Announcement
Hey guys!
I have to make an important announcement. I have decided to stop uploading daily. For a month straight, I have been writing this novel, taking very few breaks, trying to upload each day. But I have realised that continuing this way simply is not possible. 70k words in, the story has started to become largem and keeping up with every little thing and still maintaining the same quality is truly difficult. I am afraid the quality of my writing may or may have gone down.
So, I have decided to tweak the schedule and upload a chapter every two days. I will see how that works out. If even then it does not work out, then I may have to turn to a schedule of twice per week. It is all in order to maintain the best quality of writing and my own health and family. I hope you understand.
Anyway, Happy reading!
They came at us, all at once. Back and front — both were blocked. There was no retreat, no place to hide. In a grove of oak, filled with the light of a scarlet moon, eight of us had to fend against twenty-nine beasts.
The moment the first one fell to the bullet, they ran at us in an inexplicable frenzy. ‘More the merrier,’ said Ms Olsberg, frightening me. I heard a second shot from the green-eyed woman’s revolver — and a third, and a fourth, fifth and sixth. Three fell. ‘Empty chamber,’ she said, reloading with dexterity and grace. Twenty-six remained. A hope worth a thousand tears was ignited within my unruly heart. I thought we may soon win at the rate Ms Olsberg shot. Seeing as Ms Nancy too kept shooting, my hopes were on the highest tree in the world. But forgive me, Ivory, I was too conceited and hopeful. Ms Nancy’s shots fell nowhere near the wolves she targeted. The winsome man — that is I — thought a stray bullet might hit some beast at the least, but none of it occurred. She could not hit a single one of them. I had believed in her — granted I was willing to believe in a duckling if it meant survival — but the woman did not reciprocate. Like the most traitorous scum, she betrayed me, breaking my trust in a hundred shattering pieces.
‘They are flooding us!’ someone screamed. ‘Professor!’
I did not know who had called, but I knew the demand, what was asked of me. My magical talent flared; my open hands moved towards the empty air despite the right one’s pain. The mana in the air connected to my thoughts. Yes, this is it. I felt a surge of the unknown. My ponytail wildly fluttered. ‘Gather.’ My command resonated through the mana. I grabbed the empty air and pulled the fists inwards, crossing them. And as if a wizard of books had come to reality, the air was disturbed; It gathered in the middle where I was; right away, heavy winds blew, drawing the ferocious beasts of the night towards us. They were being dragged, despite their howls and protests. I saw some digging their claws in the dirt, but the ones that had avoided Ms Nancy’s wild bullets and leapt had nothing to grasp but confusion and death. The wind spun around me, pulling in everything around us.
I saw the quick movement of Perk siblings. They crossed each other; one swung with the left hand while the other with the right. Their movements were quick and untraceable. I saw the blood fly; it was as if a maniacal artisan had thrown litres of paint on a wall of canvas. Two beasts fell with two similar cuts across their necks. Twenty-four remained.
Ms Nancy moved straight, lowering herself. I saw the beast open its jaw wide while the woman unsheathed her sword. Both seemed astute hunters, and one was fated to fall. Her sword went up towards the terrifying, open jaw. To my surprise, the beast caught the blade between its teeth. And as I watched in terror, thinking she may not survive, a gunshot rang. The wavy-haired woman had shot through the beast’s throat. A little shower of blood and flesh erupted. Holding the sword in one hand and a revolver in the other, she went for another beast, shooting it point blank. Two fell. Twenty-two remained.
I heard grunts and looked behind. Mr Harris had gone past two wolves, avoiding the third, targeting the fourth. His sword — heavier than others — fell down with strength. The wolf’s head was hacked in, its brains splattering on the ground as it fell forward. Right away, the man turned around. With a foot on the snout of the fallen beast, he retrieved his blade. And diagonally, with the strength of two men combined, he beheaded the beast he had avoided. Two beasts fell. Twenty remained.
What about the other two? I thought. I heard silent whimpers and looking behind, I could see Mr Mason and Mr Hill standing over the two wolves Mr Harris had left behind. Their throats were opened quite dexterously. Two had fallen. Eighteen remained.
