Silvia woke to find herself pressed into Darren’s back, her arms and face buried against him, hiding from the cold. She jolted upright and pulled the sides and top of her hair back into a small ponytail, leaving the rest to fall down onto her shoulders loosely. She rubbed her eyes as Darren sat up and shivered. They pulled out their winter coats and put them on. The cream colored fur that lined the insides and the high collar sealed in their own heat, while the leather exterior kept the cold at bay. They stowed their blankets and Darren joined Adrock up front on the drivers bench.

“Seems a cold snap hit while the two of you were out. Should only last a few hours before we’re back to sunny and warm.” the man said as Darren settled in next to him. Small flakes of snow fell on them both. “I'm so glad your uncle sent you, miss. We're in dire need of help before this situation gets out of hand.” the patron said as he led the wagon to the main road of his small town. They saw buildings start to appear in a somewhat scattered fashion before they consistently lined the road. Mostly built of wood, with just a few of stone, it was definitely a far cry from the city they lived above.

“I only hope I'll be able to solve the problem to everyone's satisfaction, patron.” Silvia replied formally.

“Oh don't worry about the title, miss. I'm already in your debt for just coming back here.” he gave a nervous glance over his shoulder at her.

“Oh not at all.” Darren said. “After all, it's our job.”

“I suppose, it still means a great deal that the gerent would have enough concern for our village to send his own favorite niece to help us.” the patron replied with a smile.

The cart was driven up the town's main road, which led to the patron's own house. He stopped the cart out front “You both can get off here, as long as you're in town you're welcome to stay in my home. I'll park the cart and join you inside shortly.” He gave them a small friendly smile though he still seemed uncomfortable with a member of a royal house being in his small town.

“Very well, we will wait for you inside.” Silvia said as she stepped out of the cart's back portion with a regal air.

“No hurry, sir.” Darren told the patron before leaping from the cart to land in the dirt next to Silvia. He leaned in to whisper to her “You know you can drop the lofty attitude, just cause you're 'royalty' doesn't mean you have to make the old man nervous.”

“We are here on official business for my uncle, we must uphold a sense of professionalism. So keep it together.” she said with an intense look before walking towards the large straw-roofed house.

Darren let out a sigh and followed her.

They entered the quaint home and were greeted formally by an older woman

“Nice to make your acquaintance, my lady. Good sir. My name is Erda, the patron’s wife.” She smiled sheepishly and motioned for them to sit at the table in the center of the kitchen.

From the kitchen there was a doorway that stepped down into a den, and a hallway that led back to the bedrooms and bathroom. The walls were covered in knick-knacks and small sentimental treasures that lent the home a cozy feeling.

“I expected you to have more luggage.” the older woman said after they had been seated.

“Everything we need is contained here.” Silvia said as she patted the fine leather satchel hung over her shoulder. The large embroidered Chevalier crest emblazoned across the front.

“Seems so small for a young lady to live out of.” Erda remarked.

“It’s not so bad. The bag is imbued with magic and holds more than you’d guess.” Silvia replied.

“Well there’s a bedroom at the end of that hallway, it’s yours as long as you’re here.” Erda smiled sheepishly.

Just the one room? Silvia thought, perturbed.

Oh we just sleep in the training room half the time anyways, get over it. Darren replied

The patron came in and walked to stand beside his wife.

“So, sir, where is this creature's lair? We should waste no time, lest more lives be lost.” Silvia feigned confidence, as though she had experience with such things.

“Well we know where it is, but are you sure you wish to go there now?” Adrock asked her, a bit surprised.

“As soon as we choose our gear we will depart, I want to at least get a look at the place.” she said as she stood and walked down the hall.

“Apparently we aren't gonna waste any time.” Darren said as he followed her.

The patron and his wife exchanged a worried glance as they watched the two leave their kitchen.

“So he said it was in a cave right?” Darren asked.

“Yes, in a cave system a short distance outside of town. You should wear light gear, you can't have clunky heavy armor in the tight passageways.” she replied.

“Yep, and I'll take a smaller weapon so I can maneuver better.”

She pulled a short curved sword in a scabbard out of the satchel and gave it to Darren, which he strapped to his belt. He donned his light armor, familiar with the routine now, and yanked the straps tightly securing it to his body.

