We walk slowly down the mountain towards the bandits, and I am filled with nervous dread. I know we will pull out fine, but the fact that I will fight someone, probably killing someone, has my stomach in knots. Beside me Claire and Lyn appear perfectly at ease, the latter even whistling a joyful tune as we walk. Sif has disappeared from sight, but I can sense her presence adjacent to me through our link. 

We approach a point in the road where Lyn stops, and calls out, “We know you’re there, come out.” Me being a nervous wreck, I nearly scream when three gruff looking bandits step out from the trees about 15 feet ahead of us. They have grimy leather armor, grangly beards, and a lecherous look in their eyes.

“Alright ladies, ya know the drill. No sudden movements or we’ll have ya be a pin cushion fer arrows.” Trying to judge how much we can possibly have, the bandit stares at me, “Little lady, next time ye go out, ya got to know just two escorts ain’t ‘nough. We just be teachin’ ye a lesson. The cost is only four gold coins fer both yer escorts, and five for ya.” Eying the sapphire in the hilt of my sword and taking into account my trembling, he adds on with a grin, “Normally, ye’d be fine with just a little more gold, but since its yer first lesson, we need ta make sure it sticks. You best be handing over that sword as gratitude ta us.”

No more hesitation. “Go,” I whisper to my companions. 

Claire shouts, “Arise, Lightning Arena!” as Lyn rushes forward, chantlessly creating a lightning arena that surrounds a chunk of the forest in front of us. 

I watch in fascinated horror as I see the carefree lightning spirit I raised smile beautifully as she nimbly dodges the crude swords of the front three bandits, jumps over the middle bandit, catching his head between her legs. She twists herself over backwards, doing a roll and dragging the bandit with her as she snaps his neck before recovering. 

I am snapped out of my frozen state as I hear the whistle of an arrow speed towards me, only to abruptly change direction and land quivering at the dirt to my left. I sweat as I realize that if Sif wasn’t guarding me, if I wasn’t wearing armor, that one bit of inattention could have ended my life.  

“Damn protection from arrows! Your two escorts are good, I’ll give you that. Unfortunately for you, they aren’t good enough.” A bandit appears from a bush, throwing his bow to the ground and drawing a crude sword. He slowly approaches me with a wicked grin on his face. “If you’d only been a good girl we wouldn’t need to do this. Now we have to show what happens when folks don’t listen. Don’t worry, we won’t kill you.” I know I should chant, I know I should cast my spell, but I am so frozen in fear that my voice does not come out. The man scowls as he glances into the arena, continuing, “Oh, but you will wish we did.”

He breaks out into a run, and I think back to what Claire said before, that most people can pull out of fire magic if they are determined enough. I need to make a flamethrower stronger then. Strong enough, hot enough to make resistance a non factor. He is past the distance Claire said I should cast at. My mouth is still frozen and I feel Sif’s mana start to shape into a spell of some kind. 

Remembering my death, refusing to be powerless again, I forcefully break through my freezing fear, outstretch my arms, and scream, “FLAMES!” Picturing fire as white as the sun as my magical blueprint, a torrent of blazing hot fire shoots out in front of me. So intense is the flame, so blinding its light, that my vision disappears. My mana drains at a rapid rate and I drop to my knees, suddenly covered in sweat and exhausted.

Panting, with a throbbing headache, I feel Sif working her magic. Probably in an attempt to stop my overreaction from spreading even more destruction. I manage to get the strength to look up, and my eyes widen in disbelief. I see what can only be described as devastation in a wide cone in front of me. The ground in front of me is gouged out in a cone that gets wider and deeper the further it goes, with the dirt itself having glazed over. The area surrounding the cone for about 20 feet no longer has trees, probably Sif’s work burying the ones that caught fire.

I glance at the lightning arena, noticing that though the cone skirted the edge of the arena, there are about 6 charred bodies smoking on the floor. I did this. Rationally, I know they were trying to kill me, but I still empty the contents of my stomach onto the floor. I look up again, and notice that the surviving couple of bandits kneeling on their floor, weapons tossed to their sides out of reach. 

Trying to get up, my knees are so weak I almost fall into my own mess. Thank goodness for Sif, who has appeared from thin air to help steady me. I ask, voice trembling, “What do we do about the two who surrendered? It doesn’t feel right continuing to fight.” I notice that they are both pale and shaking, on their knees with their hands held on their heads showing their absolute surrender. Lyn glances as me, then so quickly it can almost be considered teleporting, moves behind them and shocks them, knocking them both out, their bodies collapsing backwards. 

A moment of silence later and Sif chides me, “Master, we should rest now. In your panic you drew upon much of your magic, and like I warned you before, being a spiritual lifeform now means your health is forever linked to the state of your mana. Though we veteran spirits know how to cope with a sudden decrease in mana, you are in a dangerous tipping point where you may fall into a state of mana deprivation.”

My head throbbing, I manage to nod. Claire speaks out a relevant concern though, “Before we rest, we have to at least get a ways away from here. We don’t want to answer questions if people see this destruction.” 

I feel my consciousness slipping away, yet I try to hold onto it. I feel sick, just as much from my deed as from the mana issue. Noticing my state, Sif declares, “I will take Master away from here quickly, you two can catch up. Lyn, don’t leave her alone, she can’t determine Master’s general direction like we can.”

Sif picks me up in a princess carry, but I am too exhausted and nauseated to complain. My consciousness fades as I see the trees blur around us.