Chirping of birds slowly pull her consciousness back. Cool wind caresses her cheeks while the sun tries to warm them. Her head is resting on something soft and comfy, but the rest of her body is aching and tired.

She slowly opens her eyes, looking up at the blue sky dotted by a few small clouds. The treetops farming the tranquil image sway lightly back and forth, but the most prominent thing she sees is the beautiful face. Framed by curly, chestnut hair, her lips soft, her eyes an intense brown, almost red. It’s different from anyone on the village, so oddly refined and tender to look at. The pieces finally click for Sanora.

“Ah shit, I’m dead.”

The girl finally looks down at her, blinking a few times.

“Huh?!” She stammers.

“At least my angel is cute.” Sanora sighs, closing her eyes again.

“Hey hey! You aren’t dead! Thank the gods you are finally awake again.” The stranger breaths a long sigh of relief.

“I’m not?” Sanora looks up at her again.

“Wait, that means I won? Damn, that was way too close.” She groans. She had though that this was her end for sure, but the bleeding must have stopped just barely in time after all.

“It really was, I barely managed to pull you back. I am so sorry for causing you this much trouble. You saved my life and for that I cannot thank you enough.” The stranger says as Sanora head slowly regains function.

“Pull me back?” Sanora swallows at the implications but something else enters her mind. If she is on the floor, which is oddly soft, and that girl’s face is right above her…

“Wait, am I…” she turns her head and as she expected, her head is resting on the lap of the pretty girl.

“Ahh I’m sorry-“

“Wait don’t rush yourself-” The brunette says worriedly as Sanora hastens to sit up. A second later she sees why, as a wave of dizziness and nausea hits Sanora and she falls over again, right into the arms of the stranger.

“Are you alright?” The girl asks Sanora as she holds her, looking as concerned as they come.

Sanora looks up, about to reply but the words get stuck in her throat when they lock eyes. The sun is right behind the girl, the wind plays with her hair and…

‘Shit’ Sanora swallows as her heart speeds up and her cheeks grow a bit hot.

“I uh, yeah, thanks.” She stammers and slowly sits up.

“I am the one who owes the thanks though. Let me introduce myself. I am Vadia, and it's more than a pleasure to meet you.” Vadia lowers her head.

“Sanora. It’s nice to meet you too, Vadia.”

“And it was a godsend to meet you, Sanora.” Vadia smiles at her.

“I suppose it was huh?” Sanora scratches the back of her head. “But why would someone chase you all the way out here? It’s like, still a few days of travel to the capital from here.”

“That… I don’t know. No one has ever sent an assassin after my head, let alone one from the bloodcult. It’s amazing how well you stood against him, not many could.” Vadia looks at the charred, headless corpse.

‘oh, I know at least two people who could…’

“Are you an adventurer? Or a warrior?” Vadia pulls Sanora out of her thoughts again.

“Neither really. I’m just a wayfarer who knows her way around the sword.” Sanora waves her off with a smile.

“And magic?” Vadia chuckles.

“And a bit of magic.” Sanora makes a pinching gesture with her fingers and laughs along.

“So, what brings you out here?” Sanora asks, getting a good look at Vadia for the first time. Her clothes are somewhat fit for traveling, unworn and mostly clean. But something that puts Sanora off is the quality. It’s stupidly good, but at the same time same time Vadia doesn’t seem like the type to travel a lot. While the clothes are alright for long journeys, there are a lot of things lacking. No backpack or similar, her hands are way too unscratched and smooth, her hair is too tidy and the her boots are basically new too.

“I…” Vadia hesitates a bit. “Was just out for a walk, a long walk when this man started to chase me. I managed to get away for some time, although he was probably just toying with me, until we luckily met.”

“A long walk?” Sanora raises an eyebrow. Vadia starts to get a bit nervous, but nods in affirmation. Something smells fishy, but Sanora decides to let it rest for the time being.

“Well, that walk sure took a turn for the worse then. I guess it would be best if I accompany you back.” Sanora stands up and dusts herself off.

“But that would be asking too much of you.” Vadia looks a bit guilty.

