The World of Strife

After the initial sense of lightheartedness passed, I found myself sandwiched between the two women's rearing scrutiny. Aria took a tactical position in front of my bed, her back leaning against the wall, arms crossed as she continued to stare at me silently.

Meanwhile, Camilla took her place next to my bed, on my left. Sitting down on the singular chair stored within the room. I was holding the edges of my blankets as I kept glancing between the two.

Listening in on their conversation explained quite a bit, and I felt relieved to know that Camilla didn't seriously intend to push me to the gallows, which must have been the ancient equivalent of throwing someone under the bus. Still, witnessing their previous argument and all the events leading up to it... Well, let's just say the atmosphere was tense.

Besides that... I was feeling really uncomfortable in my current state. Ignoring the bandages and my underwear, I was essentially naked under the blanket. A circumstance that was not an ideal start for any potentially heated arguments.

I gulped slowly, trying to herd my wandering thoughts into a cohesive structure.

Before any of the girls could restart their arguments, I managed to find a question that was both important and could distract them from their previous argument.

"Oh... right! What about the battle? Did we win?" ⎯ Seeing how neither of my friends was dressed in a different attire, and only marginally cleaned themselves up, I deduced that the battle didn't end a long time ago.

Both women winced at hearing my question, then looked to the side. My stomach tightened at the sight of this. What could have happened?

"Is everything alright? Did we lose more ground?" ⎯ I asked, fearing for the worst.

In the end. It was Aria who answered. ⎯ "No, we did not lose more ground, fortunately. Quite the opposite, our advance was fruitful, thanks to your heavy participation and the eventual arrival of the cavalry. We managed to break the siege of the invading forces. Those shards you created cut through hundreds of soldiers, ripping them to shreds and halting their advance. Playing a crucial part in our victory. Thanks to all of those things, we managed to take back the outer gate, with a surprisingly low number of casualties. Successfully driving off the enemy forces."

I released my breath, hearing the suspiciously good news compared to the general tension in the room. ⎯ "Then why the long faces?" ⎯ I asked, already knowing that I would regret it later, even so I wanted to get over the bad news.

Aria paused, clearly struggling with how to continue.

Camilla decided to take over the conversation after some awkwardness, and with a strained smile, she started. ⎯ "There is no easy way to say this, Selora... but... it seems that the capital was not the only city that was attacked." ⎯ She coughed lightly, trying her best to stay professional as she continued. ⎯ "Nor were the dwarves, this is... something on an entirely different scale." ⎯ She whetted her throat again before finishing her words. ⎯ "The capital didn't even suffer the worst of the attacks. We keep receiving various reports of destroyed settlements and razed outposts. It's war, an all-out war. The forces of darkness are spreading across the deep just as they do on the surface. The northern forest that makes the border between the cursed lands and us is burning as we speak, and the armies of the wood realm struggle to keep the flow of darkness at bay. Much like we do here. The wood elves sent out a magical warning to all nations: A new great war is at our doorstep, and to contain the forces of chaos, we must unite. They call an emergency meeting among the races of the realm of light."

I blinked, my mind racing as the weight of the realization took root in my heart. My eyes dulled with a sense of resignation as I turned to Camilla, voice becoming thin under the strain. ⎯ "So soon... I believed that we had more time, a lot more. I am not ready, neither of us is..." ⎯ I said wishfully, hoping against hope, that this was all, but a bad dream, even though I knew it was bound to happen. I prayed to have more time to prepare. What the hell am I going to do with my meager powers against opponents like that woman from before? I shook my head, my expression strained with the terrifying memory. No... There was nothing I could do against such power, not now and not in ten months.

I decided to shove that fear into the back of my mind since there was nothing I could do about it, and focused on the present once again. ⎯ "It's terrible..." ⎯ I said matter-of-factly, my voice more curious than surprised. ⎯ "How could they prepare such a large-scale invasion without anybody noticing the signs?"

Aria stared at me, a long, scrutinizing gaze. She might have stared for minutes or mere seconds. I wouldn't know, as I was too consumed by my own thoughts at the time. She seemed to realize this and finally spoke up, her eyes narrowing dangerously at my petite form. ⎯ "You don't seem surprised?"

I nodded numbly. Still trying to process the immediate consequences of this war.

Aria stared at me, her eyes growing wider with disbelief, seeing my antics. She nodded slowly, but clearly unconvinced as she added snidely. ⎯ "And pray tell, when and where did you come into possession of this knowledge? Is it possible that you intentionally missed alerting us to this? Like you did on many other occasions?" ⎯ Aria's voice felt distant as she spoke those words.

I sat silently. Not denying nor agreeing with her words, which seemed to set her pants on fire.

She continued, her nostrils flaring in silent fury. ⎯ "It is true that we managed to break the siege on the city, and the invading forces retreated, for now. Unfortunately, smaller cities weren't so lucky. Some are still under siege, while others might have fallen to the forces of darkness." ⎯ She sighed heavily, and our eyes met as the woman spoke in a soft voice.

