“We’re going to help them.”

I looked at Alina, attempting to parse her current expression. It was something close to fury but more contained than that. Directed as if the emotions were concentrating on one single idea.

Looking back at the village, I wanted to disagree with that idea vehemently. Hundreds of soldiers were underneath those banners, and we were two people.

It wasn’t even math.

Still, what could I say? That we needed to run? Lord Balar was still somewhere in the mountains. Hopefully, he would be exiting soon, and even more, hopefully, the Great Dragon of the Last Frost would not freeze him solid.

Could we loop away from the village? Fighting someone else's war wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do. I didn’t even really know why this war was happening in the first place. Every person I had encountered so far seemed to have a problem with the Empire, yet besides the knowledge that the general conflict was occurring, I didn’t know why.

Now wasn’t the time to ask, however.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said softly.

Alina turned from looking at the village and back towards me. Her expression shifted from anger to surprise.

“We can’t just do nothing,” she said, heat building in her voice.

I looked at her nonplussed, “That’s an entire army. What exactly is your plan?”

She hesitated, biting her lip, “We need to investigate at least. Find out why they’re here. This village is much too out of the way to be worth conquering right now. I have to. As a Lady on the Council, it’s my duty.”

Right. Stealthily sneak into a village now under the control of her enemy.

I glanced back at the mountains, vaguely hoping Lord Balar would exit and put an end to this.

I looked back at Alina, and her face was set into an expression of stubborn defiance. I highly doubted I was going to talk her out of this.

“Fine,” I grunted.

Her expression drooped slightly, and her eyes closed, “Thanks. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

I didn’t have a response that would be worthwhile to say, so I just shrugged, turning back towards the village.

“So, how are we doing this?” I was going to regret this.

We made our way on foot to the village, taking advantage of moving over the rough terrain surrounding the road and utilizing the sparse foliage to mask our movements. We arrived on the outskirts of the village.

The soldiers decked in burnished gold on the opposite side of the village seemed to have stopped because none of them were in the village as we crept through. We moved through the village with Alina leading the way, and I noted how agile she was slipping between the buildings and could only do my best to mimic her.

There were people crowded at the edge of the village, which we joined with little fanfare doing our best to blend in and look like nothing more than other concerned onlookers. Alina slipped to the front of the crowd, and I followed her.

In an open space in front of the open gates was an elven woman with long silver hair in discussion with a man in elegant burnished golden armor. Despite the care that was obviously taken of the armor, the armor looked rather beaten, with small dents and pieces missing from the ensemble. The man had long dark red hair similar in shade to Alina’s, I noted in the back of my mind, and hard brown eyes. He also made no effort to keep his voice low in the discussion that was being had.

“-It is in Imperial interest that we search this village. We have no intention of taking your homes from you. We are merely looking for a person of interest to the One Throne.”

Was it just my imagination, or had Alina stiffened at those words?

The elven woman did not twitch as she replied, “Our village has remained out of your war with the Kingdom so far. Allowing you in would be tantamount to siding with the Empire.”

The man sighed, “I understand your position. Really, I do, but the emperor has specifically given the order that we locate this person, and she was last seen here.”

The elven woman looked at the man, still implacable, “This village has no desire to make enemies with the Empire, but we will not allow you in.”

The man sighed, pressing his fingers to his nose for all the world, looking exasperated as one would when their child had broken a valuable item.

“This isn’t a negotiation.”

His sword was drawn in an instant, and crimson splashed through the air as the elven woman collapsed.

He stepped forward over the woman’s body, looking around at the assembled crowd, “Give us no further trouble, and no one else will be harmed.”

No one said anything.

Then a commotion and a familiar young girl broke free of the crowd; it was Jes breaking free from her mother's grip; she ran to stand in front of the crowd mere feet away from the man.

“You’re awful!” She cried, “A White Mage is here, and he will stop you!”

Oh no. I was so sure that she hadn’t seen me. Yet she had thought I was one, and she had woken up to her mother healed.

The man looked at the girl balefully, “The only White Mages left to serve the Empire girl, but seeing as no one has spoken up yet. You will serve as an example.”

He flashed forward, air ripping away from his form, his sword flashing towards Jes.

Something twisted in my gut.

