The Ether-Knight's Lessons

1

.^^ Castle Bacchus ^^

— Idun —

"Mithril... Why does it always have to be Mithril that gets us? Why not something rarer, like... I don't know, Plutonium? Sigh..." I leaned back, cheekily jingling my shackles at my growling Luddite Cage-Mate.

"Quiet down back there! We're at the checkpoint!" The driver banged the metal cage next to my head.

I snorted derisively. "And I care... Why?"

The cart creaked to a stop, and a border soldier barked at us. "Halt! Papers?"

"Yeah." The driver handed him a wooden disk engraved with the Mage Council's emblem, filled with silver, as well as the identification of all the guards and prisoners.

The soldier hummed, and handed them back after glancing at the papers and us quickly, to verify we matched. "Alright, I'll signal your purpose. Drive slow, no sudden moves, you'll be fine. Good luck."

As we started forward, he lit a fire with his hands, and then burnt a few chemicals in the brazier, sending up a cloud of blue smoke, the universal signal for 'Mage Business, as in, None of Yours'.

The soldiers on the other side of the border checked our papers as well, and then waved us through, after a much more thorough search of the carriage.

We creaked off again, and crested the raised land that meant we were no longer in Deutschland, the land I'd lived in all my life.

Simultaneously, we saw the Portal, situated at the top of a mountain in the distance, and I curled into myself, shivering.

The driver noticed, and chuckled. "All that bravado, gone like that, huh? You scared of a little portal? Or what's behind it?"

I shook my head. "It's what's not behind it that bothers me, and the distance it puts between me and my home." I answered honestly.

He hummed, nodding. "I guess... eh, don't worry, you'll be back home in a few years, luck like yours."

I blinked at him. "Luck like mine? What do you mean?"

"You evaded the Mage Council's Hounds for two years, while performing as a Street Magician in Berlin, the capital of the biggest country in the world. You've got the Devil's Luck, if I'm any judge. You'll be fine." He smirked.

"Maybe." I shrugged, and leaned my back against the bars as he whistled, and the Ether Heart pushed the carriage faster, making the several dozen miles between us and the portal whip by.

—

I hit the ground, too exhausted to lift the weight of the heavy Mithril Chains, and I was pulled to my feet, and supported by the giant who'd shared my cage.

He glanced at me, and spoke with a light Deutsch accent. "Your chains are connected to mine, kleines mädchen. I do not want your weight dragging on my ankles, this is all."

I chuckled softly, and nodded. "Got it. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The driver handed the papers to a tall man who had appeared from thin air, and spoke softly to him. The tall man blinked at him, confused, and asked for clarification, though I couldn't read the driver's lips to see what about.