Part 1
Felled tigers, badgers, chimps, and birds of all kinds laid dead at my feet! After my victory over that majestic liger, the beasts' fighting spirit seemed crushed. Tensions faded, along with their visages, into the dark as they backed off into the woods, fleeing a losing battle. With that obstacle surmounted, my thoughts wandered back to Bramble. (There must be a reason he has yet to respond, even now. I can sense an abundance of mana; lo, it is not the seed. Having grown accustomed to the seed's uniquely dense and rich mana, I can easily decern the difference between it and whatever is outputting that steady flow.) Simply pondering would solve nothing. Bernadine was far ahead of me; one could assume that she had made it to the town long ago.
"Anesha!" Jordie Mack of Mack Attack called for my attention. He and his band of videographers were safe in the confines of their van, held with that ogrekin's grasp. "You good, fam? You don't look it! Not that you look bad, you're pretty hot, but not in an oversexualized way, just that..." Clearly, not only Magekin spoke too much.
"I am..." Not fine. After such a battle, the many injuries I accrued were weighing on me. Countless cuts were only prevented by the mage's robes, lo', so many bruises ran up from ankle to scalp. Worse so, my cache; it was low. "...I shall manage." That second step spat in the face of all my bombast, as I nearly toppled! My ruler piece caught me, worse for wear itself. Every piece's wireframe body had been torn and cracked open, exposing the mana crystals within, while protecting those Mack Attackers...and myself. My hat, also, was limp and bleeding mana particles, softer than a freshly washed towel; rendered useless. I was left less abled without my fully equipped mage's robes, thus casting spells in such a state would be trying. (No hat, broom, damaged familiars, and my cache nearly running dry? My, how exciting.) Sarcasm for only my pleasure. Begrudgingly, I deformed my chess pieces. (What now?) The ogrekin approached; having put up an admirable fight against those attacking animals while safely carrying an entire vehicle's weight.
Azure scales coating the hill ogre's finger suddenly glowed brightly! The ogrekin fell to one knee, lowering Mack Attack's truck onto its side, but not causing any serious damage. Mana was being drawn from the massive creature rapidly and at such volume it became visible! "What's going on?! It's happening to Pinkie too!" That little creature, the squonk in Jordie's arms, was also being drained of its mana by Bernadine's familiar scales! "Anesha, do something!" Both creatures were in some kind of distress! Having all of one's mana drained from their body could result in exhaustion, and death in some cases; killing such creatures was unlike Bernadine!
"Bernadine must be planning something. Come to me, I shall lop off those scales—" My raised blade was slapped aside by the ogrekin in a fit of discomfort! "Fool! How dare you?!" The saber was launched far into a dark brush! Before I could shout in anger again, the scales collected on both squonk and hill ogre, then rocketed upward and off toward Gold River's shops! "That must be where Bernadine is. What is she doing?" In the distance, blue and purple lights soared across Gold River and Whispering Hills' skies, following the other scales! Mana swirled like a whirlpool as a spire of energy rose, then funneled down into one spot!
"Did you guys feel that?! That was insane!" Even a human like Bernie felt the flow of mana change with such a tremendous shift! He commented while helping Bobbie, with a still injured shoulder, out of their vehicle tossed onto its side. Jordie laid the squonk down, breathing heavily just as the ogrekin was. Both were robbed of mana, lo', not to a seemingly dangerous extent. "Welp, van's cooked. Unless you think we can turn it over, Anesha?"
"I wish not to waste any more mana?" Locating my saber flung deep into the dark woods was far more important. That task would be arduous without using magic, as conserving mana was essential.
