Cannon Fodder To Villainess

🏮4. Little Subordinate and the Shadow Forest

After saying that, Amber continued down the path toward Shadow Forest. Behind her, the little girl stood up on wobbling legs with a determined look in her eyes. She silently followed after Amber, leaving her doll behind.

Amber heard the girl's tiny bare feet on the path, following after her. She glanced back at the girl as she struggled to keep up and Amber slowed her pace to stand beside the girl on the path. "Well done," Amber said as she patted the little girl's head. "Your name will be Nova from now on. It means a new beginning, which I think suits you quite well. Do you like it?"

The girl looked up at Amber, who had her hand on her head, and grinned happily, while shaking her head yes. Amber removed her hand and continued to walk. However, she soon felt Nova's fingers wrap around her hand. Startled by the sudden contact, Amber quickly shook off Nova's hold. A moment later she felt a slight tug on her cloak. Amber looked down and saw Nova looking up at her with her big dark blue eyes shining in determination and her little fingers gripping Amber's cloak tightly. Amber sighed, but didn't shake off the girl's hold anymore and they continued to walk down the path together, on their way to the Shadow Forest.

The forest was right outside the borders of the village. The village should have been booming from trade and commerce, but there were very few legitimate businesses, because the Baron over taxed all of them, and they couldn't afford his obscene gambling addiction. Because of this, the hot spot of the village became the land right before the Shadow Forest, even though the average villager never ventured in.

The Shadow Forest was full of dangerous mafau and shadow pixies. The shadow pixies looked like three inch, gray colored fairies, with large silver alien-like eyes, and short hair. They could control shadows and bend them into any shape they desired. They often loved to play tricks on travelers to get them lost.

To keep most of the dangers from spilling out of the forest, the Rafferty Village's previous Baron had placed enchanted large white pots forty feet apart from each other, along the edge of the line between the forest and the village. These pots were filled with pink and white fire that would never go out on its own. It let off an incredibly sweet aroma that repelled most mafau, which were also called mana-fauna, magical creatures, or spirit beasts. One of the mafau that it didn't repel were fire pixies who loved to dance in those flames and eat them.

In the large clearing just ahead of Amber and Nova, there were booths set up during the day like a market. By night there would be less than fully legal items for sale. No one worried about the Baron coming down to the forest to intervene, because he was terrified of the creatures who lived within it. It was a well known secret that the Baron had become lost in the Shadow Forest for nearly two weeks in his youth and refused to go near there again. Since her dad was a widely hated figure here, it would be best to not be recognized.

There were a great many different wears being peddled to the travelers who came to the Shadow Forest. Tons of people meandered around between the different booths. A great many of the people looked to be spoiled rich types and they were often accompanied by groups of more dangerous looking individuals who were obviously paid to guard them.

This empire 'Verglas' was to the north of the kingdom of Mavire in the same continent, but separated by a wide river. Here the majority of the people were yuki-onna and not actually human. So they could naturally wield different ice, water, or snow magic from birth. Some of them had more talent than others in magic wielding. Some of them also had a second or third magic ability that only showed itself after puberty. She was also a yuki-onna, although she couldn't currently wield any magic because her mana pathways were blocked. Many people were afraid of the yuki-onna, but they weren't spirits that had been born from a human woman's regrets from dying in snow. Yuki-onna were just a different kind of people.

A great deal of their entertainment was gained by subduing the mafau, cultivating their own mana level, and training the mafau. Mafau were mana-fauna, meaning magical animals. Fire wielding was one of the more desirable second magic attributes, but you got what you got. During the magic games, you could use one support mafau per round.

This was why the Shadow Forest was always so packed. It was an excellent place for beginners to cultivate and get started with mafau. However, it still wasn't a safe place to wander around, and had been the burial ground of many.

As Nova and Amber passed the stalls and got closer to the forest, the shadows became eerie. The shadows from the leaves on the trees flickered strangely and elongated, as if trying to escape their confines. While the pink and white fire in the pots flickered into the shapes of different animals as flame pixies played in the fires. The sound of their laughter was like lightly twinkling bells. It was beautiful and eerie. Pixie's could become vicious if they were disturbed.

Flame pixies looked like three inch fairies with light shades of pink, orange, or blue skin tone. They had large golden eyes and long flaming hair that matched their skin color, but in a darker shade. They had wings that looked like bat wings, but were their skin tone. They were wearing flames like clothing. Although they were clearly happy, their smiles looked somewhat malicious. Amber felt entranced as she watched the pixies dance in the flames.