The Death of Arvinia

You are awakened by the feeling of grass on your toes. As your eyes begin to focus, your vision gets filled with an endless sea splitting the horizon. The smell of grass wafts through the air, and a strange sense of nostalgia fills your heart. You walk forward steadily feeling the grass turn into gravel and then to sand. You feel a flick of water on your toes just before you're swallowed whole by a ferocious sea. Instead of panic you feel a sense of wholeness, And an Endless calm fills your mind as you drift mindlessly. Your body seems to be pulled by something, gravitated towards some unknown source. 

You gain the realization that you have no need to breathe, but it doesn't seem to bother you. Now heading towards the depths of this grand sea you see countless forms of life; something about this feels all too familiar to you. Like a dream you've had on repetition for years. You mindlessly make your way to a cave deep within the ocean. Endless passage ways you float down until eventually you're going up instead of down. You breach through the surface of the water and make contact with air. It fills your lungs, and you gain a deeper sense of comfort.

It's dark. Actually It's almost perfectly pitch black, but you can see everything clearly.

You walk down long windy tunnels and find your way to a dead end. Soon you feel your body become light and your skin seems to turn translucent. Without the slightest hesitation you feel your body drift into the cave wall in front of you, but you don't make contact. You know your inside of a wall yet you don't feel conflicted. After a mere second you breach through and you find yourself in a delicately carved passageway. As you walk down, your mind hears the sharp call of a rooster, and a splitting headache seeps in. You feel yourself slip away, and you get the inexplicable feeling of a connection being broken.

*****

Reg woke up from an entrancing sleep to a small stone room, and a bed of cotton. Next to him on his nightstand was a melted candle. It had been a few weeks since he had last reshaped it and he decided to do that today along with his other chores. Reg is currently in an apprenticeship with a somewhat known blacksmith so he tended to have a lot of chores. Reg got out of bed carefully and made sure to fold the corner of his blanket back in place. He walked over to the window and undid the latch swinging the delicately carved wooden doors open. It was dark and the early rays of the sun were just visible over the horizon, you could smell that the last days of spring had arrived. Reg dressed himself in a cotton tunic and leather work pants, both of which had long stopped fitting well. Afterwards Reg went down to the kitchen to start the mana-stove. 

Reg lived in a kingdom named Seairgone. Two years ago something astonishing happened. Something that awakened the people of this kingdom to their own isolation. You see this kingdom is located, or more accurately encompasses an island. This island is approximately 90 miles long and 45 miles wide. To most in the kingdom this seemed to be the entire world. Two years ago a sailor by the name of Gosford Di'Saridon landed on the north-eastern shores of Seairgone, quickly spreading tales of vast lands and oceans outside the realms of everything they've ever known. Quickly trade was established between Seairgone and a few other nearby kingdoms. This brought things like new technologies, sciences and new philosophies.

Reg's apprenticeship with his master was quite a fortunate thing for Reg. Now he wouldn't have to worry about his future. Reg had started his apprenticeship seven years ago at the age of nine. He had been told that his parents had worked very hard to acquire it, and he felt completely indebted to them for it. Truth be told though he doesn't remember a thing about his parents. Apparently he had gotten into some sort of an accident sometime after the apprenticeship and everything before that is a blur. He had adjusted to this life well, the tasks were grueling, and the training was even more so, but somehow he had found enjoyment in it all. 

While eating Reg starts on a question far too familiar to the both of them, but his master cuts him off. "You know I don't have any form of contact with your family, how would we see them"?

"Then when am I going to get to meet them"? Reg responded bitterly.

"Just focus on your training for now. You will learn about them when the time is right. Reg begrudgingly dropped the topic. "You know today you'll finally get to make weapons" He continued slapping Reg on the back. Reg distracted by the idea of this new development quickly perked up.

"Really"? Reg asked, astonished. In the past Reg had only been taught how to make minor things like nails and tools. Moving on to weapons was a big deal to Reg.

"yeah I suppose you've been picking everything up well enough, no harm in getting you into some real smithing. Don't get too excited though because from now on training is going to be twice as hard." his master replied with a hardy laugh. 

