A Dreadful Day

(Trigger warning: Mention of blood, death and trauma.)

*Howl*

The wolves kept howling as they were chasing behind Elisa.

Elisa was running at her best speed as she got many bruises due to pointy bushes. She kept running and heaved a sigh of relief when the stream caught her sight.

But that was not the only thing that caught her attention. There were a few people there too and one was a familiar figure. It was Mr. Dais, Olivia's dad.

"Uncle!!!!" Elisa shouted, gaining the man's attention.

"Elisa?" Mr. Dais said while trying to get a clear vision of the little girl running towards them beyond the border.

And once he got the clear view of a terrified Elisa running towards them with a pack of wolves chasing behind her, he shouted as the men beside him also got taken aback by his sudden outburst,

"Elisa!!!!"

"Why is that girl over there?" one of the men asked worriedly at the sight of Elisa.

"Elisa…?" the older man with white beard mumbled as he saw his young disciple running for her life.

Elisa was near the stream as she gathered all the remaining mana in her body for that jump to save herself from these wild beasts.

Soon the distance between her and the stream decreased as the stream still had a low current and as soon as she reached there, she jumped using all her force and exerted her mana whereas all the men on the other side got ready to catch her.

But to her luck most of her mana was used up in healing the boy and it was not enough to cover up such a huge distance, causing her to fall in the stream. And following her a few wolves too jumped in making the men terrified for the girl.

She didn't know how to swim which made it difficult for her to maintain balance even in a low current stream.

"Master Wilson, Do something!!!" Mr. Dais exclaimed as the older man used his magic to help Elisa reach this side.

Finally, she reached the other side and was climbing up from the stream to the ground with the help of Mr. Dais when something terrifying happened.

One of the wolves caught the right foot of Elisa in his mouth, burying his teeth into her skin as she yelled in pain while the other men panicked.

The older man, Master Wilson, attacked the wolf causing his grip around Elisa's foot to loosen up as Mr. Dais pulled her up while she was yelping in pain. Mr. Dais hugged her trying to calm her down but it was to no avail.

"Take care of them!" Master Wilson ordered the other men to get rid of the wolves as he came towards Elisa, taking her in his embrace as he gestured to Mr. Dais to join the others.

Elisa looked towards the older man.

"M-Master?" she managed to say as she was crying hysterically.

"Yes, my child. I'm here. Don't worry." Master Wilson said as he caressed her hair.

"Master, I-It hurts!!!" She said in between her crying as he was trying to calm her down but soon Elisa started to get drowsy since the incident had a big impact on her.

"No, Elisa! You can not close your eyes! You are a strong kid! Get a hold of yourself!" Master Wilson said as he was shaking Elisa to not lose her consciousness as Elisa was trying her level best to stay strong.

"Master Wilson! Please increase the current flow! We can not hold them up any longer!!" one of the men shouted whereas Master Wilson was healing Elisa.

As soon as he stopped the bleeding he rested Elisa on her back supported by a huge stone.

"Elisa, my child. Bear for a little bit. I'll be back!" Master Wilson said before running towards the stream.

"Ne Porchus Fa Quenteot Simolis" Master Wilson recited an enchantment as the water flow started to increase making it difficult for the wolves to maintain their posture as they returned to their respective side.

The men cheered in victory as Master Wilson ran back towards Elisa who was silently crying.

No noise, no whimper, no whine, just silent and painful tears falling down her eyes.

"Lisa, kiddo, you'll be fine." Master Wilson said as he again started to heal Elisa.

The pain reduced, the wound healed but it left its remains to always make her remember this horrifying incident for the rest of her life.

People do say for a reason that, the wound heals but the feeling of its presence always remains...

"Are you okay now? Do you feel better?" Master Wilson asked as Elisa slowly nodded.

"Why is the scar still there?" Elisa asked in a low voice.

"*sigh* I'm sorry my child, but I'm just a wizard. I can not do more than this. The ability to vanish the scar can only be found in a few numbered mages...such as you" he replied.

"But it is difficult," Elisa said with teary eyes.

"Yes it is, but for the current you, when you will grow up and become stronger, it will be a piece of cake. Since you are still an amateur, you can not heal by yourself, you don't have great capacity for mana, you lack in many areas. So don't be dejected, it is all just time's play. You'll learn with time"

He said with a sweet smile, making Elisa calm down a bit with his warm words. He stood up and helped Elisa to stand up as well.

"I'm sorry" she said in a low voice with her head hung low.

"Why so?" Master Wilson asked.

"I crossed the border" she said, still her head hung low as Master Wilson let out a chuckle.

"It's okay, my dear. I know my Lisa will never do something without a cause. I don't blame you and neither do any of those people'' Master Wilson said and pointed towards the men including Mr. Dais, who had a relieved smile on his face, relaxing Elisa a bit.

