Ugh… What happened?
Feeling groggy I slowly got up. Looking around I saw Alpha lying there sleeping peacefully.
As I slowly started to recall what happened I nearly fell down from shock.
..Why must something like this happen again?
Attempting to shrug off the lingering emotions of dread and fear I scanned my surroundings. Everything seemed back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. I could almost believe it was all just a horrible nightmare…
….If not for black ashes of my home.
My mind overcame the initial shock, as well as denial as countless thoughts and questions came pouring in.
What happened? What happened to mom? Who would do this, why would they do this? Was there something I could have done? Is mom still alive? Does the world just hate my very existence?
The never ending stream of question came to a stop suddenly.
Wait.. Where did… where did mom say to go again?
I couldn’t remember where my mom told me to go. Thinking logically on it I suppose my mom would’ve told me to go head up north. After all she was a skilled mage, it seemed like the obvious choice… But what if…
My train of thinking came to sudden halt as I heard a noise.
“Rawr?”
Having just woke up, a dazed Alpha looked at me with narrowly opened eyes. He then tilted his head to the side as if asking, what’s up?
And then a bird overhead dropped a load on him.
I felt an urge to laugh rise up. I tried to keep it from coming out.
I couldn’t.
Bursting into laughter at how silly he looked as well as the uncanny resemblance to a cat as well as how ridiculous he looked, I let go of all my worries and just let loose a loud happy laugh. After my fit of laughter subsided I still couldn’t help but giggle thinking back of the situation. Alpha had received a shock from the unexpected noise and jumped nearly 3 feet into the air. However he still wasn’t fully awake as he face planted onto the grass. As he slowly realized about the stain on him his facial expression went from sleepy to angry. My laughter just grew louder as Alpha tried to scare the birds away.
After I had finally calmed down and managed to stop any giggles from escaping me I found that my mind had been cleared from the fog of confusion and worry that previously engulfed my thoughts. Forming a solid resolve I decided to head north and find my mom.
She always told me how safe the four academies were, following that idea I assumed that I was to stay there until either I was strong enough or she came along to pick me up.
I grabbed my bag and looked to see if I had enough to make the journey north. Inside the bag I found a change of clothes, my pervious birthday present, some books and spare change. I also found two things that I didn’t remember being there. A small vial of black liquid and a leather bound book. As I opened the leather book an envelope fell out. I picked the envelope up and quickly opened it. Finding inside a letter from my mother.
Dear Lucy, my little angel.
I don’t know when you’ll be reading this, or if I’ll be by your side. Never the less there are some things I hope to tell you within this letter, about me, your father, and about you.
Firstly, about your, no, our heritage. We came from one of the ancient bloodlines known as the witches. This gives us an advantage in both the world of magic and weapons. Our physical and magical potential as well as strength are far beyond that of regular people. Even the weakest witch would be considered a top class genius by many. However this unique bloodline is only inherited by the female descendants of our clan. This talent will be awakened a day or two after your 15th birthday. You will gain the power to sense the elements more clearly than ever before, an increased mana pool, increased physical skills and be able to talk and communicate with magical creatures. Before this happens you will undergo an awakening. You will be visited by the elements themselves as you choose a path to go down. Be careful of your choice Lucy. You bear the strongest affinity towards the water element. However you also bare similar gifts towards that of the fire and wind elements. White hair and clear eyes represent a witch that has not yet been awakened. After you have selected a path to go down on, your hair and eyes will have colors that reflect that. Before this do not enter any of the academies. It’ll be hard to explain why your hair and eye color changed. Do not reveal any information of this to anyone except the headmaster of the academy.
Your father is the greatest ice mage in the history of magic. (Section afterwards is crossed over so many times that it is unreadable.)
I have decided to tell you about me and your father in person. No matter how many years it may take for us to see each other again. Your father and I are extremely powerful and we have made many enemies, because of this we may be separated for quite some times. The book and vial that are to be given with this letter each contain their own purpose. The book teaches you very high level spells that I and your father have personally developed for both fire and ice. We have written it in a special ink that restricts those with a lack of power and heritage to be able to read the book, it will just appear as meaningless gibberish to others, and if you lack the ability to execute the spells. The black liquid is a special substance. Only drink it if your life is in danger.
Lucy…. In my eyes there is no one like you in the world. I can’t wait to see what you’ll become, and I hope I’ll be by your side throughout everything. My pride and joy, I love you my daughter.
Once again, I broke down crying.
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It took a while but (Author Note: YES IT DID) I decided to go and head towards the northern academy, Winter Wonderland.
Their library has intensive knowledge that eclipses what was in my… former home.
Holding back a tear, I gathered myself and my thoughts went back on track.
Perhaps I can learn more about my lineage, and through that about my mother.
With that thought in mind I grabbed Alpha and started walking north….
When passing through a large jungle I heard a scream as birds started fleeing. I quickly ran over to the source while Alpha trailed behind. I saw a large black beast who had managed to corner a tiny figure. I quickly casted a small crowd control spell to root it in place. I then made a small ice dagger and jumped towards the animal.
