My heart was beating rapidly, and I felt faint from the sudden panic that engulfed me. What the hell just happened? I completely lost control of my actions as I attacked that man; there was no reasoning or thinking behind that. Something similar has already happened once, but it was not this severe. I was starting to suspect that blood magic influenced my emotions, instead of simply channeling them as other magic did.

  If that was true, then hiding the fact that I am a blood mage would become increasingly difficult, if not downright impossible, in the long run. I shook my head, recalling the present incident. I struggled to understand my own actions, even if they were undoubtedly mine.

  There was a sudden surge of anger, followed by a desire to put him in his place, and I immediately went through with it. I hurt him; I humiliated him in front of everyone else.

  The rush of power… It was freeing, in a sense, I felt relieved, and a lot of tension left my body. Tension that I kept suppressing over recent happenings. Perhaps I was suppressing more than I could handle?

  Besides Alita, who was still by my side trying to calm me down, and the other girls who were awkwardly hovering behind us, the guards didn’t seem to be sure of what to do with the present situation.

  I looked up at them, and I could see that there was an undertone of tension weighing over them. They were not exactly hostile yet, but most of them didn’t let go of their weapons either; I could feel their eyes closely following my movements.

  I don’t think they actually believed I was using blood magic here. If they did, they wouldn’t have refused to attack me. However, the sole mention of that particular branch of magic seemed to make them suspicious. It was reasonable suspicion; I just attacked their lord in his own house, even when they knew the man threatened me first.

  I gritted my teeth, cursing internally, why can’t a single afternoon go without freak incidents like this? At this point, I could only bluff my way out of this and stand firm on my position.

  I decided to straighten my expression and slowly stand up while keeping my eyes on the guards.

  Alita seemed surprised, but relieved by my sudden recovery. She stood beside me, as frustrated as I have ever seen her, and she was simultaneously apologizing for the situation and trying to comfort me.

  “Selora… I am really sorry about this… believe me If I had known that he would react this badly, I would have never invited you to our house.” ─ She explained while nervously twiddling her fingers.

  I glanced at her, feeling a sense of nausea about the sheer scale of this newest disaster that fell in my lap. My thoughts wandered towards Aria, and my imagination played out a variety of things that will happen if, or more likely, when she hears about this. I suspect having my newfound freedom revoked would be the least of my problems.

  My stomach lurched at the idea. If she ever hears about this, that woman will beat my ass, literally. Imagining the prospect sounded exciting, the outcome, however, would likely be far worse than what I suffered from Jolga today. No, that would definitely not be fun. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in me regarding that. If Aria got her hands on me, she wouldn’t let me off after this, not without me begging for mercy.

  I glanced back at the guards, the way they eyed me while keeping their hands on their weapons.

  Ah… who am I kidding, she will definitely hear about this… The only question was, when? Perhaps, I should consider running away while I can. Then again, how could I hide here? A magic caster, and an elf in a dwarven city. It was not exactly a common sight.

  I sighed.

  If that was the case… well, I might as well go and give myself up. Perhaps, she will go easy on me… I grimaced, involuntarily. Not a likely outcome, I reminded myself, recalling her militaristic ideals, but it was worth a try, maybe… It definitely beat the other option, which was essentially waiting for the headsman’s axe to fall.

  Alita gently grasped my shoulder, shaking me lightly, which refocused my wandering attention back on her.

  She seemed worried; I noted while listening to her words. ─ “Are you alright?” ─ The girl asked nervously.

  My first instinct was to answer that I am fine. An obvious lie to her question, that would end in another bout of awkward silence. I decided to skip that part. Instead, after a brief pause, I spoke. ─ “No, I had a terrible day, and this… Well, the consequences of what transpired here will likely ruin my entire week or more. I don’t know what to do about it, and Aria will have my ass for this.”

  Alita looked at me, momentarily unsure what to say, then simply nodded. ─ “I… I will come with you and explain everything… that should help to clear things up.”

  I nodded, appreciating the offer. ─ “It would certainly help…” ─ I admitted before adding. ─ “Although I am obliged to remind you that doing so will result in consequences.” ─ My lips thinned into a straight line before finishing the thought. ─ “She will have your ass as well.”

