Everyone walked silently as the sun began to sink into the horizon. Many had heard the tale before, but it was still vivid enough to leave an impression. Whether awe-inspired by her sheer might, or saddened by thought of the massacre, all were affected by the tale of the Crystal Witch.

Soon everyone made camp for the night. Finding a large clearing, everyone set up tents in a circle, surrounding a fire pit area. After a meal consisting mainly of roasted wolf meat, most of the group went to their respective tents, leaving Eric to take the first shift with Reylor. Of course Reylor did not need sleep, and thus would stand watch the whole night.

Reylor laid down next to the crackling fire, while Eric worked at whittling some branches into arrow shafts.

“Hey Reylor, can I ask you a question?”

Reylor looked over at Eric. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Who are you guys? As a hunter, I’ve grown pretty good at reading animals, and as a side benefit, people. Elany smiles and tries to be cheerful, but she is not, as if she has experienced a great loss. And Lucy isn’t any better. It’s like she has experienced some sort of trauma, and psychologically reverted to a child’s mentality, albeit without the joy. And you, you’re… different…”

“Eric, I have a couple questions for you. Depending on your answers, I may be able to tell you some things,” Reylor replied.

“Ok, what are they?” Eric knew he was intruding, and was not at all offended with the conditions Reylor raised.

“What do you think about the Vilnor Empire?” Reylor asked.

“Well, it is quite great and powerful. The rulers are a bit too arrogant, but other than that I don’t have any qualms with them.”

“What do you think about the crystal witch?”

Eric paused for a bit before speaking up. “Her methods were horrifying, but at the same time I have to say her motives were pure. Vilnor really did overstep their bounds, and it was about time that someone stood up to them. I think a bit more positively than negatively toward her.”

“Final question. Can I trust you?” Eric turned his head too look at Reylor, only to find himself feeling himself drowning in the gaze of Reylor's abyss-like eyes.

He nodded. “You can.”

“I’ll tell you a little. Elany and I are from Splendor.”

Eric just stared for a moment before it finally sunk in, his eyes widening in understanding. “Splendor?” he breathed the question out, before returning his gaze back to the branch in his hands. So that’s why Elany…

“I can’t explain much right now, but at least you know what’s going on with Elany. And as for Lucy,” Reylor continued, “I’m sure you’ll understand soon.”

Eric didn’t ask anything more. A moment later, he figure shook as he instinctively clutched his chest. He silently reached down to grab something with his other hand before putting into his mouth. A short time after, he relaxed a bit, before returning to his arrow shafts. They spent the rest of the shift in silence.

Flira took the second shift, and was obviously not in the mood to talk. Gelt took the third shift and spent his time with a blank stare directed at the fire.

Morning came and they all took down the camp, except for Elany, who worked on preparing the meal.

After everyone was ready to go, Flira made an announcement. “We’ve made it almost half way there already, but we are nowhere near half way done. What I man by that is that things are going to get a lot more difficult from here on out. This is where we will start encountering shade beasts, and possibly even packs.

“What? A pack of shade beasts?” Gelt cried out.

“I know, it’s weird, but from talking with some of the guards it appears that people have indeed encountered shade beast packs in this area.” Everyone wore various grim expressions on their faces—well, everyone that was listening anyways. Lucy was distracted by Elany, who had run over to a pretty flower she just noticed. “Useless,” Flira whispered as she turned toward the path. Reylor pretended not to have heard. Let’s see what she says when Lucy blows a crater in a beast pack, Reylor thought to himself in amusement.

Two more days passed. They came across a couple more wolf packs, but they were far smaller than the first one. The also met a few solo shade beasts, and a pair, but the group was more than capable of dealing with two shades. On the third day Reylor noticed something.

Hmm, I sense something. It’s faint, but distinctly negative… Oh, there must be people near. Eric certainly had sharper eyes, and so regularly spotted beasts before Reylor noticed them, but there was one case where Reylor was superior—noticing other people, due to his sensitivity to karmic energy.

Reylor kept his mouth shut, but the sensations were getting stronger.

“Guys, get ready for some bad company.”

“Found some shade beasts?” Eric asked, while wondering why he hadn’t seen them yet. Everyone else perked up a bit, but otherwise continued as usual.

“No. People, and not anyone nice.” Reylor said.

That got everyone’s attention. “Really? Where?” Flira asked.

“Up ahead, and to the left a bit. We are still a bit away, but I’m pretty sure they know we’re here.”

Everyone strained their attention; and soon enough, there was confirmation.

Eric spoke out, “Found them. There are five people: 3 Rogues, a Swordsman, and a conjurer. They seem to have decent gear, too.”

“What if they’re friendly?” Flira asked.

“They’re not,” Reylor shot back. “I know they’re not.”

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious,” Flint said. Gelt kept lumbering on silently. He did seem to be looking out, though.”

“Aileen, get ready,” Eric called out. Aileen nodded her head.

“Oh, boy. Guys, Reylor was right.” Eric said, with the tiniest shiver in his voice. “Their mage is heating up. Everyone, stick next to Aileen, we’ll counter after getting a bit closer.” Just as he finished saying that, a magic circle opened over the group and began raining ice crystals down toward the group. Reylor and Elany instinctively braced for the impact, while Lucy remained somewhat aloof.

“Boom!” The crystals fell, colliding with a dome-shaped barrier, as Aileen’s glass-like orb began to glow.

Woah, that’s impressive, Reylor thought.

