Thandre looked at his home and realised he'd let it so as much as he had himself. The cabin had become nearly derelict. The headache had mostly faded now and so he set to work repairing the bones of the building and clearing the clutter collected over a hundred years. The cabin was the only building in the halves with a yard in the back. Mostly because it was built around him, oh people from the city had come over the years but they had always left quickly and only a few ever tried again. It got to the point where evicting him was simply too much hassle.
He missed the forest, the way the light used to filter through the leaves onto the forest floor. He missed living off the land and he missed Derys. He remembered how his beloved would spend hours making their arrows, despite Thandre telling him time and time again that he could just create them in seconds. Derys would shake his head at that and call it disrespectful to their prey. It had been a beautiful time.
Caught in his memories he set the pink mist swirl through the building. When he opened his eyes an hour later everything was how it had been. The table Derys had made stood proud with half-finished arrows cluttering the surface, He had gotten too lost in time again. He grabbed the arrows and tossed them into the fire. They burnt well and Thandre climbed into a bed-mounted with soft furs and skins. He slept without dreams, which was something to be thankful for, they normally just broke his heart after waking. As he slept a soft blue figure drifted up through the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, it gently stroked Thandre's face. Its sorrowful eyes staring at the burnt remnants of the arrows in the fire. " Oh, my foolish love." Derys stayed there silently guarding Thandre's dreams for as long as it could before being pulled back in by that wretched seal.
He awoke to a knock on his door and looked through the window. It was still dark and easily an hour till dawn. He could already feel the queue of magic snaking its way around his home. They had camped out overnight, well the impatient hopefuls could wait. Thandre needed to eat but there was no food in the pantry, it shouldn't have surprised him. His stomach growled after decades of neglect and he had an idea. He opened the door, hundreds of eyes looked up at him. Ofrin was stood waiting, with Shae at his side.
" You're too early. Go bring me breakfast, I'll see you for the tests at dawn." In truth Thandre didn't need tests, he could tell exactly what they were capable of with a look, but it was all part of the experience, feeling like they had earned their place. Ofrin turned on his heel and vanished with Shae skittering behind him. Since he was awake Ofrin began to scan his eyes over the overly eager hopefuls. He was ashamed to say he didn't recognise any of them. He barely recognised dear Agretina, she had changed so much with time, mortals were so excruciatingly fragile. He could remember her as the sickly child that needed so much healing, then as the headstrong young woman who constantly wanted to rebel, then a frantic mother with a brood of children. She remembered still, with fierce loyalty she remembered. It was difficult for a man like him to admit that he had been failing in his duties for so long. He had become a hermit surrounded by people.
Across the Halves, Ofrin was seething and Shae was trying to calm him down. She wasn't having much luck, Ofrin was tired of the witchfather. He positively loathed the man, and now he was being forced to bring him breakfast. "It's just a part of the test Offy. Apprentices do need to do tasks for their Masters. Gilly up in the bakery is always saying..." She trailed off as they reached the early morning market of the Halves. " Gilly. You still speak to him?" Ofrin grabbed her wrist his face twisted in rage. " That half-breed ogre mutt! I told you not to speak to him." He was virtually growling at her now. His grip was starting to hurt. Shae knew bringing up Gilly was a mistake it always made him so angry when she talked to other boys. " Only when he serves me at the Bakery. He's nice, he sometimes gives me those little cakes to share with Mae. Not good ones mind, the ones that got a little burnt." Shae was rambling, trying to pull her arm free, but his nails were now digging into her arm.
Nobody in the marketplace was likely to help. Ofrin's moods were well known around here and most people had long given up on trying to interfere. His more aggressive tendencies didn't just end up injuring Shae. Most thought it best that he take it out on the foreign girl. Better her than one of their own. Old Aggie would sometimes come up to her and advise her gently to stop spending time with the boy, but the old woman just didn't see it. Ofrin was a good man and most of the time he was gentle, kind and sweet to her. She just had to stop making him angry, that was all. It was her fault he got like this. Ofrin said so himself. His nails began to draw blood and Shae cried out in pain. She stopped trying to resist. He'd done worse when he was mad, this was nothing.
