What was I?
Disciple of Solia, yes. I had no choice in that matter and no use fighting that anymore. But beside my Blood Mage fate, what was I?
A victim of circumstance?
A directionless wanderer?
It was Ciro though who seemed to decide for me, pounding at my door at the break of dawn. He had slammed his palm on the wooden door, shooting me upright in bed.
"Come now, Mira," he called, voice particularly gruff in the early morning hour, "It's time you learned to defend yourself - you're in the Barrens now. You need to be a fighter - a warrior, whether you like it or not."
A warrior.
I suppose I had the right outfit.
I washed up before putting on the Halmore armor again. Each black piece seemed to snap together, sliding in place, hugging my body like a custom-tailored glove. I still hadn't gotten used to how light it felt on my body. As I took my first steps within the armor, I almost tripped, expecting the stone boot to resist.
It was cold outside with the two suns only now starting their trail across the open sky. The open land, empty from horizon to horizon was beautiful, but unsettling. Although my childhood home was not within any bustling city by far, it at least had the comforting walls of the forest, vibrant green and so full of life.
My first impressions of the Barrens caused me to believe that Ciro and I were the only living things in the desolate landscape. It was only when I really looked, consciously stopping myself to observe my surroundings, that I began to see how wrong I was. What was once a mere rock was the gravel shell of a boney crustacean. The odd long-thistled branch coming out of the sparse grass became the tail of a silken vermin, moving with the steady winds just out of the corners of my eyes. What was once an odd shaped seashell poking out of the sands became the camouflage snout of a lizard, stalking any unsuspecting prey.
Ciro had his back to me as he faced the black ocean, one hand impatiently on his hip, the other on his glimmering halberd. He turned around, white hair whipping with the sea breeze, and a smile across his face.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I guess. I'm not sure what for," I yawned, stretching out my arms.
Ciro walked forward towards me, taking heavy steps on the soft sand. He weighed his weapon in his hands, eyes lowered in concentration.
"Although Blood Magic is powerful, it can't protect you from everything. Sure, with a wave of your hand, you can absorb the magic from almost everything - but only when you're close enough - for the most part. If your magic is already low, you will need to be damn-well touching the source to absorb it. But -" he stopped, standing beside me as we faced the water, "The opposite is also true. Taking someone or something's magic is always easier if you're full of it already. Back when I was fighting armies all by myself, I could take the magic from things as far as the eye could see just with a wave of my little hand."
Ciro sighed, leaning against the staff of the halberd for support. I watched the rising suns coming up over the horizon through his cloudy stare, wondering if my own would ever look quite like his.
"But, Mira, the soldiers at the Barren border are a bit smarter than they were back then, with delicately crafted magic armor, weaved with wards protecting them far better from us than ever before. No, you'll at least need to see their skin to get to their magic, at least for now.
"They attack from the skies on their great beasts, hide arrowmen in the cliffs - even setting traps where you'd least expect it. Sure, that fancy armor of yours will help, but until you get to know your magic better, you need to learn how to protect yourself - from magic, swords, anything that will come your way."
"And how am I going to do that?" I asked.
"Well," Ciro smiled, "That depends. What kind of fighter are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you like to hide and hurt from a distance? Brute force your way through things? Do you want to defend yourself against your foe or down them before they have a chance?" Ciro asked.
"I've never really thought about it," I frowned.
Ciro seemed a bit disappointed at my answer. I couldn't help but be disappointed too.
"Here then, let's start with the basics," he said.
I then watched as he picked up a long white piece of driftwood, breaking off its branches, and leaving a long, arm-length post. He then threw it at me, expecting me to catch it.
I did not catch it.
Ciro sighed, shaking his head.
"This may take a while... What do you know?" he asked.
"Rude," I grumbled, picking up the stick from the sand at my feet. I felt the light weight in my hand, weighing it with consideration, and frowned. "I know how to ride a horse. I can... climb pretty well?" I hesitated, thinking of my years climbing the trees in the garden to hide away from Limenta. "Father tried to show me how to shoot a bow once... I wasn't very good."
Ciro shook his head, then threw his halberd to the ground in an all-too dramatic fashion.
"Hit me," Ciro said, beckoning me forward.
"What?"
"Come on now, Mira. Use that piece of wood in your hand and really give me a good swing. I won't even dodge it or fight back, promise," he said, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his back.
I took a cautious step forward, holding the branch gingerly in my hands.
"Come now, hard as you can."
I reeled the branch over my shoulder, ready to strike, making a mental countdown. Just one swing, right to the side of his face. He was asking for it, right?
Three.
Two.
I grimaced, tightening my grip.
One.
Tap.
