Impure

Chapter 1: Cursed by War

“Hey, get up” Leo said to Martin, offering his hand. Leo had deep wounds on his right side, and a spot of blood on his cheek.
“I thought you were dead.” Martin said to him “You were just lying motionless on the ground, what happened?”
“The Shedan invaded” Leo said, helping him up. “How they got here so fast is the real question.”
“What I really want to know is how you got over here to aid me so fast.” Martin stated. Leo looked back at him.
“I ran.” He stated. Martin looked at the cuts on Leo’s side.
“I was in the middle of the fourth round, and I took a glaive to the side.” He gestured to one of the cuts on his side.
“Before I knew it, everyone was in a panic, and I ran and got you. But they retreated as fast as they appeared, it seems…” Leo shifted his head. “well, accept him.” He pointed to the body of the Shedan wolf laying on the ground a few feet from them.
Martin looked at Leo’s side.
“Are you alright after that?” Martin asked.
“Yeah, they aren’t that deep,” Leo informed him, he raised up the side of his shirt to show him. “And the bleeding stopped. I’ll head to the infirmary in a bit, it doesn’t need immediate attention, though we’ll have to find out what’s wrong and why they attacked.”
“Not the cuts, that look you gave him.” Martin replied.
“Yeah, I’m just a bit upset I broke my own rule.” Leo looked back at him.
“Do you think the treaty will be called off by this?” He asked.  
“I’m not sure, we’ll have to check with Darren first.”
“Alright, but seeing as things are, we should find your Dad and my Grandfather first. That seems like the smartest thing right now” Leo said.
“Ok, bu-” Martin started, but was interrupted
“Shhh! Do you hear that?” Leo pointed over at some rustling bushes at the edge of the Forest. They slowly made their way toward the bushes, both drawing their weapons. “Crap, grandpa has my other katana.” Leo whispered.
“Don’t worry about that right now!” Martin urged. They inched closer to the rustling.
        “Ow!” they heard a soft voice emit from the bushes.  
“We know you’re in there! Come out now!” “The bushes rustled more.
“Come out now!” Martin demanded.
The bushes rustled violently, and a figure emerged.
“P-please don’t kill me.” The figure said. They stepped forward and saw it was a young Shedan girl, a fox fur pattern with fox ears and a tail, she sported an outfit similar to that of the scouts, accept the symbols were shifted and she wore a dark-green skirt over the pants. She was mid height with blue eyes and brown hair. She appeared to be a youth, about sixteen or seventeen years old. She held her hands up in a gesture of mercy.
“P-please, I am not a threat”
They lowered their weapons to accept her plea.
“She’s fully influenced.” Leo said.
“What?” asked Martin
“She has a full coat of fur, not just ears and a tail or patches of fur like most of the Shedan we encounter. My grandpa taught me about these kinds of things.”
“I-I know.” She said. “I’ve been ridiculed for it my whole life.” She said. Martin and Leo were surprised by the response. They stayed calm, despite the recent attack. Due to their current wounds, they couldn’t risk a fight,
“Please state your name and business” Leo ordered.
“M-my name is Linda Baroo, I-I’m a scout for the Lillian tribe.” She stated, her fear and stutter was getting worse.
“Do you have any weapons we should know about?” Martin asked her.
“J-just a dagger.”  She looked to the knife strapped to her leg. She started to reach for it.
“Please let us remove the weapon, or else it will be perceived as a threat.” Martin warned her.
“I-I’m just going to drop it, p-please, I mean you no harm.” She put her hands back up.
“I’ll take it.” Leo gestured. He walked cautiously up to her and bent down and unstrapped the dagger from her shin.
“P-please, I mean you no harm, have mercy, please.” Her eyes wandered and she went into full shock when she saw the body of the wolf. “P-please don’t kill me!” She pleaded.
“Come with us.” Martin said, he turned around and started walking.
“Follow him,” Leo stated. “I’ll have to follow behind. I don’t know if any more of you are lurking around.”
“Any more?” She asked. Leo glanced at her. “O-okay.” She turned and walked behind Martin, Leo followed closely behind. “Why are you so nervous?” Asked Leo.
“Y-you aren’t going to kill me, are you?” She asked, her eyes were starting to tear up.
“Not without reason, as far as we know the treaty is still on, if it wasn’t you’d be in chains.” Martin said. Her expression changed to a mix between dread and relief.
