The First War Mage: City in the Sky

As Brimrose stepped into the room two young children jumped up shouting out her name with a series of giggles as they swarmed Brimrose.

The two kids were clearly Elves, their ears were grown massive for their heads almost like the giant paws of a puppy or a kitten on their bodies. One, the little girl had golden blonde hair and soft green eyes, while the other, a little boy had brown hair and similar green eyes. They both were too distracted swarming Brimrose with so many questions that she could barely even open her mouth to talk.

But, they both fell utterly silent when they looked over to me. Fear was plastered on their faces in such a way that it made me wince, made all the more obvious when they began hiding behind Brimrose.

“Who's that?” The young girl, who couldn't have been any older than five, spoke with surprising confidence to her words.

“That's one of the two humans we have here that we're helping, remember when I told you about them last night?” Brimrose spoke gently in an almost motherly tone.

The little girl gasped drastically before speaking rapidly. “Is dat the pwincess?!” She was bouncing up and down in place, while the boy was still hiding behind Brimrose, fear plain in his eyes.

“No, no I’m just some nobody who’s been getting dragged around by a Princess.” I offered a smile to the little girl, she quickly deflated from my words and the boy relaxed some once I began talking.

“Lilly, Erde, this is the other Human girl, Kirin. Kirin, this is Lilly, and Erde.” Brimrose spoke as she pointed first to the little girl, Lilly, and then the boy Erde.

Erde raised his hand, staying well behind Brimrose to hide himself from my gaze, even as I offered my kindest smile.

“Kirin here is going to be taking care of the two of you for today. I wish I could be taking care of you for today but there is a lot that needs to be done.” Brimrose continued as she reached a hand to pat Lilly on the head.

“Are… Are we going to be attacked again?” Lilly asked, her words slower and more deliberated.

“I… Don’t know dear. But we have to prepare for the worst.” Brimrose said solemnly as she turned to Erde, she picked him up to set him gently on the bed to sit. “Can you two be nice for Kirin? I know it’s hard for both of you right now…”

“She sounds fun!” Lilly shouted while Erde was pouting some, he didn’t seem happy but with Lilly’s enthusiasm he relented rather quickly.

“It’s… Just for today?... Right?” Erde spoke with a shy voice, his eyes barely raising enough to look at Brimrose.

“Just for today.” Brimrose answered, she leaned forwards, giving both of them a tight hug before standing up. “The citizens have been informed that you and Tulip are guests within the city limits, and that an attack upon you, is an attack upon me. So, you should be safe to explore the city with them.”

“Alright… Thank you.” I forced a smile to my face, concern and anxiety were more than building up in the back of my head. It was easy to tell Brimrose wasn’t saying everything, with the expected siege from the Raiders being imminent in her mind I couldn’t blame her.

Brimrose silently left the room, closing the door behind her as she did so. I was left to force an awkward smile to my face as Lilly and Erde looked at me, Lilly who seemed to be the far more sociable of the two bounced up from where she was sitting to meet my eyes.

“What are the other Humans like? Are you from a place that has other humans?” Lilly didn’t waste a moment to start asking questions.

“Well… I’m not really that experienced with other people- let's talk while we look around. If that's fine with you two?” Lilly nodded quickly to my words, turning to grab Erde by the arm she dragged the poor boy to his feet as he followed behind her.

“Now… Lets see, as far as other people I don’t know that many. In my experience, a lot of them aren’t the ‘Kindest’... But that’s from a small group in a place that had a lot of people who struggled.” I sighed as I thought over my words, trying to find ways to explain things without just blurting out ‘I grew up in a prison’ immediately.

“What was your home like then? Is it like the Deserts?” Lilly continued to ask as she fell in line next to me. Erde stood a half step behind her with his eyes down as pushed open the door to start walking.

“There are a lot of forests in Berinia, a lot of grasslands too. Where I grew up… It was pretty rocky, not much of anything to look at or miss.” I sighed calmly, it took only a moment for me to find my bearings within the deceptively large keep to begin heading to the front entrance.

