Walking into the man area of the barracks we saw the Argus filling up two wooden bowls of stew for us. Felix was also pouring us each a cup of honey brew as if he was happy to share it with us. The other guard who we hadn’t learned the name of yet was busy stoking the fire. All three of them looked happy to have someone other than themselves and the villagers to talk to.

“I see that you two found the chest easily. Did you fiend the sleep mats as well?” Felix asked.

“We did not. Would you mind showing us when it’s time to go to bed?” I asked in return.

“Of course, though you two should eat first. It’ll get cold quick.” Felix answered.

“Thank you.” Sasha said before sitting down and eating what could be considered her first hot meal since she was summoned. It actually made me feel a bit bad since I wasn’t able to offer that. I mean, she was considered a hero, a living weapon capable of destroying nations, and yet she was summoned by a broke, hobo mage.

“Have some honey brew as well. We have plenty, so eat and drink your fill.” Felix said before passing her the cup of honey brew. I sat down next to her and started eating as well. Though I couldn’t help but pipe up after Felix said this.

“I wouldn’t go offering her that much. She could most likely outdrink all of us so don’t go offering you booze stash so easily.” I said with a half-joking chuckle.

“Well then, I guess I better retract my offer.” Felix said with a hearty laugh. Sasha chuckled in response but jabbed me in the side to show she wasn’t happy about me saying that.

I couldn’t help but enjoy this moment. For the first time since summoning Sasha, we were finally able to sit down and not worry about what was going to happen next. The people we were with didn’t know who we were so they weren’t a threat and they even gave us a warm meal. Something that I couldn’t give Sasha yet.

“So, how long have you two been married?” Argus asked as we were eating the stew. The question came out of nowhere and neither Sasha nor I had an answer. We were playing the part to keep up with the idea that we were trappers. However, we didn’t have an answer for that… or at least, I didn’t.

“We’ve been together for a couple of weeks now.” Sasha answered casually. I mean, it technically wasn’t a lie.

“I see. So you’re newlyweds. To be young again, I envy you two.” Felix said with a downcast look.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just sad that he never tried to get married.” the one guard who hadn’t given his name yet said.

“And how is that my fault, Cato?” Felix asked with an annoyed tone before scowling at the guard. Though now we knew his name was Cato.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. You were stationed here as soon as you finished training.” Cato said as he fixed himself a bowl of the stew.

“I was expecting to be stationed somewhere where there were more people to date but no. I got stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere. I can’t even leave to check out the other villages without giving a formal request to the brass. If you two don’t find someone to love you then you’ll end up just like me.” Felix said before downing his entire cup of honey brew in three angry gulps.

“Ignore him. He’ll pass out drunk after a few more drinks and we can talk about stuff without his sad drunk rants.” Argus whispered to us. Both Sasha and I nodded in response. Then we heard what sounded like a tree falling followed by a scream from outside.

“What was that?” I asked with a worried look.

“I don’t know. Argus, Cato, go check it out. I’ll check the barrier.” Felix commanded as he got up from the table.

Both Argus and Cato got up and looked out the door of the barracks as Felix went to the other room to look at a set of runes on a tablet. Both Sasha and I weren’t sure exactly what to do. If something was going on then helping them would probably expose that we weren’t just trappers. However, the idea of leaving them to whatever was going on didn’t sit right with me.

“How can we help?” I asked Felix.

“If you could give those two some backup then that would be great but I can’t ask you two to do that. We’re the guards so it’s our job.” Felix replied as he looked over the runic tablet. “Shit! One of the barrier runes was destroyed in a lightning strike. That isn’t good.” Felix said with a worried look.

“Shit!” we heard Cato yell from outside. As soon as he did, Sasha ran over to the back room and grabbed her gun and my staff. Throwing me the staff we both went outside in the rain to see Cato and Argus with axes in their hands. Both of them stood in a protective stance in front of one of the village’s two houses. Climbing over the edge of the cliff was a large creature made of trees.

“What is that thing?” Sasha asked with a bewildered look.

The creature stood around forty feet tall with branches spreading around its head and backside. It put its root-like legs over the edge of the cliff both of the guards looked terrified as the tree-like creature’s body morphed in what looked to be a painful transition to reveal a face. The creature’s spindly branch hands extended out to grab hold of whatever it could to pull itself up.