“So what's the plan?” Darren asked her “You're the mage, come up with somethin' magical.” he grinned.

“Simple, when we see it, I imbue you. While you're empowered by my energy you should be able to easily handle it. From the size of the prints I think it’s only an adolescent.”

“That simple? Make me strong then I fight it head on?” He stared blankly before shrugging “You know more about it than I do.”

“Well if we face it in the open it’ll be too fast on open ground, so I think in the cave is the best move. That will hinder its mobility, but it’s still extremely strong so we have to level that out.” she replied. “Leave now, I'm going to change from my traveling clothes.” Silvia motioned towards the door.

“Alright, your highness.” he said vacating the room.

“Stop calling me that.” she said just before he shut the door to return to the kitchen.

“Are you just going to wear that?” Erda asked when he returned in his light armor, just a chestpiece and some bracers of metal with small plates on the legs.

“I’ll be honest I thought you’d have full plate, like them knights.” Adrock added.

“I gotta be mobile when we go into that cave. You think this is light, wait till you see the young miss.” Darren responded.

Just as he finished his sentence Silvia walked out of their room, wearing only tight blue canvas pants with leather knee pads, and a light leather tunic with some metal on the chest and back. The older couple looked shocked.

“Is something wrong? Come, let's be on our way.” She told them as she adjusted the small sword on her waist and walked towards the door. “We have a job, naught to do but get to it.” She tried to cover the shakiness in her voice.

The patron led them, with a small collection of the village's larger men brandishing tools and pitchforks, to the mouth of a dark and ominous cave. Bones of livestock were scattered about the entrance. Snow fell slowly around them and the villagers as wind whipped the flakes this way and that.

“This is the place, you can see its tracks in the mud here.” Adrock said, pointing to some large prints leading into the darkness.

Darren stepped forward, a villager held a torch out for him to take.

“No need, my man.” Darren cracked his knuckles. He set foot in the dark cave mouth and bright purple light emanated from his upper arms, the magical runes glowed at his will, lighting up the darkness. He aimed his palm forward and cast a bright spotlight down the dark tunnel from a small hole sewn in the palm of his glove. He could feel his heart racing as he breathed the stagnant air.

Silvia pulled out her Index and quickly selected Light in one hand and Imbue in the other. She formed a small ball of light in her hand to help Darren illuminate the cave as they walked in side by side. The villagers all stayed near the entrance murmuring.

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“You can all go back to the village.” Silvia said “We shall return when the job is done.”

They looked hesitant, but gradually began to leave, heeding her words.

Darren nudged her shoulder to get her attention back on their task. “Are you ready for this?” he asked her.

“Of course I am, of course we are.” she pushed him forward, a show of her readiness to proceed.

They continued through the caves for longer than they had expected. The system was much more intricate than they had anticipated. The tunnels went on, deeper and somehow darker with each step.

Somethin' doesn't feel right. The air here, it's heavy. Almost feels angry. Darren thought as he placed his feet carefully, taking slow steps through the dank passageway.

We must be getting closer to the source, that’s its aura strengthening. She replied.

Should you imbue me now, or wait till we actually see it? It could get the drop on us.

We'll wait a bit, it feels a ways off. I still can't focus my power for very long, and it would help if I could stand still as long as I'm doing it. Silvia felt a shift in her senses as something changed. The aura is moving, it may know someone is pursuing it.

Darren let one hand fall slowly to the handle of the sword slung low on his hip. He could somehow feel the tension in the air get a sharp edge to it, akin to the feeling one might get watching a cat before it pounces. He could hear something, slight at first, but the sound was growing. Almost like trickling water flowing towards them. Suddenly he saw small forms running across the ground, as they entered the spotlight aimed from his hand he recognized them as rats. A handful of the vermin were running down the tunnel and around their feet. For them to run into light past humans standing directly in front of them, they must have been escaping a much bigger threat.

Dim the lights. Darren thought while drawing his sword, his heart began beating out of control.

No, this creature can see in the dark. Silvia felt panic but tried to hide it. She held her hand out in front of her pointing roughly in the direction the rats came from. She held her palms together and started to pool her mana in them. As she did she felt something in her magic was off, she realized what she was focusing wasn’t the spell to imbue.

Should you hit me n- Darren’s thought cut short as he noticed a large black form could be made out in the darkness, just beyond the light .