“You are not from river’s rest. And I am on my way to deepvalley. It’s really you tagging along more than anything.” She extends a hand to Vadia, who takes it gingerly.

“If you are really sure…”

Sanora just smiles at her. “I am.”

She pulls Vadia onto her feet.

“I guess it would be best if we head on.” Sanora looks at the corpse again. “I doubt it will take the wolves long to smell this free barbecue.” She scans the forest around them.

“That does sound a bit concerning indeed.” Vadia agrees. Sanora gathers her stuff quickly before they head onwards.

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She notices that her tunic is cut open below the chainmail where the red phantom blade hit it. However, there are no wounds below it anymore. However, her clothes are still completely soaked in blood, cold and sticking to her.

‘That’s gonna be annoying for some time...’ Sanora sighs. Soon they have gained some distance to the site. It seems Sanora was right on her money as the first howls resound far behind them after a few minutes.

Vadia turns to look back.

“You were right…” She says a tad bit nervous as they walk.

“I do live in these forests after all.”

“You live here? Then… you are from rivers rest?” Vadia looks at her.

“You can tell?” Sanora tilts her head.

“Well, there is no other place around here that I know of, so it was more of an educated guess.”

“Mhm I see. Well that means it’s my turn to ask a question. You said something about pulling me back, that means you are a healer?”

Vadia holds her chin and thinks for a moment. “Not a healer by profession, but I daresay I am somewhat proficient in healing magic.”

“Healing magic? So flesh magic?”

“Not exactly. There are several approaches to it, one of them being flesh magic too. But the element of ‘healing’ is something else. Unlike flesh, blood, or bone magic I cannot temper with the human body beyond repairing it to its proper state. But it’s better at doing so than any other magic even if it lacks versatility.”

Sanora nods along as Vadia explains. This is the first she ever hears of this. She really should have gotten into magic sooner it seems.

“That sounds like it can be a real… well it actually already was a real lifesaver. If it wasn’t for you I would have bled out.” Sanora shudders at the thought.

“But if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.” Vadia sighs.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re alright, or rather that we both are.” Sanora smiles at her.

“So am I. Although I wish we could have met under more peaceful circumstances. But in a sense, this wasn’t all bad either.” Vadia smiles at her.

“It wasn’t?”

“It’s just, how often does a girl get to be saved by a handsome hero in gleaming armor?” Vadia’s smile is a sweet as honey, distracting Sanora from the step Vadia took towards her. Their shoulders are close to touching as they walk now.

“Oh, please I’m nothing special.” Sanora waves her off and turns away to hide her blushing face.

“Either you are too modest, or you don’t have mirrors in rivers rest.” Vadia chuckles. “I mean it. You are the kind of person that I always pictured when I read books as a kid. ‘The brave hero who saves the princess and wins her heart’ type.”

Sanora almost stumbles at the words. She looks back at Vadia who is still smiling at her.

‘Did she really? Yeah no, she absolutely said that didn’t she? But that was just smooth talk, she’s just being nice right now… was she always this close?’

“I- wow, ah thank you, I guess. I guess it really fits though, you do look a little like a princess, you know?” Sanora shoots her best attempt at flirting while scratching her head.

“Oh my, that’s a little suggestive isn’t it.” Vadia chuckles. Sanora’s face grows even redder.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.” She mumbles quickly, but Vadia just laughs it off.

“Don’t worry about it… I’m not saying I dislike it.” She gives Sanora another too sweet smile, and she starts to feel dizzy as her heart starts beating a little too fast for the amount of blood currently in her body.

“Oh my, is everything alright? You are awfully pale.” Vadia inches even closer, putting her hand on Sanora’s shoulder.

‘Fuck, is she doing that on purpose?’ Sanora manages to string together a thought through the dizziness. ‘Cause it would be working damn well!’

“I’m alright, just a little dizzy is all.” She reassures Vadia with a somewhat weak smile.

“Well if you say so… But do tell me should you need anything.” Vadia looks at Sanora with big, sweet eyes.

