Even quicker still, was Yuki grabbing my torn arms midair, and reattaching it with a quick chant of magic. Then, she held onto my neck and whispered to my ear, "Do you wish to live then, Mr. Zegrus?"
I screamed, for how loud, lord, did I scream, "Yes!" Despite all the acceptance of my fate, I am given a choice here. And my choice is to live.
I heard her smile, and scoff. Then, my body felt as if it was air, and for a brief second I lost my vision.
When I came to, I was running with Yuki. Her hands were tightly held to my wrist as we weaved through the crowds. Trying our best to be with them so that the orcs that followed. It seemed that even then, the orcs cared much for public safety, or perhaps to not make a scene.
Through bated, panicked breaths, I asked, "H-hey! Why don't you just do that teleportation thing you did earlier? You know?! When we were falling?"
"I'd love to reserve my energy just in case we get into another scuffle. And I suppose you don't have any ideas other than fighting them?"
"We can't do that, here at least."
"Exactly. So we'll stay here until we get to safety."
Safety. At least I know we were running to somewhere, and not simply hoping to stumble upon anyone that could help. For now, I put my trust in her.
The chase eventually led us to an alleyway. It stank, like any other alleyways in a city, and yet it still felt distinctly clean, and well managed. It remained dark though. I suppose nowhere in any city can fully light up every crevice.
We caught our breath in that alleyway as the orcs seemed to run past us, "Haah… I suppose now we should do our actual introductions, Zegrus."
"Was earlier in the station not formal enough?"
"That was formal. But you never told me what you could do."
"Oh. You wanted to know that?" I flicked my hand and from between my fingers came a knife. It was small, made for cutting butter, but it could slash at least, "I can make knives. But only within the reasonable size of my palms."
"That's all?" She tilted her head, confusedly, "Surely someone who learned projection magic such as yourself would be able to create other various things than knives? And within a far more reasonable size than the size of your palms."
"I don't know what to tell you. This is really all I know."
She sighed, "Then perhaps you can, at the very least, assist me."
I looked at her, confused, "With what?"
Then, she pointed above us, where three orcs looked down at us. They stood on roof sides, and surveyed our movement. Knowing we were at our wit's end, then, they jumped down. The force of impact in their fall sent a small shockwave beneath our feet, and a crater where they fell.
"Better keep up with your magic now." Yuki said, as she fired a bolt of fire from her wand. It cut through the sword of the orc and shot off its arm. It yelled in agony, yet charged towards us still.
I held my breath, and summoned a knife. I charged towards the orc where it fought back still. Even with one arm, it still remained formidable. It grabbed the knife that fell with his other arm, and clashed blades with me. I pressed my advantage, weaving towards where it had a missing limb as I continued to slash through its skin little by little. Each slash was followed by a grunt of pain, until finally, I found an opening. It slashed widely, as I ducked under it. I swung my knife overhead and cut cleanly through it forearms. And with a quick motion, I maneuvered towards its neck and sliced it off.
I felt exhausted, and it was only one enemy. Yet the air smelt of rancidity, of smoke and blood. I forgot in that adrenaline rush to look after Yuki. Yet as I turned around, I saw the signs of struggle, of a fight. Yet it didn't feel like one, it was a one-sided affair.
"Terrible, minions of Grak'thur. Tell him, once you reincarnate in your dastardly forms once more, that simply exhausting my mana isn't enough to stop me from getting what I want! For I remain the greatest! Most powerful witch in all of Takamagahara!" She fired those bolts of fire with each word in her monologue, concluding with the projection of a seal in front of her as she casted a final spell towards it. From the seal came a beam of pure light. It disintegrated the orcs to their bone, turning them into nothing more than ash.
She panted. Of course, it meant only that she exhausted herself, and her mana. I rushed towards her, "Are you alright?"
"It's manageable, of course. Who are you to doubt me?"
"Nobody. Now, let's go to that safety you mentioned." I helped her up as we walked together outside of the alley. I suppose that brief scuffle allowed us to get the remaining orcs off our trail, but still, there were way too many in the surroundings. And the best we could do is avoid being spotted.
She led me through the streets. And that calmness finally allowed me to properly survey the world I found myself in. It was close to the cities of the outside world, of course, other than the fact that mythical creatures held only in storybooks now coexisted with the humans around. They wore the clothes of humans, drank and ate like them, yet still retained their ideal forms. Elves remained elves, dwarves remained dwarves, orcs remained orcs. I even saw a goblin sitting by the wayside somewhere, with his little pet drake.
I suppose that's what's normal in this world. Fifty years isolated from the outside gave them a reason to coexist, to stop fighting. And yet, knowing that some orcs still followed after us, the people Yuki called 'Minions of Grakthur', it seemed as though this world isn't all that peaceful, "You've yet to formally introduce me to this city."
"That comes later. When we're in more peaceful times."
"Then I hope for that time now." The quiet snow of the city fell onto our arms. In the distance was the light of a gigantic Christmas tree. It was the plaza, and it seemed most people in the area were walking towards it. I suppose Christmas arrives in only a few minutes.
It's a holy night. And so, "Follow the crowd. The Night Parade awaits at the plaza."