ã€ŠA Hero&#x27;s Legacyã€‹


 Chapter 1: The succesor (Edited)

    In a forest within the Lands of man, two humans hiked through it as if they were on their way to a picnic, even though this forest was known to have dangerous dens of monsters. Our two travelers however didn''t show any signs of caution, chatting, and moving with little care. One of them was an old man clothed in a red tunic and cape, the uniform of a Veteran Hunter. The other was a young girl, wearing a similar tunic and cape but in grey, showing her status as an apprentice. They had been in this forest for almost an entire year for an intense training program. This forest was dangerous, but danger can bring out a youngling¡¯s potential and it had. The older man was quite pleased with his young charge¡¯s progress.

    "Well, I believe you¡¯re ready to learn the intermediate spell ''Fireblast''.¡± he answers the question weighing on her mind. Her green eyes became wide and a big smile formed on her face.

    "Really? That means we are going to leave the forest, right? That''s what you said." the girl shouted with excitement and jumped up and down.

    "Right, right, I guess at your speed it will not even take a month." chuckled the old man. He ruffled her shoulder-length red hair.

    "Then, can we make camp here, and you explain to me how it works?", the girl asked hopefully.

    "Hm," the old man looked over the treetops. "The sun goes down in around two hours, I would like to go to the river before it gets dark."

    "Oh, come on. Let''s just go to sleep a little earlier and get up earlier. The river will still be there tomorrow. Please." She pleaded.

    The old man stroke his beard in thought. "Well, it¡¯s more safe by the river, in the event you set something on fire."

    "But if we go there now it¡¯ll dark and we won''t start till tomorrow anyway. So just stay here and explain how the spell works and then I have time to think about it. you always tell me to contemplate a new spell, before I''m allowed to use it anyway, right! So please." She looked at him with puppy eyes.

    The old man sighed. "Well alright. Then prepare the camp, while I tell you about the theory of ¡®FireBlast¡¯."

    The girl gave a shout of joy and quickly removed her backpack and set up their campsite. An hour later they went to sleep. The girl fell asleep right away. The old man lay there chuckling, thinking how lucky he was to have found such a great pupil. Well, it wasn''t that lucky for that girl, since the only reason for a kid to be allowed to become an apprentice is if they are orphans. One year ago he had found her in the rubble of a building just barely alive after some bandits raided her village. After he found out how talented she was he decided to make her his pupil. But this was not out of goodwill, it was because he had become quite old and he needed someone to protect this world from the dangers that lurked everywhere.

    He knew that once he wasn''t here anymore this world would fall into chaos again. So to prevent that he needed someone with the potential to become the new him. A person who can pick up right where he left off. Well, he was only sixty-two at this moment and he lived a pretty healthy life so he should have at least ten or so more years to cultivate her. With those thoughts, Berret Simmler drifted into a sleep from which he would never awake.

    <hr>

    I opened my eyes quickly and set up with all the zeal and vigor in the world. Today was the day that I, Natalie, would learn to use the intermediate spell ''Fireblast''!! And then we could finally leave this forest. Don''t get me wrong I''m not scared or something, but living here is really exhausting. The food is, frankly, disgusting since there are only monsters here and I don''t think they were made to be eaten. Also constantly sleeping on the hard ground while being aware of your surroundings is really not refreshing. At the very least I want a real bed. I brought water in a kettle to boil with a simple heat spell and added the rest of the meat from yesterday''s dinner. The boiling doesn''t make it tastier but at the very least you can chew it without ripping your teeth out. The weird smell that came out of the pot filled the area and Berret woke up with a grunt. At least that''s what should be happening since he does this every morning. But right now he is still sleeping.

    "Berret breakfast is ready, time to get up!", I call.

    But still, he doesn''t move. I raise an eyebrow but then I got an idea. With an evil grin, I sneak closer to him until my hand reaches his blanket. With all my might I pull it from him and shout. "Rise and shine!"

    And all my movements and thoughts came to a sudden stop. He laid there with a painful expression and his hand squeezing against his chest.

    "Berret?" My voice is not more than a whisper. "No, please." I panic and shake his body. No reaction.

    "NO, BERRET WAKE UP! PLEASE!", I scream terrified.

    This can¡¯t be happening! He was alright yesterday. Anyway, he is the strongest man she ever knew. He could kill those rock golems with just one hit of his fist. Have you ever seen someone destroying these with just that? I certainly have not. So there''s no way that he could die while sleeping, now is there? There''s no way, no way!

    "WAKE UUUUUP!" I scream so loud that my throat feels like it''s going to explode but I don''t care. Small droplets of water are tripping on his face but I don''t care. I shake him harder. I put all of my power into shaking him. This should hurt even if it''s me who is doing it. So just stop this prank.

    "Wake up, please wake up!"

    A low growl came from within the darkness of the woods. The monsters must have heard me but normally they keep a safe distance away since they are scared of Berret. Why are you coming now? He is not dead.

    "HE IS NOT DEAD!" The area around us instantly froze into pillars of Ice. There was no growling now. That''s right. Just getting a reminder that Berret is here made them freeze to death. ¡®Whew¡¯ that was fortunate.

    I don''t know how long I kneeled there, crying and screaming but he never woke up. I didn''t count how often the sunsetted and how often I fainted from exhausting myself from screaming but no matter how often a new dawn came, he wouldn''t wake up.

    By the time my brain understood that I myself was almost dead. I had almost no power left to stand, and my gut was aching. Maybe my body forcibly made me recognize that he was dead before I myself would starve completely. Whatever the reason, I took my belongings and his cape and left. I needed something from him to come with me. On my way away from our camp, I broke an arm off of a frozen Monster and poured heat into it. As soon as the typical smell of cooked monster filled my nostrils I bit into it and tore huge lumps of meat from it.

    All while walking in the direction of the river and without realizing any of it. After I reached it I followed it. I''m not leaving the forest yet. I have to learn ''Fireblast'' . But I couldn''t bear to be close to that place. Suddenly a short laughter escaped my mouth. It¡¯s funny isn''t it? I¡¯m only eight years old and I have already lost my family twice. Quite a great joke don''t you think?

    Tears started to dwell up in my eyes again as rage came all over my body. Seems like the food gave my brain enough energy to work a little again. Then instead of anger or grief, I should put this energy into understanding what Berret told me about the spell. He said I wouldn''t even need one month, but that would have been under his guidance. There is no telling how long I will now take. So the best way to not disappoint him is doing everything I can to learn it as fast as possible.

    <hr>

    I breathed heavily and almost all my stamina was gone but on top of my right hand was a small fireball. It took me almost six months to figure out what my problem was. I didn''t know how a successful invocation of the spell ''Fireblast'' looks like. Ah, the fireball? I managed this already the first day I went down the river. But since then I tried a lot of different things, but none led to a successful ''Fireblast''? What Berret told me wasn¡¯t much help since it was just theoretical talk, about which mana to feel, and the way it was supposed to flow. But that wasn¡¯t helpful in a practical way.

    Yep, half a year and this didn''t occur to me. "Haa." I sighed and let myself fall into the grass on the riverbank. With outstretched arms, I stared into the treetops. I failed at my very first task I was supposed to crack, didn''t I?

    ''Don''t worry about it, Natalie. This can happen to the best of us'' spoke Berret in her mind.

    Ah, not this again. Somehow I hear him often giving me pieces of advice. But since there was a lot of stuff he would never say or suggest I concluded that it must be a mean fairy or something.

    ''Now don''t be mean''. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Well then tell me how ''Fireblast'' really works! The voice didn''t give an answer.

    Figures.

    ''Well, maybe it¡¯s time to leave this forest, don''t you think?'', it suggested. True, there was nothing I could accomplish here alone, without knowing how the spell even was supposed to look like. But still, it felt like giving up and I didn''t like that.

    ''You are not giving up, just seeing if there is somebody who could show you how it is supposed to look like. It''s merely one step out of the box, isn''t it?''

    "Hmm." I closed my eyes and thought about it.

    "Declined. I will know it if I do it. That I have no clue just means I haven''t tried hard enough." A tired sigh echoed in my head, but the voice of Berret didn¡¯t reply.

    "Anyway, break time is over. Back to business."

    I start firing fireballs into the river again.

    ''Soooo, that''s your plan? Just throwing balls of fire into the water? Yes, I see, that is actually quite intelligent, is it not? I have to applaud you, oh wise one.''

    That''s what I mean, the real Berret would never talk like that.

    ''That''s what you are concerned about? Well, whatever you do you.'', he spat out in annoyance. Silence came back into my mind as...

    "Graaaaww!"

    A monster I never saw before broke out of the thicket. It was around three meters tall, had a fat face with small black eyes, flat nose, blue-green skin and a tree trunk in one of its giant hands. Smaller monsters fled away from it into my direction. For a moment I stood there dumbfounded.

    ''What are you standing there and looking holes in the air? RUN!''

    And that was exactly what I did.

    What? You want me to fight that? Yeah right, probably head on and without any idea what that thing actually is. If you want to don''t mind me, I will be elsewhere.

    ''Stop thinking such useless crap! He is coming closer.''

    I know, I can see that. Shit, my stamina was already pretty low since I just finished practice. My lungs were hurting like crazy and my stomach felt like it was going to explode.

    ''If you have to puke do it while running!'' Shit, don''t say useless thin--blehc.

    ....

    I puked. Bye bye breakfast. You didn''t taste anyway. But I think I could have used your energy right about now. Well, whatever.

    ''Don''t worry about this crap. You''re still running and that is what counts.''

    <hr>

    The giant monster chased me for over half an hour. My whole body screamed at me, but I couldn''t stop. It made me wonder, why is it chasing me if it chased other monsters before? Probably because it did know, how monster meat tastes. Yeah, I get it. I would probably chase me too.

    Suddenly there were no trees in front of me anymore. Instead, there was a wide field of grass. Very high grass.

    ''Perfect. Maybe we can hide in it.'' I was almost half the distance to the grass as that monster broke through the last trees. And...

    "A Geran! Sentries ready your spears!" A loud voice shouted.

    Was there someone? Then multiple different voices resounded. "Left, One." "Right, One." "Left, two", and so on. I dared to throw a look behind me and saw around ten men clad in metals and blue tunics run toward the monster, each of them having a long stick in their hands. Distracted by the shouting of those people, the monster stopped chasing me. The People formed a line with two rows and held their sticks high up as if they wanted to pick its eyes out. ''Don''t stop! What can they do with these sticks.'' I jumped into the high grass, but couldn''t keep my curiosity at bay and stuck my head out. Exhausted, with wild breathing and trembling legs I observed.

    *sfx for vomiting*

    ''Let everything out, it will make you lighter when you have to run again.''

    The men were slowly walking to the monster which stood there growling. Then it stormed forward. "Thrust!", shouted one of the metal men, and as if they were one, all of their sticks shot forward. Many of those sticks burrowed themselves into the flesh of the monster and the men holding them were pushed back from the still running monster. It gave a horrifying scream as the sticks dug deeper into it and it became slower and slower until it stopped. Those whose stick weren¡¯t in the monster now thrust them into it. It gave a silent whimper before its knees gave up and it crashed into the ground.

    "Simmens, report to the station. We need to get it off the road.", one of them said in a commanding tone.

    "Yes, sir. There was also a kid it chased. Ran into the field ''ver there." answered a young looking metal man.

    "Good God. Hey, it is all clear now. We have killed the Geran." I sat there surprised in my hiding place. I would have never thought that thing could be killed with just a bunch of sticks.

    ''Yeah, that took me by surprise too.'' Which also was proof that the voice was not Berret. He would have known that it was possible. Since he knew everything.

    I got out of the high grass and approached the men. But as soon as I was visible they gave perplexed looks at each other.

    "A redcoat?", exclaimed someone. "No no, must be an apprentice. But that means.."

    "Shut up and back to your positions. The road doesn''t protect itself. Hey girl, everything alright? Do you have any injuries?", asked the man who spoke commandingly.

    "I don¡¯t think so... just lost my breakfast but nothing serious." I answered back.

    "Alright. Simmens escort her to the station and give her some food. But may I ask, your master..." He didn''t complete his sentence. Well, it was pretty clear why. An apprentice walked around with his master''s cape. There was only one good reason for that.

    "He is dead.", I answered in a low voice.

    "Did that monster do that?", he asked. I shook my head.

    "No, there was no monster that could harm him. He died a few months ago in his sleep."

    "My condolences. Wait, a few months? Don''t tell me in that forest?", his eyes got wide and Simmens let out a whistle.

    Perplexed I answered. "Err, yes. I wanted to complete his training plan to the very end. But then that monster came along and chased me out of it."

    "Bloody shit. Then how did you... No, not important right now. Simmens Station!"

    "Yes, sir. If you want to follow me, err.", he looked at me questioningly. I tilted my head confused. "Your Name.", he answered with a smile.

    "Oh, yes, it''s Natalie."

    "Then please follow me, Natalie."