Protection.

I blinked as I realized I was now between Jes and the man though I didn’t know how exactly I had gotten there. His sword flashed towards me, and my training with Sara took over, and my hand lashed out, rebounding the sword in a clash of sparks away, my flesh completely unharmed by the blade.

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The man stared at me, and his bland expression changed as one corner of his lips twisted up, “Well, now, isn’t this interesting.”

I glared at the man, something white-hot stirring in my gut, yet words choked at my throat as I gazed at the man.

“Go,” I muttered, gesturing away with my free hand.

Jes stumbled away from us, and her mother rushed out to capture Jes in her arms.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this,” the man murmured, seemingly musing, “I came hunting for a wayward Princess and found a White Mage. The emperor will be most pleased. I don’t suppose you would be willing to come peacefully.”

Unable to help myself, I replied, pushing down the fear rising in me, “No.” If I weren’t going to join the Kingdom, I certainly wouldn’t join the Empire.

“A shame,” the man said.

Then his sword slashed out again, giving a keening whistle as it sang through the air, which I barely deflected off my left arm.

Then another strike and another. I was in a storm of blades, quickly losing ground. Despite my Protection, I could feel his sword biting into my skin more and more. He was just so incredibly fast.

The wind was whipping up around us as I kept backing up.

I was afraid. Training with Sara hadn’t prepared me for this. Nothing had prepared me for this. I was just a teenager who had died.

His sword slashed a line through my shirt as I leaned back, and it reversed almost instantly, lashing at my neck. My left hand snapped up and grabbed the blade, out of reflex more than anything.

I cried out as the sharp edge bit into my hand, but it stopped. The man tried to pull it back, but in a contest of pure strength, I barely felt him tugging.

I gritted my teeth.

Enhance.

White energy swirled down my arm, flaring brightly, and I could no longer feel the blade biting into my hand. Glaring at the man, I twisted my hand hard and felt the sword flex before it shattered metal, flecking into the air.

The man cocked his head and looked at his sword hilt for a moment before casting the hilt to the side.

“You risked your hand to break my blade. Fascinating,” the man said as if referring to the weather.

Fire ripped through the air surrounding and swallowing the man.

Alina had pushed her way to the front of the crowd and was crouched on her knees, pouring forth a stream of raging red fire from her palms.

The flames began to peter out, revealing the man standing there with nary a hair out of place, the air shimmering and swirling around him.

He looked at Alina and cocked his head, “And there is our wayward Princess. Excellent.”

I looked at Alina. Did he mean…

Her eyes flickered to me for a moment before they resolutely focused on the man, “Legatus Victor Marcus, you have no reason to trouble these people anymore. Leave.”

The statement was strong and even with no indication of fear.

“Ah, I would be happy too, Princess. If you agree to remand yourself to my custody, that is. All can still be forgiven. The emperor is merciful.”

Hate burned within Alina’s eyes so deep that it scorched the soul.

“I’d rather die.”

Legatus Victor sighed, but his smile did not match the expression, “Well then, I suppose violence is the only solution.”

He gestured vaguely in the air with his hand, and the wind stirred to life, forming an almost visible cylinder of wind hovering in place of where he had once held a sword.

Alina’s eyes widened, and desperately she jerked her hands upward, red raging fire streaming up in a high wave just as Legatus Victor drew his hand in a slash, and the wind followed.

A storm of air ripped forth from him at Alina, extinguishing her flames instantly and sending her flying back.

I dug my feet into the ground and launched myself toward the man at blinding speed, fist launched out.

His eyes flickered to me, and he gestured, and suddenly I was hovering in mid-air, unable to find purchase.

“A good attempt. You’re fast, and your physical strength far exceeds anything a mortal could hope to muster. It’s amazing to think that you White Mages used to be so numerous that illness was barely a concern on the Northern Continent. Yet here I hold a remnant of a once proud people. All because they sacrificed themselves to deal with an illness that did not affect them. Are you really so quick to sacrifice your life as one of the last of your people?”

The Legatus seemed to be asking me, a curious expression on his face as he focused on me.

His words struck me. What was I doing? How could I help Sara if I died again? I had moved before, I thought.

Help?

