Stand And Fight

Not keen on being cooked alive, I clench my wand with both hands and frantically flood it with mana, firing off the largest waterball I can, the recoil sending me hurtling through the air even faster than before.

KAKOOM—HISSSSS!

Our attacks violently collide mid-air, exploding in a blinding burst of steam. My skin stings as I narrowly avoid being badly scalded. A moment later, I hit the ground, landing on my feet with incredible style…

…for about half a second before falling on my butt and tumbling backwards. I cast an earth spell, raising a soft wall of dirt to catch myself.

THUD!

“Oof!”

But I was moving too fast, and crashing into the wall still knocks the wind out of me. As I scramble to gasp for air, the Ember Boar bursts through the steam, charging straight at me. The ground trembles beneath its pounding hooves.

Just before it reaches me, I drop to one knee, raise my wand to my lips, and breathe a huge jet of fire into its face. The Ember Boar skids to a stop mere inches from where I kneel.

But as soon as the spell dissipates, it gives its coat a shake, completely unfazed. Its eyes still locked on mine, it lunges forward and—

SCHLUCK!

—gives my face an enormous slobbery lick before nodding in approval.

Yuck.

I splash my face with some water, wipe it dry on my robes like the classy little lady I am, and let out a sigh of relief. The exchange of fire is how adult Ember Boars often greet one another. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to realize not all of us are quite as fireproof as they are.

Honestly, there’d probably be a lot less conflict between humans and monsters if more species realized what they consider harmless roughhousing can be life-or-death for others… especially petite little human girls with a terrible sense of self-preservation.

I walk back over to Pudding and the baby Ember Boars. “Well, I hope you enjoyed your—”

Behind me, Mama suddenly starts coughing as though she’s trying to clear something from her throat.

“Is everything alright, Mama—”

“Blech!” She spits a dead rat onto the ground.

Well… I guess Granny isn’t the only one worried about my diet.

“Oh… is that… for me? How… thoughtful.” I force a smile, suppressing my disgust as I pick up the dead rat.

“Thanks Mama, but, we’ve gone over this before. I don’t really eat much meat.”

I give her snout a few affectionate pats before passing the rat back to the piglets behind me.

“You don’t need to keep giving me food. I just like helping out! Your kids are so cute, after all. How could I not? I appreciate the thought, though.”

Mama huffs a big puff of hot air in my face, knocking my hat clean off, before turning and walking away with the piglets following close behind.

…I can’t help but feel there was a little attitude behind that one, but okay.

I wave. “Goodbye everyone!”.

Turning around, I place my hat back on my head and scoop Pudding into my arms. “Alright buddy, home you go.”

I start swinging him around in a circle, building up momentum before finally letting go. As I do, I fire a burst of wind magic from my hands, sending him soaring all the way back to the meadow.

“See you tomorrow!”

“Squeeeeeeeeee!” His voice fades as he soars away.

Having collected everything I need and said my goodbyes, I start making my way home beneath the setting sun. Unfortunately, it seems a couple of stragglers didn’t get the memo. After a few minutes, I notice two familiar presences trailing behind me.

I turn around as Pudding and Porkchop catch up with me. “Alright, guys. We had our fun, but it’s time for you to go home.”

I send them on their way, but before long they’re following me again. The cycle repeats a couple more times before Porkchop finally gives up and heads home. Pudding, on the other hand, refuses to leave my side. With a sigh, I pick him up again.

“Pudding, I know you’re worried about me, but I’m worried about you too! You can’t keep following me home. It’s dangerous! The other humans… they don’t see you the way I do. If they find you, they might—”

“Hey, monster girl, why are you out here talking by yourself?”

My heart sinks.

Please… just this once… lose interest.

I don’t move.

I don’t speak.

I don’t even breathe.

“Can’t say a word to us, but you can have an entire conversation with yoursel—”

Owen grabs my shoulder and spins me around. The moment they see Pudding, they stumble back, their amusement turning to fear… then disgust.