    And he marched down the road. I was in such a hurry that I didn''t notice it beforehand but the street was almost littered with men clad in metal. Every ten meters or so was one of them standing. Simmens greeted them all while we walked past them. It didn''t take long to get to that station, and it too was filled with those men. I wondered how that many could fit into such a tiny room that was also filled with tables, chairs and a counter. Simmens put his outstretched hand against his head and called into the room.

    "Sir, at 3:34 a Geran emerged and was slain. It now blocks the road."

    "A Geran? Seriously?", answered one of them. He looked different from the others since he didn''t wear metal and his tunic looked brighter.

    "Max, get the horses ready, heavy load to pull.", he ordered someone.

    "Yes, sir", answered one and ran out.

    "And this?", asked the one without metal and pointed at me.

    "She was being chased by it. Lived apparently in the woods alone for a few months after her master died." Simmens explained. The brighter one''s eyes got wide.

    "In those woods?"

    "That is correct, sir", I answered truthfully.

    I wonder why everyone makes such a big deal out of it. Appart from stone golems there was nothing that would warrant such a reaction.

    ''Well, but you had to eat monsters all the time. Maybe that''s why.''

    Ah, yeah, that would make sense.

    "But you''re a kid, did you hide all the time? No, how could you hide from monsters?", he asked perplexed. Well, apparently it wasn¡¯t because of the food.

    "No, I did not hi-" grumble rumble. "-de." My stomach rumbled. And pretty loud too.

    ''Well, you lost your breakfast.''

    "Ah, right food. I will bring you something right away. Why don''t you make yourself at home and sit down.", Simmens suggested.

    "Thank you very much.", I answered and sat myself in the closest chair.

    "Matthew.", said the man without metal as he sat down on the other side of the table and stretched his hand out to me. I shook his hand and said my name.

    "So, do you mind telling me about your master?", he asked.

    "No, gladly! He was the best human you could think of. Incredibly strong, he knew everything I asked him and loved me as if was his own daughter." Matthew smiled.

    "I can believe that. Since he was a redcoat. What was his name?"

    "His name was Berret Simmler.", I told him, with a warmth saying his name. But Mathews face suddenly became very pale. Also, all the chatter and noise in this room instantly died.

    "Berret Simmler? The Berret Simmler?", he stammered. I tilted my head.

    "Err, that was his name. Did you know him?"

    "If I know him? Bloody Gods, who don''t know him? Shit, the Hero is dead."

 Chapter 2: A peaceful life is a good life (Edited)

    Third Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    In a cramped, cold and damp dungeon cell sat an old man. He slowly breathed in the moldy air and small clouds escaped from his mouth. His ragged clothes didn''t protect him from the foul, stinging draft which was omnipresent, brought to him through the long rocky corridor in front of his cell.

    The man was the Grand-Magician Rubeus Garant of the Kastal Kingdom and he had spent all his life serving his King and the King''s late father. He always did what was the best for the nation and had never done anything that would warrant his placement here. All except for one thing. He had studied the mystical devices from the Hero. Especially those the Hero called ''guns''. Ever since he first heard about its potential he was engrossed it the functionality of that device. No, that godly weapon. It was told that the hero killed a dragon with just the pull of his finger. One attack. And the Dragon was slain. After that, he heard that this weapon was a key element in his fight against the demon lord. And it was not even the hero who wielded that weapon but a companion of his.

    A weapon that trumped dragons and rivaled the demon lord in power. How could he not study such a magnificent contraption? And he not only succeeded in understanding this strange weapon but he actually managed to recreate one. Admittedly it wasn''t on par with the weapon the hero wielded but it could shoot a ''bullet'' over one hundred meters and still do a horrifying dent in the best armor of this country. He didn''t know any magic that could do something like this. And the best part of it was, you didn''t even need to study the art of fighting with it. Just take it, point it where you want to do damage and pull the trigger. Easy as that.

    He was so thrilled about his success that he went straight to the king and reported everything. He did not think. As soon as he finished explaining to his Highness he was thrown into this dungeon. But there were people out there who would do anything to get this weapon. In fact, someone approached him already. Here in this place. They could free him, and he could experiment further. But those people would start a rebellion. Still, he was inclined to do it. Why is it a crime to follow your curiosity? Why should the entire world be under the heroes thumb?

    He made up his mind. He would accept the offer from those people. Even if it means treason. Even if the hero would come to bring down his hammer of injustice. He just needed to shoot him. With such a godly weapon it was possible. Suddenly his cell door was unlocked and Rubeus jerked up. At the entrance stood a waiter who he knew was loyal to the Kingdom. Why would he open the cell?

    "Grand-Magician,", he spoke. This was the first time since he was thrown into this dump that someone called him by his title.

    "The King has given you pardon and wants to speak to you immediately."

    "What? Why?", Rubeus asked with a hoarse voice.

    "I don''t know but probably,", he paused for a moment, "because the hero is dead."

    <hr>

    Fourth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    It has been a month since that Geran chased me out of the woods. In that time I learned that Berret was apparently the hero who defeated the Demon Lord. It was quite a shock for me since he never told me about that. At first, I was angry at him because of that, but I thought he would have told me when we would have left the forest, so I forgave him. Everybody made a big fuss out of his death. But I could understand that. Berret was a great man after all.

    After I got my food at the station, which was a wonderful chicken, by the way, I was allowed to sleep there for the night. In a bed. A real bed. I was so happy that I cried. The next day Mathew organized for me a place on a merchant¡¯s carriage which was on its way to the city of Erial, the capital of the country of Eleina. I was kind of surprised to see that two big birds with long thin necks and giant beaks pulled it. The merchant labeled them as Dodos. As far as I remembered back in my village we had oxen to pull ours. They constantly turned their heads around 180 degrees and stared at me. Those birds really creeped me out.

    ''They know that you ate their kind.'' Don''t make it worse!

    At the gates, the guards welcomed me and showered me with questions about the hero. But it came to a sudden stop after one of them who didn''t wear metal like Mathew yelled at them. He ordered one of them to escort me to the hunters guild and on the way, he bought me tasty sweets. Everybody was really nice to me. Even after I entered the guild hall the first thing those grumpy and wild looking hunters did was buying me a lot of foot and lamented the death of my master. But apparently, those didn''t know yet that Berret was my master and they were stunned to hear that. After that, they became even more friendly. I was even allowed to stay in a room in the guild and got each day food for free.

    "This is life.", I happily declared with a full belly and my head resting on one of the big tables in the big guild hall.

    "You say that every morning.", laughed a boy a few years older than me. He too was an apprentice and became somewhat of a friend.

    "Because it¡¯s true!", I tell him while glaring at his unnatural crooked nose. His blue eyes widened for a moment and he leaned a little away from me. He shook his head a little and his short brown hair swung with it.

    Ever since he took part in one of my morning practices he quickly became scared of me. I didn''t know why. I was just warming up juggling a few fireballs. Ah, by the way ''fireblast'' is just tossing fire out of your hand uncontrolled. Fireball is a step further.

    ''You would have died of old age in that forest if not for that monster.'' nagged the voice in my head.

    ''You should be thankful to it, don''t you think?'' Shut up. I''m explaining something.

    ''To whom?''

    "Have you found a new master yet?", asked the boy cautiously to change the topic.

    "No Dirk, I haven''t really asked around.", I answered him. Somehow it felt like betraying Berret.

    "You just have to ask. Every one of the veterans would be thrilled to get you as an apprentice."

    "That''s fer¡¯ shure.", grumbled a low voice and a giant of a man sat down beside Dirk. A large pipe grew out of the left corner of his white-bearded mouth and white smoke climbed around his bald head.

    "Bet you would have her too master.", taunts Dirk. The man just gave a low growl as an answer as he sucked on his pipe.

    "I think that Lutz has all of his hands full with you already.", I picked on him. Lutz chuckled a few puffs of smoke out.

    "Shure thing that. He ain¡¯t a bad one, but hes still gorra lot teh get in ''is noggin¡¯. But you¡¯s could submit fer ye¡¯s Journeyman¡¯s test, couldn¡¯t you¡¯s?", he explained. To be honest I have a hard time understanding him.

    ''Right? The fuck is a noggin¡¯?'' I just stared at him blankly.

    "That''s right.", added Dirk. "Then you could take jobs on your own." Oh, that''s what Lutz meant. Becoming a journeyman would make it possible to join a Division, but I would get told what missions I would have to take and where to go, and I didn''t like that idea much. Afterall I got free food anyway.

    ''Filthy lazy slob!'' Again, shut up. You are not doing anything either so don''t do so superior. ''Hmpf.''

    "Morning ya¡¯ll." Another veteran sat himself to our group and freed me from the need to answer.

    "Morning.", I and Dirk replied in greeting, while Lutz gave another grunt filled with smoke.

    "Did you hear about Kastal? They have started moving troops to the border, or so I was told.", started the man and his small eyes became even narrower. He too had a pipe in his mouth but he had no beard.

    "''A? Oo yapped dat¡¯ nonsense?", grumbled Lutz. "Thar¡¯ wasn''t even time to mourn da ''Ero. Anyways¡¯s, doze bloody ''illbillys shits can bark all dey want now."

    "I heard it from my brother. He''s a knight you know. Gets put on the border to watch. That¡¯s the truth, I tell you. But I agree, don''t get what they hope to achieve. Got their ass kicked sixty years ago and lost half their land to us."

    "Maybe dey¡¯s wanna be part o'' us. Tire¡¯ dat fool King they¡¯s ¡®ave o¡¯er there.", said Lutz and laughed loudly.

    "Tomorrow in the papers: Eleina acquired hundreds of acre as a present."

    "Pah, dee won''t attack ay tell you¡¯s! Juss big cowards deh ¡®ole lot of em¡¯." I and Dirk looked at each other and smiled wryly. I because I didn''t understand a word from Lutz and hoped that Dirk would tell me, because he did. But when those old folks started talking like that they would sit here for the next few hours and I decided to leave. Since I had better things to do as just to sit there and listen to their gibberish I excused myself and left the table.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    I felt Dirk staring at my back. ''Yeah, he¡¯s inwardly crying: ¡°traitor¡±, probably'' Whatever, not my problem.

    I left the guild and made my way to the market. Hundreds of people filled the street and chatted loudly, shopkeepers yelled to praise their products, many good smells rose from the stands and young children cried at their parents to buy them goodies. I didn''t have any money since I didn''t earn any at the moment but I didn''t mind. My belly was full anyway, and much of that stuff that was sold here I got for free at the guild. I just liked to walk around and observe the people and the products lined at the shops. I liked to look at the clothing stores and imagined myself wearing those nice looking dresses that were presented as samples.

    ''You say you don''t mind but that''s only with the food, isn''t it? You are staring quite longingly at those clothes every day, now don''t you'' No, I don''t. Anyway, there is nothing I could do about that.

    ''Sure there is. Get the journeyman test done and you could earn money. Easy as that, isn''t it.'' Nothing I could do, I say. Anyway, aren''t there more guards than normal walking around?

    ''Sure they are. Maybe it''s true what that fellow said and the other country plans to do something.'' Well, they said it was a small country and even weaker than when they lost against this country, so I guess it will sort itself out.

    ''Right, nothing for us to worry about''

    After I had my fill of all the shops I walked to the Temple. It was a giant building made of white marble and stood in a plaza without any other buildings surrounding it. It gave the feeling that the gods themselves put it on this earth as it was seemingly carved out of a giant rock.

    ''Obviously not. There is a ledge and there and look, over there! A ledge.'' It was a metaphor. Could you please not always interrupt me when I explain stuff? God. You''re so annoying.

    ''And again to whom?'' That''s it I''m going to ignore you. Anyway. In front of the entrance were three meter high idols of the twelve gods, six on each side leading to the door a giant could march through without any problems. Today there were a lot of people here to pay offerings to their god of choice.

    ''Don''t you want to explain the gods in excruciating detail too?'' I''m ignoring you. ''Sure you are, aren''t you?''

    The inside was enormous, even bigger than the guild hall and twelve round archways were set up in a half circle each leading to the inner sanctum of their respective god. I bowed to each doorway each time praying for Berret. ''Thanks.'' After that, I entered one of the smaller halls through the gate of the god of crops and livestock. Not because I prefered this one but rather because of their songs that the choir sang all day. Those were just sung without any instruments and if you closed your eyes you could almost think the gods themselves sung as the voices echo through the hall.

    Just like outside many people were in here. I sat on a free spot of the rows and rows of banks near the center where the acoustic was the best and closed my eyes. Immediately a feeling of calmness overcame me as the resonant voices entered my head. Nothing but happiness engulfed me and not a single unnecessary thought came to my mind. I was at peace.

    I felt a warmth as if Berret had embraced me. In these moments I felt like nothing bad could ever happen to this world. This was the blessings of the gods. They showed me how much they loved me for they gave Berrets soul the approval to be with me at this moment. Of that I was sure.

    Without stopping the coir went fluently into their next song and small goosebumps rose all over my body by the wonderfulness of everything. I listened until it finally came to a stop and Berrets presence was leaving me. Bye, until tomorrow. I made my way out of the Temple into the plaza with new vigor and determination.

    ''Tomorrow too I shall live the easy life.'' Just shut up.

