping out for a three-day weekend, of course, but I had been doing it for much longer than that. It honestly was eating at me and I needed to be somewhere normal.

  The capital city did not disappoint. The gates through the city walls slowed us down, as we had to get in line to be checked and let through. And the crowds! It was a delightful mass of people moving through the city like they were the lifeblood of a gigantic beast.

  There was such a variety of people, humans and… elves maybe? I was unsure. I hadn’t a clue about the other species moving through the city either. Yet the metropolis had a variety of people and none of the bullshit from home. It was like the collection of different neighbors made people not care about race.

  I remembered something from the psychology class I had taken to fulfill a credit requirement, regarding in-groups and out-groups. The class had also discussed the different levels of in-groups, like family to neighborhood, neighborhood to side of town, side of town to the whole town. And so on to the level of country. Each level saw others outside of their group as enemies at worst, to friendly rivals at best. At least, that was one of my main takeaways.

  The comfortable rhythm of being in an urban setting was easy to fall back into, and I followed the others through the streets, not staring at anyone or anything. I noted only the turns we took and any interesting shops. There was one that looked familiar. I think it said something about houses going boom or booming houses.

  We passed inn after inn, most sporting odd and suggestive signs, and headed deeper into the capital city. The buildings were nice at the entrance to the capital city, but they became nicer the farther we went. We kept going until I didn’t see shops, just residences. Fancy fencing and gates did nothing to hide the opulence of most of the buildings.

  We finally came to a massive building without a gate, with several guards and a stable. Juan led the way to the stable, but the guards stopped him.

  “Are you on official business, sir? This is the Royal Library and is off limits to anyone unauthorized,” asked the guard with the coolest hat. It had a wide, curved brim and a collection of the most colorful ostrich feathers I had ever seen.

  Juan sat straight in his saddle and looked down at the guard. “I am Juan Santino Venegas, Hero of the Dew-Kissed Rose, General-at-large of the Allied Army of the 12 Kingdoms, Master of the Three Bows of Harmon,” he said with an authority that hadn’t been present in the time I’d known him. “Captain, I am here to meet with Eric the Wise, Wizard and Researcher to the Royal Court.”

  “Do you have any proof of what you say, sir?” asked the captain, who looked politely dubious.

  Juan, keeping his eyes on the guard, put his hand out and pulled a gorgeously carved bow of black wood, crackling with electricity. The eyes of all the guards widened, recognizing what I guessed was a unique and legendary bow.

  The guard captain, and all the other guards, saluted with a fist to their chest plates. “Thank you, General Venegas. You and your retainers are welcome to leave your horses with the stable hands. Please allow me to escort you to Wizard Eric,” said the now respectful Captain of the Guard.

  Juan’s bow disappeared into his inventory, and he replied with his own hand-to-chest salute, “Thank you, Captain.” Harper and I dismounted after Juan did and handed our reins off to the waiting teenagers before following him and the Captain.

  Harper looked at Juan's and my simple clothing and then at her higher quality outfit with a huff. “I’m not the one who looks like a retainer here,” she muttered indignantly.

  we use the internet when we need answers... but still!