The sky above Darlocke Forest darkened, covering the starry sky. The villagers were still near the entrance, hopeful that the adventurers were successful. People started hearing footsteps near the exit of the forest.

“They’re back!”

“Did they do it?”

“Is the Mage dead?”

The footsteps stopped, and the villagers saw nothing approached them. Meisla grew curious and decided to check herself. As she got halfway to the entrance, Meisla spotted the distant figure of the Mage. His eyes glowed with a pale blue light. The girl could feel the Mage's hatred and malice as he stared at her. Renlo immediately ran to his daughter and pulled her behind him.

Thunder started roaring above the forest, and the people cried out in fear. The lights did not move. They only looked ahead, watching.

“Where’s Yoviene and her friends? What did you do with them!?” Meisla yelled out toward the Mage as she pushed past her father.

The lightning that struck down in front of her and Chief Renlo answer the girl. More lightning continued to shoot down from the sky, narrowly missing the villagers. They screamed in terror and fled.

Meisla heard something coming from the Mage as he continued watching from the forest. She moved forward to listen closer, but her father picked her up and carried Meisla away. As they got further away, Meisla could make out the sound. A faint cackle, hideous and cruel. When Chief Renlo got his daughter out of earshot, the eyes disappeared, but the sky remains black.

****

Two weeks passed after Yoviene and her companions attempted to kill the Mage of Darlocke Forest. The dark sky above reflected the gloomy faces of the villagers below. They went about their day with dismay on their faces.

Meisla walked out of her home, wearing her proper copper color robe with a light blue dress and brown leather boots with rabbit skin lining the inside. She walked methodically through the muddy pathway leading out of the village, waving at people she passed with a warm smile. They smiled back and went about their business with spirits slightly higher.

“Where are you heading out to?” A voice behind Meisla asked.

She stumbles as she slipped from the mud, catching herself at the last second.

The voice laughed at her and Meisla and saw Rozo grinning at her.

He’s wearing a matching burgundy jacket, shirt, and pants, and shoes. Meisla glared as he continued grinning stupidly at her.

“I’m going to see Varlo and try to find some flowers for Lenna. She’s been feeling under the weather recently.” Meisla answered, pouting.

“A lot of people have been getting sick lately. The weather hasn’t been the best.”

Really? Mesia thought. You stopped me to talk about the weather.

“Yeah, there hasn’t been much game around to hunt because of all the weather.”

Rozo stopped smiling and gave Meisla a serious look and said, “Did you hear the rumors?”

“What rumors?”

“People are starting to say the Mage cursed the village?”

The girl rolled her eyes, “Cursed us with bad weather? I mean, the animals are just finding shelter from all the rain; they’ll probably come back now that it’s not raining.”

“A lot of people are saying they’ve been getting a weird feeling lately.”

“The Mage hasn’t bothered our village until recently. Why now, Rozo? I’m sure it’s nothing.” Meisla said as she turned to leave.

She did not see Rozo’s look of genuine concern for her, “Well, be careful. Keep an eye out for anything weird, or I could...could..."

Meisla turned her head slightly but continued walking, saying, “Could what?”

“I…could…go with you,” Rozo said, slowly raising his voice as Meisla got further away.

Meisla laughed obnoxiously as she exited the village before replying, “I can take care of myself, Rozo. I don’t need you to protect me.”

As the girl left, Rozo looked down and sadly said, “That’s not what I meant.”

Meisla walked the path leading to the hill where Varlo rested. She stopped every once in a while to examine the bright flowers she thought Lenna liked. She gave the flower the once over with an untrained eye and pressed them between the pages in a small notebook.

The girl ascended the hill, occasionally slipping from the muddy ground, “Stupid mud.” Meisla grumbled as she reached Varlo.

His headstone was wet and cold from the rain, and gray clouds obstructed Varlo’s view of the sun. Meisla checked the sketch box and gave a relieved sigh that the pictures inside are still in good condition despite the rain.

“Sorry, Var, Mom couldn’t make a new box for you just yet. I drew this sketch of the travelers that came by, and it looked really cool, so I’ll replace an old sketch for it.” She said to the headstone as she dug into the bottom of the box and pulled out a picture of a mother bird flying to three chicks in their nest, necks stretching out towards her. She put in her drawing of Yoviene and her companions together in a fearsome pose: Yoviene slashing her sword, Bronson flexing his arms, showing off his scars as he yelled ferociously, Sylvar holding his daggers up, and Gaerra looking mysterious. Meisla then talked about Yoviene and her band of adventurers, the boar, and her using the blessing of fire for the first time.

When she finished her tale, Meisla placed a hand on Varlo’s headstone and looked at it fondly.

“Was it really you that spoke to me?” She asked.

“I don’t know if I should thank you for cheering me on. Or yell at you for not moving on to the heavens.”

She stood over Varlo for a while until she felt a light tap on her head. Meisla looked up, and some droplets of water fall on her face.

“Of course, it starts raining again, stupid Mag- no. I refuse to believe that idiot!” Meisla said, wiping the water off her face.

