The thing about waking up after suddenly passing out is that it gets old, much like finding yourself falling through a rip in space.

Fast.

“Rook! Rook!”

Finally shaken awake, I saw several faces looking down at me, concern clear as day.

“Rook! We thought we lost you.”

“What- ack.” I coughed, my throat hurting like hell and my mouth dry with sand. “What happened?”

“You tell us.” Dayvin was off to the side, trying to look unconcerned, but his shifting eyes said otherwise. “You conjured some serious magic back there, slammed it into the ground, and then passed out after bleeding from areas I didn’t think a person could bleed from.”

Right, the magic.

I probably shouldn’t have tried to test it so soon, but I reached out for the mana around me like I had done within the strange off-shoot dimension.

Nada.

Looks like I’m back to normal, then.

“After that magic cracked the ground, we fell through that black void, and shortly after, we landed here.”

“Where exactly is ‘here,’ might I ask?” I questioned, still lying down in the sand.

“About a half a day out from Kar’anza. We ended up closer to Kar’anza than even the next closest Ring Gate. Not sure I’d say it was worth it, though.” Veronika was looking at me with concern. “Besides, are you in any shape to continue with the commission?”

“I’m-” I was about to lie and say I was fine, but with each second, I realized something somewhat concerning.

I was feeling fine, far more than I had any right to.

I looked down at my wrist, covered in its magical linen wrap, filled with curiosity.

Is it because of the ring?

The sage ring was barely taking shape. It was still a long way from being considered a proper sage ring, so it was difficult to believe it was influencing my body already.

But.

But there was no denying that something about my body was different, perhaps due to my body being meant as a vessel for one of the ancient sages.

Not really something I can say with certainty, is it?

For now, my main concern was that we were near Kar’anza. Pushing myself up, the ache in my body was already all but forgotten.

But the thirst had remained.

“Water.” I coughed out, and Zet handed me his waterskin a second later. I unscrewed the cap, throwing my head back as the liquid flowed past my lips.

And oh, did it flow. It was as if the heavens above had been distilled. Utopia contained all within those droplets of water. It was only a few seconds, but I managed to finish the entirety of the waterskin, finally exhaling with a satisfied sigh as I drained the last of its contents.

“Better?” Veronika asked me.

“Better,” I confirmed. “So, what’s the plan now?”

“Well, if you really are feeling okay.” Veronika still seemed unsure whether she wanted to believe me. After seeing the stunt I’d pulled off in the Slip dimension, she seemed uncertain of me. “We are planning to make our way toward Kar’anza now. It’s only half a day of walking, so we should be there shortly.”

“Perfect,” I answered, happy to be back to following orders rather than figuring things out for myself. “Anything else we should go over?”

The group shared a look before finally shaking their head.

Is it me, or are they acting weird around me now?

I ignored the feeling as Zet reached down, offering me his forearm to clasp as he pulled me up, the older boy filled with the rugged strength capable only through a life of adventuring out in the wilderness.

“I take that as a no,” I muttered after no one spoke up. “So, should I pretend I don’t notice you guys acting differently around me?”

“How could we not?” Zet admitted. “It’s one thing to see someone younger than us fight better. It’s another to see him throw spears of magic that look like they could blow apart a castle.”

“I-” I sighed before I shook my head. “That was a one-off; I’m serious. That place was so filled with mana that I could do things I normally wouldn’t be able to.”

“Well, we’d prefer it if you could. It’s just a bit much to take in. Never seen a tried-and-true mage using magic right in front of us.” Veronika eyed me as if making sure I got that before giving me a light thump in the chest with her fist. “C’mon now, wizard boy. Let’s get to Kar’anza already.”

------------------------------

It took six more hours of walking through the dunes and sands as the sun began to dip low before Veronika raised a fist, signaling us to stop.

“Do you guys see that?”

“See what?”

“Anyone else feeling déjà vu right now?” I questioned before Dayvin gave me a glare.

“Focus, kid. Look, now isn’t the time to be joking.”

