The Greyfield Chronicles

[ReverseRaven]

The dark tunnel reminded Venza of those old myths where you could enter the land of the dead through a passage in the earth.

"Gonna be tricky holding torches and our gear," Aiela commented.

"Don't worry," Venza said. "My great grandfather should have installed magelight sconces on the walls. We can use those."

Aiela gave her a look. "Your great grandfather? So the lights are what? A hundred years old?"

Venza offered a sheepish grin. "More or less. There should be a switch over there."

Her hand found the outline of an oval-shaped crystal attached to the wall. With a gentle touch, she pushed the crystal in, hearing a soft click.

A trail of blue lights on the ceiling flared to life at her touch, leading further and further down, with each magelight sconce roughly a meter apart.

"See? Still works," Venza said.

As if on cue, the fifth light down from the one she touched seemed to sputter, flicker, and then promptly died, leaving a part of the passage in partial darkness.

"I feel so reassured," Aiela deadpanned. "I was about to ask why he put these here but didn't put lights around the town, but if they're this flimsy-"

"It's because they were expensive," Venza said. "Oil lanterns are a lot cheaper if we're talking about putting them all over an entire town. Your moss lanterns are better than either, but those weren't around a hundred years ago."

Aiela looked to be in thought as she looked at the cavern walls. "Hey, this tunnel is rather large, isn't it?"

"It's a bit big for people, yes," Venza answered. "You could stand on my shoulders and you still wouldn't reach the ceiling."

"Rude," Aiela said. "It's wide, too. Your carriage could fit in here. Wait. I just realized."

"What?"

"Your ancestors didn't make this tunnel," Aiela stated. "I'm Earth Three and it would take me years to make a tunnel this size."

"Earth Three?" Venza echoed, knowing Aiela was referring to her affinity with Earth magic. "Why is your Earth affinity so high again? I understand Nature because you're always working with plants, but how did you get so good at Earth?"

Aiela gave her a blank stare. "You do realize that when gardening, there's one very important step before you actually plant the seeds?"

Ah, right. Of course. Aiela needed to dig holes in the soil, and like almost every other mundane task, she probably did it with magic.

"Right," Venza answered, looking away. "But to answer, no, my ancestors didn't dig these tunnels. These old passages are called the Serpent's Path, because people believed a giant snake formed these pathways in the past."

"I didn't know that," Aiela said. "Did anyone ever find evidence of this giant snake?"

"No, Miss Aiela," Roeder said. "It's just a story everyone from Astamarr knows."

"How did I live here for six years without hearing about this?" Aiela asked.

"Probably because no one really calls them that anymore," Carver answered. "It's just the river for most folk."

"Well, I'm not willing to fight any giant snakes," Aiela said, gesturing to the high ceiling and wide tunnel walls. "At least nothing that could make a tunnel this size."

"I don't think any of us are," Venza answered. "Hell, I'm not sure the entire Imperial Army would be willing to take on a challenge like that. Luckily, we're just here to check why the river's been poisoned."

Aiela gave her a look that seemed to ask if Venza was picking up what she was putting down, but Venza had no clue what she was trying to say.

"Really?" Aiela asked, glancing at the two boys. "No one? The town's water suddenly got poisoned, the underground river is called the Serpent's Path, and it was supposedly created when a giant snake went through?"

"If there really was a giant snake that could make a network of tunnels this big, don't you think we would have felt the earth move if it had come back?" Venza pointed out.

Aiela sighed. "Fine. Let's just go do what we came to do."

The swollen scorpions took up the front and rear, with Venza and Aiela walking side by side in the center, flanked by Roeder and Carver. If anything lay in wait behind the stalagmites, better for the scorpions that would die anyway to take the brunt of it.

Just as Venza was about to move forward, Aiela stopped her with a hand and said, "Steelskin." A surge of power flowed into her, followed by a sensation of numbness all over her skin.

It hadn't been the first time Aiela had tried the spell on her. She knew it would make her skin harder than iron for about an hour, though she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to the numbing sensation. Aiela then repeated the spell on herself before ushering Venza onward.

"What about them?" Venza asked.

"I need to conserve my casting," Aiela answered. "Besides, they have the Entanglers. We don't."

The wear and tear of time was both better and worse than she'd expected. Entire sections of the tunnel were bathed in such low light they might as well have been completely dark. And yet somehow the path which was older than the magelight sconces managed to remain intact.

A short distance ahead, she spotted another of the lizards rushing in their direction. As she prepared herself to disable it with Reach, Aiela waved her hand, and the creature suddenly went limp and fell to the ground, where the front scorpion made short work of it with its pincers and stinger.

"Look out!" Venza said instinctively as she heard a sound from directly above. Two lizards suddenly dropped down from where they'd clearly been perched on the ceiling. Roeder managed to react in time, intercepting one lizard with his shield, binding it with thick vines. The other found Venza's staff lodged into its throat, repulsing it. It clattered to the ground, swiftly moving to right itself, only to have Carver smack it with his shield.

To their surprise, the vines barely reacted to the contact. The lizard stood itself up, rearing back to lunge at Aiela, only to suddenly go limp in place, much like the first one had. Spears, pincers, and stingers swiftly put them out of their misery.

Seemingly unfazed by the deaths of their kin, more of the lizards came rushing out of the darkness with surprising speed. Venza used Reach to grab one by the leg, causing it to trip right into the front scorpion.

The rear scorpion moved forward and engaged a pair, holding them in place with its pincers. Aiela waved her hand again and the two last lizards suddenly stopped in place, eyes wide, their tongues lolling out of their mouths. Venza closed the gap and smashed them hard in the head, rendering them either dead or unconscious.

Their group remained on guard, watching for signs of more, but it seemed there were either none or they'd decided the four of them were too much trouble to fight.

"Good work," Venza said, inspecting the fallen monsters.

"Of course," Aiela responded, brushing off imaginary dust.

"Is anyone injured?" Venza asked.

"No, ma'am," Roeder said.

"I'm fine, too," Carver added, though he seemed embarrassed. "Sorry for almost letting one get past."

"Remember," Aiela began, not seeming upset at all. "The vines react to physical trauma. The stronger the impact, the more vines will activate. A tap won't do. That's why I wanted two men used to smashing things with heavy weapons."

"I won't forget again," Carver assured her.

"Good," Aiela said, offering him a small smile. "Shall we continue? These scorpions aren't long for this world."

"A moment," Venza spoke. "What did you do to them back there? They just stopped moving."

"Ah, that was an Air spell called Heat Sink," Aiela explained.

Venza quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you use to keep the room cool during summer?"

Aiela nodded. "It lowers the temperature in a target space. I assumed these things were cold-blooded, so chilling the space around their hearts puts them in shock."

Venza grimaced. "Can you do that to people?"

"Sure, but it'd just feel uncomfortable," Aiela said. "It's not like I'm freezing them or anything. Just dropping the temperature a little for a short time. Anyway, what do you make of these creatures?"

Venza gave her a long, hard stare, not sure if she believed Aiela's explanation. She knew lizards didn't take well to the cold but that seemed a bit much.

"They're kind of weak," she finally said.

Aiela snorted. "I meant their presence here. I thought this was something engineered by those men selling medicine, but these things, assuming they're what's blocking the river, make that seem unlikely."

"I'm not sure, but I see only one way to get to the bottom of this," Venza said.

"I suppose you're right."

 

[ReverseRaven]

They continued without incident until the tunnel opened up into a wider one through which the underground river normally ran. With the river blocked, however, the party found that the way was flooded with muddy water. Venza frowned. She'd rather avoid wading through mud, if possible.

"I don't suppose you have a spell for walking on water?" Venza asked.

Aiela shook her head. "Currently beyond me. I haven't been a Water Mage for long, you know."

Fortunately, the river ran only in the center, leaving thin banks on either side that could be traversed. Despite the blockage, the water only made it halfway up the shin if one stayed at the sides.

"Interesting," Aiela said, which caught Venza's attention.