" He gives you gifts! You stupid little whore! Do you like making me look like a fool, is that it?!" Shae began to well up. " Offy stop, we need to hurry up or you'll be late back!" The young warlock looked up at the sky and could see the inky black of the night starting to ebb away. Shae's wrist was released from his steely grip and she subconsciously tugged the arms of her tunic down to cover the marks. " You better not have ruined this for me, Shae. I'm trying to do what's best for your future. Can't you see that?" He snapped but ran towards the nearest stall. Shae trudged along behind him. She knew he wanted what was best for her, it wasn't his fault she kept making all of these stupid mistakes. She would have to avoid Gilly, Ofrin would be keeping an eye on her more now. He had to, to protect her.
The smell of freshly baked bread wafted up from the hastily wrapped parcel and Shae's stomach growled. Ofrin glowered at her, they were only a few streets away and the sky was beginning to change colour. Shae was running out of breath, she could do short sprints but the cold dawn air was burning her lungs like ice fire. " Go on ahead Offy, I'll catch up." she panted. He didn't say anything but grabbed her wrist and dragged her along. She winced as he did so, it was still sore from before. Ofrin even through his rage wouldn't let Shae miss this glorious first step to his future. Once he was chosen it would prove that he was the best possible match for her.
When they arrived the selection process has already begun. The Witchfather was going through the line of applicants pulling each one away from the group. Most he was sending away but now and then he would return one to the line. Thandre no longer felt like wasting time. Five hundred people were waiting and he had decided to weed out those with little to no magic quickly. He smelt the approaching food and left his inspection. It was hard to read the warlock with the witch so close. He took the parcel with thanks and separated them a little distance would do the trick. As he pulled them apart his eyes drifted to the tiny blooms of red staining the girls blue top. He suddenly became somewhat rougher with his handling of the warlock, dragging him a few meters away from the girl.
He wasn't surprised to find that there was almost no magic to the lad. there was a spark, but it was weak. It was obvious to Thandre that he used the girl to hide it and had made himself some kind of leader to the younger generation. From the queue, necks craned to stare, he could feel them prickling at his skin. there was an air of expectation and anticipation. The boy should have been given to the wizards. Charisma, cunning and raw brutality were nearly as important as magic in that world.
" Go home, Lad." With those words, Ofrin's rage drew to a tipping point. Even though she was behind him Thandre knew the girl had flinched. "Let's go, Shae. The old quack doesn't know anything." Ofrin barked. It was Shae's fault, she made him late, made him fail. When they got home he would have to teach her another lesson. He swivelled and walked away, Shae started to run after him. " I only told him to leave, girl you stay." Shae faltered at the words and turned to face the Witchfather. The warlock turned his face has a deep red and the veins bulged on his temple. " Let's go, Shae. You weren't here to apply." Ofrin repeated. The girl looked down holding her wrist. " I want to stay. For us. It's good if one of has a chance isn't it?" She was stumbling over her words in a soft pleading voice. Her eyes were begging Ofrin to calm down. One small rational part of his brain forced him to regain some composure. " We either both stay or both leave." He said to the Witchfather, trying to make himself stand taller than the other man. It was useless posturing. Thandre was easily over 6 feet tall whereas Ofrin measured in about 5'4 if he wore the boots with the thick soles. The air shifted and Thandre's voice changed from calm and indifferent to the hard cold voice of the day before. Everyone felt things change in the air as if dawn was retreating. " Go home, Warlock." With just that Ofrin's eyes glazed over and he began to walk away without a word or rage-filled glance. " Go inside girl and treat that arm. There are bandages in the crate under the table. Come back out when you are done." Warmth flooded back into Thandre's voice and the dawn re-emerged from hiding.
The lad had been useful to the show, some of his followers, mostly young witches ran run after him. However, the girl had stayed, although that might be because he hadn't entirely let the trance leave his voice when he sent her inside. He was almost fascinated by the warlock. He had met rabbits with a stronger affinity to magic. If it weren't for the hair the boy could have passed near unnoticed in regular human society. He turned back to the queue, continuing to whittle down the choice for the second apprentice. It was going to be a long day and once the trance wore off that boy... Ofrin? would be back. Thandre wasn't looking forward to it