“Straight ahead. Seven meters.” She whispers to Serantis who nods and braces for the fight ahead. After a few more meters they can see past the grass leaning into the path. There is a small circle devoid of plants where the creatures have started to make themselves at home. They look similar to lurchers indeed. The main differences is the green, smooth skin and their pointy ears instead of fins as well as the long noses. They look a bit more humanoid overall too. All of them are busy, carrying around old wood, stripped from carriages to makeshift tents, or staking up meat above a campfire. Sanora gives the rest of the party some quick hand signs, telling them that she counts twelve. Balmir nods at Mehena who pulls back her bow, the arrow growing from it again.
‘That bow is so cool.’ Sanora watches the elf astonished before the arrow flies off. It zips straight through the head of a trercher who is standing a bit away from the rest. Before the monsters notice she lets loose another arrow. Only when the third monster falls, they finally catch on. A gurgling, high pitched scream resounds, and the camp is alert. Mehena doesn’t stop and kills a fourth one before the monsters spot the group and come barging at them. Serantis draws his sword and plants his shield on the ground. Balmir gets into position behind the frontline. Another arrow whizzes through the gap between them, killing one more trercher before they reach Sanora and Serantis. Sanora takes a quick swing, drawing her first blood and making her first kill. One starts to bang on the tower shield of the beastkin with its wooden club, not even scratching it before it gets stabbed by Serantis. They have already established a perfect meatgrinder. With their primitive weapons the trerchers can’t hope to get close to Sanora who has the range advantage with her sword. And the ones who try to get past the towering beastkin and his shield are repelled like water on rock before they try to get past the side where they are cut down by him. But as Balmir said, these creatures are smarter than their aquatic relatives. After the first four die the rest spreads into the high grasses around them.
“Sanora?” Balmir asks her and she immediately replies.
“One left one right, one sneaking around from behind.”
“Mehena and me rear, Mari to Sanora. Let’s finish this.” Balmir quickly orders and the formation shifts, preparing to take out the last three. A moment later the two from the grasses come jumping out where Mari and Mehena were standing a few moments ago. They look around stupid for a second before the blades come down at them. The last one gets shot by the elf as soon as his head peeks out from the grasses.
“Sanora?” Balmir turns to her, his guard not yet let down. Sanora pours more magic into her sensing spell. There is nothing around them, at least nothing moving. However, something catches her attention in the makeshift camp of the trerchers.
“Everything’s dead, but there is something in their camp.”
“We’ll take a look at it, lead the way.” The human nods at her.
They all follow Sanora into the camp. The fire is still burning, the tents are about as stable as the one Sanora cobbled together in the wilderness. But all that is of little interest to her. She walks straight to the source of the odd feeling, stopping at bloody bag. She squats down, slowly opens it and in the same second regrets doing so. Two dead eyes stare back at her. She drops the cloth again before any of the others see it.
“Disgusting fucking creatures.” She curses, the image of the chopped-up human burned into her mind, the coppery smell of blood clinging to her nostrils. She can already feel her lunch starting to make its way up again.
“A victim?” Mehena’s soft voice helps to calm her stomach a bit.
“Yeah.” Sanora gets up again.
“I wish I could say it gets easier, but I really can’t.” Mehena shoots the bag a look while trying to hold her composure. “But knowing that we took out this threat for good helps at least.” She puts her hand on Sanora’s shoulder and smiles at her warmly. “That and a lot of alcohol.” She winks.
“I could go for some ‘a lot of alcohol’ right now.” Sanora and Mehena have a short laugh before they comb through the rest of the camp with the others. After cutting off the ears from each trercher they finally head back again.
“She dug out a whole cellar with a single spell?” Mehena asks Sanora with wide eyes as the group walks towards the gates of Deepvalley in the orange light of the late evening.
“Like that.” Sanora snaps her fingers. “Should have seen my face when she did it.” She laughs.
