And so, she tells him that from now on, if they manage to escape, they will be free to live together as a family far away from all those who prevent them.
Little Etydamon forgot everything and the sadness left his face, and in its place came the joy of hope.
For so long, Etydameus believed that he would never see his father again, and he understood that they were hiding something from him about his father when they spoke to him. Thus, he had assumed that perhaps he was even dead, and they simply did not want to tell him so that he would not be saddened.
Etydameus looks his mother intensely in the eyes and says to her,"Do not worry, now that I know that father lives and will be in the same place as me, know that there is no chance that we will fail. We will both return back to you together before you realize it!"
The council had sentenced him to the prison of Akbazan, however now little Etydameus saw this sentence not as a punishment but as a blessing and an opportunity to reunite with his lost father.
He had now gained hope and great optimism.
Apheni sat a little longer until their time ended, and afterwards she kissed him and they said goodbye.
Apheni now knew that she had done whatever she could to help her son, and if all goes well, then the two loves of her life will be freed together.
She had enchanted with magic the dragon necklace and at the same time a rock that was located outside the entrance of the cave that leads inside Akbazan.
Thus, with the help of the enchanted pendant, they will always know towards where to head, even if they do not have the coded spells for help.
It was not much, however the enchanted necklace and a wand for the capable Torpineas are more than enough to have a chance to escape successfully.
Of course, Apheni had heard that after her husband's last attempt they had placed more guards and traps, however she hoped they would succeed.
The week passed and the moment came to send Etydameas to Kezan.
They bid him farewell, and Apheni with sobs watches her only son being escorted by a group of special agents.
Not even four years had properly passed, and now they take from her also her seven-year-old son.
Apheni could not believe her bad fate.
The team of agents led Etydameas into a hall and subjected him to a procedure in order to restrict his strong magical powers.
This time they would not make the same mistake of underestimating him, and so a mage gave him to drink a bitter potion, and afterwards, touching his wand to the left shoulder of the young mage, said the spell,"Emporio."
Etydamon felt a burning on his shoulder, and a mark remained upon his skin.
And so they suppressed his exceptional powers so that he would not be able to use them against them.
Now they were able to transport him safely to Akmapzan, and additionally he would not constitute a problem even during his stay at the reformatory of Movinto.
And so, with this magical seal, the council of the Odyvians suppressed the magical powers of Etydameas until he serves his sentence in Kezan.
The special team teleported the young mage to the palace of Damanis, who was the eldest brother of his grandfather Sazideas.
Etydameus had never seen Damanis before, who avoided social relations with his relatives.
Nevertheless, he had heard how powerful and wise he was from Somena and his mother.
Also, Etydameus remained astonished as he saw for the first time the magnificent walls and luxurious halls of Damanis' palace.
The group that accompanied the young mage asked Damanis to give them a guard so that they could send Etydameas to the largest and safest prison in the world of magic.
Damanis gave them two guards, and they led the team of agents together with the seven-year-old mage deep into the depths of the prison of Akbazan.
Etydameus felt fear during their journey through the sectors of Akbazan when he saw with his own eyes how heavily guarded it was, as well as terrifying monsters such as Cerberus with the Alnafropeis.
Finally, they arrived at the location of the bronze axe, and one guard touched the wall with his wand and magically opened a gate.
As usually happens, Etydameas was astonished by the size of the innermost ring, which was enormous — truly an entire country.
It had forests, mountains, rivers, and lakes as well.
It was the ideal place to keep many convicted mages imprisoned and isolated far away from the real world of magic outside Akbazan.
A guard shows the location of Movinto in Kezan, which was displayed brightly through a magical cube.
Afterwards, they told the team of agents to return within half an hour to the same spot so that they could escort them out of Akbazan.
The agents teleported in front of the beautiful gate of Movinto.
They showed the two gate guards a report, which they produced by waving their wand.
The letter contained the purpose of their mission and various details regarding the seven-year-old mage.
After reading the letter, the guards looked with surprise at the small child, who was gloomy and with lowered head.
The guards notified their superiors at the reformatory and warned them not to be deceived by Etydameas' young age.
Throughout the journey toward the reformatory, Etydameus did not utter a word, and gloomily waited to be guided.
During roll call, everyone was counted and answered present. Afterwards, the children were assigned various chores, and they were told that within one hour at most they should be back there again, so that they could all go together to the dining hall for breakfast.
They finished the small tasks they had, such as cleaning some of the chambers, and gathered together to go eat.
Afterwards, they all went outside again and lined up, this time according to their age in the appropriate class, to attend the day's lessons.
The training of Etydameus was personally undertaken by the kind Irmeus, since he was quite small to join any of the already existing classes of Movinto.