A soothing presence entered my mind, and I took a deep breath. I wasn’t alone.

So, I was stuck in mid-air, seemingly frozen by the air currents. That didn’t mean I was entirely out of options. Something was holding me in place; whatever that force was, maybe I could push against it.

Enhance.

My entire body shone bright like a star for a moment, and I flexed every muscle as I tried to jerk against the force holding me in place.

The wind around me seemed to flex, stretch, and suddenly I was falling.

Right into the fist of the Legatus, it buried into my stomach, and I gasped at the impact, pain shooting through me as the wind blasted me across the ground. I rolled across the ground, skipping on impact before getting back to my feet.

I stumbled back to my feet and got the perfect look as the Legatus plowed his fist into my face, wind flaring outward as I was launched upward through the air so high I could see the city below me.

I was falling for the second time that day, and I didn’t have a helpful person to arrest my fall before I went splat.

From this height, I could see a plume of red fire as it launched forth from what I could only assume was Alina. I couldn’t imagine it would be more effective than the last fire blast.

I looked down at the ground as I hit the top of the arc I had been thrown. This was definitely a fatal height to fall from for an average human, I thought in the back of my head.

Protect.

White energy flared about me, and I closed my eyes despite myself as my stomach lurched and I began falling.

Down, down.

I felt something touch my feet and then give almost instantly before my body came to a halt.

Hesitantly I opened my eyes.

Standing in a small crater, I was none the worse for my flight.

My eyes landed on Alina, whom the Legatus was pressing back as he began to push through the flames.

Seemingly realizing that the blast wasn’t working, she dropped her hands down to the ground cutting off the stream and instead creating a wave of fire across the ground, ripping through the earth towards the Legatus.

The Legatus made a waving gesture with his hands, and the wind blasted forth, snuffing the fire out.

Seeing no other choice, I dug my feet into the ground tearing up the earth as I sprinted toward the Legatus.

In a second, I was on him fist reared back to send him flying. His eyes flickered to me, and one of his fingers twitched, and my fist flew off course as the wind twisted it and me away.

I rolled across the ground, using my training with Sara to turn that into a roll back to my feet, panting as I stared at the Legatus. He was toying with me. I couldn’t even reach him, and he wasn’t bothering to do anything to me other than blow me away.

A slight grin emerged on the Legatus’s face as he looked at us, “Really, this is all a White Mage and a Princess can muster. I must say I’m disappointed.”

Then, a long note blew soaring through the skies, and I turned to see another group of soldiers in muted silvery armor with large banners on the horizon opposite the Imperial soldiers. The banner was grey, split into three parts an orange sun on top, three printed blue waves on the bottom left, and a two-pointed green mountain range on the bottom right.

The Legatus looked at the army, and his small grin turned into a frown.

“Always ruining my fun,” he sighed, “I’m not looking to match armies right now, as entertaining as that might be.”

He turned to Alina and me.

“Consider this the both of you. The Empire will never leave you be. It would be easier if the both of you surrendered yourselves to me.”

I glanced at Alina, whose face was set in a deep scowl, before turning back to the Legatus, and fear roiled in my gut. He was absolutely overwhelming, and he hadn’t even called upon his Legion of soldiers.

“Never,” Alina said coldly, glaring at the Legatus while still taking deep breaths.

The Legatus sighed and shook his head, “So stubborn. An excellent trait if it was more properly utilized… And you, White Mage, any reconsideration on your end?”

I… I didn’t want to. No more than I wanted to join the Kingdom. This conflict didn’t have anything to do with me.

Yet if I said no, I would be making an enemy; I knew that. Yet this man had been willing to kill a child for no reason but to make a statement. So yeah.

“Hard pass,” I said dryly.

He cocked his head, “I’ll take that as a no. Well then. I’m sure I’ll be seeing both of you.”

He stepped back and leaped up, flying backward, vanishing in seconds, wind gusting away from him.

I collapsed to a knee feeling my reserves approaching zero. I released my magic and took a deep breath, too exhausted to do anything else.

“Are you…” Alina had approached me, sweat dripping from her brow, looking down at me with a worried expression, “Are you okay?”

“Sure thing,” I gave a belated thumbs up, “Just need to catch my breath a bit.”