Chapter 1

The droplets of sweat started to roll down my face and cause me to shiver. The excitement got my adrenaline running and the way that things were looking, made me smile a very sly smile. Even though I could not hear it myself, I could feel myself laughing at the things that were about to happen to the other soldiers. No matter what the Akrikash chose to say to me, the exhilaration of battle was something that I was going to live for from now on. Looking down at my feet, the mud was starting to suck at my boots and would limit my movement when we started to move. The birch trees surrounding me felt mystical with their optical illustrious bark. The snow that covered the ground was soon to grow as more would start to fall from the sky, as heard from the revolutionary army's mage. Compared to the normal soldier, this weather was very ideal for me. Everything that happened here would change the way that this country and neighboring countries were run if we succeeded in this battle. Unlike the other soldiers, I had no reason to fear death since I had experienced the feeling of it multiple times so this battle was more like a game for me. What I was experiencing right now was nothing in comparison to what I had experienced in the Akrikash. Clamping my teeth down hard to stop myself from shaking to the cold, my jaw started to gain a twinge of pain. I was beginning to get antsy and the pain in my jaw was increasing to almost an unbearable amount after standing in the same spot for an hour. Then, as I was just about to unlock my jaw, I heard the order of "March Forward!" and I moved my legs, almost groggily, forward towards battle. The divine beings of Disease and Death were soon to walk through this place and not leave anything behind, so this battle had to be fast or everyone without an immunity to both beings would die. These two beings would not touch me though and so I could go all out to introduce them to the enemy. My steps were sturdy, and I would not slip in a million years but, as I look around me, I see men in full armor covered in mud and grime who were losing their step and even falling to their knees. I snarked at the sight of the soldiers falling from something as simple as mud but, then again, I was not wearing any armor. I was wearing fur pelt and heavy clothes so that I could move freely. Nonetheless, I watched all others fail to adapt to the environment. I knew how this battle would go. To be specific, we were fighting natives of the land who had grown up in this kind of terrain since they were born. We would lose with absolutely no chance of winning unless somehow the Great One came down from his throne to save these useless soldiers and their wares. A light suddenly caught my eye while I was thinking, and I knew that it was an arrowhead of a bow. Crouching down very quickly, the arrow streaked over my head and into the neck of a soldier who was behind me. With a gurgle of a cry, he collapsed on the mud-ridden ground and was, in a sense, consumed by nature itself. I look forward with a smile as the real battle had just begun. The soldiers that I am with would all die eventually, which would mean that I could let loose and do whatever I wanted without anyone knowing my powers. The laughing of insanity bubbled its way up my throat, but I quelled it before it could get out. After all, I had not even done anything yet. Since I knew no one was going to be a witness to my powers, I got on all fours, gripping the mud with my hands and I lunged forward at an insane speed, breaking anything that was in my way. Stopping and turning around with a smile, I noticed the tree that I had hit slowly breaking away from its trunk and falling unto the dirtied earth. Just as I was about to find the human prey that had fallen from that tree, a pain struck my side, a painful feeling that made it seem like I had been hit by a thousand spears in the same spot. Looking down at my side, an arrow was there in place of the pain. Pulling it out and throwing it on the ground, I looked around my surroundings to find my attacker but, he was nowhere to be found. Unleashing my beastly scent, I tried to track my attacker, but their scent did not exist either. Suddenly, a light caught my eye, and another arrow came at me. Dodging the arrow by side-stepping, I ran as fast as I could in the direction of where the arrow came from. But it was strange, my senses still had not picked anything of interest up about my attacker. Suddenly it hit me as to who my attacker might be. As if confirming it, when I looked up, I saw a mechanical bird flying around in the sky. Knowing what that meant, I ran away from the bird. But when I ran away, all I did was enter a clearing. I knew that a clearing would not exist yet since the Forest of Mud continued for miles and miles. My anxiety built up and it felt like I was going to collapse at any second. I was doomed. My surroundings began to change which revealed solid stone ground with no mud and massive oak trees instead of illustrious barked birch. The snow that once existed melted away and a bright sun appeared from nowhere into the massive sky. The sun pained my eyes and they started to water and grow red. Heat and humidity suddenly existed and overwhelmed my senses. I fell onto my knees and hands, vomiting on the burning hot stone ground. This was an environment I hated the most and being brought here so suddenly, my body was not prepared for these new sensations. I blacked out in this new world with the final thought of 'Damn Mages'.