Anna:
It was only a matter of time before Jevon did something reckless. Things were about to get messy. I dove behind the cabinet where I kept my herbs. If Jevon was about to cast something stupid, I needed cover this is not going to going to be pretty. The next thing I there Jevon cast the spell explosion. The spell hit hard A thunderous blast shook the clinic. The windows shattered. Smoke swallowed everything. My ears rang. My vision blurred.
"That dense fool," I muttered, coughing. "How can he be so thick‑headed?"
I peeked around the cabinet. Jevon lay on the ground, most of his fur burned away, barely recognizable. Instinct took over. My hands moved before my mind caught up.
"May the blessings of Mother Earth be bountiful," I chanted. "Medium healing."
The spell took effect immediately, warm light pouring out of my hands around Jevon's ruined body.
There were five bandits laying burned and dead around Jevon. That is when I heard footsteps. A man stepped into what was left of the clinic tall, broad‑shouldered, with a wicked smile carved across his face. His hair was a shock of red, his beard thick with streaks of gray. His face was grizzled, worn by battle. His clothing was A mismatched kingdom's army uniform with a caption's insignia on his callar the armor was dented and scratched like it had seen many battles since it was cast. These where not any mera bandits they were soldiers turned killers and thieves. He saw me looked at me and smiled his wicked smile and said a healer, just like your mother. A heavy burlap sack came down over my head. Darkness swallowed me whole. I heard Mother fighting. Screaming. Kicking. They were taking her too.
One of the men spoke, his voice rough and amused.
"Captain Draco wants them alive."
Draco, The name burned itself into me. Rage flared hot and useless in my chest. I wanted to fight. I wanted to punch this man in the face. I wanted to kill every one of them reality is cruel survival gave me no other choice. Rough hands grabbed me, lifted me, dragged me away from the clinic. I could not see. I could not fight. I didn't know where we were going.
It was a few hours in the endless void of darkness. As the horse I was on thrown onto galloped along the rough roads hitting every bump in the back woods. When the sack was finally ripped from my head I was forced into a cell. As I looked through the window, I recognized this place I am in the town hall building in Winterhol. The pungent smell of urine was the first thing that hit me as I dropped to the floor and heaved. I did not see mother where my mother is? There is a small group of elves in the cell with me. They where dirty and looked as thought they had been there a few days. One of the girls looked to be about my age a slender body dark hair and blue eyes she still had a undying look of defiance in them. She could not speak in common language but her intent was still there she helped me up and tried to get me to eat some bread. Time seemed to drag on it was night fall when then door cracked open again the guard opened it hatch throwing your mother in. She had a black eyes purple and red marks covered her body. There was dried blood all over her bodily who ever did this was a monster. They dropped her into the cell liken a discarded rag and she did not look much better then one. I cast my second healing spell of the day with extraordinarily little food and rest in between. The warm flow of magic flowed into your mother's wounds. My mother did not have anything left in her she just curled up next me.
I could not understand the dark‑haired elven girl's words, but I understood her tone. Fierce. Defiant. tone she spoke in. She shouted at the guard with all the fire she had left. I could only assume she was insulting them I know what I would be calling them a coward, a monster, a guiltless brute. I wish I had the strength to-do the same. The guard only laughed, mocking her. That changed when the leader arrived.
I heard Draco's voice outside the cell he sounded angry. "Why does that elf still have any fight left in her?"
The door slammed open so hard it rattled the hinges. He did not give the girl a chance to defend herself. He grabbed her by the hair and slammed her into the stone wall. The impact made a sickening thud. A crimson stream poured from her mouth, splattering onto the floor. Even then, even bleeding and gasping for air, the defiance never left her eyes. That only made them angrier. The bandits descended on her, beating her mercilessly. She struggled for breath. Something inside her had ruptured there was so much blood coming from her mouth. By the time they were done, she lay crumpled on the floor, her breathing faint and uneven. Draco turned toward me. He had a smirk on his face, the kind that belonged to someone who enjoyed cruelty. He backhanded me across the face, hard enough to leave the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.
