Red Light

Running a hand through his tussled brown hair, Leo clicked his tongue, "I'll be honest. Dad and I have to deal with the crap that Lord Klassen throws at us day in and day out. Mother isn't excluded from this, seeing that this is the third time she was actually forced to hunt down an Ignis Ape for the fool."

"Isn't that right mom?" Leo raised his voice.

"Aye." Their mother brutally swung down her blade. "That ignorant self-righteous prick thinks that just because I whip up a lousy cold lemonade -"

Snowflakes scattered in the air as she pierced a thick wooden branch with her knife, "ughh…"

Her shoulders stooped a little as she glanced back, letting them catch a glint of her now azure eyes. "I heard every word that you said Eliza."

Eliza coughed, almost tripping on the log infront of her.

"And I'll say, if the stories are right, which they normally are, then it's practically stupid that we're hunting the very same Ignis Apes that protected humanity a century ago."

With a gentle puff of air, she released a small ice shard that refracted sunlight into a small rainbow.

"Sure, I can't deny that wielding ice magic does come in handy from time to time but," her blade parted the ice in two with a clink, "I would sacrifice a bit of my hocus pocus in exchange for having to run around like an errand girl."

Leo winced, sticking his knife back into its leather scabbard and prodding a nearby white spotted mushroom with his worn boot. He knew that this was a touchy subject for his mother, for Lord Klassen only gave two choices to mages that joined his town: submit to him or perform outrageous tasks. Otherwise, they would have no choice but sleep with one eye open as the new generation of Gelu Trolls would, as the stories said, venture into the forests. No living soul would be left in their wake.

Leo sighed, "Well, I won't lie, being able to wield magic sounds kinda rad, but it would be nice if Lord Klassen would stop running around the town like he owns the place."

"Well, he kinda does," Eliza flicked her palm.

"Yea, you know what I mean, even though the guy is the only one strong enough to deflect the yearly raids from the Gelu Trolls on our town, do we really have to suck up to his demands? Especially any single mage that does work under him." Leo glanced at his mother who's fists kept getting tighter before she puffed out another ball of mist, practicing her breathing exercises.

"Like, only mages who have sworn allegiance to him can walk around willy nilly like they own the place while we're out here, despite being drastically weaker than more than half of the 8 fire and ice mages under his command, because if mother doesn't do it then she'll be forced into becoming one of his lap dogs and," Leo paused, catching himself as his voice faltered to a whisper, "...we all know how he is around women."

CRACK

Eliza and Leo both stopped in their tracks as they stared wide eyed at their mother. Ice shards fell from her balled fist while Leo gripped his cloak tighter. The temperature had fallen a few degrees, and even all the birds' chirps had disappeared as Leo neck hair's stood on their ends. He could almost feel it, the seething disgust slowly pulsing through the air. After the longest minute of his life, their mother's azure eyes calmly met his, almost making Leo flinch. Suddenly, her azure eyes returned to their natural green sheen before she gradually turned to venture deeper into the forest.

With a low voice that got under their skin, they barely heard her utter, "Follow me."

Leo's muscles loosened as he shook from relief. He literally felt like his life was endangered. Was this the rumored mana suppression that all mages under Lord Klassen released when they didn't get their way?

Suddenly, he felt a light jab at his shoulder to which he gave an incredulous look to his sister Eliza. She flicked her hand from her forehead as if to say "the heck, stupid" and put her forefinger to her mouth. Stepping forward, Leo watched her back as he regretted uttering that last phrase that had escaped his lips. He definitely did not like being at the end of the stick in front of his mother.

Sulking, they all walked in silence, daggers glinting whenever the foliage rustled. The Ignis Apes weren't the only magical creatures that inhabited the forest, they were just the most glamorous and well known. A rare flying squirrel would appear from time to time, ruffling Leo's hair as these brown fuballs zipped overhead. Heck, rumor has it that someone had even spotted a rare twilight wolf during a full moon. Apparently, they are beasts of the night, but their existence remains as elusive as the rumors themselves since no one has ever brought back a black pelt with gleaming stars once.

As Leo continued to lose himself in fantastic myths, nothing exciting happened during their daily trek besides Leo's mother poking a few more curious piles of scat while scouring the canopies for Ignis Ape leaf piles. Before Leo knew it, he had already set up camp for the night, ate some more bland bunny potato soup, and saw his mother fall fast asleep. That left Leo and Eliza leaning against the bark of the nearest Kapok tree studying their worn elven magical tomes they had battered for from one of the Gnomish traders that visited their town once a month.

While they were discussing the benefits of making healing potions out of agave, fish oil, and some mystical Lily called Violet Glimmer, faint rays of red light hit Leo's and Eliza's tomes for a split second.

" - right, the pollen of the Violet Glimmer Lily is what gives its name and -" Leo explained to Eliza who began to rub her eyes and glance around, "it has moderate healing properties if you let it stew for at least 5 minutes with some agave." Pages flipped as Leo's grimmy hands sought out one of the bookmarks he had left for the illustration of the Violet Glimmer.

Suddenly, another faint ray of red light blipped through the dark foliage to their left, reflecting in Eliza's green eyes. Shutting her leather bound tome, Eliza grasped the leather scabbard by her waist, not taking her eyes off the lingering darkness from where the light had come from.

"Ha, so here - wait, what are you -"

"Shhhh…" Eliza batted a hand, perking her ears for any sounds besides the annoying crickets and occasional frog. Scratching his brown messy hair, Leo peered at where Eliza was facing apprehensively. Nothing was there, just some shimmering leaves, a few twigs swaying in the breeze, and looming darkness.

But then, a few seconds later, a low wolf howl pierced the night.

Then another.

Eliza's hair began to stand on end, as a cacophony of wolf howls arose from far off in the distance.

"Shit."

Eliza jumped across some tree routes, scooping up her green quiver before arriving next to her mother. Grabbing the shortbow besides her rucksack and kicking her mother's knife just out of reach, she whispered. "Mom, mom!"

THWACK

Flicking her ginger head back on reflex, a shard of ice sliced a strand of Eliza's red bangs before impaling itself a few inches deep into the thick brown bark of the nearest tree. Feeling a chill run down her spine, Eliza's widened green eyes met a pair of menacing azure eyes. Small snowflakes began to thaw on Eliza's mother's hand as their mother's glare rapidly turned into one of apprehension.

"F - Eliza," their mother rapidly pushed stray leaves and her blanket out of the way before grasping her daughter's thin shoulders. "I'm sorry dear - but for god sake you gave me a scare. But what did -" she paused and Leo could have sworn her ear twitched. A scowl began to form on her freckled face once again as her head turned towards the eerie wolf calls.

And then a flash of red light pierced the night again, glinting off her now green eyes. She broke into a smile, yet that was quickly erased as she gnashed her teeth while darting around for her trusty hunting knife and hardy bow. "Those idiot good for nothing wolves are going to - son of -," she muttered under her breath as leaves crunched and she exhorted Leo, "don't just start there you dimwit! Get your bow, a knife, and get that scrawny ass of yours on the move!"

Light finally dawned on Leo as his mind caught up to speed. There must be a Ignis Ape near here, which explains the red flashes of light. Slamming his book shut, Leo tossed it into his rucksack while scrambling for his quiver. Leaves crumpled and twigs snapped as they didn't even bother putting out their campfire before their mother's ice encrusted hand plunged into the fire and, with a thick hiss, pulled out a burning log. Awestruck, Leo stared at her shrinking back as she began thrashing through the wilderness, waking up the whole forest with the ruckus.