“Let’s go see Caen. We need a plan before they find out,” I began as she brushed me aside. All that fun in her expression was gone. It was filled with a single solid light from her eyes. I rushed over to her side, desperately wanting to comfort her like she had me.
“Aria, come on, just tell me what’s wrong.” I gave her a little distance, but she didn’t say anything as she sniffled, holding back tears.
“We-We need to save Arlond. I have to. This is all my fault.” She was fighting back tears.
Maybe it was a trick of the light, but in front of me I saw not a young girl blessed with power, but a lady burdened with it. Who cared for everyone around her, but nobody cared for her back.
I wanted to be the one that returned the favor.
“Ya, but first you have to stop sulking!” I raced after her, trying to lift the mood. She was having none of it though, her fierce steps powering through the snow faster than my own snowshoes.
Soon enough we were back to a wide-eyed Caen. He knew what happened from glancing at Aria’s glum expression, and the wet blood still on her sleeves. Aria passed right by him, ignoring his presence.
“We just hit their patrol, didn’t we?” Caen’s unwavering expression died as I nodded. He gave Aria one last, worried look before turning to the matter at hand. I was the first to speak.
“They’ve also decided to try and bottle us in at Arlond. They’ve sent a regiment there too and…” I stopped as Caen began to swear in a language that I haven’t heard of before. Aria stopped dead in her tracks. Guess she knew what foul language he was speaking.
“We have to stop them here and now.” Aria’s iron eyes glanced up at the two of us as she turned around.
“Aria, we don’t have to…” Caen began as Aria shook her head. Her eyes were softening up a little, but out of sadness more than anything else.
“You’re right. We don’t have to do anything, but I have a duty. I can’t let a town die.” There was a silence between us as Caen and I exchanged looks.
“There isn’t anything to get out of this, and you’re putting your life on the line for…what?” I begged her to reconsider, but she pointed a single hand up at the sky.
“The world is watching, Charlotte. I am a Pact Mage, and if I don’t make my stand here, it will be my responsibility that an entire town died for my decisions. I am not letting that happen.” She glared at the two of us, then marched off, fire still shimmering in her silver eyes.
I stood frozen to the spot. When she wasn’t adorable, she was an absolute terror. Yet, I still felt my heart stir for her. Not because she was mean, but because she was hurting. Caen’s voice kicked me back to reality.
“Guess we’re marching to our deaths.” He chuckled, trying to lift the mood as Aria frantically packed our camp. “Those poles don’t snap that way…”
“I’m going to give her a hug or…” I began before Caen put a hand on my shoulders, then shook his head.
“After. Make me a promise. Don’t die.”
I glanced into his eyes, still a little confused. His calm told me all that I needed to know, before he looked back up at her. He cared just as much as I did.
“I thought Aria was the important one?” I was still wrapping my head around our tiny Pact Mage being the most terrifying of us three as Caen lifted his hand from my shoulders.
“I’m guessing you saw it out there, but Aria’s no pushover in a fight. She can take care of herself. But if she doesn’t have you around, she won’t know what to do. So keep your head on your shoulders, all right?” There was one last pat on my shoulders even if I wasn’t sure there was some deeper meaning I ought to have known.
“All right. I guess we’re doing this then?” I glanced at Caen as he nodded. It wasn’t a part of my job. I could’ve stayed out this fight, and let the two of them take it. I didn’t need to risk my life.
You go above and beyond for the ones you love.
I found myself dashing to Aria’s side again. As soon as she saw me her gloomy expression faded, only to be replaced with a tearful grin. We both already knew what I was going to say.
“I’m not letting you go at it alone, you idiot!”
Chapter 7: Aria
Winter winds howled from the west as I surveyed our ambush point. The sky had begun to take on a menacing tinge; a sign of another blizzard approaching. We had set up, betting that they’d take the open central road in order to keep pace. The breeze was troubling though. I’d have to adjust my shots, especially at this distance.
I could feel my cloak blowing ever so slightly as I bit my lips, feeling the pang of uncertainty. When every shot needed to land, wind was the last thing I wanted to think about.
Aria was as still as a stalking hunter. The dazzling sparkles of her eyes had coalesced into a single intense beam, the look of a predator. Yet she wore that look as if she always had it, as if it was always a part of her. In her hand was a borrowed pistol from Caen, but I knew it was unlikely she needed it; I saw her punch that man to death.
I wasn’t even sure it was the same Aria. Was the sweet, innocent girl that I met at that inn the same, or was there a colder, more terrifying Aria lurking inside? Was it Cestra? What did it say of our great dragon gods that when I Aria evoked her, my heart filled with dread?
I shook those thoughts out of my head. Just finish this battle. She’ll be back. We can move on, happy.
Caen’s hand signaled from behind the tree, mere meters from the ambush point. The main contingent was coming. I raised a thumbs up before Caen raised two hands. Seven fingers, seven people. My throat went dry. While bandits usually outnumbered us, we never had to fight to kill, or even to win. The snow was the ultimate equalizer…but against trained inquisitors? Or another Pact user? Aria had been our trump card time and time again. If the enemy had a mage even marginally as good as Aria, then we were in for a slaughter.
Then I felt my heart drop. A single finger followed by a circle sign. They had a Pact user with them.
Around me were the fruits of preparation; by my feet a small blanket of arrows loosely planted into the ground. It would allow me to ready shots far faster than a quiver, which was especially important when every second mattered.
As I readied the shot, my hands shook. Mages were seen as extensions of the Trinity. Striking a Pact user was like striking against the dragon themselves, and Aria did not help alleviate those fears. My only hope was that we were also acting by the will of the divine, if such a thing even existed.
“I sure hope two wrongs make a right.” I whispered to myself as I notched one of the few arrows I had left in my quiver. That mage was going to be missing a limb or lung soon. While I didn’t know if that would help stop his magic, I was willing to make that bet. Also, Aria would enjoy it.
The mule and the cart came into view first, flanked by the bright reds of the church’s elite guards. The captain set the pace, marching in front while the mage was flanked by the rest of the force.
He was too important to be trudging through snow, and instead was reading through some holy text on top of the cart. My eyes first swiveled to the Pact user in the middle. If he wasn’t dressed in such elaborate robes, one might have mistaken him for a farmhand. Dusty yellow hair with sharp brown eyes, and a fidgety, nervous expression. Even with a shirt of chainmail wrapped around his robes, he looked quite spooked and tired. I couldn’t blame him, considering the pace the group must’ve been marching in order to catch us by nightfall.
In front was the captain, stead and proud. Unlike the others who carried the typical poleaxe and crossbow, they carried a sword on their hip, and pistols strapped by their side. A large helmet hid their face from me, underneath their flowing red cape. Dangerous.
The other five were either flanking the mage or directing the mule. Each one looked like they were searching for something, although not knowing where to look put a damper on their efforts. They were mere meters away from Caen’s hiding spot when I saw the glint of Caen’s axe. He waited for the perfect moment when they would be blind to their right flank. I drew my bow from behind cover, taking careful aim at the mage. Adjusting for the wind. Aria began her magic, a blob of water began to grow in the battlefield below.
