Chapter 2 - Wandering Mage

Evren

My heart pounds as branches snap beneath my boots. Sunlight flickers through the canopy, scattering across the forest floor like darting fish, but I can’t appreciate its beauty - not with angry voices closing in behind me.

I veer hard to the right, nearly slipping as the soft ground sucks at my feet. A curse escapes my lips. I can’t run forever. They’ll catch me eventually.

Was it all for nothing? Have these years of flight all been leading to this - the tip of some adventurer’s spear in my ribs? A bitter laugh rises in my throat, choked back by ragged breaths. Maybe I should just stop. No one wants me around anyway. Who would weep if I disappeared into the dirt?

I cut left, praying the forest will open its jaws and swallow me whole. Branches rake at my sleeves. I should have worn the disguise. If I had, they’d never have noticed me. I was careless, too hasty. This outfit is for long roads, not hiding in shadows. If I’d just slowed down, been smarter…

My lungs burn. My legs scream. And for what? Refuge? A future? Or was the plan simply to keep running until the world forgot me? I almost smile at the thought. I can’t even remember anymore.

The shouts are louder now, crashing through the undergrowth. I’m losing ground. Tears blur my sight. I’d give anything - anything - for a chance to start over. I’d run long before desperation forced me. I’d map routes, mark hiding places, avoid human lands altogether. Nothing’s left for me here. Nothing’s waiting for me. But then again… what’s waiting for me anywhere?

I stumble. A bolt of pain twists through my ankle. I grit my teeth and push forward, refusing to falter. Please, not a sprain. Not now.

Then - a new sound cuts across the forest. Not birdsong. Not the cry of animals. Something stranger. Heavy. Metallic. A grinding rattle beneath which a deep rumble swells.

I freeze, breath hitching. I’ve never heard anything like it. My heart stutters with fear, then steadies with something else. Curiosity.

With nothing left to lose, I change course toward the noise, ankle burning.

Might as well see something new before I die.

The sound grows louder as I approach. It’s moving quickly - luckily, in my direction. Bushes tear at the exposed skin of my arms and legs, but I push through with newfound energy. The voices are still behind me, but there’s a change in them now. They’re uncertain. Nervous.

I glance back and catch a flash of maroon between the trees. They still see me. I veer sharply left - and suddenly, the forest gives way. I stumble onto a dirt road, nearly pitching forward, but a desperate twist of my hips keeps me upright.

My lungs are on fire. My heart drums so hard I can hear it in my ears. But then I see it.

The source of the noise.

It’s massive - about the size of a large monster, though not quite enough to be called a huge or a colossal. Dark grey. Boxlike. If not for the long, angled plate running almost the entire length of its body, it would be nothing but a moving rectangle. Mounted on its top, near the rear, is a huge pole - no, a pipe. Hollow, with faint curling grooves inside. At its base sits a larger, blocklike shape, tapering forwards and back with two stands holding the whole thing separate from the main body. The pipe swings lightly as the beast rumbles forward.

Black strips run along its sides, rolling like wheels but clearly something else. Grey smoke belches from a vent, and its growling roar vibrates the air around it.

I freeze.

What am I looking at? Is it alive? Hostile? Will it eat me? Death by monster, or death by adventurers - which would be worse?

The creature clatters to a halt. Its growl fades to a low idle, smoke thinning. Slowly, the pipe turns - on its own - until it’s staring directly at me.

It feels like meeting the gaze of a predator. Deep. Threatening. Soul-piercing.

Any second now, it’ll decide I’m worth devouring. My heart hammers, but oddly, my mind is calm. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is how it ends.

I grin despite myself. At least the adventurers will get eaten too.

As if summoned by the thought, a crash of breaking branches erupts behind me. I turn to see them spill onto the road, barely fifteen meters away. They freeze as they spot me - then their eyes lift past me.

They blanch.

But the hesitation lasts only a moment. Greed is stronger than fear.

The beast’s pipe rises, tracking them. Still it does not move. Still it growls, low and steady.

There are eight of them, clad in leather armor, swords and axes drawn. One even wears an iron helmet - expensive gear, unless stolen.

He raises his crossbow. Takes aim.

So this is it. Not monster. Adventurer.

I close my eyes, bracing for the sharp bite of a bolt tearing into my chest.

