Rising of a Mage by J. M. Fosberg Page A

sir. I would have returned sooner, but I have been quite busy.”
    “Yes, your instructors say you are far ahead of your classes. I wanted to talk to you about that.”
    “Sir?”
    He smiled. “Mariah, your instructors say you are far beyond the abilities of your classmates, that you are teaching yourself the lessons so that you have practically mastered skills by the time the class approaches the subject. I would like to take you on as my personal apprentice, if you so desire.”
    “I would be honored, sir.”
    “It is settled then. Monday you will check in with me after you return. I must be honest; I am a little uncomfortable with you going into the woods alone again.”
    “Anwar is going with me, sir. He insisted I not go alone.”
    “Yes, I suppose I should have known. Very well then. I will see you Monday.” With that she left.
    They set up their camp just inside the woods near a stream about an hour’s walk from the city. Anwar was following Mariah when she froze. There was a fat rabbit hopping away from them and, by the time he realized what she was looking at, the arrow was in the air. It took the rabbit in the back. Anwar was a good shot with a bow, but he had to admit she was better. He walked up to it and removed the arrow. The head of it had broken on the rabbit’s spine. He cut away the head and feet, and then he cut from the inside of one leg to the inside of the other, before peeling the hide up the body. He handed the meat rabbit to Mariah. When they got back to their camp, she saw that he was still carrying the rabbit hide.
    “What are you going to make with that?”
    “One day I will show you,” he said. Then he went to the creek and cleaned it and hung it on a branch to dry. Mariah smothered the rabbit in pine needles and then wrapped a string around it to hold them in place. Then she skewered the rabbit and cooked it over the fire. When it was done she brushed away the pine needles and cut it into pieces. She took out their plates, and they ate. He read his book while she cooked, looking up occasionally at her and smiling.
    As they ate, Anwar nodded in approval and said, “Not bad.” They spent the next hour sparring lightly with each other. These days, as well as sparring against each other, they sparred as a pair against other pairs at the guild, even sometimes four on two. They had entered themselves in a pairs city competition to take place two weeks from now. They would be younger than everyone else. Most of the pairs they would fight would be members of the city guard, but they were learning each other’s movements. They fought in harmony with each other that left few openings. The fact that Anwar had grown another two inches and gained nearly thirty pounds of lean muscle in the last six and a half months didn’t hurt either. He was already the strongest in the guild, including the guards, and he wasn’t even sixteen yet. After they had finished sparring, Anwar spent an hour studying his new book.
    “What is this one about?” Mariah asked.
    “It is the introduction to magical combat. Monday I start learning to fight with magic.”
    “That’s great! Monday is a big day for me too.”
    “Really? What are you doing?”
    “Monday I start my apprenticeship with Guild Master Gibbins. I will be assisting in all of his healings and take my lessons directly from him.” “That’s great. Riah”
    “Well, I’ll let you finish studying. I’m going to go set a bed while there’s still light to do so.” Anwar wanted to say—There’s always light to do so; you just have to ask—but instead he said, “Ok, thanks, my blanket is in my bag.”
    Mariah decided she was going to make one bed, lying on his blanket and under hers. She made a bed of pine bows and then laid his blanket over it and folded hers in half over his. When she was finished, she lay down and watched him. A few minutes later, he closed his book, suffocated the fire and walked to the little shelter. He noticed she had