Cold winds blew over the snow-covered peaks, shifting the top layer of the thick, white ice ever so slightly. As far as the eye could see, there was only one color. The frozen tips of Anorra’s Nails lived up to their name. No one knew how the treacherous mountain range got its moniker. But anyone who knew the Queen of Wails wholeheartedly agreed that it was a perfect name. Near the edge of the farthest mountain, one lone figure trudged on. From afar, an onlooker could see the long, winding path the figure had made in the snow steadily climbing down.
“Hah, hah, hah…!”
The figure panted laboring on through waist high snow. With two powerful arms that held a massive shovel, the figure carved out a narrow path moving forward one step at a time. They wore a thick, fur coat which was fitted to their size perfectly. The practiced efficiency with which the figure shoveled the snow, the rhythmic breathing and the controlled power with which the figure moved would tell the onlooker that this was not a physical act that a regular person could emulate.
Three hours of laborious walking later, the figure finally reached clear land. It climbed out from the thick snow and sat down on top of a damp boulder. Pulling back their fur hood a little, the figure scanned the region ahead. One could see a small town nestled at the bottom of the fifth nail of Anorra. The figure still had their nose and mouth covered with a mask. So only their sharp green eyes could be seen scanning the remote town with intense interest.
“Now,” the figure whispered. “Where might I find a powerful sorcerer who specializes in flame magic?” The pair of green eyes narrowed on an old building in the distance. From the edge of the mountains, the enhanced vision of the figure could pinpoint a thin yellow aura wafting out from the distant building. “In the coldest part of the world.” Under the fur mask covering the lower half of their face, a thin smile bloomed.
“Found you!”
The figure shifted forward an inch and disappeared from the spot where they had been sitting. Screaming winds followed the figure as they moved with immense speed tearing through the air. Their legs stepping on rooftops, walls and tree branches the figure traversed through the town at a breakneck speed toward their target.
Travis had had one of the worst weeks at work and was ecstatic when his master announced that there will be three days off after many long nights of work. He lay on his small feather bed looking at the decorated ceiling of his room. All the rooms in the Terand, contained beautiful artwork and decorations. The old Duke of the nearby kingdom had this small palace made for the Crows. Although the registered Crows and Hawks were only allowed to practice their magic in the kingdom, they used the Terand to teach and train apprentice mages before they have gone through the process of branding.
As for Travis who barely made through the selection exam, staying at the castle and training alongside expert mages and wizards was something he never even expected. Born to a low class hawker family in this remote town, he never expected to show magical aura or to somehow get through the famed Flight of Crows qualification exams. He absentmindedly ran his fingers along the soft fur of Mister Whiskers, his cat, as he lay day dreaming in his bed.
“Hey Whiskers, I’m heading outside to take a walk around the market.” He turned and looked at the cat before asking it. “Do you want to come along?” The feline creature meowed and turned its back to him. He shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.”
Taking a few copper coins with him, he stepped outside his room and closed the door. The cat, Mister Whiskers stared out the large window. The small town, its rustic buildings, the streets with a few fur-clad people walking by and the dome of the church in the distant filled the cat’s vision. The cat moved closer to the window as if something had caught its attention.
Suddenly, the cat’s body froze in place. Its eyes opened wide and it started trembling as goosebumps ran along its back. The irises narrowed to a thin line and its face turned from side to side scanning the town. What is this feeling? Its body suddenly shivered although it was inside a warm room. What is this power? Who dares? A mixture of rage and anxiety filled the cats face. Something is coming! Fast! Its head whipped around and it jumped to the window sill.
“Who dares?!”
A voice that sounded ancient and powerful came from the cat’s maw. It bared its fangs unleashed a wave of magical aura thick enough for the naked eye to see. The golden aura surrounded the cat and intense heat suddenly enveloped it. The air itself started heating up and white vapor started forming around the feline giving it the image of being encased in a bubble of fire and vapor. The magic condensed quickly to become a shield made of flames. Red hot flames licked the air every time they moved and the moisture in the air around the cat instantly evaporated. The window cracked and blew apart. The people from the streets started panicking as shard of glass rained down on them. They could see a massive ball of magical fire from atop the Terand.
Guards started running towards the source of the commotion and two Crows, nameless wizards, who taught at the castle came running to the room. The bizarre scene of witnessing a cat casting such a powerful barrier shocked the wizards. One of them began casting counter magic to put off the flames but even before he could form the image of the spell in his mind, the cat waved its tail in his direction. A massive ball of flame to rushed towards the pair. The second one barely managed to jump away in time to see the first wizard get incinerated by the flames. “R-Raillic!!!” He turned towards the cat in horror.
