“No way, you’re lying!” I hop up, too baffled to take reality in while sitting on my bum.

“No I’m- Why would I?” Surprise and indignation play cat and mouse on Valka’s face.

“You look like you’re fourteen, minimum, and the number Identify shows does not add up either.” I refuse to believe she’s the same age as me. I might be developing a little slower because of the elven lineage but she’s simply too big for a human. “I’ve lived among humans all my life, and no twelve-year-old looks like you, not even the most gigantic and well-fed ones.” I argue although she’s far from well-fed in her current state. Closer to starved for weeks really.

“Screw those puny human pricks.” She huffs. “And thank the Gods I’m not like them.” Her ridicule messes things up in my head once again.

I look her up and down, and up and down again. Human ears, normal feet, the eyes are ice blue and seemingly shimmer surrounded by the rim of white hair… but that’s also not that special. Pretty, but nothing weird. Her height and robust build aside she looks as human to me as August or Victor, just quite a bit stronger.

“Okay, I get it, you don’t trust me but you could also just refuse to answer instead of telling white lies.” I dejectedly drop the conversation.

I really thought we were getting somewhere. A little company, even of this quality, is so much better than traveling just me and my demons. In the end, I can’t really fault her. And it’s not like we’re supposed to be friends or anything. Once I’m safe I’ll keep my promise and release her back to… wherever she came from.

Instead of any snarky remarks, however, Valka just scratches her nose and flashes a toothy grin. The teeth… they look sharper. The numbers seem to match, and so does their general shape but… It’s like they’re straight out of a beast’s maw.

“You were saying?” She gives me one of those cocky glances I know very well. I’m a master myself after all.

There’s a not-so-fine line between stubbornness and straight-up stupidity and right now I’m only a step away from looking dense as fuck. Prudence must have its limits.

“Fine, let’s say I believe you.” I sigh. “Let’s just pretend you really are something else and not a human, and despite looking older you actually are my age.”

She nods before adding. “There’s no need to pretend, we’re not in… What are those places called? Theaters?”

I simply ignore her comment, since we’re playing that game. “You’re like me then? That’s why the soldiers kept bringing up the Battle Queen?”

That’s what her explanation boiled down to, a Blessing.

“Who’s that?” She asks back, playing with my nerves and sucking up the last droplets of my patience like an oversized mosquito.

“The ruler of these lands and someone powerful enough to kill you before you could even open your mouth to plead for mercy. Your resilience wouldn’t amount to anything.” I give Valka a quick rundown without any paltering.

“I don’t beg!” Of course that’s the part she gets hung up on. “If I were to-” The rest of the words get kidnapped by a gulp as her eyes are drawn to the delicacy sizzling at my feet.

I’m no cook, nor do I have excessive knowledge or even a Class to aid my work but a food-deprived belly would never say no to even an unseasoned cut of meat. Especially if it’s roasted to perfection with fire manipulation as precise as mine.

The bread did its job as breakfast, especially because I must’ve woken up around noon, so my hunger is only mildly discomforting right now. Valka however… I think she’s actively drooling.

With practiced ease, I warm the palm of my hand and fingers before simply nabbing up the first piece of the feast and lifting it to my mouth. Watching Valka’s eyes follow all my actions, her eyes locked onto the booty and mouth opening and closing every time a drop of meat juice rolls down the fine bite… I’m pretty sure I’m evil but it’s definitely a lot more fun than anything a good guy would do.

Then karma strikes back right after I take the first gleeful bite and start chewing. It’s hot as fuck. Seeing an opening Valka decides to strike, just when I’m the most vulnerable during my flameless angry dragon impression. Unlike me she wolfs down the food without as much as a hiss, earning some minor points of respect despite stealing my meal.

She needs it more than me anyway. A good owner has to take care of their pet.

***

The journey must continue. I’m pretty sure tracking us down is only a matter of time and effort and from what I’ve learned both parties have plenty of the latter. The shadows want me and the soldiers want us both so staying ahead is our only option.

With that said…

We ate like half the badger… Okay, it was mostly the doing of the white glutton trudging beside me with a satisfied grin on her face but that was like enough meat to feed a family. For days. I also stashed some in my bag and made sure to fill up the waterskin just in case, Survival is like a pestering parent out here in the wilds.

“So you can just shrug off blades?” Communication between us has never been smoother and I’ll make the most out of this rare lull of distrust to learn as much as I can.

The saying ‘A way to a man's heart is through his stomach’ should be more generalized. What woman can’t be bought with food, and I’m not talking about love here. Peace, happiness, a small favor, a genuine smile… Food is the best.