After cleaning up from breakfast they headed to the smithy. It was his master's smithy and it was quite well established. They walked a few blocks on dirt roads until they reached a much more populated part of the town they lived in. They ended up in front of a tall gray building made primarily of iron and marble. A beautiful sign aged to a slightly rustic silver adorning the grand entrance to this mystical building. The sign read "the hazy smithy". At the entrance of the smithy was a small shop selling various inexpensive trinkets and weapons. There were however a dozen or so more elegant looking items. These items were comparably much more secure, fastned down in magical glass showcases. The shop was primarily managed by Reg when his master didn't require him in the actual smithy. That being said the source of income from the smithy came primarily from custom orders.

Further to the back of the shop, past the counter, stood a large iron door. This door held the contents of the smithy within, and after pushing it open your eyes are filled with various tools and other stations all covered in soot evidence to the daily efforts. At the center of this massive smithy there stands a large and despite the soot beautiful furnace now lifeless. There is a set of tasks that Reg had grown used to in order to best assist his master with the daily orders. Over the past two years however there had been a slight lack of orders due to new magical weapons spread across the market. This didn't affect him and his master much though considering his masters weapons have always been coveted throughout the land. It did mean that there was a considerably smaller workload.

After several long hours of fetching tools and sharpening edges they had finished the orders for the day. This meant that the time now was for reg to start his first lessons on weaponsmithing. The actual training however was somewhat tedious and anticlimactic. He had the entire process for most of the weapons step by step committed to memory already, but his master still felt the need to teach each step practically and perfectly. The part that most fascinated Reg, and the part he was most anticipating was mana forging. 

The understanding of mana in the Seairgone kingdom was severely lacking, and there were no simpler schools that taught or studied its implication or effects. In fact for much of seairgone's history mana in any form was outlawed. This however changed a few centuries ago when seairgone's previous king died and the current king started his reign. All that Reg knew about mana is that it can slightly alter some of matter's properties, and that it can for a short time energize matter. These were all things he had heard from other people and he didn't really know the implications of it however he had seen it used countless times in the forging process. He watched as his master hammered away at the blade of a nearly finished weapon. He could feel the energy pulsing from his master into a special mallet, and then forcing its way into the very being of the blade honing and strengthening it.

Reg recalled the first time he had asked his master about this sensation. His master at the time seemed shocked hearing the question, but he quickly regained his composure and gave him a hearty laugh. "When I strike the blade with that special mallett, I'm pushing my mana into it, increasing its strength, and sharpness. That pulsing sensation you described is simply mana. You see mana exist everywhere, but when people control mana they are collecting lots of it from within themselves thus making it easier for you to detect. Does that make sense?" His master explained. At the time it didn't make a whole lot of sense to Reg but now after feeling it over and over it seemed pretty simple. Actually over the past 8 months or so he and his master have incorporated mana training into their usual training.

Of course mana forging was a much too complicated skill for Reg so in practice today he wasn't even allowed to attempt it. He did however get taught a few implications of mana control and how to imbue mana into materials such that it takes on the specific properties that he seeks however much of what he learned flew directly over his head. After practicing smithing came basic training, mana control, strength training, and the like. He did a large portion of training and the adventurers guild which to an adventurer seeing a blacksmith train in such a way was quite bazaar. If Reg was being honest he had always admired the adventures, but he knew that to go down such a risky, and ruff path when he already had a life laid out for him was idiotic. 

After a long session of training Reg felt exhausted. He freshened up a bit and prepared dinner all the while though his head seemed to be in a dazed state. He didn't even make it to his bed before passing out. Just like every night Reg fell into a deep sleep into the same sort of trance however this time instead of endless calmness he felt a sense of misery, and dread.

*****

You're awakened by the cold touch of stone against your feet. The air is stale, and musty yet still carrying the scent of the ocean. All of a sudden you remember where you are. It was the castle whose stairs you climbed countless times. This time however you aren't climbing the stairs; you're descending rapidly as if to escape from something however you can't tell what. You finally reach a familiar dead end and just as you approach it you feel a piercing pain spread through to your shoulder blade. You turn translucent and rush through the wall, and as you finish slipping through you hear yells at your back. Racing purly off of adrenaline you keep going staggering once again into the ocean. You swim and you swim trying to get away from whatever it is, but you can tell it's still chasing you. As soon as you see the shores a moment of relief is enough that all of your collective exhaustion hits you at once and you pass out. 

