Life And Death Decision

"Are you ready? We"re going to go get a horse from the stables after breakfast."

"Can"t we skip breakfast?"

"You have to eat, young lady. How do you expect to grow...you know what, you have a point; let"s go." I opened the door for her, but she leaped up to wrap her arms around my neck. I now carried her like a bag, going down the stairs and toward the village stables to purchase a horse. "Alright, get off of me and onto the horse."

"Aw, horsie take care of me, okay?" She gently stroked its mane, getting the beast to whinny gleefully. "I finally get to ride a horse. Mom and dad never let me." She smiled at me as I placed my hand on her back.

"Just be careful, okay? And hold still." I imbued her body with a magic ward to protect her. A faint green glow surrounded both our eyes as I took my hand back and mounted the horse with her in front of me. "Hold on tight," I said to her as I took the reins and ordered the horse into a full gallop.

We left the city early, riding down the path at full speed toward Aitog. I focused on controlling the horse as Rose enjoyed the ride by pointing at landmarks and humming a song. I was about to relax and go into a horse riding trance when I saw a bright orange light coming from our right. It looked like fire, which would"ve made me stop to investigate anyway, but it shot right at us and exploded right at our horse"s hooves. The shockwave sent us flying backward as we crashed onto the dirt.

The flames licked at our bodies and utterly incinerated our steed. I turned toward the source of the attack, seeing two rugged-looking bandits wielding a pair of staves, one a male human and the other a female with demonic horns. Rose and I got to our feet, wincing in pain as the two mages cast spells to attack us. The first sent out bolts of energy at me, impaling my armor as the magic dissipated in puffs of purple smoke.

The second one placed his hand on the first before the two of them vanished. I turned toward Rose, wanting to run away as fast as I could, I wanted to get her out as soon as possible. I wanted to, but I knew that escape would be incredibly difficult since we didn"t have our horse anymore. I grit my teeth, this was going horribly! "I pray to the life-giver, beseech me your strength to protect those I..." I saw the light begin to form around my wrists before it shattered like a piece of gla.s.s; they stopped my spell before I could finish casting it! I gathered light in my palm, forming it into a whip before that too vanished.

"Sage! Let"s run!" I heard Rose yell before I saw her sprint past me in the direction of Aitog. She raised her hand above her head, twirling her fingers around as the cyan light danced around their tips. She took in as much air as she could, which wasn"t a lot, and screamed. "Help!" A flare shot out into the sky from her hand before it burst into eight distinct rays of light that rained down around us. I had barely finished licking my wounds when I heard the distinct growl of a pack of wolves approach us. Not now, we"re already in trouble!
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I didn"t have time to worry about the beasts since I saw that the clouds above us started to swirl unnaturally. Large b.a.l.l.s of ice pelted the ground where I stood, buffeting me and denting my armor. I could feel my bones begin to shatter with every bit of hail that crashed into me. My breathing was heavy and I could see it due to the drop in temperature.

I didn"t have the strength to move just yet, so I could only watch as more arcane attacks flew through the darkened sky at Rose. It was then that the wolves appeared, encroaching on us from all angles. I grimaced as one immediately ran toward Rose, but gasped when I found that it pounced on one of our unseen attackers. I saw a spray of blood as it tore into the bandit"s body. Another joined in, showering the area in red.

A third wolf sniffed out the other mage, mauling them while howling for the rest of the pack. A total of eight wolves descended on us, attacking both bandits with such ferocity that it rendered them visible through the sheer amount of blood that coated their bodies. I used the beasts as a distraction, placing a hand over a broken rib while praying to both the life-giver and her radiance.

"Get back up, Sage. Your fight isn"t over." Wiltop"s voice answered me while Thalis remained silent. I felt the pain fade slightly as I raised my hand upward.

"Let"s try this again, shall we?" I say, summoning the whip made of light again and cracking it on the female magician. It was time for me to show them what I was made of. I struck her neck, rendering her unconscious and leaving her to the wolves, literally.

"Yay! Puppies!" Rose screamed, petting one of the wolves before she ran at the remaining bandit, punching him in the face twice after missing twice. She pulled her hand back, leaving a faint trail of blue light against him that wrapped around his joints. The young man, now surrounded by a pack of wolves and pinned down by an eight-year-old child, cloaked himself in a strange mist before vanishing. "Sage! Are you okay?" Rose ran to my side, looking at my battered armor.