So far, we seemed to be winning, but something pricked me. I felt it; something was wrong — terribly wrong. ‘Be quick!’ I yelled, looking around. I was by no means a man incapable of waiting. I was patient and a patient. Funny, but I didn’t laugh. ‘Quicker please!’ The air I had gathered, with gusto and elegance, turned fierce by the moment. It did not push inside and dissipate outwards, creating multiple gusts, as I had hoped for. ‘We must leave!’ A whirlwind is coming! It pushed and pulled, mixing into each other, creating a calm centre that was turning smaller by the second. It was unrecognisable to the eye, but I could feel the wind moving around us, dragging inside the fallen leaves from afar, becoming fiercer still. We needed to be quick, and we needed to leave. My control over Wind was not what I had expected it to be. Goodness, I am losing my job, aren’t I?
‘More than a dozen still remain, Professor,’ said Mr Mason, cutting open another beast. I could see the beads of sweat on his face. Little by little, fatigue had been taking over.
I heard Ms Nancy’s muffled revolver and Ms Olsberg’s fierce shots, and the cuts from the two siblings still felt sharp and coordinated. Three more had fallen. Fifteen remained. I would otherwise be joyous, but the speed was slowing. The wolves were adapting, and we were by no means safe.
The wind turned fiercer still. It spun around us, shrinking the unaffected, calm centre. The moment it is taken over, opposing gusts shall crash against each other. I calculated what I could. My brains were working faster and quicker — a trait new Mages must adapt to. The flow will turn wild and unrestrainable. I felt it in my blood, the calamity to come. My throat turned dry and even the sound of gulping could be heard in my head. ‘What should I do?’ I mused and muttered in an uncontrollable frenzy. My companions knew not the extent of destruction that was to follow.
It would be a pure disaster. Wind and Fire are such elements. They are wild, uncontrollable. Fire is mostly destructive and, in a way, predictable. But Wind is…simply too disastrous. It is unrestricted; it exists everywhere. A flame could be doused, but Wind has no way to be kept in control unless one possesses a great affinity for it. An Aqua Mage, aren’t I? I shouldn’t have fiddled with Wind! Anxiety took over my body and mind. We were soon to be hit with one of nature’s greatest disasters which was not so natural. It was my disaster.
‘What is happening, Professor,’ Ms Olsberg asked with a narrowed gaze while refilling her chamber. She finally seemed to have noticed my terror. ‘My shots are not hitting.’ Well, that is your fault— ‘The wind is straying them.’ It is my fault.
‘How lovely!’ Ms Nancy screamed in pleasure. She was as happy as a little girl with a new doll. ‘All my shots hit!’ Definitely, my fault. Four had fallen. Eleven remained.
‘It is turning into a whirlwind, Ms Olsberg,’ I said with the demeanour of a child caught doing mischief. My voice had definite traces of effort and courage in it. ‘It is simply beyond me. Once set in motion, this flow will continue itself. The opposing winds are drawing in each other in a funnelling, spinning motion. The change in the flow of wind currents was too sudden, and that is why this is happening.’ I was speaking very fast, very quick. ‘The trees are placed so they avoid dissipation. They create obstacles, which in turn create pathways for the natural wind flow of this area to be affected, resulting in a centre of activity for the wind. These pathways are disrupted. And because I gathered the air here, those pathways continue to draw in winds. It does not happen in an enormous manner.’ An explosion of air would have been suitable yet. Less destructive at the least. ‘A wild tornado is on its way, I fear.’ My voice may have quivered a little, but I had given most of the information that I could.
The good woman did not frown; she neither condemned nor criticised me. I hoped she understood every last word that I said. ‘Captain!’ she yelled at the man, all the while shooting whatever came in sight — not humans, of course. ‘Captain!’ she shouted hurriedly.
The man looked behind. ‘I know,’ he said, swinging his sword. None of them seemed to know what to do. One way or another, we risked our lives. ‘We cannot abandon the formation,’ he said, barring the option of running. I thought it was a logical decision. But sometimes, I told myself, being a coward saves lives. And the valiant me happens to be a very vocal gentleman when it came to saving lives — especially mine. The winds became fiercer. Their sound was becoming louder. It was a rather peculiar situation. I could feel the tension building up around and above us. It was simply the most dreadful. The bloodthirsty beats in comparison seemed lovely pups.
