Her First Steps

The carriage slowly trundled along a dusty road, each step of the large long-necked pack animal kicking up a plume of dust. It was obvious the rains had seriously been lacking in these parts, what with the dry air and parched earth. Oddly, if one looked to the sky, clouds could be observed, much of the time hanging low and threatening. Yet, it never rained, at least, not for the past few months, even though many a time, the skies even grew dark and tempestuously windy. That was what Levinia could pick from the conversation that carried on among the occupants of the carriage.

”I’m telling ye, it’s a curse, a blood curse,” one of the men was saying. He was a thickly built farmer in his middle ages, who Levinia had never seen without a straw in his mouth. Obviously, he enjoyed telling stories, and he seemed to take great pride in being the center of a discussion. Levinia didn’t need to look at him to discern his posture; even without her White Augural Grimoire, she could have easily guessed that he would be leaning forward by now, elbows resting on his laps, an intense expression on his face that demanded attention. And he surely had the attention of everyone in the carriage, including herself. There were five people in all: two men and three women, of whom Levie was one. The other two women seemed to be traders; one of them was from Shirotsume, and the other was visiting a relative. The men had known each other before today; in fact, they had probably left Shirotsume together and were now returning from whatever task it was that had taken them out of the mountainous region they called home. Levinia was the odd one out, because not only was she the youngest, but she had not managed to succeed in striking a reasonable conversation with any of them. Being the kind of person who liked warm company, she had made attempts to interact with the women, first. For some reason, they grew guarded on realizing she was an outsider to the town, and had no relatives or family living there. The men had been hardly any better, disbelieving that she was a mage, then beginning to suspect her of being some sort of vampiric creature if she could manage to look this young while claiming to be a mage. It had all begun harmlessly, with Levie trying to prove to them why she could travel all by herself, but it soon degenerated into a session of conspiracy theories. Being tired of it all, she had excused herself, and had been quiet throughout most of the journey.

The journey had been a lot of fun, quite unexpectedly, because she found an interesting gist mate in the lock necked pack animal. He had said he was a type of creature known as a Raffit; mostly used to draw heavy loads because of their impressive strength, hardiness and patience. He was actually very knowledgeable in many things, having travelled around a lot, and Levinia found his lore of things quite enlightening. Of course, all their conversations had been on a mental platform, thanks to her Azure Augural Grimoire, otherwise, the inhabitants of the carriage, as well as the carriage driver, would have probably considered her to be some sort of witch. She wondered whether they even knew the difference between a witch and a mage. Actually, what was even the difference? The bottom line was that many people still feared and hated mages, though there were still many others who respected and appreciated the good ones for all the help and protection they had rendered to Fiore.

Levinia Arx Creuset was currently little known, but she wanted people to hear her name and feel safe. She wanted to be a hero. And that was the reason she was on this trip.

”Blood curse and dark magic,” the farmer repeated for emphasis, and there was a pause as he cast a sidelong glance at Levinia’s unmoving form. She could tell that all of them were watching her, and she almost burst out into a trill of laughter, but she contained herself. It was like, with these folk, once you mentioned magic near a witch, she was supposed to undergo some transformation and show her true colors or something. At least, that was almost what Levinia believed about these people. It was actually more accurate that they were watching her to see whether she was awake or not. Since they did not seem comfortable around her, she had decided to place her straw hat over her face, take a supine position on one of the carriage’s long seats, and try to get some sleep. Between the heat and the gossip, sleeping was tough, although she had managed to get in a doze or two. The Raffit did a very good job of making the journey as smooth as possible; she hardly experienced any bumps or jolts from the carriage. And while she was fully awake, she was very much interested in the discussion that was going on. It was likely to give her an idea of what she had gotten herself into.

”She looks asleep to me,” the younger woman, who was visiting a relative, whispered. Levinia could hear them clearly, whether they whispered or yelled. That was an advantage of having the ability to read minds. ”Well and good,” the farmer replied. ”It’s most likely her type what’s responsible for this drought.” The younger man seemed to slightly disagree with his older friend. ”But I’ve met some good magic people, you know? Maybe she’s one of them.” ”Hmph. Best to consider them guilty until proven innocent,” the older woman warned. ”Their kind is capable of all types of stuff. All well and good if she’s one of the good ones, but with her babyish looks, there’s something downright suspect about that one. You can’t be that young and have power like that. There’s something not quite right about it.”

