"Fumal!"
A large ball of fire burst forth from Mako's outstretched paw, hurling towards the dead tree in front of him. It struck the withered bark on the outside and the concussive force behind the attack splintered the tree, sending bits of wooden shrapnel in every direction; exactly what he'd been aiming for.
"Not bad!" Hizaki said, looking at the mess of charred wood scattered across the ground. "Not bad at all. How do you feel?" the ram asked, eying the otter.
Mako was sweating, panting heavily and trying to catch his breath. Months had passed since the Autumn Equinox and he'd been practicing daily with the ram, as well as a few of the other mystics, as they called themselves. It had been tiresome work at first, as he could only cast his fire a few times before he'd pass out. Today, though, he'd just cast that same ball of fire for the twentieth time and he felt like he'd ran for several miles. "I feel... worn out," he replied.
Hizaki hmmed thoughtfully and with a wave of his hand, the tree that had been shattered reformed from the pieces, creating a new, solid, withered tree. "Again," he said.
Mako stared at the tree, wiping sweat from his eyes and straightening his posture. He'd destroyed this same tree hundreds of times in the past few weeks, and knew it would be hundreds more. He focused his will, much quicker than he used to be able to, and roared again, "Fumal!"
Again the ball of fire struck and shattered the tree, and again the splinters reformed and shaped the tree. "Again." Hizaki said.
"Fumal."
"Again!"
"Fumal!"
"Again!!"
"FUMAL!" Mako screamed out, watching as a blast of fire struck the tree... and kept going. The ball of fire traveled through the shattered wood and continued on until it struck the ground behind, igniting a large patch of dried grass.
The ram, with no sign of any surprise or panic on his face, waved his hand and watched as a strong wind whipped down, smothering the flames and putting it out. The tree reformed and reshaped and he chuckled, looking over to the otter. "Not bad at all, eh?"
Mako was certain he was going to collapse at any moment. Each breath was staggered and painful and limbs felt numb and heavy. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to," he breathed, staring at the burnt patch of ground in the distance.
"Nonsense. You're getting stronger," Hizaki said, walking over to the otter and clapping him on the shoulder. "You've come a long way in such a short time! It's quite impressive," he said.
Mako's face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and pride. "Thank you, Sir," he said, trying not to buckle under the weight of the ram's paw.
"Well, that's enough for today. Let's get back to camp and get some dinner; should be ready when we get back!" Hizaki said, leaning on his staff as the pair started off towards the camp.
Hizaki would train others away from the camp to limit distractions and possible injury, and while he would usually take a group to practice, he'd spend a few hours each week with one at a time to see how far he could push them.
The Summer Solstice was fast approaching and the nights were much warmer than he'd experienced with the Ormus tribe. The winter hadn't been as cold, and it was the first time he hadn't seen snow.
The Aurum Tribe had come a long way in the last few months. Crops and farmland had been planted out along the river and around the camp; a large pen had been built to keep the horses corralled; tents and small huts had been built along the river. Bridges were built across the river to provide easy transport across, and the tribe had spread out quite a bit on both sides.
It took a few months, but they'd set up a quarry to dig down into the cliff face to gather ores and minerals. Luck had provided them with a large quantity of iron from the ground, and they began smelting it down into steel; a process the otter still didn't fully understand, but was always fascinated to watch.
"Have you been practicing with any other spells?" the ram asked, bringing the otter out of his reverie.
Mako frowned as thought about that. He'd been getting much better at throwing around blasts of fire, so much so that some of the others had even taken notice of him; but when it came to other spells, he hadn't been able to manage the smallest of efforts. "I've tried, but I don't know where to even start. I've tried walking on water, moving small objects around, tried to create light, or see in the dark, but I just don't know what to think of, or do, and trying to think of how to name or call the spell is difficult," he said, sighing. "Why do you never have to say anything?"
Hizaki laughed as he listened to the otter's problems, patting the otter's shoulder as they walked. "I've just trained quite a bit more; I can hear the word loud and clearly in my mind," he explained. "And don't try to think of so many different things to try. Find one thing you would like to do, and focus on it. After you've mastered a second, move to a third, and fourth, and soon you'll find it easier to do all sorts of things."
