(Amelia)

“Not so bad for our first adventure,” Eve said to me as we rummaged through the sack of jewelry and other valuables we had managed to gather from the Goblin King’s room. Goblin Kings are notorious for collecting anything shiny their soldiers manage to find while out pillaging.

“Yeah," I agreed, going back through the events in my mind. "It was a pretty good mission for us. He," I nodded my head toward Nikolai, "and I could deal with the groups rather easily while you picked off any distant threats. Even the Goblin King was manageable because of his taunt spell. Which..."

I trailed off, considering. Taunt spells were known to be extremely difficult to learn let alone to be at a level with it to affect monsters as strong as the Goblin King was while only at B rank. There is only one person in my family, in my generation, that managed to learn a taunt spell. I wonder where he learned it.

"Amelia?" Eve whispered.

I laughed. "Sorry, I got distracted. Speaking of how much he helped."

I turned to Nikolai who was fiddling with his saddle.

"Thank you."

"For what?" He asked turning to face us.

"Warning us about the trap. I could have avoided it, but Eve here?" I said winking at Eve.

She gave me an affronted look and Nikolai laughed and then turned serious. He watched me for a few seconds with an assessing look.

"Watching out for my teammates is the bare minimum I can do," He said then sighed, "I do apologize for coming on so strongly. I can sometimes act without thinking when I get excited."

"You were excited to go on a goblin hunt?" Eve asked.

He shook his head. "I was excited for the chance to work with two mysterious ladies who came out of nowhere and who were already at such a high level for their ages. Which, again, was a bad look for me but I'm glad we are finally starting to trust each other."

“Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t trust you. But, I am willing to admit that you’re not quite as bad as I thought.” I corrected.

Eve rolled her eyes beside me. “Don’t think too hard on it Nik, this is her way of saying sorry.”

"I wasn't sayin- ouch!" I rubbed the side of my arm where Eve had elbowed me.

“Hahaha, it’s fine. Her being so protective and wary just means she cares a lot about you. I can tell the two of you have been through a lot and are very close friends because of it, at least she’s talking to me now. Progress is progress after all, but I believe we better start heading back toward the city before it gets dark. This path is supposed to be safe but all safety is questionable at night."

“I won’t argue with that, Eve and I have a lot we still need to take care of in the city anyway.” Closing up my sack before putting it on my back.

“Then let us put an end to this quest.” Nikolai called out.

‘Wait, Nik…?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had to admit to myself, being an adventurer was fun. I never imagined this would be something I’d do. Thoughts of the prison-like home I used to have threatened to surface but I forced them down. That isn't my life now. After running away and meeting Eve, everything we've been through no matter how hard has just felt right. Felt like I was someplace I belonged.

And now, after all that, we finally get to have some semblance of a normal life. We can buy a normal house for us to stay in while we’re here instead of a damp cave, we can take normal baths in hot water and not the ice-cold water of Io’s cave, and we can eat normal food that isn't scavenged from a desert and roasted over an open fire without any seasoning. Yes, we can finally live as normal people after what has felt like years.

I know this can’t last forever. Eventually, Ryla will be back then, who knows what we will do, but maybe I can convince Eve that we should just stay here. We are nobodies, normal, perhaps above average, adventurers who can live quietly and together.

“Hey Nikolai, I wanted to ask you if you have any tips for new adventurers?” Eve asked as our horses steadily walked down the dirt path next to the start of a forest that marked the entrance to the Borderlands.

“Hmm," he rubbed his chin, "there’s a few I can think of. I’d say it’s to make sure to have a flash ball with you, anytime you take a quest always bring the required number of party members, never do an adventure alone, and always have extra food and water. The rest is up to your own judgment and skills and anything you think you might need for specific missions.”

“A flash ball? I’ve never heard of those.” I said.

“They are enchanted crystal orbs that have light magic in them, when broken the crystal will create a blinding flash effect from the light. It’s really good for when you’re in a tight spot and need something to buy you some time to heal or escape. They’re also quite cheap so that adventurers can always have one.”

“Well Amelia, looks like we have—.” Eve started to say before she was cut off by our horses going still. Before we could ask what was going on they started freaking out and we were thrown off their backs into the sand. The horses fled into the forest leaving us behind.

“It seems I’m not the only one who- " I was cut off by the multiple mana signatures appearing around us. They had to have a way to conceal themselves because they were way too close now to not have been sensed.

As one, we all turned our heads toward the massive mana signature closing in from just out of sight ahead of us.

I took a steadying breath and looked out into the darkening landscape and saw glowing eyes stalking through the shadows. They were all around us, at least a dozen and they weren't even the largest threat.