”’There’s something not quite right about...’ Lady, are you listening to yourself?!” Inwardly, Levinia was both amused and a little annoyed with that statement, but if she showed any signs of cognizance, they would stop their tale sharing. So, she overlooked the ‘insult’ that she was not supposed to be powerful, simply because she was young. Ironically, she had been through stuff that none of them here had likely faced. Ah well, the path to fame was a tough one.

”I got wind that there’s been a dark mage lurking around, and his witchery is interfering with the weather. Maybe this one wants to take him down...” ”Or join him.” The younger man scoffed. ”That would be unfortunate for her, if she’s in cahoots with the dark mage. I hear the elder has summoned the Witch Hunters. They’ll be here tomorrow morning. And those guys may be brutal, but I hear they know their stuff.”

Now that made a lot of sense. Levinia had taken up a mission that many people decided to overlook, mostly because the client did not seem like much. The client had asked a Light mage to come over to Shirotsume and help rescue her father, who seemed to have been cursed by the dark mage. Levinia had decided to see what she could do, and here she was.

She felt the carriage slow to a halt beneath her, and the carriage driver announced, ”Well, here we are, in good ol’ Shirotsume.” Levie sat up, the cap falling off her face, as she squinted and stretched languidly. A powerful yawn escaped her lips involuntarily, before she clamped a hand to her lips and looked at the others with an apologetic smile and somewhat sleepy eyes. ”Um, sorry.”

Having no luggage to carry, Levinia jumped out of the carriage and looked around her. The town was small, but she could see some large, important looking houses. She had been told that there was a feudalistic government in charge of this place. People were naturally wary of mages, because a Dark guild, Errings Rising, seemed to be located close to Shirotsume. It was interesting how her mentor belonged to a guild such as that, but beyond having a vicious streak when angered, Levinia could not say that her mentor was evil. Perhaps that was one of the things about life that taught that a book should never be judged by its cover.

She watched the townsfolk as they came to offload the goods on the carriage and welcome the travelers. Expectedly, some watched her with a bit of suspicion. This was probably the kind of village where everyone knew everybody, or at least knew somebody whom everybody knew. Best thing to do was to find someone who looked like a person of standing, and ask for her client from there. So, she walked up to a man who was overseeing the removal of goods from the carriage. ”Um, excuse me and good afternoon. I’m looking for Alma.” The man turned and looked at her with a quizzical frown, standing almost a foot taller than she was. ”And why would you be looking for Alma?” he asked. ”Levinia Arx Creuset, at your service,” she said, removing her straw hat and giving an almost exaggerated bow. ”I’m here to complete her mission. Something about her dad and some evil mage...”

The man looked genuinely surprised. ”Well, isn’t that new? We told her not to bother, seeing that most mages don’t do work if there’s no pay. I’m Ermin, by the way. The lord of this land already assured us that the Witch Hunters would be here by morning, though I fear it may be too late.” ”Then I’d best be moving, right? Where can I find my client?”

By this time, a small crowd had gathered, obviously to see the mage who had decided to take up this mission without seeming to mind about the pay, and most were surprised to see a cheerful young redhead. Without looking around, she noticed that her fellow travelers were watching her also; their eyes seemed to bear less suspicion, but perhaps there was something else. Pity, perhaps? Was now a good time to wonder what she had gotten herself into?

”Well, here is where it gets troublesome. Alma has been abducted.”

”Eh?”

”Mina, Alma’s mother was up this morning in tears. She said that the dark mage appeared in their house, claimed Hadvar was not cooperating, and spirited the child away. We know where he’s taken her, but no one dares step foot there, because he promised to kill her if he was interrupted.”

”How can we be sure that she’s still alive?”

”We don’t know. We can only hope.”

By now, Levinia’s smile had been replaced by something darker; there was unmistakable anger in her eyes. ”Where is his hideout?”

Ermin held up his hands. ”You might only endanger Alma’s life if you went there uninvited.”

Levinia shook her head. ”Can you trust that this mage will let Alma go, if he succeeds with whatever plan he’s hatching? As we speak, her life hangs in the balance. If he took off with her by morning, who knows what would have happened by now? Let me find her. If she is still alive, I promise to return her safely.”

”And if she is not?”