The otter nodded rubbed his forearms, glancing up at the moon as it began rising. "I'll try. It's just difficult,"
"Nothing worth doing is ever anything else," Hizaki said with a soft chuckle.
As they got back to camp Hizaki walked off towards his tent and Mako sought out Osso and Kasim; Tarn was off exploring with Mikal, with whom he'd grown close. Osso and Kasim were relaxing at the campfire near their ring of tents.
"Mako!" Osso said, waving a paw as he approached.
The otter smiled and waved back, expression turning to confusion when he got near and saw that Osso's left paw was heavily bandaged. "What did you do?"
The bat grinned sheepishly as Mako took a seat nearby. "Well, you were off with Hizaki, and I was talking with Kasim about how you both are doing so well with your own training, and how I'm... well, seemingly stuck in my own progress..." he said, raising a paw to silence Mako before he could interrupt. "I wanted to try and cast fire like you can, and I... sort of did," he said.
Kasim laughed and put his arm around the bat, hugging him close. "I told you not to worry about it," he said.
"Of course! Cause you are rather skilled in magic, and he's looking to be better than you!" Osso said, rolling his eyes and huffing.
Mako flushed at that statement, looking over at Kasim; he couldn't imagine ever being as good, much less better, than the wild dog. "I'm not that good... what happened, though?" he asked, hoping to change the subject.
Osso sighed and looked down at his arm. "Well, I wanted to call forth fire like you do. I pictured everything, relaxed, focused, and tried to shoot a ball of fire out; and... well I did it," he said, beaming brightly.
Mako's eyes widened and he smiled. "You did?! That's amazing!" he said, clapping his paws together.
The bat laughed and rubbed his good paw against the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "Thanks. Feels good to be able to do something new; I just need to aim better. I was standing next to the cliff and the fire blasted off of it and burned my arm,"
The otter chuckled and reached over, giving his leg a squeeze. "Still, that's better than I can do. I've tried other spells, but nothing seems to work for me,"
"You'll get it," Kasim assured him, nodding his head. "You've already gotten so good at casting fire, I'm sure you'll do great with whatever you learn next,"
Mako frowned and shrugged his shoulders, not feeling very confident about his current situation. "Maybe. How did you learn others? Or hell, even your first? How did that happen?" he asked.
Kasim hmmed thoughtfully, looking off at the fire as he thought back. "The first thing I ever managed to do..." The wild dog trailed off and held out his paw. "Yuvio," he muttered, and a few drops of rain came down into the palm of his hand. "I wanted to make it rain, and at first I'd only get a couple drops; but after some time, I was able to get much stronger on it. I guess the weather is just something I was always really fascinated in;" he said, letting the water roll off his paw and into the ground.
"That sounds amazing, though," the otter said, looking at the canine's paws and sighing to himself. "I can't imagine being able to make it rain, or control the weather... must make it really nice for crops," he said.
"Ehh, it depends," Kasim said, wiping his paw off on his pants. "If I let up on concentration, everything goes back to how it was, and I can't keep it raining for any long length of time. So, I might be able to hold it for a few minutes, but it's not necessarily going to do to much," he explained.
Mako nodded. "I see. What did you learn next?" he asked.
"Lightning," he said, grinning wide and stretching his arm out in front of him. "I'd show you, buuuut it's kind of late, and the sound would wake people," he said with a laugh.
Osso patted the dog's shoulder and pulled one of his paws down to intertwine their fingers. "And if you woke Selena's baby, I'm sure she skin you alive. You know she takes forever to go to sleep."
Mako chuckled as he pictured Kasim cowering under the deer's fury. Her daughter was a couple months old and didn't seem to enjoy going to sleep through the night, leaving Selena quite tired in the morning. Waking the baby would put her into quite an unpleasant mood.
Kasim stuck his tongue out at the bat. "That's why I wasn't going to do it, now isn't it? Anyway, lightning," he said, turning back to the otter. "It's not particularly useful, but damn if it isn't fun," he said.
