Chapter 15 - The End and the Beginning

A tree, the first pillar, was now about to crash toward Leo, churning through the air with unwieldy force. He didn't flinch. He steadied his breath as he instinctively braced for impact.

Everyone knew what would happen if a tree like that hit a person. Flesh would tear. Bones would shatter. A regular person would be left as nothing more than a smear on the ground.

But—

Crack!

The moment the tree touched Leo's skin, it splintered into a thousand pieces as though it had encountered something as hard as steel. The wood shattered outward in brittle, jagged pieces, harmlessly flinging out around him.

Leo felt nothing. No agony, no struggle—just the barest tickle along his arm, like shaking off a leaf.

Then he saw them—more.

A whole barrage of trees hurtled toward him, uprooted bodies flipping in the air like giant battering rams.

The air quivered with the strength of their approach, each a monstrous wall of wood and bark.

And then, for an instant, uncertainty dawned.

This might actually—

No.

The memory of his battle with the Orc Lord passed through his mind.

That fight had been something.

That was a fight against a real monster—against something that merited fear.

And now he was standing here worried about a couple of trees?

A disgrace.

Leo exhaled sharply.

And then—

He vanished.

One step, not through the space, not through the speed, but something else. The instant his breath escaped his lips, his form became ethereal, disappearing from one location and transmuting elsewhere—well out of reach of the barrage of cascading timber.

Now, he stood at the very edge of the forest, where the ground remained unscathed from Cris' ruin.

At this distance, he could see Cris with a clarity he could have only dreamed about.

His stance. His breath was jagged and uneven. His wild, torchlit eyes, were loaded with a mixture of anger and desperation.

Why?

Cris had always been distant. Hostile, even. But Leo never understood why. The two had hardly spoken at all. Sure, they had worked on the same farm, but every time Leo made an attempt at small talk, Cris either barked at him or flat-out ignored him.

Leo frowned. What had he done to warrant such loathing?

The thought was there, but only momentarily. He shook his head and disappeared once more.

Leo glided through the forest now with every step, running the leaf-strewn ground effortlessly beneath his heels. His form blurred, shimmering between trees, evading branches without a thought.

He wasn't even running any longer—he was skipping through space itself.

The cold nibbled at his skin, sharp and not of the natural world.

He had felt it before. Back there, in the crater, with her.

Kurea.

All those stats and, still, why did he feel it? What did the coldness seem to hold onto him?

The fleeting thought buzzed through his mind before he let it fade away, the weight of his goal pressing on him.

He emerged from the trees.

And in the distance—

Home.

Their farmhouse loomed small and quiet under the sky, the wooden walls familiar, a place of comfort.

But at the speed he was moving now, it was just a thought away.

One step.

Then—

He was there.

On the threshold, in front of the door like he had been all along. The farm was his haven, far removed from the disorder he had fled.

For a split second, he allowed himself to breathe.

Then, without hesitation—

Leo stepped inside.

The door closed behind Leo with the faintest creak, but he didn't care. The house enveloped him, protection from the cold that remained on his skin like the ghost of travel. He drew a breath and shook off the last of the unease from the encounter in the woods.

Then—

A flicker of light.

Outside, although he had no view of it, Amanda's keen eyes spotted the door's motion. She frowned.

Leo?

It was too fast. She hardly blinked, and it had shut. No footsteps, no approach. Just—there.

Something in her gut twisted.

"I'll go check on Leo," she said to Markus, already moving away.

Markus, mid-conversation, hardly glanced up. "Yeah, sure. Tell him I said hi—"

He was about to continue speaking when a sudden light flared at the ground.

A bright, ethereal light pooled around Amanda's feet, motes of shimmering energy swirling like fireflies.

Markus had hardly registered it before she said the word—

"Recall."

In a flash, her body was gone, and only scattered golden light danced in her place.

After a long exhale, Markus scratched the back of his head and smiled slightly.

And then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to work.

Inside the house, Leo had hardly a second to absorb the warmth of home when—

She appeared.

A rush of golden motes. A gentle hum of magic.

And then—

Impact.

Amanda appeared right where Leo was standing. Their bodies collided—hard.

"Whoa—"

Leo's hand snaked out reflexively, catching her wrist as her balance wavered.

Amanda gasped in surprise as she stumbled.

Leo pulled.

A little too hard.

Before either of them could react, Amanda was suddenly plastered against him—her luster of work glistened pressed against his, bare, solid body.

Her breath hitched.

His skin radiated warmth that seeped into hers. Her skin glimmered, still reflecting the magic she'd been made to wear against the rock of his solid if unmarred, muscles.

Her heart was stuttering—fast, no control.

Leo stiffened.

The room felt too quiet.

A slow, creeping, different heat rose between them, magic differently, outside of the air. Amanda's fingers spanned over his chest and twitched a little, her breath running over his collarbone.

Leo's breathing became disjointed as well.

A tense silence settled—thick, heavy, charged.

Then—

Bang!

The door slammed open.

They jerked away from each other like criminals surprised in the act.

There, panting at the door, stood Ranna.

"There you are!" Ranna puffed, her breath short from running. "Damn, you move fast. I was searching the fields everywhere, but Markus —"

Her voice trailed off as she took in the scene before her.

Amanda was flushed, and a little breathless.

Leo, bare-chested, with that same guilty look.

Their posture — too close, too intimate.

Ranna smiled knowingly, smirking.

"Ohhh."

Leo groaned internally.

Amanda went bright red all over her face. "I-It's not—! I mean, I just—! He—!"

Leo, for his part, tried to talk over him. "She teleported! I didn't—! It's not—!"

They were both talking over each other, voices stumbling, words tangling, nothing making sense.

Ranna threw back her head and let out a laugh. Hard.

"Oh gods, you two are fucking priceless." She swiped at the corner of her eye, her expression still playful.

"If I had a coin for every time I walked into this scene, I'd be richer than the damned merchants—" She waved between them vaguely. "—but we have a larger issue."

Amanda straightened, still trying to compose herself. "What's wrong?"

Ranna's chuckle evaporated in an instant.

Her sharp blue eyes darkened.

"We've got a situation, and you're gonna want to hear this," she said, voice grave.

Leo and Amanda looked at each other.

"Someone has cleared the Orc Dominion."

Amanda took a step back.

The color drained from her face as if someone had just sucked the air from her lungs.

She crossed her arms, holding one close to her body tightly, shaking a little as she did.

Her eyes—usually keen, brimming with steadfast confidence—fixed on Ranna's.

There was something they had to say.

A question. A confirmation. A silent, desperate PLEASE REASSURE me.

Ranna nodded.

When she did, Amanda went.

She didn't speak. Didn't hesitate.

With that, she spun on her heel and ran for the door, a rush of excitement, her boots barely touching the floor.

But just when she was about to go past Ranna, she stopped—for a valiantly brief moment.

"Thank you."

It was a whisper. A fleeting breath of gratitude.

Then she was gone.

Her body moved quicker than it should have, magic thrumming beneath her skin as she sprinted outside.

The cold air nipped at her but she didn't care.

Her heart hammered.

The blood roared in her ears.

Her mind raced.

Someone had cleared the Orc Dominion.

Her feet almost faltered as she drove herself harder.

The trees blended together flying past her as she started running toward the forest, panic began clawing at her chest.

Because if that was true…

Then everything—everything—was about to change.

Ranna looked after Amanda watching her fade in the distance, her eyes inscrutable.

She let out a heavy sigh.

Arms crossed, fingers clutched the fabric of her sleeves, her weight rested on the doorframe.

Amanda had raced so fast she nearly fell forward.

Almost.

But that was Amanda. She never truly fell.