Luck has yet again taken over my fate. It is remarkable how often this occurs, actually. Whatever divine Eidolon reigns over luck apparently does not like me today, as I found myself not in the comfort of my house in Midia, but on the beach of who-knows-where. And to top it all off, nothing but my Norianic Mantle and my good hat seemed to survive that crash. Curses...
An imp attacked me as I got up, but it seems Ramuh blessed me with quick reflexes at the moment the Imp slashed at me, for I dodged with a dragon sweep, and then grabbed the Imp's knife. Seconds later the Imp drew breath no more.
After wandering around with the poor Imp's knife, which had grown bloody from fellow Imps and the occasional hungry wolf, I found a small shack on the beach. Considering my luck, some angry berserker would be living there, but considering that i have not eaten since my ship sunk, I took my chances.

It seems that the Eidolon of luck was pleased at that one moment, for as the door opened, I was staring into the face of an old man in orange robes and a crooked hat. Well, it beats a bloodthirsty warrior...
I explained to him my little story of how I got here. The fight with my sister Becca. My friend's plan to leave Midia. Sneaking away on Mr. Fardell's boat. The nightmarish storm at sea. Waking up on this damned beach...
It was a great shame I took all that time to tell my tale, only to see the old man asleep on his chair. Pity. As I went for the door, something on his table caught my eye. Well, two things. One was a slab of meat, freshly cooked. The other was a dusty old book.
As I peered at the tome, I noticed a golden label on the side. Zarhovic Magical Almanac 3. It was in my hands right as I saw the M in Magical. I read the first few pages; one page title seemed to catch my eye: "Blizzard". I knew this to be a powerful spell from my studies at home. Quietly, I snatched the book (as well as the meat slab, as I still haven't eaten), closed the door to the house, and ran off.

To my delight, even this weaker form of Blizzard, which I simply dubbed Ice, seemed potent enough to take down wolves with ease. The more I used it, the more powerful it looked. I was tempted to cast it on myself just to see its true potential.
I looked at the ground to see my shadow had grown a lot; night was coming, and fast. Already far away from Zarhovic's house, I needed somewhere to rest. I had already seen a few living skeletons, and surely there would be much more at nighttime.
At least one of them dropped a staff; Every mage's best friend. It may not be nice, but I guess it would have to work for now. Any mage knows that a staff, so long as it is infused with an amount of magic, can prove to be beneficial when casting spells of any kind. Even a wooden one such as this...
Suddenly an eerie silence fell over me. With nothing but the crescent moon giving me light, I looked around. Something was not right all of a sudden, but I couldn't pinpoint what -
There! A slight glimmer of light in the distance! I could barely make out what looked like a shrouded figure hovering over something - or someone - collapsed on the ground. I went from a sprint to a mad dash, my pendant continuously bouncing off my mantle with each step forward.

As I grew nearer and nearer the collapsed person – I could make out legs, a head, and arms – more skeletons began to appear around me. It did not matter to me at all though; there is a person in trouble, and I am the only one who can help. The shrouded figure hovering over the collapsed person did not notice me at all as I slid down, wrapped my hand around the person, and ran off. Whoever this woman was (as I grabbed her I felt the soft tissue of a breast) seemed to be a warrior of sorts, judging by the sheath latched onto her waist.
The shrouded figure did not seem too pleased in my actions; the moment it had realized just what happened, it turned in my direction. As I turned to face the direction I was running, which I believed to be was east, I heard a raspy “Retrieve the woman, dead or alive!”. I heard the bony footsteps run towards me, getting louder and louder. The woman’s armor was slowing me down, and the skeletons seemed to notice this as well. Then I realized I had but one choice to make, whether I wanted to do it or not.

Might I say that trying to take armor off a woman I am carrying while running at the same time is agonizingly hard. The gloves and boots were the easiest part, hands down, then the leggings, which were quite the pain, considering I had but one hand to do get them off. But the overarmor was by far the hardest. For one, it was linked on to her leggings by chains. And two, it seemed like it was tight on her. Luckily, after about forty seconds, it finally came off. At least the woman had the decency to wear clothing under her armor.
The armorless woman was considerably lighter, making my task of carrying her while running from a swarm of skeletons. But how could I get away from them? And if I am fortunate to make it that far, where would I go? Further into the forest with nothing but myself and an unconscious fighter? No, I had to find out where I would go. I could run back to Zarhovic’s house- no, that would require me turning around and running through the skeletons- or I could keep running until some sort of encampment of civilization appeared on the horizon.
Skeletons were coming from behind trees and from the darkness now; it was only a matter of time until they surrounded me. This wooden staff wasn’t nearly as powerful as I would need it to cast Blizzara or even Cura, and there was no way that Ice on its own would be able to take care of them all. And then there was that mysterious figure from before…
Wait. I knew a single spell that required no outside force for channeling. It was risky, especially considering I have a person on my shoulder, but at this point there was probably an even smaller chance of survival if I don’t stop the skeletons soon. Smite was my only option at this point, whether I liked it or not.

I slowed to a halt, quickly put the woman down, and ran full-force into the mob of skeletons. I felt their bony claws slashing at me with all their might, but it did not matter to me; they would be gone soon enough. A quick prayer went through my head: “Shiva, grant me the strength to raze these skeletons back to Hell with the holy power of Smite…”
I felt the energy come and go in less than an instant. A surge of light pulsated from the sky, and the skeletons vanished into dust. I’m astonished to think that I am still thinking after that spell; however, it did leave me weak and fatigued. I needed to rest. Looking around, I found a nice tree that had a net of branches, looking like a leaf-covered hammock. A bit below the hammock-branches were two large branches that crossed each other in an X-formation.

I picked up the woman and, with every last ounce of energy, climbed up and placed her in the hammock-branches. I then took off my cloak, laid it over the X-branches, and hooked my left leg around the larger of the two branches. Looking up to the hammock-branches above me made me wonder who this woman was, and why was she lying unconscious around a swarm of the undead? My last conscious thought was of Becca and the home I left, and as I tried to imagine what would happen to me from now on, I felt the last fraction of energy keeping me awake flicker into nothing.

^{If I can ever put my ideas into words again, I'll write up more parts.}

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