One by one, Fredrick’s men fell under a hail of arrows. They could not make do on their command to kill me. They were too busy dying.

Fredrick, fallen, a hole in his heart, blood pooling out of his chest and onto the forest floor, with his eyes lifeless, and his soul departed from the realm of the living. The men on the horses around him were killed too, their armour and bodies riddled with arrows. It was a grisly sight. A group of the soldiers sought to run, but I could sense a group of the attachers skilfully circle ahead of them, with Locate. It was a one-sided slaughter. The wonder of projectile weaponry which had changed my old world.

None of the arrows fell my way, so I stood in the same spot, my hands on my hips, and a look of displeasure on my face, watching the battle unfold before me with mild interest and concern. There was no point in running, since they were surrounding the area, and besides, I didn’t care to run.

In my mind, the assassins would have to answer for their wanton murder. I casually approached and crouched beside Fredrick’s body, and the hair on his lifeless head. An arrow whizzed over my head and penetrated the eyeball of a soldier approaching to strike me.

“You poor thing. We didn’t even get to finish our conversation,” I said to Fredrick.

I lifted his chin up gently with my hand and let out a sigh. “This is really unfortunate.”

I rolled my hands over his eyes while the surrounding chaos continued. I bent down further, on all fours, and gently placed my lips against Fredrick’s forehead. I wanted to kiss him on the lips like a princess waiting to be raised from her slumber, but he wasn’t even warm anymore. I could sense a very faint presence in his body. I wanted to hold him, to hug him, to comfort him, to make him feel better. But I knew that it would be futile. Fredrick was dead, and that was all there was to it. He was gone. And no amount of effort or love could bring him back.

I stood up and dusted off my dress. I noticed it was stained with blood. I used Cleanse; the skill leaving no trace of the blood’s existence behind.

I looked up and saw that the battle was over, and that the attackers had won. There were bodies everywhere. The forest floor was littered with the dead and dying. And the ones who weren’t dead yet would be soon enough. I could hear their screams of agony and anguish.

It was only a matter of time before I’d be speaking to someone. After all, they were so careful not to strike me.

I did some stretches while I waited.

Eventually, a group of about 10 elves in leather armour approached, unsurprisingly carrying large bows with hefty quivers of arrows.

Hmm? Elves! The first time I’ve seen them in this world. I had heard about them from Elissa’s readings.

If I was right, and took into account the presence of both Imperial soldiers and the elves, we must have been in one of the borderlands separating the elven tribes from the human empire. How interesting! Perhaps I could learn more about the political situation and history of the continent I had reincarnated on. I had always wanted to understand the nuances and intricacies of this fantasy-style society, politics, and government. Maybe it was something I could have studied if I was born a noble, and not a pair of tights.

“Are you the socially oppressed Elves?”, I asked, intent on getting to the heart of the matter.

I could see a bunch of slender eyebrows and long, pointed ears twitch.

“How dare you speak such words!”, said a man, with a long braid and a scarred face, “We are the proud and noble tribe of the Sovic Elves!” The elves around him nodded, their faces filled with anger and indignation. I could sense a deep sense of pride emanating from them. It was clear that the word ‘oppressed’ had struck a nerve. “And we do not need your pity,” the man added. He stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fury, his hand gripping his bow tightly. The other elves followed suit, each of them drawing their bows and pointing them at me.

“My apologies. I merely thought of your need to slaughter all these fine young men, without so much as a courtesy warning,” I said, my voice cold and detached, “It seems you’ve already drawn your weapons, so let’s get right to it.”

I could see a flicker of uncertainty pass through the man’s eyes, his mouth twisting into a frown.

“Well, we did a fine job of stopping your pretty little face lobbed off by those imperial bastards, so perhaps a thank you is in order?”, the scarred elf, said with a smirk. He was probably the leader.

“I really didn’t need your help. I was doing quite well by myself,” I shrugged.

I could sense a faint sense of relief emanating from him, mixed with a hint of satisfaction. Behind all of that bravado, there was fear, I figured.

“So what is it that you want?”, I asked curtly.

“Names first!” the elf bellowed.

“Fine. My name is Hero.”

The elves stirred.

“So Zofia was right...”, I heard someone whisper.

“She is an oracle, you fool. Of course she was right,” another elf replied. There was a murmur of agreement from the other elves. Some of them even nodded their heads. Zofia was a ‘she’ and not a ‘he’. I made a mental note of that. And also an elf. Obviously.

“Silence you idiots!” scarface shouted, spit shooting out of his mouth.

