[IC] The Journey

[LastCinder]

The words from Red’s mouth didn’t faze Aaerynn in the slightest. She didn’t look at him, and didn’t even turn around to acknowledge him. Instead she tried again, this time heeding his words as she changed to underhand form. The horseshoe still landed far from the stick.

She paused momentarily, holding another horseshoe for yet another try. She didn’t care if any of them hated her. They should. Then they’d leave her the hell alone. That’s all she wanted. Aaerynn frowned as she threw the horseshoe and missed.

The wood elf only stopped at the interruption of Serna and to eat the bowl of porridge. By this point, Red had taken Rudolf to bed and there was no way she was going to get her money. Even so, she didn’t care; she just wanted to do it once.

---

Setna smiled softly as he was hit in the back by the red headed warrior.

"It gets better over time." Tirian told him.

It was a little hard for the Syndarean boy to believe. It was still haunting him, the memories of killing still unfurling beneath the corners of his mind. After hours on end, Setna just didn’t want to think about it anymore. He had one person that was depending on him to be strong. He had one person to protect, and it left a bad taste in his mouth to think about it, but he would put his sister’s life over others. If he had to kill in order to keep her safe, he would do it again.

He smiled though and replied, “Thanks.”

Setna just needed to stay wary over how much pleasure he got out of driving his blade through another man’s skin.

His eyes found his sister’s, who smiled as soon as he looked at her. Serna had worked hard to keep him safe. It was even their birthday, and all he had done was made her worry. So he gave her the best grin he could muster. “Shall we play?”

Setna was surprised however as Elrithos approached and tried his hand at it…and over shot it underhand.

‘’This really is harder than it looks."

Setna’s eyes widened as the desert elf began to laugh, and he too burst into laughter. He looked over to the wood elf, who seemed unamused but she had to be glad that she wasn’t the only one to have trouble. Setna grinned as he picked up a horseshoe and in one easy toss, hit the stick and watched the horseshoe ring around until it hit the ground.
He pumped his fist in excitement and looked at Serna, who had picked up a stray horseshoe. Setna puffed his cheek a bit as he watched his sister come up to try. “Don’t do it that girly way Serie.”

Serna just gave her brother a look and he shut up. The girl took the horseshow in two hands, and then lobbed it. It flipped once in the air before hitting the stick and Serna stood up straight with a smile. She turned to her brother, her smiling growing bigger.

“It’s girly, but it works.” She giggled as Setna stuck his tongue out at her and he went to go pick up the rings.

In the meantime, others took turns and Serna shyly went up to Caelis and Faith, asking if they wanted to play. Eventually, almost everyone was taking turns at pitching, and laughter had filled the air. Setna noticed that Aaerynn had moved into the background and he approached her with a horseshoe in hand. “Want me to teach you?”

The question came out a bit too bluntly, and the boy felt his spine shudder at the absolute disgust and annoyance that came off of the wood elf’s face. He didn’t give up though, as he held out the horseshoe toward her, much like his sister with the flower.

Aaerynn paused, her cold eyes looking into the face of the teenage boy. Setna felt like his face was being scanned, so he just grinned, hoping that she knew he wasn’t judging her for sucking. Eventually, the wood elf reached out and slowly took the horseshoe. Setna took that as an invitation, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. Aaerynn immediately tensed up and froze, allowing the twin to set her up at the proper distance from the stake.

“Now, you just lob it. You have to be really gentle though. Uh let’s see…it’s kind of like….like…” The boy paused, rubbing the back of his head.

Aaerynn just stood there, looking awkward and out of place. This was stupid, so incredibly stupid. The wood elf nearly turned to get away from the situation but the girl twin appeared and smiled.

“It’s l-like trying to throw an egg without cracking it. Or a b-baby bird without injuring it.” She finished the sentence for her brother, although it was filled with her shy stutter.

Setna smacked his fist against his open palm. “Right! You just want to barely hit the stake. Father always told us that it should flip in the air just once, before hitting the stick. He was the best at it…he could probably explain it better than we could. But try it anyway!”

Aaerynn just stood there, feeling out of place at suddenly being thrown into the center of attention. The two twins were beaming at her. She looked at their faces and felt her chest grow tight. They were children still. The boy had killed his first enemies today and the girl had to watch it, even had to stop her brother from continuing to desecrate a dead body. Yet here they were, smiling and laughing and looking at this game like it was the most important thing as of this moment. They were stupid…and perhaps she was stupid too.

She did as they instructed and lobbed it underhand. Her throw was gentle and finally it hit the stake with a ping.

Setna threw his fist into the air as he whooped, and even the shy Serna jumped a bit, her face lit up with happiness. Setna grinned wide and looked up at the elf. Aaerynn had displayed no outward sign of happiness, no outburst of excitement. But the teenage boy could see a sign of peace there. It was like her body had finally relaxed, as she bathed mentally in her own success. Setna’s smile turned into a soft one. The wood elf had displayed nothing but tightness and annoyance throughout the past couple of days, but the teenage boy could see there was more to it than that.

Aaerynn finally turned and retreated to a tree and the twins let her. She had only wanted to do it once and feeling accomplished, she moved out of the attention of the group to be on her own for the rest of the night.

The rest continued with the game, the twins eagerly helping whoever wanted to learn more, and finally their seemed to be happiness within the group as a whole, instead of the usual tense silence.

---

As the hours went by, one by one the group began to disperse and ready for bed. A few members stayed up as watch while the others went to sleep.

The twins fell asleep side by side. As the hours passed though, it was obvious that both were being tormented. Setna’s face was strained, his limbs flopping around in a nightmare while Serna’s face was pained, her body curled up into a ball.

Yet it wasn’t until the morning light that Setna jolted, sitting up with wide eyes and sweat beading across his brow. It took him a moment as he realized that it was morning and that the others were getting up and beginning their morning routines. It took him even longer to realize that this wasn’t a part of his dream, and as he wiped his forehead, his shoulders finally relaxed. It had been a dream, just a dream. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

He turned to get his sister up but all relaxation left his body as he saw her face. She was in obvious pain, her body tensed up and her small hand tightly holding onto her cloak pillow. Setna got on his knees and gently shook her shoulder. “Serie? Are you ok?” He mumbled, watching as an eye opened and his sister looked at him.

“Mmm…” She mumbled back and gave a tight smile. That just made Setna frown and he placed the back of his hand against her forehead. She was burning hot.

“Shit!” Setna got to his feet, rushing over to the spring. He ripped off a piece of his tunic, submerging it beneath the water then he came back to his sister who was already sitting up. “Stay down Serie, you’re sick.”

He tried to place the wet rag on her forehead but Serna just took it instead. She gave him a smile and shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s just a headache Set. Besides we can’t stop, right?”

Setna clenched his fists as he looked around the camp, at the others who were getting ready for another day of traveling. She was right. They couldn’t stop just for her. They had to keep moving. Setna’s eyes came back to his sister who had already got back to her feet. She wiped off her face with the rag and gave it back to her brother. She smiled gently as she said. “It’s ok.”

Setna took it, but his shoulders slumped, his hands tightening into fists.

For Serna, the presence of magic had always been inside her. She had always felt it. It just had never been strong until she had grown to a certain age. Now she could feel it flow through her veins on a constant basis, tingling her skin, always trying to find a place to settle. Usually it would stop, winding itself within her gut for a moment. But as the years went on and she kept it bundled up inside, the larger it grew.

She couldn’t hold it back any longer. The more she tried, the more the power grew agitated. It beat against the back of her head, made her neck tense and her stomach churn. It was an instinct that she had to hold back on, on a daily basis. When the bandit had grabbed her the day before, it had only made it worse. It had raged within her, pulsing along with her heart, begging to be unleashed, to be used. As her body had gone into fight or flight mode, her magic beat against its container, begging to help, begging to protect. Touching the sword had only made it even worse. For some reason, just touching the steel made the magic in her spike as if it was reacting to something.

Now she was left miserable, and shaking. Her head was aching in pain. She had been able to ignore it for most of the night while playing the game, but now it took out her ability to focus. Her brother helped her onto Deetri, and she slumped forward a bit as looking at the sunlight made the pain unbearable. She closed her eyes, hunched forward, her only thought was to just hold on and bare it.

Setna looked at her worriedly, frowning as he took the reins of the horse and began slowly leading it forward.

---

The group had a very short breakfast and was soon off traveling once more through the forest. The day was peaceful, not too hot nor too cold. The breeze shifting through the branches kept it comfortable for everyone.

Aaerynn, for the most part, had kept to herself since succeeding at horseshoes. She had slept very lightly, still distrustful of others taking the watch besides herself, but even so, she felt rested. She ate an apple from her own pack as breakfast, still unwilling to get close to anyone else. Then she mounted Baineth, preparing for the journey like everyone else.

As the caravan began to travel for a few hours, she stayed to the back like usual, but she was interested to see that the twins had as well. They were lagging behind, moving slowly and as Aaerynn looked at the female twin it became obvious as to why. The girl was obviously in pain. Aaerynn’s eyes took in the girl’s expression.

A sickness perhaps? It didn’t seem likely; she had shown no symptoms beforehand. There had been no mucus spewing out of her nose like typical human colds or flus. But something was wrong, and it wasn’t until the girl suddenly brought a hand to her head that Aaerynn understood. Headache, but it was more than that. That wood elf searched her thoughts. Some humans received headaches worse than usual, they were unable to take in the brightness or loudness of their surroundings. Her cold eyes returned to the girl once more. Those types of headaches made the person vulnerable, unable to deal with what was around them.

The wood elf searched her pack for some ingredients. Perhaps she had something that could help. She’d make Rudolf pay for it.

But as her hand reached a specific vial, the wind shifted, bringing a scent to the elf’s nose. Aaerynn stood up straight, sniffing again. Her eyes widened in horror. The female twin would have to wait as Aaerynn dug her knees into Baineth. “Asca!” She cried hurry in elvish and the mare immediately burst into a sprint.

She passed by the rest of the caravan, leaving Rudolf to call out to her. “Aaerynn?”

The wood elf ignored it, rushing forward until Baineth burst out of the trees and into a clearing that had been burned to ash.

Aaerynn forced the horse to a stop, as she looked around with wide eyes. It was nothing more than a clearing made of charcoal and ash. The trees around the clearing were destroyed, some had even been pushed over and others were left dead and leafless.

