It was night by the time they reached the harvesting camp. It was small. Smaller than the foundry or the farm. That made sense. They didn’t do anything here other than collect the mana forests resources, then have kin ship it out. It was their final target. That was good. Tabatha was utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically.

She looked up to the starry sky. As they lay in the tall grass. The heavens was filled with countless lights that twinkled down at her.

So pretty, Tabatha thought. So why does the world have to be so ugly?

She looked at her master. Her hero and the first cultivator, the Azure Magebane as she laid near her. Tabatha didn’t understand how Azura kept going. She wasn’t much help. Tabatha knew that, yet she had insisted on coming. She had thought it would be an adventure… technically it was. She just didn’t realize how real it was going to be. The stories didn’t prepare you for the sight of a corpse. They never portray the smell of viscera and shit that was left over after death. The realization that at the end, you’re just meat. She understood that now. Yet, Azura kept going. Was this what it meant to be a cultivator? The cost of having power? Was she too going to have to step over a field of corpses on her path… She hoped not.

“Their asleep,” Hamal said. Tabatha held back a squeak as he appeared out of nowhere. Her master wasn’t surprised. Of course she wasn’t. She was the Magebane.

“How many are on watch?” Azura asked.

“None,” Hamal said.

“None?” Gerald asked. None, sounded wrong to her too.

Hamal shrugged, “They barred the door and aren’t expecting trouble. The kin are kept in separate housing. Why would they need a guard?”

“That’ll change after tonight,” Gwen chuckled darkly. Tabatha avoid looking at the kin. She gave her the creeps.

“It’ll change everywhere,” Hamal agreed.

“What’s the plan?” Azura asked. “Do we just attack them and take the kin?”

“Just burn down with mages in it,” Gwen suggested.

“That would damage the tools we want,” Hamal said.

Tabatha was sick of all the death. Worse still she saw it in her master’s eyes. She was tired of the deaths too. Tabatha understood that it might be necessary, but surely there had to be a better way. As the other argue she thought of possibility after possibility until she settled on one.

“I’ve got an idea,” Tabatha said timidly.

Gwen scoffed but Azura laid a reassuring hand on her back.

“What is it?”

Tabatha looked right at the Magebane. “Go knock on their door.”

Gwen laughed. “What kind of stupid ass plan is that?”

Gerald growled softly at the half badger-kin. Before addressing Tabatha. “Can you explain more?”

“Well the trouble is that as soon as we attack the kin are in danger. So why not have master go knock on their door while the rest of us guard the kin. She can demand their surrender. We can then take all the goods without killing anyone.”

“Fuck that,” Gwen scoffed. “We should kill them all for what they did.”

“We don’t know these mages did anything. The kin aren’t exactly under lock and key,” Tabatha countered.

“They don’t have to be with slave runes!” Gwen snapped.

Hamal tapped his chin. “The idea has merit. It might save more kin in the long run. If Azura shows that she’ll let mages go if they give up their kin then we might have to fight less in the future. It might also reduce the risk of mages trying to take hostages. I think we should try it. Worse case, they attack Azura and she finishes them. At least this way we can say we tried a better way.”

Gerald patted her on the head. “Good job.”

Azura looked at her before nodding. “It’s worth a try.”

This time there was no stealth. Instead Azura walked right up to the main door as Tabatha and the others stood guard by the kin housing. Housing was a generous term. It was more like a barely held together shack. Azura looked back at them before knocking. Knocking. Who would expect the terror of mages to knock? After several minutes the door opened and Azura stepped inside before anyone could protest. The door closed and Tabatha waited, breath held.

Shouting and angry demands was followed by several spells that blew away parts of the wall. Tabatha’s heart sank. She was so sure this would work better. Another spell, then nothing. Tabatha was torn between rushing to her master’s side and not wanting to see the carnage again. The door opened and several mages marched out, hands on their heads. Azura came after them unharmed.

“You did it!” Tabatha shrieked in delight. Azura gave her a sad smile.

