Author: helk1019

by Hannah Kennedy

2234 words

A woman as pale as a ghost stands atop a frozen hill, gazing at the autumn forest clearing untouched by snow. She wears an aged, torn-up robe that seems patted down with snow. Her hair is messy and the color is faded light brown. Many would think that she would be a lost soul or someone in need due to her appearance; however, one look at her eyes and arms would be enough to think otherwise. Darkened black scleras surrounding wispy light blue irises with no pupils. Lower arms and hands covered in ice, acting like clawed gauntlets. No spirit has been known to have such a feature and usually those that have strange features are known as Fallen.

She wasn’t Fallen because she would have to be dead, but she wasn’t alive either. She was an ice mage apprentice of a Clan long gone. That is why she is here atop this hill, to see what time has done to her homeland. Where once there was vibrant tents and homes, now gone with no sign of it ever existing in the forest’s plains and it’s people that would be tending to their daily duties and children’s laughter, now replaced by sound of cawing crows in the distance.

Why does she keep returning to this place? Every few years, she stands on this exact hill. Is it for closure? It has been so many years yet she has not felt peace, nor has she felt anything in that matter. Is that the reason? To feel again? To remember the joy she once had? She has tried everything she could to feel something, anything. From the purest action to playing with snowflakes to the darkest action of watching someone slowly freeze to death from the touch of her icy hands.

In the midst of watching the forest, a caw shook her from her thoughts and saw a crow hopping around near her in the snow, barely making a sound with it’s light body. She stared at the bird for awhile until she met it’s eye. She saw the reflection of her glowing eyes in it’s own and time seemed to have slowed down. She was drawn into the crow’s eye as she pondered at her own reflection. A hollow shell of who she was many years ago. What would her past self say to her now? What would they think of her actions? Are they even watching over her? So many questions rapidly crossed her mind as she continued to stare, that is until she blinked for a moment.

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Once she reopened her eyes, her reflection was not in the bird’s eye, but in a puddle and her appearance changed into what she lost so long ago. Rich dark brown hair, normal white eyes with beautiful green irises stared back with robes now muddy and not torn. The distant caws of crows changed into screams of men, women and children surrounding her. She looked up the puddle to see a battlefield before her. People running in fear as soldiers belonging to two different nations at war pursued them. She saw homes in flames, the dead turning into dust and a child crying alone in the carnage with a stuffed animal held tightly in their hand.

“Hold your focus!” a voice yells out behind her and she turns around to see a familiar group of faces. “We need to give others some more time to get to safety before the soldiers reach here!” The voice yells again as their back is turned to her. A man wearing similar robes like her standing with others facing away from her focusing on their spell.  She knows that voice, it is one she hadn’t heard in a long time. The person in front of her is Faelin, a close friend of hers and someone she thought as family more than anything.

She remembers this moment, they were trying to hold off incoming soldiers with their magic. She tried to help them in anyway she could with her abilities as well. Everyone in the group took turns on offense and defensive positions. She was supposed to be attacking incoming forces, but her body burned with exhaustion and she felt her strength starting to fade.

“Keep going! Not all of us are out of there yet!” Faelin shouted again as he walled off more soldiers nearing them. The others were mainly casting shields from the incoming arrows and spells from the armies to protect each other from taking hits.

“Where did the fire mages go!?” A woman yelled as she focused on the barrier. She was Tilly, another friend of hers.

“I saw an explosion go off deeper into the forest!” another voice said casting an icicle at a soldier. That’s Ronin, another face she had long forgotten.

“Dammit! We need all mages here to-” Tilly was interrupted when her barrier broke and what followed after was an arrow plunging itself into her stomach. She screamed in pain while Ronin silently cursed and extended his free arm to make another barrier.

“Mabs help Tilly!” Ronin called out as he focused on the barriers.

That name…that was her name! She had forgotten her own name since she never spoken nor had she felt the need to even know it anymore. Nodding her head at Ronin, Mabs ran to Tilly whom was currently on the ground crying in pain, digging into the ground with her hands. 

“You’re gonna be ok Tilly,” she spoke and she didn’t recognize her own voice. Running to her friend, she saw the arrow lodged deep into her gut. Tilly had magical healing capabilities, so taking the arrow out seemed most logical. Reaching for it, Tilly stopped her by grabbing her hand.

“No. Don’t,” she said as whimpered in pain. She took a moment to breathe and held Mabs’ hand strongly. “I don’t have enough strength to help you guys if I heal myself,” She looks at Mabs and spoke in a serious tone,“Take what mana I have left to help the others escape, I will only become a liability.”

“C’mon, Tilly!” Ronin said with anger in his voice as he struggled on focusing on the barrier. “You can do this! Don’t give up now!”

“Tilly,” Mabs spoke weakly as she held her friend’s hand, she felt something wet come out of her eyes, something she hadn’t felt in a long time; tears. “Please don’t do this,” she pleaded with her friend. As she said that, Tilly only smiled and her hand emitted a glow that started to transfer into Mabs’ own.