As I stood there, brainstorming, struggling to find a way out of a potentially tragic end of — what one may call — a professor’s tale, I saw the hounds turning towards the bushes behind the pack of wolves that continued to harass us restlessly. Soon, the hounds began barking. Others noticed the change too, and to my relief, what jumped out of the bushes was no beast. A sword shone in the brilliant scarlet light, cutting the beast farthest from us. Two arrows followed. One pierced a beat’s hind leg, while the sword cut its head. The second one was caught in the wind which — by now — had turned worse.
‘Now!’ the usually quiet Mr Harris screamed, and without a query, all of my gallant colleagues moved. Most tantalising Ms Olsberg grabbed my unharmed arm and pulled me towards her, running behind Mr Hill and Mr Mason, while they cut open a path with Mr Harris as the lead. Ms Nancy kept shooting — I couldn’t even tell at what at this juncture. Ms Perk brought the tail while Mr Perk ran right behind me, ensuring my safety. I felt rather guilty. In all honesty, I had caused this torrent, and yet, the man was only thinking of my protection. I had blundered, which I rarely did. I do not like it. And being the youngest was not an excuse I was about to accept.
‘No need to feel down, Professor,’ said Ms Olsberg. ‘No, really. We would be dead if not for you. Things happen. We could have hoped for a better end to this, but being alive is more than enough. And thanks to you, we have that.’ I believed she spoke with sincerity. And as much as I would like to think it was beyond my control, a Mage was not a being that should handle what may go out of control. Rationality, reason, instinct, intellect, wit, persistence, resilience, intuition, erudition — all of these were important to Mages, a part of our lives. And currently, resilience was the trait I — a Mage who also teaches — must employ.
Five minutes must have passed as we kept running. Behind me, I could see a faint outline of a newborn tornado, pulling in dust from the air. It was magnificent in a way, and if it had been deliberate, I would have spent hours marvelling at the sight. But this was not something to be proud of, I feared. I recalled the arrows and was about to ask when I heard the subject of my query. ‘That was something, Professor!’ The voice had come from behind. I looked there to find three men and a woman running a distance from us. ‘Thanks to you, we were able to demolish our pursuers,’ said one of the men, laughing. And looking at him, I wondered, what pursuers? It seemed I had unintentionally ended up helping.
Announcement
Hey guys!
I have to make an important announcement. I have decided to stop uploading daily. For a month straight, I have been writing this novel, taking very few breaks, trying to upload each day. But I have realised that continuing this way simply is not possible. 70k words in, the story has started to become largem and keeping up with every little thing and still maintaining the same quality is truly difficult. I am afraid the quality of my writing may or may have gone down.
So, I have decided to tweak the schedule and upload a chapter every two days. I will see how that works out. If even then it does not work out, then I may have to turn to a schedule of twice per week. It is all in order to maintain the best quality of writing and my own health and family. I hope you understand.
Anyway, Happy reading!
They came at us, all at once. Back and front — both were blocked. There was no retreat, no place to hide. In a grove of oak, filled with the light of a scarlet moon, eight of us had to fend against twenty-nine beasts.
The moment the first one fell to the bullet, they ran at us in an inexplicable frenzy. ‘More the merrier,’ said Ms Olsberg, frightening me. I heard a second shot from the green-eyed woman’s revolver — and a third, and a fourth, fifth and sixth. Three fell. ‘Empty chamber,’ she said, reloading with dexterity and grace. Twenty-six remained. A hope worth a thousand tears was ignited within my unruly heart. I thought we may soon win at the rate Ms Olsberg shot. Seeing as Ms Nancy too kept shooting, my hopes were on the highest tree in the world. But forgive me, Ivory, I was too conceited and hopeful. Ms Nancy’s shots fell nowhere near the wolves she targeted. The winsome man — that is I — thought a stray bullet might hit some beast at the least, but none of it occurred. She could not hit a single one of them. I had believed in her — granted I was willing to believe in a duckling if it meant survival — but the woman did not reciprocate. Like the most traitorous scum, she betrayed me, breaking my trust in a hundred shattering pieces.
‘They are flooding us!’ someone screamed. ‘Professor!’