“Only some of them surrendered. It took several examples for that to happen. At least I got some blood essence out of it.”

Tabatha stopped not wanting to go inside. She had already see too much today.

Gwen scoffed and went in followed by Gerald. Hamal approached the mages.

“Give me the key to kin’s shack.” Hamal stuck out his hand waiting. One of the mages gave a fearful glance at Azura before doing what he said. In minutes the kin were free gawking at them.

A slew of questions flew out. What was happening? Who they were? Was that really the Azure Magebane? Tabatha waiting for Azura to respond, instead she pushed her forward.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It was your idea. You handle it,” her master said.

Tabatha gulped. She summoned all the fake confidence she had and addressed the group. Gerald must have sent the signal as more kin arrived to loot the building. Before she was done answering all the questions a roaring fire was all that was left of the harvesting camp. The mages watched it burn as the kin left them there.

As soon as Azura awaken all the kin’s mana pools the group left to reach their new home. Azura couldn’t wait to sleep. She didn’t physically ache. Her ki powered body wouldn’t succumb to something so mundane. Her pain was emotional. The deaths replayed in her mind as they traveled. She almost wished something would attack to take her thoughts away from all that happened. Tabatha walked next to her stumbling slightly. Hamal had rushed off to report to his mother and to get more rat-kin to help escort them back. Normally Azura would’ve told him she’d do it. But with her mental fatigue she might react slowly if she was needed. She lost enough kin already. Gwen looked satisfied as she followed along. At least someone was. Gerald was tired but still aware and ready. He was doing better than she was.

Thankfully their adventures appeared to be over and they arrived without incident. It was now early morning, the sun cresting the horizon when they got home. Home. It wasn’t much of a home. Really not much more than a series of holes in the ground. But it wasn’t a muddy uncomfortable hole. It was a hole made by mole kin and you couldn’t ask for better. Unless it wasn’t a hole, then it would defiantly be better. But it wasn’t and… Azura thoughts about hole and moles, and moles that made holes got so turned around she nearly stumbled. Her mental dialogue spitting out nonsense from her fatigue.

Several kin were already awake doing various tasks. The nearest kin spotted them waving in excitement. Soon more kin arrived helping to take the supplies and guide the new kin to where they could rest. Soon it was just Azura as the others sought out their beds. She stumbled down the tunnel that led to the small room that she and her mother shared. Her mind was in a fog. For a moment she failed to notice when her mother and Fatania appeared chatting from around a corner. Her mother beamed at her while Fatania nodded in approval.

“Good job,” Fatania said.

“Good job… Good Job!? We lost kin! I could have saved them! If only I rushed on ahead when we were spotted. I could have saved them!” Azura snarled her fatigue vanishing as a sudden rage took over. “My bad choice caused them to die. HOW IS THAT A FUCKING GOOD JOB?!”

“Hamal said the same when he reported to me,” Fatania said calmly in the face of her fury. “He made a bad call. It happens. None of you have the experience at this sort of thing. None of us do. Hamal’s a great assassin. But this wasn’t work from the shadows. This was a soldier’s fight. So yes, you did a good job. Perhaps you could have saved more if you rushed on head. Perhaps not. We’ll never know.”

“KIN DIED!” Azura wailed in fury churned with sadness.

“LOTS OF KIN DIED JUST A FEW DAYS AGO! MORE WILL DIE TOMMORROW AND THE DAY AFTER THAT!” Fatania snapped and Azura flinched. “This is a war! Don’t expect victories without blood on both sides. KIN WILL DIE! You should hate it. But if you do nothing they will spend the remainder of their miserable lives slaving away for their mage masters. Losing a few now is better than leaving them to that fate.” Fatania gazed soften as did her tone as tears welled in Azura’s eyes. “The cost of war is high. But the cost of doing nothing, is even higher.”

The words drained the fight from Azura. She didn’t know why she snapped in the first place. It wasn’t Fatania’s fault. She was just so tired.