"Heal her," he said coldly. "I want my merchandise functional."
He walked out, blood still on his boots from the savage beating he had given the elven girl. My heart raced fury and terror tangled together. I had to stay strong. Mother was in no state to help me. And this girl… she lay broken at my feet, barely clinging to life. I started to chant, but my mana sputtered. I had used nearly everything on Joker and Mother. My reserves were gone, replaced by aching exhaustion. Mother saw me falter. The desperation in my eyes must have been obvious, because despite her own ordeal she had lived through, she forced herself to move. She crawled toward us, each step slow and trembling.
"She needs to live, Anna…" Mother whispered, her voice hoarse and broken.
She placed her hand on the elven girl's shoulder and began to chant the same smooth melody she had taught me years ago. Warm light flowed from her palm. The girl's breathing steadied. The worst of her wounds closed. She remained unconscious, but she was no longer dying. Healing magic uses the patient's own natural healing and the mana from the caster to heal a person it is not uncommon to be sleeping for hours or even days depending on how bad the wounds where so the elf is a asleep and it may take her a while to wake up but she will live.
Soilder:
We talked about the plan as we walked, each step crunching through the underbrush. The plan was simple or at least, simple enough for three kids about to do something incredibly stupid. We knew where the bandits were thanks to the intel that father had forgot about on his desk.
I had visited Winterhol once with Father. It was a smaller village farther west than Springhol, tucked closer to the snowy mountains. I remembered how clean and crisp the air felt there, how the snow clung to the trees. A clear stream ran along the south side of town icy, narrow, and half‑frozen even in spring. The stream might be our best chance to get in undetected. Even if it meant freezing our legs off. Cowboy enlisted help from the rats about a dozen of them he was using his gift of animal speech. They scurried off into the shadows, returning one by one with information. That's how we learned the captives were being held in the old city building. We also learned something worse. There were around one hundred bandits in Winterhol.
The warriors in town had been killed in the first attack. Most of the women and children survived, but they were locked away in their homes. The city building is use as the mayor's office, the courthouse, and the jail all in one. The building had become a prison to a group of elves. The bandits had captured the other day. Cowboy's jaw tightened as the rats relayed the details. Joey's hands shook around his wand. We needed to be careful because one hundred bandits against Three kids not very good odds. Mother and Anna were in there. And that meant we were going in.
I do not know whose bright idea this was. We waded through the freezing current, the weight of our gear dragging us down, the moss‑covered stones slick and treacherous beneath our feet. Even in spring, the moss was frozen solid. Joey slipped first, tipping straight into the mud and in the chaos, he took all three of us down with him. The only one not effected was Kaga the wolf. Cold, wet mud soaked through everything. The noise must have alerted the bandits, because harsh voices echoed through the darkness. Dread grew in the pit of my stomach. Thank God we were not far from the building we needed to infiltrate.
We dragged ourselves out of the mud just as an alarm went up across the village. I did not think we had made that much noise, but apparently three muddy idiots stumbling through a freezing stream was enough. A door cracked open a guard checking the commotion. Cowboy did not hesitate. One arrow. Straight between the guard's eyes. I lunged forward and caught the door before it shut. The guard's keys where at his belt. I grabbed them off his corpse. Inside, another bandit slept on duty. He did not wake up when I cut his throat. In a small cell at the back, we found them the captive elves, my mother, and my sister. Words cannot capture the relief that hit me. It nearly knocked me to my knees. The night was not over. Outside, the commotion was growing shouting, boots pounding, steel clashing. I really didn't think we mad that much noise when I heard a crash of a massive spell hit the city walls.
Cowboy scooped up an unconscious elf. Joey grabbed my anna. I helped mother up she looked hollow, drained, barely standing. The rest of the elves followed us out the door, limping, staggering, but alive. Winterhol was burning around us. The bandits were mobilizing what timing father must have had the same thought we did because they were attacking now.