    Back in the guild, I went to the inner courtyard to do my daily training. A lot of hunters were here practicing in different ways. I liked to watch the swordsmen. They were practically dancing with their swords and it was entrancing to look at. ''Well, wouldn''t fair well against a fireball now, would it?'' Not a chance. Back to my own workout. At the moment it just consisted of exercising my mana since I didn''t have a training plan or a new spell to work at. The people here may be very friendly but a master only teaches his apprentice and the journeyman''s had enough to do for their Divisions.

    I let water mana flow through my body. Then I combined it with dark mana and created ice mana. Small icicles formed on my body at the release points I chose. After that, I poured fire mana into these and brought the ice to rapidly melt and created a fog which encompassed me completely. A neat little trick to sneak on monsters without them realizing.

    ''As if you ever tried sneaking past a monster. You always threw fireballs at them the moment you spotted them, didn''t you?'' Well yeah, but I could have.

    ''And don''t they have very good noses? I bet the monsters could find you over your smell, now couldn''t they?'' Anyway, it''s cool. Being able to create a cloud and hide in it.

    ''Well, I guess if your opponent isn''t a smart one and finds it weird that a cloud sneaks around, then it is amazing, of course.'' Alright whatever, I''m just exercising anyway.

    After a while of practicing various spells, the sun began to slowly set and I called it a day and went to the baths. It was, like anything in this guild, enormous. The basin was over five meters high and wide and felt more like a pond. And similar to anything in this town, it was crowded with people.

    ''Makes you wonder how clean the water is, doesn''t it?'' I bet they used purification spells or something like that to keep it clean. And they had the god of the Huntsman there at the wall and he spouted water out of his mouth. So it is guaranteed that the water is clean.

    ''I Don''t follow that logic how an idol has anything to do with it but alright.'' Just, just shut up ok. I entered the warm water.

    ''Then I don¡¯t warn you.'' Huh? Why?

    "Natalie sweetie how are you?", asked one elderly woman who approached me. Behind her were three more all smiling at me gently.

    ''Oh god, not the granny club.'' Since the first time I met them, they would constantly swarm me. Pulling my cheeks, ruffling my hair and trying to feed me was just the tip of the iceberg of what they did to me.

    "Fine, just wanted to take a quick bath and go get something to eat. I''m pretty hungry.", I answered, hoping to cut them short.

    "Oh, did you train. My, what a studious little girl you are. If just my son would have been like you. Then he could have become something better. You know he was a real pain in his youth.", said one of the other three.

    "I too had to hit my son because he did nothing but get himself into mischief. My grandchildren, on the other hand, are more like me, you know. Hardworking."

    "I Know right. The generation before the current one right now was just rubbish."

    "Just because the hero was there they took everything easy. But now the youth has got a little backbone back, right?", smiled one of them and ruffled my hair.

    "It''s a real pain to see their potential being hindered in these new schools. Can''t see what the benefit would be over the good work at home."

    "Never did hurt anyone to help in the parents'' job. Nothing beats hard practice to grow." ''Good gods, just run already! They won''t stop.'' I smiled wryly.

    After ten minutes or so of the endless onslaught of talk about their children and grandchildren, I tried to flee. I excused myself saying I was really hungry.

    "Ah, that''s alright. Food is very Important you know. You look really meager too.", one of them grabbed my arm.

    "You are just eating the stuff they cook here right? You should start cooking for yourself. Not only is it tastier, it''s healthier too. They always use too much salt and stuff here and on the market."

    ''They got you, now everything is lost.''

    "I also saw that you have always leftovers left.", chimed one.

    "The cook always puts way too much on my plates.", I tried to defend myself. But to no avail.

    "You are a growing child, you have to eat more than just your fill, how else do you become big and strong when you are an adult?"

    After an hour the elderly women left the bath happily carrying me with them. ''How can they be in this hot water for so long and be so energetic after that?'' I don''t know. I even had to use cooling spells to not get dizzy. In the big hall, I tried again to flee saying that I had to talk to Dirk, but they ignored me. The elderly women sat me on a bank between them and placing way too overloaded plates before me. ''That''s it. You are going to die, aren''t you now?'' I gulped. Yes, I always dreamed of more tasty food than I could ever eat very often while chewing on monster meat in the woods, so it''s practically a dream come true but being forced to eat more than you can is something different. I could only hope to eat just my fill and that those old folks accept it.

    But they didn''t and as I finally made my escape to my room, after declaring how tired I was and that children needed lots of sleep, I felt my stomach would burst. ''You should have run when I told you so, shouldn''t you?'' Ignoring the never ending voice I fell on the bed. Too full and lazy to move I just lay like this and closed my heavy eyes. A small smile formed on my face.

    Life is good.

    <hr>

    In the Kingdom of Kastal sat four men around a very richly decorated table. Those men had met very often in the past month in secret. The secrecy these men had to abide till this day was nerve-wracking and they feared spies everywhere. Every day these men would do what they had to do, to archive their goal. If they were found out too early they would be annihilated before they could even lift a finger.

    "Currently we have five hundred men equipped and ready with guns.", said one of them. It was the Grand-Magician Rubeus Garant.

    "The Enemy has already noticed our movement of troops but according to our spies they don''t know what we are up to.", whispered another man, Spymaster Peter Hutton, hidden under a grey robe.

    "Naratesch and Garia will accept our proposal in the coming days. After they see our might and what it can do, they will want a piece of the cake too.", growled the third man, clad in heavy platings, the Great Knight Falker Rottish. His voice was rasping and he had bloodshot eyes.

    "Excellent. Then with this command, everything will put into action immediately. I expect nothing less than a complete victory!", shouted the fourth. He wore a shiny crown on his brown long locks. His face gave the impression of a strong and proud man. This was the King of Kastal Ferdinand Gerling. "Time to retake what was stolen from us sixty years ago."

    "YES, MY LIEGE!"

 Chapter 3: The dark horizon (Edited)

    21st day, Fourth month, 44th year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    Close to the border with the Nation of Kastal stood the fort Braunborg. It was manned with nearly two thousand knights of the Elainish Kingdom. One of them was Duke Gerak, who was in command. He stood on a high wall and looked over his troops with a smile. "I can''t believe this base is finally fully manned.", he said to his aid.

    "Yes, sir. It is quite the view compared to the three hundred soldiers this fine fort held not even a few days ago.", answered his aid. Both of them felt a great pride in seeing their men shuffling around in an orderly fashion. Captains shouted orders with their loud but calm voices. Archers and mages filled the ranks on the wall. And the spearman and the cavalry positioned themselves in front of the heavy metallic gate.

    The aid fished a pipe out of his with iron plates covered tunic. With the mouthpiece, he pointed over the closed wall. "I bet twenty Krones they will flee as soon as the first arrows hit the first row." Garek threw a pitiful glance to a marching army in the distance. His scouts counted around four thousand men. Way too few.

    "Count me in.", laughed Gerak. "But who will pay us the debt, Lauros?"

    "The enemy of course!", grinned Lauros while using his finger empowered with fire mana to light his pipe.

    A slight frown painted itself over the duke. "But somehow you can''t help but feel sorry for those poor guys, as a fellow knight. Coming from only the front in a bulk, when they could have easily pincered us."

    "Well, sir, the mind of an imbecile is not great. This does not change with an army of imbeciles I''m afraid."

    "If they could at least go a little faster. What are they doing anyway? They started marching this morning and it¡¯s late afternoon. Wish we could just go out and meet them halfway." A long and tired sigh escaped Gerak¡¯s mouth. Lauros chuckled as an answer.

    But then he raised a brow. "Are they... stopping? They are still more than five kilometers away. I can barely make out their flags." Puzzled Garek scratched his smooth chin.

    "They don''t plan to besiege us now, do they?", murmured he. As perplexed as he was his aid uttered;

    "No way. For what reason would they come so close in formation. The scouts didn''t see any engineers or material either."

    ¡±How much supplies do we have?", asked Gerak with a frown. "The last time I counted was for more than- what was that?" A loud screaming noise interrupted Lauros. The sound was similar to two heavy objects crashing into each other, just way, way louder. A few seconds later a whistle could be heard. First silent then growing louder and louder until it was a terrifying shrill screech. Everyone on the wall looked in confusion around them, not realizing from where the sound originated from. Then without a warning, the ground a few meters away from the wall busted with an ear-splitting explosion. Dirt and dust shoot in the air, hitting with loud bangs the outer wall, leaving a huge crater in the ground.

    All the blood drained out of the Duke''s face. His fingertips began to feel cold and his voice shook. "What the fuck was that?" Before his aid could answer him another loud bam emerged from the enemy army. Not processing what was happening he just stood there in disbelief.

    The next moment he laid on the ground his ears and lungs screaming in pain. A high pitched noise in his ears was all he could hear. Confused why he lay on the ground he raised his head. The only thought that filled his head was ''impossible''. A few meters to his left, the wall was missing including all the men that were placed there. Where the wall started again were a pair of feet missing everything from the ankles up. Next to it was a man who missed half of its side and his inners quelled outside. A lone arm still holding to its crossbow. And there was Lauros, who seemed to be untouched except for the dripping blood out of his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. His eyes were lifeless.

    Garek saw another explosion filled in deep red on the grounds of the fort. Two more hit the wall and shattered stones flew through the air tearing everyone apart who was in the way. Then more than six bursts of blood and mud emerged on the grounds. His men ran in a panic, hiding under anything they could find. Hundreds of mutilated corpses were littered everywhere. And more of those outbursts of death tore the earth, walls, and men into obliteration. It was as if his ford had traveled back in time and had landed right into the comet rain from the 12th hero.

    "How... what... o gods why?", cried Gerak, but he couldn''t even hear himself. Before he realized, he was flying through the air. His legs were missing and hundreds of small and big stone fragments tore through his body. He never felt the heavy impact with the earth.

    <hr>

    24th day, Forth month, 44th year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    "Pah" Lutz gave a disgusted voice from him and spat on the ground. I stared at him in disbelief. We were in the guild hall and ate our breakfast.

    "Can yous believe this shit? De fuck''n ''illbillies ''ave raised Braunborg ter de ground and de westin army fled in shame."

    He crumbled his newspaper and threw it on the ground. His face was red with anger and his eyes almost popped out of his head.

    "Wait really? I thought those were pushovers. How can they defeat our army?", exclaimed Dirk in shock and stared at his master. I tossed another potato into my mouth.

    "Not defeated, fled! Ay tell yous why! Dat fuck''n knights juss fondled their cockweights fer sixty years and noding more. Ay tell yous if we would go down dere, dat fuck''n ''illbillies would run as fast dee could. Never ''eard o'' a lazy hunter, did yous?"

    ''I have, right here!'' You understood that?. ''Yeah sure. You are a lazy hunter, aren''t you?'' I frowned over the voice in my head. Unfortunately, Lutz saw this as an answer to his speech.

    "Won''t believe me, won''t yous? Ay tell yous wad, ay and dirk ¡®ere could easily clean all o'' kastal single handedly."

    "Yeah, I believe you. The food just had a weird taste.", I excused myself.

    "You will have the chance to prove your words, Lutz." A man threw himself on the bank next to us and slumped on the table. It was the man whose brother went to the border.

    "Albrecht, wad do yous mean?"

    "Didn''t you read the paper? They are marching straight in our direction. Won''t take them a month before they reach the town." His voice was empty and he stared at the table.

    "Pah. Dee won''t come dat far. Because we wul stop dem ourselves." And with these words, Lutz stood up. He went to the counter where already a small group had assembled. It seemed like a lot of other Hunters had similar talks and decided to do something.

    Well not that it had anything to do with me. The only thing I was concerned about was the food on my table and that came for free.

    ''Ever thought that they could stop giving you something because of your impertinence, you scrounger.''

    Well, it''s not like I planned to let them feed me until old age, but a few days don''t hurt. ''It has been over a month!'' I''m sure they tell me when they had enough and then is enough time for work.

    "Dirk, we are go''n ter de knights ''all." Lutz had returned.

    "So are we will really going to go kick those hillbillies out?", Dirk asked with a smile on his face. Lutz gave a grunt as an answer and moved to the entrance. Dozens of people left the hall in groups loud chatting and laughing.

    "Then see you guys later.", grinned Dirk and he went after his master leaving me and Albrecht behind.

    "You''re not going?", he asked, still with his empty voice.

    "No, I hadn''t planned that."

    "Not a patriot, eh?" He glared at me.

    "You are not going yourself." I didn''t like how he was staring at me. Why should I go? That''s what the Knights were for after all.

    "I already enlisted. I am not a little shit who leaves his country alone."

    ''What the fuck?'' What the fuck? ''That sucker is just pissed because his brother got himself probably killed.'' Blood stormed to my head and pulsed hot. ''That fucker is trying to vent his frustration on you. What a failure as a human being.'' My hands started to shake and I formed them into fists. ''You should just smash that ugly visage with full force on the fucking shit table!''

    "Bullshit!", I snap at him. My whole body trembled in rage. He sneered at me. ''That motherfucker! Kill that shit!'' A low growl escapes my mouth.

