One meal of spiced chicken and vegetables later, Eravisté had stretched himself out on the couch, drowsy from the effort it took merely to get him upright, let alone eating and carrying on conversation. Gabriel, meanwhile, had his full attention on the golden amulet.
The rune on the front of the pendant glowed slightly as Gabriel passed his hand over it. A light sweat formed on his brow as his consciousness ebbed and flowed with the energies of the enchanted metal. In his mind’s vision, he saw bright lights spark in and out of view; his ice blue eyes rapidly moved back and forth beneath his eyelids to catch their movements.
Many minutes later, he woke from his trance with a gasp loud enough to rouse Eravisté. He breathed deeply, calming his racing pulse.
“Are you alright?” Eravisté asked quickly. Fear had taken another new form: concern.
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m just fine,” Gabriel replied casually, “that just takes a lot of concentration is all.”
“I see.” He glanced down to the sigil resting in Gabriel’s strong hands. “What did you find out?”
“Just what we both wanted to know, kid: your name.”
“Really? What is it?” He was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.
“’Eravisté.’ Accent on the last ‘e.’ I’ll write it down for you, it’s a little hard to spell.”
“Air-uhh-viss-tay?” He rolled the word around on his tongue. “Erruh-visstay. Eravisté.”
“Kid, are you brain-dead?” He leaned over, speaking sharply. “Don’t answer that. Look, that’s your Mage-Name. That name gives you power. Magic flows in the very sounds themselves. Do not say it so casually.”
He flushed slightly. “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s alright, just learn from your mistake.” Gabriel relaxed backwards.
“Then… if I can’t say my own name, what am I going to do?”
“Well, it’s not like that’s your given name. A Mage-Name is granted when you graduate from a mage academy. It’s more of a title.” He spun the sigil deftly between his fingers. “You’re the only one who could tell me your ‘real’ name.”
“I… see.” Eravisté’s eyes fell. “What now?”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Just… make one up. A name, I mean. Just something you wouldn’t mind being called until you figure out what your real name is.”
“It can be anything?”
He grimaced at the possibilities that ran through his mind. “I guess… technically.”
“My mage name…” He shut his eyes. “Era. Can I be called that?”
“Sure, ‘Era’ works fine,” Gabriel replied, inwardly sighing in relief. “You’ll still need a last name, though. In some situations, anyway.”
“Oh, that’s harder,” Era said, grinning despite himself.
“You can borrow mine if you want. Dalgard.”
“Really?” he asked incredulously.
“Sure, it works. Besides, someone’s got to keep an eye on you, and you kind of fell right at my doorstep. I’ll keep you in line for now, alright?” Gabriel smirked.
Era beamed. “That would be wonderful… ‘Era Dalgard.’ Thank you so much, Gabriel.”
“Eh, don’t make a big deal of it. If you do, I might change my mind,” he joked, crossing his arms behind his head.
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Era quickly replied, “I’ll be more careful!”
Gabriel sighed. Man, do I have my work cut out for me.
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