35.5: A long time ago

“Oh, great forges, what has happened to these lands?” A dwarven woman spoke while gazing upon a great plain, or at least, what had been a plain.

Now, it was nothing more than a desolate wasteland, its lush soil turned into an inhospitable, completely dead dirt. With none of the microscopic organisms in the soil left alive, Rosh’lin knew it would take centuries to recover.

Eventually, she turned away; even a mage of her caliber could only bear the sight for so long. ‘The enemy is so strong,’ the dwarf couldn’t help but think. ‘Where did those damn creatures come from anyway?! My divination spells do not even show their source! Some infernal pit perhaps.’

Growing angry, Rosh’lin fumed, all five feet and three inches of her filled with a blazing rage all targeted to an enemy they didn’t know much about.

Stepping up from behind, the party’s warrior Se’lim, one of the few Silver elves remaining, sighed, laying her light gray arm upon the much shorter dwarf’s head, using her friend as a arm rest.

“Do not fret, Rosh, we shall end the scourge upon us. Have faith.”

As much as it pained Rosh’lin to admit it, the elf was right, as always. Funny how fate made the more barbaric of the two wiser, ‘I suppose her agelessness contributes to it. What a lucky woman.’ The dwarven woman was always jealous of the immortality of Silver Elves, yet despite her yearning to have a potentially limitless lifespan, she still loved Se’lim, even if she drove her crazy sometimes.

The two had spent over a decade of their lives with the Savior’s party and had subsequently grown quite tight over the years through the life and death battles and having saved each other at least five times.

Elves and dwarves stereotypically didn’t get along, but fighting together was a hell of a way to bond.

Rosh’lin sighed, brushing off the elf’s arm, turning to the rest of the party awaiting her.

“There is nothing I can do that will immediately help the land, its magic has been drained from it, and consumed by the enemy…” She spoke, still thinking of the lifeless world in front of her, the edge of decimation.

Seeing her contemplation, the leader of their party, The Savior, replied, his gray eyes faintly sparkling, “I sense a but.”

Nodding at the human, the mage waved her hand dismissively, “It will take centuries, but I can create a binding spell. It will seed the desolate plains with the energy needed for life. Only one of us will live to see its restoration, but it will be beautiful if left alone.”

Accepting her words, the man inclined his head. “Anything that can restore the world is for the best. We will be camping for three days before venturing across the wastelands. Are you capable of casting such a spell in the time we have?”

Rosh’lin scoffed slightly, “You are looking at the most accomplished mage of this millennium. Do you really think-”

The blank stare The Savior gave was enough to shut her up, “…Give me two days, I will cast it within the wastelands themselves, it will have the greatest effect there.”

Nodding at her words, the human quietly walked off, leaving behind the Beastkin man and a much shorter woman belonging to a reclusive race of gnomes, a species similar to the dwarves, but more focused on alchemy and non-blacksmithing related professions.

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Rosh’lin felt a bit of pity for the woman, as her species had been the first to be targeted by the unnamed enemy, leaving only a few colonies of their race behind. Their population was unlikely to recover, and they were on the path to annihilation. Truly a tragic situation, their clockwork devices and runic technologies were quite innovative.

Shaking her head slightly, she looked back toward the lifeless land and, without any hesitation, raised her hands to the sky, pulling on the exotic energies of the world around her, and just like every other mage, she began creating a spell without any guard rails or guidance. If she were to lose control of the ethereal power, it would erupt in a massive blast of soul-rending shockwaves, likely killing her and maiming the rest of her party.