The chirping of morning birds echoed through the forest. Green, healthy leaves gently took their place on the forest floor.

“Oh~! What a cute girl you are!” A feminine voice squealed, no doubt scaring away the nearby animals. The woman in question wore a dress that reached near her ankles. It was bright yellow that popped out in contrast to the forest’s dark green. The girl found it fitting for her bubbly personality. There was another woman next to her, she wore deep purple instead. “That, I don’t disagree with.” She said mildly but her face betrayed the delight she felt.

Warm red rushed up to the girl’s cheeks, a compliment from a stranger was something she didn’t know how to handle. Then again, it was a stranger she lured into the forest, so this was the least she should have expected. The girl wondered if she should have gotten Thomas instead.

Softly, she muttered her response, “Th-Thank you…” A layer of unease slowly melted.

“Anytime dearie,” The woman dressed in yellow replied, a wide smile on her face. “Now what is it that you want out here?”

The girl rubbed her hands behind her back, feeling relieved. She already knew the woman as Helen Godiva, one of the nobles that lived in their village. ‘Thankfully, neither asked nor given their names.’ She thought. It would be less troublesome to think of a fake name on the spot, it is doubtful to think that she could trust anyone right now.

“Ah well…” The right words would not come out of her mouth, lingering paranoia that persisted even until now has urged her to just dispose of them. After all, her plans always included a backup that would always end with only her coming out alive. She jolted, instantly shutting down the thought. Despite her pestering hesitation, she resisted morbid temptation. It was irrational.

In spite of the show of will, the girl had to compose herself for a few minutes. The encouraging words given by the two women only added to her shame.

“You see,” She started, all the while making small gestures with her explanation. “I have a strong enjoyment of stories written in books, and I am quite good at writing them myself.” Now, she would have to show humbleness, since saying such bold, but currently empty, words will give her a disadvantage. “Of course, it may not compare to what’s already on the shelves, but,” She’s already prepared the selling point for this, ‘It’s win or lose.’

“The orphanage lady from our village seems to be getting tired of managing children who run around all day. If I could get more money to buy parchment, I could write little stories for them to read and sleep to.” She ended, feeling sweat run down the back of her neck as she waited for their response.

Silence permeated the air for a few moments. It was an offer, both women realized. It isn’t that strange to see children doing odd jobs when things got hard, but the one in front of them delivered her point as if she was an adult offering a fine deal herself. The woman in yellow was about to say something, when the one in purple– Serena Godiva– stepped forward.

“What about your other stories, you have said that you don’t have parchment anymore, right?” Serena asked softly. Her companion in yellow gaped at her, she had not expected her to consider the offer of a child. They were nobles, free to give away money to people they think need it! She opened her mouth to voice this, However, Helen was not given a chance to speak when the girl turned to them and spoke again.

“I don’t think they are quite appropriate for the age group of the orphanage…” She frowned, sounding unfortunate.

“I see. What is the reason you think you will be able to have them sit down and read a book?”

The girl shifted her eyes to the side and hummed quietly, gathering her thoughts. “Well, I was more so planning to read it for them. I’m not able to make up things on the fly and I prefer writing intricate storylines anyway. That’s what the parchment is for.” She wondered if that sounded presumptuous.

The girl paused for a moment before she added; “...And I get nervous speaking to crowds.”

The revelation was hesitant. She wondered if she had been too hasty, revealing her back in a negotiation. From what she’s heard– or in this, read– negotiations tend to bring the worst out of a person, what’s not to say they will take advantage of her?

Helen, the woman in yellow who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke. “And reading from a copy eases those feelings?”

The girl nodded, making the woman smile, “Then we would be happy to buy you parchment!” She exclaimed. Her companion had her eyes closed but did not oppose the idea, opting to offer silence as her agreement.

“Oh, uh,” The girl awkwardly made her request. ”Will it be okay to just give me the money for it? I… buy a specific kind of parchment-” She gestured, making something that vaguely resembled a square, “From a man that only sells it to people who encountered his shop!” She lied hastily.

