Session 5: Visiting Home

The next day, Malzeer snuck into the school library to study while Keleth attended classes as usual. After only a couple of class periods, he was called into the main office where he was confronted by the school board. Professor Grell demanded that the amulet he stole from Arelen be returned to her superior (which just so happened to be Grell himself), but Asha reminded him that removing the amulet from someone as young as Malzeer was likely to result in his soul being ripped from his body. 

Grell nearly removed it anyway, but before he could Archmage Vel decreed that Malzeer could attend classes. Grumbling, Grell insisted that at the very least he should be the one to instruct the boy, which Vel agreed to.

Months passed and the boys excelled in their studies. After the outing to the cave, Remington kept a close eye on them - they were either to attend school or be home, with no chance to investigate or explore the city. A party was scheduled for the kick-off of summer break, but Remington instead told the boys that they were to come with him on a visit to their home city across the border.

They dutifully did as they were told, but Keleth sulked the whole way. Malzeer bonded with Remington during the trip, as Remington bore the brunt of several trials they faced on the road. 

After several days on the road, they finally saw their city as they crested a hill, and saw smoke billowing from it. Fearing the worst - that Gabrizan's forces had descended upon their home - the boys and Remington broke into a dead sprint, ready to join the fray. When they reached town, however, they witnessed a different sort of emergency. A church building had gone up in flames, and the townsfolk were fire-lining buckets of water in an effort to stop the blaze from spreading. A few folks were calling out for Anna Loremaer - the boy's mother and mayor of the town - hoping she would cast a spell to end the fire before it got out of control. A woman burst from the church doors, gasping for clean air. She wailed that her child was still inside the building.

The boys split up. Keleth braving the fire-filled church and Malzeer running home to see his mother. Keleth hunted through the church's structure, narrowly avoiding fiery support beams as they crashed around him. He spotted a child cowering in a corner, who mentioned that the fire was started by his friend "Mister Pops." A small campfire sitting conspicuously nearby transformed into a tiny one-foot tall fire elemental. Keleth ushered the group out of the church.

Meanwhile Malzeer barged into his childhood home, seeing his mother searching the house frantically for her spellbook. Of course, it ended up hiding in plain sight on an end-table. The two exchanged a brief hello before rushing off to the scene of the fire. As Anna summoned a storm of sleet over the church, Keleth emerged onto the street, clutching the young boy and the fire elemental, which scalded him with every step. After returning the boy to his thankful mother, Keleth joined his own mother, along with his brother and father. The family hugged as the crowd dispersed, and they retreated to their own estate for the night.