The distant rumbling of battle echoed throughout the next three days as we traveled through the wilderness. Like a distant storm that was always present, its power and intensity grew stronger with each passing mont before slowly fading into nothing, leaving us in an eerie silence. Isa had quickly recovered from her injuries; the Rejuvenate spell that the voice had taught had done wonders on her body. So much so, that she ntioned that she no longer even felt the pain in her knees and back she had experienced over the past couple of years.
I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Yet judging by her movents and acrobatics she'd perform at night to entertain , I guess she wasn't. I guess I made her feel ten years younger—what an interesting spell. I thought as I watched Isa run up a tree and kick-off of it before doing a flip mid-air and landing gracefully on her feet.
She sighed happily as she bowed, and I clapped. She straightened up and ca over to , where I sat around a fire while rolling her shoulders.
"I hadn't felt this loose in ages." She smiled at as she took a seat.
"I can tell you're bouncing all over the place whenever you get the chance," I said with a giggle as I checked our roasting Ganari Isa had hunted this morning. The large duck-looking bird slt delicious as I prodded it with a stick and said, "Looks like our food is done. Ready to eat?"
Isa nodded and rubbed her stomach as she sat down, her fluffy tail wrapping around her waist like a belt. "Hell yes, I've worked up quite the appetite," she said, and I smiled widely.
I noticed that ever since I saved Isa's life a few days ago, she had loosened up quite a bit around . No longer was she speaking to like the child she once knew; instead, she'd been acting more like a big sister, an equal. It was a bit odd at first, but seeing her be so casual around has been nice. She helped take the large creature off of the fire, and with her knife, we carved it up into edible chunks.
The evening sun was setting in the distance, casting a warm golden glow over our makeshift campsite as we quietly ate our food. I enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of the mont, savoring every bite under the fading light as the sounds of crickets and other nightti critters woke up. Now and again, a distant boom of a cannon was heard, yet thankfully, nothing escalated beyond that.
Yet as we finished our al and tossed the bones aside for so scavengers to take, I wiped my mouth and asked, "How long do you think it'll be till we find this path?" I began to stow our leftovers away in the enigma bag.
Isa took a deep breath. "The path the voice ntioned is probably not far. Any further, and we'll be hitting the Alter River in a few more days. So, I guess we'll be seeing it soon. Have you heard from him again?"
I shook my head. "No. He's been silent ever since I helped you." I closed the enigma bag and looked at her. "I think I might've upset him."
"Why do you think that?" Isa asked before stifling a belch, which made her giggle and pat her stomach.
I sighed and smirked as I shook my head and shrugged. "I dunno. He originally wanted to leave you for dead." Isa's eyes widened. "But I convinced him not to, and well… he said I reminded him of soone."
Isa frowned at first but then took a deep breath and shrugged. "I guess if he thought there was no way of saving , I probably would've left myself as well." Isa paused for a mont, lost in thought. "Did he say who you reminded him of?"
I slowly shook my head, and she nodded. "Well, hopefully he isn't going to mope around too much. We may be further away from the monsters, but his early alert system has been very useful."
I nodded in agreent. "That is true, but there's another issue." Isa's ears swiveled in my direction. "He said he's been having issues finding so of the monsters. Apparently, when they're asleep, their souls go dormant, and he can't see them anymore."
Isa pursed her lips and laid back on the grass with her hands laced behind her head. "Well, that is a problem. So, we can't rely on him entirely." Isa took another deep breath. "I'm sure we'll manage, though. We've made it this far." She smiled at .
Seeing Isa's smile, I couldn't help but return it and nod. "You're right; we got this." I said, getting to my knees, crawling over beside Isa, and lying down in the grass beside her. Together, we gazed up at the purple and blue sky; already, we could see stars appearing in the twilight, and for the remainder of that night, we watched the stars until, at so point, we both fell asleep.
A loud explosion followed by trembling earth shocked us both awake as the sound of a single, massive cannon echoed across the river. This was not the first ti this had happened, so we quickly got to our feet and kicked out the fire before grabbing our bags. Yet, despite almost becoming routine, my heart still raced as another explosion sounded off soplace to the northeast. Overhead, the sound of whistling air caught my attention as artillery shells scread past us before being followed by another distant boom.
The army is shelling the enemy again from over the river. I thought as Isa, and I grabbed our gear and began to move. Voice guy, are you there? Are there any monsters nearby?
No response. Dammit, please don't be asleep or sothing!
Still no response.
"He's still gone," I said to Isa as we quickly marched through the foliage and continued westward.
"It's okay. As of now, I don't think we need him," she said, just as a distant howl of a fighting machine alerted us to their proximity.
I cursed under my breath as more artillery shells zipped overhead, each one causing to flinch slightly as we continued moving. I bit my lower lip as Isa helped over a log, and as we turned to rush through a large set of bushes, we gasped as an older gentleman broke through the thicket beside us and crashed into us.
Isa and I yelled as the man accidentally ramd into her, and the two of them went tumbling down. I scread out for Isa and reached for her as the two of them landed in the mud and dirt. Isa got to her knees; her face was covered in mud, but thankfully she seed to be okay. She looked at the man on the ground, whom we both saw was carrying a child.