The girl hated the irrational response the moment it left her mouth. An immense amount of shame and cringe weighted on her shoulders, she wanted nothing more than to rewind the conversation to a few minutes back.

The girl had to put in a considerable amount of effort to plant her feet to the ground, trying to keep herself from doing anything irrational. After all, the traps were only for self-defense and disposal, ‘If they find something they shouldn’t have, that is.’ She added darkly. It would be so easy to just get rid of them at this moment. But even nobles have more energy and strength than her at the moment, she would easily be knocked over by the wind if she didn’t strain herself to stay awake.

Helen twirled in her place, her smile beamed with a thousand suns. “Now then, let us get some gold from our carriage!”

The girl was surprised when she heard that. Looking around, then through the surrounding tall trees, a fancy, white carriage could be seen. She felt both relief and fear simultaneously. There was no direct danger that could harm her– aside from wolves and other wild animals– but she had planned for the nobles to come alone, without even their carriage with them. Even if there was no direct danger, had she done something irrational… ‘It may not have ended well for me.’

Helen, oblivious to the girl’s state, huffed playfully. She ran her fingers through her golden hair and tilted her head. “Why did Serena have our carriage come with us?” She whined with no real heat, “It was really troublesome to get them here!”

At the mention of Serena’s name, the girl snapped her head towards the woman. Her eyes were still closed, yet the girl felt something deeper from her. She couldn’t tell if she was just being paranoid again but she had the distinct feeling that the woman was more observant than she would’ve liked. ‘Unreadable…’ She thought. It was one word, but she felt it was the most fitting word at this very moment.

An unknown variable, incalculable. Despite that, she swallowed the sludge that formed at the pit of her stomach and ignored it, turning around to face the now-unhidden carriage.

Unbeknownst to the girl, when Serena opened her eyes, the deep purple orbs of hers held a look of understanding and stoic sadness.

–

“H-Hello, I’m…” She sounded pathetic. The girl wanted to pound her head in over and over again for her hesitance. Gathering her resolve, she forcefully flushed every fiber of weakness in her body like a gaping hole had suddenly appeared in the center of the ocean. “I am here today to read you a story.” She said with finality.

The reactions varied from person to person, but almost all of the children in the orphanage had a look of curiosity. They sat on the grass just outside of the orphanage, which is deep in the forest. Not just far enough to need a ride to get to the village, but also close enough that it’s considered part of it.

Most of the younger half of the children broke into groups of friends and began whispering to each other. At the corner of her eye, the girl noticed the orphanage lady– “Quentin,” She told her– frown deeply, her eye twitched in irritation. The girl could only assume that they gossiped too loud– likely about her– and got scolded from it.

She waited for them to finish, feeling slightly nervous for their response.

Abruptly, they stopped. Turning to her, they seem to have come to an agreement. Before one of the taller children– a teen– could say anything, a younger boy stood up. “But that’s really boring…” He whined. The rest of them facepalmed and groaned, the period of discussion completely wasted. This seems to be a common occurrence.

The girl could not stop herself from giggling and covered her mouth in an attempt to keep it quiet. Eventually, the other children joined in, laughing at their own pain. It was at this moment that the false confidence she built up began to fade. It didn’t feel as if she was feeling any more confident right now, but to her, it felt like the invisible barrier of ice started to melt.

Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as bad as she thought.

Thinking this, she finally began with what she came here for. Pulling out a roll of parchment, her face remained the same but she definitely felt a hint of warmness roll up her cheeks. Apparently, her sleep-deprived self thought it was a good idea to add a small drawing to the front, like what you would see on actual hardcover books. Thankfully, she was able to cover it as it rolled out but she had to wonder what else was herself up to earlier.

For the rest of that afternoon, she read to the children– and teens– who decided to stay and listen to her story. Some of them occasionally asked about something they didn’t understand, usually involving things that you would only know if you had access to books of good quality. Nonetheless, the girl answered them to the best of her abilities.