“I give what strength I have left to you, Mabs…,” Tilly spoke as she began losing her grip. Mabs felt some power wash over her body as she cried out, watching the light in Tilly’s eyes go out. Ronin clenched his jaw tightly and breathed in through his teeth as some tears streamed down his face. 

Mabs became overwhelmed as she held Tilly’s now limp hand and tears kept spilling from her face. She cried out as she felt her heart break at the loss of her friend once more and with a call from her fellow mages, she stood back up once more to rejoin the battle.

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  Ronin died after the other mages met their fate in exhaustion or from an attack that pierced the barrier. Now it was just Faelin and Mabs hanging on to what power they shared together, given to them by their fallen comrades. They lost hold on their line in the battle and began to retreat where their clansmen had went to. Now it was just a matter of surviving from two armies rushing at them. They didn’t see anymore of their people that stayed behind to protect, they either died or were already on the run. Mabs breathing was rigid, she was covered in dirt, blood and a bit of frost from the overuse of magic. Faelin wasn’t in great shape either as he was grazed by a few arrows and currently pushing his limits.

“We just need to keep going,” he said, exhaustion heard clearly in his voice as they kept running, with only the shouts of the enemy soldiers charging after them. “The others soon have set up our escape by now, we just need to meet up with the rest of the Clan to get out safely from here.”

“Are you sure? What if they left us already?” She replied back, the feeling of fear, doubt and exhaustion gnawing at her. She hates feeling this emotion, but to finally feel something had her questioning her own state of mind. 

“Don’t think that!” Faelin yelled back, “We need all the hope we can get right now if we wanna get out of here. That’s the least we can do for our friends.” He looked at her with determination in his eyes, she could see how tired he was and when they looked back to what was in front of them, an explosion went off.

An energy bomb hit just in front of them, Mabs was regaining her grip on her senses. She was on the ground, bleeding and light-headed. That wasn’t from behind them…that bomb came from the front.

“F-Faelin…,” she spoke messily as she rolled onto her stomach, vision still shaky. She was in a dirt cloud with rubble surrounding her, looking around the best she could for her friend. “Faelin where are you…”

Then she saw the back of a familiar robe, her eyes widened and her heart dropped. She couldn’t hear herself speak anymore but she knew she called out his name as she crawled to him with her arms. Digging into the earth desperately to reach her dear friend, more tears flooded her eyes as she neared him.

Once she reached him, she turned him over and cupped one hand on the side of his face. He had rubble stuck in one side of his face and blood emerging from his clothes at a fast rate. His hazel eyes were barely opened and lost it’s light. Mabs pushed herself up with what strength she had to sit on her knees with his head in her lap. Everything was slowed down around her, the sound of the soldiers rushing towards them was quiet and the dirt cloud around them didn’t vanish yet.

“Please…no,” her voice shook as she cried, holding his head in her lap, tears falling onto his face. “There is nowhere to go now Fae,” she said as she placed her forehead on his, waiting for the inevitable to come upon them both.

“…need…to…” A weak voice spoke in her ear, she lifted her head again to look at him. He was barely alive and he spoke to her with the last of his ability. “…run…Mabs,” He spoke again, repeating the same sentence the best he could.

“I-I can’t anymore Faelin…I’m t-to weak, there is no one way out,” She remembered these words, this moment with her dying friend. “They already b-beat us to the exit, so I-I have no way-out…,” she cried both at Faelin and at the words coming out of her mouth, for the next moment will be when it all changes.

“…take it…M-Mabs,” He breathed as he began to transfer what mana he had and gained from their allies. “…r-run…and live…for all of u-us,” He went limp in her grasp like Tilly did. As the power of her friends and allies flowed into her body she gave out a scream at his passing. 

As she screamed, something snapped within her and a force began to erupt back out of her. A cloud was blown away from her and a rune circle emerged and emitted a bright blue light beneath her feet. Ice began to form violently around her as she cried out, she felt the air turn cold and saw her own breath form in the air.

“No!” she shakily cried out as more ice formed around her. “Let me die with him!” She looked at the large ice crystal near her and saw her appearance change before her. Skin turning into a white pale, ice starting to form on her arms, eyes turning to the familiar light blue wisps with the same darkness around them. “No!” she cried as her voice began to vibrate and change into something new.

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“NO!” Mabs shouted out loud and was welcomed by a rush of flapping feathered wings. She was standing back on the snowy hill, shaking and looking around her. No Faelin. No soldiers. No home. Only thing that was different was the falling of snow, the circle of ice spikes around her and a frozen dead crow on the ground, the one she was looking at. 

She felt something wet on her face and she raised a clawed finger to wipe it. It was water or as she remembers, a teardrop. She…cried? She was still capable of feeling something? Ever since the change she never felt anything, but here she is. Back home remembering what changed her into the thing she is now and reminded of what a cruel war that has lasted over hundreds of years, even after the fall of her home.

Perhaps it is time to give a personal visit on the next couple battlefields she comes across on her journey around the world.