Uncle Ron ended up teaching me a lot more than just blacksmithing. The next morning, I learned how to cast my first spell. The Flame Viper spell. Thankfully, Fae and Medusa were closer types of Ancients, so much of the Fae language was also the same as the Medusa language. And spells could only be cast in the correct Ancient language. This form of power was known as "Law." Essentially, it was tapping into the world's laws momentarily to attack, defend, or heal. I did not tell Ron that I was still able to use Magic. According to popular theory, it was impossible to wield both Magic and Law at the same time.

Logically, if Jade did not want me to tell anyone of how I came back from the dead and was reborn as an Ancient, then the fact that I was able to use Magic and Law at the same time was also going to have to be a secret.

Basically, I was already unique enough. Anymore than that, I would be painting a target on my forehead.

Not that I didn't trust Ron. But everyone had their secrets.

Law was a strange concept. It was the understanding that there was something greater than you, but you were greater than it still, yet you still had to obey the "Law" by invoking it with your words. I often spent long hours doing nothing but practicing the Ancient Language, and seeking to invoke the law that was present in the world.

Just like that, I spent two years at Uncle Ron's smithy. Two years, learning how to sharpen my primal instincts so that I could move faster, strike harder, and be more vicious than anything ever before. Two years of learning the art of the forge, or making and breaking of weapons, the burning of the forge, the clang of hammers, the breathing that was necessary to maintain a focus for hours while forging a weapon. Two years of learning to pretend to be human, to hide my Ancient features.

Two years of living with them had taught me to let go of my past. Little Chryssie was like an angel. Wherever she walked, there seemed to be a soft beam of sunlight that would follow. Her laughter was like a bell. It was always, Mist, look what I found for you! Or Mist, you're home! And Ron would answer with something along the lines of "Hey! I'm your dad, not Mist!" Chryssie would usually respond by sticking her tongue out at her father.

And...there were always the warm afternoons, where I would sometimes sit reading a story to little Chryssie as she lay on the grass counting the clouds in the sky. "Mist! Mist! Look at that one! It looks like Mommy! Don't you think so?"

"Chryssie! Focus! You know Anna will get mad if you don't listen while we read!"

"Oh come on Mist! Let's play! I don't want to read!"

"Chryssie!" I would close the book, and gently reprimand her for her laziness. And she would pout at me, twiddling her fingers. I knew of course that she never meant the guilty expressions that she showed. But I could never resist giving in.

"Alright. But you must read at least a couple pages first, Chryssie!"

And she would jump up, and launch herself into my arms.

"Yay! Mist, you're the best!" I would scramble to catch her, and she would hug my neck tightly.

"I wish you were my brother Mist! You're the best!" In those moments, my eyes would always tear up. Brothers...sisters. Regardless, I always hugged her tightly, and did my best to keep my tears from dropping. The second summer came, and went like the blink of an eye.

Ah...the red wind. It's autumn.

Winter would be here soon.

During my second winter at Uncle Ron's smithy...I entered the first phase of my evolution. Towards hell. A sight that I could never wash away. A sight that was burned into my mind.

"They've found us. We must leave. Immediately!" Ron suddenly burst into the home one day, his pointed ears fully visible. Anna jumped to her feet and immediately began to grab things to take along with her. Ron jumped at her and swatted them out of her hands.

"Anna! Whatever we have now, we can always make again! We must leave now!" I was also on my feet then, sprinting up the stairs as fast as I could into my guest room, and grabbing the bag that Jade had given me and my blade.

When I arrived back in the living room, Ron and Anna had grabbed the bare necessities and were ready to leave. Anna held Chryssie tightly in her arms.

Ron cursed under his breath, and took one last, longing glance at the home that he had lived in for so long. Chryssie only clutched her mother's collar tightly and buried her face in her neck.

"Ron, let me help!" I hurried to explain the crude plan I had formed. "I'll set off from the house when I've made sure that they see me. We know the forest like that back of our hands. We can rendezvous in the small grove in the deep of the forest. "

Ron looked at me for a long moment. "Mist..."

"I have to repay you somehow." I looked at him with the most determined expression I could muster.

Ron's anxious and hurried gaze softened. He clapped his calloused hand on my shoulder. "You have the face of a man." The next moment, he motioned for Anna and Chryssie to go back into the small cottage while I went out alone.