  Hearing my words, Alita offered me a hesitant smile and a warm tingling chuckle, one that I managed to lose myself in, momentarily forgetting my problems. ─ “Well, if that is her price, then she can beat me up. After this disaster, I may as well deserve it.” ─ She snorted.

  I shook my head, amused by her posturing. ─ “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. She can be quite savage at times… wait… what’s this… something strange.” ─ My heart quickened, the small hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood straight. I could feel the occasional shivers run along my skin.

  “What do you mean?” ─ Alita asked, seemingly unaware of the ominous sensation.

  My head snapped towards the mansion, but I didn’t see anything unusual there. Then the sensation became clearer, and I realized it was not coming from the mansion, but from behind it, far away, in the distance, likely not even inside the city’s perimeters. That thought didn’t bode well with me.

  I was jolted from my thoughts, a sudden sense of alertness coupled with an oppressing sense of danger sent cold shivers through my skin, and perspiration began to form on my forehead. My ears perked up, my eyes widened as my gaze searchingly passed over the backyard, but the sensation of danger remained, no, it didn’t simply remain, it heightened to a razor edge.

  Alita seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation the quickest. Then the rest of the people started to hesitantly look around as well.

  I closed my eyes and focused my inner eye on the ominous phenomenon.

  “There is something, a gathering of power, outside the city. I cannot pinpoint the exact location; it’s either too far away, or my senses are obstructed by another spell.” ─ I stated. My voice filled with an ominous certainty. I felt it, I couldn’t explain what, but it was a threat without a doubt.

  Then, it happened.

  A magical eruption, one that was invisible to the naked eye, yet so blindingly overwhelming to my magical senses that it made my skin crawl, and my stomach lurch as my body instinctively shrank in on itself. All that power, the raw concentration of mana, was originating from somewhere in the distance; it was without a doubt coming from beyond the thick rock walls that protected this city for many centuries.

  What truly worried me, however, was not from where the released mana was coming from, but the direction, or more precisely, the place where all that power was concentrated.

  My face paled further, eyes widening to their possible extent, raw terror grasped around my nerves, as the realization hit me. The mana… it was formed into a spell, one that seemed to engulf the entire capital in an erratic storm of magic. A storm that could not be seen, but was gaining momentum and growing more violent with every passing second.

  I gulped, my senses screaming at me, as I felt with growing horror how the mana storm reached a deadly crescendo. Then… it disappeared. Leaving behind an ominous silence.

  My heart was beating against my ribs, and I could feel its palpitations pulsing in my ears and the back of my neck. The mana storm was no more. There was only silence, but the sense of foreboding danger never left; it kept growing and became more and more present.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  At this point, I was no longer in the focus of attention. The guards and everyone else in the backyard seemed to feel that something was wrong. They were walking around on high alert, carefully feeling out their surroundings. Having no real concept of the true danger they were in… no, the entire city was in.

  One of the guards, a man with a brown beard, spoke up. He, unlike the others, could sense a fraction of the disaster that was about to happen. ─ “The air is heavy…” ─ He spoke, carefully forming his words.

  Another member of the guards froze suddenly, his eyes growing wide as he mumbled under his beard, fear contorting his features. ─ “The earth… It’s screaming.”

  Everybody froze when hearing his words. I didn't understand what he meant first, but I didn’t have to wait long to educate myself on the matter either.

  Several of the guards shouted in alarm. ─ “Take cover!”

  Before I could register the words, I felt the tremors under my feet. The ground was shaking. It was in a constant jittery motion, moving back and forth, then sideways, sometimes at the same time. It was making me nauseous and provided quite a challenge to remain on my feet, not to mention moving anywhere.

  “It’s an earthquake!” ─ Hilde shouted frantically, doing her best to stay on her feet as all of us were.

  My stomach sank with the realization. It wasn’t a natural earthquake, as if that wasn’t bad enough, no, it was controlled by our worst enemy. As I recalled the amount of mana that was poured into this spell, my skin ran out in cold sweat.