"Could be better..." I said as a wolf stuck its head between my legs to let me ride it. "Is this what that flare was?" I asked as I let the wolf take on all my weight. I saw her nod, mounting her own wolf as she directed the entire pack to run toward Aitog. This girl, I would"ve been dead if I was alone. I breathed in deeply, wincing from the residual pain as I slowly healed myself with spells. I slouched over, embracing my wolf as to not fall off; we stopped by the side of the road when sundown hit. Judging from how long we"ve traveled, I"d have said that we were around halfway there.

"Bye-bye!" She waved away her summons, watching them wander away into the darkness. Then she turned to me, stretching her arms as I sat down and opened up our bag of supplies. "How"d I do? That was really close, you know." She waited expectantly, to which I gave a smile.

"I would"ve been dead without you. Thank you, Rose." I said before I clapped my hands together in prayer. The visage of the life-giver appeared before us, illuminating the area as the two of us slept for the night. With its light and its image of wielding a large blade, it drove off any threats that would approach us under the moonlight.

I awoke the next day to the sound of Rose"s giddy laughter as she ran around the place while chasing four horses that appeared overnight. She noticed me rousing and called one of the beasts over, making it bow its head toward me. "Can I ride one on my own today?" She pleaded with puppy-dog eyes, gripping my collar since I was still on the ground from my slumber.

"Do you know how?"

"I watched you yesterday, I think I can do it!" She said, leaping onto her own horse before she led it carefully back onto the road. I sighed, mounting the horse she lead to me and trotting up beside her.

"Alright, fine. But we"ll go slowly." I said as the other two horses galloped ahead of us, serving as makeshift guards. Our slower pace gave us time to talk, and one topic was long overdue. "Your family...what were they like?"

"..." She looked at me, at a loss for words as a knot formed in her throat. "Mom and dad...they were the best. Mom would take me and Mary out to see musicians whenever dad had to go out of town alone. We kept a small garden at my grandmother"s house." Her head dipped, letting her olive bangs cover her eyes as she continued her story. "Dad loved us a lot, or that"s what mom always said. He wasn"t around very often since he had to travel for work, but he always promised to take me and my sister together once we were old enough. And then, when we were finally old enough...that happened." She leaned forward, gripping her horse"s neck slightly tighter before she spoke again. "And my sister...Mary...we were always together. While I was watering the flowers, she climbed trees nearby. I fed the animals while she played chase with them. Now all I have is grandma..."

"I"m sorry," I said as I steered my horse closer. "I promise...we"ll do things right for them."

"When this is over, Sage, can you let me join them?"

"...If that"s what you want..." I muttered, seeing her face contort as if she was about to cry. We rode silently after that, quickening our pace to a full gallop so that we could reach the town as the sunset accented our entrance. I sent a message to Baz, telling him to meet up with us and to bring the cart. "Where"s your grandmother?" I asked Rose as we parted ways with our horses. She was more somber after our talk, wordlessly leading me to a humble home, made of stone and wood and covered with a thatched roof. Like how she described, a large garden was behind the building, housing a handful of fruit trees and flower bushes.

The two of us waited for a few minutes for the others to arrive. The moment they did, Tyme ran up and picked up Rose in her arms. "You"re so cold! Did something happen?" She asked, training her eyes on me angrily. I opened my mouth to retort, but Rose spoke before I could.

"No...it"s just...it"s almost time." She said, resting her head on Tyme"s shoulder. "Can you put me down? I...want to talk to grandma." She asked and our ranger complied.

"I"m going to the Church of Lumos to arrange the ceremony. Both of you come with me." I said, firmly placing hands on their shoulders. "Give her time with her family."

"O-okay." Baz recoiled at my sudden showcase of stubbornness. "Did something happen on your way here? I know she said that everything was fine, but-"

"Let"s go." I started walking toward the cart, taking the reins and getting the cart moving toward the church and its cemetery. It was almost over. In the next few days, things would go back to normal. I felt my heart sink and my stomach turn uncomfortably. It had only been a few days since we met, but I just couldn"t imagine the group without her anymore. We arrived at the church and I told them to wait in the cart as I walked in.

"Sage. I"m sorry for leaving you..." Thalis" voice entered my mind the moment I walked through the door. "But I"m...I need some more time..."