Aileen was a barrier mage. While they did not have any offensive capabilities at the low to middle stages of ability, they would be compensated by being able to create barriers that were twenty times stronger than the barriers cast by a general mage. Additionally, they were a rare lot. The ability to use their orbs required a certain affinity that less than 1 in a thousand had, including those who chose to go a different route based on the lack of offensive abilities for low level barrier mages.

“Here they come!” Gelt yelled out.

“Come at me you useless pigs!” Flint yelled out. Unfortunately, people were a lot smarter than animals, and only the swordsman went after Flint. The rogues were kept busy with Reylor, Gelt, and Eric. Gelt was not suited for quick combat, so Flira provided remote support for him. The odds were fairly even. Even though the barrier was strong, it was taxing on Aileen, so they were forced into engaging the enemy outside the barrier. Meanwhile, the mage started working on the barrier, putting extra strain on Aileen. This meant they were on a timeline. If the barrier fell, not only would Aileen, Elany, and Flira be vulnerable, but if Flira was then struck Gelt would not be able to keep up with his opponent. Someone needs to go down, and quickly.

Flira shot a bolt over to where the mage was.

“Dangit! They set up their own barrier.” She said. It was not nearly as strong as Aileen’s but it was enough to keep Flira from being able to pierce it wile helping Gelt.

“Ding, Ding” “Sching” Sounds from the clash of weapons rang out.

“Lucy! Can you take care of that mage?”

Lucy just stood there with a blank look.

Flira glanced over with a hint of disdain.

“Lucy!”

*Stare*

“Lucy!” Reylor cried out again between breaths, blocks, and parries.

“Argh!” Flint grunted. “That was my shoulder, you dumb donkey!”

Gelt was in worse shape. Great swords, while powerful, were just not fast enough to keep up with a dance of daggers.

“LUCILLE!” Reylor yelled out. “Kill the mage!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it out, somehow,” Flira said through gritted teeth.

But then, it was like something clicked

Flira could hardly believe it, as out of the corner of her eye she could see a massive change come over “Lucy.” Her glazed over eyes focuses, and changed from their deep brown coloring to a foreboding scarlet. Her black hair seemed to be licked up in flames and the interior of the barrier instantly began to feel like a grill that had just been turned on. A voice called out, which was feminine, yet filled with power.

“Tower of hell, stage one. I summon thee!”

With a flash of light a pillar of fire seemed to condense from heaven and out of thin air, destroying the mage’s barrier as easily as popping a bubble, and proceeding to consume the mage inside.

Lucy walked out of the barrier.

“Phoenix skin, stage two!”

Pure white flames emerged from her feet, swirling up to cover her whole being.

“Everyone, into the barrier! she shouted.”

Eric, Reylor, Flint, and Gelt obediently retreated into the barrier. Flira’s group stared out, unable to comprehend what that had just seen.

Having lost their opponents, the rogues and swordsman turned to Lucy, though showing some hesitation in front of this girl who seemed to embody the word “fire.” One of the rogues flicked out a dagger in an attempt to injure her without having to get close.

“Bang!” the phoenix armor was so hot, that it not only repelled and melted the dagger, but also caused it to explode!

With ghastly faces, the remaining two rogues and the swordsman turned to retreat. They were clearly outclassed. Lucy, however, would have none of it.

“Shildwell Art: Magma Domain!” The ground in the entire area erupted as a field of molten rock, incinerating everything (and everyone) within range, excepting herself and those within the barrier.

“W-what. Just. What the HECK was that?!” Flira screamed out like a girl who had just seen a ghost for the first time. Gelt and Flint were speechless. Eric seemed taken aback, too, but he recovered somewhat quickly. “I see,” was all he said.

“Mana return,” Lucy said simply.

With that, the heat of both the magma and her phoenix armor dispersed, and the heat energy returned to her, a great portion having been converted back into mana.

Her appearance became what it had been before, but she did not disguise her eyes this time.

“Woah, Lucy, that was cool,” Elany said, as her own shock began to dissipate.

Lucy gave her a narrow look, which softened slightly before she turned to Reylor, staring piercingly into his eyes. She shuddered ever so slightly, before withdrawing her gaze.

“Shil-Shildwell?” Gelt finally stammered out with wide eyes. What in the world? Aren’t they all supposed to be dead? But that fire-It was just like the stories. There can be no mistake, he thought.

“I will bring you to Votran. After we arrive, I will leave. Everyone will forget about this encounter and never mention what has happened. Is that clear?” Lucy looked out at every person until each gave their acknowledgment; except for Reylor, who she could not bring herself to look at. What terrifying eyes! It felt as if they were reaching into the depths of my soul! She thought.

The rest of the trip went by quickly. Lucy stoically took the lead, allowing the party to progress much faster, finally bringing them near the city. Suddenly, Lucy turned around and said, “I will be leaving.” Activating a movement skill, she disappeared into the forest. She was gone.

“Lucy, where are you going?” Elany cried out, receiving no reply. “Lucy…” Elany sniffed, as her eyes started watering. “Why did she leave us?”

Putting his hand on her shoulder, Reylor said, “Lucy is finally free, not only physically, but mentally. She needs time to heal and stabilize herself. This is what is best for her. Should we not want that for her?” Lucy nodded her head slightly before whispering, “I guess so.”

“Don’t worry; I believe we will be seeing her again, Reylor said, before turning to proceed towards the city gates.

Eric silently watched everything, holding one question in his mind: Should he be the one I trust with this?