Dawn came slowly to Graden.
Mist clung low over the fields, shone brightly by the first touch of light. The town still slept beneath its thatched roofs and narrow chimneys, smoke barely rising. Only the stable yard behind the eastern well stirred with movement.
Arun stood with his cloak drawn tight, cold white breath curling from his mouth as he watched Taru argue with a stablehand twice his age.
"You're hitching him wrong," Taru said calmly, though his hands were already moving. "The left ring first. If you fasten the right, he leans and shifts his weight. He'll drag the axle before noon."
The stablehand frowned. "It's a bull, not a warhorse."
Taru gave him a flat look. "It's an Iron-back."
The word hung in the cold air.
Behind them stood the creature in question.
The Iron-back bull was massive taller than a draft horse, broader than any plow beast Graden had ever bred. Its hide was dark , but layered across its shoulders and spine were thick, scale-like plates of natural iron growth. Not polished armor. Not strapped plating.
Grown.
Each plate overlapped the next like a fortress wall. Faint veins of dull metallic sheen ran along its flanks, pulsing softly in the dawn light.
Its horns curved forward like twin scythes, heavy and ridged, tips sharpened not by humans but by time and stone.
It exhaled once.
Steam rolled out like forge smoke.
Arun studied it quietly.
"You named him?" he asked.
Taru didn't look up. "Brakka."
The bull flicked an ear at the sound.
"You trust him?" Arun asked.
Taru finally straightened. "With my life."
He adjusted the harness himself thick leather reinforced with iron bands. The carriage behind it was modest but sturdy, its wooden body lined at the hinges and corners with iron braces etched in faint protective sigils.
Arun noticed those.
"You carved those yourself?"
Taru nodded. "Basic reinforcement and vibration dampening. The road toward Steelhaven isn't gentle."
"You're not just a merchant's son," Arun said.
Taru smiled faintly. "My family traded in ore. Magical ore. If we didn't understand structural stress and enchantment layering, we would have died poor."
There was no pride in the statement. just facts.
Brakka shifted as Taru tightened the final strap.
Then Taru stepped close to the bull's head and pressed his forehead lightly to the beast's scaled brow.
"Easy," he murmured.
The bull's breathing slowed.
Arun felt it then, subtle, barely perceptible.
Mana.
Not explosive. Not blazing. It was Steady.
it wasn't flashy.
the mana flowed like careful stitching.
"You can stabilize beasts," Arun said.
Taru stepped back, surprised. "You can sense that?"
"Barely."
Taru's expression sharpened. "It's not combat magic. It's conditioning. Calming fields. Load balancing. Stress diffusion. Useful for caravans."
He paused.
"And for keeping valuable assets alive."
Arun snorted. "I'm not livestock."
Taru's mouth twitched. "No. You're considerably more dangerous."
The eastern horizon burned orange.
A rooster crowed somewhere behind the town square.
Graden was waking.
A pair of farmers slowed as they passed the stable fence. One of them nudged the other.
"That's the boy."
"The one from the square?"
"White fire, they said."
Arun felt the weight of their stares but didn't react.
Taru did.
He stepped slightly between them and Arun, casual but deliberate.
The message was clear.
"You're already becoming a story," Taru muttered.
"I am too boring to be a story," Arun replied.
"Yes," Taru said quietly. "But I must warn you, even boring stories spread."
Brakka stamped once.
Like he was impatient.
Taru climbed onto the carriage bench and picked up the reins.
His posture changed.
Back straight, like his eyes scanning road angles. Assessing wind and calculating slope.
"Have you driven him far before?" Arun asked.
Taru didn't answer immediately. Instead, he flicked the reins once, a subtle movement.
Brakka stepped forward smoothly.
There was no jolt nor strain
The carriage rolled like it floated.
Then Taru answered.
"Across three provinces."
Arun glanced at him.
"You don't look old enough."
"I started at twelve."
Silence followed for several breaths.
Then Taru added, quieter, "When my father lost his trade contracts."
Arun didn't press further.
They rolled past the final houses of Graden, wheels crunching over dirt and frost.
The road ahead cut between low fields and sparse woodland, stretching thin and brown toward distant hills.
"Speed?" Arun asked.
"Not yet," Taru said. "Morning ground is damp. Brakka's weight will sink too deep if we push."
He shifted slightly and adjusted a small lever beneath the bench.
A faint metallic hum ran through the carriage.
"The wheels?" Arun asked.
"Counterweight rune. Minimizes axle strain."
"You carved that too?"
"Yes."
"You do a lot of things yourself."
Taru shrugged. "If you don't want to rely on people, you learn to rely on yourself."
Arun leaned back against the side rail.
The bull moved with relentless steadiness. Each step deliberate. Each breath heavy but controlled.
They passed the old stone marker at the edge of town.
Beyond it.
There was no recognizable town or farm. Only dirt roads and rolling valleys stretching has far has the eyes can see.
And whatever waited along it.
After nearly an hour, Taru spoke again.
"Your flame."
Arun didn't look at him. "What about it."
"It flared when we passed the east gate."
Arun frowned slightly. "I didn't call it."
"I know."
The carriage rolled over a patch of loose gravel. Taru corrected the tilt instantly with a minor weight shift of the reins.
"Something beyond Graden reacted to you," Taru said.
Arun stared ahead.
"My mark is reacting to the shift in mana."
There had been a tremor beneath his skin. A flicker at the edge of his control.
Taru noticed his trembling hands..
Taru spoke but his voice lowered.
"Steel Haven won't ignore that."
"I'm not going there to be noticed."
Taru gave a faint laugh. "That stopped being an option the moment you burned the beast to crisp."
Wind picked up.
Brakka's iron scales caught the sunlight, reflecting it in muted flashes like dull blades.
Arun glanced at the bull again.
"He could crush a man."
"Yes."
"And fight?"
"If necessary."
"You trained him for that?"
Taru's jaw tightened slightly.
"My father did."
That was answer enough.
The road curved gently upward toward a shallow rise. From the crest, the world beyond began to unfold forests darker than Graden's outskirts, faint distant ridges, and somewhere far beyond them
Steelhaven.
A city Arun had never seen but only heard about.
Taru guided Brakka up the incline without strain.
Arun studied him for a long moment.