A new life

Hunter sat in the Elder's home and gladly accepted the tea he was offered. He didn't fully comprehend just how thirsty he was until the liquid touched his lips. In only a moment, the tea was gone. The Elder chuckled and refilled his cup without a word, repeating the process several times over until Hunter was satisfied.

"I suppose it makes sense," Hunter said, "that I would be so thirsty. How long did you say it was? Three hundred years that was encased in stone? Or made of it. Whatever happened."

The Elder nodded, thinking and watching the young man. "Did you know what would happen to you when you sacrificed yourself at the end of the war?" he asked the man. It was so strange to him to think of this man, Hunter, the legendary hero, as not only being alive, but younger than himself. He had looked up at that statue of the hero for as long as he could remember. He had vivid memories of being a child, playing with his friends and acting out battles between Hunter and the monsters. No one had ever wanted to be Sage, though, he thought to himself, chuckling. That would have required kissing their Hunter, and no one wanted to do that.

Hunter shook his head. "Not entirely," he explained. His memories were still a bit shaky. "I knew something would happen. I knew I probably wouldn't be around anymore. I assumed that I would be dead." He looked down at himself, reacquainting himself with his body. His memory was especially shaky on what had happened to his arm. He recognized it as his own, despite the dark, distinct monster shape it held. Somehow he had changed at some point during the war. He just couldn't remember how or why.

The Elder nodded. Just then, his wife came in and placed a tray of food on the table before the two. Hunter looked up at the Elder, as if asking if he was permitted to eat. The Elder chuckled and nodded his consent, and much as with the drink, Hunter only truly became of how hungry he was as he began to eat. Before long, the tray was clean.

"They always said you were a heavy eater," the Elder said with a laugh.

Hunter smiled back slightly. "Yeah, I suppose I was. And three hundred years of sleep certainly doesn't help." At that, Hunter's smile faded away and he drew inward. The Elder watched, concerned, but let the man have his space.

"I became quite the warrior by the end of the war," he said quietly after a while. "My one thing tying me down to reality, reminding me that there was more to come at the end, was Sage. And now she's gone. I don't fully know what to do with myself."

The Elder nodded slowly. "I understand your confusion, child," he said. "We all at one point must make a choice of what we are to do with our lives. You have both the fortune and misfortune to make that choice twice."

Hunter nodded and rubbed his face. "I don't even know what my options are now. It's like I have found myself in an entirely different world. I don't know where my skills will be useful, and even if I can find a place for them, I am sure I am quite rusty. And my spells... I can hardly recall the incantations."

"About that," the Elder replied slowly. Hunter looked up at him, confused. "You see, not long after Sage passed on from this world, magic started becoming harder and harder to come across. No one knows if it had anything to do with her, or if it was simply coincidence. But fewer and fewer mages started popping up. People witnessed less and less mythical beasts. I would venture to guess that your reappearance is the first magical event in thirty years."

Hunter looked at the Elder, dazed and confused. "Are you saying that there is no magic left in the world, or that the people who could use it simply passed away?"

The Elder shrugged frowning. "No one knows. The records of incantations have long since vanished. I should hope that you can recall yours on your own, because otherwise... You may never cast magic again."