A sleeping figure lay on the grass and as a cool wind blew across their face, they gently began to drift into consciousness. Slowly they opened their eyes, as they did so they were caught by surprise at what they saw. A vast forest stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see. It seemed that they had awoken on the side of a hill in a small clearing, in the centre of a vast sea of green.

“Where am I?” He asked himself.

As soon as he did so he realised that he had no recollection of where he was, or how he had got there. He racked his brain for any memory of how this had come to pass, as he did so he realised it was more than just how he had got to this place that he had forgotten… He didn’t seem to have a single memory at all, nothing. Just as he had begun to panic, a vision of a face flashed across his mind.

“L…!” He instinctively tried to call out.

The name that belonged to the glimpse of a face that his mind had teased him with only moments before, faded just as quickly as the vision had. He was hit with a sense of unease, for some reason he felt that he had been here with someone who was extremely important to them only they were now nowhere to be found. As he tried his hardest to recall the name that was on the tip of his tongue mere seconds before and his sense of unease only continued to grow. It was as if he had never expected to wake up, ever. He was sure he had forgotten something major, something that should have been unforgettable. What could have possibly happened for him to be surprised to have woken at all? He checked over his body for any sign of injury but found none. He wasn’t in any pain, in fact he felt surprisingly good, considering the situation he now found himself in. As he processed what was happening to him, he came to a realisation that he needed to find a way out of this situation and most of all he needed to find her.

“Hey! Hey! Somebody!” He called out.

There was no response, so he decided to call out once again.

“Hey! Is there anyone there!”

This time there was a response to his call, but it wasn’t at all what he was expecting. Somewhere off in the distance, out in the sea of green there was a loud and strange growling noise. The sound instantly sent a shiver down his spine. He had no idea what kind of animal the growl belonged to, but he instinctively knew that it sounded dangerous. He jumped to his feet, his heart already beginning to pound from the pulse of adrenaline circulating his system, as he began to furiously scan the area for any sign of the animal that could be the source of the sound. At first, he could see nothing, but a moment later a large and dark figure loomed out of the tree line at the base of the hill. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing as the creature seemed to be a strange cross between a large bear and a wolf. The creature stood up on its back legs once it cleared the tree line and sniffed the air. It only took a moment for it to work out the location of its prey. As soon as it had done so it dropped to all fours and begun speeding up the hill towards the man.

The man froze with fear, his eyes locked onto the approaching beast. The seconds passed as it approached, the animal had nearly covered half the distance before he managed to compel himself into action. He turned and ran heading for the top of the hill where there were a couple of tall trees.

“I can’t outrun it, but if I can make it to those trees, perhaps I can climb to safety.” He thought to himself as he sped up the hill, lungs burning as he gasped for air.

He had nearly reached the base of the closest tree, with the creature hot on his heels when his attention was grabbed by the sound of someone’s voice.

“Ice skewer.” The voice called out.

The shout was followed by a swoosh sound and a loud thud. The man stopped on the spot despite the danger from the approaching creature and turned to see what had happened without a second thought. The creature was slumped on the floor, but what genuinely surprised him was the impossible shard of ice protruding from its neck. The thing had been killed instantly and was now lying lifelessly on the floor. He looked around, searching for the source of the ice that had felled the creature, but there was no sign. It was a bright and sunny day, there weren’t even any clouds that could have produced hail, let alone the monstrous shard of ice. The voice he had heard before called out once more.

“Hey, you down there, are you alright?” The voice asked.

The man looked all around for the source of the voice but there didn’t seem to be a person anywhere in sight. Slowly he looked upwards and found the source of the voice that had called out to him. There in front of the tree about three meters up in the air was a person floating, their clothes and hair blowing in the wind. The man was so startled by what he saw, he simply stood there unable to respond.

“You aren’t injured, are you?” The floating woman asked.

“No, sorry, I’m fine! Just in a bit of shock.” He finally answered.

“I see, well that’s good. I’m glad that I made it time this time.”

The woman slowly floated down out of the sky and gently landed on both feet in front of the tree.

“This time?” The man asked seemingly a little confused by the woman’s statement.

“Yes, well, I was too late earlier… By the way, just how did you do that?”

“The ice spike? I thought that was you!” The man answered, now looking more confused than ever.

“No, not that. That was obviously me. I mean how did you come back?”

“I still don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“I mean when I’d found you before you were definitely dead. There was no doubt about it, but now you are up and well, with your injuries seemingly healed completely.”

“W-what do you mean I was dead?”

“Look there.” The woman replied pointing towards his shoulder.

