A callused hand pressed softly down onto the trodden mud, making sure not to disturb the tracks.
Dry. Assessing the tracks, all signs pointed to them being too old to actually give them a chance at finding anything. From the lighter colouration to the dryness of the mud and even small amounts of debris found inside the print, Lucien determined that it was at least a few days old.
Before he could say anything, a cluster of tiny hands shot out into the mud, pushing into the track and destroying it. Looking up, he saw that a group of kids had run slightly ahead of Cassandra and were eager to help him out with his tracking.
Cassandra came up and apologised, ushering the kids back to the others, who were being guarded by Adam.
There were six kids, all of whom were around Roddy’s age. There were Roddy and his three friends, who were the ones that ran off, as well as Arthur’s niece, and one of the farmer’s kids.
Lucien was worried that something would happen during this trip, so despite the fact that he was scouting the area, he made sure that the group never left his sight. He was relieved that Delilah was older, and had already done this trip last year, when the conditions were far safer.
“Find anything?” Adam asked as Lucien joined the rest of the group.
“Nothing serious. Just deer tracks, and it’s already long gone.”
“I’ve been telling you that there’s nothing to worry about,” Adam said.
“You can never be too careful. It’s our job to protect them.” Following right behind the tightly packed group, Lucien was on high alert, constantly searching for signs that something was amiss.
Reaching a small clearing, Cassandra gathered the kids into a circle and sat them down. Adam sat down with them to rest, while Lucien constantly scanned the perimeter, his hand rarely leaving the sword at his side.
A small bird flew and landed on Cassandra’s hand as she began her lesson. “Can anyone tell me what makes this forest so different from other places?” The bird sung its melody as it nuzzled up in the palm of her hand.
The kids looked around tentatively, unsure of how to answer her question. Arthur’s niece slowly raised her hand, waiting for the teacher to call on her.
“Yes Gwen, do you know the answer?” Cassandra asked.
“Is it the elves?” Gwen asked, her voice soft and uncertain.
“That’s right Gwen. Good job!” She brought the bird closer to the children, allowing them to get a better look at it.
The small bird had light green plumage and a thick short beak. It looked at the children with unbridled curiosity, the same way they looked back at it. A hint of intelligence in the small creature’s eyes.
“This place is connected to the Eternal Forest. The place we elves call home.”
“Then why are you living here instead of there?” one of Roddy’s friends asked.
“Who else will teach you if I’m not here.” Cassandra smiled, but Lucien could see the sadness hidden behind it. “I taught your father, and when you’re older I will teach your kids too.”
“But you’re so young! That can’t be true,” Roddy said.
“She was my teacher too when I was a kid,” Lucien said, smirking slightly at the kids' shocked faces.
“But you’re ancient!” Roddy said.
Ouch, that hurts. I’m not that old, am I?
“Settle down everyone. Thank you for the compliment Roddy, but we elves age a lot differently than humans do. That’s one of the many benefits the Eternal Forest has given us.”
“But back to what I was saying earlier. This forest is connected to the Eternal Forest, and over time, it has gathered some of the spare magical energy leaking out from there. Because of this, you will find many magical things that are rarely seen in other places.”
“Ooh ooh!” Roddy raised his hand excitedly.
“Yes Roddy?”
“A couple days ago we saw this rabbit with really long ears, was that magical?” he asked.
“That’s certainly possible.” She smiled at him. “When things are born, they will take in energy from their surroundings. And when something is born in an area with a lot of magical energy, it will be different, just like that rabbit you saw. Take this bird for example, it looks just like the ones in town, right?”
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The kids nodded, now staring at the bird.
“Well watch this,” she whispered something quietly to the bird, which then flew into the sky and stopped just above the kids.
Flapping its wings, its feathers started to glow. A small gust of wind shot out from its wings, colliding with a tree and knocking a few nuts off it. The bird flew to the nut and cracked one open with its hard beak before returning to Cassandra’s hands.
“There is magic all around us. Everything, no matter whether it's big or small, contains magical energy to some degree.”
“Woah,” the kids said in unison, awed by the magic before them.
“Can I cast magic?” the farmer’s son asked eagerly.
“It’s possible, but we have to study really hard before we can do that. It comes naturally to animals, but for us it requires a bit more effort.”
“That’s not fair! Why can’t we do that?” the kid complained.
“It’s not all bad. We may not be able to cast magic from birth like animals can, but our magic is a lot more versatile.”
“What does versatile mean?” the young girl asked.
“It means we can do a lot more with our magic. Animals can usually only use their energy in one or two ways. Like this bird. It can only use its magic to create small gusts of wind,” she explained. “Each creature is different, even two birds from the same nest may be able to do completely different things. So whenever you come across something magical, it’s always a good idea to figure out what it can do first...”