Admittedly, there were times that she had difficulty conveying her thoughts, miraculously ending up talking about a different topic she could talk about properly. Though, thankfully none of them noticed this little quirk of hers. She cringed every time she caught herself doing this. ‘I get so easily distracted…’

All in all, it was a learning experience. Converting your knowledge of human deception that’s present in the story is harder than one might think. That said, it wasn’t just a learning experience from explaining different perspectives to other people, it’s also a learning experience whenever one of the children gives their own knowledge on the subject. Occasionally, she would learn something new or begin to see things from a different perspective. Even the shyer ones would sometimes speak up if it’s quiet enough.

They read up to a little below over half the entire book, which is around forty thousand words. How did she know? She developed a kind of intuition with this kind of stuff. She once told her mother about this ability, telling her a vague estimate of the book she was reading, she called it buggersnot( Bullshit).

It was nearing the end of their session when the girl decided to call for a break. The other teens and children listening agreed. That is, the ones not asleep on the grass anyway. From what she’s read in different science books, not taking breaks is a very bad idea. So with a stretch, fingers locked overhead, she decided to let her mind wander.

Briefly running her fingers across the parchment on her hands, she recalled a rather recent memory.

–

“Hello dearie–!” A familiar cheerful voice was heard. The girl couldn’t bother to turn around at the moment, so she didn’t. With a simple wave to the air in front of her, she said “Hi, Ms. Helen…”

To the blonde woman, the little girl’s voice was much softer than before, sounding a mix of tired and polite.

Undeterred however, the woman in yellow continued, “How was your day? Did you write up a story to read for the orphanage?”

“I did.” The girl’s answer was once again, short. By now, the woman felt concerned, wondering if she was okay.

But right before she was able to express her concern, the girl continued. “Somewhere around forty-thousand words.” Her eyes widened in shock, how had this little girl written up that amount in such a short span of time? As if reading her mind, the girl finally turned to her.

The dark rings around her eyes seemed more obvious, contrasting with her pale skin. Just the sight of them told more than what had been said.

“I had time.”

She could see that.

–

This was a day ago, her first meeting with the nobles was instead two days ago. Some parts in her mind were hazy, worryingly so. But she decided to deal with that later. Right now, the reminder of her lack of sleep spurred the weariness that she was somehow able to ignore the entire day.

Every night, she had been ensnared with nightmares. Painful trains of thought that she didn’t ever want to touch upon in her own mind. Those thoughts gathered hidden as a small ball and sprang out when she least expected it.

Sluggishly, she placed a hand over her temples. The girl considered the surrounding scenery for a moment. She could feel the solid ground under her, it was unlikely for her to slide off and fall. She could hear the soft grass being stepped on rather carelessly as the younger children played tag. It felt nice to rest out here every once in a while. Lingering alone in her own house for too long might’ve driven her insane. Even though she wasn’t able to stay in the house for long lately.

With her eyes closed, she let her mind wander again. Only, it didn’t.

Like tiny bits of sunlight peeking through clouds, it felt as if her mind was hyperfocusing on something. She couldn’t get the image of the traps she laid in the forest to go away. The mental image stuck to her mind’s eye and didn’t let go.

For a moment, a stray thought hit her. How had she gotten those daggers anyway?

She instantly regretted asking that question as images appeared with rapid fire, flashing images she could vaguely recognize. A cave, found somewhere far from the village. The night sky, very late into the night. There were even a few boars that were asleep along the path.

It was the next set of images that sent her into a panic. A bunch of men sleeping peacefully. Bows and daggers, clean and riddled on the floor. A flag. It was a base!-- Not just any base, she’s gotten the daggers from bandits.

‘Not… good.’ She thought, head whirling with panic.