"What is?" Venza asked.

"The river isn't completely stopped," Aiela said. "I suspected as much or this whole tunnel would be completely flooded."

"So it's just mostly clogged?" Venza asked.

Aiela nodded.

"If we're lucky," Aiela said, "the damn lizards built a nest or something in here and that's all we have to deal with."

She closed her eyes for a moment, then added, "A bit over half an hour left on the scorpions. We should keep moving."

The four of them headed downriver, once again keeping one scorpion in front with the other taking up the rear. This time, they minded the walls and ceiling for signs of the lizards. Fortunately, it seemed the group at the entrance had been the only lookouts.

"This terrain is not ideal," Venza pointed out.

"Obviously," Aiela drawled. "But there's nothing I can realistically do about it. I'm not wasting all my magic on making solid ground when we don't know what else is waiting for us."

Venza's eyes scanned both walls, the ceiling, and even the river. "You don't suppose they move better in water than-"

Suddenly, Aiela motioned for them to stop, prompting Venza to ask, "What's wrong?"

A frown creased Aiela's lips. "There's something up ahead!"

Several somethings raced up the water towards them, at a speed Venza could hardly believe, but Aiela had already raised her hands up in a blocking movement. She must have cast a spell, as a great wind suddenly blew into existence, buffeting the river upwards into a sort of watery wall.

The speeding objects crashed into the curtains of wind and water, their velocity hampered by the collision, but not halted. Venza focused her mind and grabbed the closest one using Reach, altering its course to slam into the tunnel wall. It was only when it crashed down to the flooded bank that she realized it for what it was: Another one of the lizard creatures.

Roeder and Carver each caught one of the creatures with their shields, the impacts still causing the boys to reel despite Aiela's water wall having slowed them down. Vines detached and coiled, constricting the reptiles like swarms of snakes.

Venza had never seen a creature propel itself with water like that. As weak as these things seemed earlier, they seemed far more deadly in water.

Her thoughts were cut short by a massive object suddenly speeding towards their party.

"Fuck me, is that-" Venza began, but couldn't finish.

The speeding object sailed through the sky like a green comet. Its body landed on the lead scorpion, the armored arthropod instantly crushed with a loud crunch. Towering above them was a large, bulky behemoth. Venza could now see it was a larger version of the lizards, easily four times the size of the normal ones. Where the small ones had slender, long bodies, this one had a wide, bulky frame supported by stubby legs and wide, prominent fins on the sides of its head that stretched back like ears.

She didn't think Steelskin would have saved her from getting crushed by that.

"Aiela!" she shouted, but the mage was already on it.

"Scald!" Aiela invoked, sending a jet of boiling hot water to shoot from the river onto the creature's face, causing it to rear back.

Venza focused her own magic. Reach, she thought at the same time she punched her right fist forward, twisting her body to put more force in the blow. The impact reached across space to stab the monster in the left eye. As the monster roared in pain, a bloody trail leaked from its eye socket.

Seemingly spurred by its cry, several of the smaller lizards appeared from the shadows to aid the large one. The remaining scorpion charged forward to engage, but the lizards largely ignored it, going straight for Aiela.

"Cover her!" Venza commanded, and the boys followed without argument, using their shields to hold the reptiles in place.

"Venza!" Aiela called out as she stopped two of the lizards in place with Heat Sink. Venza nodded, bringing her fists down hard, bashing the two lizards in the head through Reach. Their heads slammed into the ground hard and their bodies went limp.

Suddenly, another one dropped down from the ceiling, giving her just enough time to bring an arm up to block it. Sharp fangs tried to sink into her arm, but due to the odd angle and her hardened skin, it slid off, only mildly scratching her brigandine.

She tossed it aside and brought her other fist down on its neck, which rewarded her with a loud crack. Finding no more lizards attacking, she took a second to survey the battle. Roeder and Carver were occupied with the smaller lizards, but the giant remained focused on Aiela, its scales burnt by boiling hot water and missing an eye.

"Scald!" Aiela invoked again, using the same attack spell from earlier. Venza wondered why she insisted on using such a roundabout spell when she had- Oh, of course.

Aiela was probably trying to see if she could get access to the Fire Sphere if she burned enemies in combat. She had, after all, gained her affinity for Water spells by using Nature Magic to purify water. Still, Venza wished Aiela had picked an easier opponent to make the attempt against.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aiela

As if annoyed by Aiela's insolence for not taking it seriously, the beast suddenly stood on its hind legs, its forelegs up in the air like arms. With a heavy swing of its right foreleg, the creature made a punching motion, and a piece of the tunnel wall the size of a boulder ejected itself, straight at Aiela. She countered by bringing her fist up, conjuring a pillar of stone to block the flying rock.

"Foolish creature," she said. "You can't beat me in Earth or any other magic."

Still. She supposed she should stop trying to cheat her way into Fire Magic against such a formidable opponent.

The creature growled, bringing its left foreleg down, causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. She shifted the water to push her away from the impact area. With a grin, she brought both arms forward, sending two pillars of earth down from the ceiling to hit the monster square in the face. The monster raised one claw up to block a pillar, rotating its massive body with surprising agility to dodge the other. It then smoothly brought its other claw up as if grabbing something Aiela couldn't see.

Aiela felt the vibration before she saw it. A claw made of mud rose out of the ground, mirroring the creature's and poised to grab her. With a muttered curse, she conjured a gust of wind that propelled her upwards and out of its reach. She then landed on the muddy ground intact thanks to its softness.

The creature advanced towards her, but she was ready. With a powerful punch, she conjured a prodigiously large spear of rock, aimed straight at her enemy's throat. There was no way it could dodge or block that with its magic.

The creature brought its claws inward and clasped them together. To Aiela's shock and horror, the massive creature slammed its joined claws against the spear, breaking it and sending shards of stone flying towards her. She reacted too late, stunned by the display of raw physical power. Scrambling, she tried to get a wall of earth in front of her to intercept but knew she wouldn't make in time.

It wasn't fair. She was a better mage in every aspect! But her human body couldn't match the sheer muscle and bulk of the monster in front of her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venza

After helping the boys dispatch more of the smaller lizards, Venza turned to Aiela just in time to see the big lizard send a rock straight towards her friend. Exhausted but unrelenting, she channeled Reach once more, jerking Aiela towards her.

Aiela managed to land on her feet, nodding thanks to Venza. The mage brought her right hand up as if reaching for something then spoke the words 'Necrotic Lance.' A long, beam of crackling green-black energy appeared in her outstretched hand for barely a second before Aiela hurled it at the monster like a bolt of death.

Venza watched in real time as Aiela got serious. Despite her strong affinity for multiple types of magic, Aiela relied on Death and Nature most when things actually got difficult.

However, the creature was prepared. It swiped its right claw upwards, and a thick wave of mud erupted from the ground, blocking Aiela's attack.

It launched forward once more, riding the wave of mud towards Aiela. Venza readied herself to cast Reach again, but at the last moment, the creature somehow hopped its bulky body off the wave of mud, its four legs finding purchase on the tunnel wall despite its immense weight. As Venza pulled Aiela out of the mud wave's path, the giant lizard scampered along the wall at an improbable speed, straight for Venza.

Time seemed to slow as her mind processed her options. The creature was simply too large and too fast for her to dodge safely. Knocking it off-course wasn't an option, either. She might have been strong for her age but she was nowhere near strong enough to budge an enemy of that size, let alone stop its momentum. It was moving too fast to punch out its other eye, too.

As the split seconds passed, it became clear her only option was to brace herself and try to dodge to the side.

Her body moved to follow her plan, throwing her weight to the right in a desperate maneuver to evade. Then suddenly, she felt an impact on her left shoulder. She turned to face its owner, and found Roeder there, using the full force of his body to push her to safety.

In an instant, he'd managed to push her out of harm's way as the lizard came crashing down, angling itself midair to crush whoever was beneath with its belly. It missed her, but a sharp cry from Roeder told her it hadn't completely missed him.

