=== POV Dario

 

"Hey, it's already early afternoon, do you think Eris is still coming today?"

Marv sat across from me and asked me nervously. He and I were in the living room playing a card game with two guards.

"Drop!"

I discarded two cards and drew two new ones.

"I don't know if she's still coming, but the new shift is coming tonight."

I only answered him with what I knew.

"Right, that would not be so good."

He dropped his eyes.

"Change!"

The guard on my right discarded his five cards and drew five new cards.

"Just as a question, did you introduce yourself to Eris, Marv?"

I was a little curious because I hadn't noticed whether he had even introduced himself to her.

"Uh? No, I haven't.”

He turned his head to the side to avoid eye contact. I could still see that his face was turning red.

"You give her the core of the Alpha Irshwolf, explain what happened to Viktor, but you didn't manage to introduce yourself?"

"I just didn't think of introducing myself in these situations."

I had to laugh because he looked lost. He also had a more childish tone.

"Are you interested in her?"

"Wah! What are you saying! ”

His face went redder than before.

Tomato-head!

"So not?"

I asked him again and tried not to laugh.

“Well, yes… I'm interested. After all, she's amazing for being four years younger than me. Don't get me wrong, but my feelings for them are pure curiosity, nothing more.”

He looked at me with a stern expression on his face.

"Set!"

The guard next to Marv placed his cards face down on the table.

Marv looked at the guard, then at his cards.

"Set."

He put the cards down and looked back at me.

"Hmm... drop."

I put two cards down again and drew two new ones.

My new cards consisted of two fire dragons, a shadow dragon, a fire salamander, and a dryad.

...well, who cares.

I put down the cards as well as Marv and the guard.

“When I happened to find her on the market at that time, I wouldn't have thought she was 12 either. She may look like she is ten years old, but at first, she is not a human, which also means that her aging process can be very different from ours. She doesn't speak according to her age. The only thing that always reminds me of her actual age is when her emotions overwhelm her.”

"As well as the first shapeshifters we encountered on the way to the tower?"

“If it were that what you saw, this was nothing! If her emotions take over, she still loses control of her magic. ”

"Isn't that dangerous, then?"

"It is, but so far, Daria and I only know one reason to make her emotions run wild."

"And what is it?"

"Her family."

"Uh? Ok, I thought something banal, but I can understand that.”

“I'm the same, Daria, and I also lost our parents early. We were kidnapped and sold by orcs until a dryad freed us. The Albe Villavil, short for Vil, was also a prisoner of the orcs. She took us in and gave us a home. I don't know what would become of me if something happened to Daria or Vil...”

I remembered the captivity, the wet cages, and the smell of urine. I still remember how Daria and I always warmed and kept each other alive. These three weeks of my life... changed it completely, I never wanted to be so helpless ever again!

"Drop!"

The guard next to me discarded two cards and drew two new cards before also putting the five cards down. The guard next to Marv started to reveal the cards.

He had a shadow phantom, a shadow dragon, two shadow goblins, and a fire nymph.

“Shadow element, 11 points.”

"Now me."

Marv started to turn his cards over. He had a water nymph, a water snake, a water dragon, a leviathan, and an earth nymph.

“Water element, 14 points.”

It was my turn I turned my cards over.

"Dragons, 15 points."

The last guards turn. He flipped his cards over.

“Nymph family - 16 points.”

His hand consisted of a natural nymph, a fire nymph, a dryad, a water nymph, and a shadow goblin.

"Damn it!"

The guard next to Marv stirred that he had the worst sheet.

"Revenge?"

"Sure, why not."

"Yes!"

"Clear."

The game was reshuffled, and the cards were distributed.

*Tara*

The trumpets were blown, which meant something was approaching our position.

We left everything behind and ran out of the tower.

A single Pegasus came flying towards us.

Something is not right!

"Guys! It is too fast! Move out of the way!"

People went aside and opened an alley.

I pulled out my wand and got ready.

The Pegasus didn't slow down, and a hard impact could cause injuries. I described using magic.

"Wind follow my call, wind breeze!"

A gentle breeze caused headwind, which slowed the Pegasus down a bit. It helped, but not everything and the Pegasus landed roughly on the ground.

A moment later, the Pegasus body glowed. Seconds later, stood the man who had been here before together with Eris was standing in front of us. His body was battered from the bottom up, and he looked exhausted.

“Eris is in danger! I need your help!"

"What are you saying?"

Sarna stepped out of the tower and pushed Viktor in front of her.