In her sleeplessly-hazed mind, she’s done something so incomprehensibly stupid that she wanted to stuff her mouth the soles of her foot. Multiple scenarios emerged from the depths of her mind, all of which ended horribly. Then, as if ironic fate existed, she began to hear the distinct sound of hooves rapidly hitting the ground.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Cursing whatever demon sent her to a living hell, she forcefully craned her neck to look behind her. Wide Men, ten in total and muscular. They rode in horses, some riding on the same one. Scars littered their bodies and showed intimately their experience in battle.

One thing was very clear, their faces held the look of utter glee. Bloodlust washed over the area like a broken dam as they openly stated the horrible things they would do. Touch, kidnap, torture. She wasn’t able to hear what they were saying in full sentences but those words rang through her head without stopping.

The reaction was instant, every child that wasn’t frozen in fear scrambled to get away, screaming for help. Like a broken chorus of people singing for the first time, the ear-piercing screams reached far beyond the orphanage, likely being heard by the village folk already. But the girl knew that help would come far too late.

It was all her fault. A painful pang rang across her chest, stronger than whatever fear she felt before. With eyes wide and a face full of fear, she slowly stood up.

–

“So what do we have here?” His voice was deep and rough, asking the children almost carefully. But they all knew there wasn’t even a bit of care in the man, he was mocking them. “It seems that somebody messed with us, waking up to a base with only half of ‘er weapons.” He continued.

This was really bad. There were too many of them, scattering in all directions wouldn’t do them any good. There wasn’t a single doubt that they could easily ride the horses and capture them. As the girl’s head was running with plans and scenarios, the leader of the bandits went on with his speech.

“We’ve ye a chance. You messed it up.” He said, grinning in a mixture of arrogance and glee.

Their village made a truce with the bandits, or more accurately, their village had a truce with the bandits. It was going just well, no one disturbed them despite the villagers living in fear everyday, conscious that they could be attacked at any moment. With how far away this part is to the rest of the village, the nobles aren’t able to hear about this slanted truce from the silenced commoners.

“Now you pay!” With a roar, the horse-riding man charged forward. It wasn’t long before the rest followed. What happened was close to a massacre or rather, the start of one. They were relentless with their blades, sinking them into the flesh of their victims and drawing blood. Laughing sadistically while doing so.

‘Why did I do this?’ The girl wondered, falling to her knees. ‘It’s my fault isn’t it? My fault… My fault…’ Like a deranged mantra, she couldn’t get the line of thought out of her head. She was the cause of all this. The reason why screams of innocent children were filling the air. She tried to stand, to run away, but she couldn’t.

Her feet were frozen to the ground, she was unable to move, unable to do anything but watch. An odd sense of deja vu came over her. The feeling in her chest was strange, hard to put into words. It was familiar, eerily so. ‘This is…’ She tried to ignore it, but it won’t seem to go away. It was like a puzzle, slowly coming together.

The final piece slid into place. She realized with horror that it was the same feeling when she watched her mother die. The hopelessness of being unable to do anything as the people around her were hurt. It wasn’t the same however, she wouldn’t say she’s as close to these people as she is to her mother. But they were getting hurt, because of her.

Despite that, a single line of thought felt the absolute truth to her at that very moment. She didn’t know if it was guilt, bravery, stupidity, or justice, but she wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt.

Perhaps she’s gotten attached to this orphanage already, or perhaps she hadn’t. But the choice was already made. She leaned forward and took a deep breath, taking in the feeling of her unwounded skin for a moment with resignation and acceptance.

Her fist cocked back, and she watched as her body sprung towards one of the men. With a loud thunk, her fist landed on the man’s cheek, saving the boy from a fate of being torn to shreds. The girl’s joints and tendons protested, and her muscles were already long since worn.

Admittedly, she felt a tinge of satisfaction when the boy behind her sighed in relief. The feeling didn’t last very long however.

“Little shit…” Her now-opponent picked himself up. The girl wanted to run away that very moment, but there was no saying that the boy would be able to follow, or that one of the other bandits wouldn’t get to them.

