Prologue: A Girl From The Plains

A cool wind blew across the plains as a young, green haired woman stared off into the distance. As the young woman stood there, she surveyed the land, seeing the wind blow through the grass until she saw it. A small spot amongst the plain grass that seemed to be matted down, as if something was hiding there. The woman’s eyes became sharp as she reached for the sword she had on her side and slowly approached the patch of grass. Once she got closer, her eyes softened as she saw a rather plain looking man laying face down in the grass, unconscious. She slowly inspected the man, making sure he wasn’t affiliated with any kind of bandits and, after determining he was likely just a traveler, decided to bring him to her house to look after him. She put him in her own bed, cleaning his face and preparing some food for herself and the traveler she had just met. While she was preparing, the man began to stir in the bed, lifting his eyes to see her preparing food.
The woman gave a soft, charming smile, “Are you awake?”

The man sat himself up slowly, seeming to still feel quite dizzy, “Where am I? What happened?”

She handed him a bowl of soup that she had been preparing, “I found you unconscious in the plains.”

The man slowly reached for the bowl before catching the alluring smell in his nose, “I see, thank you, uh…”

The woman made her own bowl and sat in a chair next to the bed, “I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe.”

He smiled weakly, “Thank you, Lyn.”

He eyed the food down, wondering if she was a member of one of the bands of bandits he had heard about before traveling to this area. 

Lyn could see he was hesitant and sighed, eating a spoonful of the soup before smiling at him, “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

He let out a sigh of relief before putting the bowl to his lips, realizing he likely fell unconscious due to a lack of food, since he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten once he arrived in the plains. Lyn smiled and laughed upon seeing how hungry this man was before starting to enjoy her own food. The man quickly finished his bowl and placed it down on his lap, almost out of breath with how quickly he drank the soup.

The man looked at her with a smile, “Thank you very much for the food, Lyn. I can’t remember the last time I ate since arriving in the plains.”

Lyn laid her spoon down with a smile, “There is no need to thank me. I’m just glad I found you and you weren’t found by any bandits.”

The man rubbed the back of his head, “So am I, I remember hearing about how dangerous the bandits in this area can be.”

Lyn looked at him, with an obvious question in her mind, “If I may ask, who are you? Or can you… remember your name?”

He sighed, smiling, “Right, my name is Mark. I should have introduced myself when you did.”

Lyn cocked her head to the side, “Your name is Mark? What an odd-sounding name…”

Mark looked a bit dumbfounded before Lyn chuckled to herself, “Pay me no mind. It is a good name. I can also see by your attire that you are a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?”

Mark smiled, “I’d gladly tell you-”

Outside, there was a loud commotion and the stomping of feet running past her home. Her eyes became sharp once more as she put a finger to his lips.

She spoke in a whispered tone as the footsteps grew quieter into the distance, “I’ll go see what’s happening. Mark, wait here for me.”

Before he could say a word, she darted out of the hut, making almost no noise as she ran toward a nearby patch of forest in the direction that she heard the footsteps traveling. She inched her way past the trees quietly until she came to a clearing in the trees, showing nothing but flat plain. In the plains, she could see only two bandits. One seemed to be standing watch as another was making his way toward a local village. As quickly and quietly as she could, she ran back to her hut to retrieve her weapon. 

Inside, Mark waited patiently until he saw Lyn burst in, grabbing her sword before he stood up, “What is it, Lyn?”

She looked at him with fire in her eyes, “Bandits! They must have come from the Bern Mountains!”

Mark gulped, “Bandits, you say. What are they doing here?”

Lyn looked at her sword, “They look to be planning to raid the local villages. I… I have to stop them!”

Mark grabbed his chin in thought, “How many of them are there? I can’t let you rush off to your death after saving me.”

Lyn tightened her sword belt around her waist, “I could only see 2 bandits. If that’s all of them, I think I can handle it on my own.”

Mark looked at her, “I don’t like those odds. Two against one…”

Lyn sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder, “You’ll be safe in here, Mark.”

Mark balled his fist, “I can’t let you go by yourself. I’ll come with you.”

