Chapter 48

Part 1

Felled tigers, badgers, chimps, and birds of all kinds laid dead at my feet! After my victory over that majestic liger, the beasts’ fighting spirit seemed crushed. Tensions faded, along with their visages, into the dark as they backed off into the woods, fleeing a losing battle. With that obstacle surmounted, my thoughts wandered back to Bramble. (There must be a reason he has yet to respond, even now. I can sense an abundance of mana; lo, it is not the seed. Having grown accustomed to the seed’s uniquely dense and rich mana, I can easily decern the difference between it and whatever is outputting that steady flow.) Simply pondering would solve nothing. Bernadine was far ahead of me; one could assume that she had made it to the town long ago.

“Anesha!” Jordie Mack of Mack Attack called for my attention. He and his band of videographers were safe in the confines of their van, held with that ogrekin’s grasp. “You good, fam? You don’t look it! Not that you look bad, you’re pretty hot, but not in an oversexualized way, just that…” Clearly, not only Magekin spoke too much.

“I am…” Not fine. After such a battle, the many injuries I accrued were weighing on me. Countless cuts were only prevented by the mage’s robes, lo’, so many bruises ran up from ankle to scalp. Worse so, my cache; it was low. “…I shall manage.” That second step spat in the face of all my bombast, as I nearly toppled! My ruler piece caught me, worse for wear itself. Every piece’s wireframe body had been torn and cracked open, exposing the mana crystals within, while protecting those Mack Attackers…and myself. My hat, also, was limp and bleeding mana particles, softer than a freshly washed towel; rendered useless. I was left less abled without my fully equipped mage’s robes, thus casting spells in such a state would be trying. (No hat, broom, damaged familiars, and my cache nearly running dry? My, how exciting.) Sarcasm for only my pleasure. Begrudgingly, I deformed my chess pieces. (What now?) The ogrekin approached; having put up an admirable fight against those attacking animals while safely carrying an entire vehicle’s weight.

Azure scales coating the hill ogre’s finger suddenly glowed brightly! The ogrekin fell to one knee, lowering Mack Attack’s truck onto its side, but not causing any serious damage. Mana was being drawn from the massive creature rapidly and at such volume it became visible! “What’s going on?! It’s happening to Pinkie too!” That little creature, the squonk in Jordie’s arms, was also being drained of its mana by Bernadine’s familiar scales! “Anesha, do something!” Both creatures were in some kind of distress! Having all of one’s mana drained from their body could result in exhaustion, and death in some cases; killing such creatures was unlike Bernadine!

“Bernadine must be planning something. Come to me, I shall lop off those scales—” My raised blade was slapped aside by the ogrekin in a fit of discomfort! “Fool! How dare you?!” The saber was launched far into a dark brush! Before I could shout in anger again, the scales collected on both squonk and hill ogre, then rocketed upward and off toward Gold River’s shops! “That must be where Bernadine is. What is she doing?” In the distance, blue and purple lights soared across Gold River and Whispering Hills’ skies, following the other scales! Mana swirled like a whirlpool as a spire of energy rose, then funneled down into one spot!

“Did you guys feel that?! That was insane!” Even a human like Bernie felt the flow of mana change with such a tremendous shift! He commented while helping Bobbie, with a still injured shoulder, out of their vehicle tossed onto its side. Jordie laid the squonk down, breathing heavily just as the ogrekin was. Both were robbed of mana, lo’, not to a seemingly dangerous extent. “Welp, van’s cooked. Unless you think we can turn it over, Anesha?”

“I wish not to waste any more mana?” Locating my saber flung deep into the dark woods was far more important. That task would be arduous without using magic, as conserving mana was essential.

Once more, the flow of mana was suddenly disturbed! As if a geyser sprung up in an already chaotic torrent, waves rolled over me! “This…it could only be Invoking!” An immensely useful spell for Magekin, often considered the perfect tool for protecting oneself against humans. “For her to pull out such a spell…” I shuttered my eyes and concentrated deeply.

