"It is true, Aimee'."It is true, Aimee'. Few people recognize it, because your talent, like mine, is sexual, and therefore generally overlooked. In fact, are you willing to listen to one more story by an old man?" "Oh, yes sir!" she grinned, sitting up and onto the edge of her chair. "Good," Darryn commented. "Remember where my stories left off..." It came to pass in the Spring of my 24th year that I left my beloved Ryuchia, just as I had left my beloved Thomorr. This time, however, much of the reasons for going were my own, not those of a master shooing me out the door. It was true; Desa had little more to teach me. I had grown beyond the peak of learning, and all was now a straight and understanding path. I travelled down the road on horseback, armed with spells of defense for most of the travel. Just once, the day after leaving the mountains of the Megassi, was I assaulted by brigands. There were six of them, all told, who descended upon my and demanded I stand and deliver my gold and posessions. They never got within a horse's length of me before three dragons descended from the sky. [You are protected by the will of Desa,] one told me. [You will reach Barraminum safely.] They slaughtered the brigands and consumed them, leaving their possessions upon the ground. I learned that day to be a practical man and recovered their gold and their horses. At the next town I sold them all and left a wealthier man. I made my way across the rocky terrain of the northern steppes and found myself in Barraminum after only two months of travel. It was not an easy two months, but it was uneventful. I learned some hardness on that trip that I wish I had not, but I am also glad that I did. I still have not decided on the good or bad of casting 'Stroke' upon a rabbit, holding the spell while creeping up on it, and then slitting its throat in its moment of ecstasy. The idea still bothers me greatly. But it kept me fed until I reached Barraminum's gates. |