Venza's fists curled tighter as she kicked herself up from the floor. A far-reaching punch with all her fury behind it struck at the lizard's throat, causing it to stagger. Then came another punch, and another, each focused on the sensitive throat. Nearly half her Reach punches whiffed, distracted as she was with fury, but enough landed to keep it unbalanced.

"Venza!" Aiela yelled. "Your pouch!"

Suddenly remembering the pouch Aiela had handed her, Venza reached into it and grabbed every single Tanglefruit inside, chucking them at the monster will all the might she could muster. The green tomato-like fruits exploded as they made contact with the giant lizard, covering it in a thick, green goo that hardened before their very eyes.

Aiela had said it would be very difficult for humans to escape, but apparently if you tossed half a dozen, even a giant lizard would have trouble. Even as they watched, however, Venza could see the monster gaining ground as it struggled out of its bonds.

As the slime barely bound the creature to the ground, she spotted Aiela's lithe form seemingly step on thin air, jumping up and landing on the creature's back. Aiela's mouth moved but Venza couldn't make out what she said. The mage's hands glowed a sickly green as she reached for the back of its head.

Suddenly, a sound like a whistle echoed through the tunnel. The monster stiffened in response just before Aiela's fingers made contact. As her green-glowing digits touched it, the lizard's scales suddenly turned pale, and it froze in place, as if its muscles had turned as hard and immovable as stone.

The creature let out a sound as if choking, its body suddenly ceasing almost all movement. Venza wasn't sure what Aiela was doing, but it was clearly working.

"Stop! Stop!" a male voice cried out from upstream, bearing a small lantern. "Please stop! Don't kill her!"

Aiela and Venza shared a look. "Serpent's Slumber," Aiela spoke, touching her hand to the monster once more. Its eyes fluttered once, twice, then the creature fell down, eyes no longer open. It was the same spell she'd used to cure Milly of poisoning.

As the monster slowly lost consciousness, Aiela turned to face the new voice. Venza did the same, taking up a fighting stance. Her body felt like it was on fire. She wasn't sure how many more Reaches she had in her.

The dim light revealed a boy roughly Aiela's height, with pale skin and a mess of black hair. He was wearing only a pair of brown undergarments, which earned him scathing looks from both girls.

"Who are you?" Venza asked.

"Tom. Tom Lowrey," he answered as he stopped a few meters away from them. He was panting for breath as if he'd run quite the distance. "I- I'm so sorry, but could you please spare Sally?"

"Sally?" Venza asked.

"The lizard?" Aiela questioned.

"Yeah, Sally," Tom said. "She's our circus' Mu'drakker."

The two of them shared a look. "This had better be good," Venza muttered.

 

[ReverseRaven]

"Stay there," Venza warned the boy. "Where we can see you."

"Y-yes."

"Aiela, can you see to Roeder's injuries?" Venza asked. "The big one got him bad."

Aiela nodded, and stepped off the sleeping lizard to check on Roeder.

"I'm so sorry," Tom said again. "I was taking a bath upstream, I would have stopped her sooner if I'd known-"

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Venza said, her tone serious.

"I- I guess I do," Tom said. "Where do I start?"

"First, are you alone down here?" Venza asked.

"Just me, Sally the Mu'drakker, and her Mu'drakk brood," Tom answered.

"Are these things responsible for poisoning the river?"

Tom hesitated, but nodded. "Mu'drakk eggs have a toxic coating. It makes them undesirable prey for most predators."

Venza's temper flared. "Are you stupid, then, or are you poisoning our town on purpose? Actually, nevermind. The latter would automatically also make you the former."

"I- I'm sorry! It wasn't my idea! I didn't want to do it!"

"Save your apologies," Venza said. "Are you in league with the group peddling fake healing water in town?"

A spark of hope seemed to shine in the boy's eyes. "Were they led by a big man?" Tom asked. "Was there a girl with them?"

Venza's eyes narrowed to slits. "So you are with them."

"Wait! No, well yes, but not exactly!"

Venza focused on her staff. She'd dropped it during the battle to strike at the lizard better with Reach. She grabbed it through space with her left hand using the one spell she could manage and pulled it towards her, catching it with her right hand. For effect, she spun it once before slamming one end into the ground. "You have twenty seconds to explain yourself before your brain becomes a splatter on the cavern wall."

Naturally, she didn't mean it, but this boy named Tom seemed like the type to cave to threats.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Lauren and I were members of the circus. That's where Sally is from, too. Bandits attacked our caravan and most of them got away but I couldn't leave Sally behind, so Chad and his group managed to capture us and-"

"Stop," Venza said. "Twenty seconds are up."

Tom looked at her with wide eyes and slowly started backing away.

"I won't kill you," Venza assured him. "But I am going to need you to explain a bit more."

"Oh," Tom said, dumbfounded. He clearly hadn't expected her to believe him. "Thank you. Uh, sorry, I didn't catch your names."

"I'm Venza," she said. "Of House Greyfield. My family rules over this region."

"Aiela," the other girl supplied, returning from the other side of the lizard. "Venza rules over me."

Venza rolled her eyes. "How is Roeder?"

"I put him to sleep," she answered. "His dominant arm is broken. I think I can fix it but it'll take weeks, if not months."

Venza nodded, swearing internally. This was her fault. She'd let him get hurt. Frustrated, she focused her attention back to the cowering boy. "Go! Get changed first."

"Oh, yes," Tom said, snapping himself back to the conversation. He left them for a minute, leaving the girls to discuss.

"How's Carver?" Venza asked.

"Watching his partner," Aiela answered. "We're not sure the tunnel is safe yet, but I have Hidden looking around."

"Do you have eyes on-" Venza began, but Aiela cut her off.

"Tom?" Aiela finished for her. "Of course."

Venza nodded her thanks and walked past the slumbering giant lizard. Looking at it closer now, it wasn't as large as she'd initially thought, though that might have been because it was curled up.

She found Carver kneeling over a sleeping Roeder. Aiela had raised a portion of the earth so his head wouldn't be submerged in water. His right arm was bent at an unnatural angle. Looking at it, she could only imagine how much it must have hurt without Aiela's sleep spell keeping him under.

"What do you make of what happened?" Venza asked.

"Unfortunate," Aiela said with no hesitation. "If only we'd encountered him sooner, we could have avoided a battle."

Venza heaved a sigh. "Yeah. We had no reason to go upstream, but to think we must have just barely missed him. I guess it is what it is. Please take care of Roeder."

"Of course," Aiela said, putting a reassuring hand on Venza's shoulder.

"Miss Venza," Carver said, eyes focused on the sleeping monster. If looks could kill, it would have been dead from Carver's gaze. "Why have we not finished this monster off?"

"We need information from the boy," Venza answered. "And he seems to care for her."

"And then?" Carver asked. "What about after?"

"We'll see," Venza stated.

Carver clenched his teeth, but saluted her. "Understood, ma'am."

Venza walked away from the two boys, returning to the other side of the slumbering lizard. Her boots were covered in mud and the tunnel was damp and cold and she hoped they would get out of there soon, but she had a duty to fulfill.

"Should we be concerned?" Aiela asked.

"About Carver?" Venza asked. "He's the son of a military man. I'm sure he'll listen to orders."

Aiela nodded. "You're probably right."

A moment later, Tom Lowrey returned, dressed in a simple shirt and breeches.

"Now," Venza began. "Tell me what happened."

"We were on our way to your town for a show, but we were robbed on the way. Those bastards took everything, but luckily most of us got away."

"You stayed for this creature?" Aiela asked. She'd barely looked at him as he spoke, instead seemingly studying the sleeping beast known as Sally.

"I was her handler," Tom explained. "She's practically family. I knew if I left her there, the bandits would have killed her, or at least left her in the cage to die."

"What is she, exactly?" Aiela asked.