Water surrounding everything, taken in by some, used by others, touched all things at all times. Within that ocean, I was but a single post. My feet were rooted deep below the surface of a rushing current. The building waves roared over my head, drowning me! Colossal and only growing more powerful, I began to lose my footing. A surge in the ocean of life – in the flow of mana could only mean one thing!

I took not even a second to cast it! “Rebuke!” Bramble and I shielded, a gargantuan
eruption of fire, wind, and shaking of the earth, swept across Gold River.

Scorching winds burned trees while being unrooted by shifting lands. Altering the Firmament barriers’ calculations, certain things may pass through, or it may become rooted in place. For mine and Bramble’s, that was the best I could manage, lo’, it was not enough. The bluster lasted far longer and blew more violently than my cache could support with both barriers erected! Mine failed.

My back slammed against a tree, being the only thing to keep me up right. The winds subsided, and I fell to my knees, drained of almost all mana. (…I am so very tired.) I lacked sleep, had been tossed, chomped, battered, and nearly skewered, all in a single evening. There was only enough mana within my cache to support remote control of the barrier over Graewood, and with no hat to act as a conduit, more intense spells were beyond me. Yet, I was on my feet again. (That spell I sent out surely reached Bramble. I could feel it! It was erected near that cascade of mana, meaning he is close to Bernadine.) Over my shoulder, I viewed Jordie’s team; their overturned car acting as an adequate shield to the magic. The ogrekin was worse off, lo’, lived with his fur nearly scorched off completely. “Be gone, Jordie. This was already beyond you from the inception. Now…there is nothing to protect you.” I began my walk towards Bernadine.

“Wait! Yo, Anesha!” Pointless screaming and concern. “You’re all beat up!” True enough. Being thrown against that tree reaggravated my shoulder, each step reminded me of those teeth which sunk their way into my calf, and numerous cuts across my body had not closed. “You’re gonna’ get killed!” Mayhap that was a true statement, and yet, I could not turn back.

(The seed belongs to me. The seed, Fate, and Bramble all belong to me! I refuse to allow what is mine to be snatched away. I will not allow those greedy royals and the aristocracy to take from me again!) Beaten, battered, exhausted, with my cache nearly empty, I sallied forth! Even alone, even against the whole world and my people, even with every obstacle placed perfectly in my way, I would not stop!

Part 2

At last, the Whispering Hills-Gold River bridge came into view. Bernadine had carved a path across the bridge and through Gold River; it seemed. The stores and forest trees were lit ablaze by Bernadine’s spell. Cracks in the road from just a day prior had been upturned into asphalt spikes, slathered with rancid sewage from broken pipes which ran underground. Many cars had been torched as well, wrecked by that wave of destruction; lo’, one stood out to me, and in it, a pleasant surprise.

“My ax!” Small miracles should never be overlooked. Arnold’s car proved its toughness, being one of the few intact vehicles; however, the owner was missing. “That miser is not here.” Perusing the area, a burning town with streets littered by the unfortunate corpses of those who failed to flee awaited. Gold River would never be the same again. Scars were etched into that town which would never fade; leaving me to wonder why Bernadine committed such heinous acts openly. I resolved, not for any greater purpose than my own curiosity, that she would be forced to explain her actions.

The town which made my ax. A town which that bratty little Lu would call home. One which the cantankerous Arnold lived alongside his friends and family. Gold River was home to that girl – Rita. A child who would smile at me without reservation, invaded my personal space with enthusiasm, told me everything down to the detail of how her day was, just because she became enthralled with me; Rita’s life would be changed forever. The terrors that child experienced with the goblinkin would not be forgotten for many years, and if Bernadine had left physical scars, they could last a lifetime. Forever staring back at her in the mirror, whenever she looked down at her own hands, whenever her skin slightly tanned, and forcing her to relive the night when they were carved into the little girl’s skin; those scars!