He inspected the area that she was pointing at only to find the clothes that he was wearing were torn and ripped right from his shoulder all the way across his chest. It looked almost as if it had been ripped by claws, just like those of the creature that now lay dead beside them.

“There must be some mistake, you killed the creature before it ever got near me.”

“No, it was definitely you. I checked your body over myself not ten minutes ago. There’s no doubt you were dead.”

“I wasn’t dead. I can’t have been, I just woke up here, not long ago!”

“Hmm, you just woke up here. How did you get here? It’s many miles away from even the nearest village.”

“I-I don’t know, like I just said. I woke up here, just before that creature started to chase me.”

“Well, then where did you come from?”

“I, I don’t know that either… All I know is that when I woke up a minute ago, I could barely remember anything. All I know is that I need to find someone.”

“Who?”

“L…” He stuttered. “I can’t remember their name. I just know that they’re important to me and I need to find them at all costs!”

“I see. Well it does seem like you really have lost your memory, or perhaps it’s…”

“Perhaps it’s what?”

“Well it’s probably nothing. It’s just that I sensed such a strong and unusual burst of energy just for a moment. It’s what brought me back here.”

“What do you think it was?”

“I’m not sure… I expect you’d cast some sort of automatic healing spell on yourself and simply passed out from the pain from your resurrection. I think you probably have amnesia either from your injuries or from that process.”

“But you said I was dead?”

“You were, for a short while at least, until whatever happened to wake you and heal you.”

“When you say spell what do you mean? Magic?”

“Yes of course. What else would I mean by that?”

“But it doesn’t exist!”

 The woman started to look at him very strangely, as if he had said something exceptionally odd.

“Of course, it does! Are you really sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I feel fine. Just a little confused about everything that’s going on is all.”

“Well I can check you over properly, once we get back to my place that is.”

“You want to take me back to yours?”

“Well you don’t have anywhere else you can go, do you?”

“No, but I need to look for…”

“Yes, you need to look for the missing person. Well I can tell you one thing for certain, there’s no one anywhere near here, not a single soul for miles around. I was surprised enough when I came across you out here. I can leave you here if you really wish, but I doubt that it’ll be long before you bring another Rasenclen down on yourself. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll help you look for your friend once I’m sure that you’re okay and ironed a few uncertainties out. If your memory returns, I can take you to where you lost this person.”

“I suppose I really do have nowhere else to go…” The man paused and looked at the woman, seemingly trying to gauge if it really were safe to go with this woman that he’d just met. She seemed friendly enough, but she was clearly dangerous. He remembered how she saved him without hesitation and made up his mind to go with her. “Um, are you really okay with bringing back a stranger like me to your place?”

“Well you seem harmless enough. You’ve also seen what I’m capable of and you don’t appear to be stupid enough to try anything.”

“Okay.” He winced at the thought of being impaled by a large ice spike. “Can you promise me one thing before we leave?”

“What is it?”

“Please let me know if you sense anyone else around while we make the journey. I can’t bear the thought of passing them by and leaving them out here all alone.”

“You really care for them, don’t you?”

“Yes, I feel like that’s the only thing that I’m certain of right now.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Thank you! In that case I’m ready to go with you.”

“Good, follow me.” She started walking straight away before realising something and stopping, then turning back to face him. “Oh, by the way I’m Elise.”

“Nice to meet you Elise.”

“And your name? If you can remember it that is.”

“Theo.” He answered right away and with certainty.

“So, you do remember something at least.”

“It just came to me when you asked. I’m surprised that I know it myself.”

“Then perhaps the rest will come in time.”

“I really hope so.”

Elise turned back again and started walking away once more. Theo took one last look around at the hillside where he had awoken only minutes before. So much had happened to him in such a short space of time. He still had to wonder exactly how he’d gotten there and what had happened to him before he awoke. He still had a feeling of unease about the whole thing, as if something bad had happened. He felt whatever it was, it really was supposed to be the end for him, but he couldn’t believe it was simply an attack by that Rasenclaw creature. He shook off the thought; he didn’t want to dwell on such things, especially when he had no idea why he was having such thoughts in the first place. He just wanted to concentrate on regaining his memories for now, he was sure that would sort everything out. Perhaps Elise would be able to help him, she certainly seemed like the type that would be willing to so if she could. Not wanting to be left behind he jogged after Elise to catch up.

“So, just how far away is your place?” Theo asked as he walked alongside Elise.

“Oh, not too far. If we make good progress, we should make it there in a little over two days walking.”

“Two days! That sounds pretty far to me. Can’t we just fly there, like you did earlier?”