"She's a Mu'drakker," Tom answered. "One in every thousand or so Mu'drakk grow up to be Mu'drakker instead. You know how insects are ruled by a queen? It's like that. I'm really sorry I didn't stop her sooner. Still, I can't believe you four took down a Mu'drakker by yourse-."

Aiela held a hand up to shush him. This was clearly a topic he enjoyed talking about. "So she rules over all the others? Based purely on chance?" Aiela clarified.

"To my knowledge, yeah," Tom said. "Why?"

"How tragically human," Aiela deadpanned. "Strange. I've never encountered the creature in my studies."

"They're not native to Odolenia," he said. "Here I supposed you'd call them Mud Drakes, or something. I guess Sally would be a Greater or Dire Mud Drake? Depends on your pref-"

"Setting aside how fascinating this conversation is," Venza interjected. "How did you wind up working for these bandits with Sally here? I imagine she could hold her own quite well against your average brigands."

"Well, that would be my fault," Tom said, sighing. "There's a girl from the circus, you see. Her name's Lauren. She's like a big sister to me. She didn't want to leave me behind while I was helping Sally escape."

"Tall girl, bronze skin, eyes green as fresh grass in spring?" Aiela asked.

"That's her, yes," Tom said, looking relieved. "So they haven't hurt her?"

"She's alive," Aiela offered. "But she did look rather miserable. She wasn't eating well, if I had to guess."

"She is- was one of our acrobats," Tom explained. "She can normally take care of herself, but they're using us to keep each other hostage. Plus, there are about twenty men in Chad's gang. No way she could slip away from that many. They managed to capture us on our way out with Sally, and Chad showed interested in the Mu'drakker when he found out she listens to me. Thought he could make a small fortune using her."

"So he came up with the idea to poison the town?" Venza asked. "And then sell it medicine?"

"This Chad fancies himself an intellectual, I take it?" Aiela asked acidly.

"It isn't the smartest scheme I've ever heard, yes," Tom said, sounding exasperated. "But I'm the one who can't make a move on him, or he'll kill Lauren, so I can't say he's completely stupid."

"We could take them," Venza suggested.

"Obviously," Aiela agreed. "Unless these bandits somehow have a mage in their employ? Actually no, even if they did, I can't imagine any trouble from a mage so inept they decided to work with bandits."

"They had one who used fire," Tom said. "Normally I'd warn you against taking on a group of armed bandits, but seeing as how you managed to beat Sally…" he trailed off.

Venza considered that. Aiela was right. A lone Fire Mage wasn't much of a problem, especially if they were willing to work for bandits. It implied they either had little or no actual training. Mages were in demand all over the empire, after all. Why stoop to banditry?

"They didn't leave any men to keep an eye on you?" Venza asked.

Tom shook his head. "Chad wanted to, but uh, his men weren't really keen on the idea of spending time alone in a Mu'drakker den. They'll listen to him most of the time, but they're not gonna bet their lives on it."

"Hang on, how did you block the river?" Venza asked.

"Sally probably used Earth Magic," Aiela answered. "She has two Earth spheres and one Water. Pretty good for a monster, actually."

"That's right," Tom said. "She used her magic to raise the earth up ahead. We'll be happy to undo it, of course. As soon as she wakes up."

Aiela opened her mouth, then closed it. "I was about to say I can do it myself, but I would be curious to see it."

Venza guessed Aiela was nearing her limit, too, and needed the time to rest her magic. Of course, Tom didn't need to know that.

Aiela turned to Sally, who was still asleep and in a state of muscle paralysis. "Dispel. Regeneration."

Tom suddenly gasped. "Ah! S-Sally's eye!"

He apparently hadn't gotten a good look before. Venza hadn't either. Where the large lizard had once had a yellow eye, there was now only a blood-stained hole.

Venza grimaced. "Sorry. That was me."

"It should grow back if she can keep casting healing spells on herself for a week or two," Aiela offered.

"Isn't Regeneration a Nature spell?" Venza asked. "How is she supposed to manage that? And that's not even thinking about where she'll stay. Obviously not here, but-"

"Most biological monsters can cast low level Nature spells," Aiela explained. "You can more or less consider them to be at about half a level of Nature, I guess? It's enough for them to cast Regeneration on themselves, but not on others. Water has a few healing spells, too. I'm sure she'll manage on her own." Aiela paused, seemed to consider something. "Well, unless…" Aiela trailed off.

Biological. Biological. What did that word mean again? Venza was sure Aiela had explained it before. Flesh and blood, perhaps?

"Unless what?" Venza and Tom asked at the same time.

"Well, even if he was coerced into it, Tom and his pets did commit a crime," Aiela said, giving Venza a look that the heir to the Greyfield name couldn't quite understand.

"I think we can let this one slide," Venza said. "They've lost their home and were working under duress. I'd rather not throw them in prison."

Aiela looked annoyed, but managed to contain it to a soft sigh.

"But what if we were to make him work for his transgressions?" Aiela suggested.

"I'm not following."

Aiela heaved another sigh, louder than the first.

"Neither am I," Tom said. "What kind of work?"

"Wouldn't a Greater Mud Drake be a rather useful asset in keeping your family's lands safe?" Aiela hinted.

"I still don't follow," Venza said.

"You must be joking!" Carver interjected storming over from where he'd been watching Roeder, his tone clearly angry. "That thing nearly killed Marcus and you want us to work with it? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised how willing you are to toss good men away whe-"

Carver suddenly staggered in place as if slapped by an invisible hand.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aiela

Her Projection entered Carver's mind with no issue, his mind's guard as down as it was.

"Choose your next words very carefully," she'd projected into his mind with such malice that it made him physically flinch.

Carver stood dazed for a moment but then his eyes focused on her, narrowing to slits. "I'm not scared of you," he warned her.

Aiela crossed folder her arms across her chest, unimpressed. She sent another Projection into his mind. "You should be."

"You may have cowed my father back in the day, but I won't let you do the same to me!" he said.

Aiela nearly screamed. Six years! Six years she'd managed not to let Venza know about her deal with William and now his idiot son was bringing it up out of nowhere. Perhaps Venza had been right. Perhaps she should have objected to having Wilson Carver join their party on this little outing.

"Aiela?" Venza asked, voice tinged with concern. "What is he talking about?"

"He's talking about things he doesn't know," Aiela answered in a low growl. "And he's wrong."

"Wrong?" Carver spat. "You think I don't know? You forced my father into retirement! You were afraid he'd hold his saving Venza's life over you forever so you forced him to become a farmer! The healer told me you did something to him."

Aiela sighed. So that's what this was about: William hadn't told his son the particulars of their arrangement, and Wilson assumed the worst. She knew she'd told William not to let word of his injury spread but this was ridiculous. And if Carver meant Healer Jones, well- Aiela would need to have words with her later.

"That's not what happened," Aiela said, unable to hide the irritation in her voice.

"Oh, yeah, then tell me what-" Carver didn't finish his sentence, because she used that moment to quietly shift the earth beneath his feet, causing him to fall on his ass.

Aiela was not particularly tall, but with him on the ground, she towered over him. She glanced down as he scrambled backwards. Good. Perhaps now he knew his place.

"Aiela!" Venza yelled in a warning tone.

Aiela glared at her friend of many years. Was she really siding with him in this situation?

"That's no way to treat the son of the man who saved my life," Venza told her.

She held Venza's gaze coolly for a moment before breaking eye contact with a sigh. She glanced at Carver, who was slowly getting back on his feet.

"Your father is crippled," Aiela finally said. She did her best not to look at Venza's questioning eyes as she said it. "He suffered an injury that could not be healed defending Venza from a Bloodbeak. He can function, but he can no longer be an effective soldier. I assume he didn't tell you this?"

"That's a lie!" Carver answered. "His arms and legs are fine."

"His right arm, I assure you, is not," Aiela told him matter-of-factually. "I tried to fix it as a child, but I wasn't powerful enough back then and it's too late to repair now without extreme risk. On the surface he looks fine but that arm can never hold a weapon again."

"You're saying my father lied to me?" Carver demanded.

