Remembrances of Childhood

[Dave Fritz]

Tery Mard sat by the fire in the Second Wind Inn. A glass of wine was at his elbow; his recent companions had departed. It had been a long day. His eyelids drooped a bit, then a lot ...

"Tery", his Da whispered, "quiet now. See the tracks?"

Tery nodded, gripping his child-sized bow in a chubby fist. Even as excited as he was to be out in the woods with his Da for the first time, he kept himself still as he examined the hoofprints in the dirt of the game trail. He nodded and his father winked at him.

"Look through the bushes." Tery raised his head and saw through a screen of leaves three deer in a clearing ahead. "Yes, Da." he whispered, almost as quietly as his father had. "Try to creep nearer." said his father. He stepped carefully forward, moving branches aside as his father had shown him earlier that day.

Closer and closer he moved. "The child has a natural talent." thought his father, watching carefully.

Tery was almost to the clearing. Suddenly the stag raised his head and sniffed the air. He called out and the three deer vanished into the woods. Tery turned to his Da, disappointment on his face and tears welling up in his eyes. His Da smiled and walked over to him. Picking up his son and hugging him, Nathaniel said "Well done, Tery. You got much closer than I thought you would." He wiped away Tery's tears and asked "What did you think of them?"

"I wanted to get right up and pet them." said Tery, sniffling a bit. "That's OK." said his father, "They protect themselves by running away like that. But if you practice, you might get even nearer."

Nathaniel set Tery down and said "I'll bet your Mum will have dinner ready when we get back." With that the old Ranger and the child turned back towards the farm.

... Tery started and shook himself. He looked up, turned his head and saw Lileal. "Mph." he muttered. "Must have dozed off." He gazed again at the fire and took a sip of his wine.

(to be continued)

[Dave Fritz]

Tery walked along a path in Sestra back towards Corps de Grace Headquarters. He had just finished a dinner evening at the home of Rosie and Kendor. He remembered how Kendor had approached him to intercede with Rosie when they had quarreled. He was glad now that he had done so. "They are a nice couple, and I'm lucky to have made friends with them. And Rosie really does know how to cook." he thought.

He made his way to HQ and down to the Barracks. He settled on one of the couches for a few minutes before heading to bed. "Yeah." he thought, "Nice couple, and so much in love with each other. Just like Mum and Da. And maybe me and TJ ..."

He stared into space, his mind returning to his parents. Their life together on the small farm. The lessons learned ...

"Write carefully now, Tery." his mother chided him. "If you aren't careful, the scroll will not work. And if you can't write a spell out on a scroll, you won't be able to record it in your spellbook either." Tery took great care recording the spell on the scroll. "It looks quite good." said his mother. "Let's see how well you did."

"Nathaniel." she called. "Yes, Ariel, my dear?" came the reply. "Come here, please, and read out this scroll. We need to see if Tery has succeeded in scribing it." Nathaniel entered the small home. "Good thing I can use a few magical items, eh?" he said.

He took the scroll and looked it over. "This feels pretty good, Tery. I think you've got it this time." He began to read the scroll aloud. Suddenly a small light appeared over his head. "You did it, Tery!" he exulted. "Now you've got the idea."

Ariel smiled and said quietly "And you can put it into your spellbook now. Be just as careful, but it will get easier with practice." Tery did as he was told, his face split by a broad smile. "You've got it." his Mum said. "Your first cantrip. The rest will come more easily now. We can start you learning a new one tomorrow."

More memories flooded back to him. Learning each new cantrip and spell, scribing of magic, completing the cantrips, moving into the first circle, practicing casting so that it became second nature to him, and how easy putting them into his spellbook had become. As always, great care was necessary, but he could do it. Scribing a new scroll was still a bit more difficult and required more effort, but he could manage that, too.

...

He started back into full wakefulness. Smiling quietly to himself, he rose from the couch and moved over to his bed in the Barracks. As he prepared for bed, he thought, "Good friends, Rosie and Kendor."

(to be continued)