Battle In The Fog

Jien like all the other guards were caught off guard by the sudden change in atmosphere. Not only could he not see past his own nose, but all the sound seemed to vanish including the incessant murmurs that were a constant in the forest. His father had been right next to him, but he was no longer visible, and he didn't dare to try and call out. Jien understood that if he called out and the bandits had a way to track sound they would find and attack him. There was always a chance they would be looking to escape but with the sudden attack it was just as likely that they would want to defend their hiding spot and protect their stolen goods.

As these thoughts were running through his head Jien knew that he needed to regroup with someone from his side of the conflict. He didn't have real combat experience himself other than spars with his teachers. This was nothing like those lighthearted bouts. This was a fight where his very life was on the line and he could feel it in his bones, the chill of the thought of dying in this forest over something like testing his leadership.

He quickly stored those thoughts in the back of his mind. Distraction would do him no good and if he got out of this without being killed, he was sure he would give his father an earful. His grip on his rapier loosened and tightened, trying to find the mythical perfect balance that Ms. Bujrim had tried to drill into him during their training. He inhaled and deeply exhaled, forcing his focus to sharpen and his thoughts to concentrate on the first hurdle. He had to free himself from this fog, or at the very least he needed to find one of the guards.

Jien circulated mana through his body in a pattern that Ms. Bujrim had taught him during his training. It wasn't too useful in combat as of yet because of the time it took to circulate. He had not burned it into his muscle memory, so his mind had to fully focus on the pattern. However, after a few moments he felt that it was a success. Mana leaked out from him foot and began to circulate a weak wall of wind around him, trying to force the fog away. This was a minor wind spell that with proper focus on the meaning one wanted to give, could be used rather flexibly. Emily had taught him this more for the sake of smoothing out his movement and enhancing his sword strikes if necessary. However, at this time he was attempting to clear the fog around him to get a line of sight to anyone from his side of the conflict, hoping that the others would be thinking of similar plans.

Unfortunately, though the wind spell was successful, and a wall of wind spread around him, no fog appeared to be captured or moved. It was as if the fog was untouchable, and this confused Jien deeply. It wasn't impossible that the fog was heavy enough to ignore his wind, but he felt that the fact that there was no reaction meant that there was something else at play.

He wracked his brain to try and figure it out. The information they were provided on the bandits was pretty scarce, they didn't even know their full numbers. However, they were told a bit about the mage who had cast this spell. Jien recalled a reference to the use of water and light magic to form illusions. He had thought at first that the fog itself was just water magic used to create a smoke screen, perhaps using some aspect of water to muffle sounds as well. Now he was beginning to wonder if that was the case at all. It was at this point that an idea came to him. If the fog around them wasn't fog at all. What if the fog was in a separate or smaller area and water magic was being used to cause an illusory reflection of fog in their surroundings.

He wasn't sure on the details of how the mage had accomplished such a thing, but it wasn't impossible as long as the mage had the control and mana capacity. That however, brought Jien back to his original issue. If he couldn't affect his surroundings and he couldn't see a foot in front of him then how could he get to his team of guards or his father.

At the moment that this line of thought ended Jien jolted to the side, his movement sharp and against everything he had been taught these recent months but having saved himself. Or at least he had thought he had dodged a blow. When he checked where he had thought he had sensed danger from there was nothing but the illusory fog before his eyes. Still, he put all thoughts to the back of his mind. The fact that he had felt an innate danger meant that there must have been something. It felt like all of the strikes that came his way while he was training, except it was far sharper.

He didn't know what that feeling was mainly because during his training sessions Emily and Mark had both remained calm and struck at him only with the purpose of training. Suddenly Jien felt a shiver run down his spine as a rush of cold air seemed to come for his throat. He couldn't complete a natural sidestep in time, so he instinctively let himself fall backward, letting the blade slip by his throat by no more than a hairs breadth. He awkwardly landed on his butt and quickly rolled to his side and back onto his feet. He still hadn't seen the blade or the one who was wielding it, but he had felt its approach and knew for sure that someone in the fog was after him.

He hoped that at the very least that the attacker wasn't one of the guards or his father. He wasn't sure if they had a way to see through the fog or not, but he didn't want to be killed, let alone by those that were supposed to be protecting and working together with him.

His doubts would be cleared a few moments after he shakily rose to his feet. A powerful gust of wind swept through the area, and though the fog around him didn't appear to be affected by that power, a moment later the veil was lifted in an abrupt shift. The area before the lake was once more in the open, the guards were shown locked in several fights, the melee specialists baring down on each other, the mages working to monitor and control variables on the battlefield. One of them looked slightly pale as she lowered her white wooden wand.

The archers on the bandits' sides had retreated to the cave entrance, using the gray stone as barricade against the arrows that were flying in their direction while keeping the guards away from the enemy mage. And now, with the fog dispersed Jien saw his opponent's silhouette in the pale moonlight.