Aaerynn dismounted, looking around. The smell was what was getting to her. It smelled of burnt flesh and dead bodies and as she walked around her feet kicked into something. It was a leftover limb, a human’s arm that looked like it had been halfway eaten and spit out.

It was then that the caravan came through the trees and stopped. Rudolf got off of his cart and put a hand to his chest. “What in the Gods...”

Aaerynn picked up the arm and tossed it over so he could see. “An animal didn’t cause those bites.”

Rudolf immediately back stepped and looked down at it. He grimaced and walked around it, bending over to touch the ash that had piled up all over the ground. “Who would dishonor the wood elves in such a way? To cut down and burn their ancestors?”

Aaerynn felt her chest growing tighter and tighter until it was hard to breathe. The wolf god’s words came rushing to her mind…Darkness growing…

She continued looking around, running into bones and even the remains of a horse. It wasn’t until she found the half eaten remains of another body that she noticed a puddle of black goo. The wood elf crouched down and touched it with her fingers, she brought it to her nose and immediately flinched away. It smelled rancid, like rotting vegetables and burning hair. She flung it off her fingers, wiping her hand in the dirt. It had felt sticky and wet, like saliva, and Aaerynn frowned as she looked at the body, whose neck looked as if it had been bitten through.

“What isn’t an animal but has taken to eating flesh?” She called out to the group.

[Ikari]

Setna struck the pole with relative ease and quickly exclaimed with jubilance. The boy had attentive skills and could gauge his strength better than most his age. The Syndarean showed the abilities of a young warrior clearly to Tirian, even if he didn’t know it yet. Serna was the next traveler to attempt the toss, lobbing the metallic object with two hands exactly like a girl would. However, the horseshoe wrapped perfectly around the pole. Tirian smiled to himself as Setna congratulated his twin sister without hesitation. Their bond, and the love those two shared was something surely anyone could appreciate. Slowly, however, the night began to wind down and the travelers one by one set out for their own evening to themselves. Everyone in the caravan was either injured or incredibly worn from the day, and in some cases both. Tirian was neither tired nor injured, so the choice for watch came down to him or the desert elf Elrithos.

“I’ll take watch again, rest easy fellow travelers.”

Tirian would walk a circle around the camp rather than staying stationary in a tree, allowing him to better watch the camp site if he were to do it alone. The hours drug on for eternity, Tirian taking in each and every detail he could around the camp. A certain detail stood out to the soldier, and that was Serna. That pained face of hers reminded him of something he’d dealt with in the past. That built up magic sitting dormant and patient, waiting for the perfect moment to erupt and take over the body. Tirian would wait one more day to decide whether or not to force that magic out. If she refused then the magic would kill her and that wouldn’t be something the warrior wanted on his mind, not an innocent girl just traveling. Tirian readjusted the flower he’d received from the Syndarean girl, which had rested upon his right ear.

The morning sunrise came slow and steady over the horizon, a distinct red glow casting out over the land before Tirian’s blue eyes. The watchman returned to the campsite and woke the slumbering Dwarf, this time quietly to allow the others more rest. Time continued to tick on indiscriminately, waiting for no one and the others began to wake. Breakfast was simple and short with just enough nutrients to supply the group with the energy necessary to make it to next checkpoint. Just as the group had finished, the caravan depart once more in silence, comfortable silence however.

“May the gods bless our travels today.”

The red-haired warrior spoke aloud, not exactly directing his words towards a single person but more so to the group as whole. Tirian then took a seat in the rear most cart once more to allow his mind and body to rest peacefully. The first day without one of those gruesome nightmares plaguing every inch if his being. After some time had passed the warrior woke revived and energized, his eyes immediately taking in the twins, more specifically Serna. His worries were slowly becoming more apparent and true, that question he’d ask the previous day was starting to become more important as the time passed on. Before he could bring the troubles to the Syndarean twins Aaerynn suddenly rushed off without a word, blazing past Rudolf and into the immediate distance. Tirian scoffed under his breath for a moment as he hopped off the cart. The soldier joined Rudolf at the front of the pack with a very displeased face.

“It may be none of my business Rudolf, but someone needs to make it clear to Aaerynn that this is a group effort and everyone is held accountable for their actions. Running off like that just after we were attacked by bandits isn’t the smartest thing to do.”

Tirian kept his words and tone low so that only he and Rudolf could hear. It hadn’t been long before the caravan and carts entered the clearing that had been burnt to the ground. Tirian quickly drew his blade, the metal cutting through the air with a melodic whistle as it came to a stop on his right side. The smell of burnt bodies quickly hit Tirian in the stomach causing him to slide into high alert. Bodies scattered the ground cut, chewed and burned in the most merciless and mindless way. Whoever, or whatever had done his was not efficient in their ways. This was not thought out perhaps spur of the moment and it certainly wasn't something that was trained.

“Orcs.”

Tirian answered the question with a simple word as he sheathed the blade of his empire. It made sense, orcs attacked without warrant and reason aiming to only eat and kill. Tirian gripped his hands tightly into fists at the sight of burnt trees, elves who had passed on into the next realm. Tirian himself had elven blood running through his veins, this went from an attack to a very personal attack. He now knew why Aaerynn rushed ahead so fiercely. The soldier stepped forward ending his strides next to the wood elf with an angry gaze into the distance. Tirian could also see for the first time a hint of care and distress enter her beautiful eyes. The soldier found himself placing a gentle hand upon the wood elf's shoulder for consolation.

“Where there’s orcs there surely are trolls. I’m sorry Aaerynn, if only we were faster.”

[Rayn Night]

Although the atmosphere was still a little tense, there was still some joy from a simple game like this. Elrithos was enjoying himself really, as he was experiencing a challenge he was taking great care of overcoming. He had watched the techniques of the others after his own throw, wondering how lightly they went. It was very surprising to see human beings being so good at something like this. It was so mundane, yet, it proved that even without years upon years of living, you can be good or even great at something. The desert elf kept his light smile as he tried again too, but yet again, failed at his attempt. Clearly, he wasn’t that great, but it took it quite well.

Vordan, still sitting up, was watching this whole thing unfold. He also couldn’t help but keep a smile on his face. Finally, it wasn’t all about hating on each other. Sure, Tirian had been an ass towards Aaerynn but really, she probably deserved it. And so, Vordan crawled over to the nearest tree to lean his back against, simply relaxing and to his own things. His thoughts were lingering on many manners, but again, he wasn’t going to deep into the details for now. He had already enough problems with his own things… For now. He’d certainly do some snooping around. The first thing would be the sword, which he had a PRETTY good idea what it was now. It was to see if the twins had any idea.

Eventually, people had gone to make their resting place, Vordan going to sleep this time… Pretty hard too. Elrithos had stayed up with the red-haired warrior. Contrary to him though, Elrithos had stayed seated near the fire, his eyes closed. You could still see that he was alert, conscious of his surroundings. He seemed into a light, almost hypnotic trance. This technique was developed for the desert warfare, as this let warriors rest with their senses still being alert. It was never suggested to do it all the time as it would tire someone out quickly the following days, but it was a great technique for a single night of waiting for something to happen.

This had given him sometime to also think of what he saw earlier… What Tirian had done. Yes, it would have been necessary, but in such a brutish way? He wasn’t saying that he hadn’t done the same once in a while, but these were simple road bandits, barely able to fight. One stab to the heart, maybe the neck or swift decapitation… Not completely cutting someone in half. To add to it, his movements were not one of a human. He understood that humans were capable of great things, but his way of fighting was beyond human capability. Vordan had proven crafty, but you could clearly see, for a fighter, that he wasn’t of perfect skill. His thoughts lingered on the fact, knowing he would have to talk to him… eventually.

---

The morning was like any other for Vordan. Get some food, prepare some vials, make sure his gear was one properly, the works. Hopefully, they wouldn’t encounter anything. It would be a nice day if it was so. Luckily enough, he could simply keep his backpack in the cart. He would simply walked beside the cart that day until he needed to rest his feet. The only bad news was that he only had 8 bolts left for his six-shot, which meant every shot needed to count. Elrithos him simply warmed up like the other morning, practicing and stretching himself out for the horse ride.

Everything was going fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Vordan was whistling a simple tune, Elrithos riding on his horse. It would seem that the day was going to be a breeze, up until Aaerynn simply ran off. Vordan simply looked at her go… NOW she was showing some kind of sign of life. Although, it didn’t seem to be for anything good. Elrithos also noticed and would have followed closely, but it was best he stayed back. They would catch up to her, that’s for sure. It still worried the Aavikanian. Both of them had their weapons drawn.

The group approached the clearing, and already, Elrithos exposed his shock… Desecrated woods, littered body parts. What had happened? The elven warrior turned pale a moment, not being used to seeing something horrific. He looked around him from his horse, knowing that these trees had once been ancestors of these lands. It was one of many reasons why these woods were untouched by the human kingdoms. They knew better…

Vordan, on his hand, was looking around, inspecting. He didn’t seem so shocked, just surprised. He walked around, looking at the damage. He was even going to inspect the wounds of the half eaten bodies, the black goop on the ground. He stopped beside the small pool of liquid and looked at it, pulling out a vial. He scooped some inside of the small glass container and looked at it closely. He wondered one moment, thinking what could have cause all this… Then he heard the Red haired warrior’s answer Orcs… Really? Orcs? That was his big answer? Was he stupid or did he just not notice everything around. He stood straight and looked forward, then back towards Tirian.

“Are you serious kid? Do you really think Orcs are capable of this? Look around you.” He opened his arms wide, turning on himself with crossbow at hand. “THIS is not caused by savage tribes. And Trolls wouldn’t hang anywhere near this kind of source of fire.” With that, he went back towards the cart that had his backpack, starting to rearrange a couple of things on him, changing vials. He thought about it quickly, the possibilities that could be. He spoke his opinions out loud as he sorted through his stuff.

“ It could probably be Canem Abyssum (Spoken in old dead language). Simply put; abyssal hounds. Slaughter, fire, desecration of woods. I would be something they would do. Although, with the black liquid on the ground over there, there might be undeath. The dead trees would serve that proof. Maybe a Murmur Ad Ignem, even a Tantibus or an Igneus Temerator. One thing for sure, it’s nothing that’s supposed to be walking on this plane of existence.”

Elrithos looked at him oddly… What was he talking about? He didn’t understand what he was talking about. Vordan wouldn’t explain himself for now, but he had some holy water somewhere in his bag… He was looking for it.