  I twisted my upper body and shouted over the deafening rumbling. ─ “No! It’s a spell, it’s the work of the enemy! Unleashed by the dark ones!”

  I could barely finish my sentence when there were several violent lurches dwarfing anything that happened so far. They crashed through the city, throwing me and everyone else off our feet. I fell on my side with a heavy thud. The ground kept moving under me, making me sick.

  My side hurt, but there was no time to worry about that. The entire capital was shaking. I tried to grab onto something, anything that could give me some sense of stability, but there was no such thing. I felt like being locked in a jar, then violently tossed around for what felt like hours. My heart was beating so fast that it made my chest ache in pain, my throat felt dry, and I could feel tears in my eyes as panic started to overtake me. I was struggling to keep my sanity, hyperventilating while lying on my back and seeing the entire city being tossed around, moving, and cracking under the force of the magic that crashed against it in waves.

  My thoughts briefly wandered to the Dimhollow estate, hoping that they were fine. I could see the growing number of dust clouds rising into the air in the distance. Especially in the direction of the market district. The idea of being there, stuck among the throng of people in the busy streets surrounded by tall buildings on all sides, well, it made my insides cringe.

  That was practically a death sentence.

  The earth trembled several more times, but my attention was suddenly brought to a different sight. One that was no less deadly in its nature. My eyes, glued to the quickly moving image of an enormous stalactite cutting through the air much like an oversized artillery shell, it crashed into the city below, creating a shockwave like no other. It could be felt through the already shaking ground. The sight of absolute destruction, followed by a cloud of dust rising into the air, filled out a third of my vision.

  It was not the only one… more followed in its wake, falling at different parts of the city. The largest of the stalactites cut through all of the dwarven nets. The proud craftsmanship of the best dwarven smiths could pose no obstruction to them. The nets simply snapped under their weight, leaving behind nothing but destruction and terror.

  By some miracle, or several. None of those death heralds fell on top of us. Not that I had the luxury to savor the moment. Soon after, the shaking slowed, and just as suddenly as it arrived, the constant tremors stilled, leaving behind a city that was barely recognizable compared to its prior state.

  Then the screams began, and the ringing sound of distant alarm bells echoed over the cavalcade of chaos.

  I slowly crawled to my knees, my legs feeling jittery. I didn’t have the will to stand yet. I slowly took in the horrible sight that welcomed me. Half of the mansion was flattened to the ground, several buildings around the backyard sharing in its fate. Shocked by the devastation that was intentionally unleashed here, I struggled to pull my gaze away from the sight.

  An unhinged thought seemed to steal itself into my mind, as I stared at the collapsed or partially collapsed buildings around us.

  Well… at least I don’t think Aria will learn about that little stunt I pulled after this shit. Well... if she survived, that is...

  As the bells kept ringing around the city, I reminded myself of the present situation. The city was under attack, and after that spell… There was no way there wasn’t an enemy army heading our way right now.

  I gulped, shaking off those depressing thoughts, and I decided to look for my companions.

  The first one I found was Alita, she was lying on her stomach, her face staring towards the mansion, she was clearly in a state of shock. Seeing your home in ruins could do that to the best of us.

  I also noted that there was a large, at least several feet wide, crack in the ground cutting across the yard and going under the collapsed section of the mansion. Note to self, don’t step in that crevice.

  I run my gaze along the yard, noting that everyone who stayed in the backyard seemed to survive the incident just fine. There were some new bruises and scratches, but the more worrying part was the mental shock they suffered from witnessing their home suffering such devastation.

  Then the effect of the shock began to pass as the voices of the nearby people started to fill the air.

  “By the Gods! What could sow such destruction as this!” ─ One of the guards exclaimed.

  “The witch said it was coming from outside the city, before it even happened?” ─ Another added hastily.

  I didn’t like the way some of their eyes glanced at me, and I quickly tightened my hold around my staff. I didn’t drop it this time. I was training to keep hold of my staff in unexpected situations, and it seemed to pay off.

