The enemy of my enemy is also my enemy
Far to the northern area of the lands of the Vane was a massive forest that spanned for miles, acting as a sort of gate that separated the once-Vaneland kingdom from the Dragonmourn Empire...Though its once beautiful and bountiful state it is now but a shadow of its former self
The fertile soil it once had was now tainted by the remnants of the poison used during the war, and the air and water around it were so uninhabitable that the citizens that once lived around the area had to evacuate back to the main city.
But despite the rough state of the forest, this place still houses the final resting place of the brave soldiers and knights that fought under the banner of the former kingdom. To the people of the Vane, this place was a sacred area that must always be respected... for it is a sanctuary for their fallen brothers and sisters...
But now, this sanctuary is trespassed by a mage...people who could use spells that bend the rules of the earth to their will. The mage has used the area of their fallen brothers as a base of operations, and needless to say...people were pissed, mostly the former veterans of the war...
But their emotions were honestly not enough to beat the supernatural abilities of a mage, specifically her ability to wield the power of ice...so the people reluctantly waited for the special 'mage hunters' of the church to deal with the situation at hand. But the patience of humans is surprisingly short, especially when it comes to situations involving emotions
All that one needs to create a storm of fire, is a tiny spark...Something that the mage did not see being lit under her toes...
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The sky was pitch black, and the bright stars of the sky glittered like tiny holes in a massive dome. The moon was shinning incredibly bright today, and the symphony of crickets could be heard echoing throughout the entire forest as a lone figure sat in the middle of the forest, staring at the campfire in front of her
She lets out a sigh before standing up and pulling a wooden box that was located in her tiny tent. After opening it, a cool breeze passed by her face as a single frozen red meet surrounded by ice greeted her sight. This made her more depressed than anything, but now is not the time for that...
'One must always be happy when it's time to eat' these were one of the great lessons her mother used to teach her, which she would take to heart. Besides, she could worry about the rest of her problems after her stomach has been full
And so after grabbing the meat out of the box, she placed it atop a metal pot that was supported by a couple of wooden sticks. Reaching for the bag she had nearby, she grabbed a small pouch containing a couple of spices, she carefully spread these spices to the meat and waited for the flames to do their job...
As time passed on, the aroma of the meat grew stronger, and as it did so...the wild beast known as her stomach began to growl even louder. She took it out a large portion of the meat from the pot once it was done, and she chowed down on the meat like a rabid animal that has not been fed for days
Once satisfied, she took out another large portion and continued the cycle until she was lying down on the ground with a full tummy. She lets out another sigh as she stares at the bright stars once more. It was quite mesmerizing, though not as beautiful as the one she sees in her homeland...this one was not quite bad at all
"I guess I should hunt again tomorrow huh?..."
She muttered to herself as she clenched her left shoulder. Though it was mostly gone, the memory of the pain she experienced by his blade still lingered quite a bit. It was a very frightening experience, and this was the first time in a very long time that she had felt a pain of that level...
After their bout, she had gone out and plundered the passing merchants for their medical supplies, and she had luckily survived by the skin of her teeth. And with this experience came a lesson, to always properly gauge the strength of an opponent. Her mother had taught her a lesson to never underestimate her enemies, that lesson would usually fall on the back of her head when she's usually the one who dominates the battlefield
Though now, she has been nearly given a taste experience of the worse form of defeat..death...
"I wonder how long will I live this life?..."
She glanced at her hands, to which a cold, white mist began to ooze from it, to which it was blown by the wind to her face...
The forest in the Lands of the Vane was tough and unforgiving. Monsters were constantly lurking about, and the lands can barely provide a fruit that won't make you vomit your guts out, but despite all of this she was doing relatively well...for now, but what about a few years down the line? Hell, what about a few weeks later? She was positive the people of the Vane were already aware of her existence, and it was only a matter of time until a hunter from the church came to put her down...
"I need to move somewhere...Haaaahhh, but where exactly?"
Though the place she's in right now was bad, the surrounding countries near the south weren't much better. She'd even go so far as to say that it was worse for a mage like her
"Hmmm, but I think I can worry about that later. First off, I'd need to gather more supplies so that I could survive the journey towa-"
BAM!
A loud sound from within the forest startled her to her core. She quickly grabbed the white mask she has lying on the side and quickly moved towards the source of the sound. The sound continued to resonate with a continuous rhythm, and as she found herself closer and closer, she slowed and silenced her footsteps down
She recognized that the area that she was heading to was the memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Vane. Though she had mostly occupied the area as her base of operations, she disliked heading to this area of the forest due to how creepy the overall vibe of the place is. Despite living a life in which she was constantly near the jaws of death, she was never really a fan of it...And coming to this place just reminds her that she may one day be inside one of those...
"...Tsk, enough with the pessimistic thoughts...Now let's see what we have here"
She slowly glanced from behind the trees, and what she saw raised more questions than answers. There were a couple of cloaked figures with sledgehammers and shovels, she counted ten in total, who were ransacking the graveyards of the fallen soldiers. Some of them were tossing dirt throughout the area, destroying the flowers and plants at the side, as well as smashing the gravestones with their sledgehammers
They were making a complete mess of things. Still confused about the situation, she opted to wait for a bit, but so far they've done nothing but the same thing... Wrecked as much havoc as they could. After a while though, one of them called the attention of the others, and all of them gathered toward him.
She couldn't really see any of their faces due to how low the hood is on their face. But from what she could tell, they were all adults...and by how they conducted themselves, either this isn't their first rodeo, or their plan was thoroughly drilled in their head
The masked mage tried to scoot in a bit closer in an attempt to hear what they were saying. But alas, fortune was not too kind to her today. Her foot accidentally stepped on a twig which created a noise that alerted their attention
"It's her! Spread out and retreat. Meet up at our discussed spot. Go!"