You wake up gasping for air. "Same nightmare again?" Sashia's voice comes from the other side of the room. 

"Only had it on repeat for the past seven years" you reply bitterly. 

"Guess you can't forget that type of trauma so easily huh." 

"You think?" you respond slightly annoyed. 

"Why so pissy? You on your period or something?" she teased

"Spectors don't get periods" You reply harshly.

"Half specter"

"Well it's not like I've had one yet" 

"Don't discount it yet. There might be a reason that you have those parts" You roll your eyes pushing past her to get yourself dressed for the day. 

"So what quest do we have lined up for us today" you ask 

"Well it's a special quest, but it doesn't seem too hard and the rewards are great." she replied "You know we don't take special quests there too risky, we can't draw too much attention to ourselves" you rebuke. 

"You're right, but we're low on money, we can't keep going like this." she said with a pained expression

"Fine we'll do this one but tomorrow is back to picking herbs okay?"

 "Deal".

"So what will we be doing?" you ask. 

"It's just a small escorting gig. We just need to escort a noble 10 miles north to Gale; he'll provide us with horses to get back. 

"What's the reward?" you ask. 

"50 gold total," she says. 

"For such an easy job that's kinda suspicious" you say with eyebrows raised. 

"It's fine I've heard he's a rich noble, also that road has seen a lot of bandits as of recently so it's not a strange amount. Plus we could live off of this alone for a few months" she explained. 

"Fine but if we see anything suspicious we turn tail, got it?" 

"Got it" she replies happily.

You take to your usual route through the dark alleyways hidden by tall stone buildings heading directly towards the guild. You enter a large flashy building with a sign of crossed swords hanging from it. As you enter you're immediately hit with yells and laughs as the canteen is bursting with excitement, as usual. You head towards the attendant and ask to see the noble you're supposed to escort. She leads you toward the back of the building where you see a dozen or so well armored men next to a plump noble. The attendant quickly introduces you "this is Count Sam el ven the third'' after a simple introduction she scurries away busily.

"Well well well is this the last of the guards?" the count said with a disgusting grin. Immediately after one of the guards whispered something to him and his face froze in excitement but after a moment he regained his composure. "I guess that's everyone so we'll be setting off in ten minutes after finishing some preparations. Make sure to get yourselves well acquainted with everyone. Wouldn't want any mistrust now would we" The count said with a mad grin.

On the way there you can't help but complain "Sasha I don't trust this guy he's got a dumb face and it's making me uneasy". 

"I know I don't like him either, but we gotta get through this. No reason to have to move again over something so stupid" she responded. 

"You're right I just can't wait for this to be over" you reply. After about three and a half hours you arrive in Gale you're both immediately paid in full and are allowed to borrow the horses to ride back. About an hour into the ride you both realized that the quest was already finished. 

"See that wasn't too bad" Sasha said with a wide grin. 

"Wait till we're back to celebrate." 

As if on cue an arrow planted itself in the dirt a few feet ahead of them. The horse immediately spooked, kicking them off its back and running away. Bandits came from every corner of the forest around them, one of which spoke in a disheveled manner 

"Drop your weapons and come with us, we won't hurt you unless you fight back". 

"You distract them, I'll get us and exit," you say calmly. Sasha with full confidence, steps forward and asks 

"How long did it take you to come up with that sentence, big guy?" 

Dumbfounded, the bandit stared blankly at his companions before stuttering out a sentence.

"You think you're tough shit. I'll kill you". 

"Oh no! What are you gonna do?" she laughed. Meanwhile, energy was swelling within your body. You grab Sasha by the wrist and pull her to your side. Just like that you both disappear from sight; in actuality though you're both still there just it appears that the others can't see you. Internally, you know that you can only maintain the spell for about five minutes and you won't be able to use it again for a few hours. You know you need to get as far away at this time as possible. After the five minutes pass you have run three quarters of a mile away and you feel you can relax a little.

"Do you know where we're headed? If they find out about us then we're not safe to stay here anymore." 

"I have an acquaintance in a town near here. He should be happy to hide us for a little while". 

"Oh a new tid-bit of your past? Who is this person?" Sashia asked with a teasing smile.