I followed where the man pointed, past several sloping dunes.

“What about ‘em?”

“What do you see?”

“I don’t see anything- wait a minute. Is that smoke?”

“That’s what it looks like from here,” Veronika confirmed.

“What is smoke doing out in the desert?”

“Take a guess,” Veronika whispered.

“Kar’anza?”

“Yes.”

“Meaning?”

“Use your head, kid,” Dayvin said, stomping the heel of his foot into the sand. “It’s burning.”

“Burning!?” I stared between them in confused shock. “How?”

“If I had to guess, raiders.” Dayvin shook his head angrily.

“Raiders? I thought they weren’t that common?”

“Yeah, lots of thinking during this commission, isn’t there?” Veronika sounded angry as well, but not at us. “Something is most definitely off.”

“What do we do then?” I questioned.

Veronika looked at the twins before looking toward Dayvin, who gave her a slow nod.

“We have to go there.”

“But wait, weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want to put your group in undue danger?”

“There is a difference between choosing not to accept a commission which may be risky, and ignoring a burning village when we are already here. Go for it if you want to back out now, but we can’t.”

“Why would I back out after coming this far?”

Veronika looked at me sadly as if she were already regretting what she was about to say.

“Because this is raiders, not monsters or magical beasts.”

“Meaning?”

“Have you ever killed someone before?”

Oh.

Still, I couldn’t just run away, especially if there was a raider attack.

“I’m not leaving,” I said firmly.

“You’re a good kid.” Veronika turned back toward the burning village’s direction before speaking next. “If that is the case, here is our plan….”

--------------------------------------

He really is a good kid.

I’d known Rook for only a short while, but there weren’t many kids who would run right into the line of danger, even knowing there was a good chance he might be forced to kill.

That’s a kid who’s already lost some of his innocence.

It was only in short bursts, but there were times I saw something in him, a strength, no, a resolve that didn’t match a fifteen-year-old.

What was I doing at fifteen?

I’d been studying to see if I could entice a patron to sponsor me through my higher education.

Focus Veronika. Now isn’t the time.

I had part of the plan to play, and I couldn’t afford to get complacent now.

“You ready?” I whispered quietly under my breath.

“Just like old times,” Dayvin whispered back, my loyal traveling companion. He had never left my side since we’d set out as adventurers.

It’s too bad.

The memory replayed through my mind as if of its own volition.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Veronika. We’ve been traveling together for some time, so I’ll be blunt. How would you feel about settling down with me?”

The question had startled me, coming seemingly from nowhere. I still remember desperately looking around for something to use as an excuse to avoid answering. Still, it was just me, Dayvin, and our crackling bonfire under the night sky.

“Look, Dayvin,” I remember sighing deeply, trying to figure out what to say. “I love you, but not like that.”

“Oh.” He had looked so hurt, eyes downcast as he looked away from me.

“It’s not a ‘you’ thing.” I chuckled. “It’s a ‘me’ thing.”

“Don’t.” I still remember the pain in his voice, offended that I would try to make him feel better with false affirmations.

“No, I’m serious,” I answered. “One day, you’ll make someone very happy when you settle down, but that won’t be me. I… I don’t feel that way. Not to you, nor to anyone. I love friends and family, but I don’t love.”

“Hmm,” Dayvin grunted, looking to face me again, ensuring I wasn’t pulling a fast one on him. “I see.”

“I’m serious!” I laughed once more. “There is one that I do love, though.”

“And who’s that?”

“Not who.” I looked up at the stars. “What. And it’s this.” I waved my arms about. “I love being free. To go about and travel. After spending so much of my life cooped up, learning how to learn and make little brats learn, this freedom is everything to me.”

It really is too bad.

I shook the memory away, which I often thought about whenever we were about to do something dangerous, now being no exception.

It wasn’t guilt. I still stood by what I said, and Dayvin and I had come to terms with it. What it was, was regret. Not for myself, but that such a loyal friend as he would choose to follow me when he could have chosen another path.