"Not useful?" Mako asked.
"Well, no, not really. It's not exactly something I need to use. Maybe if, for one reason or another, we went to war, it might be good for taking out the enemy, but you don't need to shoot lightning around most days, you know?"
Mako frowned as he thought about that; it hadn't really crossed his mind. "I guess you're right. I don't really need to shoot fire around every day, either," he said.
Kasim noticed the sudden change on the otter's face, his own ears perking up. "Something wrong?"
Mako thought about how to phrase his concerns. "It just took so long to get half decent at one thing, but... I never really noticed how useless it was," he said.
"What do you mean useless?" Osso asked, sitting up and leaning forward.
"Well," Mako sighed, rubbing a paw through his hair. "Not as much for you, you can create light, that's useful. But what does it matter if I can throw fire around and blast apart a tree? I don't have any use for doing that day to day," he said, growing a bit frustrated.
Kasim frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, no, but that doesn't mean it's useless. If you ever need to defend yourself, you can. And you're getting stronger, which means you'll be able to do more complicated things later. If it bothers you, too, you should try to do something you might think is more practical," he suggested.
"Like what?" Mako asked, balling and unballing his fists. "I'm not trying to belittle anyone's accomplishments, I just... I don't know, I know some have limited healing powers, and others can move things around, but I just don't really feel... useful,"
Osso smiled and reached over to squeeze the otter's thigh. "You're fine. It might not seem like you've accomplished much, but you have, and you'll learn to feel good about it. I wish I knew what else to suggest," he said softly.
The otter sighed and closed his eyes. "I think I'm going to go wash off and then get some food, then get some early sleep," he said, standing up and brushing himself off. "I'll talk to you later," he said.
Kasim nodded. "We'll see you later tonight, then,"
"Want me to some with or anything?" the otter asked, about to stand up.
Mako shook his head, holding up a paw to stop the bat. "No, I'm fine. I think I just want to relax and think about things," he said.
Osso nodded and sat back down, a little hurt, but he didn't protest. "Well, we're here if you need to talk more or anything,"
Mako smiled and nodded as he turned away. "I know, thanks,"
Mako stirred early in the morning, hearing a bunch of voices nearby arguing heatedly. The noise increased and then faded away; whoever they were they'd just walked past his tent. It didn't concern the otter, though, and he just rolled onto his back, yawning and stretching out on his cot.
He'd stayed out late last night to just be alone with his thoughts and think things over. He didn't regret leaving the Ormus Tribe, but he still felt alone here. It was his own fault, really; he didn't socialize much with the tribe, or go out of his way to meet new people. It was hard, though. These people had known each other for years and he'd only been with them for not even a year.
The otter felt himself drifting off to sleep again but his tent flap was pushed aside with Osso slipping inside. "Mako, are you awake?" he asked, kneeling down at the otter's side.
Mako's eyes parted and he smiled warmly at the bat, stretching out. "Mmm, I can be. What's going on?" he asked.
Osso chuckled and leaned down to give Mako's forehead a quick kiss. "Tarn and Mikal are back,"
The otter hesitated for a few seconds; something about the way the bat was acting was off. "That's nice, but what's that matter?" he asked, pushing his blanket aside and arching his back.
"They encountered another tribe," Osso said, a rather impassive look on his face now.
That got Mako's attention. The otter sat up, now awake, and just stared at the bat incredulously. "What? Another tribe? Where?"
The bat looked back to the flap of the tent and then sighed through his nose. "About thirty miles from here. But that's not all. There was a second tribe there; it appears the two tribes are at war," he said, frowning.
Mako's eyes went wide as the moon now and his jaw hung open. "Two? Two tribes?!" In his whole life he'd only encountered the Aurum Tribe which he was now a part of; it was hard to imagine more.
Osso nodded and frowned, rubbing his paws together at the thought. "Two of them. We don't really know much about them, though Tarn said it appeared as if there was just a few raiding parties attacking another tribe as they migrated,"
"Where are they heading?" the otter asked, grabbing one of his loincloths and tying it around his waist.
