Another day passed with Eira not finding traces of the cat. Yesterday, she had back-tracked her usual paths, sometimes even double-checking the underbrush, yet the cat never appeared.
She exhaled softly.
Maybe it’s gone. Or maybe... maybe I was imagining it.
She doesn't want to admit it, but the memories of that day keeps appearing in her mind. What if it was just a trick of her mind? The glowing yellow eyes, the strange connection, and everything. Yet despite all that, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was really there. That it exists.
"If I didn't find it yesterday, I swear that I will find it today." Eira declared.
After a quick breakfast, Eira prepared herself for another hunt. First, she checked her supplies, making sure she had everything she needs. Then, she tied her cloak tightly around her shoulders. All of her preparations are good and ready, and so does the same questions from yesterday.
"What was the cat? Why did it keep appearing? What was the cat trying to show her?"
She left the ruins and the sun was still low in the sky. The morning light casting long shadows over the ruins. The fields outside were quiet. She walked quickly, her eyes scanning her surroundings, and the wild grass parting ways beneath her boots as she stepped through them.
She passed by the familiar trees, the same path that led her to the spring, the same place she had encountered the cat directly before. The same place where she saw those yellow eyes staring back at her with a strange gaze.
Her breath hitched as her steps quickened. She reached the spring, crouching at its edge to inspect the water.
The water reflected her own face, her eyes were the same as that day. It was yellow, it was glowing faintly based on the reflection from the surface.
She blinked, momentarily lost in the depth of her own reflection. Then, she stood up and looked around again. There were still nothing. No cat, nor traces of the cat.
Eira, still determined, began walking along the edge of the spring. Looking for any signs that might point her in the cat’s direction.
"It’s not just coincidence," she thought, "I'm sure of it."
And so, she continued her search, stepping deeper into the forest, hoping today would be the day she encounter the cat once again.
---
Another day passed yet she still haven't found any traces of the cat, nor the lady that disappeared. Still determined to find them and the mystery that surrounds them, she continues to search the surroundings of the ruins.
It was around midday when she just finished descending from the spring she had visited. At one of the thick trees ahead, she saw a dark tail—swaying slowly yet full of grace—behind a tree.
Eira's heart skipped a beat. "It's a cat's tail" Eira whispered to herself with disbelief. Her steps softens instinctively, afraid that if she made any noise, the cat would vanish as suddenly as it appeared.
A few steps away from the tree, just as she had almost reached the tree, the tail flicked and vanished.
With a flash of black fur, the cat darted from behind the tree in front of her towards the trail to her right. Its movements were swift with Eira only following the movements after the cat left her sight.
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"W—wait!" Eira called, stuttering as she broke into a run, following the cat.
The uneven ground and the few tangled roots of the trees made it difficult to keep up. She chased the cat for only a few seconds, but it felt like forever.
By the time she saw the cat—just standing before a clearing—she was already panting, sweats running down on her forehead.
"There you are, " Eira gasped, she stopped a few feet away from the cat. The cat slowly turns it head to her, its yellow eyes—glimmers ever so slightly under the light that passed through the canopy—locks eyes with her.
Eira was mesmerized by its eyes but before she could speak, the cat turned its head towards the clearing. Eira, in trance, followed the cat's gaze. There, at the clearing, was a camp with several men standing around a campfire. Based on the marks and number of still packed items they had, the camp was a new one.
She narrowed her eyes, further examining the men in the camp. They were dressed in a gear—of soldiers, maybe—yet what made Eira's blood boil was the insignia that fluttered from the flag at the middle of their camp. She recognized it for she knew its origin. She knew it too well and she hated it. The Duke's insignia.
Before her mind spirals towards her deep grudge and negative emotions, the cat meowed softly, grabbing Eira's attention. The cat, almost as if its task were gone, licked its paws. One moment it was there, the next it was gone as Eira blinked. The cat, disappeared suddenly as it appeared.
Eira just stood there for a few seconds, stunned, silence stretching. Yet her mind was filled with noise. Breaking her own thoughts, she turned and made her way back to the ruins. Looking back one more time at the camp, whispering something inaudible, even for Gods.
---
Eira woke up normally as she always did. Well, almost like always. The morning light filtered through the cracks in the ruins. It was almost a normal morning, except it wasn't.
Yesterday, she had finally found the cat. She had followed it through the forest, and it had led her to a chilling discovery—the Duke's soldiers. There they were, encamped just beyond the treeline, their presence more than unwelcome in this remote land.
The soldiers should have been guarding the borders, standing between the Duchy of Mouria and the Grand Duchy of Thorn. They should have been focused on preventing the northern and southern invasions that might happen any time. But here they were, in this forgotten corner of the world, far from where any battle or skirmish was likely to happen.
"Why?" Eira thought. "It didn’t make sense. Unless... unless it was the Duke’s personal unit. The elite, the ones who carried out his quiet, dirty work."
She clenched her fists, the memory of her father’s death surfacing again. The man who had loyally served the Duke, only to be betrayed for his knowledge and power. The man who had wanted nothing more than the prosperity of the land, yet had been consumed by the Duke’s greed.
And now, those same soldiers, those same men who had slain her father, were here again. It all clicked for her—they weren’t here by accident. They were looking for someone.
Her breath hitched in her throat. The heir of the first great mage of the Duchy of Mouria—her father’s bloodline. They came to make sure there was no heir left.
She gritted her teeth in anger and frustration. The emotions that had been sleeping inside of her for so long starts to awaken once more. As her conflicted feelings dances wildly in her mind, her form flickered out of existence, her body momentarily vanishing as the yellow shine of her eyes burned brightly in the space where her eyes once were.
“Fine, give me your all, Duke.” she whispered in tone of soft yet filled with a quiet, determined fury.
She stepped outside the ruins, her eyes still smoldering with that same yellow light. There was no time to waste. The cat had shown her the soldiers. And it was her who would choose what to do with them.
Eira walked through the woods, her movements, quiet. She arrived at the camp and realized that it wasn’t as small as it had been the day before. There were now twelve tents, scattered across the clearing.
Eira counted them as she crouched behind a tree, surveying the site. It was a Torch unit, she was sure of it—a twelve-man unit consisting of three mages and nine veteran soldiers. It was a formidable force, one that could wipe out any single mage with little effort. But that didn’t matter. At least, not directly.
The presence of the soldiers had settled like a dark cloud over her thoughts. In a direct confrontation, she would lose. She would be outnumbered and outclassed, but she didn’t need to face them head-on. Eira was no fool—she was a mage, and mages didn’t win battles with brute force. They won with strategy, with enough preparation, and with the element of surprise.
For hours, she moved silently around the vicinity of the camp. She set her delayed spells—spells that has a delayed activation— one after another, each designed to deal little damage. Each placement was subtle, each hidden within the landscape. She placed them into the ground, into the trees, and across the nearby brushes. By the time dusk arrived, she was ready.
The night would be her ally. And tonight, she would be the one to strike first. Eira retreated to the shadows as the evening light dimmed. Consciously, she activated her unique magic that she inherited from her father. Her figure starts blending into the landscape until her figure was no more. Only darkness and trees, surrounds the camp.
Info Dump# 17
- The awakening of magic brought change not only to everyday lives but also in the scenes of warfare. Alongside the appearance of mages was the rearrangement of war units to accommodate them. One of the known magic units across the lands was the composition of a Torch unit. It became a standard structure accomodating mages that maximizes their strengths.