    "You fucking piece of shit. If you want revenge then that''s your deal. So wash that ugly smile off your disgusting face or you won''t survive this day!" His face turned into a grimace and jumped from the bench. His hand reached for my face. Within a fraction of a second, I created Ice mana and froze him. Now I jumped from the bank and created a fireball. With it in my hand, I flew over the table and shot my arm forward. His eyes became small in surprise and fear.

    I stopped.

    ''What are you doing?'' The fireball in my hand vanished and became mana again. ''That sucker had it coming. You have to pay him a lesson!'' I already did. ''I will not forgive him.'' Neither will I. But I didn''t want to hurt someone just because of something like that. ''You should!'' I breathed slower to soothe myself but it didn''t work. The people around us were all looking at me in wonder.

    "Try to get yourself out of the frost, fucker" I turn my back to the terrified Albrecht and leave the guild hall. There were some hunters stretching their necks to get a better look at what was happening. Some who saw what happened gave me a stern look, but I couldn''t care less. ''Yeah, every one of those fuckers who judge you should go to hell!''

    Finally outside I felt a slight warm spring wind on my face. But I still couldn''t manage to calm down. I made my way through the crowded marketplace almost ramming everyone who wasn''t fast enough to get out of my way.

    "What the?"

    A confused man fell on the road. He stared at me with big eyes. ''Nothing to see here sucker!'' I didn''t need to touch anyone. I just used wind magic to push everyone away when they came too close. So not even an adult in armor could stand in my way. Muttering an apologie I went further to my destination. The Temple.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    After I climbed the stairs, I hushed through the first hall ignoring all the gates. I went straight into the smaller hall of the god of crops and livestock. The sweet singing of the prayers reached my ears. At last, I relaxed. I searched a free spot in the middle and closed my eyes. For the rest of the day, I stayed there and listened. As I came back to the guild I took some food from the counter and went to my room. I didn''t want to see that man again. I couldn''t say what I would do if he picked at me again. ''Just crush his fucking head.'' It took me quite a while to find sleep that night.

    The next morning I sat together again with Lutz and Dirk. "ey, ay wish ya ''ad stayed a little longer. Would''ave paid fer dat show yous gave yesterday.", laughed Lutz. Dirk nodded fast.

    "Oh man. They said you had frozen him in an instant. And at the same time, you had a fireball ready. I''m so jealous of your talent, Natalie." Both of them laughed and praised me. I was glad. They didn''t tell me off or lectured me. ''Well obviously. It was that fucking piece of shit¡¯s fault anyway, now wasn''t it'' Yeah, but still. They were good friends.

    "''e ''ad it com''n. ''eard ''e pissed en others juss because dey wouldn¡¯t go und enlist demselves. Not a Hunters job ter kick de ''illbillies back ter de sticks. And furthermore, yer juss an apprentice."

    "That''s completely right. Anyway, we are more than enough to kick them in their balls.", agreed Dirk.

    "How many Hunters did enlist themselves now?, I asked.

    "Ay don¡¯ know. But it wuz fuck''n crowded in de knights hall and it took dem de oole day to git dun. And we went dere in de morn''n. Dee are still at it right now. Wasn''t only hunters dat wuz dere, mind yous."

    "Huh, really?" I looked at him surprised.

    "Yeah, ordinary townsfolk waz dere too. Argued wi'' dem why dee couldn''t enlist when de soldiers waz too useless anyway. Said dee can''t send untrained people onna battlefield."

    He frowned as he remembered. "But suddenly dee waz allowed. Ay guess some o'' de knights fuck¡¯d up again and de King takes everyth''n ''e gets now."

    As if this was a clue some knights entered the hall. Their metallic shoes clacked loud and echoed at the walls back. Everyone in the guild became silent as they watched the men moving to the middle of the room. There one of them stretched a scroll he had in his hands apart and said in a loud and clear voice.

    "By the decree of the King. All Hunters are to enlist immediately regardless of your stand or gender."

    "Wait, what?", escaped my mouth.

    "Wa'' bullcrap is dat?", Lutz yelled. ''Don''t worry they wont send apprentices.''

    The hall erupted in chatter and yells. Not everyone was so keen to go and kick the Kastals back where they came from and more were against the idea to force it. The knight cleared his throat. The hall became quiet again.

    "It''s not in the papers yet but,", he paused for a short moment. "Garia and Naratesch declared war on us." This time the hall exploded in shouts and chatter.

    "Dose fuck''n ''illbillies are all de same. Noding we can''t ''andle!", roared Lutz. The knight needed a few minutes this time to get the hall to quiet down.

    "They have the same weapons the Kastal army had. We are losing the complete south-west end of the kingdom. We need every man, woman and-,", he paused again. The pause began to get longer and longer. Finally, with a darkened voice, he gave his answer. But everyone knew already what he wanted to say. They all stared at the knight with open mouths and blank faces. "-every child." I expected that the hall would now explode for real but nobody said a word. The knight used that silence.

    "It is known that the Kastalish army slaughters every one that they encounter. Citizens, woman, and children. And worse."

    I pulled an eyebrow up. What could be worse than death? ''Torture?'' Oh right. But, could it really? You wouldn''t be tortured forever so you could still live. ''If they don''t kill you after that, couldn''t they?'' That makes sense.

    "The people of Kastal don''t want land nor does their king want to increase his subjects. Their only desire is to exterminate the great Kingdom of Elaina and all of its proud people. That is the reason why our King, no the people of Elaina," he smashed his fist on a table. "Need everyone who can fight.¡±, he swung his hand from one side of the room to the other.

    "The backbone of our nation, need to rise up for us, for this nation, for these people. They won''t exist without your intervention. So brave Hunters of the magnificent people of Elaina I ask you: Do you save this country from its doom like the Hero saved this world from the Demon Lord?" This time Natalie felt like the hall exploded.

    Loud cheers arose. Men were slamming their wooden mugs on the tables and everybody shouted in agreement. Even Lutz and Dirk. Even myself. ''Sure as hell we are with them. Can''t let those fuckers do what they want, now can we?'' Of course, we can''t.

    The other knights had seized a table while the one was speaking and a bunch of papers and quills were scattered on it. A long queue had formed in front of it before I realized it. I stood up and Dirk smiled at me with a nod under the still cheering hunters. I nodded back smiling and made my way to enlist. It took a long time until it was finally my turn, so long in fact that the hall was except for some drunken cheers silent. The knight who was scribbling down everyone''s names looked at me with tired eyes.

    "Name?", he asked.

    "Natalie." He stared at me for a while. I wondered if something was wrong but then he said exasperatedly.

    "And your surname?"

    "Don''t have one." He raised his eyebrow and then sighed.

    "What was the surname of your parents?"

    "I, I don''t know." I never called them with that so how should I know. ''Right? But couldn''t you use mine?'' Ah, you mean Berrets.

    "Can I use my late master''s name?"

    "Sure whatever."

    "Then I am Natalie Simmler."

    "Simmler?", he asked, a bit more awake.

    "Yes, that''s right." He stared a little longer but then he shrugged his shoulders.

    "Birthday?"

    "That was 36, sixth month, sixth day. I''m almost nine." I smiled from ear to ear at him. He noted the date down. Then he shook his head and wished over his eyes. He must have been really tired. But no wonder he had to write and read the whole day. Glad that wasn''t my job. After a short while, he asked again.

    "Birthplace?"

    "A village." He sighed and wrote down Erial. After a few more questions I was finished. "The King holds a speech tomorrow at nine on his balcony. After that, you will be marching out." He waved his hand at me to show that I could go and the next person in line stepped forward. But I blinked confusedly.

    "At Nine? Where is that?" The knight sighted again.

    "Look." He pointed at a round object over the counter. "That is a clock. It shows you what time it is. When the little rod points at the nine and the big one at twelve it is nine."

    "Oh. I wondered what that thing was. So it shows time. Neat." This meant you didn''t need to stare at the sun and guess. Well, but under normal circumstances, you wouldn''t need to be this precise. I thank the knight and went away.

    As I made my way to the counter to get something for lunch Albrecht stepped in front of me. His eyes were fire red and his whole posture was slumped together.

    "I''m terribly sorry about yesterday.", he said in a haste but without much voice. "I''m not myself right now and I pushed my frustration on you, a small child. I am terribly, terribly sorry. I had earned that fireball, I know that." ''HA! Even he knows that you shouldn''t have stopped.''

    "No, I went overboard too. You lost someone important. I know that feeling. I accept your apology", I gave back. ''But do you really mean what you say?'' Of course not. I did not rage on innocent people as my beloved family members died. And he is an adult. ''And it is questionable if he is honest about his apology or just because you enlisted.'' That too.

    Albrecht''s face had a little smile. "Thank you."

    "Then I''m pretty hungry. If you excuse me.", I beamed at him.

    "Ah right. Enjoy your meal." He wavered away. My face froze and grew slowly into a grimace. ''If sorry''s where worth a damn we could forgive him.'' But they aren¡¯t. I sighed. You are a goddamn bad influence on me. ''Or you are on me.'' No, definitely you on me. I never had a grudge against someone. ''But that was when you were happy.'' A light chuckle left my mouth. I am happy here. The voice didn''t answer.

    <hr>

    25th day, Forth month, 44th year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    Soni Seches awed over the crowd that had gathered in front of the castle. There wasn''t a single spot that wasn''t filled with people. They all had arrived here as early as dawn to get a good spot to listen to the King. And more were still coming. He saw a lot of adult men in their prime, but also women, children and old folks.

    He himself was sick. Or rather sick again. Since the day before yesterday, he felt like his stomach was in rebellion.

    The King, the Marshal, and the King¡¯s advisors were all gathered in the throne hall. They were discussing what they could do about the invading kingdoms when they got a message from the knight hall. Hundreds of citizens stormed it to enlist themselves to fight the Kastal Kingdom, but since they were neither nobles nor proficient like the veteran Hunters they got declined.

    But the marshal grinned and said: "The people want to die for our King so we should let them. There is no harm in doing so."

    "No harm?", Soni said appalled. "Our citizens would die without changing anything."

    "As long as they distract the enemy long enough for the Knights to do their work, it is fine by me."

    "You can''t be serious.", yelled another adviser. The King raised his hand. A sign for everybody to calm down.

    Then he said: "I think Marshal Hess has a good point here. As you know Kastal has approached us already with peace terms. They want all of their old provinces back." He slammed the table with his fist and his chalice full of wine fell over. "I will not accept that. I will not give a single millimeter to those barbaric pests. And not to mention what the other shitstains will demand of us. No never!" Soni''s face became pale.

    "I haven''t heard of these peace terms yet."

    "It doesn''t matter.", threw Hess at him. "They may have this new fancy weapon but they will crumble under our sheer manpower. I propose we should force all the hunters to fight as well."

    "But they are already enlisting. Why would you force them now?"

    "Not everybody is." A disgusting smile emerged on the marshals face.

    "No!", declared the other adviser. "We need hunters for the monsters too."

    "Tsh, bullshit. They run over the enemy in a week and can then go back to their little games." Soni starred at that man with wide eyes. Did he really just say that the control and decimation of monsters is a game? He had already opened his mouth but the King raised his hand again.

    "The marshal is right. Those Kastals had just the element of surprise on their side. Now that we know what we are dealing with it is nothing more than a mere joke. So every hunter is required to fight."

    "Every veteran Hunter? That is what you mean?", asked the other adviser with a rigid face.

    "I said every. Single. One!", screamed the King. "They can fight so they should do it. It is an honor to die for me and that doesn''t change, no matter who you are. Understood?"

    There was a short silence. The marshal smiled. "They won''t accept this.", Soni broke the silence.

    "Then make them accept it. Tell them that the Kastal army kills babies or something, I don''t care. Just get them to march against these abominations and get them out of my lands!"

    "As you wish my lord.", licked Hess. And with that rumors were spread, the newspapers fed with lies, and the hate against the people of Kastal and her allies stirred up. Soni was sick. Because of what his beloved king did. Because he wasn''t brave enough to argue with the King. Because he did send children to die.

    The crowd started to loudly cheer and it sounded like one of those factories from the dwarven nation. The king had stepped out onto the balcony. He raised both of his arms, smiled broadly and made a thankful gestic. Soni knew that that was nothing but a farce. But the people didn''t. His stomach became even worse.

    "My beloved citizens of Elaina. I am proud to see you all heeded my call. This is not a call to fight for your King. It is a call to fight for your nation. It is a call to fight against demons in human form. It is a call to fight for survival. As you know the criminal horde of the west has ambushed our proud and god loving people in the worst manner. They slouched over our border that the hero and the gods had blessed us without any notice. No declaration of war was sent to us.

    Not then. Not now. They don''t dare to fight us head on. They evade our forces and kill our fellow Elainian. To enslave them. To rob us of our humanity. This is not a war. This is a battle against a not legitimated attack. A battle against monsters. A battle against the pure evil. We are the light that defends the world against these disgusting abominations. Like the legendary Red Dodo, we stand between the darkness and the light." He raised his hand to the elaine Flag. A Red Dodo, the symbol of the fourth hero, stood in a blue triangle. It was holding a sword in one of his claws piercing the black on the left while protecting the gold of the gods to his right.

