Jeva finally reached the top of the hill. She leaned on her knees and panted, looking back down the hill to look at her handiwork. To her dismay, it didn't look that far to the bottom. She swore though, if anyone was wondering, that was a big hill! She sat down and kicked her legs out to rest a little.

Being a courier was a hard job, and she would gladly change if she could, but she was also just happy to have work in this foreign land. She was from Tubarai originally, which was to the west, but her family had moved to the kingdom Donfas six years ago because of a food shortage in Tubarai.

She hadn't seen her family for some time, not since getting the courier job, but her food and housing was all taken care of so it was a no brainer unless she could go to school or get an apprenticeship somewhere. She had enough money now to where she could buy new clothes that didn't look like they were from Tubarai, which would be important to get another job since most places would hire someone from Donfas first.

The town for this delivery was in sight now, only a mile away. This time she was giving a letter from a governor, a very important customer! She was supposed to deliver it to an old wizard, someone who had taught in an academy in his younger days. She knew what it was, a recruitment letter. Donfas was obviously having big problems with those invaders in the south, because a lot of these kinds of letters were going out.

She stood up, having caught her breath, and jogged towards the town. She was looking for a three story house, which should be the only one. She couldn't tell where it was right away, but after wandering around a bit she spotted the third floor sticking up behind a shorter building. She went to the door and knocked, taking the letter out of her pouch so that she was ready to present it.

A little bit later, an elderly man opened the door. She asked in her best official voice, "Greetings, sir. Is your name Atrali Narium Ofestus Randrol?"

"I am." He sounded bothered. She'd probably just interrupted him, but such is the job.

She bowed and held the letter up, "A letter from governor Octicus!"

"You're a courier?" He took and opened the letter, "That can't be right, how old are you?"

"Thirteen, sir!"

"They're using thirteen year old girls for courier jobs now? What has this nation come to." He started reading, and his critical expression faded.

"Oh…" when he finished he looked back up at Jeva, "Can you write?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Come inside. I'll dictate a response letter to you. And I'll give you food and water."

"Thank you, sir!"

He started going through cupboards and rummaging together a decent meal. "South Hrondir is six miles away. Is that how far you ran here? Six miles?"

"Yes, sir!"

"You don't have to keep standing at attention. Go ahead and sit down; there's a desk right there. So you ran six miles already today, and how are you going to get home? Are you going to run six miles back?"

"Yes, s-. And I'll deliver your letter while I'm at it!"

"Ah, you caught yourself. I heard that, you almost called me sir after I'd told you to stop. Good job. And good job at your deliveries, I guess if you can run that well it doesn't mean anything that you're only thirteen." He put a plate of food on the desk and then brought a glass of water. She'd never drank out of a glass before, so that was pretty exciting.

"Thank you Mr. Randrol!"

He gave her a funny look. That wasn't quite how his name worked, but it wouldn't be worth the hassle to explain it. "I'll get your pay, and then when you're done eating you can start transcribing."

"Excuse me, don't I need silverware?"

"No, that's all finger food."

"Oh! I just figured, there was a glass- nevermind."

She finished her meal and washed her hands in a basin he showed her, then he placed a paper and quill in front of her on the desk. "Respectable Governor Octicus, I have received your letter requesting me to join the war effort, but it is with the utmost confidence in my decision that I must decline."

Jeva stood up, "Decline?"

"Yes, decline. Write it down."

She sat back down, "I hope he doesn't blame the messenger…"

"That I must decline. I put more than my share of work into the military academy, and so I feel that I have the right. Now that I have moved on from such things towards work with more of a personal interest, I see it as reaping the benefits of past loyalty. Furthermore, the nature of any war that I might consider accepting your request to join would have to be taken into account. This, being in all technicality a civil war, which was brought about by historical choices I have always looked back on as foolish, is not something I would consider devoting my efforts towards. And, don't be angry with the messenger. She didn't want me to decline either."

He smiled at Jeva after that last sentence, and she smiled back in a silent "thank you." She folded up the letter and placed it in an envelope, which she tucked away in her satchel. He brought her pay for the delivery, they said their goodbyes, and she left for her next delivery.

Seconds after the door had closed behind her, she knocked again. The wizard answered, “Did you forget something?”

“Uh, there’s something happening out here. I think you should see.”

He stepped outside. He couldn’t see anything, but there was quite a lot of noise happening. “What is that?”

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of screaming though.”

“Screaming?” His brow furrowed, “And it’s coming from the South… Get inside. Get inside just in case.”

She hid behind him as he stood in the door. They waited as the commotion went on, but several minutes later, he spotted them. "I can't believe it… they've already come this far? Then Hathor has already fallen?"

"Who?" Jeva asked.

"The Haverdash, the people the war is against. That letter we wrote is expired now."

The Haverdash in sight went into a house and forced the family out. He made them all bow and swear fealty to Haverdash, but killed the old man among them, who couldn't do physical labor. He kicked the family to their feet and forced them to head toward the center of town, but the wizard yelled to him, "Hey, Haverdash! I won't submit to your miserable race! You'll bow to me if you know what's good for you!"

