Bane

A/N: Please excuse the lateness of this update. Frau had major tower issues. It died of old age. Luckily, she was able to save the hard drive and all her documents. It took time to figure out how to transfer everything from her ancient tower to her new and improve one. But we did it!

Disclaimer: Reviews are welcomed, flames are not.

chapter 5

Firefox, age 14, sat in front of the k'Valdemar Vale's heart-stone in a deep trance. He was tracing down a small tendril of magic that was escaping from the main feed of ley-lines under it.

His grandfather Starfall had set him the task of monitoring the stone and the magical feeds to and from it. He informed Firefox that there was a minor drop in power and he wanted his grandson to find it.

Just another day in the life of a mage adept-in-training within k'Valdemar.

It was troubling. Firefox wasn't sure why the other older mages had missed it. Maybe because it was so tiny? But he knew that normally Firesong and Darian were the ones that did most of the work with the ley-line feeders. Maybe because today they were too busy doing "Elder work" with the mayor of Errond's Grove, Lord Beon of the Keep and Vordon, leader of the Ghost Cat Clan. Whatever.

'Concentrate now. Think of that later,' he sighed, turning back to the task at hand.

One of the first things both Darian and Firesong drilled into him when working with the heart-stone – one must always be respectful and mindful of just how dangerous the stone could be.

The magical monolith was unforgiving if one wasn't careful in handling it. It could fry you and leave your charred corpse beside it with one small mistake. Or it could trap your mind within the ley-line itself and you would never find your way back to your body. It could also just give a sharp warning, and leave only a very nasty scar behind.

One did not fool around when dealing directly with the Vale's heart-stone.

Immersing himself carefully he found the end of the trickle of magic! There! He gave a metaphoric blink. 'Huh!? What the. . .? That's plain crazy! How!?'

That tiny trickle of power lead to under the healer complex known as Sanctuary, situated between the village and the Vale. Allowing the magic to flow around him, he could feel the healers above him as they went about their daily lives.

How? Why?

As Firefox checked the pathway, he smiled. Finally! He could detect the subtle hints of his father's magical signature. Huh! He was right. This wasn't a natural leak in the ley-lines. Someone had created it and wanted him to find this on his own.

The young mage could not detect any more magical signatures which meant that this was a new occurrence. He was now certain that Firesong, or maybe even Darian, had a hand in this. They were well able to hide their presence in their handiwork.

Well, he could build upon it. Someone had placed a rock garden just above where he was working. How convenient!

There was already a tiny node of energy pooling under the Sanctuary as healers worked their trade. It held the signatures of the healers above him as well as Keisha's, Darian's and Silverfox.

Slowly Firefox enlarged the cavity for wild magic to pool more fully beneath Sanctuary. He knew that the healers had been hinting to Firesong and Darian for a small heart-stone.

They needed to store more energy for those cases that needed more than they could give by themselves. The healers didn't want or need a large Vale sized stone, although they did want something to help keep the weather and the more dangerous pests out.

Firefox then re-traced the ley-line back from the node to the heart-stone, widening it slightly as he went, to allow more magic to flow through it. Later, they may tie more ley-lines into the Sanctuary node if necessary. However, he had to be very careful that he didn't pull too much power from their Vale's heart-stone, or the node under it. It could upset the balance of magic and cause more problems down the road.

Once he was sure that there would be no blockage or power surges to cause problems he backed out of the ley-line. He knew he would have to inform the elders of this new development but he was certain they would not be too upset with him.

Normally such small feeders, or drains, were sealed away to keep anyone outside the Vale from tapping into them and causing trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Firefox opened his eyes to see a concerned Starfall who had been sent to monitor him as he worked.

"I found the problem, Starfall," Firefox informed his adoptive grandfather as he stretched. "I did catch the traces of Firesong's magical signature. He's getting senile if he's that careless! Anyway, a small feeder runs off the main ley-line towards Sanctuary. I didn't sense any other outside signatures attached to the ley-line. However, I suspect that Darian helped. Didn't Healer Kandice say they were wanting their own heart-stone? Someone, I'm willing to bet that it'll be me, will need to tie everything together later."

Starfall rubbed his chin and nodded. "It will be you, young one. Well done Firefox. Your father has taught you well, if you can detect those traces. I am certain he left just a hint for you to find. Now, you need to finish what you started, once the node has settled some. Well done."

"Yes sir," Firefox said as he blushed, pulling carefully once more from the node under the heart-stone to refill his own magical reserves. It was one of the first things he'd been taught since he started working with the ley-lines.

It wasn't cheating, but common sense to replace the magic you'd used. Why not take it and leave yourself replenished rather than vulnerable to fatigue, or worse, attack? Firefox pondered this as he felt the magic from the stone flow through his body, refueling and re-energizing him.

The weary teen tucked a silvery bit of hair behind his ear. Since he was now working more and more directly with the heart-stone, his once messy black hair now sported more streaks of silver. Magic did that to those that worked around the nodes. According to his father Firesong's hair was completely white by the time he was nine.

Firefox figured by the time he was sixteen, there would be no black left in his own. Working around the wild magic was like that.

If only his friends at Hogwarts could see him now. He hadn't used a wand since he got here!

