A Sage's Lament (Solo)

[Mila]

Mila was depressed. She was able to finish her last job, but the whole experience left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was cool that she was able to record in her notes the discovery of a potentially “new” monster. But, all her physical evidence of said monster was left behind in a forest in the middle of nowhere. The psychological evidence of said monster would stick with her for as long as she live

“Gods.. I swear I can still hear her screaming.” Mila muttered to herself as she walked down a barren path. 

“The village too.. All those people.. Then the fire started..” Mila shook her head. The Mage did everything she could to keep as many undead away from the fleeing villagers as she could. The survivors blamed her for their misfortune. And they were kinda right, which made the depression worse. At least she was able to make it out of the whole ordeal with her life. 

“As if I needed more trauma in my life!” Mila yelled as she promptly kicked a rock. The rock skittered down the path and into the grass. Mila sighed and kept walking. She had a sense of where she needed to go. Her original quest to go to Nabata to resolve the issues of her past would need to be put on hold. She needed to return to Veritas in Ryerde. The trip back to Ryerde would take weeks if not months. She didn’t have the benefit of a caravan, wagon, or mount. She had to make this journey alone, on foot, and surrounded by unlimited dangers. Her money was low, so even if she managed to make it to a city or town that can provide her with a mount, or ride, she had no means to pay them. 

The sage was covered in a well worn, dirty, and moss covered traveler’s cloak. She kept her hood up and tightened at all times. Her pet elemental was secured firmly onto her hip. The little lightning elemental sat in its glass jar with its little arms crossed over its tiny body. Ever since the incident Mila barely paid it any attention, and the little creature was bored. 

Mila wasn’t paying much attention to anything. Her mental health was shot, her nights were sleepless, and her meals were meager. What sleep she did get was when she passed out from sheer exhaustion on the road. And even then it would be riddled with nightmares which would force her to wake up and continue walking. 

The little lightning elemental started to spark and zap. The little lightning elemental wasn’t doing it consciously, it was merely reacting to the change in weather. There were storm clouds gathering above them. Mila didn’t even notice. She only noticed the change in weather once the first rumblings of thunder started, and by then she was already drenched in rain. The Sage hated thunderstorms. But, by this point she was so tired of everything that she didn’t even react in her usual fashion. Much to the disappointment of her little lightning ball. The ball of lightning knew it’s master hated storms, and it was looking forward to watching Mila panic. 

The sage stopped in her tracks. She grabbed her Flora tome, some large sticks, and fashioned a small tent with her cloak. She then used her Flora magic to have plants and vines crawl up onto the sticks and cloak. The plants would provide some extra stability, and the moss, leaves, and other plant material would provide some additional waterproofing. She then crawled into the one man tent and hunkered down.

[Mila]

Mila was curled up in her little tent. She sat down on the cold wet ground with her knees curled up to her chest. She made sure to let her little Elemental out of it’s jar and just have it sit on top of the glass. She then set the jar on the floor and kept it at an arm’s length away. The little elemental could still reach her but it would have to get a kind of running start and jump. The little elemental was happy to be let out of his cage. It stretched it’s little noodle arms upwards. Then it stretched it’s legs. Then it let out a bit of a flash of light. It was timed perfectly to the lightning bolt that had appeared in the sky. 

Mila saw that, and then promptly covered her ears with her palms. The thunder roared overhead. Mila gave it a few seconds before uncovering her ears. She gave her little lightning ball a poke. 

“You know… I forgot you are a good early warning system.” Mila’s finger made contact with her little elemental and then she promptly pulled the finger away. 

“Ouch!”

The little lightning ball’s electricity made contact with her finger and let out a crackling zap. The little lightning ball, if it had a face, would have been smirking at Mila’s momentary discomfort. Mila shook her hand to deal with the pain of the shock. The little lightning ball flashed again. Then she covered her ears again. Another rumble. 

