Chapter 5

A figure crept silently through the dense underbrush of the forest, careful to avoid the dried leaves and fallen branches that would alert its quarry to its presence.

It was tracking a boar-like creature, the chaotic mana of the Wilds making it grow to enormous proportions, nearly twice the size of its more mundane counterparts. The boar was digging into a pile of debris, searching for something, its snorts and huffs filling the forest glade with sound.

With a flash of light, a spell matrix formed, blazing red, before a streak of fire shot out of the tree cover, a ‘Scorching Ray’, condensed as much as possible. The spell cut through the boar’s head, piercing its skull. The creature collapsed, lifeless, onto the ground, killed instantly by the attack.

From the forest, a girl walked slowly towards the downed beast. She was young, around 9 or 10 years old, with greyish skin, and long, dark purple hair. Wearing leather armor with a green cloak, a long tail protruded from beneath the cloth. From her forehead, twin horns curled gently, midnight black that shimmered in the sunlight.

Cautiously approaching the boar, she made certain it was dead before touching it.

“Finally!” She whispered to herself, a pleased expression on her face. Turning around, she stuck two fingers into her mouth, letting out a loud whistle.

From the ground behind her, a massive creature slowly emerged. The humanoid giant reached nearly ten feet high, and in the center of its chest, an emerald glittered.

“Rocky, can you carry it home for me? I want to explore some more!” The young girl ordered. The Earth Elemental nodded its head slowly, before reaching down and scooping up the dead beast in its large hand. Turning, it walked away, each one of its footsteps shaking the ground beneath the young girls’ feet.

Just when she was about to take off through the trees once more, a voice rang out across the clearing.

“I believe we agreed that Rocky would guard and protect you, not carry and fetch things.” A man said, causing the young girl to pause and search the forest carefully. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary despite her seeking gaze.

“You’re just jealous that Rocky likes me more.” She responded, watching the trees for the speaker.

“And what happens if you’re attacked while its away?” Still nothing, not a single thing out of place. The voice seemed to come from all around her.

“Why, are you worried about me?” She called, grinning.

“Brat, who would be worried about you!?” He said, and a figure materialized in front of her. Before she could react, a hard finger was already jabbing her in the forehead. Wincing, she clutched her forehead, irritated by how easily he teleported.

“No fair! I thought you were visiting the archaeologists, why are you back so early?” She complained, rubbing the red mark that had appeared.

The man was young, in his mid-twenties, with long, black hair and blue eyes. He was handsome, athletic, and muscular, with skin tanned from the outdoors. Wearing black leather armor with silver chainmail links, it was covered in Elvish runes, shimmering faintly from the enchantments imbued into it. Over his armor he had a pristine, white fur cloak.

“I just got back. If I knew you wanted me gone, I wouldn’t have rushed home with your present.” The young man said, chuckling at her. He pulled out a wrapped package from the bag he carried, the small pouch magically holding the gift that was much larger than it.

Holding it out, he waited for her to take it. Darting forward, she snatched it out of his hand, ignoring his laughter at her childish behavior.

“It’s from Talah.” he explained, as she ripped open the wrapping to reveal a book beneath. She squealed in excitement, dancing around while holding it up. On the cover it read ‘The Knight in Shining Armor ‘, the words bordered by a golden ‘heart’. Below the words contained an illustration of a handsome knight holding a beautiful woman in his arms.

The young man sighed as he saw what it was, shaking his head.

“I don’t know how you can read that stuff, it’ll rot your brain. I’m going to have a talk with Talah. You should be reading something educational, not that drivel.” The man complained.

“Don’t you dare!” She screamed, clutching the book tightly. “It’s the latest in the ‘Knight and Princess’ series! I’ve been waiting forever for it. Don’t ruin this for me!” She said, backing away as if he would steal her book.

“Fine, fine, whatever. Enjoy your reading. But you’ll have to do it later.” He responded, waving for her to follow him as he led the way back through a trail in the trees. His armor seemed to blend into his surroundings, the shadows clinging to him longer than possible as he made his way through the dense forest.

“Why, what’s going on?” she asked, curious.

“Amora contacted me. Some old friends of mine are visiting Ur. They’re keen on seeing me, so I thought we should go meet them, since they haven’t spent much time in the Wilds.” He explained.

“Did Amora ask about me?”

“Of course. She wanted to know how your studies are going. She had some more spells that she wants you to practice, something besides Evocation.” he said, pushing a tree branch out of the way and waiting for her to walk forward before letting it drop.

“Like illusion?”

“Heaven Forefend! You already play enough tricks on me as it is, I don’t want to imagine the mischief you’ll get up to with Illusion. No, you’ll try some Abjuration and Transmutation. I have all the scrolls and books back at the house. It’ll be a good chance for me to brush up as well.” He replied.

They walked in silence for a moment, the girl holding the book tightly in her arms. Her face gradually formed a frown. Noticing, the man stopped his footsteps, waiting for her to speak.

“Are these friends from Lund?” She asked carefully, and he knew why it mattered to her.

“Illyria. Do you remember the story I told you, about how a dashing young man named Wil Brookmoor sailed across the Azure Sea, fighting monsters and rescuing damsels in distress?” He broke out into a smile when the girl laughed.

“Didn’t you get eaten by a turtle?” She asked, giggling as the smile changed to a look of disgust on Wil’s face.

“It was a portal! It just so happened that it was located in its mouth! Anyway, leave it to you to remember the worst parts.” He grumbled, flicking his finger quickly, striking the girl lightly on the tip of her nose, cutting off her laughter.

“Anyway, my friends sailed with me all the way across the Azure Sea from Illyria. You’ll like them, they’re all really nice people. Well, Garman is an old grump, but he’s harmless.” Wil explained, kneeling down and looking at the girl, waiting for her response.

“Will they care that I’m different? That I’m a Tiefling?” she asked quietly, and Wil’s heart ached.

The girl had endured so much, having to stay out here in the Wilds, with only him for company. Sure, Amora visited occasionally, and sent messages by magic all the time, teaching her everything she knew. She was more of a mentor to her than she had been to Wil.

Besides that, they also had Talah and some of the other Archaeologist, the few that Wil trusted to be around them. But it was still isolating, and he couldn’t keep from her the reason why. How the world distrusted the Tieflings because of what they were.

They had spent over seven years here, with him guarding her, protecting her from both the creatures of the Wilds, and the humans of Lund. And he treasured every moment of it.

“They’re going to love you, just like I do.” Wil assured her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “But they will judge you for reading trashy romance novels, as they should.” He joked, retracting his hand just as the girl was about to slap it angrily.

Laughing, Wil avoided a kick, teleporting away, his laughter echoing through the forest as the young girl chased after him.

Her name was Serena Brookmoor. She had been named after Wil’s mother, and she was finally going to leave the Wilds.