Derek was tearing through the goblins, Tyler and Konahora were just joining in, and the villagers were hiding behind their wall.
As for Riary?
“Burn.”
Everyone had a different idea about magic. And that was important. Because although knowledge would always help, although some magics were more technical than others, magic had a perfect mirror in reality.
Art.
And Riary?
She was a master painter.
Riary floated in the air, fire pushing her up, as she unleashed a rippling wave of fire outward. It diverted around her teammates, even around the demon, she was busy. To some, fire was destruction, to others, heat or joy or warmth. The fires of war, the flame of a hearth, the heat of a forge. Your personal view mattered. Everyone, everywhere, had their own style. They could be similar, alike, even the same, but it was yours. It was your paint upon the canvas.
To Riary, flame represented one singular thing as its very core.
Retribution.
Her fires didn’t just burn anymore, she had long learned the basics, like a beginner learning how to first draw. Her fires were intensity itself. She had seen other mages focus on the heat or the kinetic force. She had once had a Royal Fire Mage put his hand on her back and loosen up all of her muscles with his magic. Riary only wanted more and deeper. Her fires weren’t just heat, flames, or death.
They were a statement to this world.
That she would burn it down if it wronged her again.
When she painted, no one turned away. No one admired for only a second. It was always a high-intensity impact, an experience that would last for a lifetime. Whether that be a hundred years or two more seconds long.
Tyler stopped mid-swing.
Konahora froze, backing away.
The villagers looked on in awe.
Derek continued to reap lives but even he stared down in amazement as the goblin before him burned away to nothing.
The flames came with a roar and the field burned. To walk forward was to walk through the fires of hell, for the ground no longer was. The goblins shrieked, pain and fear radiating outward like a musical note to encompass her art, before falling silent.
They had listened well to her and served as an excellent backdrop for her flames.
****
I paused in mid stress relief, as the goblin before me was covered in flames that took my breath away, before becoming one with it.
I gasped and took a step back, my eyes going wide. All around me was fire, as far as the eye could see, coating my vision. I had seen a snapshot of this before and small elements beforehand. But this was beyond what I had seen before. It wasn’t just fire.
It moved. Like a graceful dancer. It was mesmerizing, the world coated and moving in a way I almost couldn’t understand. But that wasn’t, that wasn’t all. It wasn’t only how it moved across the ground like a wave or moved like nothing I could compare it to beyond graceful malice. It had… depths. Parts were brighter, parts were darker, parts were different shades. Orange, red, white.
It was…
“Hahaha!”
It was magic.
As I felt the fires wash over me, felt my stress almost literally melt away, I couldn’t help but laugh. I had gone crazy there for a second, murdering without a care. That was frightening but I didn’t feel frightened right now. No, my life was garbage at the moment. But I had a good run, a good murder spree, and now I was being washed away in magical flames and couldn’t help but laugh.
This world had its beauty. Had its upsides.
I looked over at Riary, hovering a few feet off the ground with fire, and couldn’t help but laugh in joy. It only deepened when I saw her get angry and launch a fireball at my face.
Your anger and hatred are terrible. But you’ve really incorporated it into your own heart haven’t you?
Boom.
****
“Riary!”
“He’s- it's fine. It was just annoying me. Laughing like a maniac, that asshole.”
Seriously, the whole situation rubbed Riary the wrong way. A village on the verge of destruction, a laughing demon covered in blood, even as they were covered in flames. She grit her teeth as those memories came back to her once again. She had fallen in love with the flames that had saved her, but it had been too late.
The demons had laughed as they died.
Laughed even as they were burned and-
“Riary.” Konahora called out.
She shook her head.
“Let’s go already, make sure the villagers are okay. And make sure we got all those damn fucking goblins.”
Tyler and Konahora nodded and they began walking towards the village. Riary glanced over at Derek, only to startle and nearly trip. He was staring up at the sky, with a smile on his face. She hadn’t sent a very strong or powerful fireball at him, just enough to knock him on his ass. He was looking up at the sky, flat on his back, staring at the sky… and crying. Tears streamed down his face.
She looked away, disturbed.
****
“I need a fucking vacation.”
Strange, but that thought, it was probably the first thing to really ground me. I couldn’t yet think of this world as my world because that was wrong. The very thought angered me. I had been ripped away from my world. But, I could think of parts of this world as a vacation spot. Yeah, yeah. After I get to the Elven Kingdom, first thing I’ll do before anything else, is seek out the local tourist spots. Maybe in whatever city we end up in? Or maybe in the country itself?
