Emma’s Tangent – Washed Away by the Rain

Emma Martin still remembered the day her village was destroyed. She knew it would happen eventually, but neither her or the others expected it so soon.

Earlier that day, back when Emma was seven years old, she was observing a tall, spiky plant with red flowers near the base of a volcano. Her mother called them silverswords, which made sense given their sharp leaves, able to cut anything that got too close. Though, the silver part was confusing.

On their way back from their observation, she noticed smoke rising from the direction of their village. Without the strength to fight whatever was the cause, they hid in one of the nearby caves until the signs disappeared. Beasts avoided the caves within the Mixing Point, a gathering of six interconnected biomes, so they were safe. According to another villager, it was due to an abnormally high density of mana within.

After checking their surroundings, the pair rushed back to the village, only to see what looked like a storm had rolled through. Some buildings were on fire, burning away under the extreme heat. Others were encased in a thin layer of ice. Each roof had cracks running along every direction; a light tap would easily shatter them to pieces.

The ones who defended the village said that beasts with fire and ice magic attacked at the same time, aiming for their surplus food. Whether by sheer coincidence or luck, most of the villagers were out conducting research, so the damage was extensive. Of course, this wasn’t the first time such devastation had happened. There had been times where their houses were far beyond repair. As such, it usually only took a week to replace mostly everything.

This time though, the villagers wore grim expressions. Emma didn’t understand back then, but there was a rainstorm – the kind that rained acid – only a few days out. There wasn’t enough time to repair a single building. So, after a short talk, they made the decision to abandon the village, planning to head towards the nearest town after the rainstorm.

The villagers gathered food, crystals, and potions into rucksacks and hauled them to a nearby cave. They dug a trench to prevent any acid from flowing too far inside. Meanwhile Emma and the other kids simply played around, unaware of the severity as the adults prepared for the worst.

Then, it started to rain.

Emma had seen rainstorms before, but to her, they weren’t all that interesting. The droplets fell to the ground and were absorbed into the soil. And a few days later, she was back to her normal routine.

However, this was the first time she saw one in the forest. Everything turned a shade of yellow while the ground grew into a muddied sea. Anything with a shape started to slosh and melt away – a rather exciting experience for a young kid.

AAAAAAAHHHHHH!

That thought was quickly put out of her mind as she turned. One of the kids had snuck off to an unguarded area of the trench and stuck his finger in, not knowing what it was. The intense pain made him scream as his finger quickly dissolved. The adults were able to grow the finger back with a healing potion, but the trauma and mood persisted.

After a few hours, the acid in the trench stopped rising, giving the adults a brief moment to rest. They swapped notes on all of the previously recorded data, trying to give everyone a better chance to survive on their way to town. Emma, however, could only see the dangers that were soon to come.

The rainstorm stopped the next day, but nobody was allowed to leave the cave for another week. By then, the acid from the rainstorm should have been completely absorbed. To avoid the beasts, each group split up by family, besides those without one, and would hike their way through the Mixing Point in opposite directions. With how the mana warped space, there were no right answers on which way to go.

Before they went their separate ways, they quickly checked on the village with the briefest of hopes that there would be anything left. But there was no village to see; only the pathways remained. Everything else had dissolved. Everyone hung their heads as they walked away from the only home they ever knew.

Emma’s journey to town was nerve-wracking. They ate bland vegetables found buried in the ground. Their sleeping grounds were either soft dirt or the hard stone of a cave. Every move was obscured in the nearby shrubbery, their scent masked with mud. It showed just how powerless and weak she and her mother were.

Then, about a week into their journey, the surroundings changed. It didn’t look any different, but the air felt lighter and easier to breathe. Each step seemed to cover a greater distance. The few beasts that were around were non-aggressive, making them much easier for her mother to hunt, leaving their meals that much tastier.

Finally, after two weeks, they arrived at the town of Akamai. She could picture the view in her mind. The center of a large meadow, giant walls stretching towards the sky, and bountiful farmlands sprawled along the horizon.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the gate. Once the guard looked at their IDs, he let out a small grimace before leading them into a room within the walls. There, her mother explained the situation to the captain. He listened intently, sending a guard with a message, before asking them what they needed. As villagers of the Mixing Point, they had the right to request amenities in the case of such a situation. Her mother immediately made requests from schooling to a job to housing – everything for a more stable situation. The captain complied without complaint.

And so, Emma’s new life began.