Chapter 1

The last time since Kyro saw his mother was six years ago, when he was twelve.

They were on a hill west to Meadow Village, taking a break from magic training. Kyro loved to take in the scenery of his home at twilight—woods to the north, green-yellow grass to the south, a cluster of tiny houses with thatch roofs in front of him, a neighboring square patch of farmland adjacent to a barnhouse, clumps of red clouds traveling beneath a navy sky, and everything bathed in shadow. Ivy and pink wildflowers infested the village, sprouting on roofs, fences, and walls. Flickering lights glowed through the windows of the houses.

"Good job today, Kyro." He turned his head to see Mom handing him a cinnamon roll with a smile. She wore a black witch's outfit: silk robes with violet trimming, tall boots, and a pointy hat which sagged backwards. Her pale white skin contrasted with her cherry-red lipstick and eyeshadow around her violet irises. A simple silver ring adorned every finger, and her heart-shaped locket rested tightly around her neck. Even as a breeze wafted the cinnamon roll's aroma through Kyro's nose, he could still detect her fruity perfume. "I think you've mastered the 'Wraith' spell."

Kyro grinned with pride as he accepted the sweet roll. He wore a damp shirt, faded shorts, and tight-fitting shoes. His spirally black hair almost covered his eyes, with sweat dripping of sticky strands like dew from a leaf. His eyes were a golden honey in the sunlight, but a cocoa brown in the shade. A black glove without finger coverings was securely strapped onto his right hand. "I know you're exaggerating, Mom."

Kyro had spent all morning learning to correctly channel his mana, the supernatural energy used for magic, to perform the spell. Once he got the right feel for the spell, he spent the entire afternoon learning to control it and still messed up most of the time. Although he had the gift of being a Spellcaster, which not everyone had, he was slow at learning how to cast spells. He didn't enjoy doing it if he was honest, but practicing gave Mom a reason to stay home since she was his teacher. And if it stopped her from going on another quest for who-knows-how-long and made her spend time with Kyro, it was a necessary pain.

Before Kyro took a bite of the cinnamon roll, he thought for a moment. Then he tore the roll in half and offered both pieces to his mother. "Choose."

His mother blinked before lightly laughing. "My, when did you become a gentleman?" She took the smaller piece, only touching it with the tip of her fingers. "Is there are girl in the village you like?"

"No." He shoved his piece into his mouth. "I shust shought shof sharing ush do."

"Don't speak with your mouth full." She tore off small pieces and threw them into her mouth. "It's unsightly to see food in one's mouth."

Kyro grumbled as he finished chewing. "I just thought of sharing with you."

Mom smiled as she chewed. In moments like these—seeing his mother being a regular person doing regular things like eating—Kyro sometimes forgot she was a renowned adventurer. Kyro had never seen his mother fight, but he heard how she could fight toe-to-toe with monstrosities, terrifying monsters that could easily destroy a city like a kid running through sandcastles. According to traveling bards that passed through the village every now and then, the merfolk of Icewood sung of how she slayed a kraken. The dwarves of Rock Palis still rose their mugs in cheers to how she obliterated a tyrannical mountain giant tribe. Even the Amazons of Luminall considered her as one of their kin after she took down a dragon.

Yet here Mom was, her eyes going wide before vehemently coughing as Kyro realized the last of her food went down the wrong pipe. "*HACK!* *HACK!* *SNORT!*" She beat her chest while holding up a finger as if to say, A moment please.

As Mom continued her fit of retching, Kyro steeled himself, rehearsing lines in his head. He'd been wanting to invite her to the village's Spring Festival and make her promise that they'd go together to seal the deal. 'Mom, can we go to the Spring Festival together?' No, too passive. 'Mom, we're going to the Spring Festival together and that's that.' No, too aggressive. She'd turn around and ground me. 'Mom, let's go to the Spring Festival together.' Yeah, that sounds nice. 'Mom, let's go to the Spring Festival together.'

Since his mother returning home a few days ago after being out on a quest since last autumn, she'd been running around, checking up on the village militia and scouting the land to make sure no monsters had made any nests nearby. Today was the first day they got to spend some quality mother-and-son time together, even if only because it'd help Kyro contribute to the village's defenses. Mom was a hero in the truest sense; she'd make any personal sacrifice for the peace and safety of the masses. Even the sacrifice of spending time with Kyro.

His mother was just about done choking when Kyro felt ready.

"*COUGH!* *HACK!* *COUGH!* *COUGH!* *AHEM!*" Finally, she cleared her throat before releasing a sigh. "Ah. Let's not repeat that."

Kyro nodded. "Mom, let's—"

"Oh, before I forget!" his mother said excitedly, cutting Kyro off. She tapped one of her rings on her finger. A white portal the size of a dinner plate opened inches above where she tapped the ring. It was thinner than thread but so deep it seemed to go on forever. She stuck her hand in and seemed to rummage around before pulling out a ring identical to the one she tapped. The portal quickly shrunk to a close as she handed Kyro the ring. "Happy Five-Months-Late Birthday!"

Kyro forgot what he was about to say as his eyes widened. "Is that—?"

"A pocket-dimensional ring," Mom confirmed. "I dared to enter one of the ancient ruins one day. Found this on one of the skeletons that littered the entrance. A lucky find." She grasped Kyro's right hand and gently slid it onto his ring finger. "And what's even better is that it's a soulbound item that hasn't been bounded yet."

Soulbound items were unique items that could magically bond with the soul of a single person. Once bound, the item could only be used by that person unless the bond was severed.

