A Cracked Star

[Arya]

 

At some point Stella decided to go join Dawn in a nap, as tempting as that sounds, I still need to play with the pups. They were outside the door letting out mall barks as I gave my side of the story on what happened in the ruins. 

 

It was hard to concentrate with them like that so we let them in during the time. Resulting in me getting a small break to get them calmed down and settled on my lap and tail.

 

"I guess this is when I tell you congrats on passing the test." Taleah says, rolling her eyes. 

 

"Why test us?" I ask.

 

"To get you ready to start whatever journey you're destined for, I don't know, you'd have to ask my god but she hasn't been too keen on explaining anything." She says. "So what do you plan to do now?" 

 

"For now, training is still a must for us since we figured out we can do more with our magic through intent. Other than that, we'd like to leave the forest soon." I say. "Though, my sisters and I agreed that it would be necessary to go back to the ruins before we leave this area for good to get rid of the invaders." 

 

Which I'm okay with aiming for, we don't know everything about the creatures and who's to say they can't reproduce, we already know they can create more by corrupting other living creatures. I don't think they're smart enough to gather their strength together currently, Dawn said that the actual strong ones have been locked out of this world. 

 

Waiting through the day, they never left the areas we originally saw them at even after the fight we had. Taleah eventually sighs before grabbing a sheet of paper and writing utensils. It only takes her a few minutes to fully write out her message, opening up the window in the room she whistles out. 

 

"I'm going to send an acquaintance of mine at the closest guild from here a message. You'll have my backing so it should make getting registered a quicker process."  As she finishes, she hands the message to an owl that shows up, giving the bird a few scratches and treats before it takes off.

 

"I didn't think you'd have a companion." I point out. 

 

"Not a companion like your sister has. But yes, I did find the little guy when he was young when he had a broken wing. Took me a while to just gain his trust so I could properly heal him. I call him Ein, he never gave up even with his broken wing."

 

"Why would you not have a companion in the sense of like my sister?" 

 

"Because I don’t have the skill, I presume what she has is a unique skill, especially after seeing the companion in question. I don’t know what race it is but you need to be careful when walking around with her in public." She says before getting up from her desk. "Anyways, now that I've written that letter, I can make you a meal before you go do whatever you want for a while. We have a week or two before I get a message back. Until then, I'd recommend just learning what you can, and if you want any pointers just ask. I also prepared a room for you, the wolves are welcome to sleep with you if you want. I'd appreciate a night or two without having them all over me." 

 

"A meal would be nice." I say.