Mila sighed. She curled her arms around her knees and buried her face in them. Her emotions were starting to well up again. She closed her eyes and just started to cry once again. Her mind started to race with all sorts of thoughts. All of them negative, all of them calling her out as a failure, and some of the darker ones stating that she should have died, and some part of her agreed. She couldn’t even begin to count the times she had narrowly avoided her own death at the cost and sacrifice of others. The tomb.. 

Another rumble of thunder. The sage winced. Thunder brought back the worst of the tomb, of the cave in, of the earth crumbling down on top of them. Of their screams of agony then suddenly silenced as the world fell between them. I.. Was too weak to save them. I.. barely saved myself.. Back then.

The wolves. We were naive and eager to please our bosses.  

The kidnappers and assassins. Saved by Ryu.  

The gargoyles. Saved by Yorick and General Ilheod

The island. Group effort but ultimately we were saved by the Taguel. 

The baels. That.. ended poorly for the village. 

The fire. Okay.. that one was kind of a win but it hurt like hell. 

The village… Grey… the fire again. 

“Useless. Useless. Useless. Damn it.” All of her studying, training, and teaching, it felt like nothing when it came to the failures. I can’t wait to get back and learn that somehow all my previous students died by monsters. Because I failed to teach them. Even though I... Gave them a final! Went through a rigorous training session outdoors to get them used to the field. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit!

Mila’s sadness and frustration continued to manifest in a mix of tears and quiet pleading. She knew she couldn’t make noise out here. It was too dangerous. She didn’t know what could be lingering around the woods, human or otherwise. She really wanted to scream. Or perhaps walk right out into the storm and let the lightning hit her. And that would be the end of it. Of course, knowing the local gods, they would deliberately miss her, and force her to go on her way. Eventually, she just stopped crying, and closed her eyes. Maybe.. If I just.. Sit still.. The earth will just swallow me whole.

[Mila]

Darkness.

That was what she could see. That’s what she could feel. And at some point, her mind, and her exhausted body, fell into a deep slumber. A slumber so deep that not even the rumbling of thunder could wake her up. She felt herself slipping further and further into the darkness. And then the dreams started up again, this time she was back in the desert. Despite her knowing the outcome of this one, getting nearly crushed to death in an ancient temple. And having to live with the ghosts and guilt of her own survival.

But, this one felt different. It looked different. She felt as if her body was moving through water. And everything was off. She was looking straight ahead, down a narrow chamber surrounded by stone, but her body was faced to the right. Everything felt so surreal and real at the same time. And the people in her dream lacked faces, which was strange, because she knew how each of her former teammates looked. Their faces were etched into her memory of eternity.

“Maybe.. This isn’t the same nightmare.”

But they were all moving in the same way they used to. They all spoke like how they used to. Then the world of the desert and it’s temple started to melt. Then another rumble from deep below. She was falling again. Slowly. Almost, floating. And then there was a sweet yet familiar scent of fresh flowers in the air. That was different. She knew that there weren’t any flowers in Nabata.

Mi..la..

?

BOOM

Mila jumped. She was back in her small failure of a tent. Back in the real world. Her little lightning elemental was sparking like crazy after that last thunderbolt. Mila looked around confused. That sweet scent of flowers felt so real. And she swore she could still smell it in the air even outside the dream. She looked at her crazy little elemental who was starting to flare up with sparks and crackles.

“Do you smell flowers?” She asked. Knowing full well the little elemental didn’t have a mouth to speak or a nose to smell with. Mila covered her ears as she knew the impending sound of thunder was nearby. Mila had to roll her arms into the sleeves of her tent cloak. The wind was whipping around like crazy and she was grateful that the cloak didn’t go flying. She scooped up her little elemental friend and sealed him back into its glass jar.

But, there was something else going on. In between all the whipping wind, and ominous thunder, there was a different noise. Mila could hear the sound of skittering, maybe clattering? Mila wasn’t sure, but she knew she wasn’t alone.

“I.. need.. To keep moving.” She spoke to herself.

Mila pulled herself back up onto her achy feet. And in the motion of getting back up, her back let out a mighty crack. Ugh. She forced herself to keep moving. Don’t know where i’m going in this storm. But I do know the skittering was somewhere to the south of me. So.. I gotta go.. north.