[Heyitsjiwon]

The next day was a return to a daily norm. Morning consisted of the usual ritual with Caelis cursing the dawning sun, and waking up the heavy sleeping Faith. The journey itself was mainly silent except for the occasional small talk or comment. In fact, Caelis had grown accustom to use the time to reflect, think and meditate on his life or sometimes to just enjoy the sounds that came from the forest. The birds chirping, the squirrel scurrying about, and one particular annoying mosquito that had been following the caravan for the past hour. It seemed to enjoy whizzing back and forth from different points of the group, driving Caelis slightly insane. Thus, he was relieved when the mosquito finally left, and let silence befall the caravan.

Unfortunately, this was a very short lasting relief because Caelis then soon realized how silent the entire forest had fallen. Something was amiss. It was only a few moments later that the wood elf had rapidly went on, past the caravan, as if death were chasing her. Caelis would remain confused by her sudden decision to go ahead all of a sudden for a few seconds later when Caelis received the distinct, acrid scent of smoke. A several seconds later Caelis slightly gagged. He was hit by a smell that he didn't smell often, but he knew it because it had seared itself into his memory the first time that he smelled it. The smell of burning people.

Faith's face contorted in disgusted from the smell and she asked "What is that?" Caelis reached into his bag and pulled out a scarf that he usually used for cold days. He handed it to Faith and said "Cover your nose with this. It should help." as he also silently prayed for he already knew what laid ahead. Despite all the mental preparation, Caelis was still somewhat taken back when the scene had come to view. Faith gave a quiet gasp and then muttered "W-w...wha is this?" Caelis said "You don't have to look. Wait in the wagon if you want to." He then walked forward to get closer to the scene. Caelis felt somewhat thankful for his poor eyesight. The sight of mutilated bodies was something that even the most hardened criminals would be taken back from. So, Caelis was immune to the sight, but his nose was being violated by the putrid stench.

The smell was all that was needed for Caelis to understand exactly what had happened. Caelis came upon the remains of a body. He got to his knees and began digging with his hands. The soil was brittle and dry. Without a doubt it was because of the fire, but this made it pretty east to dig. While he dug the others talked about what had caused this travesty. Orcs were brought up, and it was a reasonable answer, but not all orcs were savage beasts. He had in fact met some civilized orcs during his travels, and even once met a proud, noble orc chieftain once who was far from being a brainless murderer. On top of that, orcs typically dislike the daylight, so unless there was something very important then most orcs wouldn't fight in the middle of the day. Trolls wouldn't even try to fight in the light. It seemed to burn them physically, or at least that's what Caelis had heard.

Vordan then mentioned that whatever attacked was probably not even of this world. That was a bit more outlandish answer, but it still made some sense. Regardless, what ever did this was little more than an animal. Caelis finally stopped digging, and then pulled the mutilated body into the shallow grave. He then did his best to cover the body. Caelis closed his eyes and offered a moment of silence in respect. During his short vigil, Caelis heard someone come right next to him, and get on their knees. Soon, he heard a very familiar voice muttering a quick prayer. A moment later, Caelis opened his eyes, and moved on to the next body. It was already too late for these people, but there was still something that they could do for them other than to try and figure out what had happened.

[Heyitsjiwon]

Double Post

[Heyitsjiwon]

The next day was a return to a daily norm. Morning consisted of the usual ritual with Caelis cursing the dawning sun, and waking up the heavy sleeping Faith. The journey itself was mainly silent except for the occasional small talk or comment. In fact, Caelis had grown accustom to use the time to reflect, think and meditate on his life or sometimes to just enjoy the sounds that came from the forest. The birds chirping, the squirrel scurrying about, and one particular annoying mosquito that had been following the caravan for the past hour. It seemed to enjoy whizzing back and forth from different points of the group, driving Caelis slightly insane. Thus, he was relieved when the mosquito finally left, and let silence befall the caravan.

Unfortunately, this was a very short lasting relief because Caelis then soon realized how silent the entire forest had fallen. Something was amiss. It was only a few moments later that the wood elf had rapidly went on, past the caravan, as if death were chasing her. Caelis would remain confused by her sudden decision to go ahead all of a sudden for a few seconds later when Caelis received the distinct, acrid scent of smoke. A several seconds later Caelis slightly gagged. He was hit by a smell that he didn't smell often, but he knew it because it had seared itself into his memory the first time that he smelled it. The smell of burning people.

Faith's face contorted in disgusted from the smell and she asked "What is that?" Caelis reached into his bag and pulled out a scarf that he usually used for cold days. He handed it to Faith and said "Cover your nose with this. It should help." as he also silently prayed for he already knew what laid ahead. Despite all the mental preparation, Caelis was still somewhat taken back when the scene had come to view. Faith gave a quiet gasp and then muttered "W-w...wha is this?" Caelis said "You don't have to look. Wait in the wagon if you want to." He then walked forward to get closer to the scene. Caelis felt somewhat thankful for his poor eyesight. The sight of mutilated bodies was something that even the most hardened criminals would be taken back from. So, Caelis was immune to the sight, but his nose was being violated by the putrid stench.

The smell was all that was needed for Caelis to understand exactly what had happened. Caelis came upon the remains of a body. He got to his knees and began digging with his hands. The soil was brittle and dry. Without a doubt it was because of the fire, but this made it pretty east to dig. While he dug the others talked about what had caused this travesty. Orcs were brought up, and it was a reasonable answer, but not all orcs were savage beasts. He had in fact met some civilized orcs during his travels, and even once met a proud, noble orc chieftain once who was far from being a brainless murderer. On top of that, orcs typically dislike the daylight, so unless there was something very important then most orcs wouldn't fight in the middle of the day. Trolls wouldn't even try to fight in the light. It seemed to burn them physically, or at least that's what Caelis had heard.

Vordan then mentioned that whatever attacked was probably not even of this world. That was a bit more outlandish answer, but it still made some sense. Regardless, what ever did this was little more than an animal. Caelis finally stopped digging, and then pulled the mutilated body into the shallow grave. He then did his best to cover the body. Caelis closed his eyes and offered a moment of silence in respect. During his short vigil, Caelis heard someone come right next to him, and get on their knees. Soon, he heard a very familiar voice muttering a quick prayer. A moment later, Caelis opened his eyes, and moved on to the next body. It was already too late for these people, but there was still something that they could do for them other than to try and figure out what had happened.

[Heyitsjiwon]

Edit.

[Heyitsjiwon]

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[LastCinder]

Aaerynn felt the hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Tirian’s face full of just as much rage as she felt. He apologized to her and the wood elf shook it off as she returned to her feet. Orcs were plausible. It had been so long since she had traveled through here, she didn’t know any longer what could be growing, what new creatures had invaded and were taking up space. The wolf god’s words were the only thing repeating through her mind. She didn’t know what this was, or who could have pulled it off.

What she could feel however, was pain.

The wood elf walked over to a dead tree and placed her hand on it. The grief was overwhelming, the pain fresh and filling her entire core. The grief of her own and that of the dead ones here were mixing and merging, emptying out her body so only pain remained. She crouched down and touched the ash. The sadness inside her burst open and she could feel the darkness stretch through her core and wrap around her heart. Her chest grew cold and her ribs grew tight. She stiffened as her hand clenched some of the ash with her fingers. The wood elf closed her eyes and she was no longer in the clearing. Instead she was in a field, wrapped up in the arms of a man, whose blue eyes were like the sky and whose dark hair grew long and curled about his face. She could still smell him, and feel his smooth skin against her own. She could hear his voice in her ear, feel the scruff on his chin as he rubbed it against her bare shoulder. She could feel his calloused hands pull her in tighter, holding her safely.

Aaerynn’s body trembled as she stared blankly at the ash. The memory shifted, as it always did, to a different day in front of a wooden farm house. The same man that had held her so fiercely now stood distanced from her. She could see his eyes filled with rage and sadness, his hands gesturing at her, his usually soft voice, loud and overbearing. She could see herself reach out to him with confusion, her hand catching onto his tunic. Then she could feel the way his calloused hands shoved her away, forcing her back with such might that she fell. She could still feel the hard dirt beneath her, and could still hear those words, what had once been love filled, were now wretched. Instead of ‘stay’ it was now ‘leave.’ Instead of love there was hate.

Aaerynn’s breath turned into gasps as her hands clutched at the ash beneath her feet. The memory made its final turn to a dark and cold night. The man now stood in front of her, rugged and aged. There were wrinkles at the corners of his bright eyes, and his beard had filled out. He had been larger then, the years of farm work making his arms and back much more muscular than when he was younger. His eyes were wide with fear, and he ushered her away. His deeper voice was pleading, and urging. Yet she was frozen there, a mix of emotion. She had seen the spear too late, seen the enemies too late in the dim light of the torches. Yet she could still feel the warmth of his blood on her face, as it splattered there and then slowly dripped down her skin. She could still see his body as he lurched forward, and continued to stare at her until his eyes grew cloudy. She could still remember the feelings then, the feelings of love and loss…and bitterness.

---

Setna and Serna were the last to approach the clearing, and the teenage boy put his arm over his nose as the smell got to him. He looked up at his sister, seeing her pained expression. “Don’t open your eyes ok? I’ll be right back, just stay there!” He told her before entering the clearing himself.

There was nothing left but a mix of bodies, ash and bones. Setna felt his stomach churn as he placed a hand over his mouth. He walked over to Rudolf, as his eyes caught sight of Aaerynn and Tirian. He watched as Rudolf touched some ash and exclaimed, ““Who would dishonor the wood elves in such a way? To cut down and burn their ancestors?”

Setna became confused as he looked at the ash. “Ancestors?”

Rudolf finally noticed him, and the expression on the dwarf’s face was that of grief and sympathy. “The wood elves rarely die, boy. It is said that they can only fall through battle wounds, or through grief and sadness. It is also said that they are born with a seed in their heart, so when they do finally pass on to the next life, their bodies leave behind these trees as a sign of their existence.”

Setna’s gaze immediately went to the trees as he took in Rudolf’s explanation. Rudolf looked up as well. “These trees here are the remains of the ancestors to the wood elves of Furus. For someone to burn them down like this…it is a great disrespect.”

The boy frowned at the information, and ventured forward, watching where he stepped. It was then that he caught onto the conversation going on about what had caused it. Orcs and trolls were passed around, but then Vordan went into a full explanation of something like hell hounds, and all kinds of weird sounding creatures. The boy frowned as he looked down and scuffed some ash with his boot. “Um…isn’t it just as likely that some campfires grew out of control?”