“Do you have a family?” Erde broke his silence, looking up at me with his question.

It left me silent for a few moments, my eyes fell as I opened my mouth just to close it a few times before I could muster up a response.

“No… My parents have been dead for a long time.” I forced out quickly before my jaw shut firmly.

“I’m… Sorry.” Erde muttered with a small amount of sorrow audible with his quiet tone.

“Don’t be, you didn’t know about it. So, it’s not your fault for being curious. It’s never a crime to want to learn about someone. At least in my book.” I smiled as I turned my head back to look at Erde, he sniffled a little, tears visible in the corners of his eyes that he was holding back admirably.

“What do you two like doing for fun?” I quickly changed the subject, hoping to cheer the moping kids up some. “I can’t really… Get you guys anything, I’m pretty much broke.”

“Momma always brought the two of us to the plaza in the center of the city…” Lilly replied, her own eyes falling for a moment before her peppy mood returned. “We should go there!” She quickly cheered out, hopping around some.

“If it’s cleared out, then yes we can go there.” My smile slowly faded as I turned my gaze away from them and back forwards, guards sat on either side of the door, inside and out. With only a look they seemingly recognized the only other Human in the city and stepped to the side to let us through.

“Woah! Are you sure you’re not important Miss Kirin Lady?” Lilly giggled out as she jogged in front of me for a moment. “The guards never let us through like that!”

“I’m sure I’m not. I’m just some nobody who got dragged into something way over their head.” I chuckled a little, smiling from her antics. “Honestly.”

“Mmm… I don’t believe you.” Lilly spouted again, she turned on a dime and raised one hand to the air, with an absolutely exaggerated step she shouted out with giggles in her voice. “To the plaza!”

“Where are we even at Andrew?” Markus shouted out from behind him. Sand was blowing around them in furious spirals, a sudden windstorm in the desert flats bringing all visibility down to nothing.

“I have no idea! We’re just following the instructions of the person you got us stuck with! So don’t blame anyone other than yourself for this crap!” Andrew shouted out in response, only to stumble into complete silence as he crested the hill.

“Why’d you stop?-” Markus shouted out only to fall into silence as he stood beside Markus.

Down beneath them, in a caldera made from the sand forming a massive bowl with a salt flat bottom to it, sat what looked to be a village. An army.

Thousands of Raiders all sat in tents, gathered around, and in the center a presence remained that made Andrew feel sick to his stomach. Even someone as blind to the world of magic as him could feel the power in the center of that encampment.

“Mister Ice Cream man!” Lilly shouted out as she went running forwards away from me. I raised a hand, about to speak as I was going to begin running after her only to be relieved as the man she ran towards turned with a relieved face, a smile painted across it.

“Lilly! Erde! You’re both alive?!” The Elven man shouted in surprise. His eyes settled on me for a moment, confusion and hate contorted his face for a beat before Lilly’s tackle turned hug snapped his gaze away from me.

He was rather stout in build, standing around five foot five, shorter than even Tulip. Built like a worker he had a large set of arms and a noticeable belly under the robes he wore, but it was clear that despite the visual appearance it was the build of someone who could probably lift a horse. His head was bare of any hair, marked with a handful of scars and scabs, making his elongated ears stand out all the more.

“What are you two doing with one of the humans?” The man asked quickly, eyeing me suspiciously as even Erde ran over to hug him.

“Miss Brimrose requested that I look after them for today while she and her guards are all busy working on the repairs.” I answered, though the man looked to Lilly and Erde, only accepting the answer once they had both nodded their confirmations.

“Alright. I’ll leave you three be then. Take care… I would have offered some goods, but my store was destroyed by the storm. I’m sorry you two.” The man spoke with a sigh as he pushed against his knees to stand up again. He launched one last glare at me as he turned to move away, only to stop dead in place.

In the distance a horn could be heard coming from one of the walls, and shouts began rushing through the entire city.

“Storm on the Horizon! Everyone get cover ready, it'll be here by nightfall!”