“Blades, arrows, spears, any weapon that isn’t meant to pulverize bones.” She proudly thumps her chest before adding. “But nothing against fire and all that pesky magic.”

What do you mean ‘but’? You basically have a cheat-like advantage against half the world’s fighting force. Beasts and people alike rely on sharp and pointy things to do the dirty work and you don’t have to be concerned about any of them? Wait, no, even after the badger swacked her I saw some claw marks… So it’s resistance, not immunity.

“Convenient.” That’s all the praise she’ll hear from me.

“You’re also pretty good for an elf.” Valka comments offhandedly.

“Half.” I correct her.

“So both a human and an elf at the same time while being a Mage. What a mix of curses you are…” She huffs, her frown growing by the second and the previous friendly mood disappearing in an instant.

What’s her problem? Like, honestly, I get it she hates being at my mercy and I’m not surprised at the amount of distrust I have to wade through but I gave no reason for the hate.

“Not human.” Despite all my efforts the sass dam has been finally breached. “And don’t hate on Mages just because you’re too dumb to understand the beauty of the arcane. Your fighting skills are on the level of that badger’s and that's an insult to poor deceased creature.”

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Running headfirst at the opponent and swinging your fist while eating every strike coming your way… it just hurts watching after the years I spent relentlessly training.

She should just shut the hell up honestly, her voice is irritating. That and this weird noise… It’s been bugging me for minutes now.

“If not for this damned collar I might’ve already bashed your head in, just like that beast you hold in such high regard.” The white-headed barbarian dares threaten me.

“Maybe.” I return the hostile glance. “Maybe I should’ve left you with the soldiers yesterday. Maybe they were a more pleasant company than this ungrateful elf girl.”

How many times have I already regretted saving her… or at least not picking another slave from the herd? I know her defiant and firey personality was the one thing that caught my eye but can’t she tone it down a little?

If not for the shadows hunting- Wait, these pulses…

“Get off your high horse before you fall-”

“STOP!” I yell with a sense of wrongness overwhelming my mind.

For a few seconds now I’ve been hearing this weird noise like when you flick a glass put sharper, more frequently and in regular intervals. Too regular. At first it just simply bothered me a bit and I hoped it’d go away but the noise only got stronger.

Just right now it became too loud to be called a simple bother but this is also when I noticed something. How on Aelion can Valka not hear it? The answer is simple, it’s not actually sound I’ve been hearing… they’re mana pulses.

And this clearing, full of white flowers with large petals swaying in the wind is where those pulses are the strongest…

“What, your ego can’t-” Valka thankfully never finishes her sentence because the moment her foot lands on a flower the entire clearing reacts.

Just like when a droplet meets a perfectly flat mirror of water a lonely insignificant wave spreads through the grass and dirt. It’s a change so minor that one might simply attribute it to the wind without a second thought… But not me.

So I grab onto Valka’s arm and start yanking her back, hopefully as far from the creepy clearing as possible. Or at least I try to. Even without resisting me properly she simply drags me along, her weight and Might so much greater than mine that it requires no effort on her side.

As a last-ditch move, I try shaping the ground under her feet but to no avail. My mana can’t find purchase because… There is no dirt, rocks, or anything below the flowers.

Panic claims Valka’s previously cold and hostile gaze as her leg falls through the ground, soon to be followed by the rest of her body as her center of mass shifts ever forward. I dig my heels in the remaining footing I have and heave, clinging to the arm even though it feels like playing thug of war with a horse.

“Don’t let go!” I’d laugh at how the previously mighty warrior’s voice suddenly jumps by a pitch of two, I’d really do but now is not the time for that.

It doesn’t take long for me to find out how pointless it is to try lifting an adult’s weight, especially when even her momentum is pulling against me. For a second I contemplate just letting go and maybe rescuing Valka in case she survives but Aelion makes that decision for me when the ground beneath my feet gives in.

Now we’re both falling.

Memories and emotions resurface, courtesy of the familiar sensation and none of them are good but I manage to rein them in.

By now I have a little too much experience when it comes to being at gravity’s mercy and there’s one very important thing I’ve learned. Don’t close your eyes! I’ve survived like six similar falls by now, even though half of those were not my achievement, but when it was down to just me…

Keep looking Eli, keep trying because it’s not over until it’s really over!

The fake flowerbed does deceive me for a moment but seeing my hand phase through it all helps my mind fight through the illusion. Time seems to come to a crawl as I watch first Valka disappear, followed by my own arms still not letting go of her until the false surface reaches my face.

