Arcane Innovator

It was almost dawn when I saw the familiar sights of my old village. I paused at the edge of the forest, resting my tired back against the mighty trunk of an ancient tree, panting heavily.

I ran through the forest for hours, only making a few short stops along the way to catch my labored breath while relying primarily on the rejuvenating qualities of my essence to keep me going.

Looking cautiously across the dark silhouette of the village, I exhaled with relief as, so far, there were no signs of any pursuers. But I knew I couldn't afford to relent, not yet, as it wouldn't be long before the soldiers showed themselves.

I had no doubts that I would be able to take them on as, by now, I had almost wholly replenished my sizable reserves of essence. Still, I couldn't afford to take any unnecessary risks.

Not when my parents are close by, and they could very easily come into harm's way. However, as I entered the familiar road running through the middle of the village, walking toward my parent's house, I couldn't help but pause a bit.

I knew I had to warn them quickly, but on the other hand, I would also have to break to them the horrible news about Helga's death. This burden weighed heavily on my heart, slowing me down.

After all, it was I who convinced them to allow my sister to move into the city and put her well-being into my hands, and in the end, I let my parents down in such a disastrous way.

But then I released a heavy sigh as I steeled my resolve. 'Well... if they want to be mad at me, they must be alive first... I can't bear the thought of losing them, too.'

Thus, with dire urgency, I hurried the rest of the way until I finally stood in front of the plain, unassuming doors that brought back so many memories.

Everyone seemed to be still asleep, which didn't surprise me as it was very early in the morning. Still, I couldn't wait for my family to arise on their own, and instead, I loudly pounced on the creaky doors in front of me.

After a while, the door slowly opened, revealing my mother's drowsy face. But then her eyes widened as she took in my disheveled appearance, and she regarded me with a deep frown.

"D-Darian! What happened to you?"

"Hello, mother..." I greeted her, showing a weak smile. "We don't have much time, and there is something important I have to tell you..." I hurriedly said, and without waiting for her response, I pushed past her before collapsing on a nearby chair, overcome with exhaustion.

My mother looked at me with an apparent worry etched on her sleepy face as she quickly closed the door behind me with a soft click.

I looked around the room inquisitively and instantly spotted the burly figure of my father coming into view.

"Darian! What happened? By the gods, you scared us..." Father said reproachfully.

I also noticed Rolf standing in the background, but when my oldest brother saw no apparent danger and it was only me, he seemed to have lost any interest and, with an annoyed grunt, went back to sleep.

I looked at my parents apologetically, but no words came out when I finally gathered my courage and opened my mouth to explain myself.

I lowered my head down, smiling self-deprecatingly. 'How pathetic...'

I hurried all night long to save my parents with everything I had. But now... I can't even look into their eyes and tell them the truth.

By now, my parents seemed to have noticed something was very wrong, and they came closer, obvious concern painted across their faces, yet they kept their worries to themselves, not pushing me to speak, and instead waited until I found my own words.

Seeing such kind consideration brought me out of the depths of my internal struggle as I clenched my fists tightly, steeling my resolve.

Then, without further delay, I cleared my parched throat and weakly proclaimed.

"Helga... is dead."

They both blinked a few times in confusion, seemingly struggling to understand what I was saying.

"W-What did you say?" My mother grasped Father's shoulder for support as she looked at me with empty eyes.

I realized that after I had just told them, I couldn't beat around the bush anymore, so I promptly began telling them what had happened to me last night, with, of course, omitting the gruesome details.

After I was finished, I could see the confusion in my parent's faces slowly turning into shock and then utter horror.

My mother couldn't endure it any longer, and she collapsed into Father's embrace, quietly sobbing.

"I couldn't save her..." I continued, my voice barely above a whisper. "But we don't have any time to mourn. We have to leave this village. The Count's soldiers are after me... and they will be here before long."

My father's face hardened. "We can't simply leave. I'm sure we can reason with the Count - he is reasonable, and he will hear you out. After all, you did nothing wrong..."

I couldn't help but chuckle, listening to my father's naivety. "They wouldn't let us live long enough to see the Count in the first place... Not to mention, the Nobles will find a way to blame me for everything that happened back there."

"Still..." My father replied, seemingly still trying to cling to any remaining hope of resolving this peacefully, not wanting to admit we were long past this point.

"Father..." I interjected quickly, trying to come up with something that would convince him. But in the next moment, I tensed up as I overheard a faint sound of heighing horses. 'They're already here!'

I signaled to my parents to keep quiet as I ran up to the door, opening it just a tiny bit to see what was happening outside.

The house was built on a slight hill overseeing the whole village, so I could clearly see the large group of riders gathered at the village square.

Luckily, they didn't seem to know where my parents lived, so they were forced to dismount their vigorous horses and head first toward the Vogt's residence in the center of the square.

I had no idea if Myra's father was currently in the village, but I knew for sure that there was no love lost between us, and he wouldn't be coming to our help anytime soon.

Thus, with dire urgency, I turned toward my scared-looking parents and whispered. "The soldiers are here... We need to get out now! Gather your belongings and meet me behind the house as soon as possible."

I used my most authoritative voice, which gave no room for any further discussion, so although my parents still seemed very reluctant, they didn't argue any longer and simply nodded and began to frantically gather anything of value around the house, which was not much.

Father also woke up Rolf hurriedly, whispering something to his ear. Personally, I didn't care about my dense, indifferent brother one bit, so if he, for some reason, didn't want to leave his precious forge behind, I wouldn't be bothered trying to convince him.

Still, Father wouldn't budge, and after a short, intense argument, I could see Rolf hurrying toward the smithy to gather his beloved tools.

I, too, slipped out of the house and cowered behind the nearby fence as I observed the soldiers moving about the square.

From what I could see, it appeared that the Vogt wasn't here, and his poor servants, whom they dragged out of their beds, only stared at them in utter confusion.

The young Captain of the hunting party proudly sitting atop his horse in richly decorated armor seemed to have lost his patience, and he loudly barked out some orders in clear annoyance.

I didn't catch what it was as they were still too far away, but shortly after, the soldiers separated into small groups and began searching the houses one by one, slowly advancing toward my position.

'Time is up...' I realized and then sneaked away toward the back of the house, where I, with relief, noticed that my parents seemed to have finished their preparations.

Thus, without wasting a breath, I hurriedly pointed toward the Forest's dense foliage some distance away behind the house, and we began running away.

We jumped across the small stream, continued over the meadow, and finally into the Forest itself.

After we disappeared under the shadow of the mighty trees, I signaled for my frightened family to keep running as I stayed near the edge for a while longer, looking back toward the village to see if someone had noticed our escape.

I exhaled in relief as, so far, there were no signs of any pursuers. But as I was preparing to follow after my parents, I saw that in the distance, a thin column of smoke began lazily rising over the horizon right where our old house was supposed to be.

With a heavy heart, I quickly realized that there wouldn't be any place for us to return to.