Albie walked along the dirt road. The stars were out in full force. The moon was no longer full and beginning to wane, but its magic allowed him to walk without the need for the muskets support. The night air was cool, but the limping mage felt horrible pain as his phantom wounds eat at him. With the occasional help of the converted musket he walked along despite his pain. The world around him was green and full of life. He yearned to absorb it and relieve himself of the pain if only for a little bit. It was almost a hunger. The life energy of every plant bug and animal sleeping silently in the woods waiting for him to pass called to him. To drain it of life and leave the woods barren for years to come. A dried-up husk where not even mold could live. What would he become if he let this appetite for life consume him? A horrid monster carving its way through the living world destroying the balance of nature and giving nothing in return.
It would take three days to reach Yourz. Then he would have to fight. Albie assumed lord Brand would not be a reasonable person if he would kill everyone in the city. Whoever he was he served the queen and would have to die. The thought of draining the lord and his men of there lives made his soul hunger.
Albie stepped along. Looking into the distance he saw the sun begin to rise. Orange and pink colored the sky in the east. Soon the sun would reach out and take hold of the world. It would not be pleasant to keep walking. He wanted to save the moonstones until he had to fight and would not be able to use moonlight to aid his walking. He was also wrapped in heavy cloth from head to toe. His thick clothing would shield his sensitive skin from the sun but would become very hot. He looked for an animal trail in the wood as he walked. He spotted a small one perhaps used by rabbits. It was low to the ground, cramped and lead into briars but it would work. Albie got onto all fours and crawled into the thorny bushes. With the weakening power of the moonlight, he sapped the life from the end of the briars to make a little more room. The thorns offered little in life force and clung to his cloak as they snapped off their wilting branches. The moss and earth beneath his hands and knees turned to whet sand beneath him as he crawled. After making his way in he made a space in the briars. It was to small. His back was to the thorns and his knees were up against his chest. There was no room to stretch out, but he pulled out Sculpting Life and began reading more on the technique for creating bees the size of dogs. Light seeped in from the outside and his joints started to ache from being cramped. The burning in his chest continued. He would cough into the briars. His black flehm would land on the briars causing them to expand into his space then die and wither giving him a bit more room. Albie became bored of the book as the hour went by and chose to put it back inside his cloak. He grabbed the wax notebook that the traveler had given him.
The pages were sealed together by wax had loosened from his body heat. Looking at the strange notebook he noticed the first page was almost unsealed. He pulled it gently and the wax gave way to him.
The first page read. "leave the rabbit hole and walk until sunset. Look up when the sun begins to fade. You shall find trustworthy allies. The next page shall unseal when you get to Yourz."
Albie wondered for a moment how the star mage could write such a notebook. He crawled out of the briars and saw that the sun was at its peak. A sun mage would be at their full power right now. Not a cloud in the sky. The sun did not grant him power nor would it drain the moonstones but being moon blessed he did not enjoy the sun on his skin as much as other folk. Conserving the moonstones power the young man limped on.
Albie limped under the sun head down cloak and gloves hiding him from the sun. He pondered how the star mage could see him in the briars and know the notebook well enough to come open there. The star mage had claimed to see the future and claimed to attempt to plan it. How he did not see the massacres coming he had blamed on magic from another mage. Albie wondered how it all worked and if the traveler had lied to him. For now, it didn't matter. He just had to put one foot and a stick in front of the other. Walk despite the pain and not devour the life force of the plants around him. He took a mouthful of water from a canteen and left it in his mouth so he could swish it around to keep his mind off things. He swallowed it to suppress a cough and moved along.
The sun began to set. The light from the sun began to waive farewell to the world. Albie looked up and, in a tree, saw a small beehive. Bees had been great friends to him in the past. Having them had saved his life. It had saddened him to lose his hive, but it had been overshadowed by other losses. The bees would be returning to the hive for the night soon he could take the hive and begin shaping the bees to be solders. Albie took a seat and waited for night to fully fall. As the moon waned in the sky Albie used its light to call to the bees in the hive.
His mind and the queens touched. Her mind was tired and eager to rest. He did not bother with apologetic thoughts. They would only annoy the queen. Instead he sent a feeling of wanting to strengthen the queen's offspring. He felt what passes for curiosity in the queen's mind and used his control of the moonlight to infuse her with magic. Excitement filled the queens mind. Albie thought about being the bees master and strengthening the hive further. The queens mind radiated approval.
Albie reached into the small minds of other bees and began offering magic for service. The minds grew more connected and the voices grew louder. Albie ordered the buzzing thoughts to remove the hive from the tree and the bees responded. Albie boosted his body with the moonlight and caught the nest before it fell. He hooked the nest to his belt and willed them to fasten themselves to the belt. A team came and began constructing a joint from the hive to the belt. Albie held it so they could work and in time they succeeded. Albie continued his limp by the moonlight.