"I'm saying your father kept his condition a secret from you and many others at my request," Aiela said calmly. "And you assumed the worst about what he was hiding. I thought he would at least tell his family but I guess he was ashamed he was letting his son join the soldiery when he himself was no longer fit to do so."

"Then what about the farm and the house?" he asked.

"That was a gift from House Greyfield," Aiela said. "A reward for saving their heir's life." She turned to Venza for the first time, trying not to stare into her eyes. She knew she'd find a lot of questions and hurt in them.

Fortunately Venza seemed to understand her intention.

"It's true," Venza said. "It was Vosmer's idea. If not for your father, House Greyfield would have no heir today so we rewarded him as best we could. Father can't grant a peerage without facing heavy scrutiny from his opponents at court, so this was the next best thing."

The idea had actually been Aiela's, but the two of them didn't need to know that. Aiela continued. "William had to retire due to his injuries anyway so he was given a plot of land to manage for as long as House Greyfield saw fit, which off the record, is indefinitely. Not quite his to own, but it's a big step up from being a soldier to almost a landowner, no?"

"But you came to the farm often," Carver said. "Almost once a month, to ensure he stayed quiet!"

"I gave William seeds every so often and helped him figure out farming," Aiela explained, both to Carver and Venza. "For your information, that farm wouldn't be half as successful as it is without me. Your father was a good soldier, but a terrible farmer."

"But- but you're a witch!" Carver said.

Aiela rolled her eyes, allowing an amused grin to spread on her face. "What of it?"

"I'm sorry, Wilson," Venza said gently. "But you're mistaken. Aiela may act and dress the way she does, but deep down she's a good person. The townspeople respect her not out of fear, but respect and gratitude. She's done a lot for Verdeholm."

In truth, it was a bit of both, but it didn't help Aiela to say that now. She didn't dare look at Venza. It might trigger an emotional response. Instead, she focused on Carver.

Carver looked shaken, but not fully convinced. "I'll be having a long talk with my father."

"Had I known this would be such a headache, I would have told you sooner," Aiela said. "And chosen my words with William more carefully. I suppose I was too young at the time to think things through."

"Don't think you're in the clear yet," Venza reminded her, but then smiled. "You and I will discuss this later, after we've finished today's agenda."

"Of course," Aiela answered. That was about as tempered a response as she could have hoped for. "Anyway, worry not, Carver, we'll clear the decision about Sally with Vosmer and Lord Greyfield first. You need not worry yourself over this."

"What exactly are we suggesting?" Venza asked.

Aiela cast a knowing glance at her friend of six years. She knew that Venza's decision to support her scheme or not today would likely alter the course of House Greyfield's future. Fortunately, Aiela knew exactly what would catch the the heir's interest.

 

[ReverseRaven]

"A Mu'drakker commands the swarms of Mu'drakk, you said?" Aiela clarified, turning towards Tom, who'd been awkwardly silent at the side as they'd spoken. "And Sally over here is loyal to you?"

"That's right," Tom said. "They would die for their Mu'drakker if she ordered it. She produces more and healthier eggs than the regular Mu'drakk. Most Mu'drakk are sterile, actually. And I don't know if I'd say Sally is loyal to me, exactly, but she does listen to me and consider me a friend."

"Do they only eat meat?" Aiela asked.

"No, they eat fruits and vegetables fine, though live prey is preferred."

Aiela smirked, turning back to Venza. "We could have dozens of these things adding to House Greyfield's fighting strength, all loyal to a Mu'drakker."

"This seems like a lot of hassle for what are essentially war hounds," Venza protested.

"A hundred war hounds wouldn't have put up as much a fight as Sally and a handful of her brood did against us," Aiela answered with a scoff. "Besides, you're looking at this wrong."

"Then help me look at it right," Venza said.

"I hate to admit this but monsters are superior to human mages in quite a few ways," Aiela began. "As you saw in our battle, most of them have greater physical ability or durability than we do. Most mages are also untrained in close quarters combat, but if a foot soldier tried to engage one of these-" Aiela trailed off, letting Venza imagine it.

"Right," Venza said. "Individually, these would fare better than a human mage of the same magical caliber. No need for weapons or armor, either."

"Aye," Carver said reluctantly. "I'm not sure Roeder and I would've managed these without the Entanglers.

Aiela nodded. "Also, that's only looking at it based on what they can do now. Remember, I will be there to oversee this little project. With Earth and Water spheres and some training, they could prove very handy for supporting our soldiers in combat. At the minimum they could supply water to our forces, but if things work out the way I imagine, these mud drakes could provide physical protection, covering fire, maybe even cobble together defensive structures on the front lines."

She could see Venza starting to lose the internal debate with herself. Over the many years she'd known Venza, she'd learned some of the redhead's quirks. One of them stood out whenever Venza would discuss military strategy and history: Venza had a fascination with sieges. Whether it was attacking or defending a fortified position, the subject always made her eyes light up.

Venza's hand cupped her own chin in thought. "True. If they could be taught to erect walls or dig and fill moats in a hurry they would be a great war asset."

"And they could easily be fed by Astamarr's overabundant crop yield," Aiela pointed out.

"The abundant crop fields that were your doing," Venza pointed out.

Aiela shot her a look. Venza always did this when someone was willing to listen. "Can we not?"

"Er, sorry. What's going on?" Tom asked.

Aiela glared at him and he nearly jumped on the spot.

"Oh, it's this old story," Venza began, prompting Aiela to turn her glare towards her instead. "The Grand Cleric in Serian wanted to know why Verdeholm's farms suddenly turned so prosperous."

"They sent priests with Nature Spheres but couldn't figure it out," Aiela said reluctantly. Might as well get it over with.

"All they managed to gather was a mysterious little girl had been going around people's farms," Venza continued. "The Temple concluded the girl was actually a nature spirit of some sort, going around blessing the crops. But it was actually-"

"Yes, yes, it was me," Aiela finished for her, deadpan. "I am the mysterious Child of Fertility."

Venza started laughing, prompting Aiela to sigh.

"Will this ever get old for you?" she asked, shaking her head. "Can we get back on topic?"

Venza managed to rein herself in after a few seconds.

"I see what you're trying to go for," Venza said. "But it's too risky to put our citizens' lives at Sally's whims, no?"

"Who said we'd be putting them under Sally's command?" Aiela asked, smirking.

"I don't understand," Tom said. "Do you have a Mu'drakker? But if you did, you wouldn't ask so many questions about them."

"I don't, but I can hatch one," Aiela said. "Then I can make it my Familiar, bound to my will by magic. The rest would obey by proxy. An army of monstrous mages at my command."

"At my father's command," Venza reminded her. "To protect the territory."

Aiela smiled sheepishly. "Right. Sorry."

"You can't just hatch a Mu'drakker," Tom reminded her. "There's about a one in a thousand chance. Well, I suppose you could grab a thousand eggs and wait until one came out, but-" Tom trailed off.




Aiela's smirk didn't falter. She played these games with Venza sometimes, where she would lead a trail of metaphorical bread crumbs for her to follow. Aiela had brought up her work on the fields of Astamarr, and not just because it would help them feed the Mu'drakk.

"Modify Gene," Venza said, nearly smacking herself in the head when she realized it. The answer earned her a grin from Aiela.

"Ten points for House Greyfield," Aiela said. "That's exactly right."

"You really think that would work?" Venza asked. "I know you've used the spell to alter the plant seeds, but-"

"I'll need a couple of things," Aiela said, "But most importantly, I need eggs."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It must have been something in their genes. That had been Aiela's first thought when she heard only one in every thousand Mu'drakk grew into a Mu'drakker. If there had only ever been one Mu'drakker, it could have been chalked up to a random freak mutation. That wasn't the case, though. If it happened with recurring, if exceptionally rare, frequency within the species that meant Mu'drakk had some sort of binary switch in their bodies that determined whether they would stay Mu'drakk their whole lives or ascend into something greater. All she needed to do was find it and figure out how to flip it on.