The Haverdash yelled at the family he was leading to go to the town center if they didn't want to end up dead, then split off to rush the wizard.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"That got his attention." He drew his arms back, and shoved against the air with all his strength. A ball of fire combusted out of nothing and streamed through the air to engulf the Haverdash and send his body flying back.

Jeva involuntarily whispered, "Woah."

The wizard was breathing heavily, watching the Haverdash lying on the ground. It lifted its arm to prop itself up, and the wizard punched the door frame in frustration, "He's not dead? That's ridiculous!"

It clamored to its feet, and despite currently burning alive, shouted to another with an unburdened voice, "Narshan, magic user! Leave them and help me here!"

Narshan, in turn, called another attacker. In seconds there were four Haverdash approaching the building. Two of them approached from the front, but two diverted toward the sides of the building. The wizard raised his arms in a ready position, and the Haverdash prodded at him, ducking in and out, to goad another heavy attack they could then use as an opening. There was a shattering of glass, and the two Haverdash who had gone to the side leaped through windows to get inside. Jeva screamed and ran up the stairs to get away. One Haverdash pursued her, and the other went to backstab the wizard.

Jeva heard the explosion of him casting a heavy spell just as she ran into a room with a thick door. She threw it shut and locked the latch, then looked around the room for something to help her. The room was fully made of metal and stone, and the inside of that thick wooden door was a sheet of metal.

Red hot scorch marks, glowing enough to illuminate the room, strewn across the stone suggested this was a place where he used large, flaming spells. Unfortunately that meant there was no window to climb out of. The Haverdash rammed his weight against the door, and Jeva searched the room more desperately. This time she noticed the subtle outline of a door in the stone wall on the left, so she felt all over it for some manner of handle.

There was a ragged stone with a distinct handhold, so she grabbed it and fiddled, finding that it turned. She pulled open the door and slipped through, closing it behind her. She looked around the thin room, slapping her thigh in frustration. This place was no more helpful than the last, it was only a row of bookshelves. The Haverdash slammed against the door again, and this time there was a metallic screeching as the latch was pulled a little.

If it broke in here it would see just as she had that there wasn’t anywhere to go, so it would eventually find this smaller room. She had something in here to help her, but she didn't have much optimism. This room was illuminated by a small stone, so there was the option that she could hide that stone in the bookshelves. Then maybe if she hid by the door the Haverdash wouldn't see her in the darkness and walk past her. It was a little silly, but it was that or use a book as a doorstop.

*Slam* she jumped at the sound, and the latch made an audible strain. She picked up the stone and started looking for a good spot to stash it in the bookshelf. As she did she inevitably read some of the titles, and one caught her eye. The First Steps of Pyromancy. She wasn't familiar with "Pyromancy", but the picture of fire on the front gave her the hint.

Her idea was risky, but so was hoping the Haverdash wouldn't see her. She was a fast learner, and a fast reader, and so she bet on herself. She wasn't much of a fighter, but she still would rather be able to at least try and defend herself. *Slam* she grabbed the book and started rifling through it as fast as she could. "For the few who are able by birth or special selection to use such magic…"

*Slam* The door broke open, and the Haverdash entered the other room. "By concentration, and simultaneously utilizing the strong sensation of wildness, one may attune themselves in the proper way…” The footsteps walked around the whole room quickly, then started moving slowly as they scanned more carefully.

“By use of a word that communicates and organizes the energy inside you…” The footsteps make their way to the correct wall. “Visualize, and add a physical motion to help you visualize…”

The door swung open, and the Haverdash stared fiercely at Jeva. “... and say, or simply think, Sachak”

The Haverdash closed the distance, Jeva reeled her arms back, the Haverdash began an upward swing with its sword, and Jeva threw her arms forward as if to push him away. A ball of fire erupted out of her hands and slammed into the Haverdash’s head with a fiery explosion. He flipped over and whacked his head against the ground with his feet in the air, dropping his sword and bringing his hands to his eyes and avoid being blinded.

Jeva jumped over him and hurried out the door. Her legs were heavy, like she’d just sprinted a great distance, but she limped away like the best of them. She ran into the hallway and looked in another room, there was a window! She ran in, opened the window, and started climbing out. She lowered herself and hung by her fingertips to reduce the fall distance before bracing herself and letting go.

The little breath she had was knocked out when she landed. She lay there breathing heavily, trying to regain it. The burned face of the Haverdash looked out the window, and he looked prepared to jump. Jeva reared her arms back as if to heave another fireball. She couldn’t possibly muster another one, but he might not know that.

He turned away from her, and she heard talking. Another Haverdash must have come up the stairs, which meant the wizard was dead. She tried not to think about it, but her heart sank. She couldn’t stay there, so she took her chance when they were talking and ran. She wasn’t nearly fast enough though, she felt it. They would be able to run her down easily.

She looked back and the one whose face she burned leaped out of the window in pursuit; she’d only made it a hundred feet. There was no way she could make another fireball with the energy she had left. She faced forward and tried to push herself with all that she had, and then she noticed a knight in steel armor riding toward them. Though, either the horse was massive, or he was very small.