“Well I could, but then I’d have to leave you behind. Taking two people is too much of burden over that kind of distance, even for me.”

“But you said it wasn’t that far away.”

“Well it isn’t really, but still too far for me to go carrying the two of us. My home is the closest dwelling to here by a long shot, this whole area is completely unpopulated. The next town is over a week away on foot, that’s why I was so surprised to find someone out here in the first place. You were lucky that I was coming past at all. I hardly come out this way, but I had an errand to complete even further in the woods and happened to be passing here on my way home because I fancied the scenic route.”

“How’re you so sure that there is no one else out here?”

“Well I can’t be one hundred percent about it, but I can usually sense people. That’s how I came across you the first time.”

“When you thought I was dead?”

“Yes.”

“This might sound like a strange question, but after you were talking about spells earlier and the whole thing with the ice spike and you being able to float in the air. Are you some kind of magician or wizard, or something?”

Elise laughed.

“Well no. I do know a little about spells, but what I can use is very limited. There are very few people that can master them. The ice and levitation are through Pneuma manipulation. I’m a Pneuma user if you wanted to know the correct name for it.”

“I see.” Theo answered looking confused.

“So, you’ve never heard of that before either? I suppose you are suffering from amnesia. I’d hoped you might be able to remember some things seeing as you know your own name, seem to be able to speak perfectly well and recall most words.”

“Well, It’s not like it’s something I feel I’ve forgotten. It’s more like all of that seems like an alien concept to me. It’s like I’ve never seen anything like it before or almost as it all seems impossible to me.”

“I suppose that is a little strange, it isn’t necessarily true. It could just be your lack of a memory playing tricks on you.”

“I guess… What is Pneuma anyway? I don’t even recognise what the word means.”

“It’s the lifeforce that flows through everything living or otherwise. Most people can control it to some extent or other, but what I showed you earlier is the result of many years of practice and hard training. Most people never reach that level.”

“Oh wow. So, you’re sort of an expert?”

“I wouldn’t say I was exactly an expert. There are those who are much more proficient in its use than I am, but I do have a good grasp of its uses.”

“There are people out there that have even more power than you?”

“Yes some.”

“That’s a little scary.”

“Well some of them you would never want to come across, that much I can assure you.”

“I was lucky to have run into you then.”

The pair continued walking through the woodland for hours, until it finally started to get dark. As the evening drew in Elise decided that they should stop and set up a camp for the night. After the pair had collected enough firewood to keep themselves warm for the night and to deter the forest creatures, they sat down. Theo began piling up the wood in a triangle, ready for it to be lit.

“You look like you’ve done this before. Does it bring back any memories?”

“No… It just seemed that this was what I was supposed to do in this situation.”

“Like instinct I suppose… Dance flames.”

The dry wood that Theo had been piling up suddenly burst into flames. Startled he stood back before he was scorched by the growing fire.

“Woah!” He yelped.

“Sorry, I didn’t think the flames would reach you.”

“No, it’s fine, they didn’t. I was just surprised by the sudden appearance. So, you can control fire as well?”

“Yeah. I’m lucky enough to be able to control all of the elements to some extent. I probably shouldn’t be wasting energy doing something like that when we could’ve done it the normal way. I guess I was happy to show off a little seeing as this is all new to you.”

“Well consider me impressed. Just please save enough energy in case one those creatures show up again.”

“Don’t worry. I always leave enough energy for my escape.” Elise laughed a little as she answered.

“I really hope I don’t come across one of those things ever again!”

“As long as you don’t wander off and we keep the fire fed, you should be fine.”

The pair sat in front of the fire warming themselves and chatting away as the evening drew in. It had now gotten completely dark. Theo could see very little beyond the flickering light of the fire, just darkness and shadows. The conversation was suddenly interrupted when Elise jumped to her feet.

“What is it?” Theo asked nervously.

“Quiet!”

Elise was scanning the area outside of their camp. Something had clearly got her on guard all of a sudden. Theo stood up next to Elise trying to see what had caught her attention, but he could still see little beyond the fires glow, let alone what had got her on edge.

“Ice skewer!” Elise called out.

There was a loud thump some way off into the darkness, far beyond Theo’s line of sight.

“Damn, that doesn’t seem to have deterred them.” Elise complained.

She grabbed a small pouch at her hip and started routing around inside.

“Can you use a blade?” She asked.

“I’ve no idea. What kind of blade?”

“Something like this.”

To Theo’s surprise she pulled a sword out of the small pouch. It was like a magic trick, there was no way that something that size could have fitted inside, but she pulled it out somehow.