Some of the cloaked figures began to turn tail, while the others drew their bows and arrows and aimed directly at the masked mage. She quickly hid in the tree she was on right now and closed her eyes. She focused her mind and took a long deep breath. And in that same instant, a cold white mist began to envelop her surroundings
She quickly got out of cover and fired the white mist at the cloaked figures. It froze everything it touched, but not her intended target since they were now too far out of her range. The mage hesitated on whether or not to pursue and cast more powerful spells or just let them be...
The amount of mana she has right now is quite a lot, so if she's being led to a trap she was confident that she could crush it underfoot, or at the very least get away. But something at the back of her mind told her that this situation felt very off, and so she hesitated...
...Until all of them got away...
She could hear the galloping of their horses, as she could see their figures getting smaller from a distance until they were out of her sight. Once she was certain that they were gone, she walked close to the scene at hand and inspected what was going on
She initially thought that they were graverobbers, but they hadn't really opened anything in here. The other possibility she suspected is that they were setting up some sort of trap, they seem to know who she was after all so there's a chance that they were bounty hunters looking to cash her in
But she also ruled out that possibility, seeing as no traps were set in place. And if they wanted to scout her, then there would be a hundred better ways to go about it. But if it wasn't those two, then what in the heavens were they doing?
She looked at the memorial once more, though it wasn't really that beautiful before, she could tell that it was a place that was adored by the citizens of the Vane. But now it was in literal tatters, it doesn't even seem remotely close to what it once was...
"Were they looking for something?...No, that doesn't seem to be the case either"
Now she was just baffled more than anything. She spent the past few minutes in the same spot thinking about what their objectives may have been, but her mind came up blank. In the end, she just decided to brush this situation aside and returned back to her camp. She quickly put out the campfire that was on and entered her tent...
...It was never really the best place to sleep, but she would usually bear with it just fine. But now she felt restless as hell, she couldn't even bother closing her eyes due to the fear of being ambushed
"...I hate this..."
She couldn't help but voice her complaints as she stared at the start sky once more. They say that one could wish their voices upon the stars, and it would be granted. So with this in mind, the mage softly muttered to herself
"All I'm wishing for is for me to live a normal life...In a normal world in which mages aren't hunted down like this..."
After saying her wishes, she couldn't help but show a grimace. After all, she has been doing the same thing since she was able to speak, and the world shows no signs of ever-changing. Her voice seemed to be worthless, and powerless...just like her...
...But still, one couldn't help but dream...Can they?
The mage was only able to close her eyes the moment the sun began to rise up...
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And her awakening was not so pleasant either
Her eyes immediately opened upon the sound of footsteps, she glanced at the many tiny holes that her tent has and saw the sun brightly shining already, and based on how bright it was, it was most likely close to high noon
But more importantly, she noticed something very off...Namely, the sound of footsteps approaching her camp. They were faint, but she could tell that it was coming closer and closer. A thought crossed her mind that this might've been a wild animal, or some monster...she had encountered some instances like that in her stay in this place after all...
But she could hear multiple footsteps approaching and there are no wild animals nor monsters in this area that hunt in packs, meaning that it can't be anything other than people. She tightly clenched her fist and took a deep breath. The white mist began to slowly creep out of her body, and once the footsteps were close enough, she immediately fired off the white mist around her, creating a blizzard that ravaged everything
The white mist began to quickly freeze everything that it envelops, and while everything around her was blasted and frozen away, the mage heard screams of both frustration and surprise within her surroundings
And the moment the mist settled down she was greeted with the sight of what looked to be over a hundred people surrounding her from all directions. Her heart nearly sank upon the thought that these were all hunters from the church, but the realization immediately kicked in. From the way they were dressed, as well the weapons they use...they can't be from the church...
Almost all of them looked dirty, and well...kinda wild. The mage was able to quickly deduce who these people were...
"Bandits..."
That seemed to be the case, but what on earth were they doing here? And why are they so many?
Based on the rusted weapons they have on hand as well as their fierce expressions, she was able to quickly answer the first question. But the second question was still blogging her mind, she would understand if there are only a couple of bandits that came for her head, but over a hundred is too much...She's certain that the Empire couldn't have placed a bounty that big for some bumpkin mage like her...
...Meaning that they're here for something else...
"That's one hell of a spell you just duked out, you damn monster"
A voice came from within the crowd, a deep and raspy voice that immediately caught her attention. The mage saw a person, nay...a goliath of a man that stood out from the rest. His body was more muscular than anyone right now, and her body was riddled were scars that were a testament to the dangerous life he must've lived
He began to walk closer, with his gigantic battleaxe at hand. She could smell the scent of blood even from afar, and she immediately activated braced herself to activate a spell at any moment. His tracks stopped after a while, and annoyingly, it was outside the range of the spells that she could quickly cast...
"Are w really doing this again? I thought I taught you guys a lesson last time...But you're a new face, who are you and what do you want?"
"Me? The name is Gruv. And we're here for one thing only"
Saying this, he pointed the war axe in her direction...She could feel the massive weight of it based on that one act alone...
"For the crimes of trampling over the sanctuary of our fallen comrades, We have come for your head!"
Hearing this, the mage was hit with a realization that spread throughout his mind and sent shivers down her spine. The cloaked figures from last night, them destroying the memorial, the bandits that were now out for blood...All of this was a part of some scheme...
"...Damn it, and I was dangling on it like an idiot!"
Screaming this, the mage cast a spell that marked the beginning of the battle...