I watched with a sigh as I lightly tapped the side of his face with a slow strike, before throwing the branch to the sand. I couldn't do it. Everything in my being was screaming for me not to. Even though he said it wouldn't hurt him, something kept me from hitting me with any sort of force.
Ciro opened one eye, giving me a confused glance.
"What was that?" he grimaced.
"I can't... I can't do it. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone," I turned away from him, embarrassed. "I'm going back inside. This is hopeless."
"Mira. Stop," said Ciro, putting a hand on my shoulder, "That's all well and noble but that sort of mentality will get you nothing but killed out here. You need to learn how to protect yourself without magic."
I sighed, turning around to face him but still not brave enough to meet his eyes. He stepped back and grabbed the branch off the ground, offering it to me.
"Take it. Try again," he said, "I promise you won't hurt me."
I sighed, taking the branch once again, weighing it once again in my palm. I was so profoundly aware of just how weak I was, rolling it over in my meek little hands. I felt my brow furrow in frustration.
Ciro resumed his position a few steps away, putting his hands behind his back and closing his eyes after giving me a wink of approval. Let's try this again.
I resumed the mental countdown.
Three. Two. One.
Thwack!
I hit his shoulder with all the force I could muster. And although the branch gave a satisfying sound on impact, Ciro remained unmoved. I did however notice a little smile on his face.
"Again, Mira. I know you can do better than that," he grumbled.
I frowned, biting the inside of my lip, frustrated with myself.
Thwack!
"Again!" Ciro shouted, "Break the branch, Mira!"
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
It was with this final hit that the dry branch finally broke, snapping in two upon impact with his shoulder. Ciro gave a belting laugh, clapping his hands with excitement.
"See? Was that so hard?" he asked with a grin.
I couldn't help but smile at myself. However, this brief feeling of pride was shattered as I watched Ciro pick up yet another piece of driftwood from the shore.
"Alright, girly," he grinned, "My turn."
My eyes widened.
"Don't look so scared. Here you are with the ancient armor of Harmore and you're really scared of a little stick?" Ciro chuckled. "Use those arms to block me, easy."
And so I did.
This part was a bit easier than the striking portion of the day. I was more than used to dodging and blocking, experience left over from my days dodging rogue blows from a fearsome teenage Limenta growing up. But after a while, I could tell that Ciro had been going easy on me.
While the driftwood branch didn't feel like much against the hard armor, the force of his strikes was enough to push me left and right. I even fell to the sand once or twice.
The day continued like this, taking turns swinging with the driftwood until the two suns were circling high above us. We stopped to take a break, eating a makeshift stew Ciro made with some fresh fish he caught in the early morning hours before I awoke.
We sat, side by side on the little cabin steps, watching the lazy waves sparkle in the sunlight. I lifted the bowl to my mouth, taking a final mouthful of the stew before leaning back against the door with a sigh. It was moments like these where it was easy to forget just how awful things were.
Ciro grabbed my empty bowl and headed inside, grunting as he stood and frowning when his knees clicked in protest.
"I'm too old for this," he murmured to himself.
I leaned forward, putting my palms on my chin, and watched the waves lulling on the white shore. The dark, blue-black water spanned as far as the horizon, framed by the black cliffs to the south. The island housing Port Xeme was out there somewhere, past where I could see, ominously just out of sight. I knew from my stories that the island was rife with Selphene soldiers after a hard fought war with the Barren enemies.
I frowned.
"Ciro?" I called out.
"Yes?" Ciro answered from somewhere in the house.
"Where are all the other Blood Mages? Or Void Mages? Or... or anyone else really?" I asked.
If this really was the Barrens, the place was supposed to be full of unsavory characters - yet Ciro was the only face I had seen so far since my arrival yesterday. Where were the spiked towers, void beasts, and other cravenous foe?
"Ah," said Ciro, stepping into the light and leaning against the doorframe. "There's a lot of folk on the border, keeping the armies at bay. But folk out here in the Barrens mostly keep to themselves. However! It's still dangerous. The people out here are paranoid, reckless, untrained and often have never even taken the time to learn how to properly control their power. You'll need to be prepared to defend yourself if you want to stand a chance. Speaking of which!" Ciro stretched, "Have you thought about your weapon yet?"
"I... I'm not sure where to even begin. Swords, spears, maces, bows... It's all very overwhelming. And where would we even find a weapon out here?" I asked, gesturing to the empty shore around us, "There's nothing!"
Ciro grinned, scratching his chin and stepping off the front step to turn and face me.
"Aye, I have an idea. We'll get this weapon business all sorted out, in no time. Just about a day's journey from here, due south. I'll take you to where I got my trusty halberd here," he said, lifting his massive weapon from where it leaned on the cabin wall.
"And where's that?"
"Why, on the front lines, Mira," Ciro smiled. "Time for you to see what this damned war is all about."