Lyn looked at him surprised, “What? You want to help?”

He nodded his head before she thought about it, “If that’s the case, can you use a weapon?”

Mark rubbed the back of his neck, “Not exactly… I can’t say I’ve ever even gone hunting for food, let alone wielded a weapon. But! I’m a strategist so I can help by telling you what you should do in combat!”

Lyn put her hands on her hips and looked him up and down, “Ah, I see… So you’re a strategist by trade? An odd profession, but… Very well! We’ll go together!”

Lyn held out her hand to him. Mark smiled while grabbing her hand to shake it before she darted as soon as her hand wrapped around his toward the small forest. Mark could barely keep himself standing up until she let go, splitting hard left into the forest.
“Over here!”

Mark ran toward the forest, trying to keep up pace with her before she abruptly stopped behind a tree, right before the forest opened back up into the plains. Mark stopped at a tree next to her, catching his breath as he leaned on the tree. 

“Where… are the bandits?”

Lyn pointed toward the open plains and just in view, Mark could see  one bandit standing alone, looking across the plains, facing away from them. The second bandit was well on his way toward a nearby village when Lyn pointed him out to show Mark.

Mark rubbed his chin, thinking of how best to tackle this situation, “I see, so as far as we know, there are only two.”

Lyn nodded and looked to Mark, “If you want to help, Mark. I could use your advice. I’ll protect you, so stay close to me.”

Mark nodded, “Right! If there’s only two, our best bet is to rush for that bandit by himself. If you can take him out quickly, it’ll be a one on one with the last bandit.”
She nodded and readied her sword, making sure to minimize the noise as much as she could, “Remember, stay close.”

Mark took a deep breath and nodded as Lyn darted out of the forest with Mark not far behind. As the pair charged forward, the bandit looking toward the plains caught a glimpse of the pair charging toward him. Changing his posture, the bandit swung his axe at them just as they closed in. Lyn barely manages to slide underneath the blade as Mark falls backward to try and avoid the swing. The bandit chuckled to himself before lifting his axe once more to try and bring it down on the defenseless strategist, Mark. Lyn’s eyes widened as she ran forward, pulling Mark away as the axe blade began to come down. With a loud and hearty thunk, the axe lodged itself into the ground. Mark held his chest and looked to Lyn, who had charged straight at the bandit before he could dislodge his blade from the ground. Before he knew it, the bandit had been run through by her sword. The bandit grabbed the handle of her blade, trying to stop her from moving but his strength was quickly leaving him as Lyn aimed for his heart, missing by only a hair. When Lyn saw the bandit’s hand reach up toward her blade, she gripped the sword with both hands and wrenched it from his body, pushing him backward with her shoulder as the sword became dislodged from the bandit’s hearty chest. Falling back, the bandit held the wound as he hit the ground. Lyn watched, catching her breath, as the light faded from the bandit’s eyes before Mark ran up to her.

Mark, looking impressed by her speed, began to say something before he noticed a slight gash on her leg, “Lyn! You’re bleeding!”

Lyn looked toward the other bandit, who was still making his way toward the village, “It’s fine, Mark. I have a vulnerary powder I can apply.”

Mark looked up to her as she opened a small pouch hanging from her sword belt and covered the tip of her finger in it before applying it to the wound. 

Mark sighed, “That may stop the bleeding, but you will need proper treatment after this is over. Can you move it?”

Lyn nodded, “I can hardly feel the pain, right now. We need to stop the other bandit before he reaches that village!”

Mark nodded back as the two charged forward toward the bandit. As they approached the bandit turned around, seeing the body of the other bandit in the distance. This bandit readied his axe in both hands and charged toward the pair.
“Who do you think you are!? You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast!?”

As they came within a few feet of one another, Lyn stopped, holding her arm out to let Mark know to stay back. In response, Batta stopped as well, grinning ear to ear, ready for a fight.

“So, I’m fightin’ the girl, eh? A girl of the plains, like yerself, could fetch me some mighty fine coin, hehe.”