”Then the best I can offer you is vengeance.”

Ermin frowned thoughtfully for a few seconds, then pointed towards a trail that led out of the village. ”As you head into the foothills, you will find a cave. There are quite a number of them, and that gives this dark mage an advantage. He seems to have set certain wards in place, so that he can detect intruders. Also, the caves are a maze of networks, so it won’t be a straight walk to her. All these might give him enough time to harm her, if he detects you.”

”I’ll do my best to be as careful as possible. Wish me luck.”

With that, Levinia heading for the path towards the foothills.

As she walked, she placed an active focus on her White Augural Grimoire, hoping to be able to detect something that would help her find and rescue Alma safely. Her powers could let her observe anything within her magic sensory radius, so if Alma was within a certain radius of herself, she would detect the girl. But that meant that the mage might also detect her, since she had a sizeable amount of magic power. Thankfully, there was something she could do about that.

”68th Augural Grimoire: Transcient Whisper,” she muttered to herself, as her sigils twinkled for a moment. Then, she disappeared, vanishing from all senses whatsoever, as though she had been transported elsewhere. In reality, she was still present at that spot, but now, unless the mage had a powerful detection spell, he was not likely to notice her. As she approached the caves, she sensed a small figure huddled far deep within. It was definitely a human child, and for all intents and purposes, the child was alive. Hope sprang up in her heart, but she had to be careful. She could also sense one other being in the caves. An adult. Male. But something was wrong with him, which was not easy to detect at this distance. Probably it was the dark mage. Or it was Hadvar. Whatever the case, Levinia’s priority was to rescue Alma. Once she did so, she would return for Hadvar. It seemed that the dark mage wanted Hadvar for a reason, so he was more likely to kill Alma first.

As she approached the cave entrance, she felt a hum, and detected it at once. It was a sort of trigger ward. Anyone who passed through it would raise some sort of alarm or some such stuff. Levinia smiled. The mere fact that her White Augural Grimoire could identify it meant that the magic used to create the ward was weaker than the Transcient Whisper. So, she could pass it and avoid detection. Stepping into the cave, she moved at a light jog, passing herself through the solid walls of rock as she made a beeline for the girl. Time was of the essence. The darkness of the caves was no issue for her; she need not need her natural senses to navigate easily. Soon, she stepped through the final wall and found herself in a small circular prison. A girl in a nightgown sat in a corner, sobbing into her knees. Focusing on her with her Gaze of the Hierophant, Levinia gazed into her mind to ensure that it was indeed Alma, and not a trap. It was the girl alright, and as she was thinking about her father, Levinia got a picture of Hadvar, too. Quickly stepping up, she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, as the Transcient Whisper grimoires engulfed the child also, pulling her into a magical concealment.

”Alma?” Levinia asked softly.

”Who are you?” The girl asked, her eyes wide.

”Don’t be afraid. My name is Levie. I got your request for help, and I’m here to save you. Let’s get you out first, then I’ll get your dad.”

”Please hurry, Levie. The bad man will kill my da...”

”Not if I can help it. Let’s go.”

Picking the girl up in her arms, Levinia hurried back the same way she came. As she ran, she almost bumped into a huge werewolf which stalked along a dark passage, but the Transcient Whisper was strong enough to conceal them from the beast’s sharpened senses. Quickly, Levinia avoided the monster and hurried on. As they passed through walls and doors, Alma said quietly, ”That was my da.” Levinia almost stopped in shock, but the urgency of the mission spurred her on. ”What? Oh snap! That kind of complicates things. Don’t worry. There’s still hope.” ”There’s got to be.”

In a moment, they were at the village, and she suddenly winked into existence, eliciting cries of surprise and fear. She dropped Alma there with Ermin. ”Go straight home to your mother. I’ll bring your da along, shortly.”

The little girl turned to go, then turned back to thank Levinia, but the mage was gone.

Levinia appeared in the caves, this time not bothering to keep the Transcient Whisper up. She had used her Absolute Dimension to teleport back in, so as not to waste any more time, now that Alma was safe. And as luck would have it, she appeared right in front of the werewolf.

”Awesome luck! Alright, howl and go for my head...”

To her surprise, the werewolf studied her, a strange intelligent light in its eyes. This was not the kind of rabid madness one saw in such a creature’s eyes. No. There was something else there. She could feel it with her White Augural Grimoire. Possession?