“Here they come.” Dayvin hefted his hammer as we waited.

“That’s a lot of them.”

“It was your plan.” Dayvin reminded me.

“Well, this is the best we could do without knowing their exact numbers.”

“Admit it.” Dayvin half-smiled. “You just didn’t want to put those kids in any more danger than necessary.”

“Hah, give ‘em another year; they’ll already be better than us.” I snorted, watching as a group of men and women approached us from the village, half of the buildings engulfed in flames.

“And yet you still baby them.”

“I’m not babying them.”

“You are.” Dayvin cracked his knuckles, hefting his weapon once more. “Otherwise, you would have them up here with us.”

“Oh, don’t cry about it.” I did a quick headcount before turning to look at Dayvin. “What, a group of seven untrained raiders scaring you that badly.”

“You hope they’re untrained.” Dayvin corrected me.

“Well, we survived Carrion Gulch. We’ll make it through this.” I touched the flat of my blade softly at the mention of that cursed place.

“Yeah, and then we vowed to become adventurers so we would never have to experience something like that again. And yet, here we are, trying to play hero to some random village.”

“What, and you want to leave?”

“No.” Dayvin shook his head instantly. “That I don’t.”

Then the seven raiders were upon us. They wore the usual assortment of raggedy clothes you would expect from those who made raiding their livelihood.

Don’t think of them as people.

That did it; the kill switch flicked in my mind as I shut down any feelings of remorse.

Just like what they taught you back in training.

I settled into the stance engrained in me through countless beatings from my former drill sergeant.

“You’re a Foil ‘Ron! So by the gods above, act like it!”

“A foil ‘Ron,” I whispered as my sabre flicked up, knocking aside a hasty swing by one of the raiders. “Act like it.”

Keeping myself several paces before Dayvin, I swept my sword out whenever an assaulting weapon attempted to reach out for him. Even though I used a sword, I was his shield. A Foil would fight defensively, ensuring that the Maulers, what Dayvin had been when we had still been enlisted, could swing their large, heavy weapons without worry that they would be stuck in the side mid-swing.

By the gods above, act like it!

The words bounced around in my head even as I avoided a sweeping blade aimed at my head. I’d once been told by a drill instructor from my time enlisted that everyone’s mind differed in a fight, that they either went void of anything or fixated on a single thought like an anchoring presence.

Move!

I stepped to the side, years of training kicking in as a hammer crashed down where I had just stood. One of the raiders had taken an overly greedy lunge toward me, only to have his head horrifically caved in under the momentous weight of Dayvin’s maul.

Six.

I stepped forward, taking my place in front of Dayvin in time to intercept another raider who attempted to hack at him with an ugly-looking ax. Our weapons met, and my arms struggled to hold back the man.

Damned biology!

He had about a head and a half of height worth on me and maybe twice my weight, but he had another thing that I lacked. Something I could take advantage of.

Two of them, to be exact.

My leg snapped up, my foot catching him squarely in the groin as he let out a sudden pained gasp, only to have his head knocked clean off by a hammer whipping through the air like a wild swing of a bat.

Five.

Rather than continue to attack one at a time, they gathered as an entire group of assailants for me to deal with.

Uh oh.

I’d been taught the defensive sword style of the southern capital, the generic version all Foils learned, so I knew I had a good defense.

But five-on-one was still five-on-one, and it wasn’t as if I was exceptionally gifted. I was just an ordinary person in all regards. Sure, I’d spent time enlisted and being an adventurer, but that didn’t change that at the fiber of my being; I was normal.

And ordinary people didn’t fight off five attackers at once.

He’s a good kid.

Rather than the twins, it was Rook who appeared in my mind. The boy, even discounting his magic, was exceptional.

Now, that’s someone who is anything but ordinary.

I swept my sword arm as fast as possible but eventually missed, a harsh reminder of my limits. Too many weapons swung at me or stabbed forward at the same time. I could feel it when the first dagger buried itself into my side.

