Headed by a Snake

Moving a human body was a difficult task-- especially without the use of magic... or... some kind of... humie-movie tool.

Coraline Heartsong decided to take a short break, taking a few deep breaths and rotating her back.

On a normal sun, Making's commercial district should have been filled with colorful citizens from across the Realm, shopping from equally colorful market stalls selling various things... also... from across the Realm.

How she saw it, though... every building, from the walled and pillared to the quaint and cobblestoned had ben abandoned. The streets were covered in market goods, debris, and detritus, and the whole area was blanketed with a thin, orange haze of magical smoke.

Breathing in too much of that stuff would most definitely cause health problems for her, later on in life.

Coraline stared blankly past the building rubble and randomly discarded pieces of clothing.

...There was still another half-block to the alleyway. There, she would find a decently hidden ditch where Zeta Squad had been dumping the bodies.

"Huh, where'd you find that one?"

Coraline felt her ears twitch. The voice belonged to Decemberleigh Gilchrist, her immediate Senior.

She put on a smile that probably looked as fake as she felt, "Senior Gilchrist. A little help?"

"Grhhh," The woman growled as she looked away.

Coraline almost thought the woman was going to ignore her... but after a moment, she walked up and took hold of the corpse by the knees. Together, they took the body the rest of the way, hiding it properly from the sight of enemy patrols.

"I found him a block over, already injured," Coraline said. "probably trying to head back to their checkpoint."

"And why didn't you burn his face off?" Gilchrist said with a grimace. "And the rest of him too? It would've saved us some work."

Coraline took a deep breath and sighed, "I used ⌈Mana Bullet⌋ instead of 'Face-Be-Gone,' because I was trying to be discrete."

Coraline was most practiced and comfortable with fire magic. Not that fire Spells were inherently subtle, but since she contracted with Beatrice...

⌈Face Be Gone⌋-- not that that was the name of any of her Spells, would most certainly give away her (and her squad's) position.

...Thinking on it, it would probably be worse than she could possibly imagine.

⊰ bored ⊱

Beatrice was bored.

Nothing good can come from a fire elemental who was bored.

⊰ play? ⊱

"Soon enough, little one," Coraline muttered.

Zeta Squad was occupying a point of interest, so more combat-- and spicier than what had already gone down was inevitable.

Beatrice would get to figuratively stretch her wings soon enough.

--maybe her literal wings, too? Her preferred form seemed to be a mix of a fire imp and a four-winged pixie?

"You say something, newbie?" Gilchrist asked. "Sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to fight with you."

"I didn't say anything," Coraline lied.

She directed Gilchrist's attention toward the body, "Did you see the arrow? Think it could've been Selvia?"

"...Yeah, probably." Gilchrist nodded, "I think that's the same type of feathers Selvie uses."

Coraline cursed in her mind.

Selvia's injury wouldn't worsen naturally-- especially after drinking a high-quality healing potion.

If she was recklessly using her bow, though...

Gilchrist adjusted her hat, "C'mon, newbie. Let's head back and tell the others-- they'll be glad to hear an update about the both of you."

"Yeah... alright," Coraline nodded as she hurried to match Gilchrist's long-legged pace. "Speaking of updates, how's Zash?"

"Hasn't left the formation room," Gilchrist shrugged. "Probably doesn't even know that Selvia left."

"Yeesh," Coraline grimaced. "It's been-- what, like two bells?"

"Whatever Selvia's doing," Gilchrist frowned, "there's been no signs of the enemy besides the one."

"Yeah..." Coraline said, staring off into the distance.

Behind them, lying in an open ditch were 21 bodies, two full patrols and a lone scout. It was safe to assume that the enemy knew something was wrong.

Selvia volunteered herself to direct the enemy's attention elsewhere.

She had the skill to do it-- no one questioned that.

...but it was a risk, all the same.

"I just don't like that she's out there, alone," Coraline sighed.

"No one likes it," Gilchrist said, sharing in the sigh. "It just makes sense, though. Whisperwind has the speed and stealth to do what she does-- and kick ass at the same time. I'd have loved to go with her to provide support, but obviously, I'm more useful here, keeping our little temp base hidden."

Coraline pursed her lips to the side,  "I was surprised-- and still kinda am, actually... Knowing you, I figured you would've wanted to back Selvia up, wands blazing."

"Nah. That was more Laney's thing," Gilchrist shrugged. A half-smile crossed her face.