 

~~~~~

 

It's been three weeks since and nothing major has happened. I finally saw what Dawn did inside our soul space and I have no words for what changed. When I asked why we didn’t have separate rooms, Dawn told me that Stella wanted it to be like that, saying she isn't used to sleeping alone because of her younger sister back home. 

 

Dawn asked if we wanted anything for the house to be added. Stella asked for an area for archery and I asked for a library for me to put any books I acquire in the future. We did find out we could bring objects into our soul space, which is why I asked for the library in the first place. Though anything we create cannot leave this space.

 

I've taken to learning more theory about magic and how to manipulate mana from the weave thanks to Taleah. It was a lot more thinking than experimenting, contrary to what I thought it would be. I also got in trouble a few times already from Taleah whenever I'd try to use a spell I didn't fully understand or just thought of. 

 

Which was the majority of them. Making me realize I might have gotten a lot more recklessness from Dawn than originally thought. 

 

Whenever we're not out hunting with the older wolves, the younger ones refuse to leave our side, usually dragging either me or one of my sisters off to play depending on who is in control at the time. I need to figure out how to come back here whenever, it's gonna hurt otherwise having to leave them.

 

Eventually I heard Stella make her way towards my location in the library as I was setting up an area for me to work inside. I want it to be so I could enjoy some peace and quiet when I needed it further into the library. "Arya, your turn to go hunting with the wolves." She calls out.

 

"Okay, I'll head out in a bit." I reply, as I get my notes together I call out to Stella. "Any news if Taleah has heard back from her acquaintance yet?"

 

"Nothing yet, she said it should be any day now." Stella says. "I'm excited to finally go see this city, I thought it was just a small city that had a side branch of the adventures guild but apparently it's the elven capital."

 

"Wait, it's the elven capital?" I ask

 

"Yeah, I've heard very little stories about the capital growing up, I’m excited to think of all the fun things we can do and see." Stella says, her tail wagging happily behind her causing me to lightly laugh. 

 

"Okay tail broom, we can talk later once I'm done hunting, anything you want me to look out for?" I ask.

 

"Mhm, if you can I want you to look out for a few herbs, I've been gathering them when I can but I'm still missing a few." Stella asked.

 

"I can do that, just let me know what to look out for." I told her.

 

"Thanks." She replied.

 

Instead of leaving the space immediately, I look through the house to find Rosa first. It takes me a minute but I find her quickly, she's laying down on the porch in her larger form while Dawn can be seen further out working on her techniques with a replica of her ax. 

 

She made replicas of all our weapons so that we could train here whenever one of us is out and about, that way we can still have a hold of our weapon.

 

"Hello little Rosa." I notice her ears flinch as I call out to her, sitting down beside her, I pat her head before continuing. "I'm about to go hunting with the wolves, do you want anything specific?" 

 

"Oh, if you could, could you catch me some squirrels." Rosa says.

 

"Squirrel?" 

 

"Yeah, back on Earth, Dawn and pops used to go squirrel hunting and they made this delicious soup. I didn't get to have much because they were worried some of the ingredients would affect me, but I don't think that is a problem now. If anything, the taste of meat is even stronger than before" Rosa lets out a few barks as she replies. I’ve noticed that while she can speak to all of us through our mental link she still barks and all that.

 

"Sounds interesting enough, if I see any I'll snag them on the way." I say, getting up to leave. "And also, if you could, get Dawn to actually sleep for once. If you have too, grab Stella and make her use Dawn as a body pillow, I know neither of us can get out of her bear hug when it happens."

 

"I can do that." Rosa says as she rubs her head against my hand.

 

~~~~~

 

I find Turgis waiting for me at the entrance to the cave with the other wolves joining us on today's hunt. 

 

"You're in control today I see, I'll stick around to help you secure any prey we find." Turgis says.

 

"Thanks, I suggest we get a move on now, it's been getting darker earlier in the day and I got a few tasks that Stella and Rosa gave me to complete while I’m out." I point out.

 

Turgis grunts before taking off ahead of me into the forest. As the hunt went on I was able to find a few of the herbs Stella wanted, the one she wanted most of, entrist, is an antipoison. 

 

She pointed out that while it is useful in compounds to combat poison caused by other plants, I needed to be careful with gathering as both the leaves and pollen cause severe itching on contact alone. 

 

Near the end of the hunt we killed a mountain lion and a few boars again, I feel it's easier to do now as I get more used to moving through the forest. Other than that, I managed to find some squirrels for Rosa to eat. 

 

Rosa said something about soup, though I don’t think we have all the ingredients. It would be nice though if Dawn can still manage it, while I enjoy roasted meat with seasonings, eating it for almost every dinner gets old. 

 

Eventually, I hear one of the wolves off in the distance howl out in distress. Looking up I see Alpha running towards me. "We need to go, it’s urgent." Quickly throwing the rest of the herbs into the storage area in our soul space, I get up and run after Alpha. 

 

We were pretty close to the wolves so it didn't take long for us to get to the wolf howling. In the clearing I can see a wolf trapped in a net with a group of five individuals. Two of them seem to be arguing while another. Probably over what to do with the wolf, but what the taller individual says starts to piss me off.

 

"I don't care what you think, I'm the party leader and get the final say. And my final say is we're taking the wolf. It’s intelligent enough and it was already captured because of the goblins net, either a merchant or noble will pay a big amount for it." The taller individual says.

 

"I don't care what you think, my sister and I are only in this party because you were recommended to us by the receptionist at the guild. But if you can't understand simple instructions like not to touch the wolves with red markings in their fur, then you shouldn't be in this position!" The other man yells back.

 

"And who cares? They're just a bunch of wolves, it's not like I'm going to get attacked by the world tree for taking a single dumb wolf." The party leader says. "All these dumb beasts do is run around and hunt smaller animals in these woods." 

 

"What right does that give you to act like this? You're an adventurer, not a poacher!" The other man says.