"It is unbecoming of me to dwell on the past, a futile endeavor. I remember now clearly. You said that you were sent here for a reason." ⎯ I paled at the reminder, but she didn't give me the time to gather my thoughts. ⎯ "I will ask you only once, Lora and I want you to be honest with me. Who sent you, and why?"

I closed my eyes and released a long sigh. I expected this question to appear; it was not so easy to get rid of Aria's scrutiny after all.

I opened my eyes and looked at Aria, her pure blue eyes glinting in the magical light of the room, something that filled even this hidden segment of the gleaming city of Bal Dorahl. A city that was so similar to that of an unpolished gem. It's rough, crude outlines marring a surface that hid an unbelievable treasure, and every city's greatest treasures were its people.

I narrowed my gaze and pointed my own question to Aria. ⎯ "Why do you want to know?"

This seemed to surprise the woman, making her falter in her momentum.

I pushed on. ⎯ "Is it only to satisfy your curiosity, or do you intend to corner me with another one of my truths?"

Aria sputtered, leaning away from the wall in silent shock as she suddenly stood ramrod straight. ⎯ "Selora... It's not what you think, I only looked out for your safety... and..." ⎯ She struggled with the words. They didn't sound genuine. We all knew they were not entirely true.

"I understand." ⎯ I said in a flippant tone. ⎯ "You wanted to isolate me from everyone else, so I cannot harm them with my evil magic." ⎯ She flinched, but didn't deny it this time. ⎯ "I can hardly fault you for doing the logical thing, Aria. I merely find it unjust that neither of you considered my perspective on the matter, and perhaps I expected a bit more trust after all the things we went through together. I might have expected too much and too soon. I am indeed a filthy blood mage, but beyond those fancy words and titles, I am still the same person you spent the majority of the last month with." ⎯ I sighed, seeing how both women tensed up, looking increasingly more uncomfortable.

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Aria momentarily lost expression seemed to fill out with fresh determination in the wake of my words. ⎯ "I want to know it... because... I want to help you." ⎯ My eyes widened at the blatant declaration, but that didn't faze Aria. My eyes caught a metallic glint in the air, and in a moment or so, I found a pretty necklace with a red container landing in my lap. I immediately recognized it, and my eyes grew into comical circles. I glanced up at Aria, feeling speechless, just in time to catch her words. ⎯ "There is something... strange about you... I have noticed this since the first time I laid eyes on you back in that dark elven camp. I was already prepared for the worst, and I knew that there would be no easy way out. Then you were brought in along with Camilla, unconscious and battered. Yet, I felt a connection. Your presence, beaten as it was, radiated in the darkness. Surrounding you with silent power." ⎯ She paused before continuing.

"Since then, every time I thought about leaving you and going home. I felt a sense of forboding." ⎯ She huffed. ⎯ "When I realized that you were a blood mage. I believed that it was my instincts telling me that you are dangerous. My reason to stay beside you was to make sure you didn't ruin yourself with your foolishness. ⎯ "Now, I am not so sure anymore, either way, for one reason or another, fate wills me to stay by your side." ⎯ She paused shortly before adding a few more sentences. ⎯ "Seeing as you barely blinked when we told you the news, regarding the beginning of another great war, paired with all the things you accidentally said in the last couple of weeks. I can only assume that you already knew what was about to come. I want to know who told you this, who could predict that the tides of darkness once again will threaten to consume the world."

I nodded to Aria, accepting her answer while gently placing the necklace around my neck. Considering my options, I glanced towards Camilla, noticing the wry smile frozen on her expression.

"What about you? Are you still going to give me over to the guards?" ⎯ I asked her half-seriously, half-teasingly.

She shook her head before adding similarly. ⎯ "Nope, I won't! I swear on the lives of my grandchildren!" ⎯ She intoned, copying my own words cheekily.

I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief, witnessing her shamelessness. ⎯ "I am starting to understand what Aria felt when you dropped that pissing joke on her after that incident in the cave."

Aria bristled, a sharp blush blooming across her cheeks as she coughed in a weak attempt to cover it up. ⎯ "You girls are never going to let me live that down?"

I smiled at her, ominously. ⎯ "I might consider it if you stop being a control freak."

Camilla chuckled at that, while Aria only sighed with resignation. ⎯ "Noted."

Camilla snorted, hearing Aria's reaction, she started with loud bravado. ⎯ "If we are going to get killed anyway, might as well die fighting, right? Sure, count me in, girls." ⎯ She coughed, wincing under Aria's stare as she instinctively widened the space between them. ⎯ "Anyway, who else can brag about having a blood mage as their companion? Now that I think about it, isn't it a lot better to have them on our side? This arrangement isn't that bad after all. Anyway, adventuring is a lot less of a fruitful enterprise when there is a full-scale war on the loose."

I nodded. ⎯ "I see... I guess then we are done with getting each other scared shitless."

She snorted. ⎯ "Yes, I guess so. I didn't enjoy imagining myself being sacrificed either..."

I sighed. ⎯ "You do realize that I didn't do that intentionally... You, on the other hand, have gone over the roof. I really thought I was going to get executed."