I did not know who had called, but I knew the demand, what was asked of me. My magical talent flared; my open hands moved towards the empty air despite the right one’s pain. The mana in the air connected to my thoughts. Yes, this is it. I felt a surge of the unknown. My ponytail wildly fluttered. ‘Gather.’ My command resonated through the mana. I grabbed the empty air and pulled the fists inwards, crossing them. And as if a wizard of books had come to reality, the air was disturbed; It gathered in the middle where I was; right away, heavy winds blew, drawing the ferocious beasts of the night towards us. They were being dragged, despite their howls and protests. I saw some digging their claws in the dirt, but the ones that had avoided Ms Nancy’s wild bullets and leapt had nothing to grasp but confusion and death. The wind spun around me, pulling in everything around us.
I saw the quick movement of Perk siblings. They crossed each other; one swung with the left hand while the other with the right. Their movements were quick and untraceable. I saw the blood fly; it was as if a maniacal artisan had thrown litres of paint on a wall of canvas. Two beasts fell with two similar cuts across their necks. Twenty-four remained.
Ms Nancy moved straight, lowering herself. I saw the beast open its jaw wide while the woman unsheathed her sword. Both seemed astute hunters, and one was fated to fall. Her sword went up towards the terrifying, open jaw. To my surprise, the beast caught the blade between its teeth. And as I watched in terror, thinking she may not survive, a gunshot rang. The wavy-haired woman had shot through the beast’s throat. A little shower of blood and flesh erupted. Holding the sword in one hand and a revolver in the other, she went for another beast, shooting it point blank. Two fell. Twenty-two remained.
I heard grunts and looked behind. Mr Harris had gone past two wolves, avoiding the third, targeting the fourth. His sword — heavier than others — fell down with strength. The wolf’s head was hacked in, its brains splattering on the ground as it fell forward. Right away, the man turned around. With a foot on the snout of the fallen beast, he retrieved his blade. And diagonally, with the strength of two men combined, he beheaded the beast he had avoided. Two beasts fell. Twenty remained.
What about the other two? I thought. I heard silent whimpers and looking behind, I could see Mr Mason and Mr Hill standing over the two wolves Mr Harris had left behind. Their throats were opened quite dexterously. Two had fallen. Eighteen remained.
So far, we seemed to be winning, but something pricked me. I felt it; something was wrong — terribly wrong. ‘Be quick!’ I yelled, looking around. I was by no means a man incapable of waiting. I was patient and a patient. Funny, but I didn’t laugh. ‘Quicker please!’ The air I had gathered, with gusto and elegance, turned fierce by the moment. It did not push inside and dissipate outwards, creating multiple gusts, as I had hoped for. ‘We must leave!’ A whirlwind is coming! It pushed and pulled, mixing into each other, creating a calm centre that was turning smaller by the second. It was unrecognisable to the eye, but I could feel the wind moving around us, dragging inside the fallen leaves from afar, becoming fiercer still. We needed to be quick, and we needed to leave. My control over Wind was not what I had expected it to be. Goodness, I am losing my job, aren’t I?
‘More than a dozen still remain, Professor,’ said Mr Mason, cutting open another beast. I could see the beads of sweat on his face. Little by little, fatigue had been taking over.
I heard Ms Nancy’s muffled revolver and Ms Olsberg’s fierce shots, and the cuts from the two siblings still felt sharp and coordinated. Three more had fallen. Fifteen remained. I would otherwise be joyous, but the speed was slowing. The wolves were adapting, and we were by no means safe.
The wind turned fiercer still. It spun around us, shrinking the unaffected, calm centre. The moment it is taken over, opposing gusts shall crash against each other. I calculated what I could. My brains were working faster and quicker — a trait new Mages must adapt to. The flow will turn wild and unrestrainable. I felt it in my blood, the calamity to come. My throat turned dry and even the sound of gulping could be heard in my head. ‘What should I do?’ I mused and muttered in an uncontrollable frenzy. My companions knew not the extent of destruction that was to follow.
It would be a pure disaster. Wind and Fire are such elements. They are wild, uncontrollable. Fire is mostly destructive and, in a way, predictable. But Wind is…simply too disastrous. It is unrestricted; it exists everywhere. A flame could be doused, but Wind has no way to be kept in control unless one possesses a great affinity for it. An Aqua Mage, aren’t I? I shouldn’t have fiddled with Wind! Anxiety took over my body and mind. We were soon to be hit with one of nature’s greatest disasters which was not so natural. It was my disaster.