My foot kicked something. A pile of clothes, which turned out to be my own. “Excellent work, Lu.” The child had successfully transported them to Arnold’s vehicle. In the skirt’s pocket, something dropped. “This is…” The music device Fate purchased me. (…That fool. If he were here, he would…do something foolish.) I was a fool; one which would break her own vows simply due to a child’s smile and an idiot’s sympathetic heart. “Dance water, that within my grasp, shower the lands!” From my raised hand, a powerful blast of mana fired into the night sky!

My spell collected moisture from all around, growing into multiple clouds that expanded across Gold River and Whispering Hills. A simple solution to their troubles, the rain. It began with a single drop, then another, and slowly became a squall. That downpour was brief, lo’, animals and people throughout both towns became so relieved; stillness took ahold of the mana flow briefly then. The flow was calm, a serenity within chaos. That respite helped me as well. In those few minutes of peace, I centered myself.

I picked up my ax and marched forward, hearing a jubilant voice resounding at my appearance. “Anesha!” Rita cheered.

Part 3

Maya put together a makeshift bandage for Dad’s shoulder wound by tearing fabric from his shirt. “And I liked this shirt too.” Dad complained.

“Get a new one.” In turn, Maya joked. “What now, Fate?” We survived a near encounter with Bernadine Clément by the skin of our teeth. “Fate? Hello!”

“I’m not sure what to do.” The murderous witch chased Bramble towards Gold River’s strip mall. It was in sight, and beyond that, the southern half of the Whispering Hills-Gold River. (I’m supposed to meet Anesha there, but no way I can just run for it.)

“Well, you two can wait here. I’m going to get my daughter and husband.” Headstrong to a fault, Maya prepared to leave until I grabbed her wrist. “Don’t try to stop me!”

“I have to. You saw what that…woman was like, right?” I curbed my language, unsure if it was even needed at that point to avoid saying things like ‘witch’ and ‘Magekin’. “She had a bunch of animals with her, so you’d probably get caught right away.”

“Then what do you suggest? Wait?”

“I’m thinking, ok?” Maya’s phone rang, which she responded to with confusion upon seeing the caller. At least that gave her something else to focus on instead of hounding me for answers.

“Fate.” Dad called for my attention. I wanted to ignore him, but acting childish in such a situation would have been dumb.

We argued in the car just before crashing, and I wouldn’t admit it or apologize to him, but that fight mostly started due to me being petty. “Yeah? What?” Swallowing my frustrations, I tried to at least be civil for as long as it could last.

“You weren’t a mistake.” That knocked me for a loop! I wasn’t prepared for Dad to keep the conversation going.

“Why are you still on that? Forget it.”

“No, don’t just disregard me like that.”

“I’m not disregarding you! This is why we always end up arguing!”

“Hey!” Maya interrupted, fortunately halting our descent into another argument; one even I didn’t want. “What happened to Libby? She was with us when we left earlier, but I didn’t see where she went.” I could surmise whoever she was on the phone with was worried about the metal shop clerk; probably Dirk.

“Libby should be ok now…” My hopes were that Wallace managed to get Libby some help with the wound she received. “She got hurt, but I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Was it bad?” That was a pretty nasty gash, so it felt wrong to lie.

“Uh, well, there was a cut on her hip. She was bleeding a bunch, but officer Wallace Threader said he’d look after her. I trust him! He’ll get her somewhere safe!” All of that was true; especially trusting Wallace. An officer proving themself to be trustworthy, he outdid Greenville’s entire department singlehandedly.

“If it’s Wallace, you can believe in him.” Maya returned to talking on the phone as she walked off; obviously and intentionally leaving me and my father alone.

“I’m not going to apologize for leaving, Fate.” Dad began.

(Great way to return to the conversation.) Never expected an apology anyway.

“I am sorry about how things went that night, though.” That wasn’t the first time he’d said that to me. On the few occasions I’d seen Dad after he and Mom broke up; he acknowledged things ended horribly. “You’re…right about that night. I was acting like a jerk.” I’d heard Dad strain less when lifting an entire refrigerator than admitting that. “I knew for a while things were coming to an end; June and I both realized that. We talked it over a bunch of times since, and we also realized that ‘staying together’ for you, was doing you more harm than good.”