But the sound that comes is not a crossbow twang.

It’s a deafening roar. A sharp, mechanical chattering, tearing the air apart above me. My ears scream with pain. I throw myself down, hands clamped to the sides of my head.

Through the ringing, I force my eyes open.

The adventurers drop one by one. Their bodies twitch, then fall still, each chest bursting red. By the time the noise stops, silence reigns.

I stare.

What just happened?

Then I feel it. A rush of energy - not the kind that fuels muscles, but something deeper. The energy of souls. Released at death. It floods me, filling me with strength I didn’t have a moment ago.

I turn back toward the monster.

A thin curl of smoke drifts from a small hole near the base of its pipe. Still it does not move. It only watches the corpses it created, as if proud of its work. Or ashamed.

Then - clank.

A section of metal shifts open near the pipe’s base. For a moment, nothing.

Then, a face appears.

Human.

My heart jolts. A person… inside the beast?

The face looks down at me, brows furrowed, voice laced with concern.

“Are you alright?”

It’s a guy. Young, but wary. His mahogany-brown hair lies flat across his forehead, strands drifting into his blue-green eyes when he moves. My body locks up. I can’t answer, can’t even move.

The beast he’s peeking from suddenly coughs with a harsh metallic splutter, then falls silent, the steady plume of smoke thinning away. He braces his arms against its top and hauls himself out, twisting before dropping lightly to the ground. Dust rises as his boots hit the earth, and then he’s walking toward me.

“Hello? Are you alright?”

The question snaps my mind loose. I manage a small nod.

He isn’t tall, but not short either - perhaps a head above me. His clothes are strange: dark green mottled with even darker patches in a repeating pattern. A thin silver band arcs from behind his ears to just above his forehead, angled oddly, like some kind of tool. His face is open, lined with worry, and though his hair hides part of it, I can tell he’d be handsome if he brushed it aside.

He tilts his head, waiting. He wants words.

“Y-yes, I’m alright. Thank you?”

Relief softens his features.

“Thank goodness. Sorry about that. But they were going to shoot you, so I had to shoot first.”

My brow furrows, and he catches it.

“Oh, right. You wouldn’t know.” He glances around, as if searching for something that might explain. His eyes flick to the monster sitting still and quiet behind him, then back to me. “You haven’t… seen one of these before, have you?”

I shake my head.

He exhales. “Didn’t think so. Truth is… I didn’t really plan ahead. Just reacted. It was right to kill them, wasn’t it?”

His gaze pins mine, searching for reassurance. I force a shaky smile.

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Again relief washes over him, quickly chased by determination.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where the next town is, would you? I’m a bit lost.”

I point down the road behind him. “There’s a small village that way.”

“Yeah, I’ve been there. They didn’t exactly welcome me. Do you know anywhere else - somewhere that might… accept me?”

Accept him - and that iron beast? I hesitate.

“Well… maybe a city with a guild. They’re used to unusual visitors. That’s probably your best chance.”

His face brightens, imagination clearly running ahead.

“That sounds perfect! Where’s the nearest one?”

I gesture past the bodies and further down the road. “Quite a way in that direction. Stay on the road and you’ll reach it.”

He nods, smiling. “Thank you, I’ll do just that.”

Then his expression shifts. “What about you? Is there somewhere you’re heading?”

My mind stalls. Where was I going, really? Looking for somewhere to hide. I shake my head.

“No. I’m a…” I hesitate, then slip into my disguise. “...a wandering mage.”

His eyes light up like a child’s. “A mage? You can really use magic?”

I blink at him. Magic is ordinary here - why ask that? Still, I nod. “Yeah.”

He grins, then extends a hand. “Well, I should get going. It was nice to meet you, Miss…?”

I accept his hand, shaking it lightly. “Evren. And you?”

“Jesse.”

We let go. He lingers, still smiling, while I wrestle with my choices. Back to the nearer village, where they’ll never expect me? Or forward, to the one he passed? My eyes drift to him again. Maybe he could help me decide.

I take a step toward him. “Hey, can you-”

Pain spears through my ankle. I stumble forward, forgetting the sprain. Jesse’s face sharpens with alarm as I pitch toward him. Strong arms catch my shoulders before I hit the ground. For a heartbeat I’m suspended there, too close, my breath caught. Then he eases me down until I’m sitting.