Cassandra continued to teach the kids about magic. About how it is in every living thing, and about how if you don’t have enough energy, you won’t be able to cast any spells. She taught them about mana, the common term for the magical energy that surrounds and exists in everything.
Lucien smiled at the children’s excitement and wonder, remembering back to when he was first taught about these things. Unfortunately, despite how close he was to such a large magical energy source, he was never able to learn magic. And that wasn’t for a lack of trying. He simply didn’t have enough energy to cast anything. That small bird probably had more energy in a single feather than he had in his entire body.
Lucien immersed himself in his surroundings, never letting his guard down as Adam continued to laze about. Useless. His decades of experience told him that something was off, and the more time that passed, the more certain this feeling became.
He heard a faint sound off in the distance, and immediately positioned himself between it and the kids.
Adam picked himself up and readied his weapon, finally showing the attitude of a guard. He stood next to Roddy, prepared to take out his sword
The group quietened down as the clearing became filled with a quiet tension.
A low growl came from beyond the trees. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped under the feet of whatever was closing in on them, not trying to hide itself in the slightest.
Lucien unsheathed his sword, his senses constantly scanning for anything coming from the other directions. “Stay back everyone.” He commanded.
The group bunched up, as Cassandra prepared to lay down her life for them.
A large and ferocious wolf stepped into the clearing. Blood and dirt matted its fur as it looked at them with hunger. It was fresh out of a battle, open wounds still bleeding on its side, but it didn’t care. It stared down its prey as it prepared to pounce on the kids. Its claws looked as sharp as steel, capable of rending flesh with ease.
Lucien tensed up upon seeing the wolf, knowing them to be pack animals. He forced himself to not get distracted, but he made sure to listen out for anything else. Luckily it seemed to be alone. Let it come to you.
It wasn’t the first time he had had to fight a wolf of this size, but he still had to be careful, lest it manage to get past him and attack the children. He couldn’t trust Adam to protect the children if it actually came down to that.
He planted his feet firmly into the ground, ready to launch off at a moment's notice. He also kept his shield on his back, knowing that this was a match of speed and reflexes, and that it would only get in his way.
The wolf drew closer as its hunger pushed it further despite Lucien standing in his way. Normally it would be against this kind of foolishness, but it was starving, alone, and desperate. With a burst of speed, it launched forward, trying to take down Lucien immediately, but he was prepared.
He stabbed forward with the sword, forcing the creature to step back to escape skewering itself on the blade. With the creature on the back foot, he continued to push it back.
The wolf hopped back, distancing itself from him as it snarled.
Lucien grew more confident at the fact that the wolf was alone, but he didn’t let that cloud his judgement. The beast tried to circle around him, but he always kept himself between it and the group. He’s real hungry.
Frustrated and impatient, it launched forward, attempting to bite him when he was repositioning himself.
Lucien stepped back and slashed forward, dodging the attack and scraping his sword along the beast's snout.
It stepped back and whined as blood poured from its snout. It reared up as its claws glowed readying a magical attack.
Lucien ripped his shield off his back and stepped forward preparing to take the brunt of the attack, knowing that he couldn’t dodge.
The wolf slashed down, and large white claw marks shot through the air towards Lucien.
The small bird soared into the sky, its wings glowing as it shot a gust of wind at the claw marks.
The attacks met in midair, the wind from the impact whipping Lucien’s hair back. The claw marks faded slightly, but easily scattered the wind. At the same time as the attack crashed into Lucien’s shield, the wolf charged forward.
His body buckled under the immense force of the strike as he was pushed back. He dug his feet into the ground, leaving a long trail. His arm screamed in agony, moments away from shattering before the pressure finally stopped bearing down on it.
Pain shot through his arm and up into his brain as he subconsciously tensed his grip on the shield. Holding back the pain, he sensed something fast approaching. As if running off instinct, he swapped to a two-handed grip on his sword and slashed forward.
Schlick.
The blade dug into the wolf, slicing into its open maw, breaking its jaw and digging into the skull.
Pain exploded up Lucien’s injured arm as the wolf and his sword came to a stop. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, as all that was left in his mind was him and the wolf. Lucien saw the light leave the wolf’s eyes as it dropped to the floor, bringing his sword with it.
He stumbled forward, his hands still holding tightly onto the sword now causing him to go down with it. His head buzzed as the sounds of people screaming faded in and out of his mind. His left arm hung limply at his side, while he tried and failed to wrestle his sword out of the wolf’s corpse with his good arm. Shit, how am I going to explain this to Delia?