Chapter Six
Once again Erik was impressed by the beauty of the valley, the hills high around them, and the fresh scent of the place. On closer inspection, he spied a few small cottages on the far side of the valley, and off in a far field the distinct red-rust colour of Timaz, the tiger-fox could be seen, moving about near a pair of grey horses, who dwarfed the small fox.
“What’s over there?” Erik asked, pointing to the cottages, squinting against the sun, which had risen over the mountain range and rudely come to rest right into his eyes.
“That is probably the only refuge for half-breeds in the entire realm” he said.
“You see, it is very unusual for a half-breed to be born, most couples of different species finding it impossible for the female to become pregnant, or to carry their young to term, those that ARE born, are considered unnatural, and will often be abandoned or destroyed by their family, and those who are nurtured by their parents often feel they must leave at a rather young age, in order to spare their parents from the ridicule they face. Those that do that usually end up here, in this valley, where they live in peace, away from the prejudice of purebloods”
Erik sighed, taking Belris’ hand as they turned away from the cottages and moved towards an overgrown mountain path.
“I thought perhaps, we should get away from the livestock while you practice, we don’t want to startle the cattle, any kind of stress makes them produce less milk”
Erik stopped a moment, staring at Belris, his nervousness showing as he shuffled his feet.
“Belris, please tell me I’m not going to explode myself or anything” he said, his eyes wide with fear.
Belris shrugged.
“It could happen I suppose” he said, his eyes dancing with mischief.
“But it is more likely that you’ll be shooting sparks out of your hands or some such ridiculous thing, I don’t think anyone has actually EXPLODED themselves before, but, yes, there IS a first time for everything. Hmm…perhaps I should have brought a change of clothes in that case, It is TERRIBLY hard to get exploded person out of ones clothes, after all”
Erik glared at him, shoving at him playfully.
“You are horrible, did you know that?”
Belris simply smiled, swatting the younger man on the backside as he did so.
“And that, my friend, is why you love me. Now let’s get a move-on, it is a long hike up this mountain”
Erik looked up at the path, obscured by fallen logs, creepers and thorn-covered bushes and sighed deeply.
“Belris” He whined.
“Getting up a completely clear path that steep would kill me, getting up a path that overgrown is going to be impossible”
“Nothing is ever impossible, Erik” Belris replied as he leapt over a fallen log, spreading his wings for balance as he did so.
“You just have to persist, you will get there eventually, now get a move on, I want to get you up here by nightfall”
Erik groaned, scrambling over the log with all the grace of a newborn foal, and after dusting himself off, looked at Belris pathetically.
“Carry me?” He asked, only half-joking.
Belris simply shook his head, picking up his pace, as he moved lightly up the path, his movements as graceful as Erik’s were not.
“Hurry up Erik” he said, teasing him.
“If you manage to reach the top before me, I might even allow for a little…recreation time”
That was all the encouragement Erik needed, and he was quickly struggling his way through brambles and thorns, fighting off creepers and dragging himself up the steep track as quickly as he could.

After about an hour of fighting with the underbrush, Erik stopped in utter frustration. He had lost sight of Belris about twenty minutes into the hike, his legs and back ached, he had scratches all over him from the thorns and low lying branches, he was almost completely exhausted and he had bruises on his knees and elbows from tripping on the creepers that he was sure were out to entangle him.
“Oh just give me a fucking break!” He yelled at the bushes, anger seeping into his voice as he did so.
His eyes widened as the all plant life retreated from the path, leaving it wide and clean before him. He looked around, but could not see Belris anywhere, and so, decided to see if, perhaps, he was at the end, waiting for him.
Still tired from his battle with the bush, the young man stopped once more, an idea forming in his mind, he glared at the path, and shouted at it.
“Level”
Nothing happened, and he sighed, trudging ever onward along it, until, finally, exhausted, at the top, he threw himself down on the soft earth beneath him, and, not seeing Belris anywhere, waited patiently for him to show himself.
He didn’t have to wait long before the telltale sound of large beating wings was heard, and almost as though out of nowhere, the winged man appeared with a heavy thud, as he landed on his rump in the middle of the clearing.
He smiled at Erik, holding out a basket full of food as he did so, which Erik took from him and placed on the ground before helping the larger man up.
“Thanks for clearing that path for me” Belris said cheekily as he dusted off his backside, then pecked the younger man on the cheek.
“I have been meaning to do that for a while now, and just have not gotten around to it. Oh, and I see I managed to trigger your magical ability too” He said in mock surprise.
Erik glared at him for a moment, his attention shifting to the basket of food that had been offered, as he pulled out assorted fruits, dried meats, and the freshly cooked loaf of bread that Timaz had baked earlier in the day.
