Time to Farm! (Solo)

How hard could it be? Siennah had thought to herself. Yes. How hard could it be, indeed. The wizard ran a hand across her forehead and sighed, looking at the farmland before her. The client had seemed so nice, and like he was in a real pinch. So she couldn’t have told the old man ‘no’ in good conscience. But, as Siennah looked over the weed-filled landscape and saw the rustling of something between the plants, she got the idea that she might have bit off more than she could chew. And hadn’t that old man mentioned something about rats in the farmhouse? Great.

Siennah tied up her dark hair in a braid at the back of her head. Then she slipped off her long, red vest and donned a pair of gardening gloves and a wide-brimmed straw hat. The old man also left out a number of farming tools for the wizard to use. There were a few rakes, and a number of hand tools. The three-pronged ones looked like they would make short work of any roots the weeds had sunk into the ground.

The dark-haired wizard blew out a breath and reached into her sleeve for a piece of paper. It couldn’t be helped. There was no way even a wizard could get all of this done just by hand. A flash of light pulsed in the paper before the white-bright paper fell onto the ground. In a series of crisp sounds, the paper folded upon itself and grew to the size of a grown man.

“Let’s see. How about you go over to the larger weeds and start working on those?” Siennah said.

Without a word, the origami soldier sped forward and began slashing wildly at the large weeds. In the form of a swordsman, the origami soldier couldn’t destroy the adult weeds entirely. But, he did a good job of slashing the height so they’d be easier to deal with. At least then Siennah wouldn’t miss any wild animals hiding in there.

But, did the old man who hired Siennah have something she could put on the ground to kill the rest of the weeds by darkness? She had heard of something like that when she was younger. After pulling the weeds, farmers sometimes put down a lot of old newspaper over the ground so that the leftover roots had a hard time re-sprouting. Ah, but there wasn’t anything like that here.

An hour later, most of the smaller weeds were all pulled up. Siennah piled them in a few baskets the farmer had left nearby. She wasn’t sure what to do with them. But, if she just left them on the ground, they might re-grow or sprout.

Siennah leaned her head back and sighed, but yelped in pain when something sharp cut at her upper leg.

Ah!

After turning downward, Siennah shrieked when she saw praying mantises the size of dogs.

“You have to be joking! Why are they so big?!” Siennah screamed, scrambling away with clumsy movements.

The mantises scuttled after Siennah, their wings making dry rustling sounds as they gave swift chase. Given their size and agile build, it didn't take them much time to catch back up to the wizard. They continued slashing at Siennah’s ankles and legs as she ran.

“Origami Soldier, please stop what you are doing and help me get rid of these giant mantises!” Siennah yelled.

Four of the giant-sized insects had followed the wizard. Two more scuttled out of the tall weeds. Siennah peered at the various cuts at her legs and ankles. There was no way she could out-run those things. They were just too quick. She’d just have to try to move them around. Siennah knew she couldn’t afford to let them stay at her legs. Those blades on their arms were sharper than they looked. If she weren’t careful, she’d end up with a serious injury.

A cloud of paper confetti swirled out of Siennah’s dress collar. All of the confetti whirled into something close to a reverse whirlpool, expanding outwards and spinning with dizzying speed.
“Paper Swarm!” Siennah shouted.

The confetti swirled around Siennah, knocking the praying mantises back. At her current level, she could only target one enemy at a time with this spell. But, that didn’t mean she wasn’t a valid target. The paper wouldn’t harm her—and it would keep those giant insects away for a short while. At least, it would until the spell gave out.

All six of the mantises clacked their mouthparts at the wizard, backing off for the moment. Several times, Siennah expanded the paper swarm, sending the attack outwards enough to damage several of the mantises. This seemed to discourage them for several seconds each time as they cocked their heads in apparent confusion.

Then, an arrow split through the thorax of one mantis, pinning it to the ground as it died. Siennah sighed with relief.

Her Origami Soldier had returned, this time slimmer and holding a bow. The swarm had bought her enough time for the swordsman to adjust and re-fold into an archer. One out of six. Five remaining. Four of them had taken some damage from the initial time Siennah summoned the Paper Swarm. But, it would take more than that to finish them off. There was no way Siennah could summon the Paper Swarm fast enough to get rid of the remaining five. At the same time, Siennah’s Origami Soldier was about to run out of power. So unless Siennah could think of something quick, she might end up taking some heavy damage. The cuts on her ankles were already going to require some attention.

Unless.