He paused as he put in his two cents on the situation. “I mean…perhaps there was more than one. The group here got attacked by something and then the fire spread? I guess it doesn’t really explain how it was put out though…”

The boy turned quiet and instead looked over at Aaerynn who seemed slightly frozen, crouched down with her hand on the ash. Setna began to approach her, and reached out his hand to put on her shoulder, but like a whip she turned, her hand snatching onto his wrist with a vice like grip. Her eyes looked up at him, clouded and hollow at first. Setna just stood there, his eyes wide and slowly the wood elf seemed to come back to her senses. Her grip loosened and she stood with her back facing him. “What do you want?” Her voice was cold, but it also sounded tired and sad.

The teenager frowned, rubbing his wrist. “Just wanted to see if you were ok…You seem out of it Miss Aaerynn.” The teenager bit his lip. “I mean…I’m sorry, about your ancestors.”

Aaerynn just nodded her head. “I’m fine.” She said it quietly and moved on, heading over to her horse.

Setna watched her, his frown growing as the wood elf buried her face in the mare’s side. Today was just not a good day. Eventually he caught sight of Caelis and Faith, and he made his way over to help dig the shallow grave for the rest of the remains.

As everything was buried and the group was left standing and continuing to try and figure out what happened, Rudolf stood and sighed. “As much as I would like to know what happened as I’m sure the rest of you want to know, I am afraid it is not the purpose of our journey. I am hoping to exit this forest by tomorrow and if we continue to stay here, that will not be an option. So I ask that we continue forward, and try to make sure that we do not fall to the same fate as these travelers.”

Setna’s eyebrows furrowed at the news. It didn’t feel right to just leave this clearing as it was. But the old dwarf had told them the truth; it wasn’t the purpose of their journey. They were being paid to bring supplies to the next continent, they couldn’t tie themselves up here, much like they couldn’t stop for his sister.

It didn’t feel good, but they had to continue forward.

---

The rest of the day was spent traveling in a somber silence. Everyone seemed slightly unnerved by what they had witnessed earlier, but they were continuing to trudge forward until Rudolf made the motion that they would stop for the night.

The campfire was made with diligence and with an attempt to keep as much of the camp lighted as they could. Hopefully the light would be able to ward off the darkness of the woods.

Instead of distancing herself, Aaerynn sat close to the fire, letting it warm her face as she held herself tightly. The grief was overpowering her, and the memories were reaching out to her from the corners of her mind, begging to be replayed and remembered. Her body was exhausted from the strain, and her mind was fuzzy with pain and sadness. She didn’t care about making sure everyone was far away from her. She didn’t care anymore.

Instead she tried thinking of other things, anything to keep herself distracted from the emptiness slowly consuming her. Her gaze shifted to Red who was busy helping with the fire. He had acted strangely earlier in the clearing. His voice had held rage at the sight of the burnt trees and she couldn’t understand why. The others that knew of the circumstances had been sympathetic and sad, but he had rage in his voice and face. He had been angry. Why?

Aaerynn had obviously never been the type to be observant. Things never came to her easily, mostly because she didn’t care much for others. Years of being on her own made her only observant of her own needs for survival. Things going on for others never came to her attention.

Yet as she thought things over, they usually came into place. For instance, Red had shown an almost inhuman strength. He had sliced through bodies cleanly as if he were cutting through air. That night when she had caught him practicing his archery, he had been slow, but his form was different from usual humans. He had also been mumbling something too… Other than archery, he had been noticeably more agile than the rest. And today, he had shown just as much rage as she had felt.

Aaerynn stood up, wanting to forget her grief and pain, and she approached Red, a theory popping up in her mind. She held one of her arms as she became cautious as she got closer to him. "Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes shifted to the rest of the group. "Perhaps in private?"

It came out as a slow whisper. She didn’t really know what she was doing, but she didn’t care anymore, honestly. She was so tired, she wanted some type of interaction to forget her own pain.

-Tirian had kept to himself after the desecrated land of the elves, only breaking thought at the sound of a certain elf. Her words came out quiet and low and it was obvious this was something that would be important.

"It would depend on what you wanted to ask, but sure I'll humor you. Lead the way."

She walked away from the group a bit, but was wary enough to not edge too forward into the darkness. It was obvious that she was carrying herself differently, as if she were exhausted and full of pain. Her eyes expressed the ages of loneliness that she had lived. Finally she looked at him, her words were soft and uncertain. "You are...different aren't you? A good different I mean...not to be...." She paused, her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she tried to get her words across. "You aren't fully human, are you?"

-Tirian furrowed eyebrows at the question, could he trust this person? This elf that’d shown hate and distrust towards everyone in the group. Tirian knew Aaerynn had been in pain due to the desecrated lands. Elves feel the pains of their ancestors from the afterlife.

"Why should I trust you with that information?"

Aaerynn's eyes shifted back and forth as she tried to think. In all honesty she didn't have a reason. She had shown no evidence of being a trustful person. Really, she just wanted to know to know. She didn’t even know what she was doing. Why had she even bothered with this conversation? She couldn’t really figure it out herself. Perhaps, deep down, she wanted someone that understood how she felt. Perhaps she was just looking to see if he knew what she was going through. The pain that came from having her ancestors desecrated, and knowing there was someone that knew the vast difference between human and elf.

She rubbed her arm, feeling the grief in her chest expand, the loneliness making her chest grow cold and lifeless. Eventually she looked up at him. "I suppose I don't have a reason, besides the fact that I have no one to tell..."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. "I just wanted to know...if there were wood elves in your lands like there are in Furus...if they were the same, I suppose."
Tirian nodded solemnly before replying.

"The wood elves of my land are similar in appearance but different in actions. Blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes just like Furus elves. However Thailand elves are much nicer and more open to accept outsiders."

Tirian looked away for a moment, his words on the tip of his tongue for the briefest of moments as his decision came quickly.

"My mother Allynn Runetheil was the Queen of the elven empire Imladris."

Aaerynn's eyes widened slightly as he relayed his secret onto her. She hadn't really been expecting it. The secret itself was somewhat hard to believe, but her eyes turned to the sword at his side. The blade had sung when he used it, and it had cut through bodies as if they were nothing. There was no doubt that it was an elven blade, and a blade of great importance and power. "I see..."

It was the only thing she could say really. The only words that came to mind. So there were elves in Thialea as well. She looked down at the ground, crossing her arms in front of her chest. And red was half elf. It became clear to her a bit more now. "The um...The only unfriendly elves here are the North Wood elves. They tend to keep to themselves. I'm not...I don't really....represent my race, so...."

She turned quiet, her gaze lingering on the campfire.

Tirian’s voice broke her out of her thoughts as he said, "I don't think you're a bad person. You just need to learn to trust people."

Tirian gave Aaerynn a gentle smile before walking back towards the camp, only to stop and whisper one more thing to the elf.

"I trust you with this information. I expect some trust as well. Don't worry the pain goes away after a while."

Aaerynn looked up at him with surprise as he finally walked away. Not a bad person, huh? The wood elf frowned, and looked at the ground. She tried holding onto the new information as she returned to the campfire and sat down. Anything was better than the memories creeping into her soul.

---

The twins had taken up their own small space beside the fire. Serna had become more responsive, but it was mostly for the sake of her worried brother. She helped with dinner as best she could, trying to remain focused on something else besides the pain in her head. But after dinner she laid down, unwillingly to move except to quietly converse with her twin.

On the inside, she wondered whether or not she was dying.

Her dark eyes looked up at her brother; he was sitting beside her, talking about silly things. She couldn’t really hear him anymore as her skull felt like it was being crushed in. But she could take in his face, his smile and the worry that was clear in his eyes. Serna didn’t want to die like this. Her brother had done everything he could to save her, but what if she couldn’t be saved?

Would this be the last time she got to see him smile? The last time she got to somewhat hear his voice? The last time she got to see her own eyes in his face? The last time she would be able to stay beside him?

Slowly she reached out her hand to touch his. She wanted to remember this moment, always. She wanted to remember what it was like to be with him, to have her brother beside her again. But there was regret within her too, and pain. She wanted to see her mother one last time. She wanted to hug her mother and tell her that she loved her. She wanted to see her father one last time, to tell him that she was sorry for being born this way. She wanted to see her old friends, and their old cow on the farm, and she wanted to see the Syndarean sky one last time.

But she wouldn’t get that, and neither would her brother. What would happen to him if she died here? Her grip on her brother’s hand tightened, and Setna looked down at her with worry. He quietly grasped her hand just as tight and the twins remained like that, holding each other’s hand as the night continued on.

---

Watch was brought up, but it was rather clear that no one would be sleeping soundly this night. The memory of the burnt clearing was at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
As the hours ticked on and most of the party had been lying down, they came. They came in a horde, and the campfire was lost to darkness.

Aaerynn was the first to rise, having heard the sound of running feet. Yet as she stood they jumped, and she was ambushed by raking claws and the dribbling mouths of goblins. They overtook the party in a matter of seconds. They went for the elves first, and Aaerynn found herself taken to the ground by the creatures.

“We’ve been waiting!” “The elf the elf!” “Get the elf!” “Take the elf!” “Heart, heart, get the heart!”

The creatures were muttering nonsense, and Aaerynn screamed in annoyance as she tried to get them off her. But one after the other they dragged her down. They ripped open her shirt and she could feel hands grasp at her skin, she tried pulling them off but another would return. Nails dug into her and the wood elf screamed in pain. A goblin sat on her chest, brandishing a knife. “We’ve waited! We hoped they would come! We killed the trees! Killed the trees! And you came! You came, the elf came! We’ll take and take and take!”

Aaerynn grit her teeth trying to pull them off her, but more creatures held onto her arms. Her eyes widened as the goblin’s blade plunged into her chest, it dug into her collarbone and ripped into her shoulder. She screamed, but used the anger to throw the creatures off her, as she jumped to her feet. In one swoop she unsheathed her dagger and cut the head off the goblin that injured her.

The goblins had seized a cart, rocking it until it fell over, spilling its contents onto the forest floor and frightening the oxen. They were met by the swift swipe of an axe as Rudolf came to protect his cargo. But the group was outnumbered and it only grew worse…

---

Setna sat up in the chaos, unsheathing his blade. He woke his sister, telling her to hide but Serna couldn’t hear him. She couldn’t hear anything over the thunderous noise of screaming and marching feet. After urging her on, the Syndarean boy ran over to Caelis and Faith who were overcome by the monsters. One had grabbed a hold of the young girl’s hair and Setna didn’t hesitate as he brought his blade into the goblin and shoved it away from the young girl.