    "We always stood between the darkness of evil and the light of good and we always prevailed. Proud people of Elaina I don''t ask of you to die for your King. I ask for you to destroy the evil that threatens this entire earth." The last words were shouted and the King raised a fist. The cheering of the crowd was ear-splitting. Way louder than before. Soni felt that there was never something louder in existence, ever.

    "Now citizens of Elaina go forth and strike the hammer of justice to those that dare to threaten us. Go forth and bring the world to peace once again."

    The crowd started to move, still cheering. A parade of people in their daily clothes, without weapons or protection, marching to the gates.

    "This will be the future of this Kingdom.", declared the marshal next to Soni in a good mood.

    "Yes.", Soni agreed. "There goes the future."

 Chapter 4: Regrettable choices

    25th Day, Fourth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    Steam shot from a big metallic pipe. A loud sound of metal on metal emerged and a glowing red shell was released from an opening near the bottom side of the almost two meters long and fifty-centimeter wide tube. An engineer clad in red and brown clothes turned an iron wheel at the bottom of the mighty barrel and opened it. Another two put under moans and sweat a large oval piece of metal into it. A fourth added a thin metal case with the same diameter to it. The first put the lid back and closed it through the turning of the wheel. ¡°Ready!¡±, he shouted under a storm of explosions and screams. ¡°IGNITE!¡±, yelled another man behind the four.

    ¡°Ignition.¡±, yelled the first and put a small amount of heat magic into the case that was placed into the tube. As soon as the magic touched the inner of the case an ear-splitting boom thundered from the barrel followed by a burst of fire from the opening of the tube on the top. The fourth man surrounded the red glowing pipe carefully with small layers of ice that evaporated into mist as soon as it emerged. The man behind looked through field glasses where the projectile was supposed to land, while the four men repeated their process from before.

    The aim was a wall of dirt that was approximately five hundred meters away. Behind that wall hid the enemy''s troops. Through small openings emerged walls of ice wide enough to give protection for at least five men in a row. The ice was pushed forward around twenty meters or so, and then a new wall of earth grew out of the ground blocking the view of the mound of earth that was targeted. Their gunmen managed to destroy some of the ice walls and killed the enemy behind them but this wasn¡¯t good enough. A mere gap of fifty meters was now between the enemy and the gunmen. The enemy archers could shoot their arrows a long time ago already but their magicians could stop most of them. But any closer than that and the enemy magicians could use their tricks too. And not to forget the cavalry that could burst out from the flanks at any time now.

    Captain Galon Meriat clicked his tongue as he put the field classes down. ¡°Correction. Elevation five two two.¡±

    ¡°Correction. Elevation five two two.¡±, echoed his aimer who turned a small knob.

    ¡°Ready.¡± ¡°IGNITE!¡± ¡°Ignition.¡±

    Another loud thunder roared from the monster dubbed artillery sending its deadly projectile in a high arc to the newly erected pulp of dirt.

    This time he got the satisfying eruption of mud and flesh he was hoping for. The resulting breach in the wall was enough for the gunmen to target the knights that were too close to the hole and had the poor luck to survive.

    ¡°Captain Meriat, sir.¡±,someone called out to him. A man slightly benched over and gasping for air held towards him a piece of paper. Like any other man of this battalion, he wore not a single piece of armor over his uniform made of simple cloth. ¡°From command.¡±, he managed to say between his heavy breathes.

    ¡°Acknowledged.¡±, said Galon and took the scrap out of the messenger''s hand. He overflew what was written onto it and gave a dissatisfied grunt. Annoyed he gave the notice back to the man who started to run to the next battery.

    ¡°Kick your goddamn speed up, ladies. If they come any closer we have to destroy our baby here.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±, shouted his man in unison.

    The captain ground his teeth. According to the higher-ups, the artillery was their trump card. It was one of the greatest weapons ever created by any race. So it was of the utmost importance that it never felt in the hands of the enemy.

    Even before the campaign started he and his men were told that if any information about this weapon was leaked every single one of them and their families would be executed for treason. He couldn¡¯t remember how often he woke up bathed in sweat because of a nightmare. As far as he knew, those with the rifles hadn¡¯t such strict orders. It was a secret embedded in a secret.

    Those orders didn¡¯t change even now. But he couldn¡¯t understand why. The rifles worked the same way the artillery did. A bullet was put into some sort of pipe with an ignition case and with a little heat in form of magic the bullet got accelerated. Same thing. Only on a smaller scale.

    He put his field glasses again in front of his eyes. The enemy hiding behind the ice walls pushed forward almost desperately. Bullets flung from the guns sawed through their protection just as desperate. And then it happened. An earthen wall was cast not twenty meters away from the frontline. Mere seconds after that dodos stormed on each end out into the flanks of the gunmen. Their own knights stormed forward to halt the storm. As if this was a cue dozens and dozens of knights rushed out through the small gaps in the wall towards the center.

    It was no secret that the elainen knights were far more skilled than their kastalisch counterparts. Nevertheless the knights of kastal run past the gunmen to form a last defense line. But to captain Meriat it didn¡¯t matter who would win this fight. He had orders.

    ¡°Point towards that damn cavalry and get the last shot out.¡±, he yelled. His crew eyeballed the aim and ignited the case. For the last time, the barrel roared its warcry.

    ¡°Alright demolish that damn thing. The cases too.¡±

    His battle was over.

    <hr>

    Why did you talk me into this? ¡®What? I didn¡¯t say anything. You just started to shout in agreement, didn¡¯t you?¡¯ No, you said we can''t let them do what they want.

    ¡®After you rose up for a standing applause, didn¡¯t you?¡¯ I did not.

    Anyway, it is all your fault that I had to leave my paradise. ¡®Yeah, just put all your negativity to me, like you always do, don¡¯t you!¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t even a full day since the King of Elaina gave his speech. Dozens and dozens of people marched through the city gates still cheering and then almost dispersed in all directions. No one of the townsfolk knew where they were supposed to go. I was a little confused too but Lutz pushed me in the right direction. But luckily some sentries were with us. They shouted and yelled to get the attention from everyone, which took quite some time. As they finally succeeded they ordered us to follow them and they marched in front aiming for the south. Under the sentries were a few faces I remembered but I had forgotten their names so I didn¡¯t call out to them.

    They walked orderly side by side each step taken with prudent precision. Behind them were us hunters. Not as orderly but still grouped together in divisions and veteran-apprentice groups. Behind us was the ordinary townsfolk. At the start, they looked like they just strolled around the marked but now you could saw tired faces on most of the people.

    ¡®Don¡¯t have any endurance now, do they?¡¯ Well, they¡¯re just normal people. They were not used to endless marches. ¡®But we already took a break not long ago, didn¡¯t we? Can¡¯t imagine what help they are supposed to be, now can you?¡¯ A wry smile formed on my face. But I could sympathize with those people. My motivation to march for who knows how long to wherever we were going to and pushing the hillbillies back was nonexistent. Maybe I could just stay behind when the time arrived and just let the others handle it. ¡®You are unbelievable, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ What? Do you really think it would make a difference if I kicked them too? I don¡¯t. ¡®I¡¯m shaking my head mentally at you.¡¯ Also, there was never a word about payment and the caravan didn¡¯t have enough food for everybody. So we hunters have to hunt our own food probably. ¡®Turn on your heels right now! We are going back.¡¯

    I chuckled. This earned me the attention from Dirk.

    ¡°Pretty hyped, hu?¡±, he asked with a broad smile.

    ¡°Err, yeah of course.¡±, I lied. He nodded proudly. ¡°That¡¯s a hunter for you. Not like those behind us. There is only half as much as there was this morning.¡±

    ¡°Dey don¡¯t ''ave any train''n whatsoever. It¡¯s norra negative dat juss ''alf o'' dem are ¡®ere, its positive dat dere are still ''alf o'' dem around¡±, said Lutz puffing out smoke. ¡°It¡¯s more o'' a shame dat we lost a few ¡®unters. A real shame fer de name we represent¡±

    ¡°What? There were hunters that left?¡±, gasped Dirk. Lutz gave a slow nod.

    ¡°Look fer wad is important, Dirk. De small things are most times more important as de obvious ones. Yous listun too, Natalie. Spear yous flappers opun fer anyth''n important, yous ''ear me?¡±

    After concentrating what he said I managed to make sense of most of his words.

    ¡°Yes, I understand, Lutz.¡±, I answered with a broad smile. He gave a satisfied grunt.

    <hr>

    27th Day, Fourth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    It was now two days since we set out on our journey to kick the billies back. I didn¡¯t know when we started to call the Kastals billies instead of hillbillies but it made a lot of sense and went a lot smoother in conversations. As I feared we had to hunt our own food but it turned out that with so many professional hunters around this was not a problem. In fact, we had so much that sharing with the townspeople wasn¡¯t a problem. A big part of that was that the amount of people halved again. But there weren¡¯t only people that had left of their own accord. A few of them died. Mostly old folks, but some middle aged too. Lutz just said that they overestimated themselves and what''s done is done. Some who were acquainted with these people took it on them to bring the remains back and it never affected the group as a whole.

    Currently, the sentries and the chosen leaders of the hunters and townsfolk were together in a big tent discussing how they should operate when they came into contact with the billie army the next day. Lutz was under the chosen ones and he took me and Dirk with him, albeit we had to make ourselves small and if possible invisible.

    ¡°We got reports from the knights south-east. They have found a tactic that is working quite fine. But it needs a lot of magicians. How many are there under the Hunters?¡± The man that spoke was the same that was in the sentrie station, Mathew.

    ¡°About sixty to seventy as far as I have seen.¡±, answered a giant of a man. He was almost as wide as he was high, his muscles pulsating and pressing themselves through the thick fabric of his veteran tunic. He slowly groomed his beard that reached up to his waist while he spoke very slowly. ¡°And around two to three hundred warriors, like myself.¡± Mathew nodded thoughtfully.

    ¡°We are thirty-two men, all proficient with the spear. I would suggest that we split into thirty-two smaller groups each led by a sentrie and at least two magicians in it.¡±

    ¡°Dat is sound by me. But ay ''ope yous don¡¯t juss overstep us.¡±, threw Lutz into the conversation with a frown.

    ¡°No, of course not. In fact, each group will have a second in command which will be a veteran. There are enough veterans here?¡±, said Mathew thoughtfully.

    ¡°More than that.¡±, laughed the big hunter.

    ¡°Alright then the magicians will-¡± ¡°Wait a second here!¡±, interrupted a young man Mathew. ¡°What about us? The Voluntaries?¡±

    Mathew let a few seconds go by before he answered, probably thinking how he should answer. ¡°I want the volunteers to protect the rear line together with the apprentices.¡± He raised his Hand as the man opened his mouth. ¡°There were a lot of cases where the Kastals managed to strike from behind without anyone noticing. That is an important task. I hope you understand that without you looking out for our back we could lose on a moments notice.¡±

    The man made a grimace but nodded. ¡°I understand. Even if it is not much, we will protect your back.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    While the man was not very happy about his assignment I almost jumped in happiness. Standing in the rear just watching. That is perfect. But the person next to me stiffened up and I could hear his teeth grinding. ¡®Well, he really looked forward to kicking some billies, didn¡¯t he?¡¯ With a lot of effort, I managed to suppress a smile.

    ¡°As I was saying, the magicians will cast a two-meter high earth wall. It should be around ten meters wide and two meters thick. Between each wall should be a gap of roughly two meters.

    Another magician will then cast an ice wall at the gaps and half of the group hides behind that. You are then supposed to move forward with the ice wall as fast as possible. I¡¯m well aware that moving an ice wall is no easy task but I¡¯m sure you can handle it. After a few meters, a new earth wall has to be cast to give the men left behind cover to advance and to let the caster regenerate. Rinse and repeat until we made contact with the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Wait, that is seriously your plan?¡±, asked the giant with big eyes.

    ¡°It may not be very deep, but as soon as we make contact they will break. Most of the enemy troops are garians. They rely too much on their new toy and don¡¯t have many strong knights. Also, they haven¡¯t seen a lot of battles and won¡¯t have much perseverance.¡± I noticed that he didn¡¯t say that we ourselves haven¡¯t seen any battles either. ¡®But those are billies. Garia or Kastal doesn¡¯t matter, now do they?¡¯ I guess not.

    ¡°Any other questions about the plan? No? Then let''s discuss where we will most likely meet them and the terrain we will encounter.¡±

    After that they discussed the formation of the groups, what if cases, and much much more. I didn¡¯t listen to much of what was said since it was quite boring and somewhere in the middle of that I fell asleep.

    <hr>

    28th Day, Fourth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    The day of our battle finally arrived. Everybody was in high spirits. At least most of the hunters. I couldn¡¯t wait until it was over and we could go home. I missed my bed. And the Temple. Or rather the music. But nothing I could do about that at the time.

