《Remnants of a Forgotten World》


 Prologue

    <h3 style="text-align: center">I


    ¡°Be careful!¡± instructed Jerold. ¡°This is only a minor casting, there is no need to cut so deep.¡±


    A stream of blood ran from the cut in Nissa¡¯s hand. Jerold was trying ¨C unsuccessfully ¨C to teach her how to do her first casting. They had been out here since daybreak and little progress had been made.


    He was an older man. He had to be at least forty. It showed in his hair and face. Black hair with streaks of grey, and a wrinkled face that showed many years of stress. Aside from that, he looked like any other man in the village. He was of average height and size. Nissa was unsure if she¡¯d be able to spot him in a crowd if it came down to it.


    The first couple of attempts, while Jerold instructed, Nissa was off in her head imagining what she would do with her magic. She didn¡¯t want to fight. Nissa wanted to adventure and she saw this as her only opportunity. Everyone learnt magic but only those who fought were permitted to travel. They also got trained at a much younger age and at higher frequency. If regularly cutting herself was the only way to get out of the village, she would do it. She smiled at how morbid that sounded.


    ¡°You¡¯ll never get anywhere if you keep living in your head¡±, he had told her.


    Nissa focused on her desired outcome and sent the blood from her hand forward. The blood floated slowly from her hand and once it had collected but a mere foot away, she clenched her fist and the blood ignited in a single bright flame.


    Nissa opened her eyes to see her work, and in her own giddiness, she lost control and the flame dissipated.


    ¡°Well done, girl,¡± Jerold acquiesced. ¡°There¡¯s still room for improvement but for now that¡¯s enough. Run along and get cleaned up.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Jerold!¡± Nissa said excitedly. She had successfully made fire after many an attempt. She would remind herself not to cut so deep in future. Only a small amount of blood was required and she had sliced her hand open a little too enthusiastically she thought.


    Jerold had told her that she was lucky to be born a woman. Apparently they make for better magicians. Something about childbirth. Nissa wasn¡¯t paying full attention when he was telling her ¨C she had only heard fragments of what he was saying.


    Nissa cleaned her hand off in the river at the edge of the village. While walking home, she watched the village butcher cut into a pig, using it¡¯s blood to cook its own meat as he sliced. A rather efficient use of the blood, she thought.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Once home, she went and checked she had cleaned herself sufficiently in the mirror. She had observed from others that it wasn¡¯t uncommon for blood to spray in one¡¯s face. She didn¡¯t want her mother to see her with blood on her face.


    Nissa looked into the reflective glass, and a stranger looked back at her. She never liked how she looked. Pale skin that was almost pure white. Eyes light green with a glint that had always reminded her of morning grass. Hair red and straight as an arrow. It stretched down and met the small of her back. Her hair was the only thing she liked about her appearance.


    Her mother had always said that she looked the spit and image of her father, but she had never met him. She was told that he had died before her birth. Whenever Nissa asked about him, her mother had looked lost. It was obvious she missed him greatly so Nissa had stopped asking.


    <h3 style="text-align: center">II


    It was almost midday and Rhett was playing with his hound. It was still small and not yet grown, like him. He had vowed to himself that when he had come of age, he and Spirit would begin their fight together, slaying any enemy he faced. That was still years away.


    Rhett was only of nine years. He was to begin his training later that day with his uncle. Rhett would also have to continue to train Spirit. She was being trained to hunt and fight alongside soldiers, but she wasn¡¯t doing well due to her size. She reminded Rhett of himself.


    As time passed, Rhett sat and watched all the older men head out and others making their return.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be training her?¡± A voice called out.


    Rhett turned to face where the voice came from.


    ¡°We were just taking a break uncle. She¡¯s getting much better!¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that later. Now however, it¡¯s time for your training.¡± Ulmer said. ¡°I promised my brother that you¡¯d be one of the best when you come of age. You don¡¯t wish to make a liar of me, do you?¡±


    ¡°No uncle. Where would you have me begin?¡±


    Ulmer sat down across from his nephew. ¡°We¡¯re going to be working on the strongest tool in any good paladin¡¯s arsenal; illusions.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s our strongest tool, why is it so rarely used?¡±


    ¡°Ahh, good question. The creation of an illusion is draining and requires a lot of focus. It is to be used sparingly and only under dire circumstances,¡± Ulmer started. ¡°Creating illusions often will find you defenseless should your illusion fail.¡±


    ¡°So how does it work? How do I create an illusion?¡±


    ¡°First, you want to imagine what you want to create. Craft it in your mind. Not too large, I don¡¯t want you passing out on me.¡± Ulmer paused for a moment giving Rhett a chance to come up with something. ¡°Once you have what you want, focus on it and imagine it in front of you.¡±


    Just a moment later, a flower appeared between the two of them.


    ¡°Nicely done. Hold that thought for a moment. Give the flower life, let it sway in the wind. It would be obvious if something such as a flower stood still in a strong wind,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Make it look natural.¡±


    Rhett did as such and the flower began to gently sway in the light breeze. Spirit stood and pawed at the flower, her foot passing through as if nothing was there.


    ¡°What¡¯s next uncle?¡±

 Chapter 1

    The logs went up in flames. It was the first spell she had learnt and now Nissa had used it to create herself a campfire. She sat down next to the fire and ate the meal she had prepared.


    It had been three years since she was first allowed to leave the village ¨C eight since she started her training. Jerold had said that he was proud of her. She started her training a year later than most but still managed to finish on schedule.


    Being out in the world wasn¡¯t as glamorous as she had once imagined but she loved it regardless.