The man, who I saw was an elf due to his long, pointed ears like mine, gripped the silent child with trembling hands, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and shock as he looked at us. The kid he held was motionless; I could see by her pale face that she was still breathing, yet shallowly.
"S-sorry… sorry…. Sorry…" The man repeated this as he got to his feet and flinched as more artillery screeched overhead.
Isa held her hands up. "It's okay; you're okay." She wiped the mud off her face and tried to smile reassuringly.
The sounds of distant screams caused my ears to twitch, and I glanced northward. Machinegun fire echoed as more cries of fear ca our way, along with the sounds of roaring fighting machines.
"They're taking people… taking… taking away… making… more… at factory!" The man spoke, his voice heavily accented. He trembled as he gripped the unconscious girl in his arms. "Run. I must run… away. Get away!"
I looked at the man and saw that the girl looked to be my age and was wrapped in a white and red blanket. Or what was supposed to only be white? She's bleeding. I thought. The girl is injured.
"She's hurt," I said, pointing to the kid in his arms. "We need to get her sowhere safe. I-I can maybe help her."
Isa glanced at and back towards the man who was already turning to leave, and she reached out to him. "Mister, wait, we can help you." Another howl from a fighting machine, one much closer this ti, startled us as more screams from victims made my blood run cold.
"No ti!" The man shouted over the sounds of chaos, his voice filled with urgency and fear. "Must run, get away!"
We heard sounds of movent through the trees around us as other refugees began to appear. I turned around to see a man in a dark suit dragging a woman in a white dress along. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably, and the man's face was pale with fear as his bowl hat fell from his head.
I felt my stomach drop as I looked back at the older gentleman as he gripped the young girl tightly and began to run through the trees. Isa turned and grabbed my hand tightly as the distant thumping of a fighting machine began to move toward us. The sound of falling trees and snapping wood made my heart hamr against my ribs as we followed behind the man.
Around us, more people fleeing from the carnage up north began to co into view. A vast number of individuals running from the invaders rushed through trees; among them, I saw soldiers. n who had dropped their guns and were also running for their lives along with us.
"Get to the river!" I heard a distant man shouting desperately. "To the river!"
"Wh-what's happening? I thought we were ahead of them?!" I cried as I ran alongside Isa, confused and scared.
"I don't know!" She huffed as we continued behind the man carrying the child.
A loud crash and boom caused the ground to shudder as a massive tree fell behind us. A deathly howl caused my heart to leap with fear and my mind to fill with panic as the roar of a fighting machine ca right behind us. With a hard yank, I felt Isa nearly rip my arm from its socket as the two of us tumbled to the ground off to the side behind a fallen log. I scread though I was silenced as Isa pulled close and clamped her clawed hand over my mouth.
"Shhh!" She hushed as two more people ran past us, then ca a middle-aged man who sprinted past, yet suddenly, in a flash, a massive, clawed tendril shot forth and clamped around him. The man let off a shrill scream as he was yanked upwards into the air.
I couldn't control myself as I scread into Isa's hand and tried to pull away as I watched the man be whipped around the air a few dozen or so feet off the ground like a ragdoll as a massive crab-like machine ca stomping into view. Unlike the other fighting machines, this one was wider and held two massive cages on its rounded back. Cages filled with screaming, helpless people.
n, won, children, and the elderly. Farrs, soldiers, and even wealthy individuals of all races scread and frantically pulled at the iron bars as the massive monster brought the dangling man over one of the cages and dropped him inside after it opened.
"Sobody help us!" A woman scread at the top of her lungs. I could see her gripping the bars and shaking them, her face red and tear-stained. "Gods help us! Please—" Her voice was drowned out by the machine's horrific roar as it continued to stomp past us as it continued to knock over trees and crushed bushes. Thankfully, it did not notice Isa or cowering beneath the log as it pursued the others who fled ahead of us towards the south.
My heart raced frantically, my body quivering as tears ran down my face. The picture of the woman burned forever in my mind as Isa released , yet I could hardly breathe. I was sucking in the air, but I felt like I couldn't let it out.
"Luna, breathe. Luna…" Isa whispered.
We could still hear them—the dozens of people screaming for help. I covered my ears.
Shut up. Shut up!
Isa wrapped her arms around and picked up off the ground. I closed my eyes as I felt her carrying sowhere, hopefully away from the nightmare I had just witnessed.
Yet eventually, after several minutes, the sounds faded, and I felt myself calming down, and Isa placed back on my feet.
"They're really taking people," I muttered softly. "Why are they taking them? Where are they taking them?"
Isa took my hand gently and continued to walk briskly. "I don't know," she said softly. "I know just as much as you do, Luna."
Once again, we heard rustling through the bushes, and this ti Isa drew the pistol and spun around, aiming it at whoever was following us, we heard a sharp gasp as I turned to see the older elven man and child from before.
"Don't shoot!" He hissed. "Friendly. I friendly."
The man was still carrying the wounded girl as he cautiously stepped towards us. Isa sighed with relief and raised the gun.
"You could've called out to us," she said sternly. "I could've killed you accidentally."