Serna slowly stood, all out of sorts as the pain in her head only grew stronger. The creatures left her alone for the most part, as they only focused on the carts and the elves, and anyone attempting to stop them.

She was the first one to notice the vibration in the ground as something big came. She turned to where it was coming from and her eyes widened. Vordan had been taken down and he looked dazed as he tried to get to his feet. Serna didn’t know what was wrong, but as a shadow came closer and closer through the darkness, the young girl knew she had to do something. She started running, and urged the mercenary to move or to run.

He either couldn’t hear her or just didn’t, until the girl was standing in front of him as the shadow emerged to reveal a giant cave troll being ridden by a goblin like a mount. The cave troll stopped and raised his arms to crush them.

Serna didn’t know why she did it, or how, but she raised her arms, and the power leapt from her body, unable to be held back any longer. A flashing light lit up the camp, causing a stun and a stop to the chaos, for just a moment.

Serna stood with a purple iridescent barrier above her, shielding herself from the cave trolls massive arms. However just as quickly as the shield appeared, blood soon dripped down from the girl’s nose as she continued to try and hold it. The cave troll wound his arms up one more time and smashed it down on the shield.

Serna let out a gasp of pain, her eyes wide as the shield cracked, and more blood flowed down her nostrils.

One last time the troll raised its arms, and then beat down on the shield.

This time the magic barrier finally shattered, releasing shards of iridescent light that broke apart into dust.

Serna’s arms fell limp to her sides. Her eyes lost their life as she gave another horrific gasp that sounded as if she were drowning, and blood oozed from her lips and further down her nose. Her body crumpled, and the only thing that was heard was Setna’s cry.

“NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!”

He had already started running towards her, and as the troll wound up to crush her, Setna tackled her down. They were sent rolling across the grass, Setna holding tightly to his sister. Once they stopped, the boy sat up with Serna’s limp body in his arms. Setna desperately wiped away the blood from her nose, but that was when the seizures kicked in. Her body convulsed and the boy tried remembering what he knew, the training that he had. But he was freezing up, as his sister’s blood covered his hands and tears filled his eyes. “No…no…Serie…Serie…no.”

The tears billowed and slid down his face as he rolled her onto his side and put her head on his lap so she wouldn’t further injure herself. He didn’t know what to do. What was he supposed to do!? He looked up trying to hold in his sobs as he held onto his sister with all his might.

---

Aaerynn had picked up her bow as the light blinded the camp and the female twin stood with a magical barrier summoned before her. She had watched as just as it had come, it was shattered and the girl’s body was sent to the ground, practically lifeless.

Using her dagger to slice into another goblin, she watched as the boy twin saved his sister from being crushed, and that was when she called for Baineth. She grabbed onto her horse, letting the mare sprint ahead to the twins where she jumped off and raced forward with her pack in hand. With two fingers, the wood elf made a long and loud whistle that burst through the camp. It wasn’t long before the rush of paws on dirt filled the campsite and wolves burst through the tree line, their jaws snatching into goblin flesh.

As Aaerynn got closer to the twins, that was when she saw the scribbler who looked disoriented, and the female elf quickly ran over to him first. She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulder, dragging him towards the twins where she dropped him slowly. “Come on you stupid scribbler, get it together!” She said through gritted teeth.

After dropping him she ran over to the twins, and knelt down next to Serna. “Tell me what you know so I can help her.”

Setna looked up at her with wide eyes, tears still slipping down his cheeks. “I-I-I d-don’t know…I…it’s…”

Aaerynn was already searching through her bag. Her voice was cold yet calm and stern. “C’mon boy, talk to me. She has magic right? Is this a kickback? How do your people deal with this situation?”

Setna swallowed the mucus in his throat, holding tightly onto his sister. “Y-Yes…uh this is…the barrier magic kickback…um…its seizures, and bleeding. I don’t…I don’t know what we did…uh my people in training…we had…there was a pill to help it but…I don’t know.”

Aaerynn remained silent as she grabbed a vile, and wiped away the bloody foam leaking from the girl’s lips. “Tilt her so I can give her this.”

Setna did as she instructed, but his mind was beginning to fade. His arms were shaking and he couldn’t focus as his chest constricted. His eyes looked toward Aaerynn who was carefully pouring the vial’s contents into his sister’s mouth and attempting to help her swallow. His eyes however focused on the elf’s shoulder, which was bleeding rapidly. “Y-You’re injured….the blood…the blood is black…is it supposed to be black?”

Aaerynn grimaced at the questioning as she continued to work. “Shut up and focus on your sister right now, not me.”

Setna did as he was told, and his eyes widened as slowly Serna’s body began to calm and the seizure passed. Blood was still oozing from her nose and her ears but it was stopping. Tears filled Setna’s eyes and he looked up to thank the elf but that was when his eyes widened in horror.

Aaerynn stared at his face before looking behind her. A troll was charging their way and the wood elf immediately stood, she brandished her bow and began shooting. The pain in her shoulder however knocked off her aim, and it took to many shots for her to hit the goblin rider in the head. The troll continued rushing forward and her arrows were making no impact on it. The wood elf grimace and unsheathed her dagger once more. She had had enough, and the anger in her made her heart thud in her chest.

“Come on!!” She screamed at it.

[Ikari]

Tirian took in the words of Vordan only for a second before bursting out in laughter. Such an absurd claim, abyssal hounds and undeath. Any person with a pair of eyes and attention to details would know this black substance was that of orc saliva, simply feeling the consistency of the foul liquid would give enough evidence for the claim. Tirian shook his head with clear disbelieve in the obviously manic ‘mercenary’ and his ridiculous claims. Blue eyes looked over to the desert elf Elrithos who seemed to be lost in the words of Vordan. Setna was the next to speak with some sort of sense trying to best explain what happened here.

“Whatever the cause, it’s clear that these things were after someone or something. There’s no reason for something this merciless. We should proceed with caution until we find who, or in worst case scenario what did this.”

Everything fell to silence however, and Tirian began to bury what he could to honor the deceased. He may be a monster in combat with no regards to human life, but in this situation Tirian did not know these men. They deserved the burial of any innocent human being. Burying the mutilated bodies did not take long, neither did everyone regrouping and hastily leaving the clearing in the past. Yet as Tirian walked he had one thing on his mind, what the hell did this and what were they after?

Tirian left point to Rudolf and drug on behind the caravan just in case someone, or something decided their caravan looked appetizing to raid. It was very clear the soldier was on edge as every sound in the distance caused him to snap his eyes over with a tightened grip on the hilt of his weapon. Time passed agonizingly slow until Rudolf found a suitable place to rest for the night. Tirian found himself distanced from the group, eyes watching the horizon for any sign of movement. The soldier drifted off into a trance until the sound of soft footsteps approached from the camp, Aaerynn of all people.

-"Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes shifted to the rest of the group.

Perhaps in private?"-

Tirian stood up to a full posture eyeing over the elf. It was obvious she wasn’t herself, especially if she wanted to talk to him in private. Blue orbs glanced over to the camp to take in who was doing what, then back to the grieving elf before him.

"It would depend on what you wanted to ask, but sure I'll humor you. Lead the way."

---

Tirian walked back to the camp after the brief conversation with Aaerynn and returned to his position against the distant tree. His gaze quickly fixated on the horizon and once more he found himself in a trance-like state. How long passed before Tirian fell into a light slumber? One, no maybe two hours at the very most. Tirian snapped his eyes open at the sound of stampeding feet approaching with no signs of letting up. Tirian quickly stood to his feet and unsheathed the weapon just in time to cut down two goblins before they could overpower him.

“Shit!”

Tirian exclaimed loudly as he rolled out of the way of a massive axe that hurled itself into a tree. Several orcs emerged from the distance holding chains that lead to a massive beast of horror. Tirian’s eyes widen at the sight of what seemed like a gigantic humanoid nearly four times his own size. The soldier wasted no time as he exploded forward in an attempt to end this behemoth of a beast before it could be unleashed. His attempt was quickly faltered as his blade simply hit skin and stopped. The orcs released the chains and Tirian was viciously kicked in the stomach. The massive beast let forth with a punch that brought Tirian to his knees. The Durandal prince refused to give up as he continued to whirl around and slice his opponent the best he could. Tirian ducked a slow haymaker and rolled away before the monstrosity could react. Tirian jumped forward with a horizontal slice, only nicking the skin. The behemoth slammed five more fists into the soldier before he was kicked away with ferocious strength into a nearby tree. The soldier let out a grunt of pain as he spit out a small collection of blood.

Tirian cautiously got to his feet and stepped to the side, then backwards trying to think of a way out of this situation. He would have no help, everyone else had just as much on their plate as he did. Then it happened, that purple iridescent light erupted into the camp and gave Tirian exactly the motivation he needed. Worried eyes looked over to Serna for a moment feeling some sadness and rage enter his heart but now he had the key to victory. Tirian stood straight for a moment and suddenly his body erupted with electricity that crackled and shot off of his skin. The ground beneath him began to split open as the fierce electricity began to settle into every inch of his body.

“Ten minutes is all I’ve got.”

The solider spoke to himself and began counting down the time before he’d be rendered useless. Tirian stepped forward with confidence not seen before. The monstrous behemoth burst forward with a straight punch to end the soldier's life. Tirian easily ducked down to avoid his opponent then with agility, jumped into a vertical slash that split the beast in half. Tirian spun around three times in midair cutting the beast into portions effectively ending this fight.

However, Aaerynn let out a battle scream soon after the portions of the behemoth landed onto the ground. Blue eyes snapped over to the wood elf who was now protecting the twins from a cave troll that began rushing forward. Tirian took in a heavy breath before rushing forward much faster than he’d ever shown. The red-haired soldier jumped and landed in front of the trio of injured travelers. Tirian raised his left hand and felt the heat radiate off of it. Suddenly a massive stream of flame came from his hand for only a second to halt the progress of the cave troll. The static still rolled off of the red-haired warrior, who now took it upon himself to protect these three. He still had six minutes left and by that time everything would need to settle. It was that or force the magic to end early and risk not having the strength to fight off the rest of the forces. He made the decision to cut the magic short and immediately the setbacks could be felt.

