The First Mage

When the guards and workers returned to their camp the day after Mile’s performance, they were surprised to find a campfire in front of the tents, with a big pot hanging from a wooden construction above it.

“Was this... her?” one of the workers asked.

After carefully approaching it, they checked the pot’s contents and saw some vegetables and pieces of meat boiling in it. Fixed under a stone beside the campfire they found a note, saying “A little present, enjoy!”

“Is she trying to buy us with a three hundred Kira meal...? Ha, I guess she’s pretty desperate,” Brie said.

“Wait, I don’t think that’s beast meat...” Fae noted. “Look at the color. Is that... deer?”

“Seriously? And that much? More like a ten thousand Kira meal then...” another worker said.

Everybody stood around, just staring at the pot, until Bren finally snapped them out of it. “What are you standing around for? For now, we will go to work. Garn, Marly, check the area,” he instructed two of the guards, who saluted him and departed from the group. Everybody else hesitantly went to work as well, while throwing occasional glances at the pot.

With only Bren and Fae left at the campfire, she took one of the pieces of meat, looked at it closely, and finally threw it in her mouth.

“Whoa! What are you doing!?” Bren said in a panic. “That could be anything!”

“No, that’s definitely deer...” she said with a full mouth. “And it’s good. Fresh...”

Bren sighed in exasperation. “She hunted a deer then?”

“Definitely. Even if she were able to go into town, meat from yesterday would taste differently.”

“I guess it’s not all that surprising,” Bren said. “If the beasts aren’t an issue, you can hunt in peace. You can just go anywhere and do anything... Imagine if this was normal...”

“My mother would scream in frustration,” Fae said, laughing. “The price for deer would plummet.”

“True,” Bren said with a chuckle, “but that’s not what I mean. If there were no beasts anymore... anyone could come out here to hunt, or do whatever they want to do. Nobody would be confined to the walls anymore.”

“You’re right. Hm, it would be kind of weird to see other people out here.”

The guards Garn and Marly returned from their patrol and made their report. It was their job to check the area around the camp for any signs of beast activity, and in addition to that, they had checked whether Lilana might be nearby that morning. However, in the end, they came up empty. The young women they had met the day before might’ve covered her tracks, but it was unusual not to find any beast tracks.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence?” Garn asked Bren.

“Of course. Don’t fall for her tactic. Maybe she also covered the beasts’ tracks. Let’s get to work,” Bren instructed and the two went to do their job, once again leaving him and Fae behind.

“I know you don’t actually believe that,” she said. “You’re starting to think she’s telling the truth about being able to keep the beasts away.”

“Would you please go to work as well!?”

“Roger, boss,” Fae said, snickering, and joined her colleagues.

***

Just like Lilana had promised, the day they met her had been the last time they were attacked by beasts during their work. The first day, they still thought it might just be a coincidence. The camp was getting attacked frequently, but there had been days without beasts before. It was too early to trust the word of this random girl, no matter how much they hoped that her words might turn out to be true.

After the second day without beasts, however, it became more difficult for the guards and workers to ignore her claims. They didn’t get another meal, but not having to cower from beasts would be more than enough to make up for it. The guards extended their search radius to see if Lilana might just be hiding somewhere, taking out the beasts before they could attack the camp, but they found nothing. Brie had still been convinced that the girl would pop up sooner rather than later, as waiting another day would be pushing her luck, but when the sun set, she had been proven wrong. No Lilana, no beasts, just peace.

The third day was a critical turning point for the group. They had never experienced more than two days without an attack and everybody was on edge. Hope is not fact, and no matter how much they might have hoped for another beastless day, their doubt won out, and every sudden noise made them even more uneasy than usual, out of fear that that might’ve been the end of the dream. The end of the dream of a world without beasts. As they finished up in the late afternoon, however, wide smiles could be seen on everybody’s face.

By the fourth day, even the most skeptical among them started to believe what they had been told. They hadn’t seen Lilana since that day, and even though it appeared as if nothing had changed about the woods, they hadn’t seen the tiniest hint of a beast approaching the camp. Neither while they were there during the day, nor at night, based on the non-existing tracks.