I wish I could have seen what they’ll become someday.

My sword slashed forward, and a lucky strike sliced through the carotid artery of the raider who had just stabbed me.

Four.

I heard an angry shout; another raider was undoubtedly meeting a grizzly end under the mighty war hammer.

Three.

I had fallen over at some point, watching as the last three raiders closed in on Dayvin, reminding me uncomfortably of a cornered bear backed down by a pack of wolves.

It really is too bad.

I couldn’t let Dayvin die with me.

Now is not the time to be ordinary, Veronika.

I summoned all my strength, rising to my feet, unbeknownst to the raiders who had drawn blood from Dayvin as a hooked sword bit into his calf.

“You’re a Foil ‘Ron! So by the gods above, act like it!”

I screamed and raged with violence. My sword, meant to defend, sought only to bring death. I thrust forward, stabbing through the back of one of the last raiders, severing their spinal cord.

Two.

The two remaining raiders, who had assumed me dead, whirled around but were too slow, my sword cleaving in between the raider’s ribs.

One.

I tried to swing my sword one last time, but my blade fell from my hands as my fingers lost the strength to hold firm.

Damnit!

I had no weapon, but I couldn’t fall yet, not while Dayvin remained bleeding on the ground, defenseless.

So be it.

I pounced like a cat straight out of hell, ignoring the pain of his weapon stabbing into my gut as I latched onto the man. My fists beat down on his face, and under my desperate assault, the man recoiled. Ignoring every protest of my body, every warning bell blaring in my head, I attacked as ferociously as I could; with no weapons on hand, I simply tore at him, gouging the eyes from his head with my bare hands.

Zero.

The raider and I dropped to the ground, my body feeling unimaginably cold and heavy.

“You’re a Foil ‘Ron! So by the gods above, act like it!”

“I love being free.”

It really is too bad.

My eyes began to close, and choking on my own blood, I could only laugh from within the confines of my mind as the world faded into darkness.

It really is too bad.

------------------------------------

“You think ‘Ronika and Dayvin will be okay?”

“Of course.” I puffed my chest up so my sister could see the full effect of my faith in our guardians. “Veronika and Dayvin the Great. Survived Carrion Gulch as well as the rebellion of Oxent. You think they’d struggle with a few raider chumps?”

“I don’t think Veronika or Dayvin would want to be called something so dramatic.” My sister shook her head at me, rolling her eyes.

Good. Get her mind off the worst of it.

My sister rarely admitted it, but I saw how she often looked at Veronika and Dayvin for guidance. To her, they’d become the closes thing to our parents. The thought of anything happening to them scared her.

As it did for me as well.

“You think this will go as smoothly as she planned?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “I bet somewhere, one of us will get screwed. I just hope it isn’t us.”

Our part of the plan was simple. After getting close enough to see Kar’anza without being spotted from the top of a nearby dune, we determined that Veronika and Dayvin would draw as many of the raiders out toward the front of the village as they could. At the same time, Tez and I would wrap around the side, looking for hostages.

And judging by the crying just ahead, we found them.

As for Rook, he was sent to the back; Veronika said he needed to cut off a potential retreat, but I could guess the real reason.

Softy.

She just wanted to keep him away from the worst of the fighting. He was stronger than the rest of us, yet she was trying to keep him from getting blood on his hands.

“Hey, you two. Stop right there!”

Ahh. Well, guess we’re busted.

We’d been sneaking past the tiny village homes that weren’t on fire with surprisingly good luck. We’d managed to avoid being spotted, but our luck had finally run out right as we neared what looked to be where most of the villagers were being kept. Their wrists were bound behind their backs as they sat on the ground, grimy tears streaming past gagged mouths.

“Tez,” I murmured as she nodded.

“I know.”

We reached into the folds of our clothes, syncing with each other as we had often been teased.

Blame it on being twins.

Tez pulled out a small metal canister, and with a quick jerk of her hand, it sprang to its full length, the bladed spring staff twirling in her hands as I pulled out my chains.