Four legged, with its head low, prowling and looking for its moment. The large spines that extended out of its back were angled down to make it smaller, light glinted off the sharp edges. It lowered itself against the ground, a sleek but large body readied itself, then quick as lightning it pounced. From almost twenty feet away, yet it seemed it would be able to close the distance with one long leap, even in the low tunnel.

Darren's eyes widened, he froze for a moment as it sailed through the air. “Silvia!” Darren yelled as he brought up the sword to try and defend himself against the incoming creature.

As he yelled her hands lit up with a bright purple light, and a wave of raw magical energy pulsed forth from her and collided with the creature mid-air. Its body smashed up into the ceiling of the tunnel, it scraped against the roof for a short distance before plummeting downwards into a rough and inelegant roll. Blinded, it let out a grizzled roar as it lashed out in every direction, scoring large gashes in the stone and dirt along the walls with its oversized claws.

Silvia realized she hadn’t selected Imbue, but Force. The symbols looked so similar, she’d hit it with all she had, Force and Light, “Darren, it's blinded, finish it!”

He dodged back avoiding a swipe from the massive claws, then sprang forward and thrust his sword, not at the creature's body, but into its paw. He stabbed through the sharp appendage and stuck it into the clay wall. It let out a screech, this time from pain rather than rage. Darren pulled the dagger from the sheath on his chest, as the creature batted at him with its other forepaw. He caught it just behind the joint and lifted its leg over his head. The vylox bent its head down to bite blindly where it thought he was, as it did he sent his whole hand, blade up, into the creatures gnashing maw. As it bit down the blade pushed up through the roof of its mouth and came out one of its eyes. Darren hadn't angled the blade back far enough, and though he wounded the creature its jagged teeth still bit down, sinking into his forearm.

Pain seared through his mind, his arm erupted with blood, spraying across his face and the wall. He let out a guttural roar almost matching that of the creature as it reared its head back. It ripped through the flesh on his forearm but kept a hold of him by the wrist and lifted him from the ground, causing him to lose control over its paw, which it used to slam him against the wall next to his sword.

Silvia’s panic deepend, seeing Darren's arm gushing blood down his torso. “Fuck!” she yelled, not knowing what else to do. She couldn't think, her muscles reacted on their own, she ran forward and threw her small body against the creature's. It was already off-balance, standing on two legs, this extra weight slamming into it knocked it towards the ground, pulling Darren by his arm down with it. Their combined weight put so much strain on the paw pierced by the sword that it messily ripped through the flesh, splitting it in two, and leaving the sword buried in the earthen wall.

They all landed in a heap, with the creature on the bottom. In the close quarters Silvia pulled her own dagger from her belt and buried it deep into the beast's chest. With both hands she ripped the dagger out and slammed it back in, over and over. It thrashed and tried to claw at Silvia, but Darren caught the paw again, holding it over her and keeping it from flaying her back. The creature still had Darren by his hand, and shook its head relentlessly, tearing more muscle and tendon and shattering the bone in his forearm. The split paw thrashed towards Silvia, but unable to get around Darren's back it tore at what it could. The sharp claws ripped straight through his clothes and after a few swipes even split the metal covering him, gashing deeply into the flesh of his back.

He was losing too much blood and he knew it, even through the pain and fear he could realize that. All he could do was try and keep it from mauling Silvia. His strength began to give out, but the creature was losing strength too. Its blue blood spewed forth from the multiplying geysers in its chest as Silvia slammed her blade into it time and again.

Slowly all the thrashing and growling and painful roars, both human and bestial, quieted and slowed, until all three of them were almost motionless, almost silent. The only movement being Silvia's shoulders and chest, as she created the only sound, her heavy adrenalin fueled breathing. She wrenched the dagger free of the creature's body and stood, only to have her knees shake and hardly hold her weight. She fell against one wall, her breathing still out of control. She slid down the wall slowly, gradually reaching her knees as she hyperventilated. She wiped her sweat drenched bangs from her eyes, not realizing she had smeared blood across her face, and looked at the two forms just out of her reach. Darren and the vylox.

“Darren?” she said as she placed one hand on the ground and one against the wall and labored to reach her feet. This only being their second assignment, she still wasn't accustomed to the toll a life or death situation had on her, and how much more tiring magical activity became under such circumstances.