A sword seemingly made of light appeared by him and streamed toward her. She ducked reflexively, but it was going above her anyway. She looked back at the Haverdash. A shield of light appeared just in front of him so that he crashed into it and couldn’t change his direction, then it disappeared just in time for the sword to go through where it had been and pierce him.

She looked back at the knight and saw him swing low to decapitate the struggling Haverdash. He rode back to her and dismounted, signaling for his horse to head off a ways. She gawked, first at the fact that the knight indeed was very small, he couldn’t have been any older than her, and then at the horse obediently galloping over a hundred feet off but then stopping and waiting.

“Stay behind me,” The boy said. Two Haverdash were looking at them from beside the building, which was quickly catching fire.

Jeva exclaimed, "You can use magic too!"

He looked back, "You can use magic?"

"Yes! I think I'm the one that set that house on fire!"

"... That's not good."

"It sounded better before I said it. Still! I can make fire!"

He faced the Haverdash, who were walking towards him together with malicious glares. "Nice. You did a number on that other one then." The Haverdash split up and stood on opposite sides of them, then continued to draw closer. Andal complained, "If they could stop surrounding me for ten seconds…"

Jeva got back to back with Andal and raised her arms, "If we can delay them a little longer then I can make fire again. I feel like I'm almost ready."

"I have a good tool for that. Sit down."

"What?"

"Sit down!"

The Haverdash found their bickering a good time to rush in, Jeva sat quickly, and Andal made gusts of winds shoot out from him. The Haverdash were thrown back, but Jeva was only pushed against the ground.

"Well that was exciting!" She exclaimed.

"Just tell me when you're ready."

"I think I'm ready now," she barked at the Haverdash, "Let's go, uglies!" Andal smiled at that, the first time he'd smiled in the past week.

"Boy,” a Haverdash spoke, “Are you a templar?”

“Yes, I am!”

“Then where are you from?”

“Hathor, the City of Grace! We serve Nishir, and chase ba-”

“Hathor? So Moxey screwed up? How many of you got away?”

“All but two, Nishir’s servants won’t lose to the likes of you!”

Both Haverdash chuckled at that, “His city can fall but his servants can’t? Right.”

The other one spoke, “Look at his horse. It’s exhausted. He didn’t come from a camp, he’s been riding for a while, which means he’s on his own. He has no idea if the others lived.” Andal stood defiantly, but was unable to refute that.

“Good point. Moxey wouldn’t screw up that badly.” He looked at Andal, “Wait until he finds out about you. He’ll ravage the countryside to find you, he’s obsessive when he wants something done."

Andal shifted his feet uncomfortably, staying in a fighting stance. "Does Moxey use a metal rod to fight?"

“That's him, Madman Moxey."

The other Haverdash corrected him, "It's Misfit Moxey."

The first one chuckled, "I've never heard that one before, I like it."

Andal and Jeva looked back and forth between them. Andal jeered, "Too scared to attack? I've never seen a Haverdash hold back before!"

He gave an annoyed glare, but the taunting was otherwise ineffective. "I've got a tough decision to make."

The other one asked him, "So what have you decided?"

"I think our best option is to kill these two as quickly as possible."

"We aren't supposed to engage magic users unless we outnumber them, you know."

"But the humans are already starting to run. I thought of holding hostages until the transport team arrived, but then all the humans would run except the two we're holding. So our only chance at completing the job is to kill these two now."

"Fine by me. But don't you want to see how long they can stand like that?" They laughed. Andal and Jeva had both been ready for the Haverdash to attack at any second, and their arms were getting heavy.

The Haverdash both attacked unannounced.

Andal leaned forward to meet him and cut upward with his sword. The Haverdash blocked it easily, but before it could turn that block into an attack a shield of aegis appeared in front of its face. Just as the shield clotheslined the Haverdash, Andal made a sword of light behind his neck for him to fall on.

Jeva watched the hips of the Haverdash, which can dodge the least, and shoved the air to send a fireball at them. The Haverdash was fast enough to partially dodge but its right side got hit, and it was blasted off to it's left. Jeva jumped for joy, but stumbled back into Andal. That didn't kill them, unfortunately, so Andal would have to finish it off. The fireballs did have a propensity to blind their targets for at least as long as they were set on fire, so Andal made a sword above him that shot down while he was still struggling in flame.

Andal breathed a sigh of relief and fell to his knees. Jeva was equally exhausted, but propelled to jump in excitement by their victory. She stood by the Haverdash with pride plastered over a smile. She noticed a bottle of wine and picked it up, miming a man at a bar making a toast. Andal leaped to his feet, knowing that just a stray drop could cripple her.

He yanked the bottle out of her hand and chucked it at a close apple tree in someone’s garden. The bottle shattered, and the tree convulsed. A wave of blackness ran from the point of impact up through its branches, then the portion of the trunk splashed the most fell away. The tree crumpled.

Andal looked at Jeva, who hid her hands behind her back.