Lyn scoffed at him as she charged toward him. Mark could only watch as Batta used the flat of his axe to swat her blade aside before kicking her back. Lyn quickly regained her balance to dodge Batta’s following swing, just barely missing her arm. Lyn pushed herself back, creating a bit of distance between Batta and herself. She looked down to see that, despite applying a vulnerary, the gash she had on her leg was much more serious than she thought, as it had begun bleeding once more.

Batta chuckled to himself before throwing his axe on his shoulder, “Yer better than I thought you’d be. This might be fun after all!”

Lyn gripped her sword with both hands, ready for Batta to charge at her, thinking to herself, “He’s tough… It all comes down to the next blow.”

As she thought, Batta charged forward with his axe over his shoulder, ready to end it all in one strike. As he drew close, Lyn lowered her center of mass, leaning close to the ground before pushing off, dashing forward, at Batta’s midsection. From where Mark was standing, it looked as though Lyn had been hit, square in the back with the axe before, in the blink of an eye, Lyn stood up, her blade colliding with the bandit’s arm. In an instant, the axe hurdles toward the ground with the bandit’s arm falling near it. Batta’s eyes were wide and shaken. He stepped back, holding the fresh stump where his arm used to be.

“What? How… How did you-” 

As Batta looked toward Lyn, her blade found his throat, cutting his sentence short before he fell to his knees, dead. Lyn stood there for a moment, staring down at the bandit’s body before she looked toward Mark. Her eyes were still full of fire, as if she had wanted to do that for a long time, however, Mark could see a bit of pain hidden behind that, yet, he did not know where this pain had come from. 

Rushing to her, Mark could see that the wound on her leg had begun bleeding once more, “Lyn! We must get you somewhere where you can be treated.”

Somewhat out of breath, she smiles at him, “We will, first, let us check on the village to make sure they are aware of the bandits.”

Mark nods as he puts her arm around her, “Alright, but I know you’re likely to feel that wound, now that the fighting is over.”

Lyn smiles at him chuckling, “Thank you, Mark. Let us go see the village chief.”

The pair continue toward the nearby village. Once there, they were greeted by the village chief, thanking them for what they had done.

The village chief looked at Lyn’s wound, “I am sorry for the trouble you both went through. I wish we could help with your injury, young one, but we have no doctors in this village.”

Lyn smiled, “That is fine, I can treat it myself, we just wanted to make sure the village was safe and that you knew that more bandits may be on their way.”

The village chief lowered his head, “We are very grateful that you would go through the trouble. Batta and his men have been stealing food from us for years. Is there nothing we can give you as thanks? We would gladly give you anything you ask for!”

Mark smiled and waved his hand, “Please, there is no need to thank us, I barely did anything anyways and if she says it’s fine, then you needn’t worry.”

Lyn smiled at Mark, before placing her hand on the village chief’s shoulder, “Please, raise your head proud. Take the axes from those men and give them to your strongest warriors to protect your village. There is nothing more I would want than to know that this village was saved.”

The village chief continued to praise and thank the pair as they made their way out of the village and back into the plains. On the way, the pair stopped so Mark could properly treat Lyn’s wound before she lost much more blood.

Mark delicately applied more of the vulnerary powder to her wound, making sure the whole wound was covered, “I’m glad you’re not in too much pain, Lyn. This wound could have been much worse…”

Mark thought back to him on the ground, not able to move as Lyn rushed to save him. 

Lyn could see the look on his face and smiled, “Don’t worry, Mark. Thank you for helping me. Honestly, I’m glad you were there. If you hadn't been here, I probably would have tried to fight both of them when they were together.”

After applying the vulnerary, Mark began to wrap her leg with a bandage cloth that the village chief insisted they take, “I don’t understand what you mean, Lyn. If I hadn’t been there, you probably wouldn’t have this injury right now.”

Lyn sighed as Mark finished wrapping her leg and stood up, smiling, “It’s fine, Mark. Let’s head home.”

