The Children

Standing outside of the gates to Gabriel's mansion, I was waiting patiently for the large gate to open. After it did, I quickly ran up to the room I always found him. He was there, as I expected, but was quite surprised to see me.

"Estelle, what's wrong?"

"I need to leave the city for a while."

"What? That isn't what we agreed upon in our contract!"

"The contract doesn't matter right now. I have something seriously important to take care of. I don't know how long it will take, so try your best to do without me."

"Wait, why are you leaving?

"I'm sorry, but I can't trust even you with that answer. I'll try and be back as soon as I can."

With that, I left before he could get another word in. I ran across the rooftops with my white porcelain mask fastened onto my face. It didn't take me long to reach the end of the city, but even after I passed it, I kept running forward at top speed.

The creator said I need to go as north as possible while following the cross to reach the ancient curse, but I don't imagine there would be any way to just know when I'm there. Would an ocean count as far as I can go, or would it not since I could make a boat. Would a mountain count as far north as I can go, or would it not since I can climb it. There's no way to know for sure.

Just follow the cross, and I'll figure it out from there.

I ran throughout the night and well into the morning. Even then, I kept on running. The strong breeze from my immense speed kept me awake, not that I felt tired. The blue heavens above were endless as I ran forward in the direction the cross would take me. Thanks to my intellect, I still know exactly which direction to move in.

Smoke?

I smelt it before I saw it, far off in the distance. Why would there be smoke? I'm currently running through a wide and expansive plane with tall dry grass as far as the eye can see, yet for some reason I smell smoke.

Now I see it. It is far off in the distance, but even a normal person without my great eyesight could see it. It was a thick and black smoke, engulfing the sky ahead of me. As far as my eye could follow the horizon, the smoke could be seen.

A wild fire.

The dry grass must have been lit on fire by something and was now burning. It seems that the fire has engulfed a large part of the plane. There's no telling how large the fire is, even with my sight, as the fire continues well past the horizon.

Why is there a large wild fire right when I start my journey? Couldn't the creator have at least made a safe and clear path? Whatever. I don't have time to deal with it. I just need to keep running through it. If it turns out do be dangerous for me, I can just use my magic. Everything should be just fine.

I continue running forward, full speed ahead, right through the burning flames. Despite the flames intense heat, my body wasn't affected in the least. In fact, I didn't even feel the heat. A normal person would be dying from all of the smoke, but I'm breathing it like it's just normal oxygen. Sometimes my powers really can be useful.

As I was running through the smoke and flames, my map in the corner of my vision catches my eye. A village of some sort seems to be in the middle of these flames. I should go and check to make sure they all evacuated. A little detour wouldn't hurt. Besides, I am on a quest to save the world. It would be nice if they were alive when I did it as well.

Turning slightly off course, I sprint forward towards the small village. When I arrived, I examined everywhere, being sure to look for any survivors.

This is a strange looking village. I was expecting a few dirt and mud houses, but instead they're all made completely of rock hard stone. There also don't appear to be any windows. Hmm.

I begin to check inside each and every one of the buildings, one at a time. The first one was an empty weapons storage. There were a few weapons of low quality scattered around on the floor as well. Maybe there was a fight before the fire? It could also explain how the fire started.

Damn.

The next building was filled with corpses burnt to a crisp. There wasn't anything flammable inside, so it was probably fire magic that killed them. I guess it was fighting after all.

Wait, there appears to be footprints made by children on the floor. Lots of them. Maybe they're still alive.

It seems the footprints came from outside, running into the building. Maybe they ran inside for protection as the adults came inside to keep everyone safe, but if the adults are dead...

I followed the footprints to a small metal hatch in the corner of the small building. I opened it slowly, and it rose with a loud creaking sound. Then, out of no where, a large fireball came flying straight at my face! I quickly dodged with only a moment to spare, and just as I was about to fire off a magic attack of my own, my ears picked up the quietest of sounds.

Sobbing. Specifically, a little girl sobbing. The children!?

"Go away! Leave us alone!"

Woah! Those aren't thieves or raiders, those are the children!