“Stay behind me. I won’t let this beast past me. Aaerynn keep our sides safe if you can, call out to me what you can’t get. We’re going to make it through this!”

Tirian stood firm, breathing heavily as his body became somewhat numb, and his fingers not able to grip tightly together to allow those powerful movements. Tirian would now move slow and clunky but he would not give up until his heart did. He would protect these people, and would not allow failure again.

[Rayn Night]

It was a horrible sight to say the least, and really, most of the people seemed stricken by it. Elrithos, knowing the history of these woods and what he was seeing before him, even Lissandra would be down on her knees in tears. The desert elf got off his horse and silently prayed for the poor souls that had been ravaged by whatever dared to do this. Of course, he couldn’t ignore the words of the Red-Haired warrior or Vordan. He could honestly say he knew nothing of the creatures that might have done this kind of thing, although the dead trees and the burnt ones were probably not done by something said natural. Was it abyssal or undeath? That seemed quite farfetched, then again, not impossible. With that in mind, he remained silent and in prayer.

Vordan heard the Tirian laugh at him. He could go ahead and laugh all he wanted. The mercenary knew he might be way off, but it simply seemed that way. Whatever did this was clearly not of this world. Yes, it could have been it attack, but the dead trees and how things were burnt, it couldn’t simply be an orc attack. Something greater was at work. In all cases, he would be ready. He finally scavenged his bag to get a couple vials and flasks on his belt, made sure they were secure before he closed his bag up and had his crossbow and the ready. It was still relatively fresh, which meant that the attack wasn’t that long ago. Some might say he wasn’t showing much sympathy, and it was true. He wasn’t going to do it until he was safe. He had his weapon raised, simply looking around, making sure nothing would jump them.

---

It truly was a quiet ride to their next resting site. Both Elrithos and Vordan had been on high alert since they had seen that mindless defiling of the forest. They couldn’t be too far, and yet, it seemed like they would never come either. They had made it through another day, even if it was one that created heavy emotions. Elrithos did as he always did first, letting the equipment off of his horse and letting it graze on the grass. He had been worried for the wood elf as she seemed pained by what she had seen. He could not blame her, yet it was painful to see her in such a way. It was like robbing graves to these people and it was a great sign of disrespect that no one should dare give. But was he going to talk to her about it? No… It wasn’t time to make the wounds worst. With a quiet sigh, he simply went to the campfire to meditate in silence.

Vordan did as he usually did; retreated to a tree away from the group, in his vials and his book. It seemed to be a recurring theme with him. He was actually quite glad no one would question him about it. IT made things so much easier. He could do his experiments without having people question his work. Wasn’t that just great? Indeed… It was taking advantage of the situation too. Did he feel bad for her? Yes… Was he going to cry and moan about it? No. He had no time for that. And so, he revised his mixture with the blue flame inside, re-reading the ingredients and putting up multiple theories on how the thing worked. It kept him busy for a while.

That changed when he saw that Aaerynn and Tirian walked off to go talk. What now? He wondered… Probably just talking to someone about her situation… But why him? Logically, Elrithos would have been a much better choice than him. Was it for something else? He truly didn’t know, but it was obviously something that didn’t seem to be important for everyone to know. As always. With a sigh, he kept looking around the camp. What a lousy sight. And so, he was left to his things.

---

Elrithos was able to catch some rest from this emotional night; Vordan too was able to catch some sleep. Well, whatever sleep could be caught. It wasn’t long for the desert elf to awake, as he felt something grab him. His eyes shot open and immediately put his hand forth to grab the scrawny arm of a goblin about to slit his throat open… Then he realized there were much more of them beside him coming him to hold him down. That’s when he heard the calls, the taunts. The Aavikanian kicked the first one away and then rolled towards his weapons before getting to his feet at an impressive speed. He immediately went to action as he started retaliating on the goblins attack, holding off what he could on his side.

Vordan didn’t seem to be the main target, and since he was a little ways away, he wasn’t noticed right away. And so, when he heard the screams, he shot to his feet, grabbing his cross bow and swinging his great sword strap over his shoulder. He didn’t have his chest plate on, but still had his chain gauntlet on his left hand. He stepped forward and saw the madness unfold before him… A horde of these creatures were swarming the place. Vordan quickly put down the crossbow as it would be useless and in the way for now. He drew his blade and charged forth to go help the others… but was stopped by two orcs, swooping in for a deadly strike. Vordan parried hard… Feeling a sudden jolt to his heart… He counter attacked and knocked the other two of their feet, stabbing them quickly to finish them off… But he felt a sudden drop in his energy as his knees started to tremble. What was happening?

Goblins came in and knocked him down to his feet, but didn’t stay on him and moved over to the next targets… Vordan couldn’t understand, his vision became blurry and his chest hurt. He tried to make sense of his situation, but his head pounded. He could barely hear what was happening around him, and his eyes rose, revealing the massive creature. A troll… What? Vordan felt like this was a dream… The sensations were so surreal. He saw the arms come up of the beast, and then someone joined him… The Syndarean? Serna? What was she… And then, the barrier came up. He could feel the magic vibrate as the troll hit the barrier. Trolls… Orcs… Goblins… Wasn’t it what… Vordan was completely out of it. He seemed unable to do much as he still couldn’t think clearly with that pain in his chest.

Then, the screams of pain… Serna was… But… Vordan was still so confused and he shook his head. It was then that others came to their aid and that Aaerynn pulled him out of the melee. It was then he realized what was happening to him. The potion… The potion was making him this way. His theory proved right. And he didn’t fulfill it. When he was set down, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He didn’t have any of his main weapons, but he had something. He drew his dagger and smashed the hilt against his chest… His heart rate came back to normal within seconds… His vision coming to… His mind taking in all the information. Troll. Fire. Trian. Crackles. His eyes finally focused on the beast coming forth. Blue fire!

Vordan got to his feet and pulled out the vial with the blue flame. That’s what it did! Seeign that no one was paying attention to him; he whispered two words to himself. ‘’Capitulum. Accendo.’’ He then threw the mix towards the giant troll coming towards them… The glass container shattered in mid-air, passed Tirian as a huge ball of blue flame created itself from the shattered container. It engulfed the troll and stick to his skin… The mixture was a flame that sticks to living tissue. It made so much more sense now. And since trolls wore next to nothing… It would be consumed by it quickly… But the other creatures around… Vordan feel to his knees as he felt his magic had drained him again.

Elrithos came towards the group, slicing down any opponent in his way. You could see a trail of littered bodies from where he had been. Miraculously, he had not a single wound on him, even without his armor. He had seen everything unfold and came to the group, speaking briefly. ‘’I’ll take care of the rest of them. You guys get back and bandage up.’’ He ran back forth, fighting unlike any other fighter before, his movements precise and deadly.

[LastCinder]

The fire was what triggered her.

A stream of red and blue flames that burst and ate away at the troll’s flesh. The monster gave a scream of pain and Aaerynn felt her chest freeze and her eyes turn wide. She was back in that clearing, with the fire torches so bright she had to avert her eyes and with warm human blood still on her face.

Crack.

The pain brought her back to reality as Elrithos came for them, killing any enemies in his way. He ordered them to get back and heal and took it upon himself to rid the campsite of any more enemies. Aaerynn stood there in a daze, she had understood his words but she couldn’t move. Her hand went to the wound in her shoulder. Her skin had splintered, cracking open and allowing her blood to ooze out. She moved her hand to look at it, covered in her blood. It wasn’t black, as Setna had observed earlier, it was a dark brown. It was as if the blood leaking out of her body was already thickened, and turning into something else entirely.

Crack. Another splinter.

The grief in her chest was raging against her heart, but the wood elf ignored it. The pain was bringing her back to her senses, allowing some clarity to reenter her head. They had to move back. No one was faring well.

Aaerynn ran over to Vordan who had fallen to his knees, his face looking drained. The wood elf wasted no time in lifting his arm over her shoulder and baring most of his weight as she began to drag the taller man back to the carts.

“C’mon, I got you.” She mumbled to him, straining against the pain of her injury.

Her gaze shifted towards the twins. The male twin had picked his sister up in his arms, and was moving at a faster pace to the refuge of the carts where he laid her down and placed his hand on her forehead. If she were honest, the wood elf had no idea how to help the female twin. She had never seen something like that, the body going into an uncontrollable fit. Since it had to do with magic as well, Aaerynn had no idea whether her medicine had helped stop the damage of the kickback or not. She didn’t know if the female twin would even be able to wake up.

The wood elf looked away, feeling the overbearing sadness well up against her heart and felt her skin crack open again. She finally reached the carts and helped lean Vordan against one of the wheels. She didn’t know what was wrong with the scribbler either, but he looked drained and exhausted and he wasn’t the only one. Aaerynn turned her head to see the redhead fumbling over. He was moving slightly awkwardly and Aaerynn’s mind tried not to shift back on the memory of what he had done. It was obviously magic and he had to be suffering from his own kickback.

“I’ll be back.” She said it to no one in particular, but she ran back towards where they had been and where she had abandoned her bow.

---

Setna sat hunched over besides his sister. His eyes were bloodshot, the tears refusing to surface any longer. His sister was covered in her own blood and as Setna tried to wipe it from her skin and dress, it still left a red stain. His hands were covered in it. He didn’t know what to do anymore.

The medicine Aaerynn had administered seemed to be working. The seizure had passed and the blood had stopped, but she was still unconscious and unresponsive. Her skin felt cold and clammy, even though her heart was still beating. The boy ran a dirty hand through his hair and then gripped the navy strands. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. Perhaps they had been right. Perhaps a woman couldn’t handle the strain of the magic. What if he had been wrong? What if the gods were real? Were they punishing him? Why do this to his sister and not him? If he was to blame, they should have killed him. If he was a sinner, they should punish him, mark him, curse him. Not her, not Serna who did nothing wrong. Not his sister who worked with all her heart to make people happy. Fuck this. Fuck this!

What if she didn’t wake up?

Setna gripped his hair with enough force to rip it out. But his hand unclenched as Aaerynn helped to lay Vordan down beside him. The boy immediately shifted away from the man. Seething hatred filled his entire core. Setna wanted to kill him, wanted to punish him because if it wasn’t for him, Serna wouldn’t be like this. She wouldn’t be almost dead.
But the boy didn’t move from his spot, only continued to seethe. He was still unresponsive, even as Tirian approached.