"He was an old friend of my parents from when they were still adventurers. His apprentice is the one that stole my name"

"Oh so I finally get to meet that person?" 

"Hey I haven't even really met him yet, it'll be a first for both of us" you responded.

At this moment a feeling that should never be described as nostalgic ruptures from your back. You seem to lose your feet as you fall numbly Sasha grabs you as you fall. trembling as she calls to you "Aria.. Aria I'll.. you're going to be okay.¨ 

"Run" you squeak out hoarsely just before falling unconscious.

*****

Reg shoots out of his bed in hysterics, blood is regurgitated from his throat. His master quickly grasps for his hand, a look of misery skewed upon his face. "Child, what did you see?"

"I don't know I..I." 

"It's okay child take your time and try and calm down". Reg regained his breath and slowly explained what he had experienced including the repeating dream before this, as he talked though the color was slowly draining from his face. A look of understanding registered on his master's face. 

"Do you know where you were approximately?" Regs' master asked. 

"We were traveling on horseback for about an hour. We were traveling directly south from Gale towards a city called Bellcrest. After that we cut kinda at an angle a bit east of south." while Reg said that the light in his eyes had slowly been draining, but he felt desperation in his soul beginning to swell up. "We need to find her," he muttered. 

"We will Reg. I need you to come with me. You should be able to guide me." 

"how?" Reg started to ask but as he did he felt a strong impulse like a string pulling him to somewhere and a look of understanding crossed his face. They set out on horseback and Reg started guiding them towards their destination.

Meanwhile on the other side of the forest Sashia had had an intense anger tied to her face, Her eyes inhumanly sharp. The group of bandits from before started circling them. The anger grew in sashias eyes knowing that the only thing she could do is run but even that would end up fatal. As her eyes grew progressively sharper her pupils turned to slits, and she grew multiple times larger as her fingers developed feline claws, and leopard spotted fur breached out from her skin. Now standing close to eight feet tall her muscles bulged even through the thick layer of fur. Sashia lets out a booming roar energy etched into every corner of this ravenous noise. The surrounding bandits each seem shocked, trembling and falling to their knees, some even bleeding from their ears. Only the bandit leader found his feet enough to stay upright, his piercing gaze aimed solely at the newly formed beast. Sasha grasped Aria taking off into the direction they were traveling before. She ran with every fiber of her body winds swept by.

Not even a minute had passed and all of a sudden her fur stood on end and a dark cloud formed directly above her following her as she ran. "Dammit '' she screamed, placing Aria on the ground and rolling away, right after lightning surge throughout her body searing her nerves and boiling her blood. Inhuman roars and screeches were heard as Sashia fell to her knees gasping for breath. Shakily she forced herself to stand as she walked back over to Aria leaning down to take Aria back into her arms once more, but as she did the leader alone burst through the brush crossbow in hand. At this moment Sashia was now facing an impossible situation. How to best protect the now helpless Aria whose time was now seemingly limited, and at the same time avoid an arrow to the back. 

However helpless it felt, Sashi was determined to protect the only thing left in the world she still cared for. Leaving Aria on the ground, mana once again swelled deep inside Sashias throat as air filled every inch of her lungs. Before she could make use of it though an arrow pierced deep into her left shoulder instantly breaking her focus. At that moment an incredible amount of blood lust could be found in Sashias eyes, as a deep crimson filled her irises. Her shoes exploded and her claws dug into the dirt. Bursting forward with incredible speed her claws arching with the sole purpose of impending themselves into the bandit leader's neck. Just before Sashia came into contact with the bandit leader though two of the underlings intercepted from the sides. Sashias claws dug deep into the soil stopping her before the bandit's Swings could connect. The claws on her right hand drove into the left bandit's neck. Blood spewed from his artery and the color in his face was visibly draining. Just then the other bandit took the opportunity to drive his dagger into Sashia's spleen. Overtaken but the pain Sashia's face changed, completely taken over by blood lust. 

