“Aug.”   Bending down, I scooped up my fifth bang chain.  “Tell me again why we’re doing at the ass crack of dawn?”

“Because there are-” A gaping yawn near split my friend Saint Juste’s face in two. “-less people out now, you know that.”  Juste rubbed his eyes pocketing some penya that the Bang had brought with it (obviously to buy some chocolates in town, I figure.  No creature can resist chocolate).

I suppose an introduction is in order.  I am Illian, just out of Flaris magician hat still... well, relatively clean.  Monster guts are bound to happen sometime, right?  Juste, the assist, is my dearest friend.  I’ve known him for... pretty much forever.  And I find myself enjoying him that much more, it’s helpful to have a friend who can heal.  I don’t much like pain and a quick heal will cure all ill, such as minor axe injuries to the skull.  Now, as to why we are up so early when the sun hasn’t even managed to drag itself up the horizon is...

I look up in the sky, just in time of coarse, to see a person on a broom.  Urg... flight lust.  “...I want that.”

One more.  Just one more chain.

“Where are you hiding the chains, you stingy bastards!”  Juste slay another bang, revealing nothing but money, a bit of meat, and Bang bits.  It was already mid afternoon.  It was like the bangs just knew that we only needed one a piece.  Like revenge or something.

“I bet they just know we need them.”  Grumble.  “Bet they know and their hiding it.”  I opt not to pick up a vital drink.  What’s a magician need that for.

Juste snorted a little, mouth stretching into a bit of a grin.  One thing he’s good at is keeping optimistic.  I think he’d grin and laugh even if he’d been up two night’s straight punching bangs.  “Probably!  But, at least we’re getting experience from this.”  At my grimace of ‘I couldn’t give a flying flip’ Juste waved his coin pouch.  “And money?”

“Oh, yeah.  Good reason, that.”  I can’t stop myself from smiling at least a little, tapping my staff against my open palm spotting a bang not too far off.  I’m getting better at spells too, I think and grin watching the Bang recoil and come tromping toward me.

But while rotating my poor abused staffing arm to lob another spell toward my foe, I feel a sort of niggle in the backs of my legs.  ‘Hmm..?’  My legs go into auto and I find myself scuttling out of the immediate area.  ‘That’s a bit odd-oh!  ...oh.’  Juste, now quite a ways away made a discontent gurgling sound.  The gurgle was followed by a roar of a giant appearing not too far from where I was.  “Sorry, Juste, wizard reaction there!”  My legs have yet to stop yet.  Magicians are pretty good at running before there’s even danger to be seen.  Juste looks torn between laughing and strangling me, and laughing won out, as he lopes along after me.

“Damn coward!”  Juste’s arm is dangling a bit, likely from the wound on his shoulder.  Oops.

The last of the chains needed was finally within our grasp, and now we quickly made our way to Martin as per Tina’s instructions.

Martin’s a lean old man and everything about him just screamed wizard.  Really, all he needed was a floppy hat and he’d be the perfect stereotype.

“Illian.”

“Hmm?”  I turn and find myself face to face with a Flaris blink wing.  “Oh, for the love of-”

“Uh huh.  We’ve got to head back to Flaris to see Marche.”  Juste passed it to me and I make sure I put on my best ‘not happy’ face.  “Well, unless you want to swim across to Flaris, you haven’t got much choice.”  Juste was already glowing and his words were a bit stretched out.

I’d best follow suit.

Finally.  Finally I have it.

With shaking hands I take my broom from a chuckling Tina.  I imagine she’s seen about a thousand of these looks before.  Juste, who overcame the gaping fish look far quicker, is trying to find a way to sit on it that wouldn’t cause discomfort but couldn’t seem to find one.  I on the other hand... feel... well I imagine if someone were to take a sword to my stomach right now they’d find, not the expected magician guts, but goo.  Or maybe I’d just deflate altogether, judging by the ‘oh my gods, is he going to pass out, damn I wish I had a camera’ look on his face.

“Shut up.”  I mutter, almost ashamed to feel my face heating up, but not even a blush or Juste teasing me for being too excitable can ruin this day.  And so I mount my broom, practical side realizing I’ll need a cushion seeing as there really isn’t anyway to sit on this thing comfortably except side saddle.  ...Which I refuse.  I’m girly enough as is.

I feel a pleasant rush of wind beneath my feet, and soon they weren’t even touching the earth.  A quick inhale, then we took off.

It was like nothing I’ve ever felt before.  My heart felt like it was pounding its way through my throat.  The sky… the world is so... wide.  And I’m suddenly thankful for the wind, because I can blame the bleariness in my eyes on it.  The sun is in the sky, and the air is cool and pleasant.  Little islands hand impossibly in the sky ahead of me.  The joy I feel is unparalleled, the excitement, the desire to see more!  The world moving beneath my feet as I pick up speed!  The... and the... the...

A moment of silence.

“...dude, is this seriously how fast this thing goes?”

On my left, Juste scoffed.  “...to hell with this.  I’m getting a board.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.