Magic! Look, It's Mag-

We chowed down on some fruit pastries while we ambled through the festival. Finley explained the significance of the show for magic after I asked why nobody used it except him. His explanation was complicated, so I’ll simplify it for you: magic, while not literally outlawed like back home, was instead restricted to aristocrats, nobles, and their designated employees.

“Father thinks it’s too much of a risk to let common people have access,” he scowled. “And Diana agrees.”

His expression made me curious. “You don’t?”

Finley shook his head. “I believe in the purity of magic. I love it wholeheartedly. If everyone could use it, the world would be a better place, I think.”

Wow, that’s kind of beautiful.

It also explains that weird tension I felt between them earlier, too. Hmm.

“But yes, that’s why the demonstration is so popular. People love seeing magic, even if they can’t use it themselves,” he explained.

Our destination was a ways across the festival. We had almost made it there when we saw a petting zoo for goats. Despite being able to see flashes of blue a few dozen meters away, I was overcome with a desire to pet them. I tugged Finley’s arm back and pointed at the goats, forcing him to stop so we could go into the pen and play with them.

“Baaa,” I called at them, trying to communicate.

“I don’t think they speak Elisabeth-ese,” Finley laughed.

“Hush, you never know.” I turned back to them, staring into their weird little goat eyes. “Mmaaaaa!”

One of them returned the bleat.

“Yes! Haha! See, Finley?”

He bowed. “I apologize, Princess of the Goats.”

Ah, it’s fun being with him.

A familiar confident voice called out from behind me. “Hey! Princess!” I turned around. Outside the gates was Diana, standing with my two maids. “Having fun?”

“Absolutely!” I shouted.

Marie suddenly had a troubled look on her face, and Diana burst out in laughter. Margot looked away in shame.

“Ah, Your Highness! Your dress!” Marie called.

“Huh?”

Finley pointed down at the goat that I had just been having a lively conversation with. I looked to see the little rascal munching on the hem of my dress, covering it in goat spit.

“He- Hey! Stop! Baaa! Baaaa!” I called out. Futile.

Stifling a laugh, Finley shooed the goat away and took me out of the enclosure. “Perhaps he thought you were inviting him to a feast,” he joked.

“I still have much to learn about goats, it seems,” I sighed.

Marie rushed over, followed by the other two. “Oh dear, Your Highness, and this was a special one, too. I suppose it saw the grass pattern at the hem and…”

I stopped her. “It’s okay, Marie.”

She relaxed her face. “Well, I can mend it later today, anyways.”

“Since we’re all here, shall we head over to the magic demonstration together?” Diana suggested.

My shoulders slumped. Aww, but I wanted to go with Finley, just us.

…?

It doesn't have to be just us, right? Why am I disappointed?

Finley muttered something under his breath, but I didn’t catch it.

It was right as I was about to suggest we come back later when it happened.

The ground beneath our feet began to shake. I grabbed onto Marie for stability. Some normal part of the festival, I hoped, looking to the twins for reassurance. But when I saw their serious faces, their postures both instantly in battle-ready mode, my heart rate skyrocketed.

In front of our eyes, as the earth quaked, wispy tendrils of magic emerged from the ground around the enclosure. Marie swiftly pulled me away, and the twins and Margot both followed. Everyone within the area screamed and turned to run. We watched, alone, as not twenty feet away, the goats I had been so happy to pet were engulfed by the primal magic, tendrils darkening as they enveloped the animals. One of them, much larger than the others, took a particular hold on the one that had chewed up my dress.

“No!” I shrieked.

They twisted around and through the panicking goats, worming their way inside by phasing through the sides of their bodies. A hazy, blue mist emanated from the poor animals. It became hard to see, but the auditory experience was enough. The same sickening crunch from the forest, the snapping and reshaping of bone, echoed through the city.

A massive shadow emerged, towering over everything else, thirty-five feet tall, at least. Maybe more. As the magic faded, seeping back into the ground, the form of a giant goat-monster revealed itself. A group of smaller ones crowded around its legs, like a giant, grey mass of death.

Scourge.

Much like the monsters from Cernnos Woods, errant bones stuck out at odd angles, and the smell of iron tinged the air. Plates of biological armor protected their bodies.

The one that the bigger tendril had attacked was different, though. It had the same skeletal armor and weird ribs, but the white calcium looked as if it were glowing a very slight blue.

“Dubhiast! Diana!” Finley called.