At this moment her form shifted again. She grew and fully took on the form of a giant leopard. On all fours she now stood at a gargantuan 9 feet tall. The bandit who had just stabbed Sashia fell to his butt trembling. He turned around trying to run away, but Sashia in a now berserker state stomped out the life left in him. It was then that the other bandits arrived now clad in protective gear, and there seemed to be a lot more of them. In the back there was a group of five mages already group-chanting a long spell. In the front the bandits collected in a seemingly well practiced formation five or so bandits held sturdy with large shields and behind that were half a dozen bandits holding short swords. Behind them were about 8 archers with arrows at the ready. 

"You think I wasn't informed on how to deal with you? Not that a beast like you can understand me anyways" the bandit leader said with a cheeky grin glued to his face. Sashia having lost control to her bestial instincts could not in fact comprehend what the bandit leader was saying, and she couldn't care much about the other bandits activities. She broke out in a berzerk clawing and biting the bandits closest to her. The bandits that got attacked however stood hard against these brutal attacks and while they could not stay grounded many of them could stand back up to take it again. Meanwhile the bandits with bows had begun letting their arrows fly, landing upon Sashia in the near dozens. Sashia's hide was now much stronger though and could take much of the impact. None of the arrow tips could pierce more than a centimeter into her skin. This however did cause slight hesitation in Sashi and let the bandits swordsman move in to atack. Sashia regained her footing before they could strike and with one swipe through half of the approaching bandits away with deep claw marks across the chest. This did not stop the other half of them as they furiously swiped at Sashias leg and side. A roar escaped her mouth once again, and just as she was about to attack again the mages had seemed to finish chanting.

A complex magic circle appeared beneath Sashia's feet and metal chinese emerged from the ground rapping and pinning Sashia to the ground. Sashia had tried to resist fighting against the chains that bound her but it was no use; she was powerless to stop them. It was at this moment though that a large war hammer swung through the air landing in the space between Sashia and the bandits and splitting the battlefield in half. A large bearded man with bold facial features stood nonchalantly in the center of the small crater caused by the war hammer. Peering at the battlefield a look of understanding crossed his face. 

"So what part of the army do you serve" the man said 

"I don't know what you're talking about, we're clearly bandits. More importantly, who the hell are you?" 

"Who am I? The name's Amarith but most people know me by a very different name. Either way, they must not be taking this mission all too seriously. If they've only sent you guys i mean." While he said this he picked up this massive hammer and swung it effortlessly as if it weighed that of a small stick. A large hole appeared in the center of the bandit leader's stomach. He fell down dead pure shock was the last thing left on his face. The other bandits started to recognize what level of a foe they now faced. The bandit's formation broke and the mages ended their spell, some tried to run while others froze in place. In the next moment heads started rolling on the ground. Bloody screams where the only noise left that could be heard.

At the same time Reg with no strength left in him had already fallen off the horse that had stopped near Aria. At this point Reg was hardly conscious, fully driven by instinct he pulled himself closer to Aria inch by inch. When he finally made it to her side he grabbed her hand. Energy circulated through both of them. He felt his cells revitalize and any blemishes that he had started to heal. He had started to regain consciousness and that's when he had seen Arias flesh starting to heal around the arrow grotesquely climbing around the wooden arrow shaft. When he saw this he bit his lip letting go of Aria's hand. Instantly he felt his life draining once again, and he grasped the shaft of the arrow ripping it out of Arias flesh. As he did so he felt as if he was ripping it out of his own body. He writhed in pain now grasping once again for Arias arms, tightly gripping her hands he once again felt the relief of that potent swirling energy moving through his body. Minutes later he peacefully fell into a deep sleep, or more accurately a trance.

The other side of the battlefield was an absolute massacre: blood formed puddles and corpses lined the ground. Even still a look of annoyance formed on Amarith's face "I guess a few got away. We're going to need to be much more careful from now on." he mumbled to himself. He strode over to Sashi who was still furiously biting heavy chains, a look of concern flashed across his face. Sashias body was littered with deep gashes and wounds and she was bleeding profusely. "In this state do you have a shred of human consciousness? Can you even understand me?" he asked rhetorically. When he got close Sashi furiously swiped at him. Decisively he leapt over the giant leopard striking it in the back of the neck. Sashia fell limp and her body began to revert back to being that of a human. Seeing that amarith quickly took off the cloak around his waist and placed it on the now bare Sashia. Now a look of annoyance crossed his face as he sat cross legged on the ground near Reg and Aria. "And now I wait" he mumbled.

*****