“You weren’t with the other Shedan, were you? You looked kind of confused when I mentioned there being more.” Leo asked.
“I don’t know of any others; I was just gathering food for my tribe.” She stated. She was starting to calm down.
“Well alright, if that’s the case, you’ll be fine, but if you’re caught lying, I can’t promise anything.” Leo stated, she started to look relieved.
“Can I put my hands down?” She asked.
“Yes, but if you go for anything we’ll react.” Martin said.
“Understood.” She replied, and rested her hands to her side.

        As they entered the village away from the festival, people stared at them. They made their way the house of the chief. A couple guards readied their weapons. “Stand down.” Martin ordered. They did as they were told. People gazed with rage and concern at the girl, the three approached the door and stopped.  Martin turned and confronted her.
“This is where the chief, my father, lives. So if you’re thinking of trying anything, don’t, or you’ll be dead where you stand. You haven’t given us a very good reason to trust you, so don’t do anything suspicious or you’ll be gone, understood?” Martin firmly stated.
“Y-yes, understood.” She replied.   Martin opened the door and allowed her in before him. Leo approached Martin, clutching his side.
“Hey, I’m going to the village infirmary for these cuts. They aren’t serious but they sting quite a bit.”
“Huh?” the girl paused as she was entering the door.
“Well, just make sure you don’t put too much strain on them on the way there, they aren’t bad now, but they could rip deeper.”
“Hey, who’s hurt?” Linda turned around and walked up to the others.
“Go inside and have a seat, I’ll be in shortly.” Martin ordered her. She turned around and headed in disappointedly.
“What’s with her? I can’t bring myself to treat her like an enemy.” Martin thought to himself.
“I know how you feel.” Leo said.
“What do you mean?” Martin asked, he was shocked at Leo’s statement.
“You sense something about her, and you feel like she’s been your friend for years.” Leo could tell he had Martin figured out by the sheer expression on his face.
“How did you know that?”
“Because I feel it too.” Leo turned and started to head to the infirmary.
“Leo, wait!” Martin exclaimed. He turned and stood in the doorway of his house.  “Hey, come back out here!” he gestured to Linda, who was sitting patiently on the floor, waiting for them. The two turned and approached Martin with puzzled looks.
“Linda, am I correct? Why were you so interested in my friend’s injuries?”
“Well, in my home tribe I was a mage, so I thought I, well, I thought I might be able to heal them.” She explained. She was twirling her fingers as she explained.
“Could you demonstrate?” He asked
“What are you doing?” Leo quietly asked Martin. A small crowd was starting to form around the three.
“Showing these people she can be trusted enough to leave us alone.” He replied
“So the strict captain has had a change of heart?” Leo grinned at Martin. Martin chuckled a bit and looked at Linda.
“Well then?”
“I-I guess I can try.” She stated. Leo pulled up the side of his shirt. Linda put the palms of her hands just over the wounds.
“Lons Fallas.” She whispered. A golden glow emitted from her palms. The crowd went into aw as they saw the gashes of his flesh disappearing, soon enough the cuts were gone completely, and she pulled her hands away.
“Thank you.” Leo said to her. He pulled back down the side of his shirt.        
        “Ok, have you all seen enough? Go back to your lives and let us handle this.” Martin addressed the crowd, which then disbanded.
“What’s going on out here?” a voice came from within the house. Connor Dunshire stepped out from the doorway. He looked at Martin and Leo.
“What’s going on? There’s a meeting going on inside. Honestly I expected you two to be here sooner.”
“Well, uh, mister Dunshire… we were um… preoccupied.” Said Leo, he then shifted his focus to Linda.
“What do we have here?”  asked Connor.
Martin chimed in with an explanation. “Well, she was in the forest while the raid was taking place, she doesn’t seem to have any link with the other Shedan. We were bringing her here for questioning, I thought you and Garret would be able to help.”
“Well I don’t see why not… here, the three of you come in, Darren and Garret are already inside.
“Yes sir.” Leo said. Connor lead the three inside. There were many decorations throughout the home, from dream catchers to decorative dishes. They could hear Darren and Garret talking in a back room.
“Martin, something just occurred to me.” Leo whispered.
“What?”
“Darren.”
“He should be fine, as long as she holds back and we can explain the situation before he can react.”
