Elaine was trekking through the Whistling Woods with a few others. The soft tunes of the oblong cones were more than a little nostalgic. They made her think back fondly to that time with Percy all those years ago. She hadn’t been here all that much since then…
‘Those were some peaceful times…’ she sighed.
Sadly, she wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the forest’s serene beauty today. Unlike that day’s pilgrimage, their current mission was far more dangerous, a palpable tension settling between the members of their small group. There were only four of them, each being an elite of the family.
“Uncle, do you think they will really attack?” she asked.
Elaine was certain Galahad had heard her, but the man didn’t bother replying, focused on scanning the area ahead with his Mana Sense. Instead, it was his son who answered.
“You worry too much cousin.” Mordred’s lips parted in his usual grin. “There’s no way those Tantalus bastards will pass this opportunity to strike.”
While Elaine had never liked the boy much – he was an arrogant asshole like his father – she nodded, concentrating on the substance of his words. They were currently tasked with meeting a group of relatives at the other end of the forest, to escort them back to the mansion.
One of House Avalon’s most lucrative businesses was lending some of their life users to other affiliated families, to serve as healers for some time. After all, their near monopoly on the affinity was much sought after, letting them earn most of their revenue this way.
As for the hunting missions the rest of them – like Elaine – undertook, they only made peanuts by comparison. Those were mostly meant for their members to gain combat experience, not to make money. And, given House Tantalus’s aggression over the past couple of years, there was no doubt in Archibald’s mind the rival family would try targeting those very healers, to deal a major blow to their coffers.
Besides protecting the healers, their secondary objective was to intercept the attackers, dealing a blow of their own to House Tantalus. This was how the war manifested these days, with the two families seeking opportunities to gnaw at each other’s forces.
It was Galahad who replied this time.
“Of course they are. If they have half a brain, that is. It doesn’t matter.”
While her uncle and cousin’s optimism was somewhat contagious, Elaine wasn’t entirely convinced their confidence was warranted. It was true the two of them were some of the most talented Yellow-borns in the family, despite their common affinity and lack of a bloodline. Still, they had no idea how many people their enemies had sent.
Overall, House Avalon had a slight advantage in the total number of Blues and Greens, but their members were spread thinner, as their side of the province was about 40% larger, and they had a third town to look after. Consequently, Archibald was more conservative when assigning people to missions, unwilling to leave any important locations vulnerable.
‘Depending on who they’ve sent, we could get in trouble.’ she thought grimly. But she kept that to herself, not wanting to impact everyone’s morale.
“Don’t be so tense.” her dad spoke, echoing the others’ words.
Gawain was the fourth and final member of their team – the only Orange-born. While he was the same grade as her and Mordred, he had a few more decades of experience under his belt. Next, he patted her on the shoulder before continuing.
“Your grandpa knows what he’s doing. If he’s only sent the four of us, it means we can handle whoever comes. We’ll definitely win.”
Hearing her father’s reassurance, she nodded. Him, she trusted. Her grandpa too. If they believed they were enough, they had to be.
Soon, they reached the designated spot. The healers wouldn’t arrive for a few more hours, so their job was to secure the area by then. They all double-checked their concealment bandages were in place, as they covertly scoured the perimeter, ensuring that their enemies had yet to get there.
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Elaine was torn, unsure whether it was best to get attacked before or after the healers arrived. On one hand, the healers could give them the edge, supporting them as they fought against House Tantalus’s mages. However, it could also be inconvenient to protect their weaker relatives in the midst of combat.
Either way, they didn’t get a choice in the matter. Just half an hour later, a snarky voice echoed through the woods, piercing through the cacophony of the whistling cones.
“Well, well… It seems Archibald has finally made a mistake.” a man said gleefully, his words sounding like nails against a chalkboard. “Only a Blue and three Greens? House Avalon is in for a rough week.”
The bastards didn’t even bother hiding, facing their group head on. They had two Blues and five Greens in their ranks, outnumbering them nearly 2:1. Both of their Blues had the bloodline too, their sickly faces making them look even more frightening than they normally would have.