”Who are you? No, wait. Don’t bother to answer the question. You came to save the girl, right? I warned those worthless villagers to keep away, but no. They just had to muck things up. So, let me tell you what’s happening. As we speak, the little girl’s room is filling up with poison. She will die painfully, because you fools refused to follow instructions.”

If only he knew that he was being played. Levinia managed to keep a straight face; she was even able to look worried. ”No! Don’t kill her...”

”You’re in no position to make demands...” The werewolf paused, holding a clawed paw to his head, like he was engaging in an internal struggle. No doubt Hadvar was a powerful fellow, and even now was struggling with whatever was in his body. Then the eyes fixed on her. ”Beasts are hard to control. You will be a much easier target for my Human Subordination.”

So that was the foul magic he was using, a lost magic that allowed him to take control of living creatures. Levinia had to play this smart. The dark mage would probably try to possess her, and he would reveal his true form. But that meant that the werewolf would be free to rave, and since the dark mage would probably be incorporeal, she alone would be in mortal danger. Quickly, she backed away as the werewolf stepped closer, calling the Utagatana to her hand via her Royal Arms Grimoire. With a shuddering howl, a ghost lifted itself from the werewolf’s body and floated towards her menacingly. The beast shook its head, then focused on her and snarled.

An intangible enemy. A tangible foe. If she focused on one, the other would get her. But there was something the dark mage did not know.

The werewolf leaped. The spirit charged.

” Banshōgiri!” she yelled, as she drew the Songblade in one fluid strike.

The blow sliced into the werewolf, and the creature hurtled past her to crash into the wall. The spirit, to his utter shock, found himself bifurcated at the waist. ”Impossible! No! No!!!” His voice faded away as he dissolved out of the world of the living. That was the weakness of Human Subordination. The mage was weakest during the possession, and it was even worse if he was somehow attacked while he was at it.

Levinia sheathed the Utagatana and tossed it aside, as it vanished into silver, then thin air. She hurried over to where the werewolf had fallen and knelt beside it. She could hear its ragged breathing; the injury she gave it was a fatal one. She closed her eyes and held her hands over its body.

”57th Miracle Grimoire: Aeon’s Embrace!”

A series of sigils formed a grimoire around the both of them, as the mortal wound began to heal rapidly. The werewolf would not die, but she was not out of the woods yet. If she managed to only heal the wound, the creature would rise and attack her again. No, she was going to cure its lycanthropy once and for all. As she focused, she felt the flow of Time being reversed around his body, as she pushed back the curse of the werewolf. The fur began to recede, and the body began to shrink. Still, she pushed, and persisted, until no sign of a werewolf remained, but a sleeping man.

Breathing heavily and heavily exhausted from the strain, Levinia collapsed beside him, then noticed he was as naked as the day he was born, and jumped to her feet in a hurry. Her face turned beet red as she looked away, then searched around for something with which to cover him. She found some robes, which were sufficient to keep his modesty. Then she staggered some meters away, slumped in a corner, and slept off.

A gentle tap on her shoulder woke her up. She looked up and saw the man she had saved standing over her, a concerned look in his eyes. ”Uh, it’s not really safe to take a nap here, miss. There was a dark mage about, but I don’t know where he’s gone...”

”Oh yeah. Hadvar, right?” He nodded as she rose to her feet and stretched. ”Glad to see you’re up. Your daughter is worried about you.”

”Alma! She... she’s safe?”

Levinia nodded. Hadvar looked like he was going to burst into tears. ”Please, where is she?”

”The village. I dropped her off yesterday evening. Come on, let’s get you home.”

As the two made their way out of the cave, with Levinia trying to explain all that had happened, they were met by a group of four battlemages, followed by a small crowd from the village. On seeing the two of them, the villagers surged past the Witch Hunters with cries of joy and surprise, and swarmed Levinia and Hadvar. She didn’t know how Alma managed it, but the girl squeezed her way through and held Levinina in a tight embrace. ”Thanks, Levie. Thanks for saving my da.”

Tears came to her eyes, and she cried freely as she hugged the girl. These were certainly tears of joy, and she felt what it was like to be appreciated. And she liked how it felt.

Levinia Arx Creuset was currently little known, but she wanted people to hear her name and feel safe. She wanted to be a hero. And she had taken the first steps.