“I will, thanks.” Sanora regains some of her composure and manages to take a step away from Vadia again. Vadia just gives her another sweet smile and they resume to walk in silence for a while.

After a few minutes the dizziness in Sanora’s head finally fades again and her heart calms down. But she can’t stop thinking about Vadia. She was absolutely doing that on purpose, but the reason wouldn’t quite come to Sanora. Of course, she understands to some extend the affection for a ‘hero’, but the advances just seem so weirdly timed as if they hadn’t been in a life-or-death situation just a moment ago. She can’t wrap her head around it at all, so for Sanora there are two options now: Either Vadia really has something for her, or it’s just the exhaustion and adrenaline speaking out of her. So, it would either stop soon enough or…

Sanora cant hide a smirk at the thought.

“Hey Vadia, I was wondering if you could tell me sore more about healing magic.” Sanora speaks up again to pass the awkward silence and to stop herself from delving down that fantasy too far.

“Of course. Would you like to know anything in specific?”

“Ah no, just a general rundown. I’m not very well versed in magic so I don’t think I could even come up with a specific question.”

“Very well. Then let me start a bit further down the line. Magic elements. We generally speak of the ‘human’ magic of flesh, blood and bone. Then there is ‘nature’ magic which would be things like fire, soil, growth, or water. Each of the main magic elements has a god who brought it onto our world.”

“Like the God of flesh.”

“Like the god of flesh.” Vadia nods. “But there is a third kind of magic, on that is neither seen as nature nor human magic. The three known kinds here would be Space, healing and… metal.” Vadia whispers the last word, almost as if she was afraid of waking something, should she say it too loud.

“These elements defy what we know about all the other kinds, and that is already little. And something else that sets them apart is the fact that they have no god behind them. They have just been around and solely passed down by humans. Well healing at least. There are no known space mages at this time. Or they are keeping a low profile. And metal, as you know I assume, is forbidden and dangerous. But that does not stop some wicked people from trying to learn it.”

“The ancient wars…” Sanora mumbles. “I’ve heard, yes.” She nods. “Ok so back to healing then. ‘Healing’ magic is somehow different from flesh magic or bone magic, but no one knows why?” Sanora looks at Vadia with furrowed eyebrows.

“That’s sums it up nicely, yes. It’s just something we thankfully took after many times of trying to understand it, and failing. Well, that is pretty much the case with all magic though. We know better than to question the gifts the gods have left here.” Vadia shrugs.

“I guess that makes sense.” Sanora looks down the road. “So, what about grimoires then? Are they just, lying around?”

“Oh right, those. Well, it’s a bit complicated how they work. I’m no expert in magic theory but from what I understand: once a person has a certain amount of mastery and understanding over a spell, they can, engrave it in blank grimoires.”

“So basically, if you learn a spell and sell grimoires all day it’s the easy way to get rich? By just selling the same one over and over.”

“If it were only that easy. For once, grimoire blanks are hard and costly to make. Then there is the strain on the person inscribing their spell. Those two together are plenty of reason alone why grimoires are rare and highly sought after.”

“Hm, I see, sounded too good to be true anyways.” Sanora sighs with one easy path to becoming rich in the future gone again. She stretches with a long yawn. They have been walking for a while now and the sun is hanging low in the sky.

“I think we should be far enough by now, and I’m honestly tired. Mind if we make camp for the day?” Sanora turns to Vadia who seems a bit weary herself.

“Not at all.” She shakes her head with a smile. They walk a bit further until they find a spot to rest for the night.

“I will gather us some firewood. I don’t think I can help you with a tent…”

“Oh, that’s alright, it’s less a tent and more a piece of cloth and some sticks with a blanket. Wish me luck on setting this up.” Sanora says with the ingredients of the makeshift tents strewn out before her.

“Good luck then, Sanora. I’ll be back before sundown.” Vadia chuckles and heads off into the surrounding woods while Sanora gets started.

“Alright, how hard can it be to set up a… oh. Oh no.” She swallows, remembering the fruitless pursuit of a house blueprint a few weeks ago.