---

The wood elf made it back to her bow, which she immediately picked up and used, taking down a few more goblins with a few more arrows than usual. Her wolves and the rest of the party had taken down most of them, and the enemy was dwindling. Yet as she moved forward to head back to the injured, another troll burst through the wood. The vibration of the earth made her fall and as she attempted to scramble back to her feet, the troll was already upon her.

This time it wasn’t the red head or the desert elf that saved her, instead it was the giant three tailed wolf. The wolf god’s white fur seemed to glisten and glow as it moved nearly silent across the clearing. In one lunge, the wolf dislodged the troll’s throat from its neck. Its dark blood spewed and the creature fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

The wolf god stood, troll blood staining her maw as she turned, her piercing yellow eyes meeting the blue of Aaerynn’s. The wood elf stood before bowing her head. “Daedhrogeth…” She whispered.

The wolf god took in the sight of the young wood elf before her, her eyes focusing on the wound in her shoulder. But the wolf turned watching as her children cornered and ensnared a goblin, their teeth sinking into the goblin’s neck. The wolf god approached it. “Let it speak.” The god’s voice was overpowering, and the wolves obeyed.

The goblin would die of its wounds, but in its last moment of life it could not resist the all-knowing eyes of the wolf god. The goblin laughed, its eyes crossing with delusion. “He’s coming! He’s coming! The darkness….it grows and whispers….the underworld, the underworld! He sits and waits! But he comes! Oh he comes!”

The god growled, baring her sharp teeth. “Tell me what you have done!”

Again her voice overpowered all sources of noise, and the goblin stuttered. “Th-The hearts! The hearts! The elven seeds! The magic, magic, the heart the heart…”

Those were its last words, as the goblin’s presence faded as the last of its blood leaked from its wounds.

The rest of the band of orcs and goblins had disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind the decimated bodies of their brethren. The wolf god’s piercing eyes took in all of the party. The desert elf, the halflings, the humans, the dwarf and finally the wood elf.

“This is the darkness that is growing.” Her voice was feminine and mixed within a growl. “The trees cry out as they die, and you cannot hear them.”

She turned, returning to Aaerynn who immediately bowed her head with respect.

“Adulteress, do you understand now?” The wolf questioned her. “It is eating you alive, very soon it will kill you. Your fear, your anger, your hatred and your grief only make you rot faster. You can hear them now, those who share the same fate as you.”

Aaerynn stiffened as she felt her wound crack open even more. Her eyes widened because she could hear it, the overwhelming voices of the forest that were carried on the wind. She clenched her fists feeling the rot burn her throughout her gut.

“The forest gives life, and takes it away. It is what you will become.” The wolf growled and opened her jaws, with the intention to snap the wood elf’s head from her body. But there was a sudden sound of paws pounding against the earth and suddenly a small wolf slid in front of Aaerynn. Its fur was bristled up, and the wolf was snarling with its teeth bared against its mother as it crouched down in a fighting position.

Daedhrogeth backed down, snapping her jaws together. “You dare defy me for the elf?”

The small wolf stood its ground, its ears pulled back, and its teeth bared. Aaerynn’s eyes widened as she opened them to see the wolf in front of her. “Kai…” She mumbled.

The wolf god back stepped, her ears flicking as her body relaxed. Her piercing eyes took in the sight of the young wolf and she retreated. “I see.”

She paused for a moment, huffing. “You have received your last gift. I’ve granted your life for the moment. But your death will come if nothing changes… perhaps you will sow your seed in your final destination.” She began moving, the rest of the wolves following suit. “I leave you this wolf that has risen against me. And I implore you to know that this world is changing. It is withering, and only darkness is going to welcome you.”

With that the god was gone, and the young wood elf fell to her knees. Her body began to shake as the young wolf turned to her and buried its muzzle against her neck and cheek.

The campsite was left in ruin. Bodies scattered the ground with a mix of orc, goblin and troll blood. A cart had been pushed over, its cargo scattered across the grass and everyone seemed a mix of emotion and exhaustion.

[Heyitsjiwon]

They came.

They came from the darkness, the safe shade of the depraved and the vile.

At first, it sounded like thunder in the distance. However, after a few moments, Caelis realized that the skies were clear and the air was dry. Those few moments was all he had before he realized just how wrong he was. The goblins came in a tumultuous wave of flesh. They all came straight towards not Caelis himself, but Faith who was starting to be pulled out of her blanket. Caelis drew his blade and simply began to swing at anything he saw or heard near Faith. His cuts weren't precise strikes that dispatched enemies. Rather, they were frantic swings, relying on brute strength and speed to cleave through anything that dared to come close to Faith. Caelis couldn't tell friend from foe, yet he continued to swing. He did not care as long as Faith was safe. He couldn't see anything, nor could he distinctly hear anything. Everything was loud, and chaotic. This was no mere fight. It was a battle; the one thing that Caelis was never expected to be able to deal with in Attolia. Yet, he did his best. Anything that sounded like it was close to him or Faith soon received a cold blade swinging swiftly down on it.

The goblins became a bit smarter about their attempt to abduct Faith. They obviously wouldn't be able to get her without dealing with Caelis, so they began to converge on him in groups. Caelis was simply overwhelmed. As he cut down a goblin in front of him, another goblin jumped onto him from behind and viciously stabbed him with a small, crude blade. Caelis reached over with his left hand and pulled the goblin off him by flipping him forward. Caelis then kicked the goblin's head, which sent it flying for a few seconds. Then another goblin grabbed his leg and began to bite him while a fourth one came from his side and grabbed his left arm. Caelis swung down with his sword by using his right hand. But, as soon as he dispatched one, three more grabbed on to him and started to cut him. He was being dragged down by the sheer number of them.

---

Faith looked around. Her sleepy, blurry eyes scanned the darkness. Tiny figures were running towards her, and leaping when they got close. Only to be violently cut down by a dark silhouette. She didn't understand exactly what was going on. She only knew that they were being attacked, but she couldn't decide what she was supposed to do. So, she watched as Caelis unleashed a fiery vengeance on the goblins that were attacking the camp. At first, it seemed like he was ruthlessly cutting them down, but more of them came and it was obvious that he wasn't going to be able to deal with the horde. To her horror, several goblins managed to grab Caelis and begin to stab him with their weapons. He began to fall from the weight of all the goblins beginning to pile on him.

Faith screamed "NO!" Then there was light. A bright light just suddenly burst out of nowhere near Caelis for a second and then disappeared. The goblins were blinded and stunned by the light and fell off of Caelis. Faith took the opportunity to run to Caelis, grab his hand, and run towards the rest of the group. She pulled with all her might as Caelis stumbled while trying to follow Faith. They joined the rest of the group in their retreat. When they finally regrouped, Faith guided Caelis to a tree, and helped him sit while leaning on the tree. He was bloodied as small cuts and gashes were all of his body. She could smell his blood despite all the foul goblin blood that was splattered on him. Faith said "What do I do?" asking Caelis to explain to her how she could help. Caelis turned his head to her. He tightened his grip on Faith's hand and said while breathing heavily "Just... stay with me. I'll be fine. This is nothing. I've... been through worse." His breathing slowly calmed down. Caelis leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. It was late and he was tired.

[Ikari]

Tirian stood strong against the behemoth cave troll, never budging or shifting. Every movement needed would have to be forced and clumsy, his focus had to be precise and unbroken in order to survive this moment. Then a sudden burst of blue flames covered his opponent and ended the fight in a very anti-climactic fashion. The red-haired warrior took in a heavy breath, feeling the pain stab at his sides from the damage caused by his previous opponent. It had been a long time since Tirian had felt pain, a long time since he had felt human in the slightest was. The onslaught had been quelled, but not without injury and certainly not without consequence. Elrithos would manage the rest of the goblins and orcs with relative ease. Tirian took the opportunity to rest and sheathed his blade before walking over towards the carts, staggering with a sluggish limp to his left. The effects of his magic were quite obvious, and even a soldier of his strength was brought to the mercy of those kickbacks.

Finally the dust had settled across the campsite, leaving only a single goblin holding onto the strings of fate and the wolves of the forest. Blue eyes took in the white wolf for the first time, admiring the beauty and strength that the god possessed. The goblin spewed words of delusion and confusion, or so it seemed. Tirian felt the shock seep into his soul at those words. The darkness, he sits and he waits. The underworld. The glistening wolf opened her jaws as if to end Aaerynn’s very life, without mercy. Tirian felt his muscles twinge as if tried to stand. However, another wolf stopped the execution and the standoff ended immediately. The scene settled to darkness and lifeless bodies of a fallen army. Tirian stood up to shake off the emotional sight before him, and to force more blood to rush throughout his body. The kick-backs of his magic were beginning to fade away, enough to let the soldier walk with more ease.

The red-haired man trudged over towards Rudolf with a sullen expression. Silence fell upon the two men for only the briefest of moments before Tirian spoke.

“I guess the secret is out my old friend.”

Tirian placed a strong hand onto the dwarf’s shoulder before her turned to face the twins. Serna had laid in place, motionless as a ghost in the night. Something possessed his muscles to urge forward towards the teenaged beauty. Tirian unclasped his cloak and took a seat next to the unmoving Syndarean. Tirian quickly covered Serna with his cloak and then placed a bare hand unto her forehead. Cold and clammy as one would expect of a severe magic outburst. Blue eyes gazed over toward Setna with a comforting smile.
“She’ll be okay. I’m sure of it!”

[Rayn Night]

The enemies kept coming out of the woods around and Elrithos still kept with the pace. In every movement, he would accomplish either a kill or a deflection, never letting himself get caught off guard by any of the attackers… Elrithos had wondered where in the damned sands they had come from. Surely, with everything that had happened, they should have noticed such a numerous force when they would get to the clearing. Yet, they had seen nothing, which meant these savages were very well organized. It left to wonder what was truly happening behind all of this. In all of this thinking, he kept stepping towards the wave of enemies, hoping to give the others some time to retaliate or at least find a safe place to rest for a moment.

Vordan was breathing heavily… He had extended his magical prowess a little too far right there. It was one of the few times he actually extended his feats to instantly alter the effects of magic on items and mixtures. It wasn’t something highly suggested to do, but Makers had been able to do it before, so he thought he could. Well, it got him into a tight situation. His face rose up slowly as Aaerynn arrived and helped him to his feet and towards the cart. It seemed that this fight had changed her a bit…

When he was dropped off, he sat down heavily; leaned against the wheel of cart He was exhausted… And what surprised him was Elrithos. He was still going strong, not having slowed down at all. How in the abyss did he manage that? How could he keep fighting like fresh EVEN after all that fighting? The Aavikanians were known to be tough and durable warriors, but this went beyond his expectations. He then turned his head to the twins beside him… Serna was in a terrible state and Setna… Well, in a terrible emotional state. Tirian wasn’t any better, although it clearly had everything to do with their magic. All three had magical powers, yet Vordan was still able to hide his for now. He wouldn’t be able to for long, but he didn’t want them to know.

