“Water To Ice!” Lucina cast a spell sending out a chilling wave that only she could perceive, turning the remains of her two collapsed water elementals to ice.

The water did reach every single enemy before turning to ice. However, the result was not quite what Lucina had hoped for.

Not even the big ones? She asked herself and sighed in weary frustration. The two hobgoblins charged right at the water elemental guarding the bridge, just as Lucina had hoped. But even these huge targets were not completely frozen. And already at least one of them was vigorously, albeit futilely, punching the ice to break free, with his free arms. No, one arm-

“Ugh,” Lucina leaned against her staff. Her already blurring vision was now doubling. It hurt to keep her eyes open. And the headaches were only getting worse. They came and went in waves like an ocean in a storm, growing in strength, trying to break free out of her skull. She massaged her temple as if to shore up the dam.

“Ah!” Lucina snapped back to reality. She thought she had closed her eyes for just a second, and just now realized she lost all sense of time and what remained of her concentration. The only sign of the failed water elemental she kept by her side throughout the fight was a pool of water, flowing back into the river. She couldn’t even raise her head to look at the other side of the river anymore – the shining ice reflecting sunlight was blinding to her now more than ever.

At the very least it will keep them here for a while. Lucina thought. And I don’t feel like turning this into a suicide mission after all.

She slowly turned around. Another ocean wave slammed against the dam. Lucina clenched her staff tighter. This is not running away. I accomplished what I came here to do – everyone will be out of the town by now. She sighed, hesitated, but, finally, took her first step back to her grandmother, as promised.

The path from the bridge to the edge of the city never felt so long. The wind blowing straight in her face did not help at all, forcing the already squinting girl to close her eyes completely before each new gust of wind that grew only stronger in the long, wide road, walled off on both sides by straight two-story buildings.

The only comfort for Lucina was that, just like the main road to the Western Gates, the path to Eastern Gate was almost completely straight. She just had to go around the church, where the road lead originally before the palisade was built up around the town.

Was this road always this steep? Lucina asked herself before nearly tripping on a small sack lying on the road. Another wave crashed against the dam. Argh, why is this garbage even here!? No, of course it’s not their fault. That’s why I was here in the first place – to buy my people time to escape. And they hurried as fast as they could.

It got darker and Lucina dared to look up at the sky. Black clouds were approaching fast and already blocked the afternoon sun. Though it eased the stress on Lucina’s strained eyes, her mood soured. Dark clouds always reminded her of the countless Beastkind towns and villages burned to the ground years ago. Light flashed in the clouds. Then thunder roared. It’s going to pour.

Lucina looked to the blurred, gray bell tower up ahead and lowered her head again. Well, Peter, I hope Diana treats you well in the afterlife. Because she clearly didn’t give a damn about you or your prayers while you were alive!

As she walked, leaning on her staff, Lucina thought of the short battle she had. I was late with my spell, yes, but still it should not have been as ineffective against the hobgoblins as it was. What are such strong monsters doing that far beyond their borders? Peter and the others couldn’t have possibly stood a chance against them!

And the dark man in that strange get-up… He was clearly human! But not a single human has fought on the side of Evil races since- Argh! Lucina stopped and gently massaged her temple again. There is no way this pain could possibly get any worse!

Just a little bit further! Lucina encouraged herself and with a deep breath hobbled further again, placing more and more weight on her staff, which had been reduced to a walking stick. The rumbling of thunder got louder.

Lucina finally reached the wooden fence of the old, stone church, overlooking the town from atop a low hill. The palisade surrounding the town was clearly visible - the gate was just up ahead. The wizard turned right to walk around the church. As she walked Lucina threw a glance at the small gate, which was broken, barely hanging on one hinge.

Will I even make it to the others? Lucina finally considered that while others ran for their lives, some on horseback, she crawled at the pace of missis Talma. At this point, grandma would run circles around us both, Lucina thought and smirked bitterly, staring at her feet in a daze.

Lucina was around the fence of the church when she finally noticed a commotion and raised her head. The wide-open Eastern Gates were in full sight of what was left of Lucina’s vision, as was another band of goblins, that was standing between her and the exit.

The closest of the goblins stood just half a dozen meters away from Lucina, but neither he nor any other goblins seemed to notice the girl. The small goblins were standing in a wide circle, earnestly observing the two larger figures inside it - facing off against each other, standing with their sides towards the gates.

One figure was a hobgoblin, not unlike the two Lucina faced before. Even though he was slouching, he looked just as menacing and dangerous as the others did. He held, seemingly with ease, a ridiculously long, forward angled blade in his deformed hand. The other figure was much smaller, tiny and frail, by comparison - only half of the hobgoblins’ height. Wearing a colorful kirtle, a blue kerchief to cover her gray hair…

“Grandma?” a single word escaped Lucina. This can’t be…

But there she was, before Lucina’s eyes – her kind and gentle grandmother. Not a single weapon in her hands, no business facing a stray wolf, let alone a hobgoblin!

“Lucy?” Rosemary turned to her head and looked her granddaughter in the eyes.

Lucina’s vision might have been blurred, but there was no mistaking Rosemary’s songbird voice.

The hobgoblin dashed forward and swung his angled blade. Lucina watched in horror as Rosemary’s head flew off her shoulders.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”