Emily blinked as she suddenly found herself draped in darkness. “Guess I’m out of magic,” she said calmly. “Does anyone have a torch?”

But no one had time to answer before the room lit in a pale blue light. Looking up in surprise Emily found the light to be emanating from Guardian’s back. She heard the cell-door click open, but her focus was this new light. It was magical in nature, she could that much, but she’d need to get a better look. Sighing softly she walked up to the Guardian’s body and clambered up on its back, to tired to be leaping the distance like she had before. The polished carapace offered little purchase, but eventually she found a groove between the plates where she could fit her fingertips. Hauling herself up was an exercise in arm strength, and she felt her numb biceps cry after their exertion with the spear, and the extra strain magic put on her muscles.

Standing on the Guardian’s back she stretched her arms, first before her, then behind her, bending at the hip as she pushed her hands towards the ceiling, sighing again as her muscles relaxed. Then she looked around for the source of the light, and found it to be a crystal laying in a small recess in the carapace.

“The hell,” she muttered and walked over to the crystal. Squatting, she studied it for a moment. It was about the size of her closed fist and looked like a rough gemstone; unpolished and covered with spikes. Yet it was beautiful, and its inner shine was strong enough to throw the large room into a pleasant semi-darkness. With a start she realized the crystal was full of magic. She hadn’t noticed at first, because of the fog that seemed to hang over her fatigued mind, but the crystal radiated great amounts of magic. It wasn’t anything compared to what she could do when Alex was close by, but then, not much was. Marveling at the amount of magic contained in the crystal she reached out to pick it up.

“No!” The twins screamed in unison. “Don’t touch it!”

“Why not?” Emily asked and stood up, the crystal in her hand. She felt it buzz as the magic tried to escape through her skin, but she pushed back, confining it within the stone. The party stood frozen outside the Guardian’s pincers, staring at her with open mouths. Lit in pale blue by the crystal in Emily’s hand they looked almost ethereal.

“That’s impossible,” the boy with the blond hair spluttered.

“What is?” Emily asked and walked back to the Guardian’s head, before sliding back down to the ground. She hadn’t been able to see before, but this new light made it clear the party must have had a hard time before she got there. They were all covered in scratches and bruises, and their clothes were almost as torn as her own.

“You’re holding the Guardian crystal!” the twin with a broken bow exclaimed.

“Yeah?”

“And you are not dead,” the twin with the squirrel on her shoulder said, she sounded almost impressed, and her yellowish eyes seemed to glow in the light.

Emily looked down upon herself, she was still a mess, both from the earlier fights with the gods—which felt like a lifetime ago—and the fight with the Guardian. But she was still alive. “I’m not, no,” she confirmed. “Should I be?”

All four people—and the squirrel—nodded.

“In that case, I’m sorry to disappoint.” The crystal buzzed in her hand. It was tempting to use the crystal to refill her own magic. But she resisted. There were too many unknowns about the thing. “Does anyone have a pouch I could borrow?”

The twin with a bow took a hesitant step towards Emily, untying a pouch from her belt, her eyes darting between the crystal in Emily’s hand and her face. “Here,” she said and held it out, shying away as Emily accepted it.

“Thank you,” Emily said and gave the girl a thankful smile. “Does anyone have another light?” The brown-haired boy held up a lantern clothed in thin leather, it emitted a blue glow similar to the crystal, albeit weaker. Emily gave him a thumbs up and dropped the crystal into the pouch. “What’s so dangerous about the crystal anyway?” she asked as she tied the pouch to her belt. She could still feel the magic radiating through the leather, but it was mostly contained.

“It contains too much magic for anyone to handle,” the blond boy said. “Your arms should have burned up.”

Emily looked up and blinked, surprised with herself. “Of course,” she said. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“You’d forgotten about that?” the brown-haired boy asked. “How do you forget something like that?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve spent time around normal people. And I’m quite—” She cut herself off with a great yawn. “—quite tired,” she finished, stretching her arms over her head and rolling her neck, savoring the feeling of bones popping.

“Normal people,” the blond boy snapped. “Is that supposed to be some kind of insult?”

“Only if you feel it’s true.”

He didn’t have an answer. Turning away from the boys, Emily found the twins standing so close their shoulders were touching and looking at her with cautious curiosity. Their cat-ears… ears were pointed straight up and a little forward, and their tails—Emily’s brows shot up for a moment, she hadn’t even noticed the tails before, but both had a fluffy black tail wrapped around the other twin, as if holding each other.

“You—squirrel girl,” Emily said and motioned for the girl in question, causing her to jump a little, and her ears to flatten. “Can you get that squirrel to show us the way out. If I’m going to die I’d like to feel the sun on my face one last time.”

“Ah!” she exclaimed. “Yes.” She reached up to her shoulder to let the squirrel down, but it was already ahead of her, clambering down tunic and jumping when it reached the end of her shorts. On the ground it stood on its hind-legs for a moment, then it scampered off towards the doorway.

“Wait,” the brown-haired boy said and held up his hand. “We aren’t finished speaking here.”