Yeah. Yeah! And then I’ll go there, and relax, and drink and drink and drink, and have sex with someone hot, and finally, truly, relax.
This world… doesn’t have to be so bad.
But god. I miss my home. I miss my life. I… alright I could leave my body behind but I do miss being fucking human.
I let out a deep shaky breath, when I heard a voice nearby.
“Are you okay?”
“No Konahora, no I am not. But I could be. Some day.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not with you. Not really.”
I didn’t hear anything else for a while and continued to lay in the burnt grass. The smell was already starting to get to me but I could still have a few minutes. My mind may not be cracked like an egg but I was still in turmoil. The last few hours had done a lot to relieve that but now I felt like a dried-out sponge. Exhausted.
“Do you want to continue laying here?”
I had to think about that one.
“No. I think it’s time I got up.”
I opened my eyes and saw Konahora’s gentle smile. A hand was held out for me, to help me rise back up when I had fallen down. I grasped it.
****
“Thank you so much heroes!”
“We appreciate it. But our friend here is really the one to thank.” And Tyler pointed at fucking me of all people. What are you doing?! I made sure my hood was pulled down. It had fallen down during the fighting and I was already hoping the villagers hadn’t seen. I was also going to eventually address how my first instinct on seeing a horde of goblins, enemies, while stressed, was to go on a slaughtering spree. And how that made me feel better. God I could still feel their flesh parting between my fingers and my tail slicing them apart… god I hope no villagers had seen me…
Judging from the wary look the Baron was giving me, I had royally fucked up on that account. Wow, I’m almost surprised. Coulda sworn there’d be some freak accident, not me going on a stressed out bender of a run that would’ve caused this.
“Y-es…. Yes. Thank you… Hero?”
“He’s an ally.” Tyler said firmly. Well, wow, seemed like I got two out of three in my camp now. Great, I could actually survive to the Elven Kingdom… right after we deal with a teleportation mage that can apparently summon Goblin Hordes.
“He had a bad feeling and ran back as fast as he could. Without him, we wouldn’t have arrived until a few hours later, at least.”
The Baron paled and he looked back to me, his eyes swimming with a variety of emotions.
“Thank you, so much. I will make sure all the villagers know… and that they know to keep what they saw a secret.”
Tyler, bless his heart, looked confused, but the rest of us nodded fiercely, even Riary. Last thing she wanted was it to get out that they were helping a demon, I’m sure.
Tyler quickly got back onto the main topic though.
“How long ago were the Goblins summoned?”
“Summoned? Yes. That would explain it… they seemed to appear out of thin air. We’d known there had been some goblins nearby, but we hadn’t thought it had been that many! We’d only seen a few and Goblins…. Need…”
His face went deathly pale, to the point I thought he was going to die.
“Bodies.” Konahora said.
I looked over and saw an amazing rage on both Riary and Tyler’s faces. Even Konahora had a frown on her face and the grip on her staff had tightened.
“Fucking. Goblins.” Tyler spat out and I was surprised. I don’t think I’d ever heard him curse before. Ever. He seemed pretty straight laced like that.
Konahora’s voice was even more surprising.
“They are a… infestation. That needs to be cleansed to the last.”
Jesus Christ, Goblins are bad. Got it.
“We didn’t…. We didn’t think it was them! There had only been a few last we checked and it wasn’t worth the effort to try and clear their cave! The villagers… a goblin isn’t that hard to kill, even if there's a few! The Villagers all disappeared at night, we didn’t think-! We couldn’t have known-!”
Konahora saw my slightly confused expression but flicked her wrist at me, signaling we’d talk later.
“We have worse news,” she spoke up and nodded at Tyler. He grimaced.
“We found the missing patrols…”
I listened as he recounted what we had found out. The Ogre, the teleportation, the dead villagers, the mage.
“Why?! Who- who would do this to us?!”
“We don’t know, we were hoping you’d have some leads. With the appearance of these goblins… where did you last spot their cave?”
“Their warren is to the south! Please Heroes… I know you’ve just saved us and fought two battles, but please! Please, you must go. You must hurry. They may, still be alive!”
Tyler nodded and I mentally prepared myself for another fight and a very, very long day.
