The Calm Before (2)
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“Alright we’re here!” Emma boldly declared to no one in particular, glancing over her shoulder the moment I’d begun to descend from the carriage that brought us here. Curiously enough, the mobile contraption wasn’t being pulled by horses but rather, a strange reptilian creature that boasted crimson scales.
“Emma....this is.....” Those words unconsciously escaped me after I'd taken my first real look at our surroundings.
Stalls adorned with silken tapestries fluttered in the gentle breeze, displaying artifacts of untold power and beauty. Enchanted creatures flitted between the stalls, their iridescent wings shimmering in the sunlight. And amidst it all, the vibrant energy of our surroundings pulsed like a heartbeat.
“Heh-Heh that’s right~”
She flashed me a bold grin, puffing out her chest as if to emphasize her own confidence. “This is the local market, you can find just about anything around here, so that’s why we’re going on the hunt for these.”
She lightly dangled a thin piece of paper in front of my face for a few seconds before retracting it.
On instinct, my head tilted to one side after processing the brief glimpse of our objectives.
“So we’re just here to pick up vegetables and food then?” I asked in confusion. Her shoulders jerked in response to my question.
“Geh-Ahh that’s right sometimes I forget you can read........I wanted to keep these items a secret, but I guess there’s no helping it.” She shrugged, losing a bit of her initial enthusiasm in the process.
“Listen Liam,” Pulling me out of the incoming traffic’s reach, she leaned in close with a fervent desire burning in her eyes.
“This may not seem all that interesting now, but you’ll see just how fun it is after we get started, so just hold on tight and trust me okay?”
I tightened my grip on her slender hand, it wasn’t because her words were especially comforting but more so because I agreed with her, neither of us could afford to let the other go right now.
“Alright, let’s go Emma.”
Trying my best to keep up with Emma’s enthusiasm as she pulled me along, I began concentrating on the mana circulating inside my body. Bit by bit, I slowly began easing the mental constraints I placed on myself and with each one I loosened, the subtle traces of mana leaking from my body began intensifying in response. My control over mana was far from being perfect, just suppressing it down to level where I wasn’t just passively losing enormous amounts of it was the most I could do for now, but that was nothing more than a stopgap measure at best.
However, this was one of the very few times where I didn’t need to hold back as much. This plan relied on me using myself as live bait, Emma would unfortunately get caught up in the mix, but I’d already resolved myself to keep the attention solely focused on me. It would take some time, but seeing as I was out in the open like this, they were sure to come.
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“Haaah....Haaah....”
The dry gasps of air escaping me definitely weren’t a good sign, but I had no choice but to interpret it as being the fruits of my own labor. It had been well over three hours since we started this charade, and our quota was still nowhere in sight.
Unbeknownst to Emma, I was slowly releasing my restraints and emitting concentrated mana the entire time we were searching for these items, slowly whittling away my own stamina and eventually resulting in the sorry state I was now in.
“Here you go, drink this.” A container of some sorts was now being offered to me, it was made of some strange material that definitely wasn’t glass, but that minor detail was the least of my concerns right now.
I gulped down the flavorless beverage without a second thought, out of the corner of my eye I saw Emma’s smiling visage circle around to take a seat beside me. We were still in the market area, but seeing as it was getting late, the liveliness here had died down quite a bit, giving way for secluded spots like the empty stall we were now resting at to open up.
“Do you.....feel any better?” Emma asked as she dropped her gaze to the floor.
“Mhm, thanks a lot, I was getting really thirsty.”
“............................”
“Emma?” I leaned in closer to get a better look at her expression, but she was trying her very best to avoid my gaze right now, so it was ultimately a futile endeavor.
“Hey Liam, I’m sorry for dragging you around like this. I guess I got a little caught up in the moment.” She finally lifted her head, giving way for the evening winds to rustle her hair which inevitably resulted in the entirety of her solemn visage being revealed. As entrancing as those blue eyes were, seeing them quiver against the backdrop of the setting sun left nothing but a grim impression on me.
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“You know, I overheard your parents talking about leaving as soon as this whole Basilisk thing is over with, so that means you won’t be staying here much longer. I guess I got a little carried away after realizing that.”
Refusing to let that dreaded silence take hold once more, I inevitably burst out laughing.
“Pfffffttt-Heh-Heh-Heh-Hah-Hah.....” This humorous feeling wasn’t one I was very used to, but this odd situation had sparked this peculiar reaction from me. Leaping onto my feet, I clutched my stomach in my first ever fit of childlike glee.
“W-What? I’ve never seen you laugh like that, what's so funny?” She stammered, staring me down with a beet read color now emerging on her cheeks.
