I held back tears, touched that he would allow me to go, and give me so much. “Thank you, Master.”
“You’re welcome, my son. Come, let’s get you packed.”
We went to my room. I took my dagger, purse, bedroll, and goatskin pouch. I left my blankets because I knew I wouldn’t need any as long as I had my snug wizard’s robe. I also left my backpack. My purse could hold enough supplies and I still had money from the princess. I would buy the extra supplies I needed, along with some new clothes, when I got to a village.
Next, we headed to the garden. Master Stradus gave me several small potions in magically reinforced glass that he thought might also come in handy. They were basic growth, revitalization, stabilization, and entrapping potions. We filled up the rest of my purse with food, and my goatskin pouch with water. My heart dropped into my stomach as we made our way to the exit and the waiting cold.
My eyes welled up as memories of laughter, frustration, joy, hardship, and love flooded my mind. Cynder came out to join us, and the fires in the caves danced sadly as if to say goodbye.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until we've finished your training?” Master Stradus asked.
“If I don’t go now, I may never go.”
“And that would be a travesty,” Cynder said. “I agree. You should go now.”
“Anything to get away from you.”
Master Stradus laughed.
Cynder snorted smoke.
“Cynder will see you off the mountain so you don’t have to needlessly tire yourself.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know which was harder—climbing up the mountain or climbing down it.
“Hellsfire, I want you to be very careful while you're out there.”
“I will, Master.”
“That's not what I mean. Use your power sparingly. Don't flaunt your magic and don't tell people you're a wizard-in-training if you can help it. The world might have changed since I was last in it, but there might also still be people upset over the War of the Wizards.”
I nodded.
Master Stradus smiled and laid his hand on my shoulder. “Hellsfire, take care of yourself and remember your training. This is just the beginning of the long journey the gods have laid out for you. Come back if you need anything.”
“I will, Master. Thank you for what you’ve done for me. I really appreciate it.”
“You've made an old man proud.” Master Stradus embraced me. “I'm going to miss you, my boy.”
“Me too.”
“Well, I'm not going to miss you,” Cynder said. He broke our embrace by craning his long neck between Master Stradus and me. “You've been a constant pain in my tail ever since you got here.”
“You're still not going to let me forget that bump on the head I gave you, are you?”
“Dragons never forget, little one.”
“That's because you're too stupid to forget.”
“You little runt!” Cynder's tail slammed against the ground. I readied myself for what was going to come next.
“Enough!” Master Stradus said. “I'm not going to miss you two bickering. Cynder, take Hellsfire down the mountain.”
“I don’t see why I have to take him down,” Cynder said, glaring at me with his red eyes. “He got up here fine by himself. Why can’t he get down by himself? It’s not that far of a jump. I can give him a push if you like.” He flicked his claw.
“Cynder.”
“All right, I was only joking. Come on, I haven’t got all day.” Cynder lowered himself, and I climbed onto his scaly back. “Sure, have the dragon do all the work. I don’t see why humans can’t learn to build flying machines. You already have a catapult. You’d think you could take it one step further. Some kind of winged contraption.”
I looked at my mentor one last time. “Goodbye, Master. I know we’ll meet again one day—and thank you. For everything.” I waved as Cynder took off with a sweep of his giant wings.
“Remember your training, my boy,” Master Stradus called through the rough wind. “Don’t forget, I’ll be here if you need anything. Take care of yourself!”
I had no doubt that I would see him again. The question was, would I survive that dreadful feeling in my bones?
Cynder flew me down the mountain in no time, soaring through the winter weather like an arrow in flight. He came to an abrupt stop. The backlash of wind almost unseated me. I yanked back hard on his neck scale, nearly peeling it off. He grunted, and I laughed. That’s what he got for trying to send me flying off of him. I wasn't falling for that trick again. I hopped off his bumpy back onto the dirt-covered ground.