A Hero's Blight (Lumity)

Chapter 3: Refugees

(Luz)

    It was way too early in the morning for Luz to be awake, but Eda insisted the young sorceress head off into the woods to learn magic from the planet. Eda's teachings were rather unorthodox, but Luz was sure learning the ways of the wild magic would one day help her truly become the most powerful sorceress in Mystacore. Today at least, Luz was wandering the forest in search of any creatures or magical essence to study or learn from. Lucky for her, she'd been paired up with the most capable student from Beacon Academy's new freshman class of Huntsman. To the tall red head, it was some type of escort mission. The girl wore spartan style armor the color of bronze and gold. She was tall, very muscular too. She wielded a round metal shield and a long spear.

    "Soooo you said your name was Pyrrha right?" Luz asked the much more intimidating girl that stood next to her.

    "Yep, that's right.. And you're Luz? I've never met a sorceress before, this is fascinating." The tall red head's voice was sweet and caring. The two of them had just broken away from the Mystacore grounds and made their way through the first section of the forest.

"Well, not a sorceress yet. Just an Apprentice." Luz let out a nervous giggle.

"I know I'm supposed to be your escort.. But where exactly are we going?" The muscular warrior asked, looking slightly puzzled.

"Ohh, right. Students from Mystacore are usually accompanied by teachers or Huntsman when we leave the school grounds. We're just wandering the forest today, looking for magic!" Luz put up jazz hands to emphasize the word magic. Pyrrha smiled at the goofball sorceress that marched in front of her.

"Magic it is, lead the way." The red head chuckled at the shorted girl, following her lead.

The two girls walked through the woods for a couple of hours, Luz was studying the occasional boar, deer, squirrel, anything that seemed even remotely magical or connected to ethiria.

"Hold on, Luz get down." Pyrrha gestured towards a fallen tree for the sorceress to take cover. Luz did as instructed, but peaked her head over to look in the direction the taller girl was facing. A makeshift camp stood on the other side of the treeline, smoke plumbed into the sky from a fire at the center of the camp. Upon further inspection, Luz could see they had children with them, along with some people who looked wounded.

"Pyrrha, some of them look hurt. We should go see if they need any help." Luz whispered up as her escort was scanning the campsite.

Pyrrha's face was cautious, but she nodded and began to take point, she walked forward and broke the treeline.

"We're friendly! What's going on here?" The tall red head walked over to the camp with only her shield out. Luz followed closely behind, making sure to keep Pyrrha between her and the camp.

"Thank Greyskull... Everyone, it's a Huntress. Girl, please.. We've escaped Horde lines. We're trying to make it to the Sorcerer city of Mystacore." An older gentleman beckoned the able bodied members of the camp over as he spoke.

"We just came from Mystacore. We can take you all back." Luz now stepped to Pyrrha's side, revealing herself to the camp of refugees.

"Please, we have wounded and children. We cannot go any further today without assistance." The man pleaded.

"Of course, Luz can head back to the city and get help... I'll stay here to ensure you're safe from the Horde." Pyrrha's voice was caring but sern, that of a leader. Luz nodded her head in agreement.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Luz yelled back as she turned to leave. Just as the girl took her first step away from the camp, a large purple fireball barreled into one of the tents and exploded in hellish flame. Small bursts of fire fell from the explosion and began to ignite other tents. Luz turned in time to see Pyrrha diving through the flames towards the opposite tree line. A haze was thrown over Luz's vision, In seconds, the camp was a battlefield. She rushed back towards the tents just in time to see an elderly woman fall to the ground before her, body ablaze, screaming for help as she died. This was nothing like the glorious battles she'd read about. This was real.

Now a war cry could be heard as swordsmen in white and black leather armor began to rush from the trees and into the camp. Through the purple flames, Luz could see Pyrrha locked in conflict with a swordsman in full black metal armor, his red hair easily distinguishable even from this distance. Pyrrha was fast but this swordsman's hands moved like lightning, a red magic encircling his strikes.. The huntress seemed to be struggling on the defensive. Luz noticed a small child stuck within the camp, surrounded by flames as he cried. She knew saving that child was the best thing she could do in this moment, she didn't know any Magic other than her light spell. She'd never touched a sword in her life and knew she'd ve cut down in seconds if she fought any of the men who were now butchering the refugees.

"Come on Luz... it's just fire." She whispered to herself as she dove through.

"Hey hey, come her, it's going to be okay.. Please." She spoke to the crying child, wrapping him in her cloak. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a girl in a long black robe standing between two burning tents, golden eyes visible with light from the flames. With one hand a devish purple magic flowed to the bodies of the fallen refugees. Luz noticed their lifeless husks begin to rise from the ground. This girl that stood before her... was a Horde necromancer. One of the most powerful weapons the Horde possessed. The necromancer lifted her other hand towards Luz and the child. This was it, the young sorceress threw her body in front of the child in a desperate attempt to save his life. Purple flame boiled in the necromancers hand for a moment before Luz watched the flicker of fear appear in the girl's golden eyes. The necromancer was hesitating. Luz took this moment to scoop up the child and rush as fast as she could back towards the woods. As she glanced back, she noticed the necromancer was still stunned, staring back at her as she ran.

Luz didn't stop running until her legs gave out, she struggled to stand and collapsed on her back, coddling the child in her arms.

"Come on... get up, Pyrrha's still out there.." Luz whispered through tears as she stood once again. This time stumbling through the woods until she was finally in the field behind Mystacore. Castaspella was walking down the back steps as Luz collapsed in the field.

"Luz!" The sorcery teacher yelled out, rushing into the field after the fallen girl.

"Master Casta, The Huntress is still in the woods... There was a refugee camp that was attacked by the Horde. I could only get this kid out.." Luz told the Sorceress, tears streaming down her face.

"Okay, get the Kid inside. I will go into the Forest and bring the Huntress back. Luz, find Eda, tell her to follow me ." Casta reached her hands down to the floor, propelling herself into the air with a purple magic. Luz watched as the Master Sorceress threw herself over the treetops from the sky. Within seconds, Luz found her strength again, rushing through the halls of Mystacore, looking for her mentor.

"Eda!" The girl screamed down every hallway, desperate to find her teacher. Finally, the owl lady answered.

"Luz, what's going on?" Eda said from an open doorway. Behind her was a class of children, barely ten years old.

"Casta is in the forest behind the school... she needs you." The young sorceress was frantic, still holding the child, ash was visible on her half charred clothes.

Without a second to spare, Eda was gone. Flying on her staff down the hall.