My palms press into the earth behind me as pain throbs through my boot. I grimace. He crouches over me, concern etched deep.

“Are you alright?”

I shake my head. Words aren’t possible right now. He looks frantic.
“What’s the problem? Is something sore? Or something else?”

I manage to point at my ankle. He almost reaches for it, then stops himself.
“Can I check it?”

I nod. He carefully removes my boot, and then recoils.
“Well, that’s a sprain, all right.”

I glance down. My ankle is swollen and an ugly shade of purple. I can’t go anywhere with that. Helplessness weighs on me like a chain. He glances around quickly, as if expecting danger to leap from the trees, then looks back at me with determination.
“Okay. I’m going to try to treat it. Do you mind?”

I shake my head. Is he a healer? Only healers could fix something like this completely. Without one, I’ll spend the rest of my days hobbling slowly along roads, half-crippled, waiting for danger to catch me.

He straightens.
“Okay. Wait right here.”

I almost laugh through the throbbing pain. Where else would I go?

Through blurry eyes I watch him clamber up the monster’s hulking form, scaling the slanted armor. Near the top, he swings open a hatch and disappears inside. Moments later he reappears with a small white box tucked under one arm. He wastes no time shutting the hatch, then leaps back down and kneels beside me.

The box clicks open. Inside, neat compartments hold things I’ve never seen before. He pulls out a strip of stretchy cloth and begins to wrap it around my ankle, working with careful, deliberate movements. The pain spikes with each shift, but the steady pressure also brings strange relief. He cuts the bandage with a silver tool, then presses a flat disc against the end to seal it in place. Satisfied, he tucks everything back into the box and gives me a weak smile.

“There we go. That should heal in about three weeks. You won’t be able to do much until then. In fact, you should do nothing at all.”

Nothing at all? I feel panic stir. But I’m on the run. If I stop, they’ll catch me.
“What should I do, then?”

He thinks for a moment.
“Well, I can’t just leave you here. If you want, I can take you with me until we reach somewhere safe.”

I shake my head.
“I… I can’t stay anywhere.”

Confusion flickers in his eyes.
“You can’t? Why’s that? Does it have something to do with those men who were chasing you?”

I nod, my heart racing. He doesn’t seem to know who I am. But what happens if he learns? Will he kill me for the bounty? Or abandon me here to die?

I glance back at the beast behind him. It doesn’t breathe, doesn’t twitch. Not alive. Man-made. The sight tugs at something buried in memory, but I can’t place it.

I force myself to breathe slowly. In. Out. Just enough truth to survive.
“I’m… I’m being hunted. There’s a bounty on my head.”

Sympathy flickers across his face, quickly shadowed by concern.
“Did you do something illegal?”

I shrug as best I can from the ground.
“That’s what the church says.”

He studies me, then sighs, gaze dropping to the bandaged ankle.
“Will harboring you make me a criminal too?”

The question catches me off guard. My pulse quickens.
“Yes… but only if someone who cares finds out.”

He nods slowly, then looks up again, a faint smile tugging at his mouth.
“Alright. If you want, I’ll take you with me.”

He exhales, as though resigning himself to the choice.
“But I can’t promise much. My future’s not looking too bright either.”

I manage a small smile of my own.
“That’s okay. Anything is better than my current situation.”

He nods, then scans the treeline uneasily.
“We should get moving. I don’t know what lives here, but this forest feels… wrong.”

I shiver. People always said there was nothing unusual about it, but standing here I can feel it - like the trees are watching, whispering things they shouldn’t know.

He turns back to me and offers a hand. I take it, and he pulls me up onto my good foot. At least I can still hop. But before I can move, he rubs at his chin, frowning in thought.
“Now… how am I going to get you up onto her?”

I almost ask, but then realise he means the beast. His voice drops to a mutter.
“You’ll also need crutches… and food… dang, I didn’t even think about food.”

He drifts in thought for a heartbeat, then shakes himself.
“Well, we can figure that out later. Let’s get you onto the tank.”

Tank. So that’s what the monster is called. The name stirs in my memory, familiar yet unreachable.

He moves beside me and slips an arm around my shoulders. The sudden warmth makes me flush before I realise he’s just helping me move. I push down the rising emotion, wrap my arm around him in turn, and together we hobble toward the waiting machine.