Beneath The Fallen Sky

We passed beyond the city walls, heading southwest. The drylands were our final destination, but there were a few stops to make along the way. The first was Veilshade Ruins, a place long swallowed by time and decay.

History books spoke of it as an ancient fortress, once sheltering forest dwellers who defied the Empire's rule. Some called them warriors, others mere villagers clinging to their freedom. Whatever the truth, the Empire's wrath erased it. No records detailed a battle—just the aftermath. The ruins stood as silent proof of what happened to those who defied authority.

Now, all that remained were crumbling stone walls, jagged towers overtaken by vines, and scattered relics buried beneath years of neglect. And in the shadows of these ruins, goblins had made their nest.

Caden figured we might as well deal with them now. It was practically on the way, only setting us back half a day.

A little over 2 hours into the ride, Caden had asked me what I was good at when it came to combat. I shamingly told him that I knew nothing about combat—zero potential in magic, not a single swing of a sword ever. Caden froze mid-chew on a piece of jerky. Slowly, he turned to look at me, eyes widening like I'd just confessed to never hearing of fire before. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

"…You're kidding, right?"

There was a long silence. Everyone's eyes fixed on me. I was really embarrassed, but mostly ashamed of my powerlessness.

"I'd be happy to teach you the basics of magic if you'd like! Though I only specialize in healing arts, I still have the fundamentals of combat magic understood and a few non-healing tricks up my sleeve."

Ever since she healed my throat, I knew Elyndor was kind, but somehow, she kept surprising me.

Caden smirked. 

"If you're serious about learning to fight, we could spar twice a day. One-on-one combat training with me, magic lessons with Elyndor. I use a spear, so I can't teach you sword techniques, but the fundamentals—footwork, timing, reading your opponent—you'll pick up along the way. You'll figure out your own style as you go."

His offer made me happy, though for some reason, it didn't feel as sincere as Elyndor's. Maybe it was his careless attitude. He'd been talking the whole time with his pinky in his nose.

"When do we start?"

I wasn't planning to learn magic, but I was curious about how it worked. My knowledge was limited to half-ripped pages I'd scavenged over the years. Magic books were too expensive for us to afford—not that they mattered for someone born without talent.

Caden estimated we'd reach the forest in four hours and the ruins in roughly seven.

"If you're ready, we can start now," Elyndor said. "It'll take a few days to cover the fundamentals, and we'll need to catch our food later, so we can ease into it. Plenty of time to kill in the carriage, anyway."

She didn't waste any time. The moment I agreed, she launched into a full lecture on magic fundamentals. I expected something short and simple. Within minutes, I realized I'd made a mistake.

Just as she was about to explain how different elemental affinities worked, a deep, grating snore cut through the air.

I turned my head.

Caden was out cold. Arms folded, head tilted back, mouth wide open. His snores were loud enough to shake the carriage. The horses didn't seem to care, but I half expected them to bolt.

Elyndor stared. "Did he really fall asleep that fast?"

I sighed. "It's impressive, honestly."

To summarize what I'd learned over the past few hours:

Magic ability was ranked in ten tiers—the Restrictions. Restriction-One was the strongest, the peak of magical mastery. Elyndor, on the other hand, was a Restriction-Nine mage.Although, healing arts taught in the church worked a little differently from combat magic.

Mana spent while casting spells could be replenished in two ways—resting or absorbing ambient magicules, a process called Mana Absorption. Mages who mastered this technique could refine magicules into mana by circulating them through their veins and into their heart—the body's mana reserve.

Casting magic required both imagination and incantation. A mage had to clearly picture their spell's effect while chanting the correct words to activate it. However, there were exceptions—prodigies who could cast magic silently, without a chant. It was rare, almost unheard of, but it did happen.

Finally nearing the end of the lecture and the starting of the forest, it was time to catch our dinner. Finnian took the initiative since Caden's, the hard headed leader that he is, wasn't waking up. He must really not like learning about magic…

Finnian crouched down to look at the tiny footprints covering the muddy pathway.

"It looks like two, no three, bunnies walked here not too long ago. We can use berries to lure them out and trap them. In the meantime, do you want to go look for bigger animals like boars and deer?"

There was a pause… a long silence. He looked at me and let out a nervous chuckle.

"C-come here, crouch lower," Finnian said, glancing at me like he wasn't sure I'd listen. He poked at the ground. "S-so, uh… animal tracks. You wanna look for a few things—size, toe count, um, claw marks… and, y'know, environment. This Y-shaped… it has light staggers. Rabbits land with their hind legs in front of their front legs when jumping. It takes a while to remember all these tracks but.."

I was really impressed. Finnian knew his stuff. I know he grew up in a forest, so he must've hunted frequently. Nonetheless it was incredible to here about just how many animal features he's memorized. He must have a really good memory like mine.

As Finnian spoke, something about the way he rattled off information struck me as familiar. I used to do the same thing—reciting books my mother brought home, reading every word until I knew them by heart.

"D-did you catch all that, or did I talk too fast?"

Shit. I stopped listening half way through when I was reminiscing…

"Uh, y-yeah I caught all that, I'm good to go.."

Finnian sent me north of the pathway into the bushes after seeing deer tracks. If I remember correctly, he determined it by the two upside-down pointed toes forming a heart shape. I knew where to head, but how exactly how I going to catch the deer… I certainly wasn't fast enough to physically catch it, and I didn't have a bow to catch it off guard.

Time was running out. Two and a half hours until sundown. I knelt down, the earthy smell of moss and leaves filling my nose as I set to work, my hands fumbling through the dirt, digging fast.

My best chance was a pitfall trap. Simple, but effective—if luck was on my side. I needed a hole deep enough that the deer couldn't escape, covered with a lattice of sticks and leaves. Then came the hard part: making sure the deer actually ran into it. I would need to remember where the trap was, using a landwmark. It wasn't guaranteed for the deer to run in the right direction either. Instead of going straight, he could run side ways or even diagonally. This is why I had to make up the luck factor with the time I had. I needed to preserve as much time as possible to endlessly run after it until it finally fell into the trap.

As the final rays of daylight dipped below the horizon, I finished the trap. My hands were sore, the sweat on my brow a mix of nerves and the pressure of time. I looked around, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart. The forest was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze. My ears strained, listening for any sign of movement, but the silence pressed in, suffocating.

I stood back, studying the trap once more. There was no going back now. If the deer didn't take the bait, all this work would be for nothing. The darkness seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of me, the sun now gone completely. I'd be hunting in the shadows, guided only by the dim light of the moon.

With the trap set, I returned to where Finnian had pointed me, taking one last look at the faint deer tracks in the mud. I moved quietly, aware of every snap of twig beneath my boots. If I could just make it through this night, I might have a chance to prove myself.

As I crouched down, heart pounding, the sound of something moving in the underbrush reached my ears. Something big. Something close.

My breath caught in my throat.

I wasn't alone.