The man growled audibly, the girl was tempted to vent her frustrations and call him an animal but stopped herself. With a blade on hand, he prepared to unleash his anger on the girl. A cut was hurriedly dodged, leaving the man’s long blade stuck on the ground.

He grunted while trying to pull it out, but it remained stuck there for a few seconds.

Rapidly, her eyes flickered all over the man, the girl’s mind going overdrive. She quickly ignored the fact that he was wearing odd shoes and scarcely other clothes and took notice of the man’s lopsided cloak, forming a plan.

She could feel her heart pounding as she prepared to dodge. This time, she had something else in mind aside from not wanting to die. She felt the air in front of her shift as she rotated her entire body. She felt her body protest again just as her opponent readied another rage-fueled stab.

For a moment, she was convinced that she was going to get stabbed, bracing herself. Then, fortune hit her and she took the chance. The sound of cloth straining from getting pulled could be heard, her hands grasping the cloak tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

‘Fall… over!’

The heavy weight was overturned. The man being too shocked with the feeling of his center of mass rapidly turning to properly correct himself on time. Then, right on cue, a large rock was slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out. Courtesy of the boy that was saved earlier. Both children gave a sigh of relief at taking out the danger.

A yell was heard. They could practically smell the disbelief and bewilderment from the distance, “Joey?! You got knocked out by children?!”

Of course, there was no reply from the unconscious man, but the attention quickly turned to them. The man yelling growled audibly. The girl felt a tinge of familiarity before she realized it was the bandit leader.

The rush of accomplishment that she felt from defeating one of the bandits quickly turned into weariness at the sight of another impending battle. Her hands trembled, for a moment, she considered giving up, to lay down and rest. But she couldn’t, not when she felt like she could still do something. The girl cleared her head, rapidly drowning out the terrible thoughts that she didn’t want to entertain. She could still feel her feet planted on the ground, unable to move. But it was progress.

It was at that moment that a wave of dizziness rushed to her head. A certain pressure was building up in both of her eyes, they felt warm. Not warm enough to burn thankfully, but they prickled. At first, she thought those were tears until the feeling quickly intensified. It felt as if multiple needles were relentlessly stabbing her eyes over and over again. Only, instead of red filling her vision, it was white. The world around her was turning white but she could tell it was only her vision.

‘What… is happening?’ Uncertainty plagued her mind, eating away whatever sense of calm held her together.

The lid that was keeping her emotions controlled was completely eradicated, probably at the worst time too. She could be attacked at any time, ‘I have no time for whatever form of a panic attack this is!’ She thought, trying to look around only to see nothing but white.

The now-freed emotions began to circle her mind, trapping her in her own thoughts that she did not want to think at the moment. Anger, fear, grief, sadness, weariness and wariness. They ate away at her soul, doing nothing but damage in their current form.

‘My e-eyes… chest… they hurt!’

The girl felt– dare she say– her soul getting ripped apart. Eventually, she stopped trying to will the feelings away. Instead, the girl concentrated to see what was in front of her and not just the pure white void that filled her vision. Along with that, she gave up trying to make the feelings disappear, tucking it away in the depths of her mind for later.

To her relief, her vision started to clear. Blurry blocks of different colors filled her vision, eventually forming fuzzy-edged images. Colors of different shades and hues could finally be seen.

Now, she had to stand and fight. The girl noted that she felt just a bit lighter, not just emotionally, but also physically. ‘I’ll show my resolve by righting whatever faults I make!’

–

It was a sliver of white that she recognized as a knife. Just barely, she was able to move herself out of the way. Her movements were slow, speaking intimately of the state of her body. She heard a grunt filled with annoyance and rage. Briefly looking up, she saw the bandit leader’s face. Dozens of tiny scars littered the field that was his face. His expression was of utter murder and hatred.

Perhaps it had something to do with the liquid that ran down her cheeks, they weren’t tears, but she had no time to think about that. Sluggishly, she moved away to create some distance, thinking through her current situation.

