The remainder of my mothers' vacation time flew by. I continued my training with Hungerford, who pitted me against Gisel in a number of different sparring matches. It was good to have someone of my own size to train with, although I did acquire a number of, reasonably minor, injuries. She was not as skilled, or didn't hold back perhaps, like Hungerford did. As Lissa was with us, that wasn't a problem. She healed me when needed, although for the bruises and small stuff she said I could recover as nature intended.
Gisel, now with new clothes, including as set of light armour and even more straps to hold even more knives provided by our giant blacksmith, was a good match for me.
She was a little older, and quite a lot stronger than I was, and her agility was just about a match for me, even using my wind magic. I could beat her up close, especially with swords, but she usually beat me when we were in a distance fight, although I think if I had been allowed to use more powerful magic, that wouldn't have been the case. Hungerford was really good at creating different scenarios though, which didn't give either of us too big an advantage.
"You need to be flexible," he lectured. "It could be that you can't rely on magic for some reason, which means you will have to figure out other ways to overcome problems. Do not fall into the trap of narrow thinking. Always try and have a backup plan, and use different skills and methods. Outwit an enemy however you can, even if it means striking unexpectedly."
"Isn't that rather dishonourable?" I asked.
For way of reply, he spat on the ground. "That for honour. The only thing you need to do is be the one who can walk away. And if that means running from a fight, do that. If you live, you can try again. Dead, well, that's it."
Sound advice, which actually matched my philosophy.
Freia wasn't in total agreement though.
"But the honour of a warrior is something that contributes to their standing!" she complained.
"If you are speaking of promises made, and so forth, I don't disagree," Hungerford replied. "Even in a practice bout, there is room for honour. For real war, for a real, to the death fight though, the winner takes all. Don't forget that."
Freia made a face, but nodded. She was still young enough to fall for the bard's tales of glory, I suspected. No doubt if I was only as old as my body, I would be the same. Experience was the one thing that changed your outlook, and I carried mine from my previous life.
I did see Marie once more, but I arranged it so I didn't have 'time' to run around and play with her. She was still too young to interest me, but it's always good to put in some groundwork for when that wouldn't be the case. So I met her and took her to the baker's, and bought her a few cakes and treats, and also one for her brother this time.
She was very excited to have these. I had the feeling her family wasn't so well off, and couldn't afford such things. I added a few more baked goods, and told her to give them to her mother, apparently her father was no longer in the picture, and she promised she would.
As a final gesture of goodwill, I also gave her my small purse of holding as a present. I never really used it, as I had my larger bag. She was thrilled with that, and gave me a kiss on the cheek as a reward. I took that as a promise of more to come when we were older, and breathed a little harder at the thought.
And so the time to return to the academy grew close.
Hungerford drove us mercilessly in our final few days of training, running us ragged with exercises and drills for most of the day. I went to bed exhausted each night. I think Gisel felt the same too.
And finally the day came.
"We're ready," Lissa called, from the wagon.
Gisel, having already said goodbye to Freia and Hungerford, climbed aboard. She was wearing her new armour, and no doubt had about five hundred knives strapped about her person.
I turned to Freia, who was standing next to Hungerford to see us off. Why not? I thought. I ran to her and hugged her.
"Hey!" she said, shocked at first, but then relented and hugged me back, kissing me on the head before pushing me away. "Go on, you pervert," she said, but in a nice tone.
Guess I've been made then.
Stepping to the side, I gave Hungerford a deep bow. "Thank you master, for all your training."
"I've only just started," he said. "Next time I'm not going to be so soft, so you better keep in shape."
"I will master." With another bow to both of them, I grinned widely and blasted myself upwards with my wind magic. I did a backwards summersault high in the air, and landed on the seat of the wagon, next to Lissa, who gave me a clip around the ear for it.
Still, worth it.
~ * ~
It felt like a totally different journey to when I had arrived. Of course, the main difference was that Gisel was with us, which meant I had someone to talk to other than my mothers. She enjoyed sitting on the back of the wagon, legs swinging back and forth, looking at the scenery go by, which was understandable, given that this was her first real venture into human lands, other than the village a few of times.