“It’s alright you two.” Connor assured. They approached a door near the back of the house.
“Young lady, please stay behind Martin and Leo when we enter. I am assigning them to guard you within this room, is this understood?” Connor asked Linda
“Yes sir.” Her voice was weak and nervous.
        Connor opened the door to the meeting room.
“All I’m saying is we should just go in and wipe them all out Garret. They haven’t done anything for us, so why should we care? “They could hear Darren and Garret having a conversation.
“Because that’s immoral Darren. There are innocent people and children in those tribes that didn’t do any harm to us.”
“But Garret, you’ve seen firsthand how they are, they reel you in then when your back is turned they strike you down and leave you for dead. They can’t be trusted!”
“And on what ground do you have any authority to say that?”
“On the grounds that they just violated a treaty within less than a month!”
“Hey! Everyone calm down!” Connor interrupted. “Let’s just sit down and talk about this like reasonable adults.”
“So does that mean we can throw out the pipsqueaks? They’re just children, they have no idea what’s going on!”
“Actually, I beg to differ.” Martin firmly stated as he walked in.
“While you were back here sitting comfortable in your house letting your soldiers do the work, Leo and I were throw into the heat of the battle.”
“Oh that’s cute. Don’t forget where you stand boy!”
“On equal footing with you. Do not forget you have no authority over me.”
Linda and Leo walked in as Martin took a seat.
“What’s happening?” Linda asked Leo quietly as they entered.
“That big guy with the blonde hair is Darren Dagon. He and Martin don’t ever really see eye to eye. You need to be careful around him though. He’s a bit… agitated… at the Shedan.” Darren eyes darted to Leo and then They widened when his eyes met Linda’s.
“Oh hell no!” Darren darted up and pulled out a dagger. He charged toward Linda. Leo drew his blade and stood in front of Linda. With a swift movement he struck the dagger from Darren’s hand and kicked him back onto the ground.
“Don’t even try it.” Leo warned. “watch your step.” he told Linda as they stepped over Darren. They took their seats next to Martin. Linda sat between the two captains to insure they could keep an eye on her.
“Alright, I’ve seen enough. One more outburst from you Darren and you’re out of this meeting, is that understood?” Connor stated.
“Darren stood up and took his seat, he gritted his teeth.
“Understood.”
        “Ok, so it appears this meeting can finally take place.” Stated Garret.
“Maybe we should start by asking our guest a couple questions, hmm?” Garret suggested. He gave Linda a friendly smile.
“M-me?” Linda asked.
“Yes dear. I understand you must be stressed and scared, but if we get to know you a bit better and you us then maybe you will feel a little more comfortable. Let me start. My name is Garret Wallace, I am the elder of this village and the grandfather of the boy that is sitting beside you. His name is Leo Wallace.”
“I-it’s very nice to meet you Mister Wallace, my name is Linda Baroo.”
“Well it’s very nice to meet you Miss Baroo,” Garret was now making Linda feel more comfortable around the others, all accept Darren, who kept glaring at her.
“My name is Connor Dushire, I am the chief of this village. The boy sitting on your left side is my son, Martin. It’s nice to meet you Miss Baroo.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” She replied.
“Now, could you tell us what you were doing in the forest?” Connor started to question her.
“I was foraging for food and supplies for my home village. I heard some commotion and wanted to go see what it was, but I saw a boy from a rival tribe come through so I hid in the bushes.”
“Was that the boy that attacked us?” Martin asked.
“I’m not sure, I only got a quick glance.” She replied.
“You two were attacked?” Connor asked Martin.
“Yeah, Just off to the border of the forest. Where we found her.” Martin gestured to Linda.
“What tribe are you from, dear?” Garret asked.
“Kenen East, Lillian” She told him.
“Ah, so she is a friendly! Did you hear that Darren?”
“They still violated the treaty, Garret, this means nothing to me.” Darren refused to accept the girl.
“Maybe a trip to her village would prove otherwise? She did say the boy who attacked was from an enemy tribe.” Said Garret. “We can send you, Leo, and Martin there, along with a small party. If you’re correct the three of you should be able to hold them off, is this alright with you, Miss Baroo?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice.” She was starting to smile.
        “Sir, you have a visitor.” A girl came into the meeting room quietly.
“Go ahead and let them in. We’re just about done here.” Connor Told the girl. The girl left and a familiar voice ran from outside the room.