“I think I can imagine it.” Mehena snickers. “With every story you tell me about her I just grow more curious about this woman. I am really looking forward to you introducing us some day.”
“So am I.” Sanora’s smile fades. “I do miss her quite a bit.”
“You seem rather fond of her. If I may ask, why did you leave in the first place? You have lost no bad word about your home so far.”
“That was because…” Sanora grows quiet. She has never really thought about her departure again since the day. The dream had tickled something inside her, awoken feeling of distantness. Like her life which had been a saint long at that point wasn’t really hers. But now? The immediate feelings from the dream are gone and Sanora finally realizes what she really did.
She turns away from Mehena to hide the tear running down her cheek. But the elf isn’t fooled so easily and looks at Sanora with equal parts worry and guilt.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” She says with her ears hanging a bit lower than usual.
“Don’t worry about it. T’was political stuff. You know how it is with the nobles.” Sanora forces out with a normal voice and waves her off. Mehena just nods and they remain quiet for the rest of the walk to the guild.
“Alright, we made it back in one piece.” Balmir says with a smile as they gather at one of the free tables. The hall is a bit less crowded compared to earlier. It makes for a perfect spot to unwind and talk or just have a drink.
“I’ll go fetch Corvina.” He says.
“I’ll come along.” Mehena joins him.
“I’ll go fetch the drinks and our pay.” Serantis says with a grin, rubbing his hands. They are all off in a second, leaving Mari and Sanora alone at the table. An awkward silence hangs over them. Mari is just sitting there, tapping her finger while stealing glances at Sanora here and there.
“Something bugging you?” Mari jumps a bit when Sanora finally breaks the silence. She smiles before clearing her throat to hide her expression.
“No, I mean yes, I mean nothing is bugging me but…” She scrambles her words. Sanora just looks at her amused. “I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow. With the extra pay we got today I should finally have enough to get a decent dagger and I was wondering if you would help me pick one. The others are probably busy and I don’t know a lot about weapons so I’d really appreciate some help. But I totally get it if you’re busy. You are pretty important after all and-“
“Sure.” Sanora smiles at the rambling girl.
“Sure?” Mari blinks at her a few times. “You mean you have time?”
“I do. It’s not like I really have anything to do at… you know, home.” Sanora just shrugs and Mari nods.
“Thank you so much!” The young girl beams at her.
“Don’t mention it.” Sanora chuckles. “Should we meet here at about midday? Would that work for you?”
“Absolutely.” Mari nods furiously. “Tomorrow midday at the guild then.” She says with a smile brighter than the sun. A fuzzy, warm tingle runs through Sanora’s stomach at the sight, which is interrupted by a load of mugs landing on the table.
“Ahh, the best part of every quest.” Serantis sits down with a huge grin on his face that almost reaches Bawarag levels. Only almost though. “The drinks. Here ya go.” He slides one over to Sanora.
“Thank you kindly.” She takes it and eyes the number of leftover drinks.
“Is someone joining us?” She looks at the seven mugs.
“No, why?” Serantis asks, his mug already half raised to his mouth.
“Because we have three spare drinks.”
“You mean four spare drinks.” The big man corrects her.
“Four?” Sanora raises an eyebrow.
“Yep. Mari’s too young to drink after all.”
“Only by one year…” The girl pouts.
‘There is an age requirement for drinking? Shit, good thing I always say twenty…’
Sanora takes a big gulp to wash away the scary thought.
“That still doesn’t explain the other-“ Sanora starts again, but stops when Serantis exchanges his already empty mug for the next one. “Ah.”
“Yeah.” Mari sighs.
Serantis empties another two mugs before Balmir, Mehena and Corvina come walking to the table.
“Three mugs. We were fast today.” Balmir comments as they sit down and each take a mug save for Corvina, who is all smiles.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I heard it went pretty well out there, words of praise from all around.” She says to Sanora.
“I mean it could have gone better.” Sanora shrugs.
“Don’t worry, that’s always the case.” Balmir waves her off with a smile.
