Lady Maria

It's been a month since I found myself away from the village, and away from my parents. I've tried to go to the nearest city, Duratus, in search of a guide, but couldn't get past the city borders since I didn't have any form of identification. Telling the guards that granted entry into the city about my situation didn't help either as I would simply get threatened to leave, otherwise I'd get locked up for 'assaulting an officer'. I even offered them my merits earned from the magi games.

"Yeah, like a poor village boy would be able to afford a guide - with Mybels of all things. You'll probably get to your destination and when the time comes to pay, you'll dip. Get lost already, you're spoiling the atmosphere with your stench." Said one plump guard in particular, garbed in a cool-blue uniform and orange scarf to protect from the harsh climate of Duratus.

-"I'll be sure to spoil the atmosphere with your insides someday…"-

Day after day for two weeks would I get back home to Hera with no results. Getting into any of the big cities without identification is nigh impossible, and sneaking in isn't an option either due to mana sensing arrays in, around and underneath the borders.

"Alright then Kenny. Change of plans! Next time a group of travellers with a guide wander into my swamp, I'll capture them and force them to escort us." Hera spoke nonchalantly so it was hard to tell if she was serious or not.

"Good idea, but aren't those guides like really strong?" I asked, not expecting a serious reply.

"Of course, they are! That's why we hold one of the escortees hostage. Preferably a young, they are usually weak and are able to make the stronger ones soft. Oh- that sounds horrible, but obviously we won't harm them."

"Obviously…"

I wasn't a huge fan of her plan, but my conscious was nagging at me to just get home. Just get back to Ray and Violet and hope that Tess is still okay.

"Your plan sounds dodgy though. On top of kidnapping someone under supervision of a strong mage and potential body guards, we have to rely on lady luck to actually send travellers here. I haven't seen anyone come through these swamps since I got here."

"This lady luck of yours won't be needed. You humans and your gods, you rely too much on deities. I digress, I'll simply lead people towards us by having a few of my beast friends who owe me a favour scare them towards us and maybe incapacitate a few guards if need be. Doing it this way will score us an escort in a few days at most."

"Alright. If we're doing it this way though, we have to be sure that they're travelling to Patria, otherwise it'd be a waste of time."

"So, you're actually agreeing with my plan?" She asked while getting up. "I'll send word to the other beasts immediately." With that she was off, disappeared into the base of the tree hut.

I replied with a sigh "At this point it's all I have…"

"Hey, don't look so down, travellers approaching from the mossy cave." It was Heras' voice that came from the base of the tree-hut. I placed my hand on the tree before speaking.

"What? Already? Are they even going to Patria?"

"I'm certain. They're having a conversation about meeting with someone there."

"How many of them are there?"

"Four of them, with an extra one who thinks he's a sly little fox trailing behind them in the trees."

"Alright. When they get here, let me talk to them first. Maybe we can persuade them to just take us with 'em. Be ready to take a hostage though." Hera was about to say something, but I was already back on the ground thinking about how to greet my potential escort.

I spotted four bobbing heads peering over vines and bushes. Upon seeing me they got into a defensive stance and I rebuked by holding my arms up in a gesture of peace. The four people, two women and two men, approached me slowly, hands still perched on the hilts of their swords.

"Good evening. I count five of you, correct?" I immediately asked.

"Hello child." Said, who I assumed to be the mage judging by his light-blue core and fancy robe. "And no. We're a group of four. What are you doing all the way out here? There are dangerous beasts that lurk around here."

"I live here sir." I replied in kind. "And I count five people. You four and then the one in the tree." As I pointed up towards the dark-blue orb which only I could see thanks to mana sense, a figure garbed in all-red clothing, only his eyes and mouth visible, leapt from the tree he was perched on and threw an object at us mid-air. A cloud of smoke enveloped myself and the travellers.

The travellers broke into a fit of coughs. The smoke screen had an odd scent which told me that I shouldn't use fire magic if I had to defend myself, instead I used mana sense to see where the travellers were. They were tightly grouped which made it easy for me to swallow them whole into the earth.

"Wh- What just happened? Where are we?" echoed a young voice.

"Don't worry, we're underground. I would light a fire but oxygen is limited. Sir mage, what are we dealing with here?"

The middle-aged man gave a sigh before answering. "Assassins I'm afraid, probably after Lady Marias' head."

"Okay. And are you familiar with these people?"

"Yes. They all wear red clothes with a black band around their right arm, it's definitely one of the Hounds."

"Hounds? How dangerous are these people?"

"Very. It'd be in your best interest to run away kid."

"Not happening. I intend to help you protect Lady Maria. We should get moving, oxygen is running thin down here." I was about to dart back up to catch our pursuer by surprise when a hand tugged at my arm.

A silvery yet childish voice, quivering, but firm, spoke to me. "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. That man up there is powerful. Do you know the reason why he wears red? He intends to stand out like a sore thumb. One of the 'Hounds' main trademarks are their red clothing, red doesn't blend at all with the environment, they believe that if you can't pull off a stealth mission even in those ridiculous garments, you're not fit to be a hound. They are the absolute best of the best. God knows how dangerous they'd be if they didn't fool around with such silly trials…"

"Are you done making excuses? There's 6 of us and one of him, and right now we have the element of surprise."

A silence filled our safe haven before the middle-aged mage spoke up.

"There's only 5 of us kid and even though you can use earth magic, we'd be the only two who could fight."

"Okay, then there's three of us, those odds sound good enough to me."

"Kid are you listening to yo-"

"No time to explain, let's go!" I shot myself and the mage out of the ground, leaving the other three still underground. Using mana sense, I located the hound and shot a fireball at a nearby tree, initiating the fight. I made sure the spell was big enough to alert Hera that something was up.

