The fight soon turned into a confused melee. The
darkness, the torches waving in all directions, and the opponents surrounding
him disoriented Xeron, yet with his body armour equipped, the unskilled blows
the villagers were able to land on him simply bounced off, and he knocked them
down one after the after, making sure to simply leave them out cold rather than
dead. He bore no ill will against them; he just wanted to save Tara.
At some point, however, one of the villagers must have
slipped past him and started a fire, because before he knew it, Tara's house
was ablaze. A squeal from inside the house alerted him to this fact, and Xeron
realized that he was now running out of time. He had to end this, and fast.
Fortunately, as an experienced spear wielder, he knew precisely the perfect
technique with which to do so.
"Tornado Spear!" Balancing himself with practised
precision, Xeron span the staff as rapidly as he could, whipping up a
semi-magical whirlwind around him. These kinds of techniques were not considered
true magic, as they were drawn from physical technique and skill rather than
mana, and so were not outlawed. With one last powerful sweep of his spear, the
whirlwind blew outwards and sent the remaining men sprawling to the floor,
their weapons flying from their hands. One of the torches caught light to the
patch of grass it landed in, starting another small fire.
The mayor, fallen but still conscious, struggled to his
elbows. "You'll… regret this, you traitor…" he snarled.
Xeron shook his head. "You're wrong about
that," he said. "I won't regret this at all."
Not wanting to waste another second, he turned and ran
straight for Tara's house, which was now significantly ablaze. Kicking down the
front door, he rushed inside, and quickly spotted Tara huddled in a corner,
using some sort of weak water spell in a desperate, feeble attempt to fend off the
oncoming flames. If he hadn't been certain before that she were a Witch, then
this confirmed it, not that that mattered at all right now. Within a moment he
was upon her, grabbing her hand. "Come on, we need to go," he shouted
over the roaring fires, pulling her towards the exit.
"My books-!" said Tara suddenly, extending a
hand towards the bookcase, which was
already being licked at by the vicious flames. No doubt she had spell books
inside, that were about to be cruelly incinerated. But there was no time to
save them.
"Leave them!" insisted Xeron. "They'll be
the worst of your problems if we don't get out of here!"
"But-!"
"You can buy more books!" shouted Xeron.
"Come on! We need to go now!"
Finally, Tara nodded, and her legs began to move, the two
of them hurrying out of the burning house. The villagers, most of whom were
still out cold, did not try to stop them, and hand-in-hand, the pair fled Tirera,
not stopping until they came to a stone bridge over a small stream, just a
short way from the village. As they paused to catch their breath, Tara looked
back, watching mournfully as the smoke and flames rose up over the trees, signalling
the end of the life she had known. Tears started to well up in her sky-blue eyes.
"My house…" she breathed sadly.
Xeron sighed, not sure how to console her. He sat down on
the low stone wall of the bridge, and Tara sat down next to him, looking as
though she were trying not to cry. "Why did this have to happen…?"
she whispered. "Why couldn't they have just… never found out…?"
Xeron placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's
partly my fault, I guess," he said. "If you'd never had to have healed
me, then they never would have realized it."
Tara shook her head. "It's my fault," she said.
"I was too careless about it. In a Desert¹ like that, it was only a matter
of time, but I should have known it wouldn't last… I should have left long
before you ever arrived… by Vita², I'm such an idiot." Silent tears began
to spill down her pale cheeks, dripping onto her dress and darkening the
fabric. Not knowing what else to do,
Xeron simply hugged her close, letting her tears fall onto his shoulder.
"Why?" she asked hoarsely. "Why did you save me…?"
"You saved my life," said Xeron. "I had to
return the favour."
Tara nodded sadly, tears continuing to fall silently down
her face. "But… what do I do now?" she asked. "My home, my books…
it's all gone… everything's gone…"
"I don't know," admitted Xeron reluctantly.
"But you can always find somewhere new, an Oasis¹ somewhere, and rebuild
your life. This isn't the end. Trust me on that."
Tara nodded again, then suddenly, she seemed to have an
idea. She suddenly looked up at Xeron, clinging desperately to his arm. "Take
me with you," she pleaded quietly. "Please! I have nowhere else to
go, and you've already been so nice to me… I don't know what else to do… please…"
Xeron thought about it for a moment. Harbouring a Witch
was a sentence punishable by death, but with his profession taking him from
place to place almost on a daily basis, the chances of them sticking around
long enough for her secret to be discovered were slim to none, if they were
careful. It wasn't like he couldn't protect her either, or himself, for that matter;
he had just proved that back at Tirera, after all. And besides, her healing
skills could be of use to him. Healing potions were getting rather expensive
these days.
Xeron had made up his mind. He smiled at Tara, and
nodded. "Alright," he said. "You can come with me. But you're not
getting a free ride," he added, as Tara's eyes lit up with delight. "Your
magic will come in handy in my profession. So if you're willing to help me when
I need you, then I'll be perfectly willing to take me with you. Alright?"
Tara nodded enthusiastically, her tears of sorrow
replaced with tears of joy. "It's a deal," she sobbed.
"Great," said Xeron. "Well then, we'd
better get some rest. There's a town not too far from here, we'll rent some
rooms there and then be on our way in the morning."
"Okay." Tara let go of Xeron's arm and straightened
up, wiping away her tears. "Thank you, Xeron. Thank you so much."
Xeron shook his head. "We'll call this even, shall
we?" he said.
Tara nodded, and the two got to their feet, ready to
continue. "Alright," said Xeron, "let's get moving. The sooner
we get to the next town, the sooner we can rest."
Tara nodded in agreement, and Xeron set off. The girl
took one last sorrowful look at the thick smoke rising up from behind the trees,
as the flames consumed the last of what had been her home, before turning away
and following Xeron across the bridge and onwards to pastures new.
[FOOTNOTES]
¹ In Witch slang, a "Desert" is a settlement that
is hostile to Witches. Conversely, an "Oasis" is a settlement that turns
a blind eye to Witches or even shelters them, while a "Mirage" is a
settlement that pretends to be friendly to Witches in order to trap them. Xeron
grew up in an Oasis, hence his knowledge of the terms.
² Vita was the Goddess of Life who first created
humanity. The oath "by Vita" is comparable to "by God".
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