Dana silently watched the village burn with all its residents. She could have used her magical powers to stop the fire but was not sure if there was a point in doing so since the money the villagers owed her was likely to have turned into ashes by now. The village stood no chance in the attack of her rival warlock Averis known to be the strongest of the magicians, the high caste. Humans, the low caste, were the common targets in the games of magical beings.
This time was no exception. During the games, the warlocks had to select missions. Averis chose to destroy the village; Dana, as his competitor, was to protect it. The residents promised Dana a reward to motivate her to care about them, but she ended up defeated because her cheater-rival began attacking the village before she even got there. Due to this defeat, everything was ruined – her money, her reputation, and her chance to become a senior warlock. Besides, protection missions were initially doomed to failure because they were based on warding spells that required care as the main ingredient, and caring about human settlements was something the high caste was simply incapable of.
Dana felt wrath boiling inside her, she could not take the mockeries of Averis anymore; she had to find him and take him down in combat.
-Lady wizard! Help! Please! – Suddenly, a human appeared out of the smoke; he looked terrified, – Lady, there is a little girl in a burning house! – He pointed at the fire. Dana ignored him fantasizing about her merciless punishment for Averis. The human was very loud, he kept screaming and waving his hands. –You have to help her, please! – Dana realized that he would not leave.
-Why? – The warlock finally looked at the man; his face was covered in soot.
– She needs you!
-Needs me? – Dana raised her eyebrows fascinated with the phrase, but the human refused to explain. Instead, he grabbed the warlock’s sleeve, trying to drag her towards the burning house. Dana reacted with a self-protection spell that hit the man throwing him on his back. With a groan of pain, he got up on his knees and crawled towards Dana continuing to beg for help for some girl.
-Do you have money? – She asked.
-No, lady. Everything I had was destroyed in the fire. Please help the girl. I will pay you back, I will serve you.
With a sigh, Dana stopped the fire, and the man immediately ran into a house and found the child. It was female and looked approximately five to six years old. The servant was permitted to take the child with him while accompanying Dana on her quest to the lair of Averis. Soon, Dana regretted her decision because both humans turned out to be a good-for-nothing. The man possessed no useful knowledge; the child was utterly pointless, they both were noisy and kept asking questions.
– My lady, you are a wizard, cannot you fly to the lair of Averis?
-No, only senior warlocks can levitate.
-Why is night dark?
-Because light created by the warlocks of the past needs to be re-charged.
The journey took days, and for this whole time, Dana was forced to listen to humans and observe them. Eventually, she started to find it fascinating. The concept of “needing someone” was strange to her. She understood why the child needed the man who fed it and kept it safe, but she struggled to understand why the man would need such a useless child. Moreover, the girl tried to befriend absolutely everything around – birds, plants, small animals. One evening she threw herself at the rabbit when Dana was about to kill it for dinner.
-What is the child doing? – The warlock asked the man.
-She is trying to protect the rabbit, – He replied.
Dana grabbed the child and lifted her in front of her face.
-Girl, teach me to protect. It will help me to defeat my rivals because none of the warlocks know how to cast protection spells, they only can protect themselves. Being able to protect villages like yours is a necessary condition for me to become a senior warlock.
The child smiled and agreed to teach Dana, which the magician began to regret on the very next day. The little girl’s way to teach protection was incredibly stupid and useless. Dana and the child had to spend hours staring at pointless things such as insects and birds. The girl believed that to protect others one needs to like them. The man used to smile a lot during the journey but eventually became more serious once they approached the lands of Averis, dark and dangerous territory. He would never let the child walk alone, preferring to carry her instead.
-Are you protecting the girl when you carry her like this? –Wondered Dana.
-Of course, lady. I would not want her to get hurt. I would also protect you if I could.
– And what should I do to protect you? – Dana felt at a loss not knowing how to react to the generosity of the weak human.
-You should have let us go before we approached these scary lands, lady. We are in danger here.
-You are my servant, and I am going to use you during my battle. I do not care what happens to the child. – Coldly responded Dana thinking of ways how to sneak up to the lair of Averis. Her plan was never meant to happen, as Averis revealed himself right behind her back.
-Dana! Did you think you could enter my lands unnoticed? And what is that? Did you bring me a couple of humans as a treat? Are you trying to bribe me to be kinder to you during the next battle?
-I am planning to defeat you in a duel and make you stop your series of cheating with protection tasks. I will not let you…
Dana could not finish her address since she was knocked off her feet by a powerful attack spell. Averis has never been a noble fighter. Without letting her get up he stroke again and again. Dana realized she had no chance from the very beginning, and prepared to die when the powerful waves of violent magic suddenly stopped. Dana glanced at her enemy, he looked baffled, rubbing his head that was hit by a rock. Dana built a magic shield protecting herself.
-Run, run! – Screamed the human, who threw the rock to save her.
-Are you talking to me? –yelled Dana, trying to maintain the shield under the renewed attacks of Averis, – because your stupid child is running already!
-Oh no! – gasped the man, and followed the girl, it took him a moment to catch the child and fall on the ground covering her with his body.
Averis threw a bolt of lightning at them. Typically, this moment would have been used by Dana to attack the distracted enemy, but that time she chose to throw a magic shield to intercept the lightning and prevent it from reaching the target. The battle was over that very second. The rivals were no longer equal as Dana won the duel by casting a protection spell and becoming a senior warlock.