WIthout a doubt, the girl was sure that adrenaline was the only thing keeping her standing. The moment she relaxes, she is sure that her body would collapse. And she would lose consciousness.

That’s why she had to attack now. Make the most out of the current battle and hope that they won’t get away. ‘I can’t let them get away.’ She thought. The girl ran her eyes through the bandit leader, he had a look of both disgust and something else she couldn’t make out. His stance told her he was still looking down on them, but had begun becoming more cautious.

It took her a few moments, her eyes scanning every movement. She realized that he only kept his knife on his left arm the entire time. Not in the way that some people are left-handed but in a way that seemed like he couldn’t use his right hand. Admittedly, a small detail for the large gap between them, but it was a start.

Pushing her weight by kicking off the floor, she dashed towards the leader. Her legs ached painfully with every step but she ignored it.

Several attacks had landed in the short span of time that the battle went on. The girl felt the open wounds sting painfully like a hot knife running through butter. She made sure to focus her attacks on the leader’s right side, scratching, clawing, punching and kicking it. Noticing this, the man cried in a fit of rage and became more aggressive with his attacks.

She saw him extend his arm haphazardly, the sliver of white nearly piercing through her chest before she was able to swat it to the side with her hand. The action was pure instinct and reflex, causing her to use the wrong hand as her palm was cut by the blade’s sharp edge. Strange, she thought the cut would’ve been bigger than this. Glancing briefly at the wound, it was the size of a leaf.

With the girl’s eyes focused on the leader’s chest, having no reason to watch his face, she didn’t notice the man’s expression. The cockiness and arrogance has long since faded, left with a look of nervousness and confusion. Unbeknownst to the girl, with every hasty dodge she makes, the wind blows in her favor. It was weak at first, barely a breeze, but it quickly became obvious as the air wrapped around her body for the briefest moments. Aiding her movements.

The cuts that did make it to her body were dulled by what felt like thick flowing liquid. But it wasn’t liquid, the air itself seemed to condense and shield her skin whenever an attack was about to land. It made it difficult to even cut deeper than the surface, despite the bandit leader putting every drop of power into his attacks.

As the seconds turned into minutes, the rapidly growing wind quickly eclipsed the man’s stamina. His arms and core felt sore from swinging his knife full force, trying to compensate for what was practically a shield over the girl’s skin.

It was only for a brief second that he misstepped. But that was all it took for the girl to notice.

With a gracefulness that didn’t quite match the girl’s worn state, she pushed the man to his back using both arms. He would’ve fallen, had it not for the slight miscalculation. Her arms weren’t long enough to reach him, missing his chest by a hair. Then, the girl’s eyes widened as she felt a strong gust push her from the back.

Except, she didn’t fall. But the man did.

For a brief moment, one line of thought went through the man’s head, ‘What gods have we angered… to bring someone with such strong intent against us, let alone a witch…’ It was that mix of weariness and determination that spurred this thought. Her eyes gleamed in the darkness as lines of purple resembling tears were dried on her cheeks. It was not unlike a warrior who has lost, but continued to fight no matter their grief.

The loud thunk that followed was heard clearly in her ears despite the raging battles around her. The bandit leader was knocked out after hitting the back of his head on the tree behind him. His scarred eyes were closed, making the girl wonder if she killed him or not.

But one thing for sure, a revelation that made it known to her that her life would change forever. Just not by how much. She had used magic.

–

Four more bandits somehow went down in the time that the girl fought their leader. Apparently, some of the teens in the orphanage were originally found in the woods by the orphanage lady. So naturally, they knew how to fight dirty, usually by throwing dust and grass on their opponent’s eyes and blinding them. She was completely drained, unable to do anything but watch the battle. Beads of sweat ran down her face as she took heavy breaths.

The girl could feel the battle nearing its end. The outcome wasn't the one she liked, the girl was willing to cope with the fact that they were attacked by bandits and survived. No one died, thankfully. Some were injured and were bleeding profusely, but the children that were protected or simply hid tended to their wounds.