Aiela kept these thoughts to herself as she inspected the egg clutches. They'd been submerged under the water, but her Hidden made gathering them on the riverbank a simple enough task.

She had no idea why she both knew so much and yet so little about the tiny building blocks that made up life, but she did. Oma certainly knew nothing about it, and not a single soul she'd met since leaving Rantori seemed to know either, but the knowledge was there in her memories. She just wished she knew why.

Sometimes, it felt like this life was a dream and she really belonged somewhere else. She remembered the time Lucius or Vosmer (she couldn't remember which) suggested she might have been a long lost relative of the royal line of Lilium. Their royal family seemed to pass magical talent and knowledge down the bloodline, so perhaps-

Aiela pushed those thoughts away. They weren't relevant for picking an egg.

"What are you using as a basis?" Venza asked. "For selection, I mean."

"The most important thing I can't alter," Aiela answered. "Spheres."

"I thought all monsters of one species had the same spheres," Venza said.

"A common misconception," Aiela said. "All monsters have spheres by default, determined by their species. Technically, humans have a default value as well, only the default number for humans is zero. However, sometimes humans are born with affinities for one or more spheres."

"Mages," Venza said.

Aiela nodded. "Right. Some people are born gifted. By that logic, most monsters are non-mage equivalents of humans, except they actually do have magic, if a bit basic."

"So you're saying monsters can have mages, too?"

"In that they can acquire additional spheres at birth and as they go through life, yes. That's what I'm looking for."

Sally's clutch wasn't very promising, however. Most of the unhatched eggs only had the default 'one water, one earth, half nature' affinities. Ironically, one of the live Mu'drakk had an extra fire sphere, which Aiela herself didn't have, but using Mutation on something that had already grown was courting disappointment. That was why she hadn't used the spell to cure William all those years ago: The results tended to be far too unstable. A master of Nature magic could likely do it, but that would take more than a lifetime of growing her power.

"Aiela, look here!" Venza said, inspecting a separate batch of eggs. Aiela hurried over, wondering what the fuss was about.

She'd needed to double check to ensure she wasn't seeing things, but the egg possessed not one, but two extra spheres: Fire and Death. It had a full Nature sphere, too, unlike most of its kind.

"It's a good find, no?" Venza asked.

"It is," Aiela answered, though she kept the rest of her thoughts to herself.

Fate was rarely that kind. Oma had warned her about those born with extraordinary gifts: About half were fated to die young, or suffer in other ways. Reading Fate was something as foreign to Aiela as Genetics were to her Oma, but she gave Oma the benefit of the doubt in these matters. Aiela was, after all, only a teenage witch still learning about the world whereas Oma Mala had the knowledge and wisdom of centuries.

It made her wonder what kind of fate Oma had spared her from when she'd taken her in. What was the reality she'd been pulled from, that she could live this dream in Verdeholm? The old woman had never been willing to tell her, saying some things were best left unknown.

"Gene Mapping," she muttered, and the egg's gene sequence came alive in her mind's eye as a heads-up display. As usual, Oma had been right. This particular specimen had a deformity within it. She couldn't say what it was, but she'd checked enough of them to know this egg wasn't normal.

Unless, of course, a benevolent mage who could alter creatures intervened before the creature could hatch.

"This one," she declared.

Venza beamed at her. She knew the Greyfield Heir had a small inferiority complex when it came to her. Being a mage but not being able to actually use magic would have upset anyone, but Venza managed to contain it.

She glanced at Sally, the wounded Mu'drakker. She'd stirred from her slumber but remained in a resting position to begin healing her wounds. Anyone who could injure such a creature with her bare hands from several meters away had little to feel inferior about, in Aiela's opinion, but she could sympathize with Venza's plight. No. Venza's problem was that the people who mattered in her life didn't acknowledge her.

Mustering as much enthusiasm as she could, she said "Thank you," to her friend of six years. "Now, I suppose I have to clear the dam."

There was a soft hiss from the giant reptile. Sally turned and made her way downriver, towards where the earth had been propped up to stem the water's flow. Aiela followed. Who was she to refuse if Sally wanted to make things easier for her?

Monster magic was a fascinating subject. Like human mages, they all had the inner workings needed to convert Mana in the air into a desired effect, but lacking speech and the sophistication that came with language, their brand of magic was both quicker and more limited in scope.

Well, perhaps not much quicker than Aiela's, but for other humans who needed to chant their spells? Certainly. It did come at the cost of not being able to weave more complex spells together, but truthfully, most humans couldn't manage that, either.

Aiela watched as Sally stopped in front of the earthen wall. Similar to how she had in their battle, the giant reptile sat back on her hind legs, raising her two forelegs into the air before clapping them together. As the sound resonated through the passage, the wall of earth started to crumble.

It was almost like watching a mix of her and Venza's talents. Casting with no words, but instead using one's body to shape the spell. It was not a technique she was unfamiliar with, being able to cast basic spells without speech herself, but it still fascinated her.

Not willing to be outdone by Sally, Aiela focused her mind on the weakening wall. She raised her right hand forward and channeled Mana. As she brought her hand down as if flattening dough, the wall slowly sank until it no longer blocked the river.

Sally turned around, and while a huge lizard towering over her made her a little nervous, Aiela saw Sally nod her head in approval before going back on all fours. Maybe Tom had been right on the money. Sally seemed a gentle giant, only lashing out to protect her eggs.

 

[ReverseRaven]

Author's Note: I apologize for the late upload. It was bad timing. I had some hardware issues and needed to migrate all my stuff to a different machine and I had a lot of family things going on this week so I just didn't have the time to do that. Thank you for your patience.

Venza


"So, where are they keeping the girl you were with?" Venza asked. They'd moved back into the tunnel to get their feet dry. She had a feeling her boots were going to be ruined and need replacing, but staved the thought off for later.

"Her name is Lauren," Tom offered. "She's over at their camp. Are you really going to help us?"

Venza ignored Aiela's judgmental gaze that practically said 'Did you really forget her name already?' and instead focused on the boy in front of her. "Of course. It sounds like this happened on Greyfield lands, so this falls under our jurisdiction."

"Your father's jurisdiction," Aiela reminded her.

"My father who isn't here," Venza said. "And when he's not here-"

"Vosmer and your mother are in charge," Aiela said.

Venza groaned. "Look, do you wanna save her or not? Weren't you the one who wanted to knock them out in town because you had an inkling they'd kidnapped someone?"

Aiela looked away sheepishly. "Fine, fine. I was just teasing. Roeder and Carver should sit this one out, though."

"I can still fight," Carver insisted. "I know I made a mistake, but-"

"No," Venza said, shaking her head. "She's right. You should keep watch over Roeder. We can handle a few bandits ourselves."

Carver sighed, then saluted, hand over heart. "As you command. I'll keep Marcus safe."

"Sally and I are coming with you," Tom said.

"No," Venza and Aiela said in unison.

Tom looked about to protest but Venza cut him off.

"If they know you're with us, they can threaten us with Lauren's life," Venza explained. "Without knowing that, they don't know they possess an effective hostage. After all, what would we care about a random girl?"

"You can come with us to point out the general area of their camp," Aiela added. "But you absolutely cannot be seen."

"What about Sally?" Tom asked. "Hard to hide such a large Mu'drakker."

Venza looked at Aiela. "Can't you turn her into a frog or something temporarily?"

Aiela gazed at Sally's humongous form which barely fit through the tunnel, then shook her head. "Her kids, sure, but her? I'm a few Nature Spheres short. Ask me again in four years or so."

Venza considered. "It'll take us a few days to prepare housing for her, and I'd rather she not stay here."

"She can just dig herself a cave temporarily," Aiela suggested. "I could help."

"That could work," Venza said. "A proper stable would be better, though. For public perception."

"Oh, what? Does it send a bad message if the ruling family employs a giant lizard living in a cave outside town?" Aiela teased. "At least she wouldn't be swooping down from the sky to grab random livestock."

