Chapter Three

Anne shifted, the leaves underfoot rustling just a little bit. It was a slight sound, one that she’d been making the entire time they were walking through the forest, but it was only now that she was trying to be quiet, to be sneaky, that she realized just how noisy it could be.

Elain’e shot her a look, clearly telling her, without words, to be quiet.

She shrugged a little. Her entire sneaking experience was regulated to a few little trysts back in highschool (which was a long time ago) and when she slid into Jake’s room at night to make sure he was sleeping comfortably. She wasn’t exactly a ninja.

“There they are,” Elain’e said. She gestured just a little ways ahead of them. They were near the very top of that hill Elain’e had pointed out earlier. It ended on a steep drop, a tree on the edge of it leaning over somewhat precariously, but its huge roots kept it firmly locked in place.

Below, the land swept down to the bottom of a slight crevice where a gurgling brook cut around exposed boulders and mossy rocks. A camp was settled in under the hillside, where there were fewer trees.

Anne counted six tents. Not the nice sort of tent some people used for camping, but simple cloth held up by sticks and tied to the nearest trees for support. There was more luck in the designs than actual skill.

Between those tents, milling about and sniffing at the air, or even just sleeping on warm-looking rocks, were the moblins.

They looked, to Anne, like a strange and unnerving cross between a human child, a raccoon, and a feral cat. They were covered in fur, sometimes short, sometimes long, and always matted and dirty, with long snouts and pronounced canines.

They had hands, though they seemed clumsy about making stuff. One of them was striking a stick with a rock, sharpening the stick, but it kept hitting the stick at an off angle and undoing its own work.

“I count nine,” Elain’e said. “That’s three more than the reports said. Either the scout that passed by was incompetent, or the band grew larger.”

“That’s a lot,” Anne said. She worried at the edge of the cloak Elain’e had given her.

“It’s only a small band,” Elain’e said. “Come on, spell cards out. We have a great vantage to hit the moblins from.”

“Elain’e,” Anne said. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Elain’e paused. “Don’t worry, the spells I gave you barely cost any mana, and they’re simple to cast. Even if you miss the first few, I’m sure you’ll catch onto the trick of them. A child could do it.”

“No, Elain’e, I meant that I’m not sure if I can kill those. They look like people. Like... stray cats maybe?”

“They’re hardly stray cats,” Elain’e said. “Moblins are a pest. They breed uncontrollably fast, and when they grow hungry enough, they start roaming around, looking for anything that’s edible. They’ll raid small villages, ambush caravans, and kidnap children to eat them. They’re a pest.”

Anne chewed on her lip. She had never shied away from setting mouse traps and such before. Was this the same?

Elain’e flicked her hand to the side, and a card appeared in it. Anne recognized the art on the front of it. A fireball, same as the two she had. “Just like this,” she said.

She girl flung her hand towards the camp below, and in a flash the card she held turned into a glowing ball of fire that roared down into the clearing and smashed into the moblin that was sharpening a stick.

The creature didn’t even scream before it was dead.

Anne slapped her hands over her mouth.

“Come on, lady hero,” Elain’e said. “Your turn.”

Anne shook her head. “I can’t do that, Elain’e, it’s awful.”

The moblins below screamed and started to run around, picking up sharp rocks and club-like sticks as they moved in a panicked frenzy. One of them sniffed the air, then pointed up the hill to where Anne and Elain’e were waiting.

“Miss Hero... Anne. We need you to be able to defend yourself. Look, they’re coming up the hill, they’re practically lined up for you to kill them all.”

Anne looked at the child before her, somewhat horrified by her casual use of violence. Still, Elain’e was right, ther moblins were coming up the hill, and they seemed quite angry about the whole situation.

She glanced at her chat for help, a last resort.

Her Jake was replying, telling her to fight. Anne took a deep breath and unsealed the two Fireball cards she had. “Okay,” she said. “How do I use these?”

“Like I said, just cast one while pushing you hand in the direction you want to fire them in,” Elain’e said. She was entirely calm as the moblins started to race up the hill and a flung rock sailed overhead.

Anne’s hands shook a little, but she had been brave before, and she could be brave again. She stook, a card held tight in her hand. Pulling her arm back, she flung it forwards, as if throwing a ball, then cast the spell.

The fireball appeared just ahead of her hand, an uncomfortable warmth washing over then rushing away too quickly to burn. The spell screamed through the air and smashed into a tree behind the moblins.

“Not too bad,” Elain’e said. “Try aiming a little bit ahead this time. Fireballs need time to travel. It’s mostly a question of practice.”

Anne sniffed, grabbed the next card, then flung it the same way. This time, it crashed into the ground ahead of the moblins, kicking up dirt and pebbles.

“I’m out,” Anne said.

“Oh, that’s not a problem.” Elain’e said. She gestured and a small stack appeared in her hands.

The girl split the stack and gave five to Anne. “Thank you,” Anne said. She quickly turned back to the moblins rushing up the hill and fired off another Fireball.

Her third time was the charm, and at long last, it passed close enough to one of the screaming little creatures that the fire lit up their fur and they started to panic. That panic lead to them tripping, and rolling back down the steep incline, aflame the whole while.

“Oh, oh no,” Anne said, tears in her eyes. But she had to continue. Jake was watching, and she couldn’t allow him to see his mother dying.

She flung the next Fireball, then the next. Soon she was panting, she was out of cards, and there were two more dead moblins as well as a few patches on some trees that were blackened.

“Not bad,” Elain’e said.

Anne swallowed. “I’m out of cards,” she said.

“No worries, I’m sure... huh?”

Anne blinked as a card appeared before her out of thin air, then started to fall down. Elain’e swiped it out of the air with cat-like reflexes. “What is it?’ Anne asked.

“It’s... a book? The System’s Guide to Magic for Dummies. Low cost, low rarity. Where did this come from?”

“I don’t know,” Anne said. She stared as a second card appeared out of the air, and this time she was fast enough to catch it on her own.

She stared.

The image on the cart was of an orchard, with a nice cart sitting next to a tree, filled with red and orange mangos. The card was called Cart of Mangos.

“What?” Anne muttered.

“Well, that’s strange,” Elain’e said. She flicked her hand and another card appeared for just a moment before she cast the spell on it. With a crack, a dozen cutting electrical bolts jerked through the air and smashed into the remaining moblins. Elain’e wasn’t even watching. “What’s that card?”

“It’s Cart of Mangos,” Anne said.

“... what?”

“Oh,” Anne said. She had to scroll up to find the first mention of mangos. The rest was a lot of mocking her for her aim, or saying that the CGI wasn’t very good.

“Oh?” Elain’e repeated. She wasn’t looking at Anne though, she was looking at the card in Anne’s hand while licking her lips. The very image of a young girl staring at a bowlful of candy.

“Some nice boy on my chat, ah, bought the mangos for me.”

Elain’e looked up. “Wait, what?”

“I think that’s how it works?” Anne said. “I don’t know.”

“But... why?”

“Well, this is the internet, I’m sure they have a very good reason for it.”

***

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