“What? That doesn’t make any sense.” I couldn’t follow his logic.

“Putting you in the middle of our arguing was selfish.”

“Then you could’ve stopped!”

“We couldn’t! June and I…we just wanted different things. We were too different. I love June, even now I do. I know you don’t believe me, but I do. Her upbeat energy, resourcefulness, compassion, hell, even those sweet eyes of hers that you inherited, I still love all of those.”

“…Don’t you have a wife?”

“It’s a different kind of love; my love for your mother has changed over the years. She’s a woman I can respect. Not just because of who she used to be, but because of who she became.” It was weird, at that moment, I think we found some common ground. “You said that she changed and I didn’t before. You’re not entirely wrong or right. I can’t change that easily; still holding onto stuff that happened when I was a kid, never getting over the simplest of stuff. Jaci says that’ll be the death of me, gettin’ mad at stuff from decades ago, so I’ll die a bitter old man.”

It’d been so long since Dad and I spoke that much without me feeling angry. “I…” I hated how happy that made me. “I just think you should try.”

“Try?”

“Yeah. If you try…at least then it’s better than doing nothing. I don’t know. You have another family now, and I’m sure they appreciate you trying your best to be a better you. And you know, it’s never too late, right? The you of today should always be better than yesterday’s.”

“Heh.” Dad chuckled. “You sound like your grandfather now. You know that’s where I got that one saying from, right?”

“Oh. I didn’t. I don’t really know much about grandmom and grandpa on your side.”

“Right. That’s my fault. Sorry.” Hearing not just one apology but two from Dad in one conversation, I was starting to get overwhelmed!

“Interrupting again.” Maya fortunately stopped me before I started tearing up or something! “Arnold’s…kind of missing.”

“What?!” Both Dad and I reacted the same way.

“Dirk’s pretty sure he’s hunting. Whenever animals roam too close to the mall or the pass and start causing trouble, we rely on the hunters. Arnold’s probably the best one, so he probably is out hunting.” Maya explained to me, meanwhile my father was trying to get himself up right. “You’re going to go with your shoulder like that?”

“Of course.” I expected as much from Dad… “Like you were gonna’ just sit back?”

“Nope.” And the same of Maya.

“Can I say something?” Trying to dissuade the two wasn’t going to happen; it would be a waste of energy. “If you go, that woman’s going to try to kill you, I’m sure of it. It’s a long story, but trust me, she will.” Dad was concerned, but Maya’s sharp brown eyes lit up, feeling part of her suspicions were confirmed. “Those geese, chimps, and deer from before were hers; she had wolves with her too.”

“This has to do with all of that stuff you and your girlfriend weren’t telling me, right?” There wasn’t time to properly explain everything to Maya.

“Anesha isn’t my girlfriend.” That, however, needed to be clarified immediately; if only because the idea of someone mistaking us for a couple sickened me. “I’ll explain everything another time, ok? I promise, but if we’re going to chase after her, you guys have to let me lead the charge.” My body was way below one hundred percent. Even sliding on my khaki jacket didn’t bolster a sense of security, just reminding me of how difficult it was putting clothes on over that cast. It held my forearm together, but the feeling hadn’t returned even after a few days. I couldn’t rely on the seed healing or giving me any strength, so proceeding with caution while leading Maya and Dad was my best option. (Even without the seed pumping me, I’m probably still way stronger than both of them. My training should suffice if we do end up face to face with wolves or chimps.) Maya and Dad both loaded their guns. “Huh?! Wait, why do you guys have guns?!”

“For protection.” Both replied plainly.

“Fair enough, I guess.” Not like I could criticize them. Having a gun in that instance would’ve only been a benefit. (Maybe I’ll get one when I get a chance.) I caught Dad looking at me from the corner of my eye. “What?”

