“So, the way I see it, these visions are either the past or future, and are more likely to be the first case. That said, I think the most likely scenario is that the ‘impact’ you felt at the end of that fight was teleportation, and that's why you were in the forest of Pristella.”

“I haven't thought about it like that. But even if I was teleported like you said, that doesn't really explain why I'm always in a different body in those scenarios.”

“Hmm…”

Luci and I were discussing my current situation. My visions are becoming too elaborate to pass off as random hallucinations anymore.

“I really don't know… I've never heard of this before. We'll just have to wait until your memories come back on their own.”

“Yeah. It's unfortunate, but you're right.”

“Sorry I couldn't help.”

“No, it's fine. I'm the one who dumped it on you first thing in the morning. Let's just forget about it and move on. The Guildmaster requested us.”

“Right.”

With that short and mildly upsetting conversation over, we got our equipment together and headed downstairs to breakfast. Rick was already there, so after we ate we made our way to the Guild. Gina let us pass to the meeting room in the back - we've been here a few times already when we discovered the sub-variants of Shadows - where the Guildmaster was waiting.

“Good. You're here. You'll have to get going soon, so I'll make this quick. A village in wolfkin territory is under attack - basically their capitol. I've sent for you because the enemy is an army of Shadows. Thousands of them.”

“Thousands!?”

“Yes. An organized army of them. The village is barely holding out. You are to escort a caravan of supplies to the village. The attack is coming from the north, so you should be able to slip by without much combat. Once the wagons arrive, your quest is completed, and you may return. However, I personally ask you to stay and defend. If you do so you will recieve extra rewards.”

“Understood. We'll stay in the village and join the defences.”

The hardened warrior's previously grim face grew a smile upon hearing my answer.

“You have my thanks. I await news of your success. You are dismissed. Proceed to the northern gate as soon as possible.”

I nodded as I stood, and my teammates followed suit. We knew the drill by this point. Luci broke the silence as we made our way to the gate.

“You made the right choice, Mira. She must be really attached to her hometown. I can expect we'll see some good rewards after a personal request from the Guildmaster.”

Luci's tone helped brighten the mood a little. “Yeah, that's for sure.” 

The smile that grew on my face quickly receded, however. After all, we were technically going to war. The Guildmaster said that they were organized, but honestly, after fighting so many of them, I have enough experience with their tendency to attack anything that isn't one of then to know they could never put together a proper unified front. Yeah, this is probably going to be more of a large scale slaying quest than a war. That thought put me at ease a little, but not much.

We arrived at the supply wagons and boarded them. There were three of us and three wagons, so one of us rode with each. Rick was at the front, Luci in the middle, and me in the back. Of course, they were filled with supplies - likely weapons and rations - so each one only had a single driver. We set off as soon as we were seated.

The first part of the trip was boring - for a lack of better words. The driver next to me tried to make small talk at first, but even that didn't last long because I needed to stay on the lookout. Not only were we headed into an area already confirmed to have enemies, sightings every have been more common lately, so as the person in the back of the convoy, I had to keep my eyes on the sides where the others couldn't see. Luckily it should only be a six hour trip.

I noticed the first group of enemies only an hour in.

“Enemies! Three o'clock!” 

I made sure to call out where I saw them loud enough for everyone else to hear, and I jumped off the wagon with my katana already in hand.”

“Divinity.”

There were only ten of them, so I could easily deal with them myself before the wagons even stopped completely. I could hear Luci start to respond from her cart.

“Where!? Oh! Rick, to the east!”

“Gotcha!”

Hm? I was sure I said where they were. Guess not. Just like I thought, I had taken out all of the Shadows in just a few seconds. It didn't look like Rick and Luci even bothered to jump down, and the caravan only slowed down so I could catch up and jump back on my cart before speeding back up. 

One hour later, there were more of them. This time there was a Brawler and a group of Darkwings. I called them out, and quickly ran to Luci to cast Divinity on her bow before I used it on myself. I cut down the Brawler first, making sure it couldn't attack anything, then I blitzed throught the rest of them. Luci shot down the fliers. We returned to the wagons - which had stopped this time - and we set off again.

