I rush over to the South end of the village. There was no longer time to hesitate. I've spent time thinking about how best to counter the mage with my current abilities. My only worry is that it would be insufficient. Ipha is the only other caster here, and her abilities aren't focused on destructive magics.
I stop at the edge of the village platform. A lone figure walks forward. The flame mage has a vibrant purple-pink coat, made of what seems to be a lizard's skin. She brandishes her metal staff. "Don't get in my way, Sebastian. Or should I call you Wren now?"
Sebastian? That's this body's name? "Don't tell me you're going to conflagrate a village for daring to ask for meat in the middle of winter?"
"Conflagrate? Who uses such dressy words? I'm just going to raze everything that gets in the way of my next paycheck."
I clench my orb, raising it. "Tuhuini Solam [Light Flare]." A spherical light appears, growing large in size. I fire it towards the mage.
"Cheap tricks!" She covers her eyes, running to the side. "You can use magic, Wren?" She clenches her teeth, aiming upward at my position on the bridge. "Tuhuista Ignaris [Following Flame]!" She launches a ball of fire, homing in my direction as I try to evade it.
"Tuhuini Aesulpa [Wind Expulsion]!" I hold my breath as the air in front of me is annihilated. Fire can't burn without oxygen. My means of dealing with the mage... is making use of air vacuums.
The ball of fire dissipates as soon as it reaches the space in front of me. "What..?" The mage looks dumbfounded. "[Following Flame]!" She fires another one.
"[Wind Expulsion]." This time, I create the temporary vacuum farther from me. The fire ball dissipates once more.
"Explain yourself, Wren!" She spits at me. "Tuhuista Ignactus [Wall of Fire]!" This time, a long wall of flame is created, melting the snow and searing the grass beneath. "[Following Flame]! Try and dodge what you can't see, Wren!"
The homing fire's form is hidden behind the wall of fire. But the mage fails to understand the concept behind vacuums. And how I am able to simply create the vacuum in front of me. "[Wind Expulsion]." The fire dissipates again. "I'm done playing defense, mage. Tuhuista Aesactus [Vacuum Orb]!" The spell works. A large space in front of her becomes a vortex of wind, and her wall of fire is stifled alongside it. I jump from the platform, clutching my orb with both hands. "Tuhuini Aesus [Wind Burst]." A gust of wind blows me upwards as I fall, breaking my momentum.
"You dare to close the gap on me? Tuhuini Ignus [Fire Burst]!" A small flame is fired. She's forced to use minor-grade spells now that she doesn't have the leisure of taking time visualizing her major-grade spells.
"[Wind Expulsion]. [Wind Expulsion]. [Wind Expulsion]." I hold my orb in one hand, pointing it at her. The mote of flame disappears, and the mage gasps, clutching at her throat. She won't have air to breathe as long as I continue casting the spell. "[Wind Expulsion]. [Wind Expulsion]." I watch as she suffocates, her eyes tearing up as she clutches her staff. I kick it away from her.
"Ugh... gah..." She passes out. I spare no time, undoing my shawl to tie it around her hands. My role in this battle is done. If she knew to target the village's structures instead of me, I would have struggled a lot more.
I was lucky.
--
I had no choice but to take the mage to Staria's alcove underground, as the stairs were taken away for the duration of the defense. The underground cave is quiet, though I can hear the light thumps of Haienna. The mage stirs, laying on the rock I propped her against.
"You're awake, mage."
She lost all her blazing fury from earlier. "Why did you side with the long-legs, Sebastian?"
"They're my family."
"Your family? What about the people you left behind in Brook?"
"They're no family of mine."
"You're joking. Empyr was the Guild's best party."
"I don't know them. I'm not Sebastian. I'm Wren, mage."
"Ha... so that's how it is going to be. Fine. And I'm not 'mage,' I'm Cecilia."
Attackers retreating. North side victorious. Reinforce the South side if the mage threat is still active.
"Looks like the Haienna lost to the 'long-legs,' Cecilia. And you're going to come with me to Altous's shamans."
"Fine. Not like I can do much anyways."
I couldn't help but think about who I was. And who this body was. What Sebastian had done while he was here. And what I did when I was alive on Earth. I was burned alive, and crushed to death. But now, fire was no threat to me. Sebastian must have met his end too, when he was struck by lightning. We both have a connection to dying in intense heat. Is the eye I saw some kind of god with a taste for ironies?