Serantis hands everyone some coins. “Pay for today. We did a good job.” He says and gets to his next beer.
Sanora eyes the three gold coins. The others all get a share of three as well.
‘So we made fifteen in one day? That is a lot… isn’t it?’
“Hehehe, I’m almost glad those prowlers found us.” Serantis laughs. “Only almost though.”
“They made for some solid pay. But money wasn’t the only reason why we went out today.” Balmir says and looks at Sanora with an intense gaze.
“Sanora.”
“Yes?” She swallows.
“I’ve discussed your ranking with the others and relayed our recommendation to Corvina. I already told you what you can do better and taking all that into account we decided to place you at rank 7.”
‘7? That’s really good!’ Sanora starts smiling like an idiot.
“But-“
‘Shit.’ Her smile fades again.
“-given what Mehena and Mari told me is true, namely that you wrestled a prowler with your bare hands, killed it and the fact that you can use magic, then I think would be safe to put you on 6. The only reason we decided to settle with 7 is your lack of experience. Knowledge is worth gold out there. But I’m sure you will overcome that in no time.” And with that Corvina Hands Sanora a small card made of metal. Engraved on it is her basic information. Some fields are funny. The place of birth one for example is black. The rank is written in a shiny blue and the race field says ‘Godkin’.
“All you need to do is pulse your magic through it to set the signature to you and activate it. The blackened fields only become visible when you activate the card, and the rank can be changed at any guild branch if you meet the requirements for an advancement.” Corvina explains while Sanora eyes the small card.
“I wonder what colour you’ll get.” Mari says excitedly, unable to sit still.
“Colour?” Sanora asks.
“Yes. When it comes to mages the cards will sometimes change to a certain colour which can be a sign that you have a talent for a certain kind of magic.” Mari nods and fishes out her card. It’s a brilliant gold. “That happens because of your unique magic signature.”
“Hmm I see.” Sanora nods as she eyes the golden piece of metal. “So, it changes with how every mage utilizes magic differently huh? That means that gold is healing then?”
“Yes. Red would be flesh or blood, white bone, brown earth, green harvest and so on. The colour usually matches the colour of the element in some way. Some rare cases even get a two coloured one.” Mari explains. “At least that’s true for mages. Non mages get the same card with a magical gem in it to do the magic signature at least.” She adds.
“Ohh I see. Well, don’t expect too much from me.” Sanora chuckles and lets some magic trickle into the object, not really expecting much since she has barely used any magic in her short life.
Everyone is watching her with their breaths held. Slowly the metal starts to turn blood red, then blue, then green, then white, then golden until after a few seconds its stops. They all stare at her card. A spectrum of all the colours there are is shining off of it, shifting whenever Sanora tilts the card. Its almost as if the colours are flowing around in the metal.
Everyone is just staring at her card with wide eyes.
“That’s… new.” Corvina says baffled.
“Ah I think I broke it.” Sanora’s forehead creases as the looks at the card. The others just stare at it with their mouths hanging open.
“Oh!” Corvina’s face lights up. “That might be the case. Follow me, we’ll see that you get a fresh one.” Corvina gets up and gestures Sanora to follow.
“Those things can break?” Balmir looks at the crowgirl with a slight hint of scepticism in his voice.
“Yes, they can break.” Corvina smiles at the man. Balmir just shrugs. She takes Sanora by the hand and pulls her towards the office upstairs. Mari’s gaze lingers on the door to the stairs for a while longer after it closes.
“Good gods Sanora.” Corvina says as and leans on the door in the cozy meeting room.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break it!” Sanora swallows. She flinches when Corvina looks at her with a deadpan expression.
“You didn’t break it, you airhead.”
“I didn’t? But you said-“
“What everyone in that hall had to hear. Those things don’t just break. They can’t even ‘break’ to begin with. This is completely insane, but everything points to the fact that you have an affinity for every magic element.”
“So, we came up here because people shouldn’t know that?”