These elves were very... “earthy”, and not like I imagined, based on my loose familiarity with the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Indeed, they were tall, slender, and… handsome, but their manner of speech was rough. There was not a woman among them.

“My name is Jakub. The Sovic militia commander.”

So scarface’s name was Jakub. Again...

“Not very elvish at all...”

Oops, did I say that out loud?

“Excuse me, did you say something?” Jakub asked, his eyes narrowed, his grip tightening around his bow. “Speak up if you have something to say.”

“Hmm, nothing really...” I looped my long white hair around finger, feigning innocence.

...

There was a long pause. One of the felled imperials soldiers was gasping for air, a gaping wound in his chest, as his lungs filled up with his own blood. There was a wet sound as his breathing came to an abrupt stop. None of the elves broke eye-contact with me.

...

“Hmm... Now that’s settled, we need you to come with us,” Jakub finally said.

“Why?” I asked simply.

“We’re the ones asking the questions here, and I suggest you cooperate.” His voice was hard and commanding, and his gaze was cold and unwavering. He was obviously used to being obeyed.

(Domain)Control

Without any visual effects to speak of, a series of hovering, golden daggers materialised one millimetre from every elven adam’s apple.

It took a brief moment for each militia member to realise the predicament before them.

“By the gods...”

“Impossible...”

“How...”

“What is this?”, Jakub’s eyes widened in shock, his face draining of colour. “How are you doing this?” He looked terrified.

The other elves were similarly shaken, and I could sense a mixture of fear, anger and confusion emanating from them. 

“Let’s play a game,” I said calmly, my voice low and cold, my expression serious and determined. “Every time you ask a question, one of your necks will be cut. Every time you try to move, one of your necks will be cut.” There was a gasp from one of the elves, followed by a whimper. “You will follow my instructions. You will keep your weapons undrawn. You will not attack me or attempt to flee. You will obey my orders and answer my questions. If you fail to comply, or lie to me, you will die.” The elves remained silent, their fear and apprehension growing. “Do you understand?”, I asked. I could see a few nods from the elves, their faces pale, their eyes wide and filled with terror.

“Ok great!”, I clapped and bounced onto one foot.

I wasn’t going to kill them, of course. But they didn’t know that.

“Now. Tell me exactly why you want me to follow you. Keep it brief,” I said.

“A Shadow has taken to our lands. She slaughters every human who comes near, drawing Empire scum to our lands every day.”

He paused, his expression grave. He lowered his head and let out a sigh.

“If this continues, our village will be destroyed. We have already lost so many lives. Men, women and children to those imperial bastards. Please, just...”

“Tell me more about this Shadow,” I said.

“Yes... This may sound farfetched to you, but every night the Shadow cries out a name in anguish. ‘Hero’. Your very name! The oracle, one with a power to peer into the future, she said that a falling star would descend from the sky-but-land, and if we followed it that we would find the one who would quell the Shadow’s sorrow.”

“And this is exactly what happened,” he added, his eyes focused on me. “We tracked the falling star, and that’s when we found you, surrounded by those pigs. We were merely observing when you spoke your name. That’s when we realised we had to fight before you were taken in by the Imperial Army. They were here too because of that floating island.”

“So, you don’t know why the Shadow is crying my name,” I concluded. “You just want me to go along with it.” There was an uncertain but distinct nod of confirmation from the elves.

(Domain)Control

The daggers disappeared. 

“Alright, I’ll come with you,” I said.

There was a collective sigh of relief, but also surprise, from the elves.

“Before that, I ask that you bury all the men that have fallen today. They didn’t deserve to die like this,” I added, my voice quiet.

It was true. The men didn’t deserve to die so pointlessly. Even the Imperial soldiers had families and friends, people who cared about them, people who loved them.

“... So be it.” Jakub said, clenching his chiselled jaw.

“Men, this in an order. Get to it!” he commanded.

Tomiko... It couldn’t be her… It was too much of a coincidence. Unless the island was already heading in her direction. It didn’t add up. But I couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

–

The night before, by the shore of the lake.

Pandora stood over someone appearing to be a young girl in a dress.

The girl was lying by the shore, her eyes wide open, but entirely unmoving.

Her white dress sprouted translucent tendrils as Pandora reached out her small hand. The tendrils reacting to the the slightest sign of movement, seemed ready to attack at any given moment.  

Pandora pulled her hand back and then threw something metallic into the lake's water.

Turning to leave, she begun walking towards the direction of the Floating Island of Rozpacz, looming in the night sky.

"Blue Oni, the Red Oni needs you. Don't forget about her and your true feelings, no matter what may come to pass... I see now... that you both are our only hope," she whispered, as she left silently in the cool breeze.  

–