Inari’s Gift

Two more weeks of illusion practice went by before Cera finally checked on the wood she’d cut for her staff.  It seemed suitably dry, so she peeled the bark and began shaving it smooth.  She’d need to put in a lot of work, but it would eventually be usable.  It was, in fact, now hard enough to cause problems for the ice knife she could create, requiring her to ask Falron for a proper knife.

After several days of work, she was confident in the smoothness and lack of splinters, and requested Falron’s help in getting the wood sealed to finish the process off, since she couldn’t go to the village herself.  At least, not yet.  His response was that it would take a while, but he’d ask about it next time he spoke with the villagers.

While she waited, Cera once again increased the level of mana in her body, careful to ensure it wouldn’t damage her, and often headed out to wander around outside in the forest.  As before, she was careful to continually make noise to avoid startling anything, though she was much more careful about remembering her path so she wouldn’t get lost, mainly aided by remaining near the edge of the woods.

Another few weeks later, and Cera’s staff had been taken, finished, and returned.  She now brought it with her on her walks, finding it easy to handle, as she had hoped, and quite helpful at times when the terrain got rough.

On one of her walks, however, she had moved closer to the village than usual and heard shouting that she couldn’t ignore.  Doing her best to remain silent, she crept toward the noise, her sensitive ears eventually able to make out that one man was demanding information about the defenses of the village, and especially where the mage was.  The other, meanwhile, was doing his best to be evasive, but seemed to be giving in.  Moving closer, Cera eventually reached a position where she could see what was going on.

It appeared two men had ambushed a woodsman, and one was holding him in place as the second threatened him.  After a tough moment of indecision, Cera decided she had no choice but to act, even if it would reveal her to the men.

The first sign of her presence was a half-dozen razor-sharp blades impaling the bandit holding the villager down, followed by her charging silently from her hiding place.  Even as the remaining man spun to face her, Cera herself had begun her own spin, outstretched staff whistling through the air before slamming into the man’s skull with a horrible sound as it burst open, spraying gore through the air.

Feeling sick at her first up-close kill of a human, Cera swiftly turned to focus on the first bandit again, only to see the woodsman had already finished the job and broken the man’s neck.  The two looked at each other warily, the man glancing repeatedly at her tail before shaking his head and extending a hand.

“Thank you, whoever you are, miss.  I suppose I shouldn’t be too afraid of you after you saved me, right?” he began in a quiet voice before speaking up, “I won’t tell anyone about you, hopefully you believe me.  I’d rather we not be enemies.”

Cera smiled faintly at the man’s words, her tail twitching anxiously behind her as she replied, “You’re welcome.  I couldn’t just let that go.  I may not be able to go to the village, but I don’t want it to be attacked either.  I do hope you can be quiet about me, but you’ll have to understand that I don’t want to tell you anything about myself just in case.”

Instead of taking the man’s hand, she stepped back until she was a fair distance away, then turned and ran into the woods in the opposite direction from Falron’s home.  Some time later, she came across a stream and took a few moments to wash her staff, cleaning off the remaining gore.  Feeling she was far enough from the man she’d saved now, she moved deeper into the woods and reversed her direction, hoping he wouldn’t have stuck around to try to catch her.

Fortunately, there was no trace of the man as she slowly made her way back home.  Eventually, she made it back and put her staff aside before entering.  As Falron looked up to ask her why she was so late, he stopped upon seeing her expression and gestured for her to sit down.

“Well, I can see that something went poorly today, so how about I make some food while you go over what happened?” he offered as he stood and moved to the kitchen.

Cera sighed and nodded, then flopped into the chair and took a deep breath before beginning, “Well, someone knows about me now…  I saw a woodsman being held down and interrogated by some bandits, and I couldn’t allow that to continue.  I’m still a little shaky; I’ve never killed someone up close like that before.  And the man’s head exploded when the staff struck…”

She sighed and shook her head before continuing, “I know I wanted a staff because they are terrifying weapons, in addition to useful tools, but I’d hoped I’d never have to use it that way.  Or at least would have more time to get used to the idea first.”

“I see…  That is troubling, indeed.  I hope the man didn’t seem scared of you?  If not, maybe he won’t say anything,” Falron replied from the other room.

Cera’s ears and tail drooped as she shook her head and stated, “I think he was a little, but even if not, it’s really worrying.  What if he does?”

Unable to see her, Falron remarked, “Well, if worst comes to worst, I can protect you for a time until you can decide what to do.  The village as a whole wants me to remain here, so it would take someone getting the church involved before I’d have to make you leave.”

“I see…  I hope it won’t come to that, as I’m still not sure how I’d be able to handle anything without being able to hide myself.  If my illusions could hide my tail, I could at least try to make my own way, but right now, I’d be discovered instantly anywhere I went,” Cera replied, ears flat against her head in worry as she fidgeted in her seat nervously.

Falron returned from the kitchen with two bowls of salad, causing Cera to wrinkle her nose in distaste, not particularly liking these types of meals, but shaking her head and thanking the man anyway.  Food was better than no food, after all, and you couldn’t always have exactly what you wanted.

After dinner, Cera returned to her room and flopped onto the bed, mind going over the events of the day and trying to determine if there was anything she’d screwed up on, ignoring the possibility of not saving the man.  Eventually, she curled up around her tail and buried her face in it before slowly relaxing into sleep.

The next week showed no signs of her being brought up to anyone else, but at the end of the week, Cera had a nasty surprise as the same woodsman entered their home carrying food for them.

Despite her illusions, she could tell he recognized her in an instant as his eyes widened and he quickly looked around at the others.  He then slowed down, falling behind the others before stopping and giving her a light bow.

Seeing this, Cera relaxed a little, though her heart was still pounding away at her chest, and she couldn’t quite help but thrash her tail in anxiety, making the illusion on it fail.  She swiftly rose and ran to her room, closing the door behind her, but noticing as she did that the man shifted his box to one hand and held the other over his mouth and squeezed it as he looked at her before turning back to the kitchen.

Later, once they’d left, Cera emerged from her room and told Falron what had happened.  His response was far more muted than she’d expected, merely nodding and smiling.

“It appears we don’t have anything to worry about.  I know the man, and he takes his debts seriously.  If he indicated he would be silent this time as well, then he would have to be forced to give up any word of your true form.  You can relax, you’re still safe here,” he explained.

Feeling relieved, Cera relaxed, her tail calming from its earlier thrashing, and she took a deep breath before slowly returning to her room and trying to get some rest.

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