'I can't breathe here.'
It wasn't really a frantic thought.
It was actually rather calming.
Ralline looked through the pitch black ocean with surprising clarity.
"It's been a long time."
Ralline looked down at the infinitely large eye staring up at her.
There wasn't fear or panic as she looked at the eye.
It couldn't hurt her.
"Since I've had such a promising vessel to house my soul."
Ralline opened her eyes.
"Morning kid." Audrey said. "Sleep well?"
"..." Ralline looked down at her hand and frowned. "Audrey... Why is there a mark on my hand?"
Audrey stiffened.
"Let me see."
Ralline showed the thread and scissors mark to Audrey.
Audrey just stared at the mark in contempt.
"Is something wrong with it?" Ralline asked.
"Yes." Audrey said. "The seal I placed on it can't be broken on it's own."
"What?" Ralline said confused. "Seal? What are you talking about?"
"... This is a Crest." Audrey said. She gingerly rubbed her thumb against the marking on her hand. "It's the Crest that is most certainly the most troublesome to plan around. I sealed it so that we might get some time to practice magic before it started forming a dependency on your magic. Teaching you to move your magic must have triggered some sort of defense the Crest has. Causing it to unseal."
"What does it mean?"
"Well." Audrey said. "It means... you don't exactly line up with fate."
"...?" Ralline looked at her skeptically.
"Imagine that fate is that thread." Audrey said. "The scissors cut fate in ways that shouldn't be possible. Maybe you speak to someone, and that causes them to avoid an arrow that fate wanted to end his life with. It's a dangerous mark."
"What makes it dangerous?" Ralline blinked at her in confusion? "It sounds helpful?"
"Fate doesn't like loosing." Audrey said. "It'll try to get that man through any means. Maybe it's just him slipping and breaking his neck, or maybe it'll be an unavoidable natural disaster."
Audrey sighed.
"It also means half of my plans need thrown out of the fucking window." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't take you to a seer. I can't see your fortune either. It's all random from here on out. Which also means I can't take it easy on you any longer."
"Wait... does that mean...?"
"Yep." Audrey said. "Once we get to the Lenburrow, I'm going to teach you some combat spell weaving."
"But what about the smoke spell?"
"We'll skip it for now unfortunately." Audrey stopped. "Though... I guess that it wouldn't be to different if you learned how to boil water and create steam. All you'd have to do after steaming the food is layer it with salt..."
"Okay..." Ralline said. "But... real combat magic?"
"Real combat magic." Audrey said. "You've got almost half the magic I did when I was your age."
"...Is that a good thing?" Ralline asked confused.
"A very good thing." Audrey said. "It's about three times the amount that most Royal mages have at their prime."
"...How strong are you Audrey?"
"..." Audrey said nothing.
______
Shalt was the faster than most of the country.
His muscular disorder, mixed with speed and enhancing Spell craft Magic made it to where he outstripped everyone but two of the heroes that aided in killing the devil.
Arriving in Lenburrow, he unsaddled off of his horse.
The city seemed normal enough at a single glance.
But the princess life might have been on the line here.
Walking to a knight he spoke.
"I hear there's been trouble around here lately." He lied.
A simple lie that would answer what kind of threats were currently in the city.
"Yeah." The guard sighed. "The damn Foser family."
"Yes?" Shalt asked. "I was sent here to deal with them. May you inform me of their location?"
"Oh... I'll need to see your Identification for information like that."
"Right of course." Shalt said pulling out a platinum disk.
"This is..." The knight said shocked.
"The Acting King is taking everything very seriously." Shalt said.
"Of course sir!" The knight said, now much more attentive. "They're the Royal family living near the northern gate! But be careful! We suspect that they may be the reason that children are going missing, but the Mayor has forbidden action against them."
"Thank you." Shalt said. He started walking before turning around and looking at the guard.
"I'll make sure this is dealt with."
Time to scout.
______
Audrey Pulled to a stop in front of Lenburrows western gate.
"Identification sir."
'Ren' handed the guard the identifications and they were quickly allowed inside of the city.
"Alright Bell." Audrey said. "Once we set up in an inn, We can find a place to start training."
"Alright." Ralline acknowledged
The Inn was a gentle looking place where they quickly rented a room.
"Why'd you rent for the entire week?" Ralline asked.
"That's how long it's probably going to take for you to get accustomed to attack spell craft." Audrey explained.
"A whole week?"
"For a single spell," Audrey said. "And it's going to be a simple one at that, I just need you to not be a burden in battle."
Ralline nodded.
"What spell are you going to be teaching me?" She asked as her teacher spun her staff and somehow set it onto her back. Thankfully the entire staff had been wrapped in blackened leather to prevent identification.
Ralline had a thought and blinked.
"Ms. Audrey?"
"What's up brat?" Audrey asked.
"Do you have a crest?"
"..." Audrey said nothing for a few seconds, having gone still. "Yeah... Yeah I have a crest."
"...Are you alright?" Ralline said confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No it's just..." Audrey said. "People usually receive their crest through... extremely traumatic experiences. And they can be very personal."
"I-I'm sorry." Ralline apologized.
"You're fine Ralline." Audrey said. "My crest though... I rather ignore it. It's a burden and I don't feel like sharing it with you."
"...Okay."
"Good." Audrey said. "Now let's go get some food from a stall or something. We're gonna be training for a hell of a long time tonight."
______
Shalt stared at the Royal family.
'Filth.' He thought to himself as he watched two sisters bully a peasant. He calmed himself and wrote down the observations. Every occurrence that he saw they would answer for.
Following them, he reached their home and followed them silently inside.
They finally left their door unlocked.
Stupid ch-
Shalt stopped that train of thought as he heard a scream of pain.
Silently Shalt followed the noise.
Entering a literal dungeon, Shalt found an underground prison.
He was thoroughly disgusted by what he saw.
Children, from living to rotten corpses, littered the cells.
He stared into the eyes of a dead child. Silently he killed the rat that was chewing on her foot.
He went to turn when he went completely still.
"Please... don't go..."
Horrified he turned around.
She... wasn't dead.
"I don't... want to die..." She whispered.
'How is she alive?' Shalt asked himself. 'Her heart isn't beating. She's not breathing... A rat was eating her...' His eyes softened. "You're an..." 'Undead.'
Her eyes widened. "Please don't kill me."
"You've already died child." He whispered. "I'm sorry."
He pulled his hand away gently. "Please..." She cried pathetically. "I'm not a monster... I'm still me..."
...
Shalt turned back and faced her.
"I'm coming back for all of you." He promised. "I swear. I just have to get rid of these people..."
"Really?" The little girl asked, her dead eyes full of hope.
"I swear it."