  “You are right, the witch said so, she might know something about it… could have been the cause of it, all we know!” ─ Another one joined in, and I decided that it was high time to climb to my feet as well, no matter if my legs protested the command.

  “Yeah, the Lord might have been right, she could be a blood mage!” ─ Another one said.

  Oh, the irony, I thought. They were both right and completely off the mark.

  I decided to put an end to it before they could rile themselves up for all the wrong reasons. ─ “Yeah, sure! I would happily unleash a disaster on top of my own head, idiots! Except, I live down the street at a twenty-minute walk! Sure, that would be worth it, just out of spite!”

  “Shut up, witch, you are not doing yourself any favors with your insinuations. You mages are all the same. You would do anything for power. Especially, blood mages!” ─ One of the idiots growled at me.

  I laughed at that. ─ “That earthquake had nothing to do with blood magic. I can guarantee that!” ─ I pointed it out to the idiots, while crossing my arms over my chest.

  To my surprise, the man seemed to smirk back at me with a victorious expression. ─ “Oh? You sound awfully certain about that. Almost as well, as if you have known blood magic for a long time. Care to explain yourself?”

  I gawked at the fool for a second too long and spoke up in a stutter, which sealed the deal. ─ “I-I, w-w-what? Stop k-kidding yourself, idiot!”

  Hilde laughed at that. ─ “Oh, right… Selora, now you have definitely assured him that you are not a blood mage.”

  I snapped at the stupid girl, my face turning red. ─ “S-shut up, Hilde, you are not helping!”

  It was at that time that Elin decided to cut in with a firm voice. ─ “It is not the place or time to argue amongst ourselves. The capital is in ruins, countless people have died and are dying right at this moment.” ─ She turned her sharp gaze towards the guards. ─ “You should be ashamed of yourself, arguing possibilities, when your house is in ruins, and your people require help. Go now, save who you can, and report the extent of the damage.”

  One of the men barked back. ─ “You are in no position to order us around. You are but a guest of the house.”

  Elin straight out laughed in his face. ─ "Oh, yes... and you were such superb hosts!" ─ Before the situation could devolve into a brawl, which, based on the circulating energies, was a very likely possibility, another voice cut into the fray.

  Alita seemed to come to herself at last, as she cut in with a seething anger that left no place for argument. ─ “Listen to her words, you dimwits! Move out, before I banish you from our service, once and for all!”

  Seeing that it was Alita who gave the order this time, they couldn’t quite refuse and followed suit, some more reluctantly than the others. Either way, they started looking for survivors and supplies among the ruins.

  “This is a disaster.” ─ Alita murmured, letting herself be pulled to her feet by Elin, while Hilde came over to my side, looking me over, searching for injuries.

  I nodded to her gesture, with a thankful yet solemn smile. ─ “You are welcome, she said simply.”

  I couldn’t help but ask, moving my gaze along the ruins once more. ─ “What are we going to do?”

  Alita answered with a firm conviction. ─ “Ideally, we should look for our family, but if what you said was true, and an army of the dark ones is about to storm the capital…” ─ She paused, giving me an ominous look. ─ “Then we have to do everything in our strength to delay their arrival.”

  I met her gaze head-on, feeling the solemn purpose behind her words, followed by a burst of fear. I put my weight from one leg to the other before nodding.

  Hilde chipped in from the side. ─ “Saving the capital? Sure, count me in, finally a quest worthy of my presence! Alas, we need to gather any able-bodied men and women along the way. You can’t expect us four to hold back an army.”

  Alita nodded to that. ─ “Of course, the King should already be mobilizing. Everyone needs to do their part if we are to survive.”

  Alita’s eyes turned to me, taking in my somewhat dirty dress with a disdainful look. ─ “First, though… You should put on something that won’t hinder your movements in a fight, anything but a dress, really.”

  She pointed out the obvious, and I couldn’t help but agree.

  Alita turned around, searching for something to wear. There were still several discarded armor pieces lying about. Before she could pick up the first piece, I cut in, recalling my most recent gift that still lay dormant at the bottom of my bag. ─ “Actually… I think I might have something.”