    The thirty-two groups of around twelve members each had parted from the townsfolk and us apprentices a while ago and had already built the first defense of earth walls in the distance around one kilometer away. On each wall was the flag of the elainen Kingdom hoisted.

    The sun was up for almost two hours as a wild roar thundered through the fields.

    ¡°Was that a monster?¡±, asked Dirk in shock. A wild murmur sprung from the townsfolk. ¡°I don¡¯t think-¡±

    Behind the wall, the earth decided to erupt and spat huge junks of dirt and dust high into the ear with a scream so loud that I could feel it. An eerie silence filled the surrounding just broken from scattered hushed voices. ¡°Oh gods.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Is that from their weapon?¡±

    Dirk stood there not even breathing. He probably imagined what would happen if you stand there. I certainly did. And I didn¡¯t like it. ¡¯We should get out of here, don¡¯t we.¡¯ We can¡¯t. ¡®Come on, we are put here in the back so we are not in the way. It helps nobody if one of those things came to us, now is there?¡¯

    Another roar growled through the air echoing loud and long from all directions. From the earth walls emerged shouts and I saw ice walls forming. Then another blast tore through the air followed by an eruption of dirt and dust half hidden behind the earth wall. Anew a roar thundered, two, five, ten. All almost at the same time.

    This time the wall exploded in multiple places. Small figures were flung away as if an invisible giant kicked them. Many of those figures didn¡¯t have the silhouette of a human anymore and the dust and dirt that got tossed into the air were darker. Redder. And the roaring didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°We have to do something!¡±, yelled Dirk and grabbed me by my shoulders with fear on his face. ¡®Woah dude, don¡¯t touch her so suddenly you little fuck!¡¯

    ¡°Wah, What? But we can¡¯t-¡±, I stammered but got cut by Dirk. ¡°Lutz is over there, he will die if we don¡¯t help him.¡± With these words, he started to run to the walls. ¡®Let him go alone if he has a death wish, won¡¯t you.¡¯

    I stood there freezing. My legs trembled. My hands were both pressed against my chest. I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t think. I didn¡¯t notice that some others also ran towards the wall, while others ran away from it. More bursts erupted at the wall filling the air with dust. Some bursts were behind the wall some in front of it. Some came even close to us. ¡®Natalie, we have to get out of here and fast. If we just stand around here some of those things will definitely get to us, won¡¯t they!¡¯ ¡°Ye, yes your right.¡±, I answered the voice without thinking. But I didn¡¯t move. My eyes were locked on the back of Dirk. What if he would die now? What if something had happened to Lutz? ¡®You don¡¯t have any obligations towards them, or do you? SO get the hell out of here!¡¯

    A sudden blast ripped through my ears and a horrible hot gust of air burned over me. I flew through the air and hit the hard ground with a cracking sound.

    My vision was blurred, I couldn¡¯t hear anything and the air smelled like burned meat. Worse than burned meat. My eyes focused on something in front of me. It took me a while to recognize it. It was black like charcoal and weird rosa and purple stuff with a dark red liquid came out of it. I didn¡¯t understand what I saw. It was the first time I saw something like that.

    No.

    I saw something similar.

    When I experimented with the fireball and used to much power on a monster. The smell was similar, too.

    I noticed hair. Eyes that stared into nothingness. An open mouth frozen in agony. The shoulders. And the chest. Then there were the parts that should be inside a person.

    Why are they coming to destroy our peace?

    ¡®Why do they want to kill us?¡¯

    Why do they want to take everything away from me?

    ¡®Why are the gods against me?¡¯

    Why is every bit of happiness taken from me?

    ¡®Why is everything out to destroy my life?¡¯

    Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?

    <hr>

    ¡°YOU WANT A FUCKING PIECE OF ME, DON¡¯T YOU?¡±

    ¡°I FUCKING GIVE YOU FUCKING EVERYTHING!¡±

    I kicked the ground and jumped forwards. The ground rushed past me. The wall was in front of me. I didn¡¯t care for it and just tore through it. Some figures blitzed on the edge of my vision. If they didn¡¯t wanna end like the wall they shouldn¡¯t get in my way. Another wall stood there high and proud. Big junks of it flew with me for a short moment. No wall before me anymore. Just a wall of men clad in shit. Some stuff shot against me.

    Annoying.

    Small ice crystals formed around me and redirected them away from me. The blur of shit with legs came closer. Small fireballs emerged on both of my hands.

    They got bigger.

    Bigger.

    Even bigger. As big as an adult.

    Bigger.

    I tore through the row of men. Some weird pieces and red fluids shoot in all directions. I didn¡¯t even notice their features. My arms flung forward. A face burned itself into my vision. Its eyes became small in surprise and fear. The mouth formed a scream and it pulled its arms in front of it.

    I grinned.

    The fireballs flew right through it. Another explosion filled with dust, dirt, and shit shot to the heavens. In one second to the next a wide area was pierced by huge icicles which zipped out of the ground. Noise rustled in my ears. It was familiar but I didn¡¯t care for what it was. There were fireballs in my hands that wanted to tear through shit. Some of the annoying stuff clashed against me. It showed me where more shit was. I dived into their direction. Arms shooting forward releasing justice. Burnt torn pieces were everything that was there now.

    I looked around. Scanning where movement was. As soon as I found it my legs left the ground.

    Anew my limbs with the flames of purification found their prey and left nothing but burned heresy. There were more. Running.

    How could they dare? How could they dare to even think to desert the punishment of the gods? Flaming justice emerged on my hands. I let them grew. The light from them tore through the darkness that clouded my eyes. As soon as they were big enough I catapulted myself in their direction. The dark clouds couldn¡¯t hinder my aim. The preys erupted like the ground before bursting their innards to the sky.

    Next. The next one. I had to find the next. If it just wasn¡¯t so dark. If I just didn¡¯t lay on the ground. I had to find the next¡­

    <hr>

    Lutz walked slowly behind one of the magicians of his group who had casted an ice wall. He hadn¡¯t imagined the battle to be like this. He saw good men vanishing in a burst of earth and blood. Men who did stand their ground against terrible monsters. And there was nothing anyone could have done. He saw men behind their ice walls falling with just a crackle of the ice and a dump sound. Nothing more. He had never felt fear in front of a monster. Even when it looked grim he stood his ground with a smile on his face. But not this time. Dying without notice was terrifying. Not being able to see what kills you was the most horrible thing he could ever imagine.

    ¡°''ow far till we can put up de next wall?¡±, he muttered.

    ¡°Just a few more steps.¡±, shouted his sentrie.

    Lutz bit his lips praying that he was still there in a few steps.

    A loud bang erupted behind him, different from the ones that tore men and earth apart. Unconsciously he turned his head. What he saw stole his breath. A red silhouette bursted through the wall and tore huge junks of it with it. It flew past them in an incredible speed but he still could see what it was. Hair that was normally a bright red was dyed in dark red. The happy and carefree face that he had seen so often was twisted and sprinkled in red dots. The tunic that was grey this morning was as red as the new color of her hair. And the red cape of a veteran whipped violently in the air.

    The next moment Natalie shoot into the ranks of the garian army. A splash of dark red blasted into the air followed by an explosion that was bigger than the ones he had feared. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡±, shouted the magician in front of him in joy. ¡°I have never seen any magic like that in my whole life and I saw the great magician fighting once.¡±, exclaimed the sentrie.

    In the next moment, huge pillars of ice turned the enemy front in an icy forest. Screams of terror and agonizing pain were coming out of those deathly woods. And then.

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHIHIHIHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±

    A laughter that froze everything in Lutz¡¯s body. It was as cold as the ice in front of him filled with a bloodlust he had never encountered before. More explosions emerged inside the enemy ranks but the sound of deafening eruptions couldn¡¯t overpower the lough that was still going.

    Loud shouts came from lutz sides and he saw how many abandoned their icy protection and stormed at the enemy that stopped shooting. ¡°Fuck this, we are going too. Everybody forwards.¡±, screamed his sentrie and he ran past the defense. A thought stopped him from moving. A thought that nagged in his mind as soon as he recognized Natalie.

    Did something happen to Dirk? Was the reason she was covered in blood because Dirk got hit? If this was the case, then Dirk would be dead. He couldn¡¯t help him. Not anymore. But he could still help Natalie. The Natalie that threw herself into the midst of a terrifying enemy. With a prayer that dirk was still ok, he rushed out of his cover towards the enemy shouting a warcry. A few turned around to see them rushing against them. Less pointed their ¡®guns¡¯ at them. Most of those who saw the elaine troops running towards them turned right around and fled as fast as they could while throwing their weapons away to be at least a little faster. Lutz thought for a moment that they may think that whatever Natalie did, they could too. A few bullets hissed at him as they missed him but he stopped caring. Some of his brother in arms were already in sword range with the enemy. Magicians casted their complicated spells without any cover and threw them into the enemy. Finally, Lutz arrived in front of an enemy knight who had chosen to fight rather than to flee. With a quick slash from the side, his enemy fell. He looked around but he didn¡¯t saw any other enemy that wasn¡¯t running away. And then he noticed. The laughing was gone. He couldn¡¯t tell since when but the missing of that laughter was even more terrifying than the sound of it. ¡°Natalie!¡±, he shouted and looked fast around. ¡°Master.¡±, somebody was calling from behind him. He turned around and a pain in his heart was removed.

    ¡°Dirk. You are ok. Are you ok?¡± He immediately ran towards his apprentice whose face was pale and terrified, forgetting everything else. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m alright. But did you see Natalie? She suddenly jumped in front of me through the wall as if it was butter.¡± ¡°Shit, right. She jumped into the enemy''s forces. She has to be somewhere there.¡± He stared into the direction where the explosions were before and started to run in that direction. The troops of the enemy were all either fleeing or capitulating. Nobody was fighting anymore. From the corner of his eyes, he saw some hunters executing the prisoners. He acknowledged. ¡°Natalie! Can you hear me?¡±, shouted Dirk and Lutz copied him.

    After a short while, they saw a group of people around something. Lutz heard one of them crying. ¡°Shit don¡¯t go little girl. It''s not your time yet.¡± A cold shower emerged on his back. ¡°Please let this not happening.¡±, said Lutz with a coarse voice and walked slowly to the crowd. Dirk gave a small whimper but followed his master. Closer up he saw two magicians leaning over a small body, mending the wounds on her body. He thought he couldn¡¯t be more terrified anymore. He was wrong. The small body was almost completely destroyed. Her limbs were angled in way more places that they were supposed to. The arms were black, burned in some places up to the bone. Her torso was littered with small holes from those cursed bullets. ¡°Is she dead?¡±, lutz asked without any voice.

    ¡°Not yet.¡±, answered a man instead of the magicians. The two men whispering silent spells and pouring mana into the small frame looked like they had just swum through a river. More people arrived, but instead of just staring at the magicians and the body on the ground some sat next to her and started to chant silent spells too. Both of the magicians who had mended to her first stopped and fell gasping to the ground. ¡°There is no way someone could survive even a tenth what she had to endure. If she survives this,¡± one of them said irregularly under heavy breathing. ¡°She must be loved by the gods.¡±

 Chapter 5: Low point

    1st Day, fifth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    Loud footsteps echoed through a hall in the castle of the elainen capitol Erial. Proud and well-paced steps which weren¡¯t in a hurry nor to slow carried a man clad in fine garments past paintings of landscapes and royalty. A red cape flattered elegant behind his straight back as he hummed a small melody. His green eyes radiated confidence and the edges of his thin lips were curled upwards. The last few weeks were a blessing for him and he let it show that he was in a good mood.

    That man was the marshal of this kingdom Ereild Hess.

    He was born to a high standing noble family as the first son and as such received all the necessary teachers and materials to succeed as the new family head one day. But he did not like that. For him, the big mansion he loved in back as a child was a prison and his servants the wardens. His only light in the dark were the stories of the hero and his companions. He admired them more than the gods and wished every day that the hero would come to his house and take him with him. The most powerful human, a noble under nobles. But according to his hated parents, the hero was not a noble. He was merely a commoner with slightly greater power. But this was confusing for him. Since he learned that only nobles could protect the lands. High standing nobles would become knights and lower standing nobles would become sentries. If the sentries could show great achievements they had the chance to increase their rank to higher nobles and become knights.

    It was even more confusing after he learned about the hunters. Of course, because the hero joined them otherwise he would never have cared. Those were exclusively made from commoners. But they were in no way inferior to the knights. In fact, there were individuals who were even stronger than the default knight. And those who were acquainted with magic showed great skills rivaling that of the magicians in the royal court. It was a mystery how commoners could be that great if they had no noble blood in them. So as soon as he reached adulthood he fled and joined a hunters-division. Of course, he hid his true origin. What he saw there changed his world. Commoners had talents too. Commoners were able to acquire strength. Commoners were able to fight strong enemies and protect this county from them. And he started not only to hate his parents that represented the nobility but also question the morality of what he was taught. That only the nobility could protect this country and therefore able to become knights. He who only had the dream to follow the steps of the hero managed to see a dream greater than anything. A dream as old as Elaina herself. And he could make this dream reality.