I took a deep breath and opened the door a crack. Far off in the distance, I could see the rising dust that signaled an incoming cavalry troop. Perfect. They'd be handicapped in the dense forest. When they got within sight range, I charged out of the cottage, and pretended to be shocked at their arrival. I glanced to my left and right, and charged off into the far distance. I could hear the hoofbeats of their horses getting louder and louder. I glanced behind me to check if they were still following. Good. They had completely ignored the cottage and just come after me. I willed my feet to go faster and faster. I was almost in the forest. Then, they would have to follow me on foot. Almost there. My heart hammered in my chest, and my breathing grew ragged. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a whole troop of heavily armored human knights with their lances leveled at me from horseback.

Almost there...don't slow down now! Almost there...

The hoofbeats only grew louder. And louder. Go! Go!

"ᛖᚨᚱᚦ×ᛖᛚᛖᛗᛖᚾᛏ×ᚹᚨᛚᛚ!" Earth Element: Wall!

I managed to choke out a spell between my ragged breaths.

THOOM!

The wall exploded scarcely a second after it formed. A shrill whinny followed, as well as a stream of curses.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Shit! Magic! They had just launched three blazing arcs at me using a sword.

I ducked, just as the three flaming curves flew over my head.

"ᚹᛁᚾᛞ×ᛒᛚᚨᛞᛖ!" Wind Blade!

However, just as the spell left my mouth, I suddenly felt a searing pain on my left shoulder.

"Ah!" I screamed as the lance jabbed into my shoulder, and pierced right through it, releasing a spray of hot blood. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my longsword and jabbed it behind me blindly. The horse that I cut gave out a deafening cry of pain, and crashed to the floor, pushing my impaled body ahead of it. The knight also released hold of the lance to jump off of his horse in time. I gritted my teeth, snapped the shaft of the lance and withdrew the rest, throwing it into the dirt.

I scrambled to my feet, and staggered away with one hand clutching my shoulder. There it was! The forest. I made it!.

whizz...THUNK!

I spun around to find myself facing a lightly armored archer aiming a longbow at me. Shit! I again made a mad dash for the forest. A blazing pain blossomed out of my left side as an arrow sliced through the side of my stomach and hit a tree. I glanced behind me to find that the archer had followed me into the forest. Shit! Shit, shit!

I couldn't pull my blade. I can't let them know! Another arrow slammed into my left shoulder blade.

"Ah!" I screamed again in pain, and tripped over an obstructing tree root. I had no choice!

I ripped the arrow out of my back, ignoring the chunk of flesh that it tore with it. I drew my longsword, and charged the archer.

The archer was a man clad in green robes, with a circlet of gold around his forehead. When he saw me turn around, his handsome face twitched into a bloodthirsty grin.

"AAAAAAHH!" I swung my sword forward with all my strength. A pure whit bolt of energy launched out of the tip of my blade, and slammed into a tree behind the archer.

Plip!

A red drop rolled off of his perfectly sculpted cheek, and splat on the ground. And his smile dropped as his hand crept up to the cut on his cheek.

"How dare you...wound me!" The archer's bloodthirst was like a savage animal now, lunging and leering at me.

I swallowed nervously. Recklessly, I charged him again. My sword swung downwards at his head, seeking to split him open like an egg.

And then, my sword flew out of my hand, just like that. The archer did not even move. His eyes still seethed with rage.

"How dare you..." I knew at that moment that there was no way I would stand a chance against him. I ducked out to grab my sword, and I ran as fast as I possibly could.

Huff...huff...I shot a glance behind me at the archer. He did not move to follow. He only stayed in that spot. Then, he lifted his head to glare at me with his glowing eyes. I gritted my teeth and kept running, before I suddenly caught a glimpse of...pointed ears?

He had pointed ears? No. That was just my imagination. I kept running as fast as I could, dodging under various obstructions, and taking a random path through the vast forest to lose anyone following me. After about ten minutes, I paused, and listened carefully to the sounds around me. Nothing. Not a crunch of a leaf, not the rustle of wind. Only the small chirps of birds and crickets. Good. No one had followed me. Otherwise, that bloodlust would have shut up all the animals for a solid mile.

I made my way to the rendezvous slowly and carefully, making sure to circle back a couple times. Finally, the grove was in sight. I gave a breath of relief and shaded my eyes to block out the sudden increase in light in the grove.

"Ron! Ron! I-" My eyes slowly adjusted to the horrible scene.

...