“S-sorry it’s just.... you’ve never apologized to me like that before, so I thought something was wrong.....but it turns out you’re just sad because I’m leaving.....”
She stared blankly at me for a few seconds, allowing my words to sink in before bursting out into her own fit of laughter, my reaction just now had undoubtedly inspired hers.
After exhausting my reserves of that strange emotion, I turned to face the teary-eyed girl now wiping away the transparent fluid pooling in her eyes.
“I don’t know how soon I’ll be leaving here, but we’ll definitely see each other again, I promise.” I said with a confident smile, imbuing each of those words with nothing but sheer confidence.
Emma gave a small chuckle, dusting herself off before taking a few steps closer to rustle my hair.
“Well then, I’ll be looking forward to that Liam.” Her sparkling eyes fell to meet my own confident gaze, as strange as it was the height difference between us right now seemed drastic, yet insignificant.
“Let’s head back now, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get all this stuff today.” I silently nodded as Emma once again took the lead, tightening her grip on my hand as we returned to the main roads.
“Li-Liam, Emma!?” Our names were shouted in unison, and soon after a torrent of conspicuous stares and murmurs began circulating throughout the marketplace. It was none other than Vreena, she was, to my surprise – running towards us.
Her face was pale and sweat profusely glided off her wrinkled skin, yet the woman showed no signs of stopping. As soon as she’d gotten within range, she dropped to her knees, gripping both my arms at the elbow.
“Li-Liam so it really was you huh...” Her quivering eyes shook violently in their sockets, almost as if they were about to pop out.
“E-Elder Vreena...what’s wrong? Did Liam do something?” Emma asked, taking a step back out of confusion.
“No.....It would have been fine if not for the current circumstances....” Inhaling a deep breath, Vreena forced both her emotions and her expression into uniformity, her weighty gaze was one so heavy it almost pierced the very depths of my being.
“Liam, I know you’ve been training with Oliver, but it seems you still can’t control your mana very well. For a while now I’ve sensed an enormous amount of mana coming from this area and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. You and Emma need to leave here right now, get back to the house by any means necessary, in fact, run if you have to.” Neither her tone nor her expression had shifted in the least, making it clear to us both that this obviously wasn’t a joke.
“W-we were just about to head back but, what’s this all of a sudden, can you explain what’s going on?” Emma stammered.
Vreena exhaled another heavy breath with her back still turned to her, she slowly released her overbearing grip on my arms before rising to her feet. “Emma, you’re not a mage so you wouldn’t understand but, whenever there’s a large concentration of mana pooling in one place, it usually means something bad, whether it’s a rune or not - In this case it’s both, the two of you need to leave here before Ulric and his party show up.”
“Sorry....” I uttered under my breath.
“It’s not your fault Liam, just hurry up and head back.” A kind smile had now graced her features, but it was nothing more than a means to help us adjust to the current situation – All things considered, it was just a kind lie.
“A-Alright, I’m not really sure what's going on but, I’ll do as you say. Come on Liam.” Taking my hand, Emma steadily began increasing her pace, speeding up until she was engaged in a light sprint – dragging me along by proxy.
I glanced back to see Vreena maintaining that forged smile, rather than serving its intended purpose, her expression conveyed nothing but sorrow.
Emma and I had gotten less than ten steps away from her when a loud screech cut through the air, it was immediately followed by the sound of mayhem as the scenery before our eyes was abruptly blown away by an immeasurable impact. The force from the collision tore apart stalls and civilians alike, conjuring a tempest of chaos as bodies and rubble were sent flying in all directions.
The explosion just now had destroyed everything in our path, but we were still a fair distance away from ground zero. Still, that didn’t mean we were completely free from harm as the shock wave had knocked both me and Emma back to where we started. Our bodies bounced off the ground, tumbling in a whirlwind of dust and debris.
Vreena’s panicked expression was the first thing I saw the moment I opened my eyes; she was staring at something in front of her with a mixture of horror and disbelief. I was lying flat on my back, but after forcing my body upright, my eyes immediately registered the source of her angst.
Now standing in the dust cloud conjured by that explosion was a beast – A wolf to be exact.
The large silhouette prowling within the veil of dust towered over everything here from the small buildings to the stalls, the yellow gleam radiating from its narrowed eyes must have invoked a feeling of despair in the recoiling civilians that were now trembling at the horrific sight.
Before the beast could fully emerge however, a group of human shaped silhouettes burst through the dust cloud, the blue haired man standing at the front boasted two longswords fixed to his back in the form of an ‘X’.
He approached us with a cynical grimace on his face, all the while slowly clapping his hands together before speaking -
“Well, Well, Well – What do we have here?”