“Yes. They absolutely shouldn’t. Your pretty face is bad attention enough. If word spreads that someone who has every magic affinity appeared, you’ll have the eyes of every shady person in the valley on your back. Gods, you might even have the inquisition on you since that would…” Corvina quiets down and audibly swallows, a bead of cold sweat runs down her forehead.
“Inquisition? What does that mean? What’s wrong?” Sanora asks wide eyed, taking a step back.
“Listen Sanora.” Corvina walks up to her and grabs her shoulders. “You must never tell a soul you don’t trust about this do you understand?” She looks Sanora in the eyes with a boring gaze.
“But why? What’s wrong with me this time?” Sanora sounds desperate. She can already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. First the thing with Virelia and now this. She is told again that there is something wrong with her, that she isn’t normal and has to keep quiet about it. “I don’t understand a single thing.” She whimpers.
The look on Sanora’s face breaks Corvina’s heart. The powerful and seemingly fearless warrior in front of her is in truth barely more than a child who doesn’t understand the world. She takes a step back.
“Come, sit with me.” Corvina lets herself fall onto the couch exhausted. Sanora sits down next to her, her arms slung around herself.
“First of all, calm down. You aren’t in any immediate trouble or anything.”
“Your sure didn’t make it sound like that.” Sanora mumbles and Corvina pulls a face.
“I know and I’m sorry. I overreacted a bit. For now, you are perfectly fine.” She puts a hand on Sanora thigh.
“Then what did you mean?” Sanora looks at the woman with a drooped face.
“Well first off, shady people. I don’t think there has ever been a case of someone having an affinity for every type of magic. Maybe three or in extremely rare cases four at most. That means you are not only one of a kind but also powerful. And I mean ridiculously powerful. If that comes out you will have all sorts of unwanted attention on you. I’m talking power hungry nobles all the way to slavers.”
“Slavers?” Sanora gulps.
“Sadly yes. Slavery might be outlawed here, but that’s only here. Everything outside of the valley is still savage like that. People go around here, kidnap young men and women and sell them off into foreign countries.”
“And they want to… use me? Because I am good at magic? But that’s just horrible.”
“Of course, it is. That’s why it has been outlawed here a long time ago. But still, it doesn’t stop some people from doing it anyways since some people would pay insane prices for a pretty girl like you. Add in the magic thing and boom. You just became the most sought-after item on the market.” Corvina’s expression shifts towards anger at the end.
Goosebumps rise all over Sanora’s skin at the wording. She can feel her stomach churn from the thought alone. Being nothing more than an ‘item’ on some sleazy noble’s shopping tour.
“Do you still have the mead in here somewhere?” She asks Corvina with pleading eyes. She reaches below the couch and pulls out the bottle with the golden liquid.
“Good thing I’m so lazy.” She says with a weak smile and hands Sanora the bottle. She takes a big gulp.
“Damn that’s so much better than beer.” She sighs.
“Never had any?” Corvina looks at Sanora half amused.
“Nope, never had a lot of honey at home.” She shakes her head and takes a few more big gulps.
“Alright. So, problem one is criminals who want to use me. What about that other thing you said?”
“Right.” Corvina sighs. “The inquisition. You know about the God of metal and the wars, right?”
Sanora nods. “The gist of it.”
“Alright. Well, the God of metal started the wars of old, almost driving humans extinct with metal magic. That is the reason why metal magic is not only forbidden but also considered the highest form of heresy to rule out any possibility of the Metalfolk rising again, and a repeat of those gruesome wars. And this fear is justified. Just visit the warfields and you get why. It’s been over a thousand years and these fields are still a barren wasteland full of magical mines and some still functional Metalfolk. And since you have every magic affinity, that includes metal.”