“We can speak on the way up,” Emily said, already walking past them, following the squirrel. “Roco,” she said. “I think that was your name. Could you show us out?”

The squirrel chirped.

“Hold on!” the brown-haired boy continued, holding out an arm to block Emily’s path. “I’m the leader of this party, and I haven’t said it’s time to leave!”

“Lay off, Rory,” the twin with the bow said. “The only thing you’ve led us into is this mess. Be happy we can come out alive.”

“So you are taking her side now? And since when does she give orders?”

“Since she killed a monster the Guild would have sent twenty people to handle; on her own, with your shitty spear.”

Emily couldn’t help but snort with laughter. “Listen to the girl,” she said and snatched the lantern from Rory’s hand, ignoring his strangled protest. “She seems to have enough sense for both of you.”

She walked off with the lantern and she heard pattering footsteps as the other four quickly followed. When she approached the closed gate, she felt the crystal at her hip react, and the gate glowed blue for a moment before sliding back up into the ceiling. “Well that’s awfully convenient,” she muttered and joined Roco outside the chamber.

The squirrel chirped; it had slid through the bars before the gate had gone up. She motioned for it to show the way, and it set off down the short corridor, towards the stairs. She followed it, and the others followed her, for she held the lantern. The boys and one of the twins continued to bicker, but Emily was only listening with half an ear. Her mind clouded and foggy; she felt as if she could fall asleep standing. Putting one foot before the other was all she could do to keep moving.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Suddenly the squirrel girl appeared beside her, cat ears standing straight up. She was of quite average height, Emily realized, perhaps six inches shorter than her own five foot six, but the ears gave her another five inches when they stood up. “Ehm,” she said, drawing Emily’s attention.

“Yes?” Emily asked, letting an eyebrow say the rest.

The girl’s ears flattened, as if caught by apprehension. She glanced back at her sister who was still bickering with the boys, then she took a breath. “I realized we haven’t thanked you properly—for saving us, that is. And, ehm… we don’t have a lot of money, but maybe we can… pay you later?” She looked up at Emily with what she could only describe as puppy eyes, though they fell quickly as she gazed into Emily’s eyes; they were as hard as the emeralds they resembled.

Emily held the girl with her gaze for a moment; she has fangs to, she realized. “Don’t worry about it,” she said and gave the girl a calming smile. “Saving people is sort of what I do. I wouldn’t ask for payment for something so simple.”

“Really?”

Emily nodded. “Really.”

The girl lit up as a smile spread across her face. “Then, what’s your name?”

“Emily Blackwood.”

“Emily…” she mumbled, as of tasting the name. Then she lit up even brighter than before. “I’m Annelle, but you can call me Ann, and that’s my squirrel, Roco,” she said, and the squirrel chirped. “The other lejion is my sister, Yulann, but you can call her Yu, we are both from the Ionaka tribe. The boys are Rory—that’s the one whose spear you used—and Louie.”

Emily did her best to keep the names in her head, but the fog made them slip, she’d caught Ann and Yu, that would have to do for now. “Right,” she said. “What were you even doing here?”

“Hunting for crystals,” Ann said, as if that explained everything.

“And what does ‘hunting for crystals’ entail?”

“You don’t know?”

“No,” Emily sighed. “I fell from the sky a few hours ago, I have no idea what is going on.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ann looked up at her with eyes that seemed unnaturally large, her dark pupils dilating until they consumed her iris. “Are you an alien?”

Silence fell, even the bickering behind them quieted, nothing could be heard but for the echoing of their footfalls on the cobbled floor. Emily let the moment stretch, drawing it out as she held Ann’s gaze. Just as it seemed someone would break the silence, Emily spoke in a soft sigh.

“Yes.”

Ann gasped theatrically, then devolved into giggles. “No, but really,” she said after having calmed down and wiped her eyes. “Who are you? I didn’t know the guild in Vigilfell had anyone strong enough to slay a Guardian on their own.”

“They don’t,” Rory said from behind them.

“I told you,” Emily sighed, a headache had begun to form behind her temple. “I’m Emily Blackwood, and I fell out of the sky a few hours ago.”

“Sure,” Ann said, though she clearly didn’t believe her. Then she gasped. “Are you a paladin from Eztrenya? I heard they have awesome adventurers over there.”

“A paladin?” Emily scoffed. “Don’t compare me to those zealots. I’m a knight, nothing more.”

“But your magic,” Louie said, “It was holy magic, wasn’t it? I don’t think any other element can produce such a pure light.”

Emily shrugged, not bothering to look back. “Magic is magic. I don’t care what kind it is as long as it gets the job done.”

“But that… that’s ridiculous,” Yu said, suddenly appearing on Emily’s other side. “Everyone has one or two elements of magic they can control; that’s what grandma always said. Right, Ann?”

Ann nodded wildly, her braids and bangs flying as she agreed with her sister.

Emily yawned. “I would prove you wrong. But I used all my magic on saving your lives, so it will have to wait.”

A pale blue light greeted them as they entered the first chamber Emily had reached. They must have taken another path then the one she had taken in, for they hadn’t passed any of the other spiders she had killed. Emily walked in and crouched before the corpse of the one she had almost cut in two. On the ground beneath its split abdomen lay a crystal, not unlike the one hung at her hip, though much smaller.