Camilla glanced at me silently, then seemed to decide that staring at the floor was a better idea. We stayed like that for a few seconds before she added in a sheepish tone. ⎯ "Ugh... for what it's worth... I am sorry. I didn't quite know what got into me... I was just so terrified of dying..." ⎯ She gulped, scratching her head in a frustrated motion.

"Damn... at first I really wanted to give you off to the guards... I was just so angry and felt... betrayed." ⎯ Aria gasped, hearing Camilla's words, which were quite the opposite of what she told her in their previous argument. ⎯ "But then... seeing the way you refused to fight me no matter how I provoked you, just to fall asleep on my back..."

The human lass eyes darkened as she relived those memories while explaining herself. She shook her head, saying. ⎯ "All of a sudden, you went so still, I thought you died... I put you down, started shaking you, splashing water on your face, all that... but you didn't even flinch. The guilt I felt then... I thought it would hollow me out." ⎯ She hugged herself halfway as she continued her words.

"When I looked at you, lying there... completely unresponsive... I realized, blood mage or not... You were still the same person... You were still just the stupidly gullible, idiot girl-Selora I know of." ⎯ Camilla visibly struggled with her tears as she braced herself. ⎯ "I felt so much shame that time... I-I wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside it, then seal the top..." ⎯ She chuckled mirthlessly. ⎯ "Alas, I couldn't do that, since I needed to get you to a safe place... I promised it to Aria after all... So, I went to the first place that came to mind..."

She glanced around the dilapidated little room, taking in the cobwebs and layers of dust. ⎯ "I used to spend a lot of time here, whenever... When things didn't go as well as they should have. I spent weeks here... trying to put myself together, time after time. Unlike what some people keep saying... it never got easier."

She sniffed, drying off some of her tears... ⎯ "I am a bit of an impulsive idiot... if you didn't notice by some miracle. That's what my old team kept saying to tease me." ⎯ A ghost of a smile lingered on her face for a few seconds before it dissipated into nothingness. ⎯ "This time, though... I wasn't going to mope around... I... I hope you don't mind, but I needed to undress you to clean your wounds and stuff... your clothes are already drying, so it shouldn't take long before you can wear them again. We are both girls, so it shouldn't matter... uhm?" ⎯ Her wandering gaze accidentally met my own, immediately noticing how red my cheeks were. At least to my amusement, after her realization, Camilla's face quickly matched the exact shade of red. Her eyes sneakily passed along the shape of my body covered under the blanket, before catching herself and looking aside, frustratedly.

"W-w-whatever... you are flat. So d-don't get ahead of yourself... booty elf." ⎯ She harumphed, crossing her arms under her chest as if to emphasize her superiority.

I hesitantly glanced down at my own pair, as a sense of inexplicable dread came over me. Then just as quickly it passed on, leaving behind nothing but a thick sense of incredulity and wonder. Am I starting to seriously turn into a woman now? I pondered the thought for a passing second, then dragged myself back to reality.

My eyes turned back to the increasingly uncomfortable Camilla; her face was getting redder with the passing seconds.

"Did you just call me a booty elf?" ⎯ My voice contained all the incredulity I felt hearing the childish yet strangely insulting phrase.

Camilla struggled to answer due to her embarrassment.

Fortunately, she didn't have to, as Aria's amused if grounding voice split the awkward silence that followed my earlier question.

"Girls... if you are done with your competition... Can we get back to the cause of our arguments?" ⎯ Her eyes turned to me sharply as she pointed her question at my throat.

"What is your purpose here?" ⎯ I blinked, taken aback by the specific wording of her question.

"Purpose... you say..." ⎯ I took a deep breath, trying my best to calm my racing heart. ⎯ "Funny you should ask that way..." ⎯ I admitted thoughtfully. There was something exact about that wording. I could tell that it was not a mere accident, not with the timing and certain Gods running rampant around this world.

There wasn't going to be any better sign than this.

I made up my mind. Alone... I could not stand in the path of this darkness. It was clearer to me now than anytime before; even with all the powers that the gods granted to me, I was but one elf. There was no more time to twiddle my fingers. The war had already begun. It will not stop until the entire world is reforged in blood and steel, or consumed by the darkness for all eternity.

A chilling thought passed through my mind, a forboding premonition of a potential future. Were I to walk away from here now, then I would come to witness all of creation, undone. A flashing image of an armored elven man sitting on a throne forged of human-like bones appeared before my inner eye. His figure cast a long and dark shadow over the world of Rixa, and in his shadow, there was only death, pain, and suffering. The man didn't know mercy, didn't know pity, nor forgiveness. His blood red eyes sparked fires that burned forever, leaving only ash and bones behind.

As my inner eye took in his horrifying visage, the man's gaze seemed to have found my own. A shudder of terror passed through my body, seeing the wide, bloodthirsty grin that parted his battle-scarred features.

"Found you."

My vision dispersed into nothingness as the distant laughter of the man echoed in my mind.

"Run... as much you can, spawn of light... There will be nowhere to hide soon. Your world, as you know, is about to come to an end."

I was back in the present, my skin running cold with fresh perspiration.

I gulped, then panted out the words under the confused stares of Aria and Camilla.

"Lord Axis... it was the God of Creation who s-sent me. He is my patron..."