"Not sure, but according to Mikal, if they continue in the direction they were heading, they'll pass maybe a mile or two south of here," Osso told him.
"What are the Elders discussing?" Mako asked. He rummaged around in one of the bags at the corner of his tent before coming up with a stale loaf of bread from the previous night. It had toughened and groan soggy at the same time, but he needed a little something for his empty stomach.
Osso shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but I'm a bit concerned. It feels like we just got here, and I don't want to jeopardize everything we have,"
"But what about them? I mean, don't you want to try to help them if there's something we can do?" It seemed like an obvious answer to the otter, but apparently not everyone would think like he did.
Osso frowned and looked down at his paws before offering a simple shrug. "Look, I don't know. Not everyone we meet are going to be good people, though, we have to be careful. Come on, let's get food,"
Mako took the cue and kept his mouth shut about it for now; clearly they weren't on the same page, and it wasn't something the bat wanted to discuss right this moment.
Word spread quicker than any fire, and the entire camp was already in an uproar over the possibility of more tribes, and a war. Some of the Elders were trying to keep people calm, and for the most part it worked, though a few were on the verge of a full-blown panic.
Mako was surprised to hear some of the most hateful things from the people of the tribe, but attributed it to fear. The life they had had been really good so far, and no one wanted to lose everything for the sake of some strangers. On the other hand, they didn't want to sit idly by knowing that they could help.
The two got some fresh bread and fruit, and hunted down Kasim who looked as nervous as anyone there. "Everyone seems to have lost their minds over this," the wild dog said once they'd gotten a quiet place to sit and eat along the river. They couldn't return to their tents because with the Elders nearby discussing options, it was loudest spot in the camp.
"I know," Osso said, tossing an apple core into the river and watching it float along the stream. "This could be really bad. From what Mikal said, it was only a small party attacking the large tribe, and there were likely to be plenty more that close behind."
"Well, we need to do something. Find out who is in the right, who's in the wrong, and then help the good guys, right?" Kasim suggested.
Mako just shook his head. "How do you expect to do that? If we ask the attacking party, they're going to say they're in the right. If we ask the defending party, they'll say the same thing. And I doubt we'll be able to get them together to talk about it. Tensions are going to be high, and... ugh, I don't know, but I really doubt that we'll be able to talk to either to find out anything about this,"
"Mako's right," Osso said, resting his head in both paws, kicking his feet in the water. "We need to know what's going on, but we can't really take either at their word,"
"We've got the weapons to fight, though, if we're needed to," Kasim said, pulling a dagger from his belt and turning over the sharp, steel blade. It was one of the first that the Tribe had forged with their new mines and metals.
The otter frowned as he looked at the blade. "I've never fought before. It's not something I'm good at. I can't even really shoot a bow that well; I'd be useless,"
Osso's head snapped to the otter. "Useless? You can splinter a tree at twenty yards or so. Imagine that happening to someone else," he suggested. "You don't need a bow when you can fling fire at them,"
Mako shook his head and flexed his fingers. "We don't know what that'd do to someone. Dead wood is completely different,"
Kasim looked up at the sky, smiling as he pictured the story-esque battles in his mind. "Mmm, can you imagine shooting fire around? Too bad we can't have magical weapons, though,"
Mako's brow furrowed and he mulled over that thought as the others started talking about the possibility of an upcoming war with another tribe. The otter stayed in his own thoughts, just picking at some of his leftover food before one of them finally grabbed his shoulder. "Hm?"
Osso leaned down and gave a quick nuzzle to the otter's head and pulled back. "Kasim and I are gonna go find out more about what's going on. Did you want to come with?"
"No, I think I'm going to stay here for a little bit. I'll find you later," he said, smiling up at the couple.
Osso nodded and interlaced his fingers with the wild dog's. "Alright. See you then." With that the two were off towards the camp, leaving the otter sitting on the riverbank alone.
Mako waited until the others were out of sight before he hopped up as well, heading off to a different part of the camp to find materials for an idea that had struck him. He was going to make a magical weapon.
