An Ice Mage In The Mist

Once they reached the door leading to the next section, Gian gestured for the others to get their wands ready.

He counted down with his fingers.

3..

2..

1..

The door swung open and the group instantly pointed their wands through it.

His eyes did a quick sweep of the area.

Nothing.

The cabin was completely empty, apart from several corpses sprawled across the floor.

'They were already here,' he thought, approaching one of the corpses. It was a girl, a charred hole burned through her chest.

He knelt down to inspect it. 

"The burn is still warm. Its recent," he whispered, noting a puddle of water at the centre of the cabin.

Luna inspected the puddle. "Thick," she whispered, dipping a finger into it. "A water mage tried putting up a fight."

'It seems these guys weren't completely useless,' he thought. The more people that fought back, the more tired and worn out the intruders would be. Hopefully, the dead here had managed to injure at least one of them.

"Let's keep moving."

Just then, the cabin shook, and cold mist blew in from underneath the door leading to the next cabin.

The group looked to each other. 

'I didn't expect to meet them so soon,' Gian thought, standing up.

Tom was shivering, fear fraught on his face. "Wait, ar-are we sure we want to do this," he whispered, voice shaking.

Gian remained silent. He was scared too. Who wouldn't be? They were about to face mages who could kill them with a flick of their wand, whereas the best they could hope for was landing a good injury.

But this was something he had to do. Fear, pain, suffering, he didn't care. He needed the coins... he needed the power. No backing out now.

"You can stay behind," he said staring at the door. "Those of you who don't want to remain sheep, follow me," he whispered, approaching the door.

Tom stared to the door hesitantly, then back the way they came. He shook his head, and joined the group behind the door. A determination masking his fear.

Gian counted down again, but this time tension filled the air. He could feel his hands tremor on the cold silver of the door handle.

"Now!"

He swung the door open, and a thick layer of mist wafted out.

"What's going on here-"

A bolt of black fire tore past him, slicing the tip of his ear. 

A scream pierced the air. Burned flesh punched his nose.

Tom was...

"Find cover!" he shouted, snapping out of his daze. The group hesitated for a moment, staring at Tom's headless corpse.

Another bolt of black rushed through the mist, nearly claiming Kate's head.

Gian pulled her back, finding cover behind the walls. 

"I thought you said you took care of all of them," a voice shouted from within the mist.

"What does it matter?" another voice shouted back. "Just kill the girl, I'll take care of them."

Footsteps approached.

"Fire spells now! Keep them back!" Gian shouted. However the group didn't respond, they were still in shock.

'Fuck.'

Gian looked around him, his eyes landing on a large piece of wood that had broken off from one of the cabin walls. He picked it up, peeking his head from behind the wall.

Another fire bolt rushed towards him. He scuffled back, the flames from the attack burning the edges of his hair.

"What are you guys doing? Wake up!" he shouted, tossing the piece of wood in the direction to fire bolt had come from. It made a dull thud.

"Fucking kids," a voice groaned from within the mist.

Just then, another bolt tore through the air, however this one was slightly silver. It hit the back of the cabin, and crystallized into blue ice.

"That bitch almost hit me," one of the intruders shouted from within the mist.

They were fighting someone, and from the sound of it, the person was putting up a good fight.

'Good, someone useful,' Gian thought.

"You. Whoever you are inside the mist," he shouted. "Keep them busy, we'll storm them from behind."

No response. But Gian expected as much. Whoever was fighting in there had probably created the mist as cover. At the very least, they were experienced in magic duels, a skill that Gian never had the oppurtunity to practice.

Persophene was the first of the group to recover. She jolted to her feet, pointed her wand out towards the mist, and chanted the spell under her breath. A small ember sparked at the tip of her wand, growing into a fist sized fireball before tearing out.

She used the cover to run over to Gian.

"I can only cast three of those at a time," she whispered, breath ragged. It was the first time he had seen her this scared. Even back when they had first been attacked, she seemed relatively calm.

Gian nodded. "We need to take up space," he whispered back. "We have a numbers advantage. I hear only two in there," he added.

She nodded, elbowing Kate. "What happened, I thought you wanted to play hero."

However Kate was still shook, her eyes not leaving Tom's corpse.

Gian peeked over the wall again. This time nobody attacked. 'They're being more cautious. Good.'

"Leave her, it's just me an you now," he said, picking up another piece of wood.

"No offense, but it's just me," Persophene replied. "You have good survival instincts, I'll give you that. But you don't know any spells."

Gian ignored that. "Just cast another fire spell, after I throw this," he replied instead. "If it hits something you know your mark."

He got to his feet. "I'm over here!" he shouted.

"Are you crazy?" Persephone shouted, however it was too late. A fire ball came zipping towards him. He dodged, tossing the piece of wood in the direction of the attack before he even landed.

The wood made a loud thud.

"Now!" he shouted.

Persephone hestitated, before quickly standing up and casting her fire spell.

Something screamed from within the mist.

Gian picked up another piece of wood, and rushed in.

"Again!" he shouted.

The thick mist made it hard to see, but the same could be said for his enemies inside.

Persephone's last fireball zipped past over his head, providing cover. However it hit thin air, their enemies weren't idiots.

He found cover within one of the cabins, slowing his breathing so that they wouldn't find him.

"Fuck! They're just kids. Get rid of them!" one of the figures shouted.

Another fireball blasted into the cabin. This one was more powerful than Persephone's.

It hit the figure in a firey blast, shifting the mist around them. For a moment, Gian could see clearly. Chunks of the figure's cloak had been torn off. They revelead blue robes.

The attackers were... students.

Gian didn't dwell on the thought. He closed his eyes, invisioning the candle just as Kate had taught him.

One breath, two breaths. He put his all into this, and his mana core reacted in kind, reaching for as much ambient mana as it could.

"One of them's in the right cabin!"

'Fuck, out of time.'