Kyro was so gittery he thought he could jump out of his skin. Mom opened her portal again and withdrew a thin needle from it. "Alright, stay still. This might hurt a tiny bit."

Kyro winced as she pricked his index finger of his left hand, drawing a drop of blood. Then she guided his hand so that the blood touched the ring. As it did, a warmth shot up from the ring finger into his body. His mind itched like he just learned a scroll's worth of knowledge in an instant.

For a moment, Kyro just sat there on the hill, dumbstruck happy. As almost all of the sun's light was gone for the day, Mom uttered a spell in Manaspeak, the language for spellcasting. "Firefly."

A small, white light the size of a firefly floated above the two, illuminating Kyro's oversized smile. Suddenly, he turned and gave his mother a bear hug.

Mom hugged back just as hard. The two embraced each other for about a minute before letting go. The two readjusted themselves on the hill. "Now, before we go back home," Mom said, "I believe you were going to tell me something?"

"Huh?" Kyro had to try hard to remember the whole reason why he practiced magic today. "Oh yeah. Mom, let's go to the Spring Festival."

As Kyro finished, he took one look at Mom's face and knew she didn't hear a word of it. Her face scrunched into a frown and her eyes darted around as if she sensed something nearby. Then, the floating light flew behind them as Mom turned around. Kyro followed her gaze and saw the last thing he wanted to see.

Someone with a violet cloak with gold trimming stood behind them beneath the light. Their white mask was painted red so that a lion looked to be roaring. In their hand was a tightly rolled-up parchment, sealed closed with a royal signet.

The mysterious emergency-quest givers.

"Mom," Kyro said quickly, "Let's go—"

"Hold on, sweetie." She rose to her feet, brushing the grass bits off her robes. "Let me go see what he or she needs." She strode over the hill to greet the person. Kyro couldn't make out their hush words, but he knew the general gist of it. That person had a quest for Mom. Mom would have to go somewhere for a very long time. Again.

Finally, Mom nodded and gestured for the cloaked figure to stay for a moment. As she turned and strode back to Kyro, Mom had on her firm, stoic face. Her heroic, adventurous face. Although Mom looked like herself, Kyro knew she was someone else now.

"Alright, you know the drill," Mom exclaimed. "Tell Carlok I left."

"Mom, can I have another birthday gift?" Kyro did his best to conceal the sadness in his voice.

Mom blinked. "What?"

"Actually, here." Kyro slid the ring off his finger and handed it to Mom. "You can have this back. And instead, you stay until the Spring Festival so we can go together."

Her steely eyes gazed at Kyro as if trying to read his mind. "Kyro, you know I can't do that."

"Yes, you can," Kyro protested.

"Kyro, please."

"No!" Kyro ran up to Mom and threw her arms around waist, squeezing as hard as he could. "Please don't go!"

"Kyro, stop being selfish!" She grasped Kyro's shoulders and, with strength that didn't make sense on Mom's body, pulled him away from her. She knelt down to see him eye to eye.

Kyro could feel his face starting to swell. Feel the tears starting to surface. "It's selfish that I want my mom to spend time with me?"

Mom bit her bottom lip. "You're not the only one who needs me. I've taught you this. I know you understand."

"What I understand," Kyro accidentally shouted, "is when I won my first sword-fighting tournament in the village, you weren't there! When I was so scared during a thunderstorm that I cried the entire night, you weren't there! When I wanted to bury the bird who made its nest in the tree in front of our house, you weren't there!"

Kyro reached the brink of sobbing, but he held it in.

Mom sighed. "I know I haven't been home a lot, but I've been doing the best I can." Her trembling voice betrayed her stoic face. "You are my son. My greatest pride. I love you, and it pains me I wasn't there all those times. It pains me I've missed so many birthdays. But the call of duty is something that can't be ignored. When I'm called, I must answer. Always."

Kyro clenched his fist as he looked towards the ground, avoiding Mom's eyes. He quietly muttered, "You'd stay if you truly loved me."

As soon as those words came out, he instantly regretted it. He heard Mom choke back a sob. She sounded so devastated, Kyro felt even worse when he thought, At least she sounds like the Mom I know now. For a minute, Mom silently wept as Kyro continued to look away. He didn't want to see the pain he just caused.

After a moment, Mom took in a few deep breaths. "How about this." She held up her pinky. "I promise that the next time I come home, I'll stay until the Spring Festival. We'll go together. Deal?"

Kyro glanced at his mother's teary eyes then back at the pinky. He figured this was the best that was going to happen right now and nodded. He reached out, curled his pinky around hers, and shook. "Deal."

"Good." Mom leaned in, kissed Kyro on the forehead, then gave him one last hug, which Kyro squeezed back. Then she stood up, peering down at him with a warm smile. "And don't you lose my gift to you, ok?"

Kyro had been gripping the ring in his left hand the entire time. At the mention of it, he took the ring and slid it onto his right ring finger. "Ok. Bye."

Mom opened her mouth as if ready to say something, then closed it. She mustered up her stoic face before turning and striding towards the cloaked figure who had been waiting patiently. After a hushed exchange of words, they both nodded. "Shadow Travel," Mom casted. After the firelight spell vanished, the ground beneath Mom and the cloaked figure turned to pure black before they slowly sunk into the ground. Kyro watched until even Mom's saggy hat disappeared into the ground, leaving him alone on the hill.

It wasn't until she disappeared that Kyro truly felt terrible. He gloomily held the ring, wishing he could say sorry to her. I'll apologize when she comes back, Kyro thought. Yeah, I'll say sorry and tell her that I love her, too. When she comes back home.

Six years later…