He stood up and flung the boar onto his back. He had a slim build, but he seemed to be stronger than he looked. He must have trained. Training boosted your physical abilities far more in this world than in my old one.
“Ah—Are you okay without a light?”
“I can handle myself, thanks.”
He muttered something, and what looked like a ball of light came floating out of the depths of the forest toward him.
“What’s—”
“It’s a fairy.”
“I’ve never seen one before...”
Fairies and elementals were lesser fae: beings with frail existences that were nature’s mediators and helped it with its work. There were techniques for being able to talk with them and, at times, make use of them. Those who could manipulate those mystic arts were referred to as elementalists.
The elves, who were minions of the god of fae, Rhea Silvia, were said to have a strong affinity with other fae minions. Evidently this half-elf who had inherited elven blood was no exception.
I remembered once reading in one of Gus’s books that the essence of elementalism was being sensitive to, empathetic with, and accepting of the nebulous and fickle. It was yet another branch of the mystical, separate from “magic”—the power of Words, with its focus on theory, knowledge, memory, and repetition—and from “benediction,” which offered protection and divine grace for acting with religious faith and discipline.
“Bye,” he said simply, and plodded away with the hog on his back.
It had been the only conversation I’d had with another person in almost ten days. Maybe that was why I felt a strange urge to not just let him go. Before I knew it, I was calling to him as he left.
“I’m Will! William G. Maryblood! You?”
There was a pause before he responded. “Menel. Meneldor. I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again, though,” he answered, walking away. “Try not to die on the road.”
With the butchered hog on his back, he ambled off, the ground around him illuminated by the shining fairy’s light. I watched him go without attempting to tail him.
Wary of creatures that might be attracted to the smell of blood, I moved a good distance from where we’d butchered the boar. I kindled another fire and used rope to tie my sheet of canvas between some trees to make a rudimentary tent. I inscribed Signs that would serve as warning alarms in various places, and incanted Words with the power to ward off insects and things of a demonic nature. Finally, I laid down my blanket and went to bed. The pork shoulder I got would be tomorrow’s breakfast.
I’d held a conversation with a real, living person. It had actually gone surprisingly well. I’d been worrying for nothing.
Menel. Meneldor. I seemed to remember that it meant “a very fast-flying eagle” in Elvish. He had been a bit rude, but I’d had fun talking to him.
He’d said we’d probably never meet again. As I drifted off to sleep, I hoped that someday we would.
In the dead of night, I heard a voice.
“Prithee, O flame.”
In the fog between slumber and wakefulness...
“O flame of mine.”
...was a young woman with black hair and a hood that obscured her eyes.
“As you travel—”
Ever reticent and expressionless, she spoke her wish:
“Prithee, bring light to the faraway darkness.”
And then, like strikes of lightning, numerous visions lit up the inside of my head, burning themselves into my mind.
Weapons. Screaming. Chaos. Blood. Blood. Bodies. Bodies. Bodies. And—silver hair.
I inhaled sharply.
“Lumen!!”
As I imbued light into Pale Moon’s blade, I hurriedly readied my equipment and dashed into the night forest.
I kept moving, my path lit by magic. That I had no faster way was maddening. The revelations had blatantly been forecasting a tragedy, and Menel was going to be victim to it.
I clenched my teeth.
I’d been suspecting it, but now it was confirmed: the age I was living in was seriously dangerous. Someone you met today could be a corpse tomorrow. Crazy...
I looked around me. There was nothing but dark forest. The winter meant that the grass wasn’t too overgrown, at least, but I doubted I’d be able to reach Menel’s village in this blackness just by pressing on blindly. I did have the option of tracking Menel’s footprints, but if I did that kind of careful search, I didn’t know if I’d make it in time. Not to mention that Menel might well have covered his tracks. He was wary of me, after all, and he was a professional hunter. If he was remotely serious about hiding his tracks from me, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
I incanted a number of Words in quick succession. These were Words of Searching, to use for detecting things.
“That way...!”
It was a simple magic that estimated general direction, but it was better than nothing.
I got ready to be very reckless.
Holding my shield up, I powered through the forest thickets, leaped down a steep slope, and incanted Feather Fall to soften the landing. I pushed onward, making heavy use of a variety of techniques that anyone used to normal forest walking would definitely frown at if they saw me.
The fact that there was a settlement meant that there should be a pretty open space somewhere. Stopping from time to time to get a general sense of direction with the Words of Searching, I kept on running.
All of a sudden—there it was. I could see open land outside the forest. There were fields with rows of furrows, and beyond them, through the darkness of night, I could just about make out the outlines of a dozen or so houses surrounded by a wooden fence. It looked like nothing had happened.
“I’m... not too late...?”
No... There was a chance, a reasonably good chance, that the tragedy had already occurred. I didn’t know the cause of what I’d seen in that revelation. It could be a demon, a goblin, an undead creature, a beast... If I approached carelessly, it was possible that I’d take a hit before I was ready.
I incanted several Words and killed the light dwelling in Pale Moon’s blade. First things first: scouting. I decided to keep my ears open and approach with caution. Keeping my body low to the ground, I exited the forest and approached the fields. Then, I heard talking.
“Thought I saw something shining in the forest...”
“Sure you weren’t seeing things?”
There were two lanterns, and they were getting closer. Holding the lights were two men, one middle-aged and one an adolescent, each wearing a fur smock over a faded tunic and carrying a club in his hand. My first thought was that they might be on village night patrol. At least, they didn’t seem on edge as they would have if a disaster like that had occurred.
Then things weren’t as I’d seen them in that revelation yet, after all. Thank the gods.
“Hm?”
As I was beginning to relax, the older of the two men noticed my shape caught in his lantern light. I smiled awkwardly at him and decided to walk over. I figured that if I named myself as an acquaintance of Menel’s, they wouldn’t immediately get rough with me. They looked at me and had barely opened their mouths to speak when I stepped forward hard and lunged out with my spear.
“Wha—?!”
“Hyeeek!”
There was an echo of clashing metal. I stepped forward again and swung my spear to the side without breaking flow. There was another metallic clash.
“Get back!” I stood in front of the two to protect them, blocking whatever it was that was flying at us with my shield.
The attacker...! If they were using a projectile weapon, then they weren’t a beast. That left demons, goblins, and the undead. I quickly glanced at what had fallen, hoping I’d be able to pin down the identity of my opponent.