Before I can react, Owen drops his wooden sword and lunges at me, knocking me to the ground as he rips Pudding from my hands. Pudding squeals in terror and struggles to escape.

“I can’t believe you! It was already bad enough that you were hanging around these things—now you’re trying to bring one back to the village?! Do you even know how many villagers we’ve lost to monsters?!”

“T-that only happens when we make them f-feel threatened!”

“What threat was my little sister posing when she was out picking flowers? Did she deserve to lose an arm just because she accidentally wandered near a Lesser Cockatrice? You think if the roles were reversed she’d ever attack a monster like that? They’re not like us!”

“I… I’m sorry, Owen. I… I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. Well… now you do.”

“B-but, even so… one tragic misunderstanding or accident doesn’t mean they all—”

“They’re wild beasts! How many villagers have to die for you to understand that?! How could you possibly guarantee that any of them—that this thing, won’t snap and hurt someone?!”

“P-p-please… P-Pudding wouldn’t—”

“You named it?!” Ben interrupts.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Sam shouts.

Owen pulls a small knife out from his pocket. “I’m making sure this thing never gets the chance to harm anyone.”

“Get away from him!”

I jump to my feet and rush Owen, grabbing his arm as I try to wrestle the knife away.

“What are you doing?! Let go!”

“No!”

“I said—LET GO!”

As Owen shoves me away, the knife catches my face, and a sharp pain tears across my cheek as I stumble backward.

Everyone freezes. Even Owen. He stares at the blood running down my cheek.

His expression wavers… then firms. Unable to meet my eyes, he turns away.

“...Hold her down.”

I reach for the wand in my pocket, but Sam immediately grabs my arm. A moment later, Ben grabs the other, and together they pin me to the ground.

“Stop it! Don’t hurt him!”

I thrash helplessly, powerless to save him. Tears stream down my face so fast I can barely see what’s happening to Pudding.

“Help! Granny! Mom! Dad! Someone! Please!”

Owen tightens his grip on the knife. “We told you to stop. This is on you.”

Pudding lets out another terrified squeal, still unable to break free.

“Owen! Please! I’m sorry! I won’t go near monsters anymore! I’ll listen to you from now on! I’ll do anything! I promise! Just let him go! Please! I’m begging you!”

Owen raises the knife over Pudding, taking aim at his mana core. “Sorry, Nora, but this is for your own good—oof!”

Leaping from the bushes, Porkchop slams into Owen, sending both Pudding and the knife flying.

“Owen!”

Sam jumps off me and charges Porkchop with his wooden sword. Porkchop spins around and breathes a small plume of fire. Sam stumbles backward and crashes into the ground.

Ben’s eyes dart toward the knife. He dashes for it—

—but Pudding gets there first,bouncing onto the knife, then catapulting it at Ben. It whistles past his face, missing by barely an inch and sending him stumbling backward, scaring the piss out of him…

Literally.

“Guys, get up!” Owen shouts.

The three of them scramble for their wooden swords and climb back to their feet.

“We’re not leaving here until we slay both those—”

“ENOUGH!”

Back on my feet I grab my wand and whip my arm in a wide arc, unleashing a high-pressure blast of water that slams into the boys and sends them stumbling backward.

“Why am I not surprised?” Owen snaps. “You finally grow a spine and it’s to fight with the monsters. You think you—”

I whip my arm again, harder this time, blasting them with a powerful gust that knocks them off balance and sends their wooden swords falling to the ground.

“You don’t sca—”

My arm snaps through the air once more. Three small boulders hurtle forward, one crashing into each of their stomachs and knocking the wind out of them. They double over, clutching their stomachs as fear spreads across their faces.

One final swing. A roaring burst of fire tears through the air before stopping just short of the three boys. They stumble backwards, falling to the ground, terror replacing what little bravado they had left.

Owen tries to bluff his way through the fear. “I-i-if you think this is enough to t-take us down, y-you—”

I start laughing. Time for a bluff of my own. I’ve fought back. They’re never going to let that slide. The only way to keep them from making my life miserable after this is if they’re too terrified to come near me ever again. I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline or something else, but I’ve never felt such smooth and precise control over my mana before.

