Really, what’s going on? What’s this all about? The pain slowly faded away. He couldn’t feel the dragging that always had plagued him anymore. He could think clearly now. Cinderborn? What does that mean? He pondered. As if it was following a cue, a message appeared in his core.

 

 

+5 Charm? That.. That fire I saw inside me. Was that normal? Other trees have it as well? I want to look at it again. It was so beautiful. He focused more, trying to replicate whatever event happened before. A coreache began. Damn it, I can feel it cracking. That won’t do, I need to find out what this is. He focused again, but not on the back of his core like the last attempt, but on the message that showed up. The message shifted.

 

 

Huh? That was easy enough. I don’t really know what all this meant though. I mean, some of them like Strength and Agility were quite intuitive, but what about Wisdom and Charm? Maybe I should concentrate on them directly? As he focused, more information showed up.

 

 

A bubble of excitement blew over.

 

That’s awesome! If I can do something to gain more Agility or even Strength, I may be able to finally get out of this shell!

 

As his thought finished, he sensed something new approaching.

 

 

---

 

 

Her baby girl ran away again.

 

“For Titania’s sake, this is the fifth time this month!” she cursed. Agatha was visiting her aunt’s grave with her girl yesterday, but after they went home and she woke up, her daughter was just gone.

 

“Don’t worry about it, you did the same as a kid,” Her husband said.

 

“She’s thirteen, Robert!” She replied, “and I never ran away” they both knew she lied, but she couldn’t afford to lose another argument.

 

Agatha stormed out of her house, stepping angrily at the ground, and after kicking a hard-looking rock and cursing her tantrum, she started to think. Maybe she just has gone to the village to visit my mother? She thought, I may be overthinking this too much. After the sudden death of her aunt, she began to overprotect her kid, and as always, overprotecting parents led to a rebellious youth. Oh Dara, why did you have to become so much like me.

 

She recovered herself, beginning to walk down the gravel path that showed the passage to Pern village. The birds were skittish, making continuous and intense chirping and clicking noises. They are making alarm calls? Maybe a Bandar is passing by, she thought. Oh well, I don’t really have the time to check it out right now.

 

Agatha could see Pern. The little settlement was quiet. Her mother moved to the village proper a few seasons back, buying her new house from an old couple that were moving out. "Times are changing. Don’t want to be near the forest when things start to happen." It was all about Dracia these days. Even she was a little apprehensive, but abandoning the wilds never crossed her mind.

 

She knocked on her mother’s door, nobody answered. She checked to see if it was locked. It wasn’t. Opening the door, she entered the wooden house. It revealed one thousand scents and one more. Smells of camomile, feverfew, valerian and countless other medicinal herbs her mother used to treat the villagers permeated her senses.

 

It was a cozy house, with plants and potions everywhere. One particular jar of bright red liquid grabbed her attention. Analyze, she thought as she grabbed the jar, and a screen revealing information appeared.

 

 

“Wanting to buy something?”

 

The voice took her by surprise, almost making Agatha drop the liquid. After seeing who had entered the building, she relaxed. Agatha put the jar back in its place.

 

“Oh, you startled me a little,” she said embarrassingly, “actually, I came here to ask you about Dara”

 

“Dara? What about her?”

 

“She ran away again, I was thinking I could find her here.”

 

“Again eh? Yes, she passed here this morning,” her mother said, crossing her arms.

 

Relief was apparent on her face. “Oh great! Do you know where she is?”

 

“No.”

 

"… No?”

 

"No."

 

They just stared at each other for a few excruciating seconds.

 

“Look, if you are done, I suggest that you leave, my granddaughter certainly isn’t here,” her face shifted in an ugly expression, “I’ve got business to do if you don’t mind.”

 

Her mother began to turn her back, but before she could even react to the previous statement, they heard a scream outside the house.

 

“Damn it, I thought I had more time,” her mother said with frustration in her voice.

 

“What’s happening?” She quickly replied.

 

“The Dracian army finally arrived.”

 

“What!? But how?” She said with worry in her face, “How did they got here so fast without no one coming to warn us!?”

 

“They must be sieging Varania right now,” her mother said while rapidly grabbing numerous potions.

 

Varania was the only proper city close to Pern village. Part of a big alliance of city-states, the city thrived on commerce, mainly providing the adventurers with goods to the various incursions deep into Sylvan. They must have been betrayed, Agatha thought. If the city falls, Sylvan may truly be doomed.

 

“Quickly! Grab that jar you almost dropped!” her mother said, exasperated. She obeyed. “We have to protect the village! Follow me,” She said as she left the house. Agatha followed suit.

 

“THE DRACIANS ARE HERE!” she heard someone shout.

 

It was truly chaos outside. Some people were trying to run, others to hide. A hay carriage was burning, along with its owner. A smell of burnt meat invaded her nostrils. She saw the invading soldiers, with their mail armor and shiny helmets. Some were running after the villagers, others were occupied burning down the houses. Carrie, the local tailor, was lying on the ground with a sword wound on her back. An old retired soldier whose name she had forgotten was courageously trying to fight an armored Sergeant. His rusted sword broke down as he tried to block a Sword Skill. He didn't last long.

 

 

“Don’t just stand there! Fight!” Her mother’s call shocked her out of the daze.

 

She cast the Barkskin spell as her mother shape-shifted into a huge deer.

 

 

An enemy archer saw her, aiming the arrow straight at her forehead. The arrow bounced off. He tried firing again, but when he was about to release the arrow, a huge deer charged with its antler straight at the man's stomach. It was too fast for him to dodge, and he was impaled. Blood came out of his mouth as the huge deer threw him with an enormous strength to two other approaching soldiers. They were sent flying.

 

As the deer was crushing full armored soldiers with its hooves, she cast another spell.

 

 

She aimed the spell to the next close soldier, cupping her hands together to increase the water pressure. The water was so fast that it penetrated the man’s helmet easily, killing him instantly. She was biting her lips. Her mouth tasted like iron. One after the other they came, sword and shield ready, adapting to her movements. She wasn't trained to fight armored opponents. Of course she had to kill before; the world wasn't fair for someone who lived in the wild. Dangerous animals always came, and many times she had to resort to killing to fend off the beasts. But this... This was different for her. She hoped she would not have nightmares if she survived this.

 

One soldier managed to get close, striking her with his sword. Her now wooden skin splintered. My Barkskin won't last much longer, she thought as she jumped back to dodge the next blow. The druid's water spray faded. Agatha tried to summon another spell, Earth High Ground.

 

 

She cast Greater Water Spray again as her mother shifted back to her human form. The two Kindled women defended their positions with extreme devotion. The advantage was clear now. Unkindleds weren’t a match for their combined forces, as it gave them not only the abilities to cast feats that were considered impossible for normal humans, but granted them the abilities to know what they were facing. Analyze.

 

 

Sensing his army needed to reorganize for this new threat, the Sergeant called his troops back. They'll return, she thought, and I still don’t know where my daughter is.