 

By this point I've heard enough, looking at Turgis, I nudged him to let him go around the party. Taking the time I spread my perception further out to try and find anyone else before starting a spell, I can sense corpses on the ground further past the trees, confirming the goblins the party leader talked about.

 

"We're in position. I'll leave the talking to you but the moment I see them go for the wolf, I'm attacking." Turgis says. Talking? Ha, like this filth deserves to be reasoned with, touching those I consider family. I feel rage building up inside me rapidly as the filth keeps talking about how he's going to make a big amount of money from selling the wolf.

 

Channeling mana into my left staff, which happily absorbs it, I picture a cube forming around the party leaders as I lock him in a small section of space, separating him from the world around him. Trying to keep my anger in check as I put my full concentration into manipulating space. 

 

Slowly my spell takes shape, the guy none the wiser unlike his other party members as the youngest elf starts to visibly pale, noticeable even from this distance. As she does, she starts to say something to the others as she backs up.

 

After she finishes talking to them, they slowly start backing up. "Where do you think you're going huh? I'm not going to let you release that mutt. That's my money we're talking about." The party leader says. 

 

"You're going nowhere, now release the wolf." I call out, his party members don't move, mostly shocked. The man, who is now trapped in my spell's grasp, tries to move only to cry out in pain as his body is repelled back towards the center of the area he’s in. 

 

"What is this? I can’t move from here?" The party leader yells out. The one member who was originally arguing with him, calls out. “Stop hiding like a bitch and release me!”

 

"Miss, please don't hurt the rest of us. We won't say anything to the authorities." He says.

 

"The authorities are the least of your worries right now." I say as the rest of the hunting party slowly comes out from the bushes, surrounding the party in front of me.

 

"Release the wolf." I say, adding pressure to my words with mana, a trick Taleah taught me, saying that any mage who has a brain can figure out.

 

One of the women, who looks like the guy's sister, starts to tremble as she looks at the surrounding wolves before nodding her head, slowly walking to the trapped wolf to release them.

 

"Stop listening to this bitch and do something. She can't take all of us." The party leader yells out.

 

"SHUT UP! Look around, do you even realize what you've done?" The other man yells back. 

 

"He's right, keep it up and you won't leave here alive." I say, knowing full well he doesn't have a choice. 

 

The wolf that was tied up is eventually released as he lets out a small bark at the lady before running away towards the other wolves. 

 

"He's free." She says. Confirming the wolf was free, I caused my spell to solidify as I felt my emotions start to grow stronger. Like it wants to explode.

 

“Now you have two choices.” I call out to the man. “You take the easy way and leave, or the hard way. Choose.” 

 

“Right, because you have the power to make me choose? Do you even know who my family is?” The man arrogantly says as he turns around to face me. He has silver hair and emerald green eyes, a scar running from his chin to underneath his right eye.

 

“No, and I honestly don’t care.” I told him.

 

Standing there he begins to speak. “Humor me, what’s the hard way then.”

 

“Your death.” I replied.

 

“You really believe you can do that?” The man asks to which I nod, causing him to laugh.

 

“I’m not bluffing.” I say.

 

“Yeah okay.” The man says.

 

“Fine then, hard way it is.” I start to raise my left staff as I direct my mana into the blade at the top. Slowly it starts to glow as I picture slicing through the space within my spell. Quickly feeling my mana drain as I create a more elaborate image I get ready to unleash the spell.

 

“Wait!” I hear someone shout as I bring down my staff to unleash a blade of black towards the man in my spell. Causing cracks to spread out from the path the spell took. Almost immediately after I feel my body start to give out as I fall to the ground only to prop myself up on my staffs.

 

I hear a few of the women scream causing me to look up at the scene I caused. The space, the man's body was in, seems to explode out as I see his body shoot blood and guts out to the edge of the spell’s area. 

 

As I watch an image of a woman lying on the ground in a bright orange room briefly flashes before stopping. Leaving me with a small headache as I clutch onto my staffs harder than before to keep myself up.

 

Shortly after everything seems to be quickly sucked back into the center as all of the cracks and fractures that extend out from it vanish as the world repairs itself. "Now, you're going to follow me and explain exactly what you were planning to do here. And if you don't comply, then good luck" I say pointing towards the wolves, snarling with their teeth shown as they advance closer to the remaining elves.