Maybe I could even…

No. No maybes. I’m all in.

My laughter grows louder as I ham it up, trying to sound as maniacal as possible. I blast streams of air from my hands and feet, lifting myself off the ground while stirring the surrounding leaves and grass into a swirling vortex around me. Somehow, I manage to stay mostly stable. I thrust my wand toward the sky and unleash a massive pillar of fire, blazing as fiercely as I can muster.

Lowering my voice and projecting as much confidence as I can, I use wind magic to carry it through the clearing, giving it an eerie echo that sends a chill down even my own spine.

“Did it truly never occur to you why I live out here all alone? It’s because I needed somewhere to practice the dark arts without being discovered.”

I shake my head, chuckling. “You pitiful fools… you really don’t know? It’s not just these two. Every monster in this forest obeys my command. I can have them attack whoever I please, whenever I please. The only reason I never fought back was because I didn’t want anyone discovering what I really was… but you just had to leave this mark on my face, didn’t you?”

I drag two fingers across the cut on my cheek. Fresh blood stains my fingertips. I glance down at them, then slowly rub my thumb against them before looking back up at the boys.

“Now, only one question remains… just how badly should I disfigure your faces before I leave your bodies for the villagers to find?”

I give a twisted smile. Beside me, Pudding and Porkchop let out intimidating battle cries that betray their adorable names, crouching as though preparing to attack.

Having now scared the piss out of all three of them—again, quite literally—they turn and run, sobbing in terror with their hands desperately covering the wet patches on their pants.

Even as he flees, Owen tries to sound tough. “Y-you freak! This isn’t over!”

I’d probably find that a lot more intimidating if he wasn’t covered in his own pee.

The moment they disappear from sight, the wind beneath me unravels and I collapse onto the ground.

“Oof!”

I barely manage to stay conscious. I’ve never exerted so much mana before…

…I’m really sorry, Dad.

I know you told me never to use my magic to hurt people—only to help them—but I couldn’t just stand by and let Pudding die. I’d do it all over again if I had to… I just hope you understand my heart isn’t in the wrong place.

…Though, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little exhilarating carrying myself with so much confidence for once… and maybe just a tiny bit satisfying watching those three bullies run away with soaked pants.

I catch myself letting a small giggle slip out.

…Whoops, uh, sorry again, Dad.

I let out a long breath. I don’t think I’ve spoken that much to anyone since Mom and Dad died— other than Granny of course.

…I’m not sure I’m cut out for this whole human interaction thing.

Right on cue, Porkchop and Pudding start rubbing against me.

I sit up and pet Porkchop. “Thanks, Porkchop. You really saved us.”

He lets out a proud little oink.

“I’ll be alright now, I promise. But you should get back home before your mom starts worrying.”

Porkchop rubs against me one last time before trotting back into the forest. I turn to Pudding, who awaits some congratulatory words of his own… but I have nothing of the sort for him.

“Pudding, this was exactly why I told you not to follow me! You could’ve gotten yourself killed! I thought I was going to lose you! I get that you wanted to help, but this did the exact opposite! Please… just go home.”

“Squee…” He lets out a sad whimper and watches as I head off.

***

It takes me much longer than usual to make it home. Between my mana running out and everything else that happened, I’m too exhausted to do anything more than put one foot in front of the other. By the time my hut finally comes into view, the sun has nearly disappeared behind the treeline. All I want to do is get inside, collapse into bed, and—

…

I can’t help but laugh.

Of course. Why should I have expected anything else?

My garden, drying racks, monster feeders, even the windows… everything outside has been smashed to pieces by Owen and the others. Guess that’s what happens when I forget my place, huh?

I try sifting through the wreckage, but… I just can’t. Maybe tomorrow. But not today. I just… I just want today to be over. After I write down my observations for the day and get Granny her herbs, I’m heading straight to—

My stomach drops, and I take off running.

Please…

Don’t let me be too late.