"Wind!!" I yelled. Green magic seeped through my fingers and quickly disappeared. I sighed. I did everything the book said to do, but my magic still came out weak, as it had for the past few hours. "Come on Leila, you can do this. You'll have to learn to be a sage sooner or later," I muttered, as if talking was going to make my skills as a mage any better, and took stance again. I looked up startled, however, as a defining bang sounded behind the bushes.
After my hearing had returned, I could make out yelling, and the harsh sound metal against metal. I knew I was no longer safe. With my books back in my bag and my knife back in its pouch on my leg, I dashed into the woods on my right hoping to make a quick escape; too bad there was a sniper right there in front of me. I slid to a stop right at the edge of the foliage. It was excellent that he hadn't noticed me, but I had no way to get out of the fight.
"Double crud," I whispered. From memory I tried to move my hands so I could hit the sniper with a spell. Nothing. A second time? Still nothing. On the third time I tried, the gust of wind that was meant to go towards the sniper spun back around like a boomerang and pushed me out of the bushes.
His eyes widened at the sight of me."Hey! What are you doing, brat?!" the sniper yelled. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.
"Nothing to you, so leave me alone!" I said, reaching for the blade at my thigh. The sniper smirked.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're in my way," he sneered. I gasped as he readied an arrow so quickly it put a rabbit to shame. I looked to my left and to my right, but there wasn't an out anywhere. The only way to avoid the fight was to go around the sniper and into the woods behind him. I was still kneeling, so I put one hand on the ground so I could get some traction. Maybe I wouldn't have to go around him like I thought. A smirked played its way on my lips.
"Wha--" the sniper began. I dashed through his legs and was about to head into the woods when I heard a whiz on my right. One of his arrows landed right beside me. Without thinking, I stopped and turned around. I barely saw that annoying smirk of the sniper before one of his arrows went into my left forearm. I clenched my teeth in pain and bit back a scream. At least it wasn't my magic arm, which I raised and wove as I performed a spell as quickly as I could.
"Wind!" I yelled. A blade of wind went at the unfortunate sniper and he went down. "All right, you stupid magic. NOW you start working." I groaned loudly. An unbearable amount of pain shot up my arm and into my spine, and I fell forward, holding my hand around the arrow. I gasped at the numbness in my fingers, but I didn't have the courage to pull the arrow out. The bad news was the sniper was getting back up. The super bad news was that I was defenseless. He readied another arrow and aimed it at my forehead when he stopped with a terrified look on his face.
"Elthunder!" a smooth voice said behind me. I turned around, still holding onto my arm trying to stop the bleeding, which wasn't working because the arrow was still stuck in my arm. The person that the voice came from used the Elthunder with perfection and it hit the sniper, killing him in an instant. The voice came from a guy who looked about the same age as me, about six inches taller than me and garbed in night black robes. His long hair was raven, and his crimson eyes were staring at me.
"Who are you?" I said quietly. "I had everything under control until you came along trying to rescue me!" Now I know that this wasn't completely true, but the guy stole my limelight, even if I still had an arrow stuck in my arm. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.
"I can see that's true enough," he said smartly. His voice was so collected and cool, like he hadn't just killed a sniper to save a girl he didn't know."Now do you want help with your arm, or what?" He motioned towards the arrow still stuck in my skin. I scoffed at him angrily.
"I can do it myself!" I yelled half-hearted. I would've screamed, but the blood loss was making me weak. He turned his head to the side as if daring me to keep lying to him. I tugged on the wood of the arrow a bit, but a dreadful tingling feeling went up to my shoulder. There was a moment of silence before I spoke up again. "Fine! You do it." He rolled his eyes.