Now standing on the path before us was a large sand-brown wolf that must have stood over fifteen feet tall, its skin looked as if it was made of stone, and silver fangs barred as saliva fell from its mouth. Its black eyes locked directly on us, as it let out a ferocious howl and fully released its power sending shivers down my spine.

“Nikolai... what is that?” I choked out.

“It’s an evolved dire wolf, and from the feel of it, it's an A rank monster. The smaller dire wolves would be problematic themselves, but with the help of that one we’re really in a bad situation here.” Not taking his eyes off the large wolf, his shield already in his hand.

“I thought there were no monsters on this path Nikolai? Eve questioned as she got her bow ready.

“There’s not supposed to be, this path has always been clear and stronger adventurers than us regularly patrol here to avoid this very thing since this is the main path back.”

“What do we do now?” I asked trying not to let the panic show in my voice.

“If we’re lucky we can run the way the horses did and use them as bait so they go after the easier prey. They must have moved here recently or were out hunting in new territory.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Feeling my grip on my kunai tighten.

“Then may the Gods be on our side.”

Without waiting, Nikolai slammed his shield into the ground and sent out a wave of firey stone in all directions. "Run!" He roared.

No more words needed to be said as the three of us turned around and began running, but the wolves were only delayed for a couple of seconds. The A rank wasn't delayed at all although it appeared to be slower than the others.

“Cut through the woods to our left, our only chance to escape is to return into the Borderlands!” Nikolai ordered.

Noticing the dip in the road to our left, I siphoned some mana out of my overcharged body and formed a path of ice. Using the slight decline to increase my speed as much as possible.

As I ran, I refused to look back. The sound of snarls from behind was all I needed to know they were close. As long as Eve remained in my sight I could focus everything on running.

No matter what I just continued to use mana to increase my speed further, popping blood vessels along my legs, following Nikolai to the sandy landscape that I could only hope was close.

It had to be close right? Nikolai isn’t stupid, there’s no way we can outrun them forever, and if we run for too long we’ll be way too tired and mana-drained to even hope to fight for our lives.

Thankfully as we ran through the forest, I could see the sand begin to come into view through the trees, and within a few minutes, we had reached it.

“Focus on injuring the big one, if it’s injured most of the wolves will stay to protect it, we can deal with the smaller ones that chase after us later,” Nikolai ordered.

As soon as the order was given, a wolf lunged toward me.

I covered my arm in ice and moved it to intercept its clamping jaws. With a loud series of cracks, its teeth sank into the ice but still pierced my skin. My kunai slashed across its neck releasing a torrent of blood that drenched me and the sand beneath my feet. It ran with a yelp as I shook the ice off my arm, wincing as it pulled frozen blood out of my wounds.

Looking across at the sands that had quickly become a battlefield, I saw Eve a little ways off to my left hitting wolves with arrows from a distance, and Nikolai was close by fending off any wolves that got close.

“Nikolai, have you thought of a plan that can get us close to the wolf?!” Yelling out as I ran to group up with them.

“The wolf will do that for us, it isn’t scared of us. And for what to do; I noticed a recent wound on its front leg that we can aim for.” Pointing at a large cut on its ankle that hadn’t healed yet as the massive wolf closed in. "It might honestly be our best bet to just charge at it.”

“Are you insane?! There’s no way we can do that.”

“Do you have any better ideas? If we don’t do something we’ll die anyway.”

“Fine, we'll charge it!” I yelled knowing this wasn’t the time to argue.

“Eve’s arrows can’t hurt that wolf, neither can her magic. So, can you use your wind to enhance my speed? Amelia, you go to the other side of the wolf and just hold off the small wolves for a few seconds.”

I locked eyes with Eve and saw her nod. Sighing internally, I nodded back before I turned toward the smaller wolf and began charging.

‘They better make this quick.’ I thought as I began throwing out ice in front of all the small wolves, whether it was ice paths, ice spikes, or walls. I threw my worry about running out of mana into the wind and began casting ice in every direction only stealing glances towards the two who were getting ever closer to the A rank dire wolf.

Nikolai charged forward with shimmering wind encircling his body, pushing him forward at a speed that put our escape to shame. He was a blazing wall of fire throwing out stones as if they were sand.

Nikolai threw his body out of the way of stone pillars the wolf launched at him as he closed in. Never slowing down his charge. Two more steps. One. He was within range and the wolf knew it.

The wolf tried to jump back to gain more space but it was delayed by its injured leg. Nikolai didn't let the good luck go to waste and he released a burst of flame out of his back that turned his charge into a red-yellow blur.

I heard the sickening crack before I saw him land his strike on the already weakened leg. His flames caught up to him a moment later and a wave of fire washed over the dire wolf.