Lissa and Rath were both in a good mood as well. I'm sure they both loved being on the farm, but both of them were still fairly young, and they were used to a life of travel and adventure, and I think they were a bit restless. Maybe they were only staying at the academy because of me. I resolved to have a discussion about this with them at some point. They shouldn't be held back from enjoying life whilst they could. I would say you only live once, but that may be a little hypercritical coming from me.
Halfway through the first day of travel, as I sat next to Gisel looking at the world go by, I frowned.
"Mother?" I called back to Lissa, who was busy cooking something on the travel stove.
"What is it sweetie?" she asked.
"Are we going the same way as before?"
"Aren't you the observant one now? No, the road we usually travel on is being repaired. It took some damage after the snow last winter, so we're using another route, this one is further north, but it should be nearly as fast. You may even get to spot the Great Lake at one point. It's north of El, and the Demon realm lies on the other side."
"I thought the Demon lands were north of Silfen?"
"Well, the two are connected, so I've heard. However, the lands north of Silfen are wilder, according to what people have told me, and just inhabited by scattered tribes here and there. Whereas the Demon Realm, to the east of them is actually ruled by the head demon, king, whatever they have, and more organised. Perhaps there is more than one realm actually. I don't really know a lot about that area.
"I see." I mulled over the geography that I knew. For example, the forest where Gisel's village was located apparently ran for many leagues north, and was unclaimed by any human or near-human ruler. To the west of that, and to the current north of us, was the Great Lake. On its western shore was the vast mountain range called the Dragon's Teeth, and on the north shore, then, was the Demon Realm.
"Have you ever been to the Demon Realm?" I asked Gisel.
She shook her head. "No, my tribe occasionally moves within the forest, but I think we tend to stay close to the southern edge. My father said that deeper in there are too many dangerous beasts."
"Good to know. I shall avoid taking any picnics there."
We camped before sundown, a little early, so Rath explained, but this was the best spot for a while. It was a clearing a little distance from the road, hidden behind a small hill.
The night passed uneventfully, and we set off early the next morning. Before very long we crossed a stone bridge that spanned a decent sized river flowing south.
"This comes from the Great Lake," Rath informed me, and heads down through El to flow into the Eastern Sea. Just south of that is Freehaven, where your mother was born. We shall visit there one day."
"I would like that," I said.
The journey continued, along a fairly narrow road, which consisted mostly of packed dirt, and was hence rather less comfortable than the paved one we had come the other way on.
About midday though, the wagon stopped.
"Hello?" I heard Lissa say, and scrabbled forward to see what was going on, followed by Gisel. Rath had jumped out of the back.
"Please..." the man on the road was saying. "Please, help!"
The fellow was obviously in bad shape. He was, maybe, in his thirties, with dark hair and a matching beard, dressed in a fairly simple cream tunic and brown breeches, with practical looking strong boots. He was only armed with a knife at his side, which was a fairly common thing in this world.
However, his tunic was stained with a large amount of blood. As we watched he fell to his knees, gasping for breath and holding his stomach.
Lissa showed no hesitation. She jumped down and approached the man. "Hold still," she ordered.
I looked left and right. Was this an ambush? It didn't seem likely, but you could never tell. Perhaps I should say something. Then I saw Rath, off to one side. She had her hand on her sword hilt, and was scanning the area with keen eyes. Of course my mothers were not that naïve, they would consider such a thing.
Lissa said her healing prayer, holding the man still until she finished. I saw the goddess's white mana converge on the wound area, and he gasped in both shock and relief, and collapsed to the ground.
"Thank you Blessed!" he said. "Thank you!"
"You are welcome," Lissa replied. "We are all the Mother's children after all. Now, tell me, how did this happen?"
His question seemed to jog the memory of the man, who sat up urgently once more. "Please!" he said. "You have to help! Our village is under attack by monsters! Children have been snatched, and people have been hurt and killed. We are a small village, with only a few guards, they can't cope. We urgently need assistance."
"Where are you based?" Rath said, stepping forward.
The man jerked, not having spotted her before, but quickly recovered. "We are just to the north, by the coast. A small fishing community, a bit of farming. They came out of the forest to the east. It's only about an hour by wagon, maybe less."
Lissa and Rath exchanged glances, and then nodded at each other.
"Very well," Rath said. "Get on board the wagon, you can guide us."
"Thank you, thank you!" the man wailed.