“Ok, thank you.” Martin’s eyes widened.
“Dad, there’s something I forgot to tell you!”
“Can it wait?” Connor asked.
“Well, you’re about to find out” Martin replied. Sarah stepped into the room.
“Hey Dad.” She said, she smiled brightly.”
“Oh, Sarah!” Connor got up to hug his daughter. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”
“Well I couldn’t find you, I would’ve been here sooner but the scouts were giving me trouble.” Leo chuckled a bit at her statement.
“Thank you Leo.” She sarcastically stated.
“What did you do?” Martin asked her.
“Well, after the Shedan attack began, I handed her over to the scouts. It’s not what I did, but who I handed her over to.” Leo Started.
“I didn’t think much of it until now, because I was preoccupied. I didn’t realize at the time but it was Bruner, Joey and Lawrence.” Leo’s Story was gaining the attention of everyone.
“Bruner is afraid of bugs, Joey enjoys practical jokes, and Lawrence goes along with what he’s told.” Leo stated.
“They spent twenty minutes checking my hair for ticks because one of them said they saw one.” Sarah interrupted angrily. Her eyes shifted to Linda, who seemed to be entertained by the story.
“Is that one of the Shedan we have a treaty with?” Sarah asked.
“Don’t know, the others seem to believe so, but I don’t trust her.” Darren stated.  He was leaning back with his arms crossed and eyes closed.
“Oh… alright then…” Sarah replied.  “So what’s your name?” she asked Linda. “Linda, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled at Sarah.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Alright everyone, we should go ahead and decide what we’re doing, all those in favor of heading to Linda’s tribe?” Connor asked.
Everyone accept Darren raised their hand.
“Ah, what the hell?” Darren said. “I’m in.”
“Alright then, it’s settled. Go get your things ready boys, I’ll call in a small party for you to travel with. I believe Miss Baroo can guide you to her village?” Garret inquired.
“Yes sir.” She said.
“Alright sir, I’ll go grab my things.” Said Darren. He sighed and left the room.
“And Miss Baroo,” Garret started. “Would you Stick with Leo? If he was caught off guard by an attack, I would like to have a mage that would be able to heal him.” Garret smiled at her.
“What about Martin?” She asked.
“His things are here, this is his home after all.” Garret replied.
“And, Mr. Wallace, I don’t think I ever mentioned being a mage.”
“It’s alright dear, I can sense these kinds of things. I’m not the village elder just because I’m old!” Garret Laughed at the small joke he had
“Well good luck you three!” Sarah said. Martin, Sarah, and Connor all exited the room, Martin left to go prepare.
“Well, I guess we should be on our way. Let’s go” Leo said.
“Ok, I’ll follow.”
“I’ll meet up with you two in a bit, I forgot I need to go discuss something with Connor.” Garret stood up and left after Connor.
“Ok, I’ll see you later Grandpa!” Leo shouted, he left the back room and headed to the front door. When he turned around and realized Linda wasn’t behind him, he turned around and headed back.
“Hey, are you coming?”
“Oh, yeah!” she said. She had been examining the room. She seemed intrigued by the artifacts that Connor had stored in there.
“Ok, well let’s go.”
“Alright.” The two left the back room and headed for the Front door.
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        “So, Linda, What’s your village like?” Leo asked as they walked down the street.
“It’s not much to talk about. It’s not as big as this village. We have a couple shops and some scavengers, like me, but that’s about it.”
“Oh, really? To be honest this village isn’t very big either. Well, at least not compared to the towns and cities near the capital.”
“You know, you’re awfully friendly for a captain.”
“Oh really? How so?”
“Well, you aren’t barking orders at everyone and throwing your power about like you rule the place.”
“What makes you say captains have to be bossy? Besides, I don’t really have any power to throw around. I’m just fast.” Leo admitted.
“Oh. Well where I grew up, the village before my current one, everyone was barking orders at each other. Everyone was treated like they didn’t belong. Especially me.” Linda’s tone suddenly shifted.
“Your old village? What happened?” Leo asked
“It was a couple years ago. I was always ridiculed for being completely influenced. I couldn’t become a healer because people feared I was evil and would corrupt them. Everyone was so Cruel.” Her voice was getting softer. “They excluded me from everything, and I had nobody to turn to. I don’t know what kept me going.” Linda tried to keep from crying, her eyes were starting to tear up.