One of the first lessons in magical theory he learned was the difference between a hedge wizard and an adept. He knew that Hermione would have a fit as this type of magic didn't fit in her view of the world.

A hedge wizard couldn't tap into a node as they didn't have the ability or the power to do so without a focus. Firefox wasn't certain but he didn't think Albus Dumbledore, for all his vaunted power, was really that great if he still had to use a wand.

Firefox wasn't too certain that the Wizarding World even knew what a node was, at least he could never remember studying them. He wondered if Hogwarts had a node under it, and if so, what kind of condition it was in?

An adept, like Starfall or Firesong, didn't need a physical focus. With only their knowledge, will and determination they could tap directly into the node.

It had taken time to wean Firefox off his wand and to build up his 'magical muscles', but once he could directly tap into the ley-lines there was nothing stopping him. Imagination and determination were all he needed, and Firefox had determination in spades. Something that wasn't taught at Hogwarts. They put more restrictions on magic than Firesong had masks.

"So what did you do?" Starfall asked as he helped his adoptive grandson to his feet.

Firefox smiled up at his grandparent. He loved the fact that he was so accepted in this new world. "I traced the feeder to under Sanctuary. And when I realized where it came out, I further developed the small pool so that a new heart-stone can be anchored to it. Then I followed it back to the main ley-line where it started. I made sure there wasn't any blockage and fortified the channel. As far as I can tell there are no other ley-lines in the area."

"Very good. I think we could call this your mastery test, well executed," Starfall complimented.

Firefox blinked. "Say what?"

"As you well know your fathers and I've been discussing for some time that Sanctuary needed its own heart-stone, but other things have been more pressing. Then we realized this would make a good test for your mastery. So we set it up for you to find."

The tall elegantly dressed and masked Firesong stepped into view. "So I take it the test was successful?"

"It is, my peacock of a son," Starfall smiled. "You have finally graced me with a fine young grandson to add to my family. Thankfully, he takes after your life-mate in his clothing choices."

Starfall smirked at his vain son as Firefox blinked and blinked again. He . . . he . . .was now a master class adept. He'd earned that title by the work of his own magic, at the age of fourteen!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Silverfox watched as his life-mate and fifteen year old son walked up the pathway to their shared ekele. His son has been a master class adept for a year now and it shows in his bearing and confidence.

Firefox had come a long way from the shy and abused ten year old that had been placed in his arms five years ago. He was almost as tall as Firesong now. His once unruly black hair was now long, and mostly silky white. There were still traces of dark strands left, but they wouldn't last much longer what with his constant work on the node. Cera had done wonders training that bird's nest.

Working around the ley-lines tended to bleach out all color from the adepts before they reached master class.

The only thing that hadn't changed on their son were his bright, leaf-green eyes. If anything, Firefox's eyes grew more gem-like in color giving him an ethereal look that had the hearts of the young unattached Tayledras that lived in the Vale fluttering.

'Our poor son,' Silverfox mused silently, 'is so oblivious to the looks and the sighs that follow him whenever he leaves the Vale to visit the villages around the area. He's breaking hearts and doesn't even notice.'

The kestra'chern frowned, a bit worried about Firefox's lack of social awareness but then, their child was still clueless about many things.

Silverfox blamed the former adults in his son's past life. Poor Firefox had been very neglected in many ways by those that should've been there for him.

Firefox was currently dressed in flowing mage robes of silver and green, to match the colors of his eyes and hair.

The hertasi that watched over his small family loved dressing their son to bring out the color of those eyes, as much as they loved dressing up his life-mate. The poor boy really had no say in how Cera loved to pamper her charge.

When Firefox had to leave the Vale for scouting duties or messenger service, he dressed practically. He preferred sturdy woolen leggings and the buckskin shirt of a scout, in colors that matched the seasonal forest.

Another thing about his son that intrigued Silverfox was his instinctual ability to hide, even within a crowd. It was most likely due to the abuse he'd suffered, and the need to hide from his abusers. It was however, one trait that Silverfox was reluctant to train out of his son as it was very useful, no matter how Firefox had learned it.

Firefox wasn't a shy person, per se. He just didn't know how to make friends. He had been forbidden them by his mother's sister's family as a child. And when he'd been at that school of he'd attended, his two constant companions kept him from making other friends.

According to the Star-eyed his son was raised to be the sacrificial lamb for a society too weak-willed and ignorant to realize they were dying.

Silverfox sighed as he cleared those thoughts from his mind. It had taken a lot of patience and time to work through all the mental damage that had been heaped on his son. If he could, he would have Albus Dumbledore's magic sealed and all his titles stripped. Silverfox wanted to send the man to the Void for all of the things he'd put their son through.

Looking at Firefox now he saw a confident, young mage that had the potential of being even more powerful than Firesong. It was too bad that all the major magical works were impossible to use since the mage storms.

"Papa!" Firefox called when he spied the tall kestra'chern.

"So ready for your fifteenth birthday party?" Silverfox asked as he joined his family. Yes, he was very proud of his son's achievements.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: This is the last filler chapter. Things will start picking up after this one. Thanks for being patient with us.

Until next time. - GF and The Frau