Sanora face goes pale. “But that would mean that I am-“
“That says exactly nothing about you.” Corvina cuts her off. “Just because you have this affinity, this natural gift, does not mean you are evil or a heretic. But sadly, this won’t stop people from seeing you as such.” Corvina’s expression grows grim. “It was a few years ago when a young girl, much like you, came here to register as an adventurer. Things went well, made a solid 9 ranking. But when it was time to get her card…” Corvina talks with a thousand-yard stare on her face. “It turned black. The colour of narcium, the sign of a metal affinity.” Corvina holds out her hand and Sanora places the bottle in it. The crowgirl takes a few big gulps before continuing. “I had known the girl for a while. She had been training to become and adventurer like her father since she could hold a sword. I can still see the beaming smile on her face when she was finally old enough. It all happened so fast I couldn’t even get her out of the hall before the guards dragged her away.” Corvina’s eyes grow glassy. She takes another swig. “That girl, who had done no harm to anyone in her whole life, who didn’t even know that she could use magic. They burned her on the town square the same day. With cheers from all around.”
“Even though she never hurt anyone?”
Corvina just nods. “It’s not like I don’t despise metal magic. I hate it like everyone does. But just having that affinity can’t be reason enough to prosecute people. Magic affinities are not something one can influence. If they would just hunt and kill all metal magic users that would be fine, good even. It’s evil, wicked magic. But that girl wasn’t a metal caster. She didn’t even know how to cast something.” The tears are rolling down her face freely at this point.
“I’m so sorry to hear. That sounds horrible.” Sanora says, close to tears herself.
They just sit there in silence for a few minutes, occasionally passing the bottle back and forth until it is empty.
“So,” Corvina sighs, breaking the quiet. “-you mustn’t tell anyone about this. I’ll get you another card, one with a secret magic gem inlaid in it. Just be careful that you only ever use the energy stored in the gem. If you use your own, you will overwrite it and have the card take colour again. I need to order that specifically and kind of under the hand, so don’t tell anyone about it.” Corvina gets up on slightly wobbly legs, the alcohol having done a bit of a job on her.
“I don’t know what to say… Thank you, Corvina.”
“Don’t mention it.” She smiles at Sanora.
“But there is one thing I don’t understand.” Sanora gets up as well.
“Yes?”
“Why are you doing all of this? Taking up all of this work just to help me and possibly be killed by the inquisition yourself in the process? All for some girl you met a few hours ago.”
Corvina’s smile fades again. “Because to this day I can her hear screams when I go to sleep, see her flesh get slowly eaten by the flames when I close my eyes. See how she finally goes limp after the most excruciating pain imaginable. All while having to put on a smile to not join her up there.” She turns to look at Sanora with an intense gaze that makes Sanora’s heart flutter. “And I don’t ever want to see that again.”
Sanora walks down into the hall where Bullwind is still waiting for her. She tells them that her card really is faulty and a new one is on the way before excusing herself for the day and heading home. The walk to the castle is normal. At last, a chance to finally calm down a bit and sort out her thoughts. It is as if a new calamity is happening ever other week. The part about not being human was already taxing, if not necessarily bad. But the whole thing about being a metal mage gives a real headache.
By the time she comes back to her room the sun is already half gone behind the horizon, but Vadia still isn’t there. She lazily drops her gear onto a chair before smelling herself. She wrinkles her nose. Aside from the blood splatters on her boots she has worked up a good sweat over the day and it is high time for a bath. She opens Vadia’s closet where they both keep their clothes and starts rummaging around in there.
“Too frilly, too expansive, too… I don’t even know the word to describe that.” She mumbles to herself. After some time, she manages to find a set of her own clothes in there. She is about to leave when her eyes fall onto a set that is just lying at the bottom of the closet. It’s Vadia’s travel clothes from when they first met.
“Huh, we should wash those too.” She bends down and picks them up to have them washed along with her clothes from today. A metallic jingle resounds from inside one of the pockets. Sanora fishes out the few coins from in there and places them on Vadia’s desk. She searches through the other pockets to make sure they are empty when she feels something odd in one. It’s sharp, feels crunchy and dry. She pulls it out and her heart stops when she sees what she is holding.