Thanks for your support! I know it was a slow start, but it'll get interesting soon!
I walked through the snow, it parting for me from the sheer length of my cloak. Flakes of the cold snow also drifted down from the dark gray sky. The only reason I wasn't freezing myself was because of my thick cloak, undercoat, and my warm gloves and shoes. In both my hands I gripped my staff, which was a few times taller than me.
This was Ashura-O's assignment to me—my very first.
What did he tell me to retrieve again? I asked myself slowing to a stop. He wasn't very clear about it…
I couldn't help but sigh as I remembered our conversation a few hours ago:
"This is your first mission outside of the castle..."
"Yes, Ashura-O."
"…And it is also you're most important."
"Why is it important, my king?"
"You'll be going out to collect an irreplaceable piece of your future—that's why."
"My king… what could this item be?"
The smile was thick in his voice. "You'll know what you're looking for when you encounter it."
A puff of warm breath escaped my lips, coating my vision in mist. Ashura-O was, if anything, a crazy man. Mysterious—strange. I mean, what could I just happen upon and say: "This is what I'm looking for!" and take it?
After a few more hours of pointless looking, I promised myself that I would turn right around and go back to the castle empty-handed. A disappointed Ashura-O was better than frost-bitten fingers.
I scanned my surroundings with my eyes. Snow, more snow, and rocks. What important item was found on a mountain with no people?
Ashura-O didn't, however, tell me to climb this mountain. He sort of let me out of the castle to chase my tail and wander aimlessly. Frighteningly, my magic had led me here. My staff pointed straight upward now, where it had pulled me horizontally to the west from the castle.
Whatever I was looking for, my staff said it was right above me.
But when I looked up—nothing! The dark skies and falling snow was all I could see for miles.
I lowered my eyes, reaching up to pull my coat's thick hood back over my head, where it had fallen. Snow melted into my eyelashes.
A waste of time, I scoffed. What was King Ashura thinking? Okay, so maybe he's prone to wasting my time on magic I already know, but this… this is too far! I turned toward the direction of the castle again, walking away from the spot. I have to knock some sense into him—rude or not!
My staff tugged me back a couple steps. I yanked it back roughly.
The staff went slack in my hands.
The sky rumbled darkly.
My magic senses sparked, and my head snapped up. Right above the spot I'd been standing, the sky shifted and sank on its own, like a translucent sack weighing against itself with water. The bag-like thing lowered down to the ground, snapping open on contact.
When the sky reassembled itself, I studied the spot that had touched down.
A huddled form groaned.
My eyes popped wide. It was alive!
No, not an it. When the figure rolled over, I saw arms and legs. This was a human! A human had just opened a portal from the sky and dropped into this world. How was that possible without magic?
Then I noticed the blood.
It soaked through the person's thin black clothing, where it had acted invisible from my eyes, and soaked down into the pure white snow. This human was badly injured.
I froze, unable to move. Blood. Fai. Fai was dead. Fai's blood had spilled over me when he died. This person was going to suffer the same fate as my brother!
Not thinking clearly past the blood, I threw down my staff and struggled to pull the person up. On closer inspection, the person's face was that of someone my own age, but more angular. This was a boy.
In my eyes, I saw him as my brother before he'd died. Thin, raggedy, and smelling of death far before his heart had stopped.
"Fai," I sobbed.
The boy mumbled something inaudible.
"Don't worry, Fai, I'll help you. I'll get you help!"
He groaned.
Lowering the boy, I reached out for the staff. It was out of reach. I strained my arm to stretch as far as I could without letting go of the boy. Fai, my brother.
My fingers brushed against the staff.
With one more reach, I dragged the staff over to me, casting a communication spell.
"Hello?" asked King Ashura's voice through the staff. I grimaced at his smug voice.
"My king," I said unsteadily. "I have found this 'important thing' you were speaking of."
The king paused to shout something over his shoulder. I couldn't quite make out what he said. Then, he answered: "Stay where you are, Fai. I've sent a man and two horses to come to your aid."