“I don't know why, but I saw the fanatics capturing her! I found out where their headquarters is, and Eris should be there now!”

"You know where it is, what are we waiting for?"

“We are too few here! I have to continue as soon as possible, and I will look for reinforcements in our village. But we lose time when everyone follows me... Is there someone with a powerful mind here? Maybe a wizard?”

"Me!"

I answered immediately and stepped forward.

"Do you know what I want to suggest?"

"Memorytranfer."

"Yes, you know it can be painful?"

"I know. I know about the risks.”

"Do you want, anyway?"

“It's about saving Eris! So start!”

She has become like a little sister to me, and I think Daria feels in her weird way the same.

"As you like."

The shapeshifter grabbed my head and leaned his forehead against mine.

"It begins."

--Do you hear me?--

Yes!

--Good! Here they come!--

It was like losing consciousness when a bunch of pictures appeared in my head. They showed me what happened to Eris and what was going on in this crater.

Everything became normal again, and the shapeshifter took his distance from me.

“I have to go, lead the others to the meeting point I showed you. We'll meet there and keep marching.”

"Good! Please hurry, your memories showed me that we don't have much time.”

“I know! I will continue to travel immediately. See you later."

He changed his shape again and immediately flew off.

"Dario!"

Daria came running to me and held me tight.

"Is everything fine?"

"Yes, it worked well. He transmitted only a few memories, so I only had the first level of pain.”

"I thought...! Never let it happen like last time!”

“It was different! After all, it was me who took memories of someone violently.”

"Please be careful, anyway!"

 

===

 

"This is the meeting point."

We had reached the meeting point selected by the shapeshifter. Ten guards came with us, the rest stayed with Viktor, and his brother behind, the reason was more than evident.

The meeting point was at a small pond, a hill away from the crater.

Marv and Noven came to me. Noven is the name of the elf who works as a guard. He happened to be the vice leader and took over the management.

"Dario, do you remember anything about the situation of Eris and the other prisoners?"

Noven asked me.

"Unfortunately not... In Isaak's memories, I only saw Eris and how she was caught."

Sarna also came to us.

"Hey, do you know how the plan will be? Imagine each of the shapeshifters turns into a monster. How are we supposed to distinguish the allies from the enemy? ”

Sarna brought in her worries.

"Right! Was there something? ”

Noven jumped up.

"Uh? No, nothing like that. I think he didn't think of anything like that in this situation, after all, we are short on time.”

I explained my guess to them.

"Someone is coming!"

One of the guards came running to us.

“Be careful before we know who it is. Get ready!"

Everyone gathered around us and waited for who or what was approaching.

Two men came into our field of vision. One of them was the shapeshifter from before, Isaak.

"Lower your weapons!"

Sarna ordered. Everyone lowered their weapons but didn't put them away.

Isaak discovered me and came over to us immediately.

"You made it!"

His face was visibly relieved.

"Yes, but we only arrived a few minutes ago."

I explained the situation to him.

"Say, who's the leader from you?"

It was as if he didn't want to waste any time.

“Uhm, these two here. Miss Sarna is the leader of the group looking for the nobleman, and Noven here is the vice-captain of the guards.”

I pointed to the two and introduced them to the two shapeshifters.

"Very pleased, I am Isaak, and the gentleman next to me is Andro, the elder of the village."

Isaak introduced himself and bowed. Andro did the same.

“We have to go through our battle plan. We were so free and sent a scout.”

Andro said calmly, leaning against a tree on his left.

“We also talked about it. We don't know how to differentiate you from the others.”

Sarna expressed her concerns.

"Good point, we came up with something."

With a tiny gesture, he signaled that it was Isaak's turn.

“Well, there is this magical contract. It was originally designed to prevent two contractors from betraying each other. We modified it a little, and it should now work a little differently. The modification should now create a kind of visual tape, which means that every member of the contract sees a different contract member in a bluish aura. You will also see each other in a bluish aura.”

"Then I have two questions, and the first one is "should"?"

Sarna asked, somewhat irritated.

"Unfortunately... we couldn't test it because we rewrote it on the way here."

“Uhu, very spontaneous. My second question is, did you want to make the contract with everyone here? ”

“No, we made sure of that. As long as people see one of the contractors as their leader, they will also have the ability. Among us, that means that if one doesn't light up that he could be a traitor.”

The second part said Isaak much quieter, so quiet that only we six could hear it.

"Who should sign the contract?"

I asked.

