Chapter Two
After restocking what little she'd used since leaving the last town a day ago, complete with new map, Elana was at the gates again getting ready to start out on her journey. Thanks were given once again, which Elana shrugged off in embarrassment. It wasn't as though she could have left them to the wolves, after all. She even made it a good distance up the road before anything unusual managed to catch her attention.
At first there were slight shadows flitting among the bushes lining the road. Shapeless shadows, at that, so Elana didn't even have an idea of what it was keeping pace with her. All she could tell, from the glimpses she managed to catch, was that they were roughly the size of a medium-sized dog. But, Elana thought, they're much to thin to be actual dogs. They were walking along together for a full candlemark before the shadows ventured into sight.
Elana had never seen a wyrsa before. She had always considered it a matter of pride, actually, that she'd never gotten into a situation so horrible that it was clear she might not make it out again. The worst trouble she'd ever come across was that cold drake a few winters ago, and it was just a simple fire calling that handled that situation. Granted that her heart had beaten so hard she thought it was going to burst through her ribs. A reaction that paled in the face of three bodies moving fluidly under and over each other.
Elana thought for a single panic-stricken moment that her heart had actually stopped. Then it thudded painfully in her chest and she knew that if she didn't do something soon she'd die. Probably painfully, in the dust and dirt. Not the way she was intending on spending her last moments. Hastily throwing up a shield, and praying that it actually did something besides drain her energy, Elana stumbled backward a few steps. Keeping the constantly moving bodies in sight, Elana tried to make her way to the side of the road. Ducking through the underbrush presented itself as a valid strategy to Elana's panic-stricken mind.
It wasn't until she noticed that the plants were tripping her up more than the creatures chasing her that it seemed a bit foolhardy. A raised root snagged her foot and Elana found herself tumbling down an incline, her head bouncing off the ground as she landed. Shaking off the stars, she jumped back on to her feet and set off running again. It was silent behind her, no sounds of anything pursuing her, and Elana chanced a look back. Those few seconds proved to be too much, though, and suddenly she found herself flying forward again. It was another, sharper, incline and the bottom wasn't as forgiving as the last landing.
A sharp gasp escaped her as an equally sharp pain lanced through her side. A fumbling hand found a piece of wood sticking out of a place it didn't belong and Elana grimaced as she finally heard the sounds of pursuit. Not that it was much of a pursuit any more. Her side was slowly oozing blood, and the three wyrsa were closing in on three sides. Well, I suppose twenty is as good an age as any. It wasn't until the first of them leapt at her that something happened. Watching the snarling mouth bounce off the shield she'd thrown up earlier snapped her out of the trance she'd fallen into. Elana poured more power into the shield, reaching out in an attempt to find a ley line. If she could keep it up long enough to think of a better plan, maybe she'd live to see tomorrow.
Really not much of a plan, but it's what she has.
Finding a small ley line running a bit off to her left Elana tapped into it and fed it directly into her shielding. Hand still wrapped around the large stick that had impaled her Elana debated whether it would be worse to remove it or leave it. Letting go of the stick she instead grabbing onto the branches surrounding her. Pulling herself to her feet, Elana glanced around the bush she'd landed in. Hunched over in an attempt to alleviate the pain radiating from the puncture in her abdomen, Elana shoved all of her discomfort to the back of her mind and concentrated.
A fire sprang to life in the area to Elana's immediate right, spreading until it curved around the front of her, blocking the wyrsa from sight. Low growls and other assorted threatening sounds could be heard over the flames, moving around the sphere of protection Elana had managed to bring up in her defense. Rotating to follow the sounds as they moved, Elana readied a levinbolt in her left hand, since her right had once again grabbed the offending bit of wood, she let flames drop. Finding a target, she let the bolt fly and felt a rush of satisfaction when it hit home. Sweating from the effort of staying on her feet, not to mention all the magic-slinging, Elana laughed bitterly when she tried to raise the fire again only for it to fail.
It takes energy to use energy. Her teacher's voice echoed inside her head. A snarl bouncing off her shield from the other side recaptured her attention and Elana frowned when she noticed the shadows edging into her vision. Either it's the blood lose, or I perforated something important. At that moment her concentration failed her, and the only things that prevented a wyrsa from taking off her head were her knees giving out on her. It's said that in life threatening situations your life flashes before your eyes. That wasn't how it went for Elana, instead she flashed back to a specific day of lessons.
"Is it possible to Fetch people as well as things?" One of the other kids being taught had the Fetching Gift as well, and was a bit more flexible while using it. He was already well-known for thinking 'outside the box,' as the adults put it. "Yes, though it's more difficult since you need to encase them with enough leeway for air." Stephan was in charge of the Fetching classes, as he had the most powerful Gift of all the mages. "Though it's a bit easier if you Fetch them away from yourself. Some Gifted can even Fetch themselves short distances."
Elana's eyes snapped open and she pulled together every last shred of power and concentration she could get her 'hands' on. Eyesight already failing her from a combination of blood loss and overused Gifts, Elana poured everything into her Fetching and cupped her 'hands' around herself. The wyrsa weren't going to give up their lunch without a fight, and with another snarl they leapt at her, one aiming high the other low. With one last panic filled thought Elana threw herself through the Void, trying to keep visualizing the village she'd just left. Still trapped in the Void, Elana's concentration started wavering and in one last burst of panic she shoved herself the rest of the way through the Void.
Falling on grass, the sun streaming mercilessly into her face, Elana gave up the fight for consciousness. After all that, if she were to be murdered in her sleep, then it's obviously her time to go. Unseen by Elana, people were running over the formidably large lawn towards her prone form. Voices raised in alarm when their owners noticed the blood, and several pairs of hands made as if to reach for her before they were retracted. A no-nonsense voice snapped out a few orders followed by what seemed to be an incantation. Elana's body rose into the air of its own accord, and floated ahead of the voice's owner towards a castle in the distance. If Elana had been conscious, and in any state to notice, she would have sympathized with whoever had to maintain that goliath of all front lawns.