@Estrea: Ooh what articles? Care to share?
@SarangAi: Thank you! I've just been reading your fics too and I'm loving it
I'll be posting a comment in your thread soon, promise.
@gracula: Hmm firey crossbolts...sounds intriguing. I could work that in somewhere. To be honest I'm just winging this as I go along, not much planning ahead I'm afraid.
@Beecubed: Ah yes, I've forgotten about the intro thread. Thanks, I will pop over there asap. Someone posted the english translation to this song on their youtube video. It's pretty accurate. I'll just put the link here:
Would be funny if one of those undead creatures end up being somebody we know...
Oh... you're giving me ideas I don't have space for!
Okay, finally, the second chapter. As usual, things never go the way we want them to. But oh well, enjoy.
Chapter 2Flailing her aching limbs wildly, Ai finally managed to break the surface for a lungful of much needed air. She had been pulled under by the current soon after leaving the riverbank and totally disoriented, unable to tell which way was up. They hadn’t been in the water for long, but it felt like ages and they seemed to have travelled miles downstream. They were lucky not to have smashed into any thing yet, but Ai wasn’t willing to push it any further.
Ai angled her body towards the opposite shore in hopes they could drift close enough to get out, all the while fighting to keep her head above the water. But the other two tethered to her were slowing progress dramatically, yanking her in different directions. It was like dragging along rocks, and the rope was starting to chafe.
She wasn’t sure how well they were holding up either. The one time she could turn back far enough to see, Risa’s head was just bobbing up and down wildly and all she could make of Reina was a wet ponytail sticking out of the water.
Shit. Reina doesn’t know how to swim.She suddenly remembered with dismay. They had to get out now before she drowns. If she hadn’t already.
Fueled with determination, Ai forced her weary and battered body to move. She literally threw herself towards the left riverbank with a manly scream added for morale. A current nudged her closer to the bank and Ai threw her arm out to catch on to the rocks lining the riverbank. Dragged on by the water, her fingers clawed against wet stone for purchase. She ground her teeth as her hand burned painfully, the raw skin splitting open into full blown cuts, but the unforgiving river continued to pull her along.
Just when she thought of giving up, her hand slammed into a small rock outcropping and she reflexively wrapped her arm around it, coming to a halt hugging the riverbank. A sudden jerk around her waist brought a flaring pain as the rope tightened around her sore abdomen. She had come to a stop, but the other two girls had drifted further downstream before being yanked to a halt by their safety rope.
The force of the pull was starting to slip her off the wet rocks. Using both arms, Ai struggled up the bank, ignoring the stinging pain in her left hand. Blood oozed down her arm, making vivid stains on the rocks.
Once fully on solid ground, she wasted no time grabbing the rope to pull the others out. Risa, still conscious, tried to help by swimming up against the current towards Ai. She hooked an arm under each armpit and was heaving an unconscious Reina onto shore when she felt the rope behind Reina go slack. She looked up and Risa was gone. She dropped Reina and quickly hauled in on the rope, but the empty end flopped tiredly on the wet bank. The last knot must have come undone and Risa had been swept away.
“Risa!” She got up stumbling along the riverbank but her legs failed her, sending her crumpling onto the grass. She watched helplessly as Risa’s head broke the surface and was carried away, unable to do anything.
No…It wasn’t until a rasping cough sounded behind her that she woke from her shocked stupor. Tiredly she turned and pushed Reina onto her side, almost robotically slapping firmly on her back, coaxing her to cough out the water in her lungs. As Reina choked and retched, throwing up all the water she’d swallowed, Ai’s mind was spinning in a crazy whirlwind, trying to think of what to do. But she was so tired, she could hardly focus. They were all running on adrenaline by now.
Calming down somewhat, Reina pushed herself up into a sitting position, wiping the spit from her chin. “Ahh I thought that was the end of me…” She croaked and looked around, “Eh? Where’s Gaki-san?”
“…Swept down the river.” Ai replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Sitting there staring blankly at the grass by her feet, Ai remembered something. A necklace she had given to Risa on her sixteenth birthday. It appeared to be a plain, unassuming metal pendant engraved with their names. But Ai, then still an apprentice mage, had imbued it with spells for protection and strength. For Risa was about to start training with the Sentinels, the elite regiment of fighters who were tasked with guarding their forests and patrolling the borders of their kingdom. And like a worried parent sending their child to school for the first time, she had made Risa promise to keep it on her person at all times.
Among that, the gifted mage had weaved in something of her own making. A marker spell that allowed her to locate Risa, or rather, the pendant wherever it was. Her vision blurred away as she focused deeply, drawing on the magic within her.
There!She could feel it somewhere on the edges of her consciousness, just beyond her reach. Ai concentrated further reaching out, but a sudden wave of nausea overtook her body and she snapped back to reality, pitching forward onto the grass. Black spots were clouding out her vision.
“Ai-chan!” Reina’s voice sounded muffled and far away. Ai was on the verge of fainting, wanting to vomit but nothing was coming out. She barely felt the arms around her shoulders, shaking her.
“You tried to do magic, didn’t you?!” Reina scolded, “You should know better.”
Indeed she should. Overdrawing on magic energy had dire consequences. One would end up tapping into their life-force, slowly weakening. And when that ran out, one simply died, shriveling up like an empty husk. She shivered, what a terrible way to die.
Reina let out a loud sneeze, then sighed tiredly. “Come on, we’ve got to dry ourselves before we catch hypothermia. Let’s get some rest and search for Gaki-san tomorrow. It won’t do her any good if we die of exhaustion…Besides, she’s a Sentinel, she can handle herself.”
Despite herself, Ai couldn’t help but agree, setting aside her worries and allowing Reina to help her up. They staggered into the trees, leaning heavily on each other for support.
Topic: Fantasy ga Hajimaru (Chapter 3 updated 1/24) (Read 6873 times)