“Back off.” The raider who spotted us snarled, pointing a scimitar at the head of one of the villagers. “Or she gets it.”

Shit.

I raised my hands, putting the chain back into my clothes as I began to inch closer to the man.

Please catch on.

“Good, nice, and easy.”

I continued walking forward, turning around so the man could bind my wrists together.

“Who sent you?” The man finally asked, giving a sharp kick to the back of my knees as I dropped to the ground.

“No one,” I grunted. “We are just passing adventures.”

“Hmm.” The man seemed to think about it before facing Tez. “Alright, you’re next.”

“Wait!” I shouted, catching my captor’s attention.

“What?” He spat, literally spat, onto the back of my head.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Huh? Why do you care?” He grunted, staring at me as if I were an idiot.

“Because I’m an adventurer,” I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Hmm, well, hell, if I know anyway. The boss said something about ‘Helena’ and the ‘Blood connection.’ I’m just here ’cause we get to do what we want with y’all afterward.”

Blood connection? Helena?

“Alright, now, no more delaying. You, girly, come here.”

He was talking to my sister the entire time, never paying me attention as he ushered her forward, his weapon still pointed at the woman’s neck. Tez complied, walking along to let herself be taken captive, but not before she sprung her staff back into capsule form, tossing it forward to show the man she was unarmed.

Perfect.

My sister took one, two, three steps before I began to nudge forward like a caterpillar on the sandy ground.

Squirm.

Pause.

Squirm.

Pause.

By the time my sister had her wrists bound, I had squirmed forward enough.

“Alright, now get in with the rest of - huh?”

The man finally noticed my squirming, but his reaction was only made better as my sister lashed out, slamming her forehead into his face as he staggered backward.

And, most importantly, away from the captives.

“You broke my damn nose!” The man yelled in pain, clutching his bleeding nose. Holding his nose, the man blocked his own line of sight as I clenched my hips, powering my body up and forward with all the strength and momentum I could gather, hopping to my feet without ever using my hands.

“What the?” The man saw me jump to my feet, and he stared at me in disbelief before he started to mutter to himself.

“Damn, kids. Why do I get stuck dealing with this?”

The raider began to walk toward me, but pausing, he abruptly turned around, swinging his weapon as he struck my sister with the flat of his weapon directly in her face.

I sucked in a panicked breath, but as she dropped, I could still see her chest rise and fall.

Alive.

“Now then.” The man turned to face me, my hands still bound. “Since you’re not a girl, I won’t go as easy on you.”

Vile. I felt sick at the implication, but I held still.

Waiting.

One step closer.

Two steps.

Three.

Now!

Raising his arm overhead to cut me down with his scimitar, I ducked out of the way, slamming my foot down as I did.

Directly on top of my sister’s spring staff.

One moment the man had been about to slice through me; the next, he looked like a fish floundering for breath. Directly through his chest, the bladed end of the spring staff had extended to its full length, skewering him through the heart in the process.

Knew it wasn’t a waste to learn that trick.

I’d once bet with my sister that I could spring her staff forward and off the ground with just a kick of my foot. Weeks of practice later, I’d finally managed to do it.

Who knew it would come in useful here of all places?

I sank to the ground, the adrenaline leaving me as the raider remained dead on his feet, my sister’s staff protruding from his chest and propping him upright like a kickstand.

Now, time to go see if Tez is alright- never mind.

While standing upright, I suddenly collapsed as my eyes were drawn to my leg.

When the hell did he manage that?

The tendon of my leg had been cut, and the adrenaline pumping through me had masked the pain until now. I wasn’t even sure when it had happened, but the fact was that it had.

Crap.

I’d be okay; I was reasonably confident. Judging from my inability to move my leg, I would be no help from here on out, and Tez was currently passed out cold, catching up on her beauty sleep. I stared up at the sky overhead, disappointed with myself.

Sorry Rook, but it looks like the rest is up to you.