It was hard to smile, considering the circumstances.

"--and Zash would've probably had something to say about it," Gilchrist added. "But speaking of our squad leader, how is she not done by now?"

"What she's doing takes time," Coraline said in a soft voice. "Did you take Intro to Spellbreaking?"

"You serious?" Gilchrist said with a pout, "I failed basic Necronomics. I'm too stupid to take Intro to Spellbreaking."

"Yeah, well, okay. I'm technically mid-course in it, and--"

"Ugh. Nice flex, newbie," Gilchrist groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Right-- so basically the stuff Zash is doing is... crazy difficult," Coraline said... "It's like... trying to argue with someone in a different language-- except you can't speak that language and you can barely read the words."

"Oh, wow," Gilchrist replied. "Your analogy... really sucks."

"The situation," Coraline said in a flat voice, "really sucks."

"You make it sound like she's trying to do the impossible," Gilchrist glared.

"What I'm trying to say is that Zash is trying to engineer a miracle," Coraline said with a small frown. "So let's be--?"

Patient?

Coraline didn't finish her sentence; her left ear twitched, just a tiny bit.

She'd heard a sound, barely perceptible, even for her.

"Yo, newbie," Gilchrist frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's here-- in our perimeter."

"Oh, right," Gilchrist mumbled back, "Elven ears. You heard footsteps?"

Coraline gave her senior an awkward smile, "I heard... the wind?"

Gilchrist returned a look of disbelief-- maybe suspicion. But thankfully, that look was soon replaced by hopeful curiosity.

"Maybe you heard it whispering?" She smirked, "Let's go check."

"Uh," Coraline pouted, "But won't we be late for--?"

"It's fine~ Quick and careful, Heartsong," Gilchrist waved. "Don't need to stick to the rules *all* the time."

Coraline pursed her lips... worried both about the situation and the two women she could basically call friends.

They were almost back to camp. Their original *intention* was to go back to camp and check in for everyone's peace of mind.

But... Coraline judged it best to give in to her senior's selfishness.

Gilchrist needed to be distracted-- and it would be best to be distracted by something not mission-related.

Senior Witch Gilchrist was the best Glamour Mage in the Tower, save maybe President Bella. But while she could hide an entire squad of girls from literal dragons--

Ah. No. Not dragons.

The giant, scaled monsters patrolling the streets of Making were just big, dumb lizards.

Anyroad, Gilchrist could hide people just fine. But people weren't made to hide their emotions.

Her best friend had died only a few bells prior. They were in the middle of hostile territory, performing a mission that was potentially impossible to complete. And, of course, they were cut off from any support.

Coraline furrowed her brows in thought, all while absentmindedly following her human companion's clumsy footsteps.

The more she thought about it... the more she realized that *she* should have been a lot more concerned than she was.

⊰ is near ⊱

⊰ make safe ⊱

⊰ call name? ⊱

A tiny, but appropriately fiery voice in her head babbled away.

How mysterious~

Coraline wanted to ask who Beatrice was referring to-- but didn't want to give Gilchrist anything to complain about. 'Girl who talks to herself' wasn't a good look.

"Whisperwind!" Gilchrist called out-- just short of shouting, "Stars and stones, she's hurt! C'mon, Heartsong."

Coraline snapped out of her line of thought. She and Gilchrist had reached the edge of the perimeter. They were close enough that Gilchrist's ⌈Stealth Bubble⌋ would still do its thing... but if a full squad of bad guys showed up...

--well... a whole host of bad things could happen.

Selvia of House Whisperwind came into view, high above, atop a two-story building.

Suddenly and without warning, she jumped.

It might have been concerning for... probably anyone but her, but even Gilchrist wasn't surprised.

Selvia landed soundlessly, in a low crouch... but, oddly enough, did not move from her awkward position.

"Whisper-- bah! Selvia, what happened!"

As soon as Gilchrist reached Selvia, she wrapped her arms around her. Elves tend to be on the shorter side, especially when compared to humans, so despite Selvia's long legs, the pair looked like a mother and child despite their age difference.

But... something was off.

Coraline did have a suspicion, though.

Selvia, like her family name might have suggested, was loved by the wind. She loved to dance and sing and jump around like a madwoman.

It was normal for a woman like her to jump off a building.

...It was just a bit weird that she did it without even a single aerial cartwheel.