The beast noticed my presence and growled however it found itself struggling to move with its paws lightly stuck to the ground with ice. It broke the ice vines apart easily but that moment was all that I needed. I went straight for the eyes and clawed one out. The beast howled in pain and fury and threw me off with a shake of its head.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Shit, I underestimated it
The beast prepared to pounce at me when Alpha came out of nowhere. Growling he flew straight into the stomach of the beast and opened his mouth. I looked on, horrified at what might happen to the only family member I had left. However I was underestimating the power of magical beasts in general. Alpha had cleanly ripped open the stomach with his powerful jaws.
In the distance I could hear frantic cries of “Young Miss! Where are you?!”
Curious, I had my first clear look at who I saved, a small girl petite and as beautiful as a doll was lying frightened with her back against a tree.
“Ah… Hello there.”
An awkward silence hang in the air as I thought on what else to say.
“Th.. Thank you….”
“You’re welcome…”
This uncomfortable silence continued unbothered until we heard rustling noise near us. A middle-aged knight suddenly appeared with a pale face and ragged breathing. That pale face quickly turned red.
“MISS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO NOT LEAVE OUR SIDE!!!! YOU COULD’VE BEEN EATEN BY A WILD BEAST!? WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING!?!?”
As the little girl got scolded I just stood awkwardly to the side as I watched on.
The sun had nearly set when the knight had finally calmed down. Around twelve more had appeared, but like me, had no idea where to interrupt. Finally the badgering had stopped.
Ugh… my ears hurt…
I managed to gleam some facts throughout the lecture. The girl’s name was Cynthia, and she was the daughter of the high ranking noble. She pranked her guards daily but this time it had gone out of control. While they were traveling on the way back home from visiting her grandmother she had slipped out of the carriage unnoticed and waited to see how long it would take until they realized she was gone. She had gotten chased by the beast sometime during this and had ran away until I met her. Her guards had noticed a few minutes after she disappeared but by that time she was already running for her life.
Afterwards the leader of the groups thanked me for saving their young miss and invited me back to their residence saying that their lord and his wife would be extremely grateful to me for saving their daughter. Since I had no idea where I was, I gratefully accepted the offer.
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Cynthia’s Dad (POV)
It had been some months since I and my wife had seen our daughter and we were eagerly awaiting her arrival. It was getting late and there were still no signs of the carriage. When they finally arrived my wife and I had started hearing worry knock on the door. I quickly rushed out to greet my little angel, but at first glance I could tell something happened. Her guards were all muddy and showed signs of weariness.
“What happened here?”
Marcus, the captain of the guards updated me on the situation. I rushed towards the carriage to see if my daughter was alright. She was. I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding in. I also saw another child next to her with crystal clear eyes and pure white hair holding a small white dragon.
Throughout the months after our daughter came back safely we became well acquainted with her savior, he was a smart one and spent most of his time in the library. He said his name was Luke and never mentioned his family name, of course I did not pry into his own personal matter, nor why he was alone. I was just simply happy that our daughter had come back safely. Cynthia became attached to Luke and wouldn’t let him go so we invited him to stay awhile with us, after all our house was more than big enough. That little dragon of his… I wonder… Well, after a few months Luke suddenly vanished.
Lucy (POV) A.K.A. Luke.
I, along with Alpha after a few comfortable months with the Aerial family. Alpha ate more than ten times his own mass, where does he put it all… Well I learned a lot about the magic school and studied on other things within the lord’s study. I decided to resume my journey after a while, I bought some provisions and left. (Wow…. Uhhh cold much.)
We stumbled upon a small village after a few weeks of walking. By this point our provisions had already run very low with a glutton like Alpha. I starred at Alpha as he tilted his head and looked at me with wide eyes.
I swear… you know exactly what you’ve done.
After silently fuming about Alpha and his bottomless stomach I walked towards the village as I heard a scream echo out.
That… Was a girl’s scream!
I beckoned Alpha to follow me as I quickly sprinted towards the source of the noise. However sadly I was too late. What I saw overwhelmed all the happy memories that I’ve managed to make so far. It just reminded me of the cruelty of humans and the horrifying depths that they reach.
(THIS WILL BE A SOMEWHAT GROTSQUE DESCRIPTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)
I saw a small young child who had not yet hit puberty. Her face was mangled to the point where you couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. There was long deep gash across both her eyelids rendering her blind, her throat had been crushed inwards while her toes had been cut to the bone, but not yet severed holding together just by a tinge of flesh. All of the once beautiful hair had been pulled out by their roots leaving nothing left to cover the horrible scene on her scalp. Her limbs were all bent at strange angles with bumps showing from the skin.
WHAT KIND OF MONSTER COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!?
I turned away and nearly threw up when I a heard a soft rasped sound.
“Ple… please… som…. Someone… ki… kill me…”
I looked back with tears falling from my eyes. While I had learned the basics of healing magic I could not begin to treat such a horrible wound. I doubt anyone could have. After sealing away my emotions and locking my heart I granted her final wish.
Author Note: Yeah it’s been a long overdue chapter. Sorry some stuff came up IRL these issues are still ongoing but I finished most of this before a certain accident happened in my life. Trying to reorganize everything and my schedules been a bit messed up to say the least. Sorry about this, I managed to finish up this chapter. Hope you enjoy and leave a comment! It’s what’s encouraged me to not just give up on it! P.S. Uhh the scene with Cynthia was a bit rushed to say the least, I stopped there and lost my train of thought over the past few months. Sorry about that guys.