“You want my gun?” He offered it without a hint of irony!

“No! I…I don’t even know how to fire a gun.”

“Want me to teach you?” My cheeks burned red, even I felt it!

“Guys, this is cute and all, but we’ve got to get to the clothing store. That’s where Caleb and the others are.”

“Right.” I stifled my embarrassment and tried to focus. “We’ll get to Caleb and the others, then find Arnold!”

Part 4

Skulking through the back woods around Gold River’s park offered us plenty of cover. The soft soil cushioned our steps, and high bushes veiled our movements. Based on the direction Bernadine Clément was going, we made a winding loop around Gold River’s strip mall, with the road and staging area in that park separating us. (That should give us enough time. Bernadine Clément was already ahead of us, but she should be even further away now. Once we’re sure it’s safe, we’ll go and rescue the others! I just hope Bramble is alright.)

A pop rang out! “Was that a gunshot?” Dad said. He would have known better than me.

“Nah. Sounded more like a firecracker.” Maya corrected.

“Who’s setting off fireworks right now?” It was still the 4th…and my birthday. Most exciting one I’d ever had, honestly. Frenzied roars echoed upward, originating from the strip mall’s parking lot! “That was a bear!” I’d had my run-ins with a bear before, and their roars were distinct. Part of me was happy feeling so accustomed to animal cries that I could reliably recognize them; the other half was horrified of a bear being under Bernadine’s control. “Wait!” I held up my hand to stop Maya and Dad from charging in…which they weren’t.

“No one was going to charge in.” Just me, apparently. Maya calmly moved forward, standing beside me and preparing her handgun. “I don’t see the bear. Do you think it ran off after whatever that noise was?”

“Maybe.” Couldn’t be too sure or too cautious. We waited for a few more minutes until murmurs rumbled from the lot.

“Hey, look!” Maya pointed toward a small group of people near a destroyed car, some injured, others helping those distressed civilians. “Isn’t that Jaci?”

“Jaci?!” And off Dad ran! I couldn’t stop the old man, rushing out of our hiding place with an injured old body. We followed, seeing the coast clear. “Jaci!”

“Zahn!” Dad’s wife basically jumped into his arms. Cuts and bruises all over her bare arms showed that Jaci had been through a lot too. “Zahn, listen, it’s important! We were trapped here and then—Fate?! Fate! Come over here! Wait!” Didn’t have time or want to stop and see them gushing over each other.

Maya and I rushed to the clothes store at the mall’s end. The glass door was opened with people peering out from inside. A gun was pointed at us before we could even reach the threshold! “Oh! Fate and Maya, huh?” Dirk greeted us with a smile, sitting back in his chair and still pointing the shotgun in our direction!

“Hi Dirk. Want to lower your gun?” I was tense and relieved at the same time, which was not uncommon by that point. He lowered his weapon and pushed up off the seat, aided by other elderly citizens taking up shelter in that clothes store. “Happy to see you’re alright, Dirk.”

“Same to you, kiddo.” He enthusiastically took my hand for a shake. Dirk was old and exhausted but still brimming with life. “I’m bettin’ you saved Libby. I owe ya’! Where’s your white girl?”

“Anesha? Don’t worry about her.” Maya pushed past me, looking around the store!

“Where are Caleb and Rita, Dirk?!” Those eagle eyes of Maya’s filled with worry again.

“You didn’t see ‘em? They just left! They went after Arnold.” Dirk’s words sent Maya sprinting right back out of the store! “Hold on! Caleb said he was goin’ after Arnold, and I think they went out towards the woods behind the stores!” She was long gone but I heard Dirk.

Keeping up with Maya was harder than I thought. Swiftly running towards a wooded area behind the mall, she only slowed when coming across something. “Maya, slow down!” Fully sprinting didn’t tire me out, fortunately. Chunks of dirt were tossed, and clumps of brown fur hung from fractured tree trunks. “These tracks are from that bear I heard.” I was certain. That didn’t sit well with Maya who tried to run off again, but I reached out and caught the frantic mother’s arm!