“Well I can try.”

“You’ll have to learn fast, because I might not be able to keep them all away from us. It seems there are too many. Just make sure not to swing it near me!” She said as she passed him the blade.

Theo took the blade in his hands. He found that it had some weight to it, but nothing like he was expecting from the look of it. He held it with both hands, trying to get a feel for the weapon before whatever was out there lurking in the darkness begun its attack.

“What’s out there?”

“A pack of Rasenclen.”

“You mean like that thing from earlier?”

“Yes.”

“A whole pack?”

“Afraid so. It’s hard to tell exactly how many in this light, but I can make out at least ten.”

“Ten! I don’t how much help I’m going to be to you in this fight. I don’t think I’ll even be able to take one of them down.”

“That’s okay. Just keep them off my back and concentrate on staying alive. I’ll do the rest.”

“Right.”

“Prepare yourself, they’re about to make a move.”

The pair silently stood back to back as they waited for their approach. The creatures were now close enough that even Theo could make out the sounds of their footsteps as they circled the camp, just outside of the perimeter of the fire’s light. It seemed as though they were waiting for a sign of an opening before they made their attack. There was the sound of a twig snapping just before one of the creatures appeared from the darkness. It was instantly impaled by a large shard of ice and fell to the ground dead. That seemed to be the signal for their attack to begin in full, because as soon as the creatures body hit the ground two more jumped inside the ring of firelight. The creatures came from two directions at once, but just like the previous creature, they were both instantly impaled by ice and fell to the floor dead. It was if they were testing their defences to see what would happen when they approached from both sides. They must have been encouraged that only Elise had attacked, because what must have been the remainder of the group came at them all at once. Five of the creatures headed straight for Theo with as many again heading for Elise. The first two fell to ice shards, just like the previous attempts, but even Theo could tell that he would have to deal with the final three himself. He clutched his sword tightly and swung for the throat of the closest beast as it lunged at him. He was on target, but as soon as he made contact, he was hit by what felt like a bolt of lightning before losing consciousness.

Theo woke to a concerned looking Elise standing over him. He had no idea how long he had been out for, but the fight was clearly over.

 “Urgh my head.” He groaned as he tried to sit up.

“Yeah, I would try to get up slowly if I were you.” Elise suggested.

“Right... What happened? It looks as if you took them all out!”

Looking around the campsite Theo could see the corpses of many beasts lying dotted about the place. There were many that looked to have been impaled by ice, but there were also a few that were nearly burnt to a crisp. As much as Theo looked, he couldn’t see a single creature that looked as if it were cut with a blade.

“Well we won… Somehow. I’m not entirely sure what happened to you. It’s something else I’ll need to check out once we make it my place.” Elise was still looking at him with concern in her eyes.

“Well I’m not feeling too bad now, so I suppose it all turned out okay.” Theo answered enthusiastically, trying to lessen Elise’s worry over him.  “What do we do next?”

“As soon as you’re feeling well enough to move, you can help me remove the bodies from our camp. I don’t think we’ll face any more trouble tonight, but we’ll still have to be on guard. I want to move at first light in the morning. I’d like to put as many miles between us and here in the daylight.”

“You look pretty worried. Is everything okay?”

“It’s just rather strange for them to have attacked us like this and to have been so persistent when we put up such a strong defence. It really isn’t their normal behaviour at all.”

“They don’t normally do that kind of thing?”

“No. A pack of that size might have chanced an attack on a small camp like ours, but they would never normally continue to attack after one or more of them had already been killed. It’s just very strange, something’s definitely up.”

“Right.” Theo said as he jumped to his feet. “Then we should get started and move the bodies out of the way.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it? I don’t want you passing out again.”

“Yeah. I feel fine now.”

“Okay.”

They set about moving the corpses from their campsite. They were only moving them a short way from the fire. Just enough to be out of sight and down wind, but it still proved to be hard work. They weren’t small creatures and even with the two of them dragging them out of the way together, it still took over an hour for them to clear the site. Once finished, they both slumped down in front of the fire.

“You get some rest again. I’ll take the first watch.” Elise suggested.

“I think I should take the first watch. I’ve already had some sleep after all, and you look shattered.”

Theo was right in his assessment. Elise was shattered and it should have been no surprise. Not only had she just hauled all the corpses with him, she had thought off the entire pack of creatures that had attacked them and she had done so almost entirely herself. Despite how powerful Elise appeared, the battle had clearly taken a toll on her.