    But he could not realize it as a mere hunter. He returned to the prison of his parents and started to work and learn in earnest. He used every chance he got every trick he could think of and didn¡¯t even stopped in front of the law. He backstabbed, bribed, and ordered assassins, nothing was too dirty for his dream.

    And finally, after more than thirty years, he reached a position that allowed him to put his dream into reality. He finally became the marshal, the commander of all land forces, knights and sentries. But still, he couldn¡¯t just do as he pleased. The supreme commander of the army was the King. His words were the law. But the king was not the most intelligent and fell quick for his words. A few compliments here, a few made up threads from the outside there and the king followed his advice more than any other of his real advisers.

    And then a rather fortunate incident happened. The declaration of war from the Kastal Kingdom.

    The south-west border was rather sporadic protected. The bulk of the army was in the east patrolling the borders of Araleia and Emmiria since they were similar in power to Elaina. But the lack of troops in the south-west was also a great blessing for Ereild. Also that the kastalish men used a new kind of weapon. It brought the Kingdom into a state of shock and fear.

    But he knew better. The fast advances they made were possible because all the most powerful knights were in the east and a handful of knights were in the west in the first place. The new weapons they were using that brought fear and awe to the undereducated was not a match for real knights. Simple tactics were enough to render those entirely useless.

    So it was no secret who would win this war. All he had to do was to reorganize his troops a little bit and get some knights from the east to the west.

    But here is where his great dream could come true.

    Through the lack of knights, a hole that needed to be filled emerged. And the best would be to use what is available.

    Hunters.

    He had made all sorts of plans how he could bring the king to let them fight but all his planning was for nothing. On one day where Hess, the king, and his advisers were discussing the war, a messenger from the knights'' hall came in a hurry and noticed them that huge junks of the hunters were storming the hall to voluntarily enlist themselves. And even better, the common folk too. The untapped potential of this country. With a few well-placed words he got what he desired. The Hunters were completely integrated into the army and the commoners were allowed to serve as well. Because the enemies they would face were on the same level or even weaker than monsters they would be able to sweep them. The hunters would archive huge victories and the accompanying commoners would get honor and glory by tagging along. The young hunters would learn how glorious a fight between swords is, way more than against monsters. After the war would be won they would all be flooded with honors and riches. The other commoners would see this and they would want a piece of it too. Through the great display of commoners in battle, he could push for a new doctrine were commoners had to serve as knights as soon as they become adults. Even if only the hunters were able to confront the enemy, he had found that the newspaper, that the hero introduced, was a good place to create facts. Those facts hadn¡¯t to be true. They only needed to be written and that made them true.

    And after a few years, the commoners would have been molded into true warriors. Eleina would become a kingdom of knights. A kingdom unmatched in quality and quantity. And then, then he could finally start the last step of his dream.

    The unification of mankind under the Elainen flag.

    As he walked through the lengthy well-decorated hall of the castle the marshal hummed a happy tune, smiling nonchalantly while dreaming of the future.

    <hr>

    3rd Day, fifth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    Gasping for air, bleeding and limping a part of a small kastal army carried itself out of an elainen city.

    According to the scouts, the city was empty. Left behind by the citizens who had fled before the marching kastalish troops. As soon as the city came into view the commander ordered a detachment to search and acquirer proviant as well as to check if the city was really abandoned.

    The detachment consisted of a small amount of knights, a few magicians and the rest were gunmen.

    They entered the city carefully and searched each house they encountered in a quick but thorough fashion. The city had to be quite crowded in the past since the buildings stood wall to wall with small to no alleys between them. The second floor on most buildings over grew to the narrow streets. The men stood shoulder to shoulder but left good two to three steps space between the person before them. When a knight or gunmen needed to move fast to enter a building they would more often than not stand in their own way and hinder the search. After a while, the captain of the detachment ordered the men to split and search the streets in smaller groups since the city was quite big and they had limited time. Also, he feared what would happen when they would get attacked in this state.

    At the moment the kastalish troops tried to reorganize themselves, loud screams of pain and agony arose under them mixed with curses aimed at them. Some were showered with boiling water or oil, others got hit with kitchen knives or heavy pots or pans. There were also some unfortunate who received a rain of shards of broken glass, rusty nails, and sharp scrap metals. The damage from those was not only from the gravitational pull bot those that laid on the ground pierced with ease through the thin leather soles. Here and there were some arrows mixed in.

    ¡°At the windows!¡±, shouted a gunman and ignited the case in his gun while pointing it to the rectangular hole that was moments before closed by glass.

    But while the men were all looking up or trying to enter the buildings they had just searched moments ago, palisade walls were erected at a fast pace in front and behind them. The palisades were made out of broken furniture and sharp spikes out of wood grew out of it.

    ¡°Die you fucking monsters!¡±, screamed an old man behind the palisade and released the string of his poorly made bow. At his shout, the rest of the people behind the palisade, men, women, children and elderly, released their arrows too.

    ¡°You won¡¯t eat our children today!¡±

    ¡°I rather die than become your slave!¡±

    ¡°Better dead than birthing your bastards!¡±

    The shouts those people threw against the detachment were like that.

    The Knights and gunmen tried to reposition themselves but in their panic and confusion they rammed into each other in the narrow street, fell over their own dead or pots and stepped into rusty nails or similar.

    ¡°Calm down! Knights to the front! Defense magicians, block everything from above! Attack magicians and gunmen concentrate on the barricade!¡±, ordered the captain in a voice that went even over the screams of agony.

    But he hadn¡¯t seen the barricade behind them. Even though the knights could have used their shields to block the arrows from the front and the magicians stopped everything that came from above their back was still wide open with an angry storm of arrows that wouldn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    ¡°Oh gods save me!¡±

    ¡°Let me out of here!¡±

    The detachment lost all of its moral and was in such a disarray that not even the captain could put them back to order. Most of the men who could still move attacked the palisade wall in the back in desperation. Those nearest to it were pushed into the spikes from their own brother in arms. The citizens of this town showed no mercy. Those kastalish men that attempted to climb the barricade were hit with heavy rocks, self-made wooden spears, hammers, and even molten metal.

    ¡°Just throw a fucking fireball at it!¡±, yelled the captain who got hit by an arrow. He grunted as he heard someone saying: ¡±Ah¡± and fell limb to the ground. Seconds later a few small fireballs reached the barricade. As soon as it started to burn the townsfolk abandoned their stronghold and the kastalish men threw themselves into the flames, just to get out of that death zone. But even after they had managed to climb or tore through the flames they were far from safety. Behind the barricade waited the citizens already and assaulted them as soon as they were in sight. Those who managed to break through this hell and ran through the street were hit from the windows were still more people of the city were hiding.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Less than fifteen people managed to make it out and reach the main army.

    ¡°So the elainen army hides in the cities now. I heard that they kill any prisoners of war but I thought that were just rumors. But I can believe it now after such a shameful display of an army.¡±, spoke the commander of this army Theodore Gratel.

    ¡°That weren¡¯t Knights, sir¡±, said a survivor who reported to him. ¡°That were citizens. They wore ordinary clothing and there were women and children.¡±

    ¡°The rumors also say that they send exactly those on the battlefield. That is a city filled with detestable enemies.¡± Theodore waved a messenger to him. ¡°Report to high command: Eleinan forces tarn as citizens. They ambuscade in cities. Proposal to attack every city in sight before entering.¡±

    The messenger gasped and stared at his commander with wide eyes, but he noted everything down and ran to his dodo.

    ¡°Captain Meriat! Get me an aim for that city¡±, he called to his captain of the best artillery unit in his army.

    ¡°Y, Yes sir!¡± The captain ordered his men and after a few minutes, the thunder of his artillery roared. The shell landed short and too far to the left. The captain barked new orders and the mighty barrel shouted angrily for a second time. This time the shell reached farther but still to short. But a fireball filled with smoke in the city showed that the third try was a hit.

    Other messengers ran as soon as the hit was confirmed from Meriats battery to the twelve other artillery''s each with a notice of the coordinates he used. A few moments later all twelve spit angry flames and threw their deadly load into the city. Huge explosions ripped houses and streets apart. Buildings collapsed and small fires started to sprout.

    The bombardment lasted for more than five hours. The small fires that would have been extinguished by the citizens had spread around the whole city.

    After a day the city was nothing more than a field of ruins.

    <hr>

    4th Day, fifth Month, 44th Year, Age of the 23rd Calamity

    In the darkness of the night, some shadows quickly rushed through the outer court of the elainen castle towards a few carriages. Those carriages were surrounded by thick silhouettes where on some parts the moonlight got reflected. Silent whispers urged the shadows to move faster. These shadows were the king''s adviser Soni Seches and the royal family. This afternoon the Kingdom of Pilatio declared war on Elaina and their troops marched around the great forest without any possibility to stop them. The King declared that he would stay in the capital and demanded the same from every citizen. They should stand against the enemy and protect the capital until the last man.

    But Soni feared that the doom of this city was unavoidable. And when this city would fall so would the king together with his heir. That he could not allow. He argued with the king for a long time to convince him to flee but he would not hear any of that. With this, Soni took it on himself to get at least the royal family out of harm''s way. He contacted trustworthy knights to protect the royal caravan and executed his plan in secret.

    To his terror the marshal, Ereild Hess got wind of this but to his big surprise, he didn¡¯t stop him. On the contrary, he even ordered some of his personal knights to help him. Soni didn¡¯t know what to make out of that but he had no time to worry about that. The army of Pilatio was mere days away. But now, a few steps away from the carriage he found out.

    ¡°Seches there you are. You took your goddamn time.¡±, whispered a man clad in armor. ¡°Milady, prince Asswilt, princess Elaina it''s an honor to meet you¡±, said that man while kneeling.

    ¡°Marshal Hess, so you aid us in this time of need too. This is really reassuring¡±, spoke the queen and her constrained face relaxed a little bit. But at the same time Sonis face formed into a grimace. The marshal wore the armor of a knight and there was only one reason he would do that.

    ¡°I take it that you will personally secure the escape of the royal family?¡±, he said towards Hess.

    ¡°Of course, if this city will really fall we need to protect the king¡±, he whispered proudly and winked toward prince Asswilt.

    Soni could only think of what a coward that person was. He forced children to a battlefield with a smile, ordered the death of thousands of citizens but as soon as his own life was in danger he fled. And while doing it he also pretended to be a hero. And the worst part was that Soni couldn¡¯t even say anything against him. Any move from his side now would only slow them down and in the worst case they would be detected by the troops of the king and everything would fall apart.

    ¡°Let us not stay here, please milady, prince, princess get into the carriage with great haste.¡±, urged Hess now. While the three royals entered the carriage with help from some knights Hess turned to Soni.

    ¡°You did a great deed for the country today. I did not take you as someone who could actually put his words into action. I will pray for your soul and hope you will survive this ordeal.¡± His voice was sincere but Soni couldn¡¯t care for it. He had never planned to flee the city himself. It wasn¡¯t even a question whether he would stay with his king or not. Even if the gods themselves marched against the city walls he would stay right next to his king. If he could he would tell one of his men to assassinate Hess on the way but this could lead into a struggle between his men and Hess¡¯s. Also, they were all ether by the carriage or on their dodos a little further ahead. The only thing he could manage was to make his voice angry.

    ¡°And I hope you do your duty in the name of the king.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Good luck.¡± And with these words Hess turned around, climbed his dodo and the royal caravan started to move.

    Soni¡¯s only hope was that they would win the coming siege and that Hess would be charged with treason.

    <hr>

    I was in a small cabinet hidden behind a closet. Screams of my mother and my father penetrated my ears while the laughter of men ridiculed them down on the first floor. I didn¡¯t move. I didn¡¯t breath. Their screams changed into a weeping. The laughter got louder. I heard my father pleading, begging that they should release my mother. That he was enough. But that only increased the ridiculing of the men. After a while, I couldn¡¯t hear my parents anymore. The laughter of the men became quieter and quieter as numerous footsteps left the house. I still didn¡¯t move. I caught a tear that was falling in fear they could hear it. The sound of glass breaking reached me. After a short moment crackle sounds emerged. It got warm. It became hard to breath. I pushed my hand over my mouth because I felt that I was about to cough. It got hotter. Loud bangs erupted like a lot of stuff fell from very high. And then the ground, the cabinet and everything around me fell with me in the middle. Everything hurt. I couldn¡¯t move. Lots and lots of stuff laid on me. But I didn¡¯t scream. I was scared that those men would hear me. But then I heard steps. But suddenly I wasn¡¯t scared anymore. I knew who would emerge in a few seconds in my sight. A face emerged.

    ¡°Why did you kill me?¡±

    ¡°W, What?¡± I became terrified. This isn¡¯t how it was supposed to go. Another face emerged his head missing a part.

    ¡°You murdered me!¡±

    ¡°What? No, I did nothing!¡± And another face emerged, black like coal and smoke rising from it.

    ¡°You are a monster!¡±

    More and more heads popped into my sight all saying terrible things to me.