Out of the fire, Nikolai was thrown back like an arrow, rolling to a stop near Eve and the dire wolf... The dire wolf was livid. It stood there with its wounded leg up, its foot slightly angled to the side, staring daggers at Nikolai and Eve.

Mana surged out of its body in a near-physical wave as it roared. The dire wolf stood on its hind legs and slammed its remaining good foot into the ground. In an explosion of sand, a barrage of human-sized boulders erupted from the ground, aimed straight at them.

I saw the realization on Eve's face. I saw her start to roll to avoid a boulder headed right at her. And, I saw the pool of dire wolf blood she was standing in right before her foot slipped along the slick stone, barren of sand from all the wind moving around. I was too far to do anything. I could only watch it fly at her. Until in a flash of flame, Nikolai was between them.

The instant was ended by a blinding gust of a sandstorm that was created by the force of the A rank's strongest attack.

I felt a fire burn within me like a raging fire, as I ran towards Eve praying she was okay. Killing wolf after wolf in my pursuit.

“Eve are you okay?!” I called out, unable to keep my voice from breaking as I feared the worst.

“Amelia, you have to get down here right now!”

I felt relief wash over me at the sound of her voice and dashed through the sandstorm to find her.

But once I saw her, I saw why she was okay. Nikolai was in a rough shape, pieces of his armor were broken and dug into his skin making him bleed all over, and he was unconscious.

“What happened?”

“He took the attack for me, it hit him really hard. I... I don't think his leg is supposed to be in that direction. Can you carry him?”

“I can, you got the sandstorm?"

She nodded, her eyes never leaving Nikolai's bleeding form.

"I'll uh, I'll follow behind and try my best to hide our tracks."

I studied her looking for any wounds. There was quite a bit of blood but it didn't seem to be hers. Knowing we had no time I made my decision.

"Alright Eve, but we better hurry before they turn their attention back to us.” To which she gave a nod of acknowledgment before we began running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let’s….stop….here.” Eve panted out.

We had come across partially sunken ruins after about an hour of half-running through the desert. There were no entrances above the sand but there was plenty of cover next to the sandstone tops of buildings and broken pillars.

I put Nikolai down inside a small crevice created next to a flat stone wall and tilted pillar. He winced when he thudded into the ground but luckily stayed unconscious. Or maybe being unconscious for so long wasn't lucky... Either way, at least he didn't have to endure the pain right now.

I fell to the ground next to Eve, trying to catch my own breath after carrying him for so long. If I hadn't trained with Io I never would have managed that extreme of usage.

A chill in the wind cooled my body, soaked in sweat. We can't make a fire with those dire wolves on our trail so we'll need to bundle up and stick close together. I have a feeling it's going to get cold tonight.

I walked over to the spot I laid Nikolai down and formed a rounded wall of ice around the pillar to block the wind, keeping it far enough from the center so the chill didn't reach him.

I turned around to tell Eve to hide in there to rest but found her asleep against a wall a few steps away. I couldn't help but smile.

"You did great."

She had to have used more mana than I did carrying him over here. She had kicked up a smokescreen of sand and dust and then transitioned to a sphere of air around us that kept our scent from reaching the dire wolves that could have been right on our tail. Her hunting training really came in handy here, I hadn't even thought of our scent.

I picked her up and placed her next to Nikolai. I knew I had to watch for the wolves while she slept for a bit but I didn't want to leave her side. Now that the situation had calmed down, my emotions were running wild.

I said I'd be there for her. That I'd protect her. Yet I was too far to do anything. I was complacent. All I could do was watch and wait for her to die.

Images of her brutalized body from her fight in the capital flashed through my mind, and then even worse, after Shezmu...

I placed a trembling hand on her face and sat there for a very long time.

But I couldn’t help but wonder about things. I like being an adventurer with Eve, but maybe we’d be better off doing something else. Someplace safe and away from danger. Maybe we can open a bakery, I bet Eve would be great at making bread. With her wind magic, she could perfectly adjust the heat and circulation in the ovens. Waft out the smells to get customers to come in.

I sighed.

‘I mean this path we are walking can't end well for us. We’ve both already almost died multiple times, but can Eve even give up this path? Can I? Would I have been better off staying with my family, or maybe all I need is to convince Eve to just come with me to my family? To just live in peace in my family’s castle with Eve. No, I promised Eve I’d always stick beside her and support her. Besides, my home is not a place of peace. This is for my friend.’ I finished thinking, as I let the relative silence of the desert-scape sink in, the only sound was the occasional howl of wind traversing through gaps in stone and my beating heart.