***Fiona***
Fiona and Oswald sat at the side of the road behind Boots, who was laid prone just at the edge of the ridgeline, his eyes locked on the small wood in the near distance.
Fiona was looking at Oswald who was fiddling with a small piece of parchment.
"So ah, Oswald," Fiona began.
"Hmm?" Oswald said, looking up.
"Who are you? I've not seen you around before, you don't come from Fenniton do you?"
"No, you're right, I don't," Oswald said with a mysterious smile, "I'm an apprentice at the Tower of Radiance actually."
"A Mage!" Fiona exclaimed with a sharp intake of breath.
Boots's ear twitched but he remained fixated on the woods on the road.
"Well not yet," Oswald said, slightly embarrassed, "but I hope to be."
Fiona had never met a wizard before! How exciting, even if he was just an apprentice. It was not uncommon for people to have magical powers, probably around forty percent of felinians had a small aptitude for it. Only around five percent showed any degree of skill, even then, to be accepted into a Magus tower as an apprentice to learn from the masters was a really rare occurrence.
It was just a fact of life that even very gifted people may never reach their true potential because they were never given the opportunity to study, or even aware of how gifted they truly were.
How many great musicians never played an instrument? How many authors never learned to write? How many artists never picked up a paintbrush? Without the opportunity to realise potential,, these people were simply lost to history, without ever leaving their mark.
Fiona thought that it was all, rather sad. She looked sheepishly at her paw and considered her own wind magic for a moment. Could she be somebody like that? Would she ever know?
She looked at Oswald slightly differently now, surely he must be from some noble family.
She inspected his attire; he was wearing a dark green tunic with a black cloak and hood. The was an embroidered emblem she couldn't quite make out on his chest, over his heart. He had a brown leather satchel on a strap and a long dagger at his waist. A brown wide brimmed hat sat loosely on his head. He wore grey cloth trousers and ankle high boots.
Overall, he didn't look poor, but he didn't look noble either.
"Ahem," said Oswald, nervously clearing his throat, "I know what you're thinking, the answer is no, I'm not some noble's son, I'm a commoner."
Fiona raised a suspicious eyebrow in response.
"Up until around three years ago, I was a street urchin, in the capital."
"You lived on the streets, in Javos?" Fiona replied, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
"Yes, but I was lucky, very lucky," Oswald said, looking distantly towards the horizon for a moment, "I was taken in by my Master, after it became apparent I had an aptitude for dark magic."
"Dark Magic!" Fiona said with surprise.
Boots's ears twitched again, but he remained dutifully at his post.
Of all the magical persuasions Dark and Light magic were said to be some of the most difficult to use, Fiona was unsure of the exact reasons why. Something to do with the immense amount of focus required to control it. But still, it would have been extraordinary enough to meet an elemental mage, Fiona was in the presence of a much rarer breed!
"So, what can a dark mage do? Can you like, steal away people's life force? Can you summon evil spirits? Do you have to be evil? You don't seem that evil…" Fiona said playfully with a hit of feigned suspicion.
"Well, ah, no" Oswald said sheepishly, "a common misconception, dark magic is actually remarkably similar to light magic, the reverse actually. By manipulating magicules in the space around me I can redirect or remove light. Currently I am at a level where I can create a blind spot in a single opponent's vision, or I can completely blind a group of people in a small radius. Although I must stress that when I use that ability, I remove all light from my immediate proximity, so it also blinds me.."
Fiona tried to hide the disappointment from her face as a small gust of wind blew between them.
"I'm still learning," Oswald continued, quite embarrassed, "later on, much as light magic gives way to healing magic, dark magic at the higher tiers will give me access to some pretty powerful curses, though I suppose I shouldn't be too excited about using them." he finished with an awkward chuckle.
"Oh…cool." Fiona said, almost patronisingly.
An awkward silence descended.
***Boots***
Boots focused his attention on the woodblock intently, only half listening to the conversation behind him.
The woods seemed quiet, but as the sun started to creep its way towards the horizon, he caught the occasional faint glint of metal. He strained his ears for the sounds of chatter but could only catch faint traces. There was still too much ambient noise, birds were singing, the wind was blowing and the ongoing conversation about magic was slightly distracting.
However, Boots was almost certain there were soldiers in those woods.
He needed to come up with a plan.
The fact that no search party had left the woods had confirmed his earlier suspicion that his quarry had limited forces to spare.
Perhaps ten soldiers or less.
Ten verses three.
Although Boots had to admit; he wasn't sure of his companions fighting prowess.
Fiona was confrontational, certainly. But she wasn't a fighter.
Oswald had some abilities it seemed, but he had allowed himself to be captured earlier.
'What to do…' Boots groaned internally.
'They cannot fight square on, but they could cause a distraction…'
The orange glow of a campfire appeared between the trees in the wood.
Boots saw it clearly.
He smiled as an idea slowly started to form.
***Oswald***
Oswald sat twiddling his thumbs uncomfortably.
He felt like he'd disappointed Fiona with his meagre skills.
He was still learning! It wasn't his fault he wasn't a Master Mage yet! He was only sixteen! Some people would think the fact he was able to do any dark magic at all was incredibly impressive.