“Fine, I’ll rest first. Just wake me at the first hint of trouble.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

She lay half perched against the side of a nearby tree and closed her eyes. Despite appearances, Theo suspected that Elise was never really sleeping the entire time she lay there. Theo sat near the fire in silence, looking up at the stars. For some reason, the sight seemed to hold a new kind of interest to him. It was almost as if he had never seen these stars before. He decided that couldn’t be the case and that it must be the amnesia. Whatever the reason was, the sight helped him pass the hours as he took his turn on watch. Eventually Elise got up from where she was laid and took over the watch.

“Your turn to rest now.” She told him.

“Sure. Do you have any idea how long until it’s dawn?” Theo asked fighting off a yawn.

“You should be able to get a couple of hours shut eye in if you are quick.”

He did just Elise suggested and lay next to the fire. Unlike Elise, Theo was definitely asleep, almost from the moment he closed his eyes. He was still a little worried about what creatures might be lurking around in the darkness of the forest nearby, but he still felt safer with Elsie on watch than he had done when it was his turn. The next thing he knew Elise was rousing him and the morning had come.

“Morning Theo. It’s time to wake up.” She gently called to him.

“Oh, it’s light already…” He mumbled half dazed and still waking up.

“Yeah. Once you’re ready to move we’re going to head out. We’ll stop for food on the way, but for now I just want to get moving.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Theo stood up and tried to shake some of the stiffness from sleeping on the forest floor. He looked around the campsite, Elise had already put out the fire and hidden away any trace that they were ever there. After rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes he finally felt awake.

“Are you all set?” Asked Elise.

“Yes.”

“Then follow me.”

The pair left without turning back. Elise didn’t have to say anything, Theo knew that she was in a hurry to get away from there. Theo thought she seemed more concerned about the current situation that she was presently letting on. She was setting a much faster pace than they had gone the previous day, but Theo was still keeping up. After about thirty minutes of solid walking he could no longer take the silence and started to walk alongside Elise.

“Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” He asked.

“Not really. Although, I suppose it depends what it’s about?”

“What was it that brought you so far out to the middle of nowhere?”

“Well I often have to come out to the deep parts of the forest on errands. It’s part of what I do, and this time was no different. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say there was something that I needed to collect from an acquaintance who lives even deeper in the forest than where I found you. I just happened to come across you because I took the scenic route when I was on my way back.”

“I see. That sounds like dangerous work.”

“Well it can be at times, but this journey wouldn’t normally pose any danger to me. Most of the time I’m far out of the reach of the forest creatures and besides they aren’t usually quite this aggressive. Not if you keep your distance.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you do?”

“Well a lot of things really, but someone like you would call me simply a ranger or perhaps sometimes a teacher.”

“You watch over the woods and teach as well?”

“Yes. Although, it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve taken on a student.”

Theo gave Elise a slightly questioning glance as she told him this. It seemed to him that she couldn’t have been any older than he was. If he had to guess he would have put her in her mid-thirties at the most, but he suspected she was younger than that. He wondered just how young she must have been when she began teaching if she hadn’t taken on a student in along time. He didn’t want to guess how young she must have been when she’d finished her own studies. He thought that perhaps she had been a child genius. The idea didn’t surprise him, from what he had already seen of her abilities, she was definitely exceptionally talented.

“How long has it been since you taught someone?” He asked, as it seemed rude to ask her age.

“Oh, I’m not sure, it’s been so long now. At a guess it’s been at least a couple of centuries since I sent my last student into the world.”

“That long ago?”

He sounded surprised because he felt that had to be some mistake here. That was just too many years. He couldn’t be certain of course, but part of him was sure that was far too long for any one person to have lived. He couldn’t think of a single person that had lived that long… But then he couldn’t think of a single person that he knew to begin with. Despite this it still felt off to him, as if it went against what he thought was natural. Perhaps it was just his amnesia again.

“Why the strange look?” Elise asked.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just you seem too young.”

“Haha, well thank you! Yes, I am still quite young for being a teacher. I was even younger when I first started. I made my way through the trials pretty quickly and after a few years got tired of the life on the front lines. I’ve been making my way as a ranger and occasional teacher out here in the sticks ever since.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely? I mean, it seems ever so quiet out here.”

“Yes, sometimes I miss all the excitement, but lonely no. I keep in contact with people regularly and besides, I chose to live all the way out here by myself. I like it.”

She stopped for a moment and looked off into the distance as if she were remembering an old memory. It was only for a brief moment before she started walking again and called out to Theo.

“Come on. We’ll stop for lunch in a little while, but for now I’d like to put a little more distance in before we stop.”