"So when we reach back, will you tell me the whole story?" he asked as Elisa nodded with a small smile.

Everything was getting back to normal, or that they thought so...

"Ahhh!!!"

One of the men shouted, gaining their attention. They turned their head towards the man who shouted only to find two of the wolves coming in their direction.

Elisa's heartbeat started to rise as her breathing started to become uneven which didn't go unnoticed by Master Wilson.

He grabbed Elisa's hand and dragged her a little farther from the scary site and asked her to stay there as she did while she was watching everything from afar.

Master Wilson ran back to the other to accompany them. All of them were trying their best to face those inhumane creatures as they were growling at them which definitely showed their displeasure.

Master Wilson was using magic to lure them back to their respective side but it was to avail. One of the wolves was kept busy by the men and Master Wilson, as for the other one? It was slowly making its way towards Elisa's direction, to which Elisa was fully unaware since she was watching the others fighting the wolf.

Master Wilson glanced towards Elisa only to find the wolf secretly making its way towards her. He tried to make his way towards her but it was really difficult to suppress the wolf making it harder to leave his spot.

He created a magical barrier on Elisa to keep her safe but it could only be held for a while. He was trying to control the wolf but his whole attention was towards Elisa.

Elisa felt a little unusual presence near her making her turn her head towards the right only to find a growling wolf. She froze on her spot as fear rushed through her veins.

The wolf stared in her direction while growling as if he found his prey.

The wolf started to move forward in Elisa's direction as she started to walk backwards while stumbling a bit.

Suddenly the wolf jumped in Elisa's direction as she screamed and closed her eyes but nothing happened.

She slowly opened her eyes only to see a terrifying scene.

Mr. Dais was wrestling with the wolf. The wolf was hovering above him as he was beneath the wolf holding its mouth as it's pointy teeth were buried in his hands while blood oozed out of his hands.

"Uncle!!!! HELP!!! ANYBODY!!"

Elisa shouted as the others' attention diverted towards her.

Master Wilson had enough of patiently sending the wolves back, so he immediately casted a spell making the wolf turn into a stone statue as the wolves on the other side started to howl.

He teleported the wolf statue on the other side of the border before he undid the spell, he couldn't do teleportation spells on living beings which was the reason he turned the wolf into a statue.

All the men and Master Wilson started to run towards Mr. Dais's direction.

"NO!!!!!"

Elisa shouted as Master Wilson and others stopped in their tracks as their heart wretched upon witnessing the scene in front of them.

The wolf was dead as Mr. Dais stabbed him with a dagger which he always kept with him for his safety since he was a human. But that was not the main thing that their heart mourned for...

Mr. Dais was laying all injured beside the wolf not moving an inch as the wolf attacked him in his defence, striking his vital point making him lose all his strength. One of the men went towards his almost lifeless body and checked his pulse.

"He is alive!!" he exclaimed as Master Wilson came towards them and checked his condition before sighing.

"It's too late...he is just breathing his last breath. Even I can not save him." Master Wilson said with a heavy heart.

One of the men sat beside Mr. Dais, holding his hand.

"P-Please t..." Mr. Dais mumbled something in that man's ears as the man nodded and soon Mr. Dais gave up on his life, making others weep on the loss of their precious friend.

'He died...He died because he was saving you, Elisa...he died because of you...he died because you...'

These sentences kept repeating in Elisa's head as tears kept streaming down her eyes. She was already on the floor because of the combat before and now she was all curled up, covering her ears with her hands.

"He died because of me...He died because of me..." she kept mumbling looking at the lifeless body of her beloved friend's father, her beloved uncle.

Everyone was mourning his death until...

"Papa?!!"

*Gasp*

Elisa's eyes opened as her forehead was covered with sweat. She looked here and there and calmed down a bit after witnessing her environment.

She was at the same huge stone she was sitting on while cursing her life before dozing off.

"Phew...It's been a while since I had such a detailed dream..." Elisa said to herself.

"Ash?"

Elisa called out as a blazing beautiful adult phoenix appeared in front of her. Elisa smiled at her spiritual pet's beautiful and calming presence.

"How did you know I was here?" Ash asked in her language through telepathy as Elisa made a 'Are you serious' face at her spirit animal, making Ash laugh.

"You are my spirit animal, of course I know when you are around." Elisa said as Ash got settled beside her.

Elisa hugged Ash as she comforted Elisa.

"Why don't you just remove that scar? You are more than capable of doing that." Ash asked as Elisa shook her head.

"No I can't. Even though I also want to make this stupid scar disappear but my neither my heart nor my body permits to do so. I just can't get myself to do so." Elisa replied.

"Why do you want to punish yourself so much? Isn't up till now enough? Let's just end this pain, Hm? Just let go of the past." Ash said as Elisa broke free from the hug before speaking,

"I can't...I'm not ready to let go...not yet...", she looked towards the moon.