She had her sword out, already enchanted in blue. “Far ahead of you!”

The two shoved us back and rushed in. Finley took out four of the monsters immediately with his bolts of cerulean blue magic, and Diana sliced through two others with her magically enhanced blade. Oh, thank god, they’ve got a handle on this.
In tandem, they picked off all of the regular-sized goat-monsters, leaving only the giant anomaly. Now that’s a raid boss.

“Go, Finley! Go, Diana!” I cheered. As soon as it had started, it would be over, thankfully.

The twins looked at one another and nodded. Finley jumped back while Diana went in on the giant one. Hand outstretched, my date for the day fired a spear of blue light at one of the things’ legs. Right as it was about to hit, Diana leapt forward with a massive slash.

Way to show off on the finisher, guys.

Except it wasn’t the finisher. Horror quickly overcame me once more: Finley’s bolt fanned out on the surface of the leg, and Diana’s sword sent a clang through the air.

No. No, that’s not- They’re supposed to be the ones who can kill these things!

As soon as their attacks failed, they jumped back, shouting, “Again!” at one another in fearful unison. Finley sent two more large piercing magic shots, and Diana redoubled on the leg.

It was to no avail.

No matter how many different bolts Finley tried, no matter what arc Diana’s sword took, the beast was unaffected. It was like it barely even noticed them, beginning to slowly shamble towards me and my maids.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the two dashed back to us.

“Finley, crowd!” Diana commanded.

“You better corral that thing!” Finley shot back, before grabbing my hand, urging us away. The two were in complete sync, reading one another’s minds and instantly assessing the situation as it changed. If I hadn’t been so terrified, I would have been in awe.

Thing is, I was absolutely terrified. If neither magic nor physical attacks work on this thing… are we just all going to die?

The Bridd citizens, who had been watching from an even safer distance, were evidently thinking the same thing. They started to panic, stumbling over one another to try to escape.

Finley still gripped my hand as we ran towards to crowd. “Princess, hold on!”

“Hold on? For whaaAAAA-” I was cut off by a massive cobblestone pillar — glowing with the same blue of Finley’s magic bedrolls — rising from nothing beneath the two of us. It lifted us high into the air in view of the entire crowd.

Aaaaahh don’t look at me don’t look up my dress, oh my god ohmygod- I clung to Finley’s arm, pressing myself against him. I didn’t care how pathetic or dainty I looked. I wasn’t great with heights. Or crowds.

Finley, on the other hand, was built for it. Without moving the Elisabeth-safety-arm, he lifted his off-hand and fired a massive firework of magic above the crowd. Everyone’s attention was drawn to us as they slowed to a halt.

His voice boomed through the festival grounds as if carried to everyone’s ears by the wind itself, “Citizens of Bridd! Subjects of the Andraste Empire! Hear my voice, and be calmed!” Is this some kind of magic, too? “The Caestra Family will suppress the beast!” He gestured dramatically behind us. “See now how my valiant sister encircles the dubhiast!”

I and every other frightened soul in the city looked at the monster. Diana was commanding a full squadron of knights, all with blades radiating a vibrant blue- Wait, no, why is Diana’s sword a different color from before? Red? They had the thing surrounded, and Diana herself ducked in and out to poke at the beast’s legs, driving it backwards. The soldiers completely encircled the monster, and it began to edge backwards.

Finley triumphantly shouted, “So long as the Caestra siblings watch over, your safety is guaranteed!” The energy of the crowd shifted. Rather than abject fear, tentative reassurance overcame them. I even felt my own breath stabilize. “Now, follow my light, and calmly clear the festival grounds! Rest assured that the beast will be felled, and festivities resumed!”

With a flourish, he slung out three motes of bright blue light, each soaring in a different direction away from the battle. Hovering ten feet in the air, they drew a line from the pillar out to the edges of the festival grounds and into the city. Every second, a new pulse of light surged through the line — exactly like an emergency exit from a plane. The crowd began to follow the lines in a completely orderly fashion, emptying the immediate area in a matter of seconds.

I was truly in awe now. With a few words and gestures (okay, and a bit of magic), Finley had soothed the panicking crowd and removed them from danger. He lowered the pillar back down to the ground, dissolving it into pure magic, which dissipated into the atmosphere.

“Finley, that was incredible! You saved everyone!” I excitedly exclaimed.

He looked at me, and his grim face struck fear right back into my heart. “I have no idea how to take that thing down. None of us are safe, as of now.”