Ciaran and his two mentors were in a snow-covered forest. They were waiting for his Ranger to come and pick him up.
"Are you sure you two can be seen like this, I thought your existence was a secret," Ciaran asked.
The boy was wearing a fur-lined hat on his head, made from the pelt of a wolf. He wore a long, thick coat made of wool, lined with fur on the inside for added warmth. The coat was fastened with a belt at the waist.
Underneath his coat, he wore a tunic made of thick linen, along with trousers made of similar material. He also had heavy boots made of leather to keep his feet warm and dry.
To further protect himself from the elements, he wore a scarf around his neck and fur-lined gloves on his hands. In addition, he also carried a fur-lined pouch to keep his belongings dry and protected from the snow and ice.
He had hunted a local pack of wolves to keep his clothing in tune with the environment. He was still in the Empire, but they were at its northern border. If they walked leisurely for an hour or two, they would reach one of the strongholds, made to protect them from their neighbors.
"There is no point kid, the old man would be coming too, and that means whoever is with him has already been informed about us. Be on your guard, the royal family is a den of snakes, but occasionally they produce a dragon or three." Eleftherios said and spat on the ground.
Ciaran could see there was history to be unraveled there but now wasn't the time. He turned to his sister, trying to get a reaction out of her, but she was stone cold.
Before he could ask anything else however he saw a cloud of snow in the distance. It was coming at them, fast and unrelenting.
When the boy squinted to see what it was he was left in shock. It was a carriage pulled by four horses, and everything was made of silver.
The thing was moving at an astonishing speed and it was almost upon them. It got closer, and just five meters away from them, it came to a stop.
The dryads protected themselves from the incoming snow it had dragged with itself, while Ciaran
just let it hit him. His clothes were only for show, as he just wanted to look the part. With his mastery over Water, and especially Ice, it took a lot for him to feel cold, and even more to get him wet.
The three directed their attention at the carriage, as one of its doors burst open, and a girl came running out. Before they could say anything, she fell on her knees and puked.
"Fu- ck you ol- Man. I will…"
She kept on puking her guts out.
An elegantly dressed old man
The stylish old man was dressed in a theme of silver, exuding a sophisticated and refined appearance. He wore a tailored suit made of luxurious silver fabric, with a silver sheen that catches the light as he moved. The jacket has a classic cut with a double-breasted design and was adorned with silver buttons.
Underneath his jacket, he wore a crisp white dress shirt with a silver tie or cravat, neatly tied at the neck. The tie is intricately woven with silver thread, adding a subtle shimmer to his overall appearance.
The old man's trousers were expertly tailored and made from a matching silver fabric. They were perfectly pressed and neatly creased, creating a sharp and polished look. On his feet, he wore silver dress shoes, gleaming with a patent finish, and polished to perfection.
To complete his elegant outfit, the old man wore a silver pocket watch, tucked neatly into the pocket of his jacket. He also wore silver cufflinks and a silver lapel pin, adding a touch of sophistication to his attire.
Despite his age, the old man exuded an air of timeless elegance and refinement in his silver-themed outfit, leaving a lasting impression on those who beheld him.
"Seriously, too much man. I get it, you are the Silver Magus, but come on. Why not wear a neckless that said silver as well, all capitalized, of course, wouldn't want someone to miss interpret your name." Ciaran was told to behave, but he couldn't help himself.
The girl barely got her head up to look at him, and gave him a thumbs up, then she passed out in her own vomit-filled snow.
The man said nothing and just came forward until he was face-to-face with the kid. Surprisingly his guardians didn't move at all.
"Listen, Ciaran was it, what you just said, it mirrored what a lot of greats granddaughter told me before we left. She even forced me to take off my rings. They were six rings, three for each arm, in case you were wondering, and each held a letter. It's not a neckless, but the letters were capitalized yes. I found that as the safer fashion choice, at least that way when I beat people to death, no one would question my involvement." He said and laughed, proud of his own design.
The dryads both facepalmed and didn't want to engage with the old man, sadly their pupil had other plans.
He got close to the old man and whispered something in his ear.
"Where did you hide this kid, he is brilliant."The man screamed, and his grandfather woke up.
She couldn't stand up, but she tried to run on all fours. She didn't make it far before she collapsed and her body just floated back to the group.
"No please, one weirdo is enough in my life, I don't need any squire that my grandpa acknowledges, please, I swear I will be good, just send him back from where he came. I will pay him back whatever he paid." She begged with tears in her eyes.
The dryads were confused, so they looked at the old man, who seemed to have lost his hearing in the past four seconds. Time could be ruthless like that sometimes.
The boy pulled the old man by his shirt and told him to let her go. Then when she was on the ground, he took a bit of snow and cleared her face of all the vomit.
"I don't want to be here either, let's wait until they leave, and do our own thing. All we have to do after is file a report once every three months and sign our names at the bottom." He said gently as if he wasn't suggesting cheating three of the strongest existences on Dyrta, right in front of them too.
The girl just looked at him, and then she fell to the ground defeated.
"I won't be able to escape from this one will I?" she started muttering to herself.
The boy simply said 'No, not from me.' He didn't want to be with her either, but she was such a nice target, he just couldn't stop himself from messing with her.
"Let's make it official." The old man said and grabbed them both by the wrists. Then a silver crown appeared on both of their left hands.
"Now you have to stay together as a group, no space restrictions, you just have to think of yourselves as a group. If you don't:"
The next moment they felt pain. They were frozen, crushed, burned, and sliced all in one second, or at least they felt like they were.
The old man picked them up as they had fallen down from the shock. Then he sat them next to each other.
"Listen, kids, I grouped you together because neither of us three knows how to raise kids. We aren't good parents, we aren't good teachers, and we have a tendency to both push you too hard and spoil you. So from now, till three years from now, the crown stays on you. Before it fades you will get no help from us, no matter what."
"Diana you said you didn't want to be paired up with the boy, well tough luck because he is all you have now." He said as a white rabbit materialized out of nothing.
The girl wanted to protest but she couldn't because the old man didn't allow her vocal cords to work.
"Ciaran, I don't know you, pretend I am giving you an inspirational speech as well. When we leave clue him in on what your goal for these three months is, after that, you will get a new one. That's all."
Then he got in his carriage and rode off. The dryads said goodbye to the boy one last time and left too.
The two didn't know what to do now.
"So ah, your guardian is also kind of unreasonable I see. Sorry about your familiar, mine was taken too." He tried to make small talk, or at least what he considered small talk.
The girl looked at him, then at her arm, and sighed.
"Alright, let's go. We will get to know each other on the way." She said, as she slowly walked forward, trying to portray confidence.
Ciaran wanted to tell her he wasn't done with cleaning her face, but he didn't want to ruin her facade.