Burning Embers Part I: Origins [Arc 1-5]

Arc 4 Chapter 3

Continued...

When he woke up that morning, Findaris had certainly not envisioned himself riding a horse at full gallop in the rain, hastening towards the forest with a party of seven others. As it was, his father had changed his mind at the last second and sent him as part of the 'reinforcing squad' to follow the four who were long-gone. It was a two-hour ride to the forest, provided one took no stops, and it had been an hour since they had left.

Given everything he knew, his brother and the Templar with him would have reached the forest four hours ago, meaning that by the time backup arrived, they would have been there for five hours. That meant that if the orcs had tried to hide and retreat, they would find them still engaged in battle or on the hunt. But if the monsters had decided to fight head-on, it would be over one way or the other by the time they got there.

His thoughts were interrupted again as his horse splashed through a puddle, further drenching his already wet boots and trousers. The charm in the locket did indeed act as in invisible umbrella, but for some reason it did not protect a person from this. What a major oversight. Perhaps he would ask the elven magic-users to add this functionality to the pendant after all this was over. If he ever met any, that is.

The scenery too, hadn't changed whatsoever in the last few hours; open, green fields as far as the eye could see as they followed the road that would eventually take them to the forest. They were unable to travel at maximum speed as well due to the poor visibility. 

What a pain. None of the warriors had said a word since their captain Reinhardt had explained the plan, as was customary among the Templar to not waste words.

Findaris too had learned this and applied it to his life; to speak only when spoken to, or there was a need to, or not to speak at all. 

Is that it? 

At the ends of his vision, he thought he could see a canopy of trees. Straining his eyes, he invoked a spell that was known to all Templar; a spell taught to them by the high elves. Putting a hand on his pendant, channelling the mana through his body, he recited the incantation:

Landí visitáris

The spell to temporarily enhance vision. It was in the ancient high-elven tongue of course, and as such was unknown to the vast majority of human spellcasters. The elves had their own spells in their own language, and they were loathe to share them save with few trusted people. Losing his sense of colour, Findaris could see much farther and much more acutely, and he was easily able to make out the forest from this distance despite the rain. Most would say he had wasted precious mana, but he knew his pendant had a lot stored up; he had replenished it before leaving.

Still, I might've needed it later. Oh well. Their captain began to slow down as they finally approached the forest, his horse going into a trot, then a walk and then stopping right before the forest road entrance.

"All right men, this isn't gonna be as easy as you think." He moved between them, addressing all of the party. "Orcs are dangerous, and as I'm sure you already know, they're especially dangerous in dark, enclosed spaces like the forest right here." He paused, bringing out a small stone from his pocket and putting it in his mouth.

Hm, so Reinhardt uses manatite stones. 

These stones were meant to enhance the user's mana capacity for a while. They were edible, but like any other drug they had their risks. Findaris knew that at least some Templar used them, though most did not, it seemed like their captain did.

Having ingested the stone, he continued, "You already know the plan. We're gonna move slowly, forming a tight line. No one fall out of formation, or that might be the very last thing you do." He snickered. "Let's go!"