Guided by Fate (Fiz-Bun Fluff)

Chapter 14

Fiz and I were walking through the woods quietly for several hours before anything happened at all.

A very small dart landed in the grass in front of us. It looked like the tip of an arrow, but instead of a shaft, it had some sort of purple shard sticking out of it.

"I didn't hear anything..." Fiz mumbled gently, twisting her ears. I looked up toward the trees, but didn't see anything.

"... hang on, lemme try something," I said quietly, closing my eyes. I thought about that weird flat sphere of false magic I absorbed, and focused on that. Then, I imagined Fiz and I darting East, running with our tails between our legs. When I opened my eyes, I could see an oddly flat illusion running away. Fiz - the real one - looked transparent, with her eyes wide. I grabbed her arm and she made eye contact with me.

Looks like anyone I touch will be able to see through my illusions. I'll have to be careful with that.

Fiz pointed, wordlessly, into the air about our fake selves. Small purple rifts were opening in the air and firing more darts. I pictured the illusions weaving between them, then gently pulled Fiz along.

"How did you know that would work?" I heard her think. I simply shrugged. I had no idea that would work, really. Also, can I cast my thoughts to other people?

Man, I need to get training.

"What was that?" I whispered, nearly audible over our footsteps.

"I think it might have been... you can hear me, right?"

I nodded wordlessly.

"Okay. I think it was Ancient magic. I've never seen teleportation magic like that," She noted. "It looked nothing like Distortion, and those darts... they felt wrong."

I nodded and kept walking. I felt a sudden yank, and in my mind's eye I saw those illusions dissolve, mid-stride.

"Fiz, the illusions are gone," I said softly.

"Okay," She said out loud, slightly above a whisper. "I don't think that was a monster. Maybe a robber was waiting for prey in the trees?"

"You said you didn't hear anything, right?" I asked.

"Mhm. That's what bothered me. I can't think of any reason someone would simply wait in the middle of the woods."

"... unless they were waiting for someone?"

"Most people would take the road to Chulain. It's about three days along the road, so waiting in the forest is inefficient." Fiz replied.

"You said the trailhead was-"

"Yeah, the trailhead to the city gates!" She bounced gently.

I smiled slightly, sighing. "What if they were waiting for you?"

"Me?" She asked, clearly surprised.

"You're a priestess, right? You seem pretty popular, too. Maybe they thought you'd be a celebrity?"

Fiz shook her head. "I doubt it. If they knew enough about me to want to kidnap me, they'd have to know I was a priestess. It would be a death sentence to attack any church officials, because the goddess would save us."

"Well... what about me?"

"You're traveling with me. It's a similar case, there."

"But the monsters from before?"

"They don't have a will or mind of their own," Fiz shrugged. "She would never punish something like that."

"... what if... they knew all that?"

Fiz stopped and blinked three times. "What?"

"What if they knew who we were? What if..."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"You said ancient magic destroyed the old world, right? But this person might have been using it?"

Fiz nodded nervously.

"What if they wanted to use us to draw the goddess of light here? Then they could try to use Ancient Magic on her?"

Fiz yelped. "Don't say such scary things!  Beside, it would never work. She's more powerful than the Ancients were!"

"R-right, sorry," I nodded as we stepped into a clearing. No, hang on. I was so focused on Fiz that I didn't even notice our surroundings. We were walking up to a wide ledge, overlooking a sprawling array of buildings and structures, built along the sides of the mountain range before us. There was a path leading up the mountains, around the forest we just left, and one winding down the mountainside. In the distance, I could see it ending near a large stone gateway.

"Wow..." Fiz and I breathed at the same time.

"C'mon, let's get going. There should be an Inn once we get into the walls where we can stay the night!" Fiz bounced down the gently sloped, switchback trail. I followed behind, much more cautiously so that I didn't trip.

~~~~~
That attack was quite odd, but they're just outside the city gates! Surely, this massive mining city doesn't have any dark, ominous secrets below it... right?