“Let me go!” She tugged away, but I held tight.

“I will but let me go ahead of you. I know you’re worried about Caleb and Rita, but that was absolutely a bear I heard—” A gun shot interrupted me. Then several more in quick succession! Maya glared at me, but I wouldn’t budge on having her follow behind for safety.

“Fine! Ok! Just let go, dummy!” I released my grip and walked ahead of her. We followed a winding path made through bushes and nearly toppled tress, down and up hills, then finally towards Dirk’s metalshop far at the strip mall’s opposite end. On our way there, more gun shots rang out, and we cautiously approached.

“Stop.”

“Again?! We’re this close…” Maya felt it too. There was something in the air. Not humidity or electricity, thick waves of energy swirled on the other side of Dirk’s store.

(That’s mana. If Maya is also feeling it, that must mean it’s strong!) Like having sand beneath my feet pulled along by the tide, we both felt pulled toward that swell of mana. (It has to be Bernadine!) I stepped forward and that torrent suddenly became oppressive! Mana collided, meeting into a single place than boomed outward into a geyser!

“Fate, what the fuck is happening?” I didn’t have an answer for Maya; not because it couldn’t be explained, but because the happenings were paralyzing me! My senses were flooded. Suddenly, everything was so loud, vivid, and vibrant! I could taste mana in the air, vanilla flavor tinging my mouth with an overwhelming chalky sensation caking my throat! Then it hit me, a dangerous spell was brewing!

“G-G…et-d-d—” Even squeezing out a single word through my dry throat was impossible! I tackled Maya down, and she punched me, but what came next told me it was the right choice.

A blast of heat and earth shifting mudslide sent us flying! Clouds of fire rolled out overhead, setting all the forest alight with flames! Maya and I only survived that wave of magical fire due to being tossed down a hill. We landed with her beneath me, but I successfully protected Maya from only one half of the spell. Heaps of dirt poured down onto my back, quickly becoming too heavy for me! Just before my arms gave out though, the resourceful mother pulled herself out of rolling mounds of soil and managed to drag me along to safety. Gobs of earth slid past us, pushed by the ground itself upturning.

Slowly, that chaos subsided, leaving an inferno between us and our goal! “You ok?”

“Yeah. I guess so. Holy shit.” Trees collapsed under their own weight as fire ate away at them; dropping flames onto bushes and fleeing wildlife. No blue scales clung to any of those escaping animals, which explained why we were ignored; Bernadine Clément had no control over them. That earth shaking blast cracked the foundations of every building within sight, while fire clung to whatever it could. The strip mall was near totally devastated. “Caleb! Rita!” Shouting over the emergency sirens, car horns, and animal cries wasn’t going to reach Maya’s family. “We can’t turn back, we’re so close.”

“May not have a choice. We’ll have to go all the way back and around and…” My attention was drawn skyward just as a drop of water splashed my forehead. A light rain fell from the storm clouds that suddenly formed overhead. They spread out over both towns, cleansing the burning lands in watery salvation. Humans and animals breathed a sigh of relief as those flames were dowsed, saving what was left of their homes. “Anesha.” The clouds gave off an odd feeling. When I closed my eyes, electricity loomed, slowly dissipating back into the sea of energy which surrounded everything. (Wait…I can feel this so vividly. Am I regaining strength?) My senses were tweaked, so I wondered if the seed had finally finished healing me! A grip of my left hand and flexing back muscles…proved I was far from healed. My body seized up with pain, sending jolts down the spine and into my feet!

“Fate, are you alright?!” I dropped to my knees, but Maya caught me and slowed the fall.

Murmuring along the wind caught my ears. Past the strip mall’s remnants, a child’s voice gleefully exclaimed… “Anesha!”

“…Rita’s OK, Maya.” She didn’t bother to ask how I knew, just let those fierce and focused hawk eyes of hers soften.