“Hey, relax, that’s all in the past. You’re here now, and nobody’s going to hurt you while I’m around.” Leo reassured her. People starred at them as they walked by. Leo looked back at them with saddening eyes that told the people “Don’t make it worse.”  They turned and looked the other way.
“Hey, I’m sure your family is worried sick about you. We’ll get you back and I’ll make sure everything is ok. Does that sound alright?” Leo was trying to cheer her up, but somehow it seems that he only made the problem worse.
“My family is dead.” She stated. Tears now falling from her eyes. “I was
orphaned when I was twelve. The head mage took me in out of pity, but she was foul.” She wiped the tears from her face. “One day while everyone had gone out of the village to look for supplies, she beat me out of a drunken fury.” She stated. “It continued for years. She eventually broke my arm, she then refused to help me with the pain.” She paused to take a breath. “That was the night I ran away. I promised myself I wouldn’t look back. But I didn’t know where to go, I jus-” She was interrupted. Leo grabbed and hugged her.
“My parents are gone too. Don’t think that you’re alone.” He said. Her cries softened. “My grandfather and Martin are the only people I have to turn to if something is wrong, and I’ve considered running away before, but my grandfather needs help here, he can’t do everything himself, he’s getting old and frail, and if he goes, who can I turn to?” Linda’s expression changed, and Leo released her.
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.” She said.
“It’s alright.
        “You’ve talked about your new village. How did you find them?” Leo asked, trying to cheer the girl up.
“They found me starved and unconscious in the forest. I was weak, I could barely breathe.” She said. “They took me in and nursed me back to health. They taught me how to heal, and how to defend myself with magic.” Linda was starting to calm down. I had a small home there, and I became a scavenger for the tribe so I could help pay them back.”
“So what do you think they’ll say about having a group of Kendred escort you back?” Leo asked.
“I don’t think they’ll mind. We have a treaty, so I don’t think there’s a problem.”
“What if you were to return with your hands bound?” Leo asked carefully.
“What does that mean?”  Linda was starting to get scared.
“Well, knowing Darren, he may try to get them to bind your hands, so I was just wondering how they would react. Don’t worry though, if they do, I’ll loosen them so you can slip out.”
“I’m not too sure that my village would be the happiest, but they’d get over it. But could I ask you a question?” Linda asked.
“Sure.” Leo stated.
“Why are you so trusting of me? I mean we met not even three hours ago and not you’re offering to loosen my bindings.”
“Well… I have no idea actually.” Leo said. “I feel like I’ve known you for years, though. You seem familiar, so that may be why.” Leo just gave her a smile. “But you seem awfully trusting of me too though.” He stated. “Again we met not even three hours ago, and you just told me your life story.” He said.
“I guess we must have known each other in another life.” Linda said sarcastically. They both laughed at the thought.
        “Welp, we’re here.” Said Leo. He pointed to a larger house on the street. They were quickly approaching the property.
“You live HERE?” she asked. “That house is huge!”
“It was originally Martins and his fathers, but they moved into that smaller one and he gave this one to my grandpa. He has a lot of use for the extra rooms too.” Leo explained.
“So what is it you need to get?” she asked. They walked up to the door.
“Let’s see…” Leo started counting on his fingers. “A couple jugs of water, my other katana, and a couple packets of food.” Leo replied.
“So just hiking gear?” She asked.
“Well, primarily, I also need to grab the katana for protection. You need to remember that we were just attacked, and we could still have visitors.” Leo Paused for a Moment. “I also don’t know you too well, I trust you, but I still need to take precautions.”
“I understand.” She replied, she looked a little disappointed. The two walked into the house.
        “Alright, the supplies are in there,” Leo pointed toward a kitchen area. “Could you grab a few jugs of water and a couple packs of food? I’ll grab the rest of the supplies from upstairs.”
“Yeah, alright.” She replied. They heard a knock at the door.
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        “Okay Martin, do you have everything ready?” Connor asked him.
“Yeah, just making some final adjustments.”
“Alright then, I leave you to it.” Connor told his son. Connor left the room to go sort out problems in the village. Martin was preparing in his room for the journey ahead. The room wasn’t much, a small room with a dresser, some shelves and a bed.
“I hope Leo is finding everything ok, why must I be so unorganized?” He mumbled to himself as he rummaged through a pile of litter in the corner of the room. “AHAH! FOUND IT!” Martin burst with excitement as he pulled a sword out from under the rubble.