“W-who?” He could not finish his question. A second ball of flame was already rushing towards him. “AAARRGGHHHH!”
“Insects! All of you are beneath me!” the cat screamed before once again turning towards the broken window. “I know you are nearby! Come! I will burn this world to ashes! Then no on shall dare challenge me!”
The next second the people of the town felt a gush of wind so strong that it blew them away several feet. The Crows who witnessed this later claimed on their lives that it was caused by a single person who moved so fast that they tore through the fabric of the wind itself.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the castle. The hooded figure punched the cat with force enough to break the spirit level flame barrier and throw the cat down several floors of the castle. The massive hole that could now be seen in the middle of the castle caused several cracks to appear and slowly spider web through all the broken floors.
“W-what?” The cat, now in his normal form as a seven foot tall, pale-white elf looked up and found himself sprawled in a hole. He looked up with rage filled eyes and screamed.
“I WILL BURN…”
“Me?” the figure stood in front of the wizard now.
“A woman?”
BOOM!
The wizard was lifted up and punched yet again. This time he was sent flying through three castle walls and landing on the street outside.
BOOM!
Another earth rocking explosion and he was thrown through the walls of the town church breaking into the inner sanctum and sliding down the marble floor.
“Wh-what? Who are you?” his voice was shaking and for the first time in his thousand-year-long life. The infamous Blood Crow was afraid.
BAM! BOOM! CRASH!
He felt them before he heard them. The two punches to his face dislodged his jaw. Before the pain settled he felt his body crashing through several more buildings in the town.
Whoosh, Crack!
A powerful fist buried itself in his abdomen lifting him up the air and sending him flying high. His blurred vision saw the town floating below his body. He raises his blood-soaked face just in time to see the fur-clad figure jump next to floating body. But before he could stop them, BOOOOOM!
His face was buried a feet under the cobble stone road. His mind barely functioned trying to figure out just who in this world even had this much power and speed. Finally, it landed on a face of a beautiful woman. It can’t be!
With his last reserve of magic he conjured up an intense fiery barrier and completely covered his body in the hottest flames of the highest tier. The flames formed an armor that could melt anything it touches. “Are you related to Irina? That little bitch was the only one with strength like that!”
The fur-clad figure stopped in front of the wizard. “What made you decide to kill her, Jark? You already had power, you already had influence and you commanded the largest magical force in the Eastern continent. So what could you gain by killing a little girl?”
“Hah, you would never understand.” Princess Irina did nothing against me. But she had too much power to rival mine. I could simply not allow it to grow. Allow her to grow. “Her pathetic life was nearing its end anyway, I just sped it up. How did you gain the same power as her?”
The figure shook her head slowly. “As I thought, it is useless trying to understand a lunatic.” She started walking toward Jark slowly.
“You can not harm me anymore! My armor will melt your hands away if you try to touc…”
BOOOM!
Jark’s entire body was sent flying as the woman landed her heaviest punch yet. The armor including the outer shields had all been broken. He could see the molten armor sporting massive cracks where she had hit it. “I-impossible! T-this, this cannot be happening!”
BOOM! His face turned to one side from the impact. BOOM! He keeled over as his stomach twisted inside. BOOM! Blood splattered from his shoulder where his bone could be seen jutting out of his flesh. BOOM! He felt his knee shatter, and his legs caved inside. He fell, screaming and spewing blood on the frozen street.
I was so close, the boy was almost ripe. If only, if only I could have soul transferred a little earlier. His thoughts filled with anger, fear and regret.
“C-curse y-y…” his lips barely managed.
“Me?” BOOM! CRACK!
Jark spat out blood and the world lost its most feared sorceror, the infamous murderer, Blood Crow that day. Investigators later found his body completely mangled and all his bones broken. The cause of death was written as a magical experiment failure. Despite the few Crows swearing that it was caused by one lone figure, no one could accept that one of the most powerful Crows known to the world could be bested by any one person.
The fur-clad figure could be seen walking through the thick snow once more. This time they had lowered her mask reveling a beautiful face with a horrible burn covering one of their cheeks. A smile floated up her face. In a low voice, she spoke to herself.
“In the end, the strongest Crow in the world could not burn a little girl who trusted him. In the end, his flames were put out by the very same girl. Two souls had the young girl, two lives she was destined to live. One giving love, one taking life.”
The figure trudged forward ever so slowly through the waist high snow. They were already planning their next destination, towards their target.