    ¡°No, I did nothing of that sort. Berret, Berret help me! Berret.¡±, I screamed in terror and could only shout for my most trusted person. Hands shoot through the rubble and grabbed me. Some hands were missing fingers, some were broken, some were burnt. They pulled me out and they held me in front of them. I couldn¡¯t do anything. They were as big as mountains and still growing. And constantly they chanted:

    ¡±You killed me!¡±

    ¡°Monster!¡±

    ¡°Murderer¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono! Let me alone. Let me alone. Berret. Berret. Help me!¡±

    ¡°You want help?¡± A voice echoed. I remembered that voice. From behind the giants grew a new person out of the ground. He wore a red hunter outfit. His grey beard was unmistakable.

    ¡°Berret, help me. Please help me.¡±, I shouted at my master. But his face formed a grimace.

    ¡°Why should I help you? You let me die. You killed me!¡± A shock ran through my whole body. Why would he say something like that? Why would he abandon me?

    ¡°You are a monster!¡± His hand found my throat. ¡°You have to die!¡± With his other hand, he pulled at my left arm until it ripped apart. I screamed in pain. He pulled on my other arm and I could see how my skin was slowly tearing and blood shoot out of it. ¡°Berret why? Help me! Help me!¡± A dark laughter arose from him as he started to pull on my legs. Disgusting noises ripped through the air as the muscles snapped and the bones broke apart.

    <hr>

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!¡± I screamed, I trashed around and the horrible pain didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Hold her still! Natalie, calm down! You are safe.¡± My arms, legs, and shoulders were grabbed and pushed to the ground. But that only increased the pain in my limbs. But with this, my voice faded and everything became white. Thick tears rolled down my cheeks.

    ¡°You are in a hospice, Natalie. Everything is ok.¡± A calm voice talked to me. But I couldn¡¯t put the meaning of the words together. The pain was the only thing that was registered in my head.

    ¡°It hurts! Stop it, stop it, stop it. Berret help me! Berret, Berretberretberret.¡±

    ¡°Release her!¡±, shouted the man and the pain ebbed away a slight bit. But it still hurt worse than anything I ever felt. ¡°Berret, it hurts! It hurts so much! Please help me, please, please.¡± I could feel that the back of my head was wet but again I didn¡¯t recognize it.

    My limbs hurt way to much for that. They were on fire. Thousand of rusty needles got thrust into them, each and every second.

    ¡°Natalie, calm down. You are fully healed. There is nothing that can harm you anymore.¡±

    ¡°FUCK YOU, it hurts! Make it stop, make it stop. Berret, help me!¡±

    ¡°Maybe she feels still the aftereffect of her injuries?¡±, said someone.

    ¡°Then this should help.¡± A cup or something is placed on my lips and a liquid is poured into my mouth. It¡¯s disgusting and I cough which in turn increased the pain.

    ¡°Drink this Natalie! It eases the pain.¡±, said the calm voice from before.

    After hearing that I swallowed the gross fluid greedily. At that time I would have done anything for the pain to vanish.

    As soon as I had drunk everything of it I felt how the pain slowly subsided. It transformed into the feeling as if thousands of ants were crawling on and under my skin but it was way better than that pain.

    I realized that I breathed wildly and that my teeth ground on each other. I relaxed them a bit, as much as I could. Slowly I opened my eyes but I could only see blurred images through the huge amount of water on my face. I raised my arm to remove it but as soon as I had the idea to move it the pain returned to it. I pulled sharp air into my lungs and more water filled my vision.

    I decided to not move for now. And finally, someone came of the idea to wipe my face with something.

    ¡°Have you calmed down?¡±, asked a man clad in a white robe. He was the source of the calm voice.

    ¡°W, What happened? Why am I here?¡± After my brain managed to work a little rational again only confusion stroke me.

    ¡°You are in a hospice in the city of Esira. Everything is fine, you are in good hands. Do you remember anything?¡±

    I blinked at him. What should I remember? But as if he read my mind he asked further: ¡°The last thing you did? Anything?¡±

    ¡°I, I remember,¡±, I paused for a moment while images and thoughts rushed back into my head. ¡°I remember that we were marching against the billys. I remember that we met them close to some fields. The ground erupted everywhere. Dirk run away to help Lutz. He, he left me. Alone.¡±

    ¡°Anything else?¡±, the man probed further.

    ¡°I, I suddenly laid on the ground and I, I, I¡­¡±, my voice trailed off. The image of the horrible torn thing that was once a human flashed in my mind. The stench of it. My eyes burned again and my vision became blurry again.

    ¡°They killed us. I couldn¡¯t let them do that. So I killed them.¡± Dozens and dozens of faces flashed in my mind. All of them looked in panic, in shock, in pain and agony. All of them wore the clothes of the enemy.

    I shook my head.

    ¡°I had no choice. They wanted to kill us. That was the only thing that they had earned.¡± The back of my head became wetter and wetter.

    ¡°Hey, it''s alright. You did the right thing. Everything is alright, ok. You are fully healed and don¡¯t suffer any memory loss. That is great you know.¡±

    I blinked again. From what was I fully healed. Why did everything hurt in the first place? I managed to turn my head a little and caught a glimpse of my arm.

    I stopped breathing in shock.

 Chapter 6: A quiet evening

    A small room filled out with a bed and a small wooden night cabinet. Dust layered on a wooden ledge in front of a small window. The smell of old wood mixed with the odor of medicine turned the soft breeze from the tilted window into a rather displeasing flavor. Added with the scent of inflammation, sweat and bodily waste the air would most likely bring everyone who entered this building reason to gag. Faint light entered through the window and threw a light cone on the person covered by a thin blanket.

    My eyes focused the window but I didn¡¯t saw what was behind it. My mind was still filled with the occurrence that happened after I woke up several days ago.

    Leather stretched tightly around thin and long sticklike objects. The front with its five crooked endings shook fast in all directions despite placed on a soft ground. Behind the trembling mass raised red bulges sporadically the ragged surface from its tubelike stuffing. More and more humps filled bigger areas the higher the weird object grew. At a point, the lumps took the overhand and connected to the muscles and skin on my shoulder.

    With wide gaping eyes, I stared at the disfigured part attached to me. I didn¡¯t comprehend what I saw. Time slowed down as I rotated my head to look at my other arm. Believing that was I had seen was not real. Trusting that my arm is alright. My head rolls over and the same horrible sight enters my eyes again. A small whimper escapes my mouth.

    ¡°It is all right Natalie. Your arms and legs might look a tad bad right now, but we are confident that they return to their normal form soon.¡±, said the calm man smiling.

    ¡°But, but you said I was completely healed. How is that healed?¡±, I screamed at him in fear and frustration. He raised his hands conciliatory.

    ¡°You have nothing to fear. On the contrary, you have reason to be happy. More than ten magicians used healing magic on you for over eight hours. And most of them were strong magicians at that. Under other circumstances, you would not have survived let alone keeping all of your limbs. I am confident that your limbs will work just fine in given time.¡±

    I thought about his word for a few seconds. The tickling and itching in my arms and legs drove into my mind forcing most of my thoughts away.

    ¡°How can you be so sure? Before it was still painful and even now it feels like hordes of insects are crawling all over my skin.¡± Fear and lack of understanding what had happened to my limbs and what if they stayed that way numbed my reasoning even more than the constant tingling.

    ¡°Listen, just calm down and rest for a bit I promise that in a few days the world will look different. Just trust me ok.¡± He winked at me confidently.

    I concentrated to suppress the annoying feeling with less success than I hoped for but I could manage to calm down a bit.

    He said I will be alright. So I should trust him.

    ¡®Or he is just trying to shut an annoying brat up, couldn¡¯t he?¡¯

    I ignored the voice in my head.

    Several days had passed and I was still waiting for my situation to get better. I had to take daily the medicine several times a day. Every few hours the medicine they gave me to ease my pain wore off from one moment to the next. A rush of fire and hammer blows tore through my limbs robbing me of all my clear thoughts. Following that nails and rusty knives were torn through my skin. At least it felt like that.

    I tried a few times to move my hands but to no avail. Even with the help of medicine, a raising pain shot from my arms to my shoulder, neck, and chest.

    They said that my legs were not as injured as my arms so I should expect earlier results with them but the agony when moving them wasn¡¯t any less.

    The door opened with a clatter and a woman entered the room. Her blue eyes smiled through the wrinkles that surrounded them. Her silver hair was covered with a cloth.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°It''s time for your dinner, sweety.¡± Her small steps let her ankles long grey dress sway and her slightly hunched position did the same to the tray filled with foods, that she was holding in her leather-like hands.

    ¡°Thank you, miss Martha.¡± Slowly I turn my head and look into her direction as she moves to me.

    ¡°You are still throwing that look around?¡±, she asked and raised her brow. She let out a sight and gave me a look full of warmth. A warmth that never reached me.

    ¡°Natalie sweety, you don¡¯t have to be so down all the time.¡± I didn¡¯t answer. Martha was a good and friendly old woman but I couldn¡¯t bear her positivity.

    She put the trail on top of the night cabinet and sat on the corner of the bed.

    ¡°Well then, since we don¡¯t want you to get dirty.¡± She put a napkin on my chest and tucked it into my grey knee-length shirt, which was the property of the hospice.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start now.¡± Martha picked a spoon from the trail and scooped something with looked like soup from a small bowl. Hot steam rose from it. The old woman blew a few times on the spoon and then brought it very carefully in front of my face. Reluctantly I opened my mouth and let her fed me.

    Since I couldn¡¯t move my hands I obviously couldn¡¯t eat by myself. But the help I required didn¡¯t stop there. They had to wash me, dress me, and worst of all remove my excretions. This was painful. Even more painful than the pain my arms and legs gave me. It was not just embarrassing it was humiliating. This increased each time a day went by.

    ¡°And that''s it. You have done well eating the whole bowl. With this, you will recover far faster.¡±

    I didn¡¯t realize the feeding as well as the taste of the soup. Just blank agony wrecked in my mind.

    She put the bowl and the spoon back on the trail and took a mug from it.

    ¡°And here is your medicine.¡± The disgusting tasting fluid was poured into my mouth. Even though I didn¡¯t get medicine in a set timely fashion I always got one mug full before sleep. For that I was thankful. Getting torn out of your sleep by unimaginable pain wasn¡¯t something I was looking forward to. Also, the medicine stopped me from having dreams. Since I had only nightmares when I had any dreams I gladly welcomed it.

    ¡°I wish you a good night, sweety.¡±, she said with a smile on her cracked lips and closed the door behind her.

    My head rotated back to the window again and I resumed what I was doing before the interruption. Getting my fingers to bend. With each try flames shot through my arm, blinding me with white light. Water collected on the edge of my eyes. I had given up on the thought of getting rid of that pain. The doctors said that since I was healed with magic there shouldn¡¯t any pain to begin with.

    ¡®But they also said that under normal circumstances your arms would have to be removed. So I don¡¯t think they have much experience with this.¡¯ I don¡¯t believe that I am the first one who had injuries like that. ¡®That not but maybe the first one who got so much attention from mages with healing magic. It is not common to have so many around moments after you got those injuries, now is it?¡¯

    Through the conversation in my head, I could suppress some of the pain.

    ¡®How are you going to figure out if you actually managed to move a finger? They are trembling so much, now don¡¯t they?¡¯ I know. And they start to tremble even more when I try this. But I Have to do this.

    After a while, I couldn¡¯t endure the pain any longer and I stopped every movement while biting my lip. I waited until the pain subsided and started my next session. Letting my mana flow through my body. According to my late master, mana flowed through a sort of river which was interconnected to lots and lots of other rivers he called nerves. In a way like blood, but completely different. I didn¡¯t understand everything he had told me but I figured that mana needed to travel through your body on a very real medium. So since there was stuff missing in my limbs I was very scared that I couldn¡¯t use magic anymore too.

    But this was not entirely true. I could still reach and push mana in my body around but not as much in my arms and legs. Mana still flowed into them, but it felt like there was not enough to carry it all through. The mana got blocked and just a tiny bit managed to seep through. The blocked mana accumulated and evaporated from my body into the air. I cried for a long time after I found out about that and after hearing it, the doctors just answered with that it should get better over time too. But yet again it didn¡¯t.

    I concentrated on my mana and let some into my arm. Instead of just forcing as much mana through it as possible I thinned it to the smallest amount I could muster to feel. I pushed it through the narrow arm, through the elbow to my wrist, ending in one of my fingers. But the amount was to less to produce any magic. But even though, it cooled my arm all along the way it traveled and it left a pleasant feeling for a short moment. I liked to try this when I wasn¡¯t numbed by the medicine but I couldn¡¯t gain the necessary concentration with all the pain.

    I repeated this with every finger and each toe until a dreamless sleep fell over me.

 Under reconstruction

    Hello and sorry for the long absence. I had a lot of circumstances that prevented me from writing and at this point in time those are still present.

    I can not say when I will come back but at that time I will first rework the Outline I have and thus rewrite the chapters previously written as I am not confident in their quality. Or bluntly said, I don''t like what I have written. It is not well thought out and I know that I have to do better for the Story I like and want to share with the world. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    With that said I am sorry for the hiatus that will continue for a while longer.

    Until we meet again.