‘What is happening, Professor,’ Ms Olsberg asked with a narrowed gaze while refilling her chamber. She finally seemed to have noticed my terror. ‘My shots are not hitting.’ Well, that is your fault— ‘The wind is straying them.’ It is my fault.
‘How lovely!’ Ms Nancy screamed in pleasure. She was as happy as a little girl with a new doll. ‘All my shots hit!’ Definitely, my fault. Four had fallen. Eleven remained.
‘It is turning into a whirlwind, Ms Olsberg,’ I said with the demeanour of a child caught doing mischief. My voice had definite traces of effort and courage in it. ‘It is simply beyond me. Once set in motion, this flow will continue itself. The opposing winds are drawing in each other in a funnelling, spinning motion. The change in the flow of wind currents was too sudden, and that is why this is happening.’ I was speaking very fast, very quick. ‘The trees are placed so they avoid dissipation. They create obstacles, which in turn create pathways for the natural wind flow of this area to be affected, resulting in a centre of activity for the wind. These pathways are disrupted. And because I gathered the air here, those pathways continue to draw in winds. It does not happen in an enormous manner.’ An explosion of air would have been suitable yet. Less destructive at the least. ‘A wild tornado is on its way, I fear.’ My voice may have quivered a little, but I had given most of the information that I could.
The good woman did not frown; she neither condemned nor criticised me. I hoped she understood every last word that I said. ‘Captain!’ she yelled at the man, all the while shooting whatever came in sight — not humans, of course. ‘Captain!’ she shouted hurriedly.
The man looked behind. ‘I know,’ he said, swinging his sword. None of them seemed to know what to do. One way or another, we risked our lives. ‘We cannot abandon the formation,’ he said, barring the option of running. I thought it was a logical decision. But sometimes, I told myself, being a coward saves lives. And the valiant me happens to be a very vocal gentleman when it came to saving lives — especially mine. The winds became fiercer. Their sound was becoming louder. It was a rather peculiar situation. I could feel the tension building up around and above us. It was simply the most dreadful. The bloodthirsty beats in comparison seemed lovely pups.
As I stood there, brainstorming, struggling to find a way out of a potentially tragic end of — what one may call — a professor’s tale, I saw the hounds turning towards the bushes behind the pack of wolves that continued to harass us restlessly. Soon, the hounds began barking. Others noticed the change too, and to my relief, what jumped out of the bushes was no beast. A sword shone in the brilliant scarlet light, cutting the beast farthest from us. Two arrows followed. One pierced a beat’s hind leg, while the sword cut its head. The second one was caught in the wind which — by now — had turned worse.
‘Now!’ the usually quiet Mr Harris screamed, and without a query, all of my gallant colleagues moved. Most tantalising Ms Olsberg grabbed my unharmed arm and pulled me towards her, running behind Mr Hill and Mr Mason, while they cut open a path with Mr Harris as the lead. Ms Nancy kept shooting — I couldn’t even tell at what at this juncture. Ms Perk brought the tail while Mr Perk ran right behind me, ensuring my safety. I felt rather guilty. In all honesty, I had caused this torrent, and yet, the man was only thinking of my protection. I had blundered, which I rarely did. I do not like it. And being the youngest was not an excuse I was about to accept.
‘No need to feel down, Professor,’ said Ms Olsberg. ‘No, really. We would be dead if not for you. Things happen. We could have hoped for a better end to this, but being alive is more than enough. And thanks to you, we have that.’ I believed she spoke with sincerity. And as much as I would like to think it was beyond my control, a Mage was not a being that should handle what may go out of control. Rationality, reason, instinct, intellect, wit, persistence, resilience, intuition, erudition — all of these were important to Mages, a part of our lives. And currently, resilience was the trait I — a Mage who also teaches — must employ.
Five minutes must have passed as we kept running. Behind me, I could see a faint outline of a newborn tornado, pulling in dust from the air. It was magnificent in a way, and if it had been deliberate, I would have spent hours marvelling at the sight. But this was not something to be proud of, I feared. I recalled the arrows and was about to ask when I heard the subject of my query. ‘That was something, Professor!’ The voice had come from behind. I looked there to find three men and a woman running a distance from us. ‘Thanks to you, we were able to demolish our pursuers,’ said one of the men, laughing. And looking at him, I wondered, what pursuers? It seemed I had unintentionally ended up helping.