“That’s a Roltni! A tree possessed by an undead. What the hell is something like that doing here?” I yelled with a fearful tone.

“Those things are all over the place here in the mountains. Usually, the barrier keeps them out but since one of the runes was destroyed they decided to take the chance to attack.” Felix answered with an angry yell. I could tell he hated that the three of them were the only ones keeping this village safe. Especially when there was something that strong around.

“Do you know how to reconstruct the barrier?” I asked.

“Of course, though we need to stop the one attacking the village first.” Felix replied.

“I understand.” I said before turning to Sasha who was trying to figure out what the Roltni was even though I just explained it. “Sasha, go with Felix and protect him. I don’t know if your bullets will do much to them but it should slow them down enough for Felix to repair the barrier.” I said.

“What about the village?” Felix asked as he started getting his tools together.

“I’ll take care of the village. I hate to tell you this now but we aren’t exactly trappers.” I said before showing him my staff.

“I feel dumb now. I had thought that was a walking stick. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re actually a mage. Though I don’t like the fact that you lied to us but I’ll trust you to keep this place safe for now.” Felix said before running out to the destroyed runes spot with Sasha following close behind.

As they ran off I turned to the creature just as it had made its way up completely. Its size was enough to make most want to turn tail and run. I was one of those people. However, the fact that Felix was willing to still trust us enough to let us help after we lied to him made me feel bad. This felt like a good way to apologize. With my staff, I scratched the base for a small barrier rune that would deter any more Roltni from making their way up here. Even so, the creature began walking towards me.

“Oh, you’re approaching me. How bold.” I said with an arrogant tone even though I realized that this meant that my barrier did jack shit. (Authors note: before anyone says it, yes, this is a JOJO reference!)

Holding my staff under my chest to shield it from the rain I conjure up a small flame on the tip of it. With as little action as possible, I make two marks on my barrier rune to change it to an inferno rune. The small flame on the tip of my staff starts to expand until I hold it out towards the Roltni. Normally, I would just have conjured up the inferno myself but at the moment I didn’t have enough essence to do so. Thus, I needed to create a waypoint using the barrier that was already here to draw essence from the world itself for the spell.

Releasing the ball of fire from my staff it transformed into a large gout of fire that extended around fifty feet into the sky like a wall. The flames struck the Roltni with enough force that it almost fell back off the cliff. However, it remained standing. The Roltni’s body had caught fire but hadn’t been stopped. In fact, it looked as though it was ultimately unphased by the flames. Releasing a bristly roar from its now burning face it began to charge at me with extreme speed. I didn’t have enough time to cast another spell.

“Get down!” I heard Argus yell from behind me. Doing as I was commanded I fell to the ground just as Argus and Cato charged either side of the monster. Between them, they held a thick rope that they attempted to use to trip the Roltni. However, all it did was annoy the creature as they weren’t strong enough to trip the Roltni. It did give me enough time to prepare the spell though.

Releasing another gout of fire I focused on the flame in hopes of condensing it into a forceful blast. The fire shrunk until it was the size of a large bead. As it condensed the flames turned from an orange to a blue and finally a blinding white. Holding my staff out I released the flame towards the Roltni. A single small arrow of white shot through the face of the Roltni and the mountain behind it. As soon as it was pierced the Roltni let out a soul-wrenching screech before erupting into flames and collapsing on the ground.

* * *

Sasha and Felix were both nearing the top of the mountain where the destroyed rune was. Behind them, they could see the Roltni being hit with a large wall of flames. However, neither of them could be bothered to look to see whether the village was safe. They had to hurry and restore the barrier or else there would be a lot more than just the one Roltni. Approaching the tree with the damaged barrier rune on it they saw that the tree was splintered from being struck by lightning. The upper part of the tree had fallen over and there was nothing left of the rune. It was almost as if the lighting had directly struck the runic carving.

“Keep an eye out. I’ll start carving a new rune.” Felix said as he pulled out a carving tool and began working on the stump of a tree.

“Got it.” Sasha replied as she began looking around the forest below her for any sign of movement. Just as she started looking, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something.