“Rozo says all the bad weather lately is because of the Mage. It’s so stupid! ‘Mwahaha, I curse your village with a lot of rain in the springtime!’ That’ll show you all for sending people to kill me!” She said in a mock villainous tone.

“I don’t know why Rozo made such a thing up. He’s gotten so obnoxious since we got older. Like he’s got something to prove to me. I should get going before the rain gets worse. I’ll be back soon, Var!” Meisla said, waving at the headstone before leaving the quiet hill.

“I’m sure the Mage would do something worse than making it rain.”

*****

Renlo sat with Elder Canno and Elder Famma at his home. Both of them wore a serious look on their faces as they looked at each other. He wiped the sweat from his heavy brow.

Is the fireplace getting too hot? Everything feels so stuffy, and Famma’s perfume isn’t helping. Renlo thought to himself.

Thoughts and heat skittered around him like ants on food. It was barely the middle of the day, and exhaustion bore down on him like a cloak made of iron. He looked over at the empty chair next to him.

Denlo should be here. It is almost his time to be a leader. Renlo thoughts consumed him as he looked over to the window, wondering where his son was.

“Chief Renlo.” Elder Famma said.

He continued to stare ahead, eyes glazing over. If only he were here. I’m getting tired of the work… So…. tired….

“Chief!!!” Elder Famma screeched.

Renlo blinked and straightened up in his chair, saying, “I’m sorry. I was just wondering where Denlo could be when he should be sitting in on things like this. Please continue.”

Elder Canno laughed, “Don’t worry about the boy so much; let him enjoy his youth while he still can, and not just spend it hanging around stuffy old people like us."

“I’m not stuffy.” Elder Famma grumbled.

“As I was saying, the adventurers’ horses are still being taken care of, but it’s been weeks, and no one has seen them. I think it’s safe to assume the Mage killed them.”

Renlo sighed loudly, closing his eyes before quickly snapping them open before the temptation to sleep took him.

“Holso and Tyrsa can continue taking care of them for a while longer. We won’t dig graves for them just yet.”

“You can’t believe they’re still alive?” Famma asked with surprise at the chief’s hopeful words.

“If I believe anything, it’s that woman is too stubborn to die.” Chief Renlo said solemnly.

“Well, something needs to be said to everyone in the village. They’re becoming scared and starting to spread rumors that the Mage plans to attack us.” Elder Canno chimed in.

“He might as well be planning an attack!” Famma shouted.

“The Mage has never left the forest before recently, and don’t forget he attacked your daughter! We can only assume that he’s planning retaliation against us! Perhaps we should send our goods to the city early and entreat the knights of Kamor for their aid. Finally, rid of ourselves of that evil creature.”

Renlo paused. He stared blankly at the window. It did not appear like he's mulling over Famma’s words. The room became full of awkward silence. The elders looked at each other, not saying anything, before looking at the chief with concern.

Chief Renlo blinked twice before responding, “No. We will not do that. Don’t forget the land we stand on is still Minthea’s. If an army comes, she will consider it as Armantheo breaking the deal they made long ago with the other gods. The last thing we all need is a conflict with the divine.”

“If the Goddess is still around, that is…” Elder Famma said under her breath.

“Heresy!” Elder Canno shouted as he stood up and pointed one of his boney fingers at her. There was a half-serious tone to his words as if the two had similar conversations on the topic constantly.

“Oh, come on, half the village agrees with me! We are one of the few places that still actively worship Minthea as a major God instead of Armantheo, our creator. Why worship a goddess who has clearly abandoned us and this place?” Elder Famma objected.

“She may not have created humans, but she is the Mother of Life, who so selflessly gave dominion of the world she made to the four Gods. Let’s not forget that they had to seek her approval to create the four races. Minthea deserves even more reverence just for that!”

Elder Famma squinted her eyes at Canno with annoyance as she countered, “And Armantheo is the strongest of the four and can probably destroy that Mage without breaking a sweat!”

“Armantheo is arguably just as absent as Minthea so that he wouldn’t be any help either!”

“He wouldn’t need to do it himself. He can send one of his Demi along with the king’s army, and they can do the dirty work. Just one of his Demi is as strong as two whole armies by themselves!”

Elder Canno sat back down and crossed his arms, “Minthea graces us with life every day, and her light is always with us. That’s all I need, not a rowdy army.”

“I would rather deal with a boisterous army than an absent goddess.” Elder Famma spat out.

“Chief Renlo, your family has always been faithful to Minthea and her wishes. Please back me up here.”

No response.

The elders look over at Chief Renlo and saw his head hanging down, and his body was still.

“Chief! Chief!” They both shouted together, and Canno ran over to examine their leader. As he touched Renlo, the elder felt an intense heat radiating off his flush skin, sweat poured down his head, and his chest rose and fell rapidly.

“Find Farla and Denlo. Now.” Canno said to Famma, and she immediately dashed out, ignoring the aches of old age.

To see such a stalwart man fall to a sudden illness, the elder cannot help but ponder to himself,

“Perhaps this is the Mage’s doing.”