The hound leapt from tree to tree and if it wasn't for his clothing and my mana sense, I'd have lost track of him long ago. He circled around us a few times before making a move. He leapt to a tree one last time before disappearing behind the trunk, his mana vanishing as well.

"What!? Did you see where he went?" I looked all around me but couldn't find the Hounds' core again.

"don't fool around kid, he's in that tree."

"No, he isn't. He vanished."

I looked around one last time and noticed that there were three orbs underground and a new, very faint, blue orb among them.

The ground crackled as I bolted through the earth towards the orb, simultaneously covering my arms in stone. As I closed the gap, I could feel my skin being shredded and torn apart from the roots of trees and hard sediment, yet all I could focus on was apprehending the Hound, and getting back home.

The orb was right in front of me. I broke through the wall, debris flying about the cramp cave. I made contact with a body and saw red, be it the Hounds clothing or someone's blood, I am unsure. Without checking to see what I rammed, I hauled the three remaining travellers out of the hole and, to my surprise, stood the Hound beside the mages' lifeless body.

Red stained the mages' purple robes and white silk gloves, blood dripped from his mouth and neck. The Hound stood motionless, blood dripping from his left hand, as one of the travellers bolted towards him. The shrill screech told me that it was the same voice that spoke to me in the cave.

The girl hoisted her blade above her head and the Hound parried her with ease, leaving her to sob in the swamp waters.

The Hound approached me, slowly trudging through the water. I shivered uncontrollably as the man stood before me. I looked up at his bloodshot eyes and he sent a wretched smile my way.

"It would be in your best interest to get out of here. Hell, if I were you, I'd move far away with my family to some remote island on another planet." He laughed maniacally at his own joke before patting me on the shoulder and continuing "You can expect a visit from my employer in the near future, Kenny Watkin."

"W-W-What's your name." I stammered

"Me? Oh, you can just call me… Let's see… Ahh, Mori. My name is Mori." Said the man with a chuckle.

I was left in the dwam of a trance, my conscious fading and reawakening due to the cuts and bruises on my body as well as the sobs of the travellers.

"Oh, one last thing Kenny. Your lady friend Hera is laying somewhere in a ditch. Better find her before she gets eaten up by the swamp maggots."

The Hound, Mori, finally left and the sobbing stopped. The girl was perched over the mage, her back lifting and dropping from rugged breaths. The remaining two travellers were sitting against a tree, unharmed.

As much as I wanted to just fall over and sleep, I went on my way to look for Hera. I passed by the two travellers, a man and woman with brunette and jet-black hair respectively, who gave me tired and terrified glances.

I passed by the girl who looked up at me with blood-red eyes, her face splattered with grime and a spot of blood on her forehead. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked with apparent hatred in her voice.

"My friend… Hera…" I replied, barely able to form coherent words.

"This is your fault! We could've stayed underground where it was safe, but no, you wanted to be a hero!"

"My faul… Whatever. Hera… Find her…"

"Hey get back here! We have to…" Her voice shrunk to a whisper "We have to bury him."

I woke up at around noon in Heras' quarters. I was so out of it that it took me a few seconds to register that Hera was running her fingers through my hair as I laid on her bed.

"Finally awake, are we? You slept long, those travellers - and that poor girl - have already gone back to the city, probably sitting comfortably in their homes right now."

"What are you doing?" I asked, still in the dwam of sleep.

"Well, your hair was covered in dirt so I cleaned you up. Your hair is really soft by the way."

"You cleaned me… Where did you-"

"Don't worry, I didn't peep anything, if that's what you're so flustered about."

"…good. Anyhow, what happened to those travellers? And the mage."

"Well, after I found you and carried you here, I helped the girl bury her father. The other two left without notice."

''Where did you bury him?"

I jumped down to the mini-shrine Hera conjured. Atop a crude stone podium stood a picture of the man - holding his daughter - adorned by vines, decorated with flowers of all kinds and colours, that twisted and curled about the shrine.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." Said a familiar voice. It was the girl, holding a bunch of flowers.

I looked at her, but when my gaze met hers, I looked down at the ground. I couldn't look her in the face, not after my selfish attempt at trying to secure a ride home.

She silently waded past me to the shrine where she placed the flowers. "His name was Felix, by the way. Felix Jensen."

I didn't know what to say.

"What, did you lose your ability to speak? I'm not mad at you anymore, not THAT mad anyway. Hera told me everything, Kenny."

A sigh escaped my mouth. "And? What does that change? It's still my fault that this happened."

"You're right, but Hera convinced me to try and forgive you. When I yelled at you earlier, I meant what I said. I'm still mad at you, but you're just a kid after all."

"That's not an excuse! It doesn't matter if I'm 5 years old or 50 years old, what I did was… It was fucking stupid!"

"Kenny, you're making it hard for me to not be mad at you, so just shut up."

"You should be mad at me, I deserve it."

"No, you don't. What you do deserve though, is a second chance. My mom believes everyone deserves a second chance." She turned around from the shrine to face me and lightly held me by my shoulders. "Look, if you want, you can come with me to the city. We're not the richest family, but we can help you get back home. If you can get enough money, we can organize an escort for you."

I finally looked up at her. Her eyes were still red, which only accentuated her pale-blue eyes. "Why would you-"

"Think it over. I'll come back tomorrow." She said as she spun on her heels and started walking back to the city.

"Okay but why? And what's your name?!"

"It's Maria. And we want to get to know you, mister dual-elemental." As she walked away, her figure slowly got devoured by the swamps' fog.

-"This is so unfair…"-

Before going back up to Hera, I conjured a headstone in front of the shrine. It read 'Felix Jensen'.