Irmeus was responsible for the education of the seven-year-old mage and taught him most of his private lessons.
In this way, the routine of the young mage continued with chores and attending lessons.
At first, the young mage attended almost exclusively private lessons and only occasionally participated with the other children of his chamber in some games and sports.
However, the boy was quite perceptive and progressed rapidly in his education, having a strong thirst for learning.
Thus, Irmeus suggested to him that, if he wished, he could also participate in some theoretical lessons of the older classes.
Since Etydamon also desired it, Irmeus placed him into some lessons of the fourteen-year-old students, and not at all unexpectedly, Etydameas performed quite well despite his young age.
Time passed, and the young mage had now adapted and grown accustomed to the routine of the reformatory.
However, Etydameus had not forgotten his purpose, and so he had already found a map of the territory of Ephilia.
Now he knew the region of Perkoumet, where the Kikans were guarded, and where Mount Echepyros was located, where his father was imprisoned.
He had already taken the first step, so the only thing left was somehow to acquire a wand.
Meanwhile, Etydameus had formed quite good relationships with almost all the children of his chamber, and his teachers at Movinto also liked him.
Especially with Irmeus, he had formed a very good relationship, and he taught him many interesting lessons and more.
Under other circumstances, Etydamon would not risk escaping and would have remained to serve his sentence normally, but he knew that his father Torpineas was sentenced to life imprisonment, so he had no other choice but to save his father and escape from Akpmazan together once and for all.
Thus, one day he managed to snatch a wand from one of his teachers who was passing beside his desk.
Skillfully, he took it from his teacher's belt and hid it inside his own cloak, hoping the teacher would not notice it until the lesson ended.
Indeed, the lesson ended, the bell rang for break, and young Etydameus quickly and carefully, so that no one would notice him, headed behind the large building that had a secondary gate leading outside the prison of Movinto.
Etydameus approached the gate quietly and tried to petrify the two guards of the gate, but after repeated attempts he realized that something was not functioning properly with the use of his magic.
So, since he was unable to turn them to stone, he attempted the spell Movarda, which a strange sensation gave him the ability to know that he could use it correctly.
Thus, he used the spell and blasted the gate along with the guards far away.
One of the guards stood up after the explosion and prepared to attack Etydameas, but the boy invoked Movarda again to neutralize the guard. However, he realized that this time he did not have the ability to cast the Movarda spell.
Instead, he felt that he had the spell Inaxeto available, and so the guard was thrown far away by a powerful wave of air and crashed into a wall.
Now both guards were unconscious, so the young mage fled quickly, carrying with him the map and the wand, in order to save his father who was imprisoned in the region of Perkoumet.
Thus, he escaped from Movinto and thought to himself that when he reached his father, Torpineas would be able to lead them out of Akbazan thanks to the enchanted pendant and the wand he would give him.
At the same time, he wondered why he was unable to use his magic comfortably, except only in a random order of certain spells.
He realized that something must have to do with the mark on his left shoulder, which had been made on him before he was sent to Kezan.
Etydamon was thinking all these things while running nonstop toward the forest to hide, and he thought that he was quite lucky that the unexpected inability to use his magic at will had not cost him dearly.
After continuing for quite some time through the forest and feeling that he had moved far enough away, he stopped to rest and catch his breath.
Then he decided to experiment a little with his spells to test his abilities, so that the next time he needed them he would be better prepared.
Etydamon thought it would be good to test his spells with the wand to understand what he could and could not do.
Otherwise, he might not be as lucky in Perkoumet if he did not know exactly what his capabilities were.
So, he stood upright, took out the wand he had stolen from his teacher, and attempted a simple freezing spell, Espago, and this time, to his surprise, he saw it succeed.
Filled with confidence, he tried it again, but now he felt unable to perform it successfully.
Nevertheless, a similar sensation indicated to him that he currently had the ability to invoke only five spells.
The spells he had access to were Konvirgo and Movarda, which were fire spells, the air spells Inaxeto and Repiota, and the fifth was the earth spell Hravos.
Thus, he used these spells and saw that they indeed all succeeded, and after continuing to experiment, he realized that each time he used one of the five spells, its place was taken by a new one in a random manner.
Therefore, now he knew what he was dealing with and understood that he would have to invoke his spells very carefully and strategically if he wanted to have hope against the next opponents in Perkoumet and save his father.
Under normal circumstances, Etydameus knew that a mage could invoke any spell, provided that he had first learned it, and depending on the power level of the spell, one needed to possess the corresponding magical aura — that is, mana.
However, he thought that in his case the spells were made available randomly, so it would be wise to be very careful with their use.