"True. Swooping would be bad." Venza thought for a moment as they continued walking. "Maybe we could ask House Carsten for help. They've got special stables for all sorts of creatures."

"Perhaps, but first, I think we should do something about Lauren and those bandits, no?"

"Right, sorry."

---

Herman the carriage driver ran screaming for his life at the sight of Sally the Mu'drakker. It had taken Venza an entire five minutes to get him to calm down and another five to be comfortable with the idea of a giant reptile following them home.

Aiela had very helpfully stood at the side and provided color commentary while snickering at her misfortune.

Theirs was a strange procession, to say the least. In front was the carriage, with Tom and Herman at the driver's seat while Venza and Aiela remained inside with about a dozen Mu'drakk eggs and the sleeping Roeder. Carver rode along outside, Roeder's horse trailing behind his.

Behind their carriage was a curious Mu'drakker and what remained of her brood, surprisingly tame for a band of monsters.

Perhaps Aiela's suggestion had merit. The lizard creatures would supplement House Greyfield's rather middling standing force with both numbers and magic. Her father had full authority over the Empire's armed forces during national military campaigns and crises, but Astamarr was only protected by the Grey Guard and they only had around a thousand men to protect one of the largest territories in Odolenia.

It was one of the concessions House Greyfield made to reduce the threat of a military coup, not that their House had been anything but loyal during their long history of service.

They stopped south of Verdeholm, just out of sight of the sentries. The setting sun painted the lush forest a deep orange, like it had that day they'd she'd first arrived home with Aiela. The two of them disembarked from the carriage, and Tom pointed them in the direction where the bandit camp was supposed to be.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Herman asked, looking ill at ease about being left behind with Tom and the lizards.

"Only twenty men?" Aiela said. "With one enemy mage? Hardly a challenge."

To demonstrate, Aiela recast Steelskin on both herself and Venza, giving them both the odd, numbing sensation that came with it. They could have stood still and allowed someone to stab them and most blades would simply bounce off.

"The camp is about five minutes away," Tom said. "They'll have lookouts. Maybe you should wait until night?"

"I'd like to be home for dinner," Venza answered, earning her an incredulous stare from Tom.

"She may not look it, but she's a pretty big eater," Aiela told him.

"You make me sound like a glutton," Venza complained as they started to move away from the carriage.

"Oh? What else do you call eating half a roast chicken on your own?" Aiela asked.

---

True forests were rare in Verdeholm, ironically. Most of their land was wide, open plains, though every so often enough trees managed to band together that one could generously call them a forest. It made it surprisingly easy to guess where people would attempt to set up camp in a vain attempt to hide from prying eyes.

Unfortunately for these brigands, Aiela's eyes extended beyond the two on her face. The mage's eyes were closed, her face unreadable as she concentrated on scouting the woods with her Hidden.

To her side, Venza waited patiently, idly tapping her staff against the hard soil. When Aiela opened her eyes, she had a scowl on her face.

"Almost two dozen men," Aiela reported. "They're not expecting a fight. The girl, Lauren, is tied up in one of the tents."

"So no one's armed?" Venza asked.

"Oh, they are," Aiela said. "But likely the only thing there that can actually hurt you through Steelskin is one guy with a crossbow, and only if he gets a clean shot. Doubt it'll get through both your skin and your armor, though."

Venza nodded. Her brigandine had been boiled in the blood of a Bloodbeak, conferring it the same Protection the monstrous birds had.

"Don't get shot in the head," Venza said. "Got it."

"There's another girl in the camp with her, but she doesn't seem to be captive. I assume she's the Fire Mage."

"You assume?"

Aiela shrugged. "My Hidden are too weak to read Affinities, but she definitely has a Mana core. I'd need to see her with my own eyes to know for sure."

Venza continued to tap her staff impatiently on the ground. "Right. Let's give them a chance to surrender, then."

Aiela brought her hands together, fingers entwined, and stretched. "Good. That means I can cut loose when they refuse."

"If they refuse," Venza said.

"Your optimism is cute," Aiela drawled. "Surely, they will cower in fear of a teenage girl with a giant stick."

"You could always go in, spells blazing, and help me get them to surrender," Venza suggested.

Aiela shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?"

Venza sighed. "What happened to that little girl I met who didn't want to fight back against her tormentors?"

"Oh, I absolutely wanted to fight back," Aiela answered, smirking. "Oma just wouldn't let me. She's not here right now, though."

Venza rolled her eyes and walked forward. At least she'd tried. It took only a minute to approach the camp. The ruffians seemed to be preparing dinner. A single guard with a club in front raised a hand to stop them. Clearly, Aiela hadn't considered him enough of a threat to mention.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he called out. The camp suddenly grew quiet as the occupants hung on every word.

Venza drew a breath, lowered her voice by a few octaves. "My name is Venza, Heir to House Greyfield. My family are the custodians of this land. We have reason to believe you are bandits intentionally poisoning the people of Astamarr in order to profit from their suffering."

The camp shifted as a particularly burly man stepped forward, dragging a girl who looked about Venza's age with him. From the description, it was Tom's friend. Another girl with brown hair hung back, clad in a deep, black tunic. She watched the intruders warily.

He spat on the ground. "Noble brats?" He grinned. "I was gonna let you off saying you had no proof, but I bet we'd make a killing ransoming you back to your families."

"Not bad looking ones, either, Chad," one of the men added.

"Yeah. Ransoming one intact should be enough," another added. "We could keep the other one for fun since you haven't let us touch that girl of yours."

Venza grimaced. Aiela gave her the same look she had when she'd told Venza her optimism was cute. Venza sighed. "You admit to being bandits, then. Come quietly or we'll use force."

Just as the lead bandit was about to respond, Venza extended her will using Reach, and thrust her arm forward, punching him in the throat. The man grasped his neck, choking on his words. Venza then used Reach again before the first one expired, holding his neck in a vice grip. She kept an eye on the bandit with the crossbow in case he tried anything funny.

"So, will you surrender or does this have to get ugly?" Venza asked. She needed them to surrender quickly. Reach only lasted a few seconds and she could only reapply them consecutively for so long.

Unfortunately, the girl, Lauren, seemed to have other plans. Freed from Chad's grip, she quickly pulled out the blade at his hip. In a flash of steel nearly too quick to notice, she'd driven the knife into the side of his neck, twisting as she yanked it back out. Chad fell to the ground, unable to form words as blood gushed out of his neck.

"Ooh, I like her," Aiela commented. Venza swore.

Chaos erupted as the bandits scrambled for weapons. Venza watched the one with a crossbow pull it up to aim, and then immediately yanked it to the side with Reach, causing him to fire into one of his comrades.

Lauren dashed out of the camp to join them. "I appreciate the rescue," she said. "Now, shall we get out of here before-"

"Steelskin," Aiela invoked, touching a hand to Lauren's shoulder.

The acrobat exclaimed, surprised by the numbness Venza knew came with the spell.

"Keep going straight and you'll be safe," Venza said quickly. "We'll be with you shortly."

"Are you crazy?" Lauren asked. "There's too many of them!"

The bandits were rushing back towards them, armed with an assortment of clubs, axes, and even a few swords.

"Aiela," Venza spoke.

"Scald!" Aiela invoked in response, and a jet of boiling water erupted from her hands, splashing the first group of bandits. They scattered under the unexpected attack, their skin blistering red. "Have fun."

Venza rolled her yes. It seemed her friend had no intention of taking this seriously.

Not that she could blame her. Twenty untrained fighters with no magic was nothing to them.

Venza held her staff in both hands and dashed forward like a woman possessed, smashing her staff into someone's nose before twisting to have the other end whack the side of another bandit's head.

A blazing bolt of fire soared through the air, aimed straight at her. Her staff came up to block it, but it proved unnecessary.

A gust of wind suddenly blew the flame off its trajectory, sending it straight into another bandit, who caught flame and screamed in panic.

"Pathetic," Aiela commented. "Leave the little mage to me."