Mark blinked a few times before following Lyn as she started walking back toward her hut. By the time they reached her hut, the sun had already begun to set. Mark, not wishing to inconvenience Lyn any further, had planned to leave in the middle of the night, after Lyn had fallen asleep but found himself more worn out than he had ever been on his travels. That night, Mark had fallen asleep sitting up in a chair before Lyn covered him with a blanket and fell asleep, herself. Come morning, Lyn had awoken as the sun rose into the sky to start practicing her skills with her blade, before starting a light meal for herself and Mark, once he awoke. As she was preparing their meal, Lyn saw Mark stirring.

“Good morning, Mark! Are you awake yet?”

Groggily, Mark wiped his eyes, “I am awake, I can’t believe I slept so quickly when sitting down.”
Lyn chuckled, “That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you.”

Mark sat up, smiling softly as Lyn handed him a small plate of food, “Well, I’m actually not used to being in combat. I am only a strategist. I’m used to being in a tent, looking at maps all day.”

Lyn laughed as she sat down with her own plate and began to eat. 

As the pair ate their meals, Lyn set down her plate on a nearby table and looked to Mark, “Say, Mark… I want to talk about something.”

Mark looked up from his plate before placing it on the same table and cleared his throat, “What is it, Lyn?”

Lyn began to play with her hands while looking down, “You have some experience in the ways of war, I can see.”

Mark nodded, “I have played a part in some small battles across Elibe. Mostly helping plan strategies with town guards to hunt down bandits.”

Lyn looked up to him, meeting her eyes to Mark’s, “Would you allow me to travel with you?”

Mark looked astonished at first before scratching his chin, “You look rather young, Lyn. I suppose it would be fine, so long as your parents are fine with you leaving.”

Lyn’s expression turned from hopeful optimism to what looked to be pain, “What? You… want me to get permission from my parents?”

Mark could see her expression change and just stayed silent, as he could tell he hit a sore spot with Lyn.

“My mother and my father… died six months ago.”

Mark lowered his head, knowing he just asked an impossible task for her.

“My people, the Lorca, they don’t… I’m the last of my tribe. Bandits attacked  and… they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered. My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people.”

Mark looked up at her, seeing that her eyes were filled with tears as she told him her story, “Lyn, as the chieftain’s daughter, shouldn’t that make you the new leader of the tribe?”

She wiped her face, “I am so young and our people were old-fashioned. They wouldn’t follow a woman. No one would follow me.”

Mark could see the sorrow and pain in her eyes as she tried in vain to wipe her face, sniffling, “I’m sorry. I’ve been alone for so long…”

Mark stood himself up and embraced her, trying his best to comfort her, “I’m sorry to ask something like that of you, Lyn. I can see now why you didn’t leave me in the plains.”

As he embraced Lyn, her eyes filled back up with tears as the tears began to flow even more freely and she wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest. Mark allowed her to stay there for as long as she needed until she finally sat back, trying to compose herself.
“No. No more tears. I will shed no more tears.”

Mark sat back in his seat, ready to spring up if she began to cry once more.

Clearing her throat, her smile returned, “Thank you. I’m better now. Mark, I want-”

She looked at the bandage around her leg and clenched her fists, “I must become stronger so that I can avenge my father’s death!”

Mark nodded, looking seriously at her as she continued, “Yesterday’s battle taught me something. I won’t become stronger by sitting here alone. Mark, tell me you’ll train me, that you’ll let me travel with you!”

Mark rubbed his chin, thinking about how nice it would be to travel Elibe with some company, “Well, I suppose it would be nice not to travel alone. As far as training goes, I won’t be able to train you how to use your sword better, but I can guide you in learning the strategies of battle.”

Lyn’s eyes widened as a large smile crept across her face, “You will? That’s wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you!”

Lyn nearly jumped out of her chair in excitement before calming herself and presenting her hand to Mark, “We’ll be better off working together, I know it. You’ll be my master strategist, and I’ll be your peerless warrior! We can do it! Right, Mark?”

Mark smiled, reaching out his hand to grab hers, “How could I refuse, with that type of energy and the skills I saw.”

Excitedly, Lyn began to pack up the necessities she would need for traveling before the pair set off toward Mark’s next destination, Bulgar, a commercial hub for the whole of Sacae.