As I sat down, he walked over to my side and kneeled, taking my arm in his hands. "Just to warn you, this will hurt a little." I rolled my eyes. He acted like I'd never experienced pain in my life, like a small child. Slowly, he pulled the arrow head out of the skin and tossed it aside. I winced and clenched my jaw, but I kept my eyes open as if to prove I was strong enough. He pulled a gauze out of his bag and wrapped it around my wound. I looked at his face. His features were cold and harsh, but his eyes looked soft as he handled my arm.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Soren." he said . I gasped. He was one of those legendary heroes that saved Tellius. One of the best sages in the land. This guy? Nah. I don't think so.
"Uh huh, well I'm Leila," I said forcefully. I wanted to challenge him, but I didn't know why. It was like an impulse.
"Aren't you cold, Leila?" Soren asked me quietly, yet it sounded like a smart arse comment.
"Hmm...?" I said, wondering what he was talking about. I looked down at myself to see gypsy clothing. I narrowed my eyes at him, realizing exactly what he meant. "So what?" He finished my arm by tying a knot in the gauze. I stood up and his gaze followed my movements. "Thanks for all your help and everything, but I really gotta get going so--," I said, trailing off. Soren's piercing red eyes silenced me.
"I did something for you, now you must do something for me. It's common courtesy," he said with an exasperated sigh, like he really didn't want to say what he had to. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. There was clashing in the trees behind us. I turned around quickly to see where the noise was coming from. "That's what I want you to do." I looked at him again.
"You want me to turn around?" I responded smartly. I pulled a gold band out of my bag and tied my long, blueberry colored hair up to keep it out of my face. Soren stared at me.
"We need all the help we can get. I want—actually Ike wants you to help us fight. I could care less," he finished. This guy was such a pain; nothing like I would've ever thought the great Soren would be like.
"Fine," I said after a pause. "I'll do it for Ike. Not that I'd be much help." I admitted bitterly to myself. Soren whipped his head around so that he wasn't facing me anymore.
"With a mage of your level, I wouldn't be surprised,"he said and stalked off, obviously wanting me to follow him. I clenched my fists and tried hard to keep my cool. He was such a jerk, but I followed anyways.
When we were walking to the battle field I must admit, I was a little nervous. I'd never been part of a group, let alone fight with one. I wasn't afraid that I'd do something wrong in front of all these people; I was scared that I might get killed trying to fight for people I didn't even know. We trudged through some more brush until I could see fire and people fighting. Horses were running back and forth trying to stay of the ranges of sages and archers. There fought a young man in the middle with royal blue hair and a sword; a huge guy with midnight black armor and an axe was fighting back. I was guessing that young man was Ike. I'd heard stories of the blue-haired hero.
"So what do you want me to do?" I asked Soren a little more forcefully than expected. He scanned the battle field and came up with an answer.
"Lucky for you. The fights almost over." I was a little disappointed with what he said. I knew I wasn't that great at magic, but this guy liked to rub it in my face.
"Whatever," I replied. With my hands on my hips, I walked over to where Ike had just stabbed the enemy, with Soren walking right behind me. Ike turned his head to face me with his hand on his sword.
"Who're you?" he asked me. He seemed to be very alert in case of another attack like the one they had just finished.
"There's no need to be afraid of this one, Ike," Soren said from behind me. "I found her in the forest being attacked by a sniper before I came to her rescue." I crossed my arms and scoffed. Ike looked down at my left arm where the arrow had been, but didn't comment.
"I'll do what you ask, but I need some training," I told him.
"What's your class?" he asked, glancing down to the knife at my thigh. I suppose he thought I might be an assassin.
"Mage."
"Very interesting," he said quietly as he looked me up and down. "You still haven't told me who you are, though."
"My name is Leila," I said,"And I prefer not to talk about my past." Ike nodded.
"Very well. I'll trust you for the time being,"he said. "Soren will show you what you need to do."
With that note, Ike left us. I scowled at his idea of spending more time with Soren. I walked ahead, leaving Soren behind me to show that I was an independent spirit and that I didn't need his help as much as he thought I did. I heard him clear his throat, so I stopped and turned around.
"The camp is the other way," he said with a grin.