She reached for Darren's shoulder to help him stand, but its claws were deeply embedded in his back, and she could see he wasn't moving.

“Darren!?” She took hold of the large paw. She grimaced as she pulled the three large blade-like talons from his back. With the claw no longer covering him she could see his exposed spine in the low light and what remained of the shattered ribs on his right side. Silvia fell back and vomited, she had never handled blood well, and seeing the inside of his body was something else altogether.

I've got to fix him, she thought sluggishly, she stood slowly, one hand pressed against her stomach as it twisted and turned over. Her lungs were struggling to suck in oxygen. She looked down, to see her arms and clothes covered in a spatter of blue blood. Still in shock she pulled her tunic near the bottom and twisted to get a small peek at the back of it, which was covered with splashes of dark red. She was a blatant summary of the death that had taken place in the claustrophobic tunnel. She was glad it was dark at least, this saved her from clearly seeing all the carnage before her, and on her. She gagged at the thought, and the smell of it.

“I need to fix him. I need to fix him and get out of this place.” she mumbled. She brought one arm to her mouth to wipe the blood away from it, but the blue was only smeared into some of the red on the side of her face.

She held her left arm out with the palm facing her, her fingers trembling. With her right she clumsily pulled out her Index. The opaque purple sheet extended from her arm, the smoke it gave off floated thick and heavy in the tight windless tunnel. The brightness of its purple light made her squint in the darkness. She scrolled through the list quickly, searching for the one she needed.

I've got to find it, she thought, I've got to find it fast. She looked through the symbols frantically, missing it the first time, then scrolling back up to find it. She gripped the symbol and dragged the shape through the air and pressed it into her open palm.

She whispered the word “Resurrection” as she flicked one finger at the right end of the list, causing it to collapse back into her arm. She wondered if she would even be able to cast such a spell.

She stepped over Darren, her eyes closed so she wouldn't get sick by what was left of his back. She raised both hands, placing the palm of her right hand against the back of her left. They began to emit a light, dim at first, but growing brighter as she slowly forced her mind to focus. She pulled her hands apart creating a floating pool and brought them from over her head to her sides, creating a large arc in the air drawn by the liquid mana trailing behind them. She focused her mind on Darren, remembering him as he was before, smiling after a joke, drenched in sweat as they trained. Images of him living flashed through her mind as she tried to imagine all she was working to recreate. She moved her hands in the intricate design of the symbol she had pulled from the list, finishing the symbol in the air in front of her. She then brought her hands, still trailing the light from the symbol, down to rest upon Darren's back. As she made contact the mana splashed outward and compressed into his body. They were both pulled violently away from each other and into the air, just below the short ceiling. Her arms stretched out to her sides as her head rocked back, she felt like she was being pulled apart. As if every cell within her wanted to expand. Purple beacons of light began to flow from her hands to his body, circling it, their rotations around him sped up as more dots of light joined the orbit. His veins began to be repaired, then meat and muscle began to grow back, his bones snapped as they reconfigured and regenerated. Her vision began to blur and darken.

Darren's eyes snapped open, pain shot into his skull and he realized he was screaming as the bright light of her magic assaulted him. As his vision adjusted through squinted eyes he saw her, floating in the air across from him, her hair lightly waving in the air. He felt nauseous and dizzy. Great waves of pain racked through his body as his nerves reconnected and told his brain everything he was experiencing. He looked to the right and heard a hollow clunk as he watched the bone in his forearm set, the muscle and skin on his arm grew back layer by layer. The nausea rose at the sight of the inside of his arm as it slowly returned to a semblance normal. The light began to dim as the floating particles drifted away from him. He felt gravity kick in as he fell the short distance to the ground and landed on his feet, Silvia fell in a heap in front of him.

“What the fuck just happened?” He stumbled towards her but tripped over the creature. He recognized it and slowly regained bits of the agonizing memory. He walked over to Silvia's unconscious form on the ground, her breathing was slow and steady. Panic gripped him as he fell to his knees and checked her over for any signs of injury but found none. He wiped blood from her face and held it as he tried to wake her. Whatever was wrong, he couldn't do anything about it here. He bent down and slid his arms under her back and legs, pain flashed through the newly repaired tissue as he picked her slender body up and labored to his feet with a groan. Darren was ready to have Silvia, and himself, be anywhere but here.