Year 2076. Lara had just joined the Veilguard. She was 20 years old when she and her boyfriend were accepted into the group. Both of them were Alterids, Lara with the power to heal others, and her boyfriend with the strange power of making his body elastic.
One day, a squad of Veilguards went on an expedition… and it ended in disaster.
Lara saw her boyfriend brutally murdered right in front of her by a krukin. She tried to save him, but he was too far away. Her legs shook as she ran to him, heart pounding, but she was too late. The fifteen seconds her ultimate healing spell required had already passed, and his body lay still and lifeless.
He had been her first love. The pain was unbearable. He always wore a simple, worn-out hat whenever they went outside, it was almost like a part of him. After returning home, Lara placed that hat in her room, as if it were a relic. Because she also worked at the hospital, she didn't live in the Veilguard dorms, but in her own home.
For nine years, every time she came home, she would talk to that hat, telling it about her day as if her boyfriend were still listening. But now… the memory of him was gone. Somehow, she had forgotten her first love, and nothing could bring that memory back.
Now, Lara awoke on a hospital bed. Beside her lay Alerya and several other injured people.
Half the city was destroyed, but the hospital still stood.
It was late at night. No doctors were in the room. Lara slowly got to her feet and tried to heal a few of the wounded, but after only three spells, her body began to bleed. Her ultimate spell had cost her dearly, using it meant her soul had been nearly destroyed. For the next month, she would be unable to use magic properly.
The door burst open, Liro ran in, immediately rushing to stop her.
"Lara, stop!" he shouted, catching her before she collapsed.
"No… I have to save them…" she whispered, trying to lift her hands again, but he held them down.
"You've done enough… please, rest now." His voice was firm, but gentle.
Tears welled in Lara's eyes. "B-but… I'm going to be useless for a whole month… and I can't even use my ultimate spell anymore…"
"Do you have some kind of countdown on it?" Liro asked while helping her back into bed.
"I… can't use it for six months. I'll just… heal you and the others…"
"Don't worry, Lara. You've done more than enough. Just rest."
She stayed silent, and Liro quietly left the room.
The next morning, Lara returned home. Luckily, it hadn't been destroyed, and it stood just a short walk from the hospital. She was the only Alterid not living in the main Veilguard building because of her hospital work.
When she stepped inside, she found everything as it had been, though the earthquake had knocked objects to the floor, nothing was broken.
Her eyes fell on a hat lying on the ground. She picked it up, brushing off the dust, turning it over in her hands.
"Mhm? I don't remember buying anything like this…" she murmured.
As she stared at it, tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"Eh? W-why am I crying?" She tried to wipe them away, but the tears kept flowing, as if something deep inside her was breaking free, something she could not name.
Days passed. Everyone worked tirelessly to rebuild the city. Alerya called her team together, not in the meeting room, as it had been completely destroyed, but in the open.
"We have to do something," Alerya began. "I spoke with the Seven Sages. They told me we must go to Skar-Zhul and ask for help".
Kael mentioned that they had met someone from Skar-Zhul, maybe it was a sign from fate.
'Now that I think about it, I never told her about our expedition...' Thought Kael, but it was not the moment.
"Good. Since we don't know who might come here and we need strength in the city… Kael, Allocen, and Lara, you stay here," Alerya said, pointing to each of them. "We need Kael's gravity magic to rebuild, Allocen's golem to carry heavy materials, and Lara to heal the injured when she's able."
Then she turned to Vane, Liro, and Darian.
"You three will go to Skar-Zhul. We need allies. I'm sure their group will understand."
"Eh? They have a group of Alterids like us?" Darian asked, confused.
"Yes. Every major city has one. We need them to win this war!" Alerya slammed her hand into the ground. "You leave tomorrow. We can't waste time!"
The next day, Darian, Vane, and Liro departed. Behind them, Therya lay in ruins, though workers were already rebuilding even in the early hours.
"Let's hope the city looks better when we return," Vane said, turning his gaze away from the wreckage.
Skar-Zhul lay in the center of Africa. They would have to travel west to reach it. Liro carried a map given to him by Alerya, luckily, it had survived the destruction.
"It's the second time we're working together, huh? I actually like working with you guys," Vane said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, we're like a team inside another team," Liro replied, checking the map and pointing the way.
"Our powers work well together," Darian added, with Snowy perched on his shoulder. "Vane can distract and strike, Liro plans our moves, and I can hit from a distance."
"You think Alerya grouped us for that reason?" Liro asked.
"Eh, maybe… or maybe we were just the ones left over," Vane shrugged.
Meanwhile, far away, the krukins had returned to their black planet after the attack.
"How did it go?" Eyrunik asked as they arrived.
"Not bad. We killed one of them! You should've seen their faces when their friend died," Leobruns replied.
"Yeah… just like what they did to our brothers and sisters. We'll get our revenge," Rhyhamr muttered.
A tall, human-shaped figure stepped forward, orange messy hair, half his face hidden by a mask of stone.
"Oh, Anacreon!" Leobruns greeted him.
"It's thanks to you that we can strike the humans. Your portals are invaluable," Eyrunik said.
"Hehe, thanks. But you do most of the work, I just open the doors and enjoy the show." Anacreon replied.
"We're planning the next attack. With Therya half-destroyed, they won't bother us anymore," he added, opening a map of the four main cities.
"Mhm… which one should we attack next?" Leobruns asked.
Anacreon smirked. "Like I'm supposed to know? That's Phocylides problem. I just make the mess possible."
As he walked away, Rhyhamr muttered, "He just likes watching humans suffer… I wonder if he even cares about revenge."
"Doesn't matter. Thanks to him, we get ours," Eyrunik replied.
Leobruns patted Rhyhamr's shoulder. "Don't worry. We're in the right. We have every reason to defend ourselves."
"…Right" Rhyhamr said quietly.
After seven long days of travel, Darian, Vane, and Liro finally stood before the towering gates of Skar-Zhul.