The whole time, the bandits were hesitant. Cautious after the fall of their leader and fearful in the presence of a witch. Though it seems that they’re in a state of denial. Every few moments, their eyes would shift toward the girl. Whether it was because they thought that she would be able to somehow magic a long-ranged attack or something, she didn’t know.

But their distractions could easily be taken as disadvantages. The children were relentless in striking when they didn’t expect it.

Her attention however, was focused on something else entirely. The sound of hateful growling could be heard.

The lingering fear that remained in the deepest parts of her bones once again rose to the surface and fully emerged. Every part of her being could only focus on the sharp slab of metal whistling through the air. The bandit leader himself was the one deciding to put an end to things. If it wasn’t obvious enough, he plans to start with the problem that plagued them from the beginning.

Of course, she couldn’t be sure that the leader was the strongest out of all of them, but the fact that he was able to fell a tree when he slammed his leg against it leaves her convinced. He cracked his neck and began to dash towards the girl, not unlike a bull charging towards its enemy.

The world around her fell into slow motion. The strange energy that fueled her howling wind was by now, as drained as her body’s own stamina. It could only produce soft gusts in a futile attempt to protect its master. Her eyes hurt and felt dry. The girl closed her eyes and crossed her arms, trying to minimize the damage.

Suddenly, the wind swirling around her completely died. It was as if it was never there in the first place. For a moment, she thought she was out of this strange power but then she felt a tingle in her leg.

What followed was completely unexpected. Her wind came back, but it only surrounded her leg for a brief moment. It condensed and coiled into itself like a snake just as she felt her muscles tensing involuntarily. The bones in her entire body shook painfully as her body was launched into the air, reaching heights that would be impossible for someone her age.

Just as she was enjoying the brief relief that came with fresh air hitting her skin, her numerous injuries finally took their toll. The tiny cuts across her body were plenty, the blood loss even more so. A wave of dizziness captured her mind as she tried to stay awake.

Hazily, she was able to hear a cry of frustration as the rushing wind fogged her ears. The sound of horses soon followed and the girl quickly panicked. ‘I can’t let them go!’ She thought.

Bandits were scum that needed to be taken out entirely in the first shot rather than in parts. Had she not been in such a dire situation, she would’ve said that she thought of them as like parasites. They feed off of the villagers and make everyone’s life more miserable.

Gritting her teeth, the sound of the horses’ footsteps quieting down made her change her priorities. She had to think of how to survive this fall, and quickly.

She turned her head to face the incoming ground. Becoming aware of a strange, fog-like gas floating around like a cloud. It was colored a reddish purple. Despite the seemingly random detail, an instinctive part of the girl told her that it was part of her magic.

Reaching out with a hand, she tried to center her focus to the cloud but it did little. It remained the same, showing no change. After that attempt, she then tried to narrow her eyes, having found a connection between her eyes and the magic. Again, it did nothing, though she did note that her eyes still felt warm and strained. ‘I’m getting desperate here…!’

With little faith in her ability to subvert her death, she imagined bread hardening after being left out for a few days in a ditch attempt. Somehow, it worked. The purple cloud turned into a liquid, similar to water.

But then she could only watch in horror as the cloud went beyond a honey-like state and into the thickness of a rock. It didn’t flow at all and remained still on the ground, as if it had mass. The impact against the hard surface would be sure to kill her, no better than just crashing onto the ground.

As she felt prickles from her eyes, both from the strain and tears forming, the girl tried to conjure another image in her head. This time, it was the image of flowing smoke. Learning from her mistake, she tried to balance the two while trying to figure out how to somehow imagine two images at once.

It wasn’t even a moment before she felt an impact run through her entire body. Her bones rattled from having to keep her body intact, just barely succeeding. The magical gas she used was able to enter a somewhat liquid state. She intended it for it to be a bit more solid than water; however, it seemed that it might’ve been a bit too hard.

But she lived. So she’ll take what she can get.