    ¡°You still live in your head as much as you did as a child,¡± said a voice from behind her.


    ¡°And you still make as much noise when you walk as a wailing baby,¡± Nissa retorted.


    Jerold couldn¡¯t help but snort with laughter.


    ¡°Did you find what you were looking for?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± he sighed. ¡°No boars. I¡¯ll just have to eat rabbit. Rabbit every day. How do you not get sick of it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m often thinking of other things when I eat. I don¡¯t take much note of the taste.¡±


    Jerold looked confused ¨C or intrigued. Nissa couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°Rest up. I¡¯ll take first watch for the night,¡± Jerold stated. ¡°We¡¯ll be heading out at first light.¡±


    Hours passed and Nissa woke to Jerold in her face. She jerked her body in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Sorry for startling you,¡± he said with a grin on his face. ¡°Your turn to keep watch.¡±


    As she got up, she was thinking of ways to get back at her mentor. Perhaps I could just stab him a little, she thought with a malevolent smile on her face.


    Nissa sat still as a statue in the middle of her camp, with her dagger resting on her lap. Her eyes were closed. She was supposed to keep watch but she found that her eyes could betray her. Her ears are what she relied on instead.


    On the year prior, a lone paladin had tried to sneak up on her when she was on watch. He walked quietly, but not quiet enough. Nissa waited until the paladin was only a foot away before making her move. She slowly cut into her leg. She wanted to make as little movement as possible so the paladin would continue to believe she was unaware of his presence.


    With the blood, she increased her speed and reflexes for a short time. It was a useful spell to know, not just for combat scenarios. With her increased speed she spun around, dagger in hand.


    The paladin was not expecting this at all. His natural reaction was to put up his hand to defend his body, but that only caused the dagger to cut his hand instead.


    This paladin wasn¡¯t trained well, Nissa thought. He looked young but she couldn¡¯t tell in the dark. She focused on the blood on his hand and made it explode. There was only a small amount of blood but it was enough to cause the paladin to lose his hand.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The paladin, in an attempt to save his life, crafted an illusion of himself where he was standing, and hid himself from view. He tried to run away but the illusion didn¡¯t last long.


    Nissa realised it was only an illusion when she tried to take control of the blood gushing from the paladin¡¯s arm. She walked through the illusion and tried to sense where the blood was. The illusion didn¡¯t fool her but the paladin was still hiding himself.


    In his panic, the paladin tripped on a rock as he was trying to flee which only led him to release the focus on his illusion. Nissa walked up and stood over him. The paladin turned over to face her, begging for mercy, ¡°I yield! I yield!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Nissa said coldly before giving him a quick and painless death.


    Jerold, ever the mentor, only congratulated her for the way she handled it. He didn¡¯t even thank her for potentially saving his life. He just went back to sleep, as if nothing had happened, leaving Nissa to deal with the body.


    The sun was beginning to rise. Nissa kicked Jerold gently to wake him.


    ¡°No trouble?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Aside from your snoring?¡±


    He smiled. No one could make Jerold smile or laugh as Nissa could. She was like a daughter to him. After Nissa completed her training, she was partnered up with him. The village elders knew they would work well together and they were right, as always.


    Jerold collected their things and Nissa kicked some dirt on what was left of the fire she had started the night prior.


    ¡°You know this area better than I,¡± started Nissa. ¡°Which way are we heading?¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me more experienced?¡±


    ¡°Old, more like. So which way?¡±


    ¡°So rude. Did no one ever teach you to respect your elders?¡± He nodded toward a rocky outcrop, ¡°that way.¡±


    They travelled in the direction Jerold had indicated until they spotted what they were sent out for. It wasn¡¯t hard to see from where they were atop a hill.


    ¡°Remember, we are just here to watch and report,¡± Jerold reminded her. ¡°Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.¡±


    ¡°Thanks mum.¡±


    Off in the distance was a large outpost, full of paladins.


    ¡°How many do you count?¡± Jerold asked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t tell. We¡¯re too far away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get closer and get a count.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± She asked in disbelief. ¡°They¡¯d hear you coming! I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Jerold hesitated. ¡°Be careful. They have hounds that are trained to smell blood so you won¡¯t be able to cast enough when you¡¯re down there.¡±


    ¡°Good to know.¡±


    Nissa stayed low as she approached the encampment. The first thing she noticed that not only were the paladins armoured, the hounds were too. They wore chainmail armour. She was confused as to why they¡¯d armoured the mutts. The paladins were the only ones who used any slashing weapon.


    She stayed as still as possible so as not to draw any unwanted attention, and began counting. She had managed to get within their patrols around the outpost so caution was of utmost importance. If she was spotted, she was as good as dead.


    Ten, twenty, thirty. Nissa had counted some 34 men. For every third man, there was a hound. Some of the men had differences in their armour, but she could not discern why. It couldn¡¯t have been rank as some of the men that she thought younger than her had these differences.


    She came to the conclusion that it must be some sort of division marker, like magicians have a different colour trim on their clothing for the division they belonged. Nissa belonged to the intelligence division, meaning her normal black clothing had a maroon trim.


    When she realised that there were no more men to count, she carefully made her way back to Jerold who was waiting where she left him. She had narrowly made it past a patrol without being seen or heard.


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°I counted 34 men, and about eleven of those mutts,¡± Nissa told him. ¡°Some of the men had differences in their armour as well. I presume they mark divisions like colour do for us. I counted three distinctive differences but could not tell from their equipment or behaviour what their divisions may be.¡±


    ¡°You did good,¡± Jerold told her. ¡°Let¡¯s head back before we get spotted out here.¡±