Sword, Sorcery, and Skepticism

He was tall. That was as much as I could tell from the distance. The details were fuzzy, on account of the bright, cerulean-cobalt blue light radiating from his outstretched hand. The unknown man lowered his arm. Every beast in the clearing was laser-focused on him and him alone.

“Any time now, sister!” he shouted behind him.

The gnarly monsters didn’t bother to wait for his sister. They began to trod over to the blue-light guy, preparing to attack.

The man shook his head and muttered something inaudible.

Like a conductor of an orchestra, he waved his hand to the side, and a mote of light shot off. In the blink of an eye, it pierced the side of one of the wolf-beasts before erupting in an obscured internal explosion akin to the one that had slain the bear.

The knights gasped, whispering to one another as if they were hesitant to celebrate. What the hell, guys?! That man just saved our bacon!

“Tch.”

The noise came from inside the carriage. I turned to look. Margot was shaking her head, glaring at the man who had sent the blue bolt into the wolf-beast.

“Mauvais. Disgusting,” she continued.

There must be something I’m missing here. What was bad about what he just did?

“Rally, men! Forget the devilry and finish these beasts off!” Sir Robert ordered the knights. At once, they mustered and rushed to intercept the monsters. They charged at the nasty creatures, and half of the things remembered what they had started a moment ago and turned back to our caravan.

The magic man was alone, standing on top of the corpse of the bear. Three moose-looking beasts charged towards him while the rest set their sights back on us.

I was prepared to see the knights absolutely wreck house. They must have just gotten shaken, like me, when they saw that nasty thing, I supposed.

I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

As the first knight approached a smaller bear-beast, he swung his greatsword in an arc, aiming right for its center of mass. But instead of cleaving through it, the blade bounced off a skeletal plate, barely scratching the thing. It was the same sound I had heard when the caravan first stopped — ineffective metal recoiling off of monstrous bone.

Is that why that one named Daniel was so despondent?

In horror, Marie and I looked on as the knights tried in vain to do damage to any of the monsters. Swords clattered to the ground, spears bowed and snapped, and knights got knocked to the ground like dolls.

Meanwhile, the man who had called for his sister pondered the three mooses (heh, meese) rapidly approaching him. Calm. He was entirely calm. He raised the hand from which the blue orb of light emanated above him. I hadn’t noticed it before, but a small core of the same magic shimmered in his torso, near his neck. It was darker, denser, stronger. He again spoke something inaudible. Then, from his raised hand, three more motes of light streamed out into the oncoming beasts, killing them instantly.

The difference was staggering. Are these knights stupid? Why don’t they just use magic? Their weapons are clearly useless.

As I mentally chastised my protectors, a humanoid figure dashed out from the darkness behind the magic user. They had a broadsword in hand and ran straight for the monsters attacking the knights.

“Finley, light!” they shouted. It sounded like a woman’s voice, though they were clad in armor of some kind.

Without a second thought, the blue-magic man, apparently named Finley, tossed a sky-blue ball of magic from his conductor hand, which sped towards the sword-wielding woman and locked itself in place above her. She stopped, planted her feet, and hollered at the remaining beasts, grabbing their attention.

“Here, you dubhiast! Approach me, and perish!”

What language is that? I’ve never heard anything like that. Doo-phee-ust?

“It’s no use, madame! Swords are ineffective against them!” one of our knights called out to her in warning.

“Hah! Maybe yours are!”

She raised her sword in front of her face, closed her eyes, and then — hold on, is she sheathing it? Lady, what are you doing?! But a second later, her scabbard shone brightly, in the same deep blue as her brother’s. Pulling her sword out, she raised it high above her head and proudly yelled, “But Andrastians fight a little differently!” It was wreathed in the blue glow that had surrounded her scabbard, which was now dull once more. It was as if she had dipped her sword in pure magic; it sparkled and beamed with a beautiful mix of blues, and as she pointed it at her enemies, it left a trail of light in its wake. Have you ever had a glowstick in the middle of the night and waved it around a bunch? Kinda like that.

The beasts, whether for lack of understanding or lack of will to live, rushed at her. The first one reached her, and she swung her blade directly at the very same plate of bone that had countered my knights’ weapons. But instead of bouncing off with a thunk, it sliced straight through the thing like it was made of warm butter.

Deftly and gracefully, she danced around the creatures as they tried to hurt her, swinging her magic blade through each one of them in a cerulean arc. In a few short moments, the woods fell silent once more. She was surrounded by a pile of dead monsters. The glow slowly began to fade from her sword.

She bowed to us and sheathed her blade as her brother came up behind her. His magic had faded, as well, and his hand was now just like any other. She turned to him, and the two started talking, though it was impossible to hear over the muttering of Margot the knights.

“Heathens,” she said.

What in the world is wrong with you, Margot? That ain’t how you should be referring to the two angels who came to bail us out! I couldn’t believe she was being so rude. Though I wanted to confront her about it, I wanted to thank our saviors more. I’ll muster up the courage for a conversation with Margot later.

Shaken to my core, I took a few moments to breathe. It wasn’t all fun and games in this world. Those monsters were disgusting, horrifying, and, most importantly, deadly. Sure, my newfound womanhood had brought some unfortunate marital circumstances with it, but up until now, I’d been comfortable in a castle. The encounter in the forest brought the cold, monstrous reality of fantasy right to my face.

Despite that, I had to meet these two. I was fascinated by the magic they used. I didn’t even know there was magic here! Those spells were incredible! I poked Marie in the shoulder.

“Marie, I’m going outside.”

“Very well, Your Highness. It seems safe now. I shall accompany you.”

“Enjoy breathing the same air as them,” Margot jabbed. Whatever, dude. I ignored her.

Stepping down onto the forest floor, I surveyed the scene around me. The caravan’s knights were checking their injuries, resting on the forest floor or against a carriage, and suspiciously eyeing our two heroes.

In the dense nighttime woods, where the stench of fresh monster corpse seeped into the air and the wind whistled through the void, I felt vulnerable. My heels sank into the earth, and I suddenly felt rather chilly. Strange, I’m normally really great with handling cold.

The magic pair hadn’t noticed the stares. They were checking over the corpses of the monsters they had saved us from. The woman would make a slice into it with the tip of her waning magic blade, then the man would suffuse magic throughout it, after which it slowly began to disintegrate into dirt and soil.

“Ahem. Excuse me!” I called out to the two.

The knights fell silent, watching. The siblings turned to face me.

“Oh, my, my. Now there’s what we were searching for, hm, Finley?”

“I’d imagine so.” He gave a polite wave. “Good day, er, night, rather.”

The armored woman next to him began to call out, “Are you, by any chance-”

“Princess Elisabeth Iris Lumineuse. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your help. You saved us.” I curtsied as properly as I could, though the gesture still wasn’t my first instinct.

They looked at one another.

“She’s mine.”