Venza nodded and focused on the bandits. She dodged a downward swing from a club with a small, practiced step to the side, and then brought her elbow up to smack into her attacker's throat. Another bandit charged at her with his axe, but she used Reach to grab hold of his trousers and pull them down, causing him to trip, landing face down in the dirt. A quick, hard thrust with her staff broke his hand.

A second group of about five bandits, seeing she was going to be a pain in the ass to fight, instead headed towards Aiela. Venza didn't know what exactly they hoped to achieve attacking a mage. Perhaps they thought she'd be easier to deal with if they got close enough.

---

Aiela

Aiela reared her head back and expelled a thick, black smoke from her mouth. It engulfed her attackers and caused them to stop in place as they lost their ability to see.

"Thunderclap," she spoke, and a loud, resonating boom suddenly sounded from within the black smoke, causing several bandits to howl in pain.

"Scald," she invoked, sending them scattering with a blast of boiling hot water.

She turned her attention back to the Fire Mage, who was rapidly chanting another Flame Bolt.

"Flames, lend me your fury and scorch the unworthy to ash!" she chanted. "Flame Bolt!"

Aiela chuckled and sent a blast of water from her hand to meet the flaming projectile. It fizzled out almost instantly. "All those words when I can just flick my wrist."

The Fire Mage had panicked look on her face. "Impossible. How are you doing both Air and Water without chanting!?"

Aiela's lips twitched into a smirk. "You probably know how to read Affinities. Go on. Read mine. I'll wait."

"I won't fall for your trick!" the girl said. "Flames, lend me your fury and-"

She couldn't finish her sentence as Aiela reached a hand out and said, "Suffocate."

Her opponent suddenly began to choke as Aiela's magic sucked the very breath out of her lungs. With a smirk, Aiela stopped her own spell and said, "Go on. Read me. I insist."

The Fire Mage, having realized she was entirely at Aiela's mercy, gave her a questioning look, but complied. "Great Father, grant me your sight, that I may gauge the gifted! Affinity Reading!"

If the girl hadn't been worried before, she was now. She shrank back as Aiela sauntered forward, as if the latter were strolling through a park instead of a battlefield.

In the girl's eyes, Aiela's magical aura must have shined like a blazing, crimson flame.

"W-what are you!?!" the Fire Mage questioned.

"I have no idea," Aiela answered. "But to you, I guess I'm a monster."

She drew in air and expelled another cloud of Dark Breath, causing the enemy mage to fall to the ground in a coughing fit. Aiela made sure she'd lost consciousness before seeing what Venza was up to.

Such a waste that such an inept mage possessed a Fire Sphere when Aiela herself did not.

---

Venza


The remaining bandits took one look at their fallen comrades and seemed to argue between themselves about whether to run or not. Venza dropped her staff on the ground, putting her hands up in a fighting stance before beckoning them over. That seemed to sway them, as they rallied themselves and charged at her.

"Earthbinder," she heard Aiela speak.

About a meter short of reaching her, the bandit in front suddenly fell to one knee. Unable to stop themselves in time, his comrades followed suit, gritting their teeth as some unseen force seemed to pull them to the ground.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a pillar of dirt roughly a meter tall had been erected behind the group of bandits. Venza was familiar with the spell: As long as they remained close to the pillar, the bandits would be pulled both downwards and towards the pillar.

"I'm surprised you didn't use that in the cave," Venza said.

"Mud Drakes have earth magic," Aiela reminded her. "And are likely physically stronger than this lot. Wasn't reliable."

Venza nodded in understanding.

The mage made a gesture and the soil the trapped bandits were standing on suddenly turned to mud. They cried out as the mud began to hiss with heat. Venza gave her an admonishing look.

"What?" Aiela asked. "I didn't make it that hot."

"Stop it," Venza said. "They've already lost the ability to fight."

"Fine, fine," Aiela conceded, and the hissing stopped.

The crossbow bandit had his arms raised in surrender, his weapon thrown on the ground. Venza motioned for him to come forward and join his fellows. He instead turned tail and ran, but she'd been ready for that. Her hand quickly snatched air and Reach grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Aiela blasted him with some kind of green-colored beam and he stayed down.

"Sleep?" Venza asked.

"Paralysis," she answered.

"Nice."

"Who are you people?" Lauren asked, approaching her saviors from behind.

"Ah right, you probably didn't catch everything," Venza said. "Like I said, I'm-"

She hadn't gotten a good look at the girl they were rescuing during the chaos of things, but now she did. The girl was tall and slender with perfectly bronzed skin and eyes the color of green leaves in spring. Beneath a simple brown cloak she wore only a pale, pink leotard, which Venza assumed was her costume from the circus.

It left precious little to the imagination.

"I- I'm Venza," Venza managed to say, regaining some of her composure. "Lauren, right?"

"Oh, wow, you actually remembered someone's name," Aiela teased. Her smirk held more mischief than usual.

Venza ignored the comment. "Did they hurt you? Tom told us about your situation and-"

"Tom?" Lauren echoed, sounding relieved. "Where is he?"

"He's on the main road with a carriage and Cindy," Venza said.

"Sally," Aiela corrected her.

"Right, Sally."

An abrupt rumble came from Lauren, and she sheepishly placed a hand on her stomach. "I- don't suppose you have anything to eat?"

Venza glanced at Aiela, who seemed to be thinking. Without warning, Aiela flung her hand upward, sending a bright, green flare into the sky. It was the signal for requesting help within Astamarr.

"Aiela," Venza began. "Isn't that-"

Aiela smirked, then showed her hand. A small, orange flame rested in her palm.

Fire magic. Aiela's insistence on burning things with hot water had paid off.

"I just noticed after the fighting ended," she said as she shook her hand rapidly, putting out the flame. "The Guard will be here shortly to help round up these brigands. I'll find Lauren something edible while we wait."

---

Roughly five minutes later, the three of them sat around the unlit campfire the bandits had been preparing. The lot of them had been put to sleep by Aiela's magic, which would keep them in check until reinforcements arrived to take them into custody. Aside from Chad, another bandit had died from a 'stray crossbow shot' but the rest were alive. Some had broken bones and burns, particularly the poor soul who'd gotten hit by the fire mage's spell, but they would live.

"Thank you," Lauren spoke in between taking large bites off an apple Aiela had procured for her. "That bastard Chad was starving me on purpose."

"The one you stabbed?" Venza asked.

Lauren nodded. "He was a complete sicko. He was trying to break me. Said he wouldn't give me food until I begged him to- well, to do things to me."

"The bandits did mention something about not being allowed to touch you," Aiela commented.

Lauren grimaced. "Yeah, Chad wanted me to be his personal slave or something. He didn't dare touch Megan, though. She would've scarred him for life."

"The Fire Mage?" Aiela asked. They'd put her to sleep as well.

"Yeah, that's her."

"Well, I'm just glad you're okay now," Venza said.

"Yeah, thanks to my two heroes," Lauren answered. Despite herself, Venza felt her face turn red and had to look away.

"What will you do now?" Venza asked.

"Tom's decided to come back to town and work for us," Aiela suggested.

Lauren laughed. "Are you having him look after animals or something? That does sound like Tom."

"Or something," Aiela answered, not going into detail. "What about you?"

"I- I'd have to think about it," Lauren said. "I guess without the circus I don't really have a place to go. Megan torched the place before they left. I don't know how useful an acrobat would be to you, though."

"You can stay for a bit and think it over," Venza suggested.

"Let's table this discussion for now," Aiela said. "Your father's men are almost here."

Venza gave her a look. "You know, you could just say they're our men."

"That would imply they're following you and not just indulging their lord's daughter," Aiela sniped.

Before she could get another word in, Venza realized something. There was a giant reptile monster on the road, and the Grey Guard could quite easily mistake Sally as the reason for the flare. "Back to the carriage, now!"

"Oh, relax," Aiela said, sounding amused. "I'm sure Herman can explain the situation to them."