Additionally, the young mage knew that in order to use powerful spells, one either needed to be a strong and experienced mage possessing a large amount of magical aura from the start, or the aura could be increased after two successful spells.
Of course, during battle, if one inflicted or received a blow from a spell, mana would also increase significantly, but this was a method that the teachers of Pirosovia had advised them to avoid, because one could be seriously injured.
This reminded him of something similar to what he had experienced back then at the wand workshop, when he felt something similar while trying to cast a spell and could not succeed until he found the ideal one for himself.
Thus, after resting, he decided to continue moving, always under the cover of the forest, avoiding exposure.
Meanwhile, at the reformatory of Movinto, they were slow to realize what exactly had happened.
When it was time for the shift change of the guards at the rear gate of the prison, only then were they certain that Etydamon had escaped, after finding the two guards injured and unconscious.
They then sent a search team to locate him, but it was already too late, and the young mage had moved far away long before.
At the same time, they notified the black-robed Odyvians at the Ministry of Magic about the escape of the young mage, and the Odyvians became furious and threatened the guards of Movinto that if they did not find him, they would face serious consequences.
After all, they had been informed about the unpredictable character of Etydameas and the special powers he possessed, and they had been warned to watch him carefully.
The Odyvians hurried to send their own team of special agents to assist in the search for Etydameas, and at the same time they placed hidden guards in the region of Suhor, where for today the gate leading outside the sector of Ephilia was located.
This gate moved daily and led to the second sector, where the demonic Minotaur resided.
They hoped that if they did not locate him, they would at least find him in case he somehow discovered the gate leading to the second sector of the labyrinth and thus capture him in their ambush.
Fortunately for the young mage, no one knew that Etydamon was aware that his father was also imprisoned inside Akbazan at Echepyros, and thus they did not imagine that he would attempt to find Torpineas in order to save him as well.
Dusk began to fall, and still no one had located the seven-year-old mage.
Etydameus, since he did not yet possess the ability of teleportation, moved carefully, consulting his map as he headed toward Perkumet, in order to try to save his father. The young mage would very much have liked to possess the skill of teleportation, however he knew that such spells are of an advanced level of magic and are taught in the final years at the school of Pyrosovia. Besides, this kind of magic is difficult to perform even for adult mages, which is why there exist various magical objects that assist mages, such as crystal spheres for clairvoyance, magical flying means for flight, teleportation gates, time hourglasses, and others. This type of magic is considered to belong to the category of ether, or otherwise is said to be ancient magic, and it is particularly mysterious and quite powerful. Therefore, few mages are able to use it, and even then not completely.
Thus, since evening had begun to fall and the air had grown chilly, Etydameus gathered some twigs and lit them in order to warm himself with the spell Imsenthio. After he warmed himself well and rested enough, he spoke the spell Ythro and cast water to extinguish the fire. Then, with some branches and leaves, he made a makeshift shelter and tried to sleep, while shivering from the cold. He did not want to light a fire again in case he might be detected, and so he tried to endure the chill of the night. He was unable to sleep well, since he kept waking from trembling in his sleep due to the cold, and so early at dawn he rose and began once again his journey toward Perkumet.
As he traveled through the forest, he found himself before a gorge that lay between two mountains. He thought of climbing over the mountains, but finally decided not to tire himself unnecessarily and began to cross the shadowy gorge. After some time walking through the gorge, he began to feel that someone was watching him. Indeed, a few minutes later a pack of wolves approached him, growling and preparing to pounce upon him.
Fortunately for him, Etydameus loved to read and had learned various spells beyond the basic ones taught at the school of Pyrosovia. Thus, he happened to have at his disposal the useful spell that slows time, Rostani Etys. Now he had a little time available to prepare and think of the way he would confront the threatening wolves.
Etydameus, not having a strong offensive spell ready to attack the wolves, examined the space around him and finally looked upward. He saw high above on the ridge of the gorge and with the spell Axio he pulled the rocks from the hill toward the gorge in order to hurl them toward the wolves. The rocks came crashing down and several wolves were injured; additionally, the ravine was almost completely blocked by the boulders that had fallen, leaving only a small gap between the rocks.
Now only a few wolves remained, and they were forced to pass one by one through the gap in the rocks, making it easier for the young mage to face them. First to pass through the gap was the largest wolf, who was also the leader of the pack. Etydameus, not having any strong spell, attempted Nefoulso and pushed the wolf back, though without causing any serious damage. Thus, Etydameus was forced to rely on luck and hoped that the next spells would indeed be useful and capable of saving him from the wolves.