As we stepped out of the city building, a group of bandits waited in the open street, their silhouettes sharp against the moonlight. One stood ahead of the others clearly the leader. Long red hair, fresh blood on his boots, and a look that said we had taken something important from him. Two more bandits flanked him, each wearing old army uniforms with faded lieutenant insignia. None of them spoke. Just the cold night air. Just my heartbeat pounding in my chest.
Joey moved first. A spear of fire burst from his hands, lighting the street with a violent crack. At the same moment, Cowboy's arrow flew only to be knocked aside with a metallic ring. I lunged in with a shadow strike, my blade biting deep into one of the lieutenants. The leader charged Cowboy, forcing him to deflect the blow with his hunting knife as he scrambled for distance. Joey's spell hit its mark. The second lieutenant screamed as the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Kaga lunged, jaws clamping down on the bandit leader's arm, holding him in place long enough for me to swing again. I brought my blade down in a hard, brutal arc the leader parried and kicked me so hard I flew backward, crashing into the mud. An arrow struck him, but it bounced off his armor. Cowboy muttered, "Fuck…" The leader kicked Kaga away and turned toward me. I closed the distance with another shadow strike he moved faster than I expected. He deflected my attack, and out of nowhere a second sword flashed in his left hand. Pain exploded across my chest as he slashed me open. A deep wound. Warm blood everywhere. He raised his blade for the finishing blow but Joey saved my life. A stone cannon slammed into the leader's side, knocking him off balance. I forced myself up using my sword as a cruch blood leaking out on to the Gound I still had stamina so I still had fight left in me. Joey launched a second stone cannon. Cowboy aimed for a weak spot in the armor. Both attacks were deflected as the leader roared and charged. I met him head‑on. This time my blade found flesh, digging deep into his arm. I had aimed but he was faster than me. Kaga came from nowhere, biting deep into the leader's other arm. We were overpowering him. The city burned behind us. Bandits were dying off one by one. The leader knew he was losing. Fathers Milita where attacking I guess great minds think alike
In a desperate final moment, he used an advanced technique from the Earth‑style swordsmanship Double Sword Rotation. He spun rapidly, instantly ripping Kaga's teeth from his leg. I barely managed to deflect the blows; they rained down too fast to count. The spin acted as both shield and weapon, a brutal technique that was nearly impossible to counter. He got the opening he wanted. He dropped into the frozen water beside the street and began to make his escape. We had captives to protect I was barely able to stand so it was not worth he chas
Joey blasted the heavy front gate apart with a Fire Burst spell. The explosion shook the whole front wall, and in the smoke and splintered wood Father's militia surged into Winterhol. That was the turning point. The militia swept through the town, cutting down the remaining bandits, capturing others, and driving off the few who managed to flee including that snake of a bandit leader.
The captives of Winterhol were secured quickly, and the militia formed a protective perimeter around the town. Anna reached me in the chaos, her hands glowing faintly as she cast a small healing spell to keep me from bleeding out. I didn't have much fight left in me. None of my companions did either. Father was one of the first through the gate, cutting down bandits who dared challenge him. When he finally saw us alive his eyes widened. Relief washed over his face.
We stumbled toward the warmth of the command tent. The adrenaline finally burned out, leaving my legs weak and shaking. All three of us shaken from the fighting and out of energy all lay on the cot I held my mother just like she had not long ago when I nearly died from the Shadow Wolf. Ten years in this world, and I felt for Quinn the same way I had felt for my mother in my other life I am not sure when those feeling changed. Anna and Joey joined us within moments. Joey's grown‑up demeanor the one he had forced himself to wear for the last few days shattered the instant he saw his mother and sister safe. We all dropped beside mother, exhausted, filthy, trembling, suddenly children again. Surrounded by my family, I let myself collapse fully, drifting into sleep as Winterhol smoldered outside and the long night finally ended.