Another hour passed, letting me recharge the little mana I spent before another fight. It was the same as last time, only the fact that there were about three times the amount of the previous. This time there were enough I couldn't cut them all down before they could fight back, so I had to put in extra effort to dodge and counter. Even using a Burst to get away from the swing of a Brawler. The screeching of the Darkwings was all I could here in the midst of this horde, but shortly after I finished up on the ground, the winged beast ceased their mindless noise and dissolved into the air. This battle marked the halfway point of the journey.

Another hour, another fight. Once again their numbers were multiplied, adding Stalkers into the mix this time. Fed up with the constant attacks, I used Light Javelin from the cart to wipe them all out.

The fifth hour of the journey came, and with it came no enemies. I took the time to regenerate as much mana as I could before we would arrive in in the next hour. Unfortunately, when we were close enough to the village - about ten minutes away - to see small plumes of smoke in the sky, a massive horde blocked the road. There were hundreds of them, if not one or two thousand. My driver following behind me when I ran to the second carriage in the line.

“Is that the army attacking the village!?”

“Maybe… Mira, use Divinity on me, then get over to Rick. Have him come back here once he's buffed, we'll defend the carts while you do your thing.!

“Okay. Divinity!”

Luci's bow started glowing, and I could see white streaks through the sky as I ran and she shot down the fliers. I reached the front wagon in only a couple seconds.

“Rick, get back to Luci! Divinity!”

“‘Ight!”

The driver of this wagon had ran back to the others before I had gotten up here. With everyone grouped up, defending will be easier for them.

I sprinted forward, summoning another Light Javelin as I went. I ducked under the low-flying noise machines; my ears taking more damage than anything else from the nearly deafening sound. Taking down the first of the grounded enemies, I knew I was close enough, so I jumped.

With a well-timed Burst at my feet, I propelled myself into the air. Swatting down as many Darkwings as I could while taking minor scratches from their attacks, I began chanting the incantation for Purge. I had improved significantly with my multitasking like this. Halfway through my casting, I reached the peak of my arc, and through the spear into the middle of the horde, right where I should land. I added some extra mana into it to give it the explosive effect, but I held back some. I only needed a clear space to land, Purge would handle the rest. 

I braced myself for impact as my spell was almost ready, and I let loose the moment I hit the ground. Unable to cast two spells at once, I couldn't weaken my fall with Burst. Of course, I had to take the full force of the fall, which wasn't too high, but it was high enough that my legs snapped beneath me when I landed. I collapsed to the ground, feeding Purge as much mana as I could while making sure to save some to prevent me from passing out. It'd be embarrassing if I took out this many enemies - I could hear the simple creatures running towards me for an easy kill before evaporating in the light of a 4th tier spell - and then was killed by a random straggler. 

While I couldn't see the spell expand, I could hear the Shadows burning further away from me than when I first cast Purge, telling me my efforts were successful. Fortunately for me, I wasn't crippled for long. Depending on how much mana is put into casting it, Purge will have a secondary effect of healing wounds to the same degree as Restore. My legs were techincally healed as soon as they entered the light, so basically immediately after they were broken. I still decided to lie down on the ground as I listened to the Shadows dissolve. 

I could hear them throwing themselves at me less frequently every passing second, until I stood back up as my spell dissipated. There were still a few of the less-agressive Stalkers remaining, but Luci took them out soon enough. We boarded the wagons again, and set off on the final stretch. The stone walls of the village - which should really be called a city, with it being about as big as Lithhelm and all - were visible on the horizon. The driver beside me spoke up. It must've been hard for a wolfkin like him to see the city he likely grew up in under attack like this.

“I just left to Linthhelm a week ago, and I'm already coming back here. Let's just hope there's enough of Lexica to come back too…”

“Yeah…”

Lexica. That must be the name of the city then. When we entered, the atmosphere was tense, but it didn't look like there was a battle within the walls. We split off from the supply wagons and headed to the northern wall, where we could see soldiers gathered. Something tells me the horde I just fought wasn't the ‘army.’

Arriving at the top of the wall, I was right. What I saw was a force with enough numbers to easily earn the name of an army. The Guildmaster had said there were thousands. My eyes saw more than one million.