After meeting this supposed divine messenger at the camp, Fae had convinced everyone to not report her yet, and even those who had been uncertain before, wholeheartedly believed that this had been the right decision now. Since she was a fugitive, reporting her might have even net you a nice, little reward, but the prospect of never having to worry about beasts again was clearly way more valuable. Had they reported Lilana and how there was a chance that she would come back to the camp soon, guards and agents might’ve searched the woods for her. Maybe she was a charlatan, but if not... then their world was about to change drastically, and nobody wanted to be the one who had prevented that.

It wasn’t until the fifth day after the category six had attacked that they would see Lilana again. While they were packing up for the day, the young woman casually strolled out of the forest and into the camp, in her pristine white priest robes, as if she had just come from the temple, and not out of the dirty woods.

“Good evening! How are you today?” she said with a bright smile. She came to a stop right in front of the group and all eyes immediately fixated on her.

Everyone knew that they were far past any coincidences. Five days without beasts was an impossible anomaly, and there had been absolutely no signs of any beast activity. With no other explanations for why they hadn’t been attacked, the only conclusion the guards and workers could come to was that Lilana had kept her promise.

It wouldn’t even have mattered how she had done it. All the people really cared about was that she had done it. However, Lilana had told them where her abilities had come from. They knew who was responsible for this miracle. It was the gods, and she was their divine messenger. Not one like the girl inside town though, who walked up and down the main street for an hour a day and then returned to the temple, doing nothing of tangible value for them. This girl that was standing before them now had been the first one to actually accomplish what their leaders only ever talked about. For the first time in their lives, they had been able to do their jobs without fear of getting killed.

It only took a few silent moments until the first worker fell to his knees in prayer. Another followed, and then another, as Lilana’s smile widened slightly, a barely noticeable glint in her eyes. Before long, everybody was kneeling before the young woman.

“Thank you,” Lilana said. “Truly, you have my gratitude. When I escaped to the Wildlands, I didn’t have a plan for what would come next yet, or if I would be able to do what the gods expect of me. But with your help, I understood the path in front of me, and together, we will bring peace to the entire town.”

She continued her speech and told the people about her hopes for the future. The temple and the High Priest had betrayed their followers and could not be allowed to lead the faithful believers of Alarna any longer. However, they were powerful, and Lilana would need the help of the citizens to bring them to fall. Fortunately, all she would need from her own followers was for them to spread the truth. To tell as many people as they could about what they had witnessed and experienced, as well as the story about what the temple had done to the gods’ true divine messenger.

“Lilly—” Brie started, but quickly corrected herself. “Or... is that too informal? What should we tell people your name is?”

“Lilly is quite fine,” Lilana said with a smile, as one of her eyes twitched for a fraction of a second. “I’m not going to change my name just to appear more divine to the good people of this town.”

“Very well. Lilly, I want to thank you. And I want to apologize that I didn’t believe you. Your claims seemed... outlandish,” Brie said.

“Of course they did. Do not worry, I understand perfectly well that all of this is not only unheard of, but that it seems impossible. You have seen the truth though, and now you can carry the word throughout the town.”

Everybody nodded in understanding, and eventually, another day ended. For this group of people, however, it was also the beginning of something big.

***

“Ugh, finally done with the worker camp,” I said as Reurig and I were on our way back to the others.

“I think five days is pretty good for what we gained.”

“Yea, of course. Waiting day after day without knowing what would happen was still grueling, and I’m not actually a fan of stuffy speeches. Or speeches in general... Though I guess it worked even better than we hoped. I didn’t expect for all of them to actually kneel.”

‘You did seem to enjoy that part though...’ Lilana said.

“I have to admit, it was an interesting feeling,” I said. “Under normal circumstances I would’ve told them to get back up. To them, this was the proper behavior though. They showed their devotion, and that’s what we need at the moment.”

‘I know, but it did feel a little weird. Especially since we’re lying to them just as much as the High Priest is...’

“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” I asked her. “You becoming the ‘true divine messenger’ was technically your idea.”

‘It’s only been a week, but it feels like that was ages ago... Don’t worry though, I still want it. Actually... even more than before. We can actually accomplish something.’

“Good, let’s get home and rest then. Next up is the area north of town.”