“Well, at least you are managing to feed me after torturing me for the better half of the day. And I DO believe that I managed to get here before you. You know what THAT means, don’t you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around the man, and crushing their lips together in an urgent kiss.
Belris did nothing to stop the younger man, his own arms resting at the small of his back as his wings wrapped around them, blocking them from the outside world, before they broke apart.
“You know, as much as I’d like to ravish you right here, I think that both of us need to at least eat first” Belris said, untangling himself from the younger man and sprawling himself across the ground, to look over the food that he had arrived with.
“Spoilsport” Erik said, pouting prettily as he sat down beside the other man, grabbing a piece of fruit and attacking it viciously.
“Then again, it’s probably better that we eat first, I am absolutely starving”
Belris laughed, breaking the bread into small segments, before popping one into his mouth and watching, quietly as Erik proceeded to stuff his face.

It was not long before all the food was gone, and both men, their hunger sated lounged comfortably on the soft ground below.
“So” Belris began.
“How did you make the bushes leave you alone anyhow?”
Erik looked up at him, dazed, as he was beginning to doze off at that point, and smiled sleepily.
“I yelled at them to give me a break, and they did”
Belris laughed, a rich, deep sound full of merriment.
“You are lucky that you didn’t end up with a broken leg or something, sometimes the magic will take you literally, and you can end up hindered more than helped. Now, do you think you could possibly do it again, on purpose?”
Erik sighed, shaking his head.
“I don’t think so, I already tried. I yelled at the path to actually level its self and it wouldn’t, so I don’t think I can do it when I try”
“Give yourself some credit, magic can take a lot out of you, and you had just caused an entire forest to give you a helping hand before trying to level a MOUNTAIN. I think it is about time I let you in on a little secret. Asking the plants to move, or to help you in this case, since they also removed the fallen logs for you, is a lot easier than trying to level rock, because the plants are alive, and the rock is not. You can make living things obey you, simply by speaking to them, or commanding them, inanimate objects are a little harder to control, for that you must really concentrate. It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hard work to become that proficient in magic, right now, all I want you to do, is focus on controlling living things, once that is mastered, we will start on the non-living”
“Okay, I suppose I can give it another try, only, should I try to make myself angry again, or should I just command the bushes to listen to me?”
Belris thought about this a moment, rubbing his chin as he did so.
“Perhaps you should just try asking them, lets see if you can do this without strong emotion first, and if you find it too difficult, we can always try again by making you angry.”
Erik sighed, focussing his energy on the task at hand, and spoke.
“Back?”
Nothing happened.
Belris smiled, wrapping an arm around him and kissing him lightly on the temple.
“Do not ask the plants, Erik, COMMAND them, you are in charge, not them”
Closing his eyes, Erik took a deep breath his brow wrinkling as he spoke again, in a more commanding tone.
“BACK!” he all but yelled, and when his eyes opened, the path was just as overgrown as it had been before he began to make his way up the mountain and into the clearing.
Belris clapped, half-enthusiastically, then rolled his eyes at Erik, who watched him, a rather confused expression on his face.
“What’s the matter?” He asked.
“Oh, nothing” Belris replied.
“Just that now, you are going to have to walk ALL the way back down through an uncleared path”
“Oh, no I will not!” Erik snorted, focussing on the bushes once more, he spoke softly but firmly.
“Move again” he commanded, and they did just that, some of the creepers even having the courtesy to create a hand-rail that stretched from top to bottom.
Belris examined the path in surprise.
“You sure catch on quick” he said, marvelling at the way the creepers and vines had interwoven themselves to create the sturdy handrail and border before him.
“How did you manage to make them do that?” he asked, still completely shocked that they had done that.
Erik shook his head, bewildered.
“I didn’t MAKE them do that, they did it all on their own, I just asked them to kindly move out of the way so I would have an easier time getting down the mountain, I guess they like me or something”
“Hmm…or something…tell me, did you think of a hand rail, or anything along those lines when you asked the bushes to move out of your way?”
Erik shook his head, before tilting it to the side like a curious dog, studying the path down the mountain once more.
“No, not really, I was sort of wishing that there was an easier way to get up here, and to go back down….I guess the plants picked up on that or something”
Belris just nodded, lost in thought, his eyes scanning the clear path every so often. Erik was just about to ask if he was okay when he spoke.
“To have a talent like yours so early on, you must be one of the most powerful magicians this world has ever seen. I have known many people with a magical ability, but yours is extraordinary, it would take the most skilled of wizards years to learn to do something as intricate as the work you have done today, and you are not even exactly sure how you did it. I think, perhaps, you will be ready a lot sooner than I anticipated, now, lets get ourselves home, so we can start where we left off this morning”
Erik needed no further enticing, and, after packing away what remained of their food, they made their way down the mountain, through the path that Erik had cleared.