Chapter 7

"How many times will I do this?" I asked myself aloud, again. "I ride out of the Kingdom on some quest or another, always telling myself it will be my last. Then I find myself doing it all over again."

"Look at the bright side, Gareth," Blaster said, chuckling from the horse behind me, "at least you get to talk about cooking!"

Yes, there was that. My new student finally told me his name—Alladin--A good name for a Rogue, I thought.

It took most of the day to make it to the snow line, even taking every King's Gate. The Gates did in seconds what would take days of riding. Still, we were all pretty saddle sore by the time we reached the Arctic Ice Caves.

We camped near the entrance. Blaster and I planned on making a quick search. We knew the caves pretty well, having hunted here before. The Stardrop that I used earlier as a joke came from here. Many more useful things came out of there, too.

"What am I to do?" asked Alladin when we told him he was to stay behind.

"Practice your spells," Blaster told him, trying to be helpful.

"Hunt some rabbits?" I suggested, producing a flask of rich wine. "Make some supper. Use the wine and bunny meat. Wait. I have some herbs I picked out of your Master's garden."

"Am I back in cooking class?" he complained, taking the large bundle of greens from me, examining them with an expert eye.

"Cooking is not so different from fighting and using magic. They both take careful preparation, and when things go wrong, it is important not to lose your head." I encouraged the boy, curious as to what he could do with the tough arctic hares found here. "Also, if anything comes out of that cave other than Blaster or myself, run!"