“Me and Mordred will fight two people each. As for you and your daughter, you’re going to keep the other three occupied until we’re done.” Galahad told Gawain, his tone not leaving much room for debate.
Elaine’s heart sank, fearing for her dad’s life above all else. The image of her newborn brother quickly flashed by her eyes.
‘No. I’ll be damned if I let Owain grow up without a father.’ she decided resolutely.
Suddenly, two waves slammed onto them, making it hard to breathe. These weren’t spells, however – there was no mana fuelling them. Just somebody’s presence. The Blues’. While each promotion typically strengthened a mage’s body and magic by three times, some additional changes came into play once somebody reached the higher grades. That made the gap between Blues and Greens even wider than expected. Elaine didn’t fully understand how this ability worked, but it was unique to Blues and above.
Just when she felt like she was about to pass out, a third presence emerged, pushing back against the others, forcing their suffocating auras to recede. Elaine gasped heavily the first chance she got, noting that Galahad’s presence was even sharper than his opponents’. He’d certainly beat either of them, if they were to fight separately.
‘But will he be alright against both of them?’
It was hard to say. If he lost, the other fights wouldn’t even matter. Conversely, if the Greens finished first, they could intervene to tip the scales.
Either way, the time for thoughts was over.
The two Blues launched an apocalyptic spell each, aiming at her uncle. The first one exhaled a blazing cloud, wide enough to burn a house to cinders. As for the second, he shot a rain of stone arrows through the cloud, their tips hot-red by the time the emerged from the other side.
Yet Galahad was unfazed. Not missing a beat, he sent forth an indigo flash with a wave of his hand, a bright bolt slamming into the first of the enemies’ projectiles. It moved too fast for her to fully grasp, but it seemed to zig and zag between the rest of the arrows, shattering them into sand one after the other.
‘His control is insane!’ she thought, gaining some new respect for the man.
A fraction of a second later, the light sank into the expanding flame, causing it to explode, a violent shockwave knocking all eight Greens off their feet. Only the Blues remained upright, the two sides staring at each other as the smell of charcoal and ozone permeated the area.
The first of the Blues clicked his tongue, realizing this wouldn’t be as easy of a fight as he’d thought. At the same time, Galahad tossed his son a quick glance, pointing at two of the enemy Greens, getting a nod back. Mordred summoned two indigo javelins in his hands. They paled in comparison to his father’s, but the young man stared at his opponents with the same nonchalance.
Next, he aimed at them, before launching his spells by their feet, forcing them back. They responded with a few attacks of their own, as the three of them inched away from the apocalyptic battlefield of their superiors.
Following their lead, Elaine exchanged a glance with Gawain, as the two put some distance from the Blues too. As for the remaining three Greens, they chased them into the woods like a pack of ravenous wolves. Clearly, everyone was on the same page, nobody willing to stay anywhere close to the ancient monsters longer than they had to.
It wasn’t until they were about a mile away that all five of them stopped. Elaine briefly considered continuing to run, to keep their pursuers busy without a fight, but she quickly shook her head. If they refused to engage them, their opponents would just return to aid their leaders.
“Elaine.” Gawain spoke softly. “If something happens to me, I want you to run straight to the mansion, and not even look back.”
She opened her mouth to protest. Her unwillingness to abandon her father aside, she couldn’t betray the others. While she’d never much liked Galahad or Mordred, they were counting on her!
Seeing her struggle, Gawain chuckled, probably guessing what she was thinking. He was good at that. He patted her shoulder again, before speaking one more time.
“In the worst-case scenario, Galahad will be able to escape. He’s faster than them, and he’s more valuable to the family than any of us. He won’t let himself die. Though I doubt the boy will survive if it comes to that. Promise me you won’t throw your life away over nothing.”
Elaine gritted her teeth, but she nodded in the end. Turning to face their opponents, she saw two of them lick their lips, a lecherous expression plastered all over their ugly mugs as they ogled her. They were already drawing mana from their cores, as was she and her father, all five combatants beginning to manifest their spells.
‘Then, I suppose we can’t afford to lose...’