Derek was tearing through the goblins, Tyler and Konahora were just joining in, and the villagers were hiding behind their wall.
As for Riary?
“Burn.”
Everyone had a different idea about magic. And that was important. Because although knowledge would always help, although some magics were more technical than others, magic had a perfect mirror in reality.
Art.
And Riary?
She was a master painter.
Riary floated in the air, fire pushing her up, as she unleashed a rippling wave of fire outward. It diverted around her teammates, even around the demon, she was busy. To some, fire was destruction, to others, heat or joy or warmth. The fires of war, the flame of a hearth, the heat of a forge. Your personal view mattered. Everyone, everywhere, had their own style. They could be similar, alike, even the same, but it was yours. It was your paint upon the canvas.
To Riary, flame represented one singular thing as its very core.
Retribution.
Her fires didn’t just burn anymore, she had long learned the basics, like a beginner learning how to first draw. Her fires were intensity itself. She had seen other mages focus on the heat or the kinetic force. She had once had a Royal Fire Mage put his hand on her back and loosen up all of her muscles with his magic. Riary only wanted more and deeper. Her fires weren’t just heat, flames, or death.
They were a statement to this world.
That she would burn it down if it wronged her again.
When she painted, no one turned away. No one admired for only a second. It was always a high-intensity impact, an experience that would last for a lifetime. Whether that be a hundred years or two more seconds long.
Tyler stopped mid-swing.
Konahora froze, backing away.
The villagers looked on in awe.
Derek continued to reap lives but even he stared down in amazement as the goblin before him burned away to nothing.
The flames came with a roar and the field burned. To walk forward was to walk through the fires of hell, for the ground no longer was. The goblins shrieked, pain and fear radiating outward like a musical note to encompass her art, before falling silent.
They had listened well to her and served as an excellent backdrop for her flames.
****
I paused in mid stress relief, as the goblin before me was covered in flames that took my breath away, before becoming one with it.
I gasped and took a step back, my eyes going wide. All around me was fire, as far as the eye could see, coating my vision. I had seen a snapshot of this before and small elements beforehand. But this was beyond what I had seen before. It wasn’t just fire.
It moved. Like a graceful dancer. It was mesmerizing, the world coated and moving in a way I almost couldn’t understand. But that wasn’t, that wasn’t all. It wasn’t only how it moved across the ground like a wave or moved like nothing I could compare it to beyond graceful malice. It had… depths. Parts were brighter, parts were darker, parts were different shades. Orange, red, white.
It was…
“Hahaha!”
It was magic.
As I felt the fires wash over me, felt my stress almost literally melt away, I couldn’t help but laugh. I had gone crazy there for a second, murdering without a care. That was frightening but I didn’t feel frightened right now. No, my life was garbage at the moment. But I had a good run, a good murder spree, and now I was being washed away in magical flames and couldn’t help but laugh.
This world had its beauty. Had its upsides.
I looked over at Riary, hovering a few feet off the ground with fire, and couldn’t help but laugh in joy. It only deepened when I saw her get angry and launch a fireball at my face.
Your anger and hatred are terrible. But you’ve really incorporated it into your own heart haven’t you?
Boom.
****
“Riary!”
“He’s- it's fine. It was just annoying me. Laughing like a maniac, that asshole.”
Seriously, the whole situation rubbed Riary the wrong way. A village on the verge of destruction, a laughing demon covered in blood, even as they were covered in flames. She grit her teeth as those memories came back to her once again. She had fallen in love with the flames that had saved her, but it had been too late.
The demons had laughed as they died.
Laughed even as they were burned and-
“Riary.” Konahora called out.
She shook her head.
“Let’s go already, make sure the villagers are okay. And make sure we got all those damn fucking goblins.”
Tyler and Konahora nodded and they began walking towards the village. Riary glanced over at Derek, only to startle and nearly trip. He was staring up at the sky, with a smile on his face. She hadn’t sent a very strong or powerful fireball at him, just enough to knock him on his ass. He was looking up at the sky, flat on his back, staring at the sky… and crying. Tears streamed down his face.
She looked away, disturbed.
****
“I need a fucking vacation.”
Strange, but that thought, it was probably the first thing to really ground me. I couldn’t yet think of this world as my world because that was wrong. The very thought angered me. I had been ripped away from my world. But, I could think of parts of this world as a vacation spot. Yeah, yeah. After I get to the Elven Kingdom, first thing I’ll do before anything else, is seek out the local tourist spots. Maybe in whatever city we end up in? Or maybe in the country itself?
