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Chapter 4: Three and a half years later

Muarim's PoV

Three and a half years later...

" Little one? Little one! Tormod, where are you!" Muarim screamed, he didn't like markets such as the one he currently where at. To many people, smells from beorc, fruits, meat, fish, metals and much more. And a laguz in his early twenties losing a seven year old child in such a crowd is not such a great situation. Tormod was small and quite restless.

That means hard to find if you lose him out of sight. Muarim was scared that Tormod would get hurt. He had learned the difference between laguz and sub-human. Each time someone would say sub-human Tormod would go berserk. That tended to get them into trouble now and then. To avoid that Muarim now used a cloak that covered his ears and hid his tail.

" Tormod!" He yelled. Now people stared at him strangely.

'Great, now they think I'm a maniac or something...´ He sighted

'Ok, calm down. Where could he be? I looked everywhere...´ Then it hit him, he smacked himself on his forehead and smiled at his stupidity. He hadn't looked where he was most likely to find Tormod.

'Why didn't I think about that in the first place? Of course he is there...´ He thought and started walking towards the magic shop.

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Tormod's PoV

Books, books, books. The shop where full of magic tomes. There where also staves, healing ointment, pure water and a few talismans.

" Fire tomes, thunder tomes, wind tomes..." Tormod's finger where sliding over each book while he was pronouncing its name.

" Elfire, Elthunder, Elwind, Light, Shine..." He stopped when he came to the light magic. They could only be used by bishops, and a mage like him could never use them. He used the power of nature, not Ashera. A few month ago Muarim had bought him a fire tome and Tormod was getting quite good with it.

A small bell plinged from the door and a customer entered the shop. Tormod gave him a quick glance out of curiosity.

A priest with white robes and short black hair. He was carrying a Fortify staff.

' I bet he's either going to sell it or say that it doesn't work...´ Tormod thought and returned to the tomes. Soon he heard the priest speaking to the shopkeeper.

" I can't get it to work, it works as a heal staff right?" Tormod smiled. His prediction had been correct.

" Yes sir, but this is one of the most powerful staves in existence. Can you use a recover staff?" The shopkeeper asked, followed by short silence that probably meant that the priest had answered with a nod or by shaking his head as a 'yes´ or 'no´.

" The Recover staff, as you should know, heals any wounds no matter how deep as long as the wounded isn't dead. The Fortify staff recovers multiply wounded at once. You simply need to train some more if you hope to master this stave."

Tormod smiled. One day he would be able to use a Fortify staff. Once he become a sage, that is. The bell by the door plinged again as the priest returned to the streets and Tormod continued to look at the books. When the bell plinged again curiosity got the better of him again and he took a look at the new customer. A woman with a stave in her hand and a sword at her waist.

'A Valkyrie...´ Tormod thought. The only warrior that can use both magic staves and swords equally skilled...´ He returned to the book he was holding when the bell plinged one more time. This time, however, he didn't take any notice of who it was and continued to read. Then a big hand landed on his shoulder.

" So, here you are." Tormod looked up and smiled.

" Hi Muarim. Sorry if I made you worried by running of like that." Muarim just smiled back.

" What's that?" Muarim asked, nodding towards the tome Tormod was holding in his hands.

"It's an Elfire tome. I can't use it yet but I'm not far away from mastering it..." Tormod answered. Then his gaze travelled to the bookshelves and stayed at a Bolganon, the second strongest fire magic. He barely noticed that Muarim took the Elfire away from him and asked the shopkeeper how much it coasted.

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Muarim's PoV

" Wow Muarim, you're the best!" Tormod said while jumping up and down at the same time as he was hugging Muarim. He was holding the newly purchased Elfire tome in one of his hands.

" Thank you! Thank you!" He continued. They didn't have much money and getting a magic book was a real treat. Muarim laughed at the little boy.

" Well, you love magic and I love it when you're happy. Besides, you have to train with some other magic after you mastered Fire, right?" Tormod smiled.

" Does that mean you are going to buy me a Bolganon when I'm done with Elfire?" He said with a smirk. Muarim just laughed. They where soon done with all the shopping and moved towards the desert they lived in. They didn't live on the streets anymore, after an accident concerning Muarim's heritage, they had discovered some ruins in Grann desert of Begnion that they now knew as home.

It was really sandy, hot during the day, cold during the night. The walls where crumbling and it was deep in the savage desert. But because of this they where protected from bandits, laguz-hunters and sandstorms. If Tormod would ride on Muarim's back they would be there in about half a day or so. When they returned they would go on with their own business.

Muarim would prepare food and Tormod would study his magic. Then Muarim would watch Tormod's magic until Tormod had enough. That means until Tormod would be completely drained. When that happened, Muarim would pick Tormod up and take him to their bedroom.

One time, Muarim hadn't kept an eye on Tormod and the poor child had fainted out there all alone for a long time. Then Muarim had blamed himself for a long time over what happened so he made sure of that it wouldn't happen again. Muarim put Tormod down on his cot and put a blanket around him and was just about to leave when he heard Tormod say:

" Muarim tell a good night story please..." Muarim smiled, he loved these moments.

" Ok, what do you want to hear?" He asked. Tormod smiled, eyes half closed and almost asleep.

" Tell me about when you fled from the evil beorc..." He said with a low voice and yawned. Muarim smiled even more.

" Ok. Once upon a time there was a laguz named Muarim. He was a slave and he and his sister where tortured every day by their master. One day Muarim thought that he wanted to be free and..."

" Zzzzz..." Muarim stopped talking when he noticed that Tormod already was asleep.

He leaned forward and kissed Tormod gently on his forehead, careful not to wake him up and with a smile playing at his lips.

" Good night Tormod..."

He hesitated before continuing.

"... My son."

He pulled back, still smiling.

'This must be against some sort of laguz law, to see a beorc as a family member...´ He kept looking at his child.

'To bad he fell asleep so quickly. I like bragging about my escape.´ He stroked Tormod's head before going back to his own business.

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