"Miss Sarna, Mr. Noven, Andro, and me."

"What are the possible side effects?"

“Unfortunately, we don't know…”

“As far as we thought, nothing will happen, or the circle will explode. But if you want, we can leave it, but it will only complicate our actions.”

Andro explained the highest chances of failure.

"Noven? What are you saying?"

Sarna asked unimpressed.

“If they wanted to cheat us, they wouldn't have to go into the circle themselves. Besides, what is an explosion when someone you know knocks you out during the fight?”

He glanced at Sarna, who had knocked him out yesterday when we arrived.

"Well, let's try it!"

She declared and clapped her hands together.

 

===

 

*Tara*

We blew into the trumpets and declared our attack. The contract was a complete success, and the shapeshifters were able to identify two traitors and eliminate them before we started the attack.

Through my water and healing spells, I was assigned to the rearguard and should stabilize the seriously wounded as much as possible. At my side was a shapeshifter named Relena, who has an affinity for water and was, therefore, able to clean wounds as well.

She seemed to me like no one who comes to a battlefield voluntarily.

It didn't take long for the first injuries to arrive, and most wounds were on their legs.

"Dario, I've cleaned the wound, please look over it to see if you can close it. Otherwise, I'll bandage it."

"I will!"

I went to the first injured person, and it was a woman in her thirties. Her left thigh had been cut open lengthways.

The cuts were deep, but...

"Please clench your teeth!"

I pulled my wand and cast the healing spell. A white light fell on the wound, and it started to heal slowly.

The woman began to moan and bite her teeth in pain.

"Hold on a little longer!"

The bleeding stopped, but the woman lost consciousness due to the pain.

"Relena, the patient, passed out, her wound is no longer bleeding can you bandage her?"

"I'll be right there! Please take a look over here.”

I went on to the next person.

One of the guards was hurt on the floor. He had a wound across his face. The injury narrowly missed his eyes.

"I will close the bleeding with a healing spell."

"Don't! Girly has already cleaned the wound, give me a bandage. I will combine the wound and keep going.”

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Save your mana.”

"Well, whatever you want."

I placed a bandage in his hands and got up again.

"Attention!"

I saw a huge black object fly towards us.

“Fire, hear my supplication, I want to see this world burning! Inferno!"

A wave of flames after another shot out of my wand and headed for the black object.

The two met, and the black object exploded. A cloud of ashes emerged that darkened the sky above us.

"Dario! Dario!"

"Yes!?"

“Grandfather brought Eris!”

"What!? I'm coming!"

I looked over at her and saw Eris lying in the arms of Isaak. I saw the blood on her face.

Oh, please don't!

I ran across as fast as I could.

"How is she doing!?"

“Quiet, she's just sleeping. She has no life-threatening wounds, but... her face... her right eye."

"Let me see it."

Isaak kneel carefully and laid the sleeping Eris on the floor.

I sat next to her and leaned over her face.

These wounds... a whirlworm?

I inspected the wound on my right eye more closely.

Her eyeball has been destroyed... Not even a priest could heal that... I can stop the bleeding, but...

I continued to the wound next to her left eye.

This wound is not bad, just a scratch... my healing spell shouldn't even leave a scar here.

The last thing I looked at was her right shoulder.

The wound is deep... Relena should clean the injury, and I will close it afterward.

“Relena, can you clean the wound on her shoulder? I will take care of the wounds on her eyes as well as possible.”

"Is good."

“You two can do it without me. I'm going to help others.”

Isaak was about to plunge back into the battlefield when Relena called after him.

"Grandpa! Come back safely!”

“Leaving you and Taaro alone? No way!"

Isaak disappeared and left us alone.

I use the healing spell to close the wound on her left eye.

"Hngh!"

Eris groaned in pain.

Please hold on.

"Ttygh!"

"I don't think she's moaning in pain. It sounds like she's calling for someone."

Relena got me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, perhaps."

"I'm done. I'll go to the other patients, you can do the rest on your own.”

She got up and left Eris alone with me.

"Tyc!"

The wound next to her left eye had healed, and the bleeding in the eye socket also stopped.

Now her shoulder was on. She tried to say something in her sleep now and then, but it was only half understandable, when I was done with the shoulder, where what she said the first time understandable.

"Tyche!"

Tyche? A name?

"Where are you?"

Is she looking for “Tyche” in her dreams? Who's Tyche? The name seems familiar to me, but I don't know where from.

I could no longer think about it and got up to take care of other patients.