        “You should really be more careful with where you leave your weapons” His sister walked into the room.
“Hey Sarah.”  Martin looked at her.  “What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Just checking up on you. You literally left a sword laying in a pile of trash, unsheathed, in the open. So naturally, I’m concerned for your safety.” She sarcastically stated.
“That’s reassuring. Don’t have faith in your big brother?” He retorted.
“Well…” She leads on.
“Just shut up.” Martin chuckled and shook his head. He had managed to sheathe the sword and place it across his back.
“Well, looks like I’m set” He stated
“Well then, good luck.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you when I get back.”
“See you later” His sister replied. Martin headed out the door and started his way down the street.
        Martin was making good time; he was almost to Leo’s already. Although Leo didn’t live too far from Martin, between the two houses were a couple of homes, a shop or two, and the town hall, Leo usually preferred a longer route home. He always told Martin and others he enjoyed the walk.
“Surely those two have everything ready.” he thought to himself.
“It’s not like he lives a mile away or something, surely they’ve had enough time to-” Martin froze in his tracks when the house came into view. A small crowd had gathered around with weapons and tools such as swords and axes. The front door had been ripped off the hinges, there were claw marks all along the sides of the door trim. Muddy prints lead into and out of the house
“THAT’S HER!”
“KILL HER!”
“I’LL HAVE YOUR PELT ON MY WALL” Martin could hear people screaming on the street. He could see Linda Laying wounded in the doorway of the house, she had long scratch marks down her back and one on her shoulder.
“SLAY HER!” The riot kept screaming. Martin noticed that they couldn’t get onto the property. There was some sort of barrier.
“What is going on here?!?!” Martin demanded. The crowd turned and looked in surprise.
“The girl, she did this!” Somebody from the crowd shouted. “We can’t get past this damned barrier to anything though. The Shedan mutt has the place sealed off.”
“Where’s Leo?” He asked
“We don’t know. We fear the worse.” Another person chimed in.
“Ok, everyone just calm down.” Martin urged the crowd.
“How can we calm down in a situation like this?”
“She May have killed Captain Leo!”
“How dare you call yourself head of the guards!” The crowd started roaring.
“I SAID SILENCE!!!” Martin shouted. The roar of the crowd immediately died. “Do you people have any brains??? Look at the girl, if she did it, why is she so scratched up?”
“Maybe it was captain Leo-”
“No, look, those are claw marks! Those aren’t the same strike patterns as from Leo’s Katana! Besides, if it was Leo, where is he?”
“Maybe she got him somewhere else.” Somebody stated.
“If that were the case then why did she go to the front door and scratch it up like this? Look at the door! Is been ripped off of the hinges, and the tracks of prints from the door to the yard! This couldn’t have been her!”
The crowd chatted among themselves, and all but a few disbanded.
“Hey Linda!” Martin shouted. She snapped her fingers and the barrier vanished. She tried to stand up but only to fall back down.
“Stay still, I’ll get you!” Martin shouted to her as he ran to her.
“What happened? He asked her as he helped her up
“They… they came for us...” Linda gasped.
“Calm down, just try to speak slowly.” he advised.
“There was a knock on the door… the next thing I knew, Leo was gone and I was on the ground.”  She was staring to catch her breath.
Martin just looked at her, he didn’t know what to do.
“Ok, most dire action first, let’s take you back to the infirmary. My sister can heal your wounds and I can go look for Leo.” He leaned over to pick her up.
“Ahhahh!” She wailed in pain. Martin sat her back down gently.
        “Hahaha, so this is one of the regarded captains? You’re nothing more than just a kid!” Martin heard a voice echo from within the house. Linda’s eyes widened.
“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Martin bellowed. There was no response.
“Martin!” Linda yelled. She got up with a burst of strength and tried to get to Martin. She was then knocked down by an unseen force.
“Gah!” She wailed. A woman emerged from within the house. She had Fox ears, a wolf tail, and her eyes didn’t match colors; One was a piercing yellow, the other a deep blue.
“No no no, Linda sweetie, I’ve taught you better than that.” She walked over to the girl, who was lying flat on the ground. The woman then proceeded to drag a sharp fingernail across Linda’s back.
Linda Cringed.