Coralline wrapped her daughter in a tight embrace as she swayed. Fatania continued her voice now gentle.

“You can’t save everyone. Even when we all get as powerful as you are. We still won’t be able to save everyone. Facing loss and trying to learn from your mistakes is the best we can do. You will make more mistakes that will cost lives. I’m sorry, but that is a fact. All I can promise you is this. This burden isn’t yours alone. I’ll do my best to help you. We all will. You’re not alone.”

Azura trembled in a combination of fury and guilt as the damn holding back her emotions shuddered, then broke. She broken down crying as her mother clutched her. Azura wept into her mother’s soft fur much as she did when Toren had died. She continued to weep even as Coralline escorted her to bed.

The hours passed yet Azura laid awake despite her fatigue. The screams of the kin melting wouldn’t grant her any rest. Even the gentle ear massages from her mother couldn’t help.

“Honey,” Coralline said hesitantly. “Can you make a fantasy? You know, like you did before all this began?”

“I’m not a child anymore. Besides, I don’t think I have it in me to play out some adventure.”

“Not an adventure. I want you to fantasize a happy peaceful life where everyone lives and no one fights.”

Azura was silent for a long moment.

“I’m not sure I can.”

“Please… For me?” Coralline said holding her tight.

“I’ll try…” Azura closed her eyes and called on her magic. Not some magic powered by mana. Nor the great strength offered by ki. But the first magic. The purest source of all wonder. A child’s imagination. It was hard. It had been so long and see seen so much. For a long moment she thought she couldn’t. The burden of reality was almost too heavy. Then it began to settle into place.

The family relaxed as the noon sun shone overhead. The day was warm. Not too cold or hot. It was the perfect temperature that you only find before the summer’s peak and near its end. The mother and daughter rested under the shade of willow tree near a happily gurgling river. A picnic was laid out before them with far too much food for the two of them. Fortunately, they weren’t alone. Fatania and Alenina held fishing rods gossiping about whose donation to the picnic was most popular. Fatania insisted that her potato salad counted as a legendary dish. Alenina retorted that her carrot cake received the most attention from the children. Burton, Gerald’s father, was standing by the river laughing. The joyous bear-kin was tossing Toren’s many sisters into the water. They screamed in delight as they rush back to the large bear-kin eager for another.

“Yahoo!” Tabatha screamed as her turn came up. The little rabbit-kin managed to do a flip before she crashed into the refreshing stream.

And of course, he was there. Toren ran with Hamal and Gerald, young children again, each brandishing sticks pretending they were great adventurers. Azura watched them for a moment. She tried to join them on their quest. However, she could no longer do so. A wall of experience barbed with blood and death barred her way. Instead a younger Azura materialized joining her friends. Azura laid back with her mother as she watched a younger version of herself play. The children ran poking at bushes with their imaginary swords. They dove into the water catching frogs as they declared them hostile orcs. The slippery amphibians would escape their grasp only to be caught again taking up a new role. Toren decided that this time the frog was a prince and that only a pure maiden kiss could break the spell. So he asked the young Azura to fetch Tabatha. The frog was freed when she bopped him on the head.

Soon the children left the water exhausted as their parents brought them squished sandwiches. To them they were travel rations after years on the road as they made their way to a dark lord’s dungeon, where they would challenge his reign of terror. Far too soon, it was over.

The children stopped playing as their parents collected them returning home. Only the young Azura was left with her younger mother waiting for her atop a small hill. Next to her was an indistinct figure. A man she had never met. Her father. In the fantasy although she could not make out any distinguishing features she could see his smile, his arms spread out in a welcoming hug. The young Azura rushed forward into her parents loving embrace. Azura watched the family chatted merrily as they headed home leaving her behind. For a brief moment the young Azura turned back to look at her older counterpart. She waved goodbye for the final time as the family faded from view.

The fantasy ended as Azura tight embraced on her mother loosened.

“That was nice,” Coralline said her voice scratchy and eyes watery.

Azura didn’t answer. She was already asleep.