"Sorry." The man said it huskily. "Machine too fast. I hid, like you. Saw you run, I chose to follow."
I had never heard an accent like his before. I noted. Where is he from?
Isa nodded, and the man stepped forward. "You said you help ? Little Anne, she hurt. Badly," the man said pleadingly. "Shot she was. Mag bullet hit her."
Isa looked at , and I gulped. "We should try and find a place to hunker down. Away from here." I suggested it shakily, and I took a few breaths to calm my nerves. "I can see about looking at her."
The man shook his head. "No ti. She bleed lots," he said desperately. "dicine. I need dicine." He looked toward Isa's bag. "You offered. You have dicine?"
Isa took a deep breath and looked at . "Do you think you can focus for a short ti? The thing went south while we went west; unless it turns this way, we should be good."
I took a deep breath and nodded. "I-I think I can." I turned to the man. "We have sothing better than dicine. We have magic."
The man's face lit up with relief. "Magic? Oh, thank gods. Haha…" He laughed as his eyes teared up. "Please, co, co. I set her down." He moved past us and towards the base of a large kefner tree and gently laid the pale elven girl down. It was here that I got a good look at her.
She was about my age; judging by her ears, she was a pureblood elf and had long, beautiful red hair. Her skin was pale, though most likely from blood loss, and she had partially open and pretty green eyes. Her blood-soaked hand was covering a cloth around her lower abdon, which I guessed was a bandage around the gunshot wound.
I gulped nervously as I approached her, my mind trying to rember the words of the spell I used on Isa. As I drew nearer, the girl, Anne, as the man called her, slowly shifted her eyes to look at . Showing she was sowhat conscious right now.
"Hello," I said to her shakily.
"I thought you do magic?" The older man said this to Isa, who shook her head.
"Nope. Luna, here is the little wizard." She pointed to .
I kneeled beside the girl. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to place my hands on your wound, okay?" I said, and Anne simply blinked slowly and let off a shallow breath.
I reached down and moved her bloodied hand off the stained bandage and grimaced. I didn't even need to peel the bandage away to see how bad it was; my stomach churned at the gory sight, and I wanted to puke right then and now.
Yet I kept it down. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to focus. I reached out with both hands, hovered them over the injury, and began to imagine the wound healing itself. I took a few deep breaths, focusing on each inhale and exhale as I cleared my mind. Deep within my belly, I felt the surge of energy co forth. The pleasurable sensations of power radiated through gradually as goosebumps began to form up and down my body.
I heard faint gasps behind from the man and Isa as I began to utter the words of the spell, Rejuvenate. Doing my best to recall each word, I stamred a little bit, yet thankfully the spell held as I finally ended and called upon the power, "Rejuvenate!" The green swirling pixies around burst forth! Ascending upwards before coalescing into a tight ball and descending back down towards the injured girl.
The ball of energy pressed itself through the bandages and into the wound, and Anne let off a squeaky gasp as I heard the sounds of her flesh stitching itself back together. Yet not just around the gunshot wound. The scrapes, bruises, and other cuts on her body also began to nd themselves back together, and after a few monts, the girl was panting and groaning softly as the color began to return to her flesh.
Suddenly, the man cheered sothing in a language I didn't understand. It was familiar yet different like English mixed with sothing else. He then swapped back over to Maurich and said, "Amazing! I never saw magic before. I see magic, but not done like this, let alone from soone young." He clapped his hand, though Isa turned to him and brought a clawed finger to her lips.
"I know you're happy, but not so loud. We're not in the clear yet." She hissed, and the man raised his hands and apologized.
I shuddered as the pleasurable aftershocks of the spell casting caused to quiver, and I smiled and said, "It's done. I did it!" I quietly cheered.
I saved another person!
I heard the man co up behind and get down beside . I suddenly felt him take both of my hands, and I turned to face him. I saw him smiling widely at as he shook them. "Thank you! Thank you! You saved my niece! Thank you! I, Oscar. Forever in debt."
I blushed deeply as Oscar shook my hands over and over. "Y-You're welco." I smiled faintly. "I-I'm always here to help."
Oscar nodded as he turned to his niece, Anne, who was roused back to conscience and looked around confused.
"Wh-where are we?" The girl asked in fluent Maurich. "Un-uncle?" She looked at and then at Oscar.
The man laughed happily and quietly as he scooched towards the little girl and grabbed her hands gently. "I am here, Anne. Right here." He giggled gleefully. "Kind people, they help us!" He gestured to myself and Isa.
Anne looked confused but smiled gently upon seeing her happy uncle and shifted with a grunt as she leaned in and hugged him. The man returned her embrace and held her tightly.
Yet this touching mont was short-lived, as the distant howl of a fighting machine brought us back to the present. Isa stepped forward and said, "We know a way across the river back behind friendly lines. You can co with us."
Oscar looked over his shoulder and said, "We have no direction. We follow you anywhere."
Well, that was easy. I shifted nervously as I stood up alongside Oscar, who picked Anne up.
"Lead way! I follow!" He nodded as Isa began to jog ahead with behind her, and soon our new foreign companion and niece joined in as the fighting machine's thumping grew louder and louder.
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