“Where is she?” Again, with my eyes closed, I could at least tell the direction she was. There was more murmuring heading away from that enormous source of mana. I pointed and we dashed through a desolated drug store, taking extra precautions, as parts of the building had caved in. “Rita! Caleb!”

“Mommy!” Out of the other side of that building was a devastated Gold River, but also, a bright smile and glee awaiting us. Rita leapt into her mother’s injured outstretched arms, and ignoring all pain; Maya passionately embraced her daughter. “It was so cool! First uncle Arnold was fighting a bear, then Lu went after Uncle Arnold, then me and Daddy went to check on her, then Anesha’s talking dog showed up, then…” The endless optimism and excitement wasn’t lost on me; as a child, I would’ve probably felt exactly like her. “Fate!” Rita escaped Maya’s grasp to run and hugged me too!

“I’m happy you’re alright.” That little girl with her new red dress, tattered and covered in mud, happily embraced me; safe, and I couldn’t have been prouder. “You mentioned a dog…”

“Over here!” Lu, who I’d only barely met, held Bramble, while Arnold leaned against Caleb’s shoulder. The dogman had been damaged…or hurt, I wasn’t totally sure of if his missing leg was painful or not. “Uh…so, does this talking dog belong to you?” Cat was out of the bag, but with everything else happening, explaining that wasn’t my priority. Just a few buildings away and up the road, mana was still swelling.

“He’s mine, sort of. Anyway, Bramble, Arnold, you guys good?” Arnold wasn’t much better off than Bramble. Where the familiar’s leg was torn off, revealing crystalline purple insides; Arnold bled with rips along his jacket. Both old men had seen better days.

“I’ll live, kid. Gotta’ see my wife and son before I croak.” That aged hunter showed no fear, all in spite of the blood pooling at Caleb’s boots.

“Young Fate…” Bramble spoke with his face in human form. His willingness to break rules about secrecy suprised me, but the concern on that old graying brow carried heavy feelings. “My Lady is fighting against Bernadine Clément. I…” Apprehension in the dogman was palpable. “Am to tell you that she wishes for you to escape. Protecting the seed is her mission, however, she is not alone in wishing to witness its grace.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything depends on my lady’s success. All who have sacrificed to change Graewood are depending upon the seed sprouting! It will change lives, society, and the world itself forever.” I hadn’t really gotten too deep into what Anesha’s ultimate plan for the seed of Yggdrasil was. All she talked about was becoming a goddess and ruling over both humans and Magekin by controlling the seed’s endless mana supply. “My Lady…and her father aim to see this plan come to fruition, no matter the cost.”

“…And you?” Down in whatever a familiar had shaped like a heart, Bramble’s answer was obvious to me. “What do you want?” For a while, I felt that there was something deeper to Bramble’s commitment. The dogman cared more about Anesha than her mission.

“I…promised lady Kiara that I would look after My Lady with everything I have. I cannot.”

Steel clashed from just beyond Dirk’s metalshop. It felt right assuming that was Anesha and Bernadine fighting. I couldn’t sense more than one source of mana, presumably, Bernadine’s. (Anesha’s been fighting the entire evening, starting all the way back with that rogue familiar. She’s probably exhausted.)

“We should go. Now!” Maya was right. Arnold was still bleeding, and if Anesha did fail to defeat Bernadine, the witch would make me her next target. “Come on, everyone.” Everyone waited for me to join them in their escape, but…

“You make your decision, Fate.” Wasting energy on that little pep talk; I owed Arnold for once again instilling confidence in my next move!

“Young Fate, I cannot allow you to go.” Bramble attempted to break from Lu but fell onto the ground with only three working legs. “All of this depends on your survival! The entirety of the plan and everything weighs on you living until the seed sprouts!”

A wise man’s words felt appropriate, but an asshole’s were all I had. “The world on your shoulders will never weigh as much as your own failures.”

“That’s…” Lu liked that line!

“I’m going. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” Rita shouted as I ran off toward a battle I had no hope of winning.

End of chapter 48