The remaining five mantises turned their attention to the origami archer, just as it began to unfold. With a grim frown, Siennah decided to try a long shot. She kicked at one mantis. Siennah didn’t even connect. All of the swirling paper around the wizard slashed the mantis to pieces before she could make contact.

This was her chance! Four more! Three more! Two more!

Siennah kicked around wildly, even chasing the last mantis down. Just as her spell began to wear off, the wizard tripped, falling on top of the last mantis and crushing it beneath her weight. Oops.

Magic spells finished, Siennah pulled herself back up. She was covered in ochre from the last mantis, and the hem of her dress was ruined. Ugh. Well. At least she wasn’t dead. Who would have thought she would have gotten so scared with a job that sounded so easy and boring….

Fine Details:

With the giant preying mantises dispatched, Siennah peered around the farm. No more movement? No more giant insects looking to get the drop on her? The mage made a few tentative steps back towards the weed-filled fields.  No?

Siennah shuffled forward a few more steps. No? She picked up the gardening tools she dropped earlier in her retreat. No. A breeze whipped over the farm, weaving through the remaining weeds and crops. Siennah was suddenly reminded of waves in the ocean, as the rustling of plant matter sounded—for one moment—like the crash of water on water. The wizard felt the warmth of the sun on her hair and cheek, and eyeballed the angle. Late afternoon.

The dark-haired wizard wiped some sweat from her brow and set back to work. Without the giant insects nipping at her heels, the weeds left the ground one bunch at a time. A small pile. A larger pile. By bits and pieces, the wizard cleaned up the plot. Fresh soil turned by the wizard’s hand brought a wet scent to the air. Worms and other insects of normal size squirmed back under the disturbed earth and scuttled out of Siennah’s reach. Several birds perched on the old farmer’s fence, eager for an easy snack that Siennah’s work might bring to the surface. They hopped back and forth, only diving for easy prey when they were certain the dark-haired wizard wasn't watching.

It was near sundown by the time Siennah finished with the weeds. All of the old man’s baskets were full to near bursting, with generous tangles of green spilling over the top of each. Siennah pulled the gardening gloves from her pale hands, folding the pair in half and then placing them in a tidy pile next to the farming tools leant to her for the day.  

All that left was the ‘rat problem’ in the farmhouse cellar. Siennah padded her way back to the farmhouse the old man had shown her earlier, and placed her hand on the cellar door. No. Wait. Even if it was rats, they could be giant.

Siennah mentally complimented herself on her wariness and pulled out another piece of paper from her sleeve. After another burst of light, another Origami Soldier brandished his blade in front of the cellar door.

“Protect me from anything that comes from this cellar. Please destroy whatever is in there quickly,” the wizard half-pleaded half-instructed her summoned servant.

The soldier nodded, his paper helmet crackling as it bent and then moved back into its default position.

The wizard placed her hand on the cellar door once more, and opened it. The rotten stench of dead animals and mildew hit Siennah like a punch, sending her stumbling backwards and covering her mouth and nose. She gagged, tears leaking from her eyes. But, the stench wasn’t the only thing that oozed forth from the cellar door. A giant rat the height of a grown man while bent forward pushed the cellar door further open until it bashed against its wooden frame.

Screw. This.

Tears from the smell clouded Siennah’s vision as she stumbled back a few more paces. Lucky for the petite wizard, her Origami Soldier stepped forward, placing itself in the rodent king’s path.

Foul, white liquid dripped from the rat king’s mouth and it exhaled a green-tinted cloud at the origami soldier as it tried to push its way forward. One, two, then a third slash sang in the air, biting fur and flesh from the giant creature. But, made of little but fur and scar tissue, the rat king seemed only enraged by the damage. A greying, clublike tail smashed twice against the swordsman summon, bending it at strange angles.

Siennah muttered under her breath. Another tornado of paper confetti billowed from her long sleeves and crashed against the rat king like a wave. A toe-curling shriek rippled through the air as Siennah’s paper dug further into the rat king’s wounds.

The rat creature snapped its fanged mouth at the swordsman, as if it were waiting for the summoned swordsman to fall from its poisoned breath. But, that only gave the wizard’s servant enough time to regenerate and unfold some of its damage.

But, the paper swarm continued to bite. In the end, Siennah’s summoned origami swordsman did fall from crushing blows from the rat’s tail. It gained its master enough time to move back from the waddling, heavy steps of the rat king. And the rat king couldn’t make up the distance before Siennah’s repeated paper spells cut him into little but shreds.

Out of breath, and nearly out of magic, Siennah made a note to ask the old farmer to burn the body.

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