“Did you kill this one with your hands?” Ann asked.

Emily looked up to see the girl standing before the spider with its own pincer pierced through its skull.

“Yeah.”

“Wow,” she whistled. Then she turned to squirrel, and asked, “Did she really?”

The squirrel nodded, and set about reenacting the fight.

Emily picked the crystal off the floor, to a strangled protest from Yu, who were standing beside her. “Are these the crystals you are hunting?”

Yu nodded. Emily weighed the crystal in her hand. It buzzed with magic, just like the larger one, though with several magnitudes less force.

“Why?”

“We collect them and sell them to the guild in Vigilfell,” Yu explained. “It’s a good way to making money, and get practical experience with fighting.” She hesitated, then asked, “You really don’t know?”

“No, I’ve never heard of something like this,” Emily said and rolled the crystal between her fingers. “How much are they worth?”

Yu seemed like she wanted to ask a question of her own, but she held it. “It depends,” she said. “The small ones range from a few copper to several silver, depending on their size and quantity of magic.”

“And the Guardian crystals?”

“They can go for tens, and sometimes even hundreds of gold,” Yu said, then she added, “Though, usually the reward is split over a dozen or more people.”

That made sense, Emily supposed, nothing she had seen so far indicated any greater fighting ability in these people than those of Mónvell. Emily was going to ask another question, when a cry of pain made her leap to her feet; a mistake she was quickly punished for as her vision blackened. When it cleared she saw Yu crouched before her sister, her hands upon Ann’s shoulders as Ann clutched her hand to her chest, a crystal at her feet.

“Did you leave your wits at mother’s teat?” Yu asked angrily. “Why would you pick it up bare-handed?”

Ann’s eyes were closed and her face scrunched up, and when she answered it was in a barely audible murmur. “Emily could just pick them up. So I thought, maybe…”

“Don’t compare yourself to a stranger we just met!”

“But—”

“Listen to your sister,” Emily interrupted. “You don’t want to compare yourself to me, for more reasons than might at first be obvious.”

Ann looked down, avoiding Yu’s accusing glare, and Emily’s leveled look. “Sorry,” she mumbled, then she winced as her hand brushed against her chest.

Instantly Yu’s expression changed into one of worry. “Does it hurt?” she asked softly.

Ann nodded meekly.

Emily sighed. “Let me have a look.” She squatted before Ann and held out her hand. With some trepidation and a suspicious look from Yu, Ann reached out and laid her hand upon Emily’s. The girl’s skin was warm and smooth, and Emily couldn’t help but notice that her nails were sharpened, like the claws of a cat. The tips of two of her fingers—her thumb and index—were blackened; burned by the magic that had escaped the crystal.

“Magical burns,” Emily muttered as she inspected Ann’s fingers, she made it sound like an oath. “Looks like you dropped it before the magic could do any permanent damage to your nerves, so I doubt there’s more to this than burnt skin. But just in case.”

She kept Ann’s hand in her right, and picked up the crystal from between Ann’s feet with her left. Ann tried to pull her hand away when she did, but Emily gripped it. “Hold still,” she said, a little more harshly than she had intended. Ann froze in place, ears flat against her skull and her pupils dilated until their blackness was all that could be see, and if they had been standing, Emily was sure her tail would have been between her legs. But as they were not, it was instead twirled around Yu’s leg. She looked terrified, but apologies could wait, at least she kept still. Yu held her face neutral, but strained, and worry shone through her eyes as she kept a protective white-knuckle grip on Ann’s shoulders, and her tail twirled alongside Ann’s.

Emily drained the crystal of its magic, like a bucket of water poured out in a desert it formed a tiny pool at the bottom of her source. The crystal in her hand stopped glowing, then crumbled into dust. Emily let it fall to the floor and put her hand over Ann's burns. Closing her eyes she dove into the small pool of magic and muttered, "Heal the flesh, soothe the burn." Her palm lit in a white light that quickly spread to Ann’s fingers, flowing like water across the burned tips.

“It’s cold,” Ann mumbled.

“It’ll be over soon.”

True to Emily’s words, the magic only swirled for another moment, before receding; vanishing from sight. Where there had been blackened tips, it left behind pinkish skin of a slightly paler shade than the twins sun-kissed complexion. Emily leaned back onto the balls of her feet and let go off Ann’s hand. As soon as it was free she pulled it back with a cat’s swiftness, and inspected her fingers.

“They’re healed,” Yu said from above Ann’s head, as Ann seemed too shocked to speak. Both looked at Emily, their faces displaying varying levels of admiration and surprise, ears standing straight up.

“Yeah,” Emily yawned. “That’s usually what healing magic does.” Then she shook her head, and stood up; slower this time. The boys seemed as shocked as the twins, though they hid it a little better, but the way they glanced to each other, and then to Emily, betrayed them.

“Come now,” Emily said. “I would rather not sleep down here. But I will if we don’t get out soon.” And without waiting for an answer she marched on towards the exit.