There are many things I anticipated when I began this quest.

I knew it’d be a pain the butt. I knew it’d cause several headaches. I knew I’d probably get into a fight or two. And I knew I’d be committing a handful of crimes.

However, I did not anticipate that I would be dressed as a soldier fighting a poor excuse for a ninja, over who gets custody of three grown men and a woman, in the middle of a siege (which I did not plan) and a fake monster attack (which I did).

You see, after an extremely bizarre game of tag where none of us wanted to risk exploding ourselves with magic to win, we all ended up outside amongst the chaos happening in the fort. Unbeknownst to me, the Forsaken Lands had planned a small siege and rescue mission during the same time that I planned my puppet show. It seems the two events were getting on like a house on fire, which is great news for my cover, but terrible news for practically everything else.

It's a minor consolation that the fighting soldiers and knights around would see me as an ally, so I was probably safe from being hit by a stray arrow. Probably.

Fires blaze in the night around us, but only some are confined to torches. There should be magic lights, but I assume that the tower spotlights had all been disabled as part of the attack. Considering that most of this place is made of stone, it’s impressive that so much of it is now on fire. Well, maybe they’re oil fires.

But more pressingly, is that the people I came here for are escaping into the night. Slowly, as one of the men seems to be hobbling, but they’re still making progress. This is about when I decide that my clay snake would be more helpful elsewhere, so I drag it roughly over to where we are and send it flying at them.

It’s bulky tree-thick mass soars through the air a bit lopsided, startling several people along the way, and smashes sideways into the street they were about to take. They look back at me, as if they know it was my doing. Or maybe just because I’m behind them. Hard to say. Either way, they’re forced to turn around.

The Hounds look like they want to fight me, but they’re all in far too ragged a shape to stand a chance, elite guards or no. Surely that wasn’t the doing of these second-rate infantrymen? No, never mind, I can think about that later. In their stead, the wannabe ninja stepped forward, taking up a protective stance in front of them and drawing a blade.

And would you have guessed what color it is?

Yes. It’s also black. Congratulations.

Oh wait, there’s also a little red, it’s got some shiny crystals in the hilt.

He brandishes the sword at me, and it glows orange in the night, reflecting the flames off its black metallic surface. He stays, waiting for me to move, and commands the people behind him to leave. They refuse.

I cut off any further arguments by releasing my control of the snake, letting it start to dance with the leylines again. During their momentary distraction I free my wisp from her sling; I don’t want to risk her getting slashed. She jumps to the ground at my side, ready to join me if need be.

Now, I’d like to report that I used magic to summon an epic blade and then used my super awesome swordsmanship skills to thoroughly beat my opponent, but I am a scribe. You may have forgotten; until recently the most ambitious physical activity I engaged in regularly was moving too many books across a room at once. Also, magic, duh. I don’t really do sword fights.

Even so, there are many reasons why common folk are wary of Magis. Odd personalities notwithstanding.

I don’t need a weapon to destroy him. There are so many quiet ways to ruin a person with magic. Truly, the average person would be completely helpless.

But that sword of his…tingles.

It simmers at the edge of my mind, like an illusion above hot sand. There’s more to it than what’s visible; almost as if it’s bigger than the space it seems to displace.

Well, so long as this isn’t as finicky as fighting wisps.

I stalk forward, circling around until the largest and brightest fire is behind me. The heat at my back would blister if I was any closer, but I would bear it. The tip of his blade follows my path like a compass needle, seeking my heart. With his eyes firmly on me, I begin my show.

Threads of green light spin themselves from the fingertips of my raised left hand, taking on a sinister darkness against the orange hue of the flames. I use them to pull his eyes away from mine, towards the complex magic circles I draw in the air above my head. The patterns weave together, twisting and repeating, rotating ominously. To him it must look like I’m preparing to cast an ancient and powerful spell, but I’m actually just drawing mandalas out of light.

Why? When I could just blast an elemental lance through his chest and call it a day?

 Because killing him isn’t my goal here, that’s why.

It suits me just as well to make him stare into the fire on this otherwise dark night. You see, after about a minute of drawing aimless patterns, I put out the light. For him, anyway. A true blinding spell is complicated if your intent isn’t to rip out the other person’s eyes, but bending the light away from their eyes? That’s a much simpler method. You see why I like the basics? Very handy.

He falters, alarmed by his sudden inability to see coupled with the image of my fake spells that had been burned into his retinas temporarily by the fire. I don’t waste my chance, darting forward with the intent to reach the Hounds behind him. I’m almost there when I slip on a sudden ice patch, sliding to the ground.

In my brief disorientation I notice loose strands of light gray hair caught in the wind- no, not wind, but in the draft of a sword swing that would have taken my head off. My partner had saved me. It’s all I can do to roll away before he manages to strike me on the ground. He still can’t see, but somehow, he can tell where I am precisely enough to attack. Is it that sword? Or him?

Upright again, I stay crouched. Assessing. It seems that light tricks won’t work on him as well as I hoped.

Alright, new plan: mud fight.

Conjuring water, or any physical element really, is inefficient. But reaching down into the earth and pulling water up? Effortless. The ground around us quickly saturates, stirring into a slurry with a few overturns of the water.

I scoop up handfuls and lob them at him, uncaring of where they hit.

The four watching the fight scrunched their faces in varying degrees of confusion. Neither they nor my opponent knew what I was up to. He just continued to block and slash the mud-balls away, resolute in his role as guardian.

Good.

The only one that needs to follow this plan is my partner anyway. I was hesitant to rely on her, as any use of magic on her part would also use some of mine by default. Unfortunately, a half-hearted effort doesn’t seem like it’ll cut it here. Drastic times, drastic measures, and all that.

I wonder if I look deranged, kicking, slapping, and throwing mud around like this. Oh well.

I just needed to spread it around as much as possible while using as little magic as possible. Here and there I toss out a formless blast, doing my best to dodge his admittedly reserved counters.

It probably looks like he’s winning. Too bad for him.

My lungs are burning; partially from the smokey air, but mostly the sudden cardio workout. I wonder if my muscles will still function after this.

And finally, finally, there’s enough mud. I collapse, panting, and open the floodgate between my wisp and me. I give her free reign of every ounce I can contribute. She takes it without reservation.

The pillars of dark ice crystalize around us, forming a giant cage. They spring up from the mud piles I made, stronger than any natural ice can be. They are undaunted by the fires that continue to rage and burn around us, refusing to melt or bow before the heat. It happens too fast for them to resist, and starts too wide; the walls swirling inward, shrinking the space available to them until they’re all snuggly trapped. Encapsulated in the ice.

A stupendous waste of energy.

Barely more than the amount required to keep me alive remains.

But it worked. So, there’s that.

I want to sleep so badly.

Sadly, when you catch your prey, you must deal with the aftermath of catching your prey. Plus, we really need to get out of here. With the fighting dying down, it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed, whether on the fort’s side or theirs.

Looks like I get to be the kidnapper this time.

I eye my crumbling giant snake, it only had enough magic left to twitch pitifully against its own weight; ideas turning themselves over inside my head.

The end result isn’t exactly advisable.