Khaea, the Wild Girl

LEGEND OF THE OMNIMAGI
Chapter 2: Khaea, the Wild Girl

The door to the small cottage was open. Inside stood Len, finishing up a conversation with the very elderly woman inside.

"Sorry I wasn't very helpful, young man," called out the old woman.

"It's alright. Thanks anyway!" With a hopeful smile, Len waved goodbye to the woman, along with his last hope for information, and closed the door. As soon as it shut, his face fell into an aggrivated frown.

50 different geezers, and not a useful word between them! I know it's not their problem, but still...

Len swore under his breath and trotted off to the small tavern nearby. Maybe a quick drink will calm me down.


On his way, the man who first greeted Len called out to him. Despite the look on the young traveler's face, he asked him, "Any luck there, friend?"

Len sighed. "No. Would anyone else in this town have that particular tattoo? Children, pets, livestock?"

The man laughed lightly and shook his head. "'fraid not. We refused to let any of our children get them, let alone give it to them, and since they've never been to our kingdom since they were moved here, I doubt you'll find anyone else. Did you really ask everyone?"

Trying to be polite and keep his smart remarks to himself, Len simply nodded.

"I see. Well, I really don't know what to say. I..."

"LOOK OUT!"


The high-pitched voice came from where Len had entered the town, only a few yards from where he was now. He turned around and saw a young woman dashing rapidly in his direction, who was clearly in too much of a rush to watch where she was going. Len managed to hop out of the way just in time to catch a cloud of dust from the woman's wake in his face.

As he hacked, coughed and rubbed his eyes, Len caught a blurry vision of another figure speeding right behind the first. He shielded his eyes, preparing for another impromptu sandstorm, but the figure went by with nothing but a quick breeze.

What the...was that a mage? thought Len, rubbing the last of the dirt from his eyes. With his vision cleared, he saw it was indeed a mage, with a black hooded robe that fluttered behind him and feet that, by some kind of spell, hovered inches above the ground. In the mage's hands, Len caught sight of a long, white, wooden staff with a small red gem set in it.

His treasure-hunter senses kicking in, he almost automatically appraised the staff. White wooden staff, red gem...strong attack staff, proficient in the element of...

"Oh man...hey! Stop! HEY!!" With all the wooden houses he'd just visited fresh in his mind, Len sprinted towards the two new intruders to the village, making using of a shortcut he'd found during his interviews.

----

Meanwhile, the girl and the mage continued their race. Before, in the woods, she had the advantage; even if her pursuer could keep up with her, her agility helped her navigate the forest easily, and the mage's fire staff wasn't a wise choice of weaponry amongst the dry bark. Now, though, the two of them were on equal ground again.

But at least he still can't use his weapon, she surmised. With all these wooden structures around, he wouldn't dare use it. Now I just gotta get back to the...

The girl's thoughts, however, were cut short when a small fireball whizzed by her ear, singeing the tips of her hair and forming a black pockmark on the road in front of her.

Ah! He's actually using it?! I definitely have to get out of this place!

"I told you that running's useless, Khaea!" called out the mage. "And now you have nowhere to hide. The hunt's over!"

Khaea could do nothing but grunt in frustration and keep running. He was right; his magic allowed him to run without getting tired, and if he was willing to burn down this village just to nab her, ducking into a house was pointless at best. Desperately, she whispered a prayer to the air.

"Mother Wolf, please protect me. Spare me from this madman..."

"Ha! Pray all you want, it won't do you any gooOOAH!"


Suddenly, the mage tripped and fell face-first onto the ground. The sound made Khaea stop her flight and turn around, wondering if her prayers had actually been answered.

As she looked at the scene, however, she noticed a large rock that had apparently risen out of the earth high enough to catch the mage's foot.

But how could I have missed it? Did...someone help me?

Khaea's pursuer was apparently thinking the same thing. "Urgh...she-wolf! No one told me you could use magic too!"

"What?" She seemed equally surprised. "I can't! I don't know..."

"Well, then, who did?"


In the background, someone cleared their throat. From a small alleyway between two houses, a young man in a plain brown traveler's robe stepped out, his white hair not quite reaching down to his shoulders. It was Len.

"That would be me." With a snap of his fingers, the rock disintegrated back into a patch of road dirt. He pointed a finger at the white staff in the mage's hands and said, "And I'll be taking that from you now, thank you."