“Get away from her, you Vial She-beast!” Martin yelled as he charged toward her.
“Tch tch tch, such a shame, you children should really learn your place.” The woman stretched out her hand, and knocked Martin.
“Now, where were we? Ah yes, the runaway.” She turned her attention to Linda, who was starting to try and stand up.
“No you don’t, you aren’t getting away this time.” She jammed her index finger into one of Linda’s wounds. Linda let out an ear-shattering shriek.
“Naughty girls need to be punished.” She said. She grabbed Linda by the neck and pulled her up.
“There was… nothing wrong… with what I did.” Linda said. She spat into the woman’s eyes, who then proceeded to squeeze tighter. Linda struggled: She couldn’t breathe.
Martin stood back up. “I SAID GET AWAY FROM HER!” He shouted.
Martin Drew his blade, and rose his shield. “You just can’t learn, can you, boy?” She dropped Linda and walked straight for Martin, then vanished.
Martins eyes widened, the crowd screamed.
“What th-” He managed to gasp.
“Is this really all you have to offer?.” he heard a whisper in his ear. Martin turned around, slashing at the air.
“I have power you wouldn’t believe. Learn who you’re fighting boy.” Martin turned around, the woman was now standing in plain sight in front of him.
“Cirigni” She said, and extended her forearm.
“Martin!” Linda cried. “I have one chance.” She thought to herself. “It will only be for a short instant, but just maybe…”
“Myro Shell” She whispered, and pointed at Martins Shield.  
A gush of fire came from the strange woman’s hand. Martin rose his shield and braced for impact.
“Huh?” He looked down and noticed the blast was going around him entirely.
“You won’t beat him Claire, He has a hero’s aura.” Linda shouted, she got up to her knees, and clutched her side.
“Is that so? Very well then.” She said. She lowered her hand and stopped the spell. “I’ll Spare you for now, but know this child, there are forces in this world you can’t deal with yourself. Trying to play the Hero, the one who will always come to save the “Oh so helpless” Princess, will get you killed.”  She then turned and Faced Linda, now starting to stand up.
“As for you, traitor, whether you want to or not, you will come back to us someday. Pick your friends wisely.” She looked Martin in the eyes, Smirked and snapped her fingers. She vanished completely in a cloud of dissipating smoke.
        Martin ran up to Linda. He helped her the rest of the way up.
“Old friend of yours I take it?”
“I once thought of her like that. But not anymore.” She said.
“She was the high mage of a village I lived in before Lillian.”
“Oh, well, I’ll have to hear that story in a bit, right now we need to find Leo, do you have any idea where he could be?”
“Well, if Claire was involved. I’d say they heading to…” She gasped. She grabbed Martins arm, and started running.
“There’s no time to lose!” Linda was in a heart-heavy haste running down the road, guiding Martin.
“What you said back there, about a hero’s aura. What did you mean by that?”
“There’s no time for that now!” The sound of a large explosion echoed in the distance. A large plume of fire and smoke could be seen over the forest.
“NO!” Linda shouted. She released Martin and ran into the distance.
“Damn, she’s just as fast as Leo…” Martin broke down and started panting.
        “Dunshire! Where have you been? You were given specific orders to retrieve Captain Wallace and return with us!” Darren ran up to the collapsed captain. He noticed that he had a bit of blood on his hands, and Leo was nowhere to be found.
“That settles it, I’m going to kill her, where’d she go?” Darren started going into an uproar. Martin was panting. “Why am I having such a hard time breathing?” He asked himself. He noticed the girl running off toward the woods.
“There she is!” Darren shouted. He started making a break for it. Darren felt something tug the back of his pant leg. Martin had clenched it as to stop him.
“Let me go runt” Darren insisted, he put his other foot on Martins face. And tried to pry him off. It was getting increasingly harder for him to breathe.
        “What’s all the commotion?” Connor Dunshire ran up to break up the feud. “The Shedan Girl’s getting away!” Darren insisted To run toward the girl, but Martin was still clasping onto his leg.
“Martin, let go of him, Darren, don’t go after her, it will only cause more trouble.”
“With all due respect sir-“
The ground rumbled again. Martin was now gasping for air.
“Martin, What’s wrong?” His father asked him. Martin didn’t respond. His father bent over and started shaking his shoulders.
“Martin. Martin? MARTIN!” Were the last things he heard his father scream before his vision went black.