Trinity of Magic Book 4: Chapter 8: Road to the Capital I

The sun had just crested the horizon when a train of carriages left through the eastern gate of Kanion. This was one of the regular caravans ferrying goods and passengers between the capital and the border.

In one of the middle wagons, two brown-haired youngsters sat in silence, intently watching the new scenery. Those two were, of course, Zeke and Leo. They had managed to get a spot on the earliest ride, despite their late arrival. It hadnt been all that hard for Zeke to convince the chief. He even managed to haggle down the price by promising to help out if they ca across any danger.

The chief had been pleased to get the assistance of two Mages for the asly cost of a price reduction. Wouldnt he have been stupid to refuse such an offer? Instead of paying them for their service, those two even paid to work as additional guards.

Little did he know that Leo would have fought either way, even for free. So, Zeke was also quite happy with the arrangent. Furthermore, it was very unlikely they would have to do much. The caravan stayed far away from any of the truly dangerous areas, and bandits werent common either. On top of that, the chief already employed three Grand Mages and over 20 True Mages as guards.

Such a force should be able to handle most things, and even if they couldnt, the addition of two True Mages wouldnt make a difference. Zeke had already decided that if they ran into a problem they truly couldnt solve, he and Leo would save themselves instead of honoring the deal. The small price reduction the chief had granted them wasnt reason enough to risk their lives unnecessarily.

Of course, Zeke wasnt opposed to helping out in any other circumstance. Their journey would take them two weeks and it would be too boring to just sit around all day without anything to do at least for Leo. With them now being officially part of the guard crew, they had a lot more freedom to move independently. This was the main reason he had agreed to such an arrangent.

After less than an hour, his prediction ca true already as Leo got bored of looking outside. Now that they werent alone anymore, his brother couldnt continue his Magic fusion practice, so there was little to distract himself with. Similarly, the terrain was getting increasingly monotonous. The further east they went the less there was to see. The verdant green woods and grassy fields had long since been replaced by dry soil.