Oswald sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
He felt the crumpled parchment in there.
'Is this all part of your prediction Lucia?' he thought to himself, looking at Boots for a moment.
Boots was still staring intently at the place he believed the Snatchers to be hiding.
'How could he be so sure of himself all the time?'
He was probably a knight or perhaps a mercenary. Although he didn't dress like either. Perhaps he's left his armour at home?
Although he didn't seem the type to do something so careless.
Oswald wished he had confidence like his. Ever since he'd found himself in the tower he'd felt like a fraud. There were so many talented people there, from such prestigious backgrounds. He was just a street urchin who got in on the charity of his master. He didn't feel like he belonged there.
"The enemy have shown their hand." Boots said eagerly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Fiona and Oswald exchanged an expectant look for a moment. Before turning their attention to Boots.
"What do you mean?" asked Oswald.
"A campfire has been lit, look." Boots gestured towards the woodblock.
Oswald and Fiona moved over to Boots's spot on the ridgeline.
Oswald couldn't make anything out at first, the sun was still up, just barely. But as he strained his eyes. He could just about make out a faint glow in the woods.
"I think I see it!" Oswald exclaimed.
Fiona on the other hand appeared to be having a hard time seeing what they were talking about. Her eyebrows were furrowed in a scowl, as she tried to make out what they claimed to see.
"I can't see anything at all. I'll have to take your word for it I suppose." she said with a hint of resignation. "What's the plan supposing they are over there anyway? There's only three of us Boots. I'm in no hurry to die, you'd better have a plan!"
Boots smug smile returned.
"Don't look so smug!" Fiona said, pouting and pinching his cheek, "I can't stand that look on your face."
"O-ow! Okay!" Boots said as he wiggled free from her iron grip.
Boots moved away from the ridgeline and the other two followed his lead.
"This is what I'm going to need you to do…"
***Roman***
The sun had finally set and darkness had descended upon the camp, save the small area around the campfire that had been set up earlier.
Roman sat uncomfortably in his cage, working away at loosening his bonds.
His captors, the ones that were not posted on sentry duty at least. sat around a small campfire in the centre of the camp.
He strained his ear to listen to what they were talking about.
"Boss, I don't think he's co-"
"Shut it!" Magar snapped at the mercenary, "We prepare as if he is. I told you this earlier."
Magar let out sigh as he squeezed his temples.
"What do you want us to do if he doesn't show up Boss?" Garv asked timidly, clearly not seeking to anger his senior.
"If he doesn't show…" Magar considered for a moment, it appeared that the thought of this warrior not showing up hadn't crossed his mind.
"… if he doesn't appear then we will go home at first light Garv. We will take this lot to the exchange and never speak of him again." he spat bitterly on the floor as he finished the sentence.
"I see." Garv nodded his head solemnly.
There was a small murmur that spread through the group of mercenaries.
"And that goes for all of you too!" Magar said raising his voice, "this didn't happen." he stood up sharply, kicking some dirt towards the fire in the process and headed towards his tent.
Silence briefly followed until he was out of sight, then the chatter picked up again.
The general consensus seemed to be surprise.
They had never seen their commander act this way, or so it appeared to Roman.
With a small snap and a rushing sense of relief, he felt the rope finally break behind his back.
His hands were free!
This was no time to celebrate however, a guard was too close for that sort of thing.
Now he just had to wait for his chance.
A quick nod from Simeon confirmed that he too, had released his bonds.
'Lets just hope this guy shows up.' Roman thought to himself.
'CRACK!!!'
As if on cue, a huge crack emanated from the forest. Followed shortly by the sound of a tree falling.
"TO ARMS!" A roar came from the gaggle of men, they quickly picked up their spears and headed towards the disturbance.
Magar flew out of his tent.
"Wait! You fools!" he shouted after the quickly departing group, "You! You and you!" Magar managed to grab three of them before they blindly rushed off.
"Protect the camp!" he briefed his men quickly, "Garv, go with the others and seek that vermin out."
Magar then quickly withdrew to his tent, presumably to arm himself.
'Tsk' Roman tutted, it seems the commander managed to regain some semblance of control after all. He was hoping to make use of the chaos.
One look at Simeon told him he'd had the same idea.
"Psst! Hey!" a sharp whisper came from behind them.
"Wha-"
"Get away from the door!" said Fiona in a hushed tone.
"Fiona?" Roman said with disbelief, what was his sister doing here?
"Hi Roman!" she said with a cheeky grin.
Suddenly, it got a whole lot darker.
"AAAaaaah! I'm Blind!"
"I can't see!"
"AAAAAAH!"
Screams came from the direction of the campfire and Roman looked back. He could just about make out what appeared to be a massive black dome in the centre of the camp.
"What the frog is that!" Simeon exclaimed, as if reading Roman's mind.
'PING!' the lock snapped, and the cage door swung open behind them.
He turned once again to see his little sister holding the family wood axe.
"C'mon Roman! Don't just stand there with that stupid look on your face. Help me free the others!" she said with urgency.
What on Arca was going on?