Lone Gold, Daring Purple ✓ | Sorcerers, framed, runaway

13: Cut some pie called 'slack'.

"Ewww!" Wescherlie said. "Ewww! But there's no icky drool."

"She's glad you're safe. Yilna," Precense called and his wolfish Faud jumped up in the air and turned into a wisp of yellow and black smoke. The smoke swirled around Cypur for a moment before slipping back inside Precense. He grunted when it entered and raised a brow at Cypur.

"Was that...the Faud things that Sorcerers have?" Wescherlie shook her head as if trying to fling something from her face although there was no drool to fling. "And stop dallying and dillying, Precense." She glared at him as he calmly smirked. "You have to tell us about yourself, or I'll kidnap your Faud."

"I'd like to see you try," he said as Wescherlie narrowed her eyes at him. Then he let out a long sigh and stretched his arms back over his head. "It's quite a complicated story how I got here. I used to be a prodigy. Well, I guess I still am, but I'd rather not be. It led me to exile. Three things contributed to this fate.

"First, getting a Faud early, at ten, believe it or not, before I even knew the basic spells. I became a Junior at thirteen surpassing everyone. I was a debate master already, taking classes and attending lectures only for Scholars," He turned to Wescherlie, "that's the next up after Junior."

"I know how Sorcerer ranks work!" She huffed, but then whispered, "So what's after Scholar?"

"Professor," Cypur said. "Precense is now a Professor."

"Of course, I knew that! But Professor doesn't always mean teacher, right? That always confused me." Wescherlie leaned her elbows on the table and Precense continued.

"Like many young males of the Junior rank, I turned to bounty hunting. Joined a union, I still have the cape with the insignia on it. Talent made me their leader for a while. I worked for many top Sorcerers including the notorious Alsinda, at the time. Helped capture Kathula. I regret it now. As you know, possession of Kathula after the Great Sigh—"

"Ugh, that's such a stupid name!" Wescherlie butted in.

"—when the powerful scepter was used to wish for peace. So then hunting Kathula became illegal, and it was put on my record."

Precense pursed his lips now and dropped his head with a shake of his head. "Male love was the last straw. I was barely aware of it. Witnesses say I was watching a certain Sorcerer a lot." He shrugged. "I was just thinking at the time, it would be nice if I knew him as much as he knew me. Because who doesn't know the male with the twice-name?"

"Do twice-names happen a lot?" Wescherlie asked, toying with her hair. "I haven't heard many."

"It's a bit old fashioned," Precense said with a light chuckle. "I once knew a female called Ervrilian ti Vrilian-Ervrilian Varilian."

"Er, what?" Wescherlie stuck out her tongue. "Makes me tongue-tied just hearing you say it. Tongue-tied to the place of no return," She smacked her lips, "well, semi-no return."

Precense is a male-lover like me? Cypur was thinking as Precense and Wescherlie made fun of twice-names. He never expected a Sorcerer to even admit he was a male-lover.

"Anyway," Precense met Cypur's eyes, "that's all me. As I said, we're alike, you and me. So, where are you off to? She told me as much as Zarkentauf, but—"

"But we need a Zarkizoff to get into Zarkizoff, right?" Wescherlie asked.

"Zarkentauf," Cypur corrected her, "Yeah, that's the rule."

Precense tapped his fingers on the table. "You can try Priviturn Lake. There's an old lady there living at the cusp of included and exiled. She used to live in Zarkentauf, from what I've heard. You would go northward through the woodland and eventually arrive at the rocky border. I could take you there. I know a backstreet kind of way."