Yeah. Yeah! And then I’ll go there, and relax, and drink and drink and drink, and have sex with someone hot, and finally, truly, relax.
This world… doesn’t have to be so bad.
But god. I miss my home. I miss my life. I… alright I could leave my body behind but I do miss being fucking human.
I let out a deep shaky breath, when I heard a voice nearby.
“Are you okay?”
“No Konahora, no I am not. But I could be. Some day.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not with you. Not really.”
I didn’t hear anything else for a while and continued to lay in the burnt grass. The smell was already starting to get to me but I could still have a few minutes. My mind may not be cracked like an egg but I was still in turmoil. The last few hours had done a lot to relieve that but now I felt like a dried-out sponge. Exhausted.
“Do you want to continue laying here?”
I had to think about that one.
“No. I think it’s time I got up.”
I opened my eyes and saw Konahora’s gentle smile. A hand was held out for me, to help me rise back up when I had fallen down. I grasped it.
****
“Thank you so much heroes!”
“We appreciate it. But our friend here is really the one to thank.” And Tyler pointed at fucking me of all people. What are you doing?! I made sure my hood was pulled down. It had fallen down during the fighting and I was already hoping the villagers hadn’t seen. I was also going to eventually address how my first instinct on seeing a horde of goblins, enemies, while stressed, was to go on a slaughtering spree. And how that made me feel better. God I could still feel their flesh parting between my fingers and my tail slicing them apart… god I hope no villagers had seen me…
Judging from the wary look the Baron was giving me, I had royally fucked up on that account. Wow, I’m almost surprised. Coulda sworn there’d be some freak accident, not me going on a stressed out bender of a run that would’ve caused this.
“Y-es…. Yes. Thank you… Hero?”
“He’s an ally.” Tyler said firmly. Well, wow, seemed like I got two out of three in my camp now. Great, I could actually survive to the Elven Kingdom… right after we deal with a teleportation mage that can apparently summon Goblin Hordes.
“He had a bad feeling and ran back as fast as he could. Without him, we wouldn’t have arrived until a few hours later, at least.”
The Baron paled and he looked back to me, his eyes swimming with a variety of emotions.
“Thank you, so much. I will make sure all the villagers know… and that they know to keep what they saw a secret.”
Tyler, bless his heart, looked confused, but the rest of us nodded fiercely, even Riary. Last thing she wanted was it to get out that they were helping a demon, I’m sure.
Tyler quickly got back onto the main topic though.
“How long ago were the Goblins summoned?”
“Summoned? Yes. That would explain it… they seemed to appear out of thin air. We’d known there had been some goblins nearby, but we hadn’t thought it had been that many! We’d only seen a few and Goblins…. Need…”
His face went deathly pale, to the point I thought he was going to die.
“Bodies.” Konahora said.
I looked over and saw an amazing rage on both Riary and Tyler’s faces. Even Konahora had a frown on her face and the grip on her staff had tightened.
“Fucking. Goblins.” Tyler spat out and I was surprised. I don’t think I’d ever heard him curse before. Ever. He seemed pretty straight laced like that.
Konahora’s voice was even more surprising.
“They are a… infestation. That needs to be cleansed to the last.”
Jesus Christ, Goblins are bad. Got it.
“We didn’t…. We didn’t think it was them! There had only been a few last we checked and it wasn’t worth the effort to try and clear their cave! The villagers… a goblin isn’t that hard to kill, even if there's a few! The Villagers all disappeared at night, we didn’t think-! We couldn’t have known-!”
Konahora saw my slightly confused expression but flicked her wrist at me, signaling we’d talk later.
“We have worse news,” she spoke up and nodded at Tyler. He grimaced.
“We found the missing patrols…”
I listened as he recounted what we had found out. The Ogre, the teleportation, the dead villagers, the mage.
“Why?! Who- who would do this to us?!”
“We don’t know, we were hoping you’d have some leads. With the appearance of these goblins… where did you last spot their cave?”
“Their warren is to the south! Please Heroes… I know you’ve just saved us and fought two battles, but please! Please, you must go. You must hurry. They may, still be alive!”
Tyler nodded and I mentally prepared myself for another fight and a very, very long day.