Just like when plunging into water I hold my breath as I get submerged yet my eyes remain peeled and met with complete darkness on the other side. It’s dizzying, watching the light disappear, falling through a plethora of colors and shapes only to have darkness erase it all…

For the next few seconds, the weightless fall continues. Then the disturbing sound of metal shredding meat breaks the silence, quickly followed by a blood-curdling scream. The owner of the voice couldn’t be more obvious and considering how close behind her I am…

Do I even have time for any countermeasures? For a shield maybe? Or just a burst to slow my-

The arm I’ve been clinging on to all along grabs me by the waist out of nowhere and halts my descent so abruptly that I almost throw up the mediocre meal we had just a few minutes ago. The maneuver is followed by another muted scream accompanied by my own yelp as something sharp pricks my shoulder.

Then finally everything comes to a halt. Falls quiet? Not so much.

Further screams, grunts, and labored breaths urge me to ignite a spark above my shoulder and push back the darkness to reveal our predicament. Spikes. Sharp pieces of metal taller than I am, pointed at the sky, covering the entire floor. The whole place screams man-made or at least very artificial which clearly indicates a trap. Not to mention the rotten carcasses and bones littering the ground, attesting to its efficiency.

I shift a little to take a better look at the far-away wall in hopes of some answers but instead, all I get is another long hiss shattering my curiosity and bringing my attention to more important matters.

Valka.

She is currently on her back, face contorted in a pained frown with tears rolling down her cheeks and similarly blood running the length of the spikes piercing into her back. None of the pointy weapons seem to have completely dug through her body yet but I can tell her injuries are serious. Not to mention the fact she’s adding my weight to the equation by holding me from meeting a much crueler fate isn’t making things any easier on her.

A dark mix of emotions grips my heart at the sight, something along the lines of pity, angst, and the strongest of them all, guilt. I was the one leading the way after all.

Taking action is the only relief that comes to mind yet when I try to get a grasp at anything with my magic control, be that the metal of the spears or the chiseled stone floor beneath us I fail miserably. They are heavy and slippery, clearly the work of a proper craftsman imbuing the materials with their Skills and creating something lasting, something resistant.

“I can’t move anything and conjuring matter might increase the weight.” I give a quick rundown to the girl just as helpless as me, just in a lot more pain. “Maybe I can slip between the-”

“Aaargh!” With a valiant cry, the arm holding me in the air and way closer to my death than I’d like moves.

To put it simply… she just dumps me on her chest hissing slightly as I land on her torso on all fours. The weight is now dispersed.

“How bad is it?” I ask. What a stupid question honestly… only a tiny bit less idiotic than asking ‘Are you alright?’

“I’ll live,” She whispers between breaths. “but not much longer. I can’t heal like this.”

Not much of a surprise there. What baffles me really is the fact she can even speak. Her Pain Tolerance probably leaves mine in the dust. Not to mention her weight and that fall should’ve made the spike slide through her like butter…

“Just do not move.” My voice carries concern and authority alike.

“Then do something!” The reply tells me that her condition might not be as dire as it looks.

To distribute the weight even further I decide to lie down on Valka’s chest, alighting my arms to her arms and legs to her legs, hoping for as much time as possible to cook something up.

“Urgh, what are you-” Valka tries to act tough but I can feel her entire body trembling and every fiber of muscle tensing, fighting for survival. “Need a hug before we die?”

“Shush, I need to think!” Not that anything comes to mind.

“How did you know something was wrong about the flowers?” Despite my warning she keeps talking, although she brings up a valid point.

“I’ve been hearing these soft pulses for a while now and the closer we got to the clearing the louder it became.” I answer honestly, not much wiser than her.

“So you led us here on purpose?” She almost sits up on habit before suffering her own stupidity and laying back down “You walked with such certainty… I thought you knew the way.”

“It was just a coincidence, now shut it!”

It wasn’t a coincidence, I was curious and subconsciously drawn to the weird noise like a moth to the light. But that’s not important right now.

An ice platform could work… Much cheaper and tougher than dirt. Creating stone is just too much and arcane can’t hold even my weight alone… Flight is out of the question. I also need to free Valka somehow and to do that…. Aaargh, fuck, I can’t even just leap to safety, the trap is just too massive. There are spikes from wall to wall and not an empty foothold in… The spikes are everywhere… What if they weren’t?

“Hold on a little longer, I have an idea.” I mutter and aim at the ground.

If magic can’t bend the weapons aiming at our lives then that leaves the good ol’ blacksmith method. Force and fire.