He had Inaxeto, and the young mage immediately cast it upon the wolf, launching it far away onto the rocks, and the wolf fell down injured and weakened. Then the next wolf passed through the gap, but Etydameus, to his good fortune, had the powerful fire spell Konvirgo and faced him successfully. Another wolf passed through the hole and rushed immediately toward young Etydameus, but fortunately now he had Imsenthio and wrapped it in flames, causing the wolf to run away from him in fear in order to save itself.
Finally, the last surviving wolf passed hesitantly, seeing all his companions defeated by the young mage. This time Etydameus did not have a sufficiently capable spell to face this wolf. However, during the battle he had accumulated enough mana, so he had the ability to summon a magical creature with the spell Tlor, in order to protect himself from the wolf.
Thus, he invoked Tlor and there appeared a gigantic, ugly, green beast, which was under the control of the young Etydameus. Etydameus had read about the summoning of magical creatures and knew that it is advanced magic, which requires considerable mana. He also knew that it is dangerous to use, as it requires strong mental power so that the handler of the magical beast has absolute control and does not himself fall into danger from the monster he summons.
Nevertheless, Etydameus had no other choice but to take the risk and summon it to save himself from the wolf. So he called the beast and immediately felt an enormous pressure mentally and spiritually overwhelm him, which he understood determined the control he exercised over the magical creature. The monster rushed toward the wolf and with a powerful strike of its hand crippled it. The wolf was now unconscious, and the young mage safe; he dismissed the magical creature with a movement of his wand, canceling its presence, which he had barely controlled.
Etydameus mentally thanked his good fortune and continued his journey carefully, now knowing that dangers lurk in the forests of Ephilia. The seven-year-old mage traveled relentlessly, wishing to reach Perkumet as quickly as possible, in order to avoid unexpected dangers within the forest. He remembered that they had mentioned to them in Movinto that there are terrible and many wild beasts in the groves of Ephilia, and so he tried to hurry as much as possible to avoid whatever dangers might exist.
After several hours he finally arrived at Perkumet, and it was dusk. Etydameus did not rush; instead, he observed from afar the facilities of Perkumet, where the Kikanes were imprisoned, in order to determine from which point he should attempt to sneak in and save his father.
Etydameus thought that it would be much easier for him if he could become invisible, however this spell also belongs to the category of ether, which is why most mages cannot perform it. That is also why invisibility cloaks are constructed, so that weaker mages may use this ability if necessary, but Etydameus had no cloak either. Therefore, since invisibility was not possible, he decided to wait until nightfall and approach the prison secretly.
Indeed, he approached the two guards quietly and first petrified one, and then with the same spell, Tholixo, with which they had once restrained him in Pyrosovia, he now trapped the other guard. After binding him, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand and waited for a while until he could again use Espago, in order to petrify this guard as well. Etydameus searched the guards and took the keys from the belt of one guard.
Then he entered silently into the prison yard and approached a guard who was patrolling. The young mage felt that his telepathic powers were active and tried to use them to see if they truly worked. He forced the guard to tell him where the prisoners' cells were located and at the same time to give him the keys to the prison. The guard pointed to the building with the cells and told him that the keys were held by a warder inside.
Etydameus felt his influence over the guard weakening, and so he played with a few spells until he had Espago ready, in order to render him unconscious.
He went to the prison building, entered silently, and saw the guard sitting at a table reading a magical newspaper that projected three-dimensional images in video form. Etydameus approached quietly and suddenly disarmed him with Esperiarm, and then knocked him out with Inaxeto, causing the guard to fall unconscious after the powerful strike.
He hurried to find the cell keys on the unconscious warder, and after finding them he passed in front of the cells calling out the name of his father, Torpineas. A prisoner told him that he knew Torpineas, and so he freed him in order to lead him to his father.
The prisoner quickly led Etydameus to his father's cell, and Torpineas remained astonished upon seeing a small child together with his fellow prisoner Eumaios trying to free him. Eumaios took the keys from the hands of the young mage and swiftly unlocked Torpineas's cell.
The young mage handed his wand to Torpineas and confidently told them firmly, "Follow me!" The two green-clad prisoners obeyed him without hesitation or delay and allowed him to lead them. The other Kikanes in the cells began shouting and asking to be freed as well, but there was no time to waste.
They quickly exited the prison building and followed the boy, who full of confidence guided them safely away from their chains toward Echepyros. From the noise, some guards awoke and went outside to see what was happening.
The young mage and the two Kikanes had already passed outside the gate, where the two guards whom Etydameus had petrified earlier lay unconscious. Torpineas, once they had moved far and outside the area of Echepyros at Perkumet, then asked them to give him their hands, and in an instant he teleported them together with him to a hill beneath a large tree.