As the enemy count came down, Elrithos was showing signs of slowing down, although it didn’t seem from fatigue, but to conserve his energy with fewer threats around. It was only when he saw the wolves taking care of the rest that he had stopped… only to hear and feel the vibrations. He turned immediately and saw Aaerynn in a bad position and dashed forth to go help, but then came the creature, which immediately had the desert elf stop.

Vordan was wide eyed as he saw the giant wolf rip through the troll’s neck. He had seen this creature before… Daedhrogeth, the wolf Goddess… Or God… He couldn’t remember the gender but he sure as hell could remember the legends and stories of it. What was it doing here? Amongst them? This did not comfort the mercenary at all and was almost terrified by the fate that would befall them. But before that, they all were able to hear the goblin’s tale of insanity. Elrithos and Vordan were both wondering what in the gods name was he talking about. It seemed to be of concern to the wood elf… The scene unrolled and no one moved, seemingly not wanting to partake in this issue.

Once it was all over, Elrithos headed towards Caelis and Faith, as he had not paid much attention to them. They probably had it not too bad if Caelis was able to fend most of them off. Unfortunately, Caelis seemed to be in a terrible shape. No lethal injuries, but bruised and battered. He came near. He knew his basic medicine but that was it. He could asset injuries pretty good. With a quick look, he looked over at faith and reassured her. ‘’Do not worry Faith. He simply needs rest and a few bandages. He will be fine’’

Vordan him, knowing he had a few things to do, got back up and headed for his backpack and pulled out an empty flask and walker over to the body of the troll, collecting its blood. Yes, he was collecting whatever he could and then sealed it away in the flask before he looked towards everyone. What to take care of first? He attached the flask to his belt as he came back and looked at all those gathered. Battered to the abyss… All of them. His first two priorities were Aaerynn and Serna. He would approach Serna first, seeing Tririan telling Setna she was fine. Oh if only it was the truth. Unfortunately, the kickback on untrained barrier magic was brutal and unforgiving… Especially on a woman. And so, he came near and knelt beside her, looking at her nose.

‘’It would be better you tell the truth, kid. She will not be fine under these conditions. We need to move her away from the blood and the bodies, or nausea will take her and she will only get worst. Cover her in a blanket and get her warm and, by the gods, make sure she stays away from your sword Setna. After that, make sure she doesn’t get one of those seizures.’’

He looked at the two one moment. They probably wouldn’t like his attitude, but he didn’t care. She needed proper care right now and with what she had did… Well, he should help her back in her condition. He would have to prepare some special bandages for this one. Thank god he had the troll blood which would work perfectly. He moved out to go see Aaerynn, did not come too close as the wolf was still there… Vordan’s knees were trembling right now. Yes, he was starting to feel the oppressiveness of his work.

‘’Aaerynn… Whatever affliction you have, we’ll deal with it later… We need to get that wound cleaned and healed. I have something that can take care of it right away but you have to trust me.’’

[LastCinder]

‘’It would be better you tell the truth, kid. She will not be fine under these conditions. We need to move her away from the blood and the bodies, or nausea will take her and she will only get worst. Cover her in a blanket and get her warm and, by the gods, make sure she stays away from your sword Setna. After that, make sure she doesn’t get one of those seizures.’’

Setna snapped as Vordan commented on the status of his sister. He practically leapt to his feet, stepping closer to the mercenary. "Who the fuck asked you!? THIS IS YOUR FAULT! You fucking hate us right!? Oh boohoo, you fucking hate us and yet you have to rely on a teenage girl to save your sorry fucking ass!! Why don't you say fucking sorry!? SHE'S ALMOST DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!"

Setna was stepping dangerously forward, his hand already on the hilt of his blade.

-Tirian watched as Setna visibly snapped with seething hatred. The stance and approach was enough for the red-haired man to step forward and latch his hands onto Setna. Tirian's grip was iron clad as he pulled Setna backwards away from Vordan.

"Relax Setna. If it wasn't for Vordan then Serna would have had an implosion much worse than that. Magic builds, and yearns for a release. Any longer and this magic would've devoured her whole. Take it from someone who knows. I'm not saying like the guy, or even to thank him. But you need to drop this childish squabble. We're in too deep to be acting like enemies."-

Setna seemed to calm down, if only slightly, the rolling anger slowly turning into something else entirely. His shoulders shook with pain and anxiety, as tears filled his eyes again. He wiped them away viciously, sniffling quietly before turning away from Vordan as he returned to his sister. His attention went to the red head. "You...you can use magic. What...what can I do to help her? I don't...I don't want this to happen to her again."

He looked up at the Durandal warrior with all of his hope lost. He ran a shaking hand through his hair, trying to hold his sobs in. "I just wanted to save her...and even that...I'm just a fucking idiot...I don't know what to do. I just wanted to help her..."

His whole body was shaking by this point as his chest filled with panic.

-"Nothing. You can do nothing but wait."

The truth was harsh, but Vordan had a point. Magic was unreliable and deceiving. Not a single person alive could tell you exactly how magic could react to a body. Everyone was different just as every magical reaction was different. Tirian patted the boy's pat with a gentle smile, however.

"We need to keep her warm and have a close eye to her body's reactions as well. If the god's smile upon her life, and she wakes up we can go from there. I can only promise that much."

Tirian gazed down to the girl who had taken refuge underneath his cape. His heart tugged with worry that didn't show on his face.-

Setna clenched his fists. "If the gods cared they wouldn't have given her magic in the first place." His voice was tensed and even had a bitterness resounding in it.

"It doesn't even matter if she recovers. If what you say is true...it'll just build up again. And either this will happen, or she'll die from the build up." Setna was losing hope in everything. He shouldn't have left. He should have listened to the priests, and to their Father. Perhaps burning at the stake would have been more merciful than this.

Setna gently picked up his sister, with Tirian's cape, and carried her over to a cart where Rudolf had raised the canvas to make a makeshift shelter. He laid her down, extremely careful with her head and then sat beside her.

What could he do? All was lost now.

--"If you think the magic will just kill her, why am I still here then. If the magic just builds up to explode in the end, then why am I still standing here before you as a man of war."
Tirian closed the gap Setna had created. His tone became cold and harsh.

"Listen to the words, take a deeper meaning from it. IF she wakes up I can help. I've went through this very situation. Losing faith in what you have around you will only cause regret and cast you into darkness."

Tirian calmed his voice to a low whisper for the last part.

"Don't walk the path I have. Don't become what I have. You've too much to life for Setna. I can teach Serna how to expel the buildup magic in a safe way."-

“What do I have to live for?" Setna looked up at Tirian. "If she doesn't wake up, I have nothing. No one. I can't go home unless I'm willing to face my execution. If she dies, then I die too and if she doesn't...."

Setna turned quiet, pulling at his hair. "Even if you can help her to expel it...She has no training. They didn't let her do anything with it. If something happens again....if she tries to help someone...it'll have no limit, she'll use it all and eventually the seizures and bleeding will kill her. Girls can't handle magic. I always thought that was bullshit but...What if they were right all along? What if I was wrong to save her?"

His gaze drifted down to the ground as he finally began to confess everything. "In Syndarea...the boys that inherit the magic…they're practically glorified. They become true soldiers and warriors, and even have a chance to become king. They are trained from the very start to use their magic and perfect it. But the girls....the girls are killed. Burned at the stake, in some kind of fucked up celebration of the gods. They're fucking sacrificed like lambs....." He clutched his head.

"They took her away to live in a nunnery. Took her from my mother, from her friends, from everyone. Then they were going to force us to watch her die. Watch how everyone celebrates the fact that my sister is burning at the fucking stake!" Setna looked Tirian dead in the eye.

"They said it’s to glorify the gods! That it is a fucking honor to die in front of everyone, because surely it is more merciful then having her die by her own magic." The sarcasm spewed from his mouth like bile.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't let that happen to her. So I took her." Setna shook his head. "I broke more laws then I can count. I didn't think it through. I'm surprised we even made it this far....and now for what? I don't even know if I'm right anymore..."

-Barbaric normally described Tirian's ruthless methods but this was a whole new level. Tirian didn't seem shocked immediately on the surface, and yet within he felt his heart physically break. Setna looked onto Tirian with a gaze of a hardened man. The Syndarean boy may not have known but his will was strong, as was his cause for this world.

"You just described what you have to live for. You live to protect your sister. Where I am from, those who inherit magic be it male or female are gutted in front of the masses and then those organs are ground up and fed to their enemies as torture. What you did for your sister was honorable and I respect it."

Tirian stepped forward once more with his arms at his side. His eyes shifted from Setna to Serna, and then back to the boy with a sigh.

"Laws are something meant to hold people without freedom. I had no training prior to my first outburst as well. But I had a teacher, and a savior. And if I am half person she was I can certainly help Serna. You just have to trust me. And everyone else as well."-

The surprise was genuine and it lit up the Syndarean boys face as a glimmer of hope filled his core. "Really? You had no training either, before something like this?"

The Syndarean boy had thought it had been a part of his usual barbaric culture. But to learn something like that, that a man like him was still living, and still strong. "You'd be willing to help her?"

Setna stood, and fumbled around awkwardly in his pockets. "I'll...I don't have anything to give you! But...But if you could do that for Serie..." Setna looked much more boyish now, the hope slowly returning to his face. "I'll pay you my share of the reward!"

--"I didn't come on this journey for a reward. Money is an object in this world I don't strive for. Take the training as something I have to do. I made a promise to someone very important and I plan on keeping that promise."

Tirian patted the boys shoulder once more with a genuine smile upon his face.

"Durandal hates magic more than anywhere else in the world. They are a band of bullies looking to cleanse the world of that 'magic scourge'. I will train Serna, for free. You just promise me to keep her safe."--

Relief filled the boy's core and it shone a bit on his face. "Thank you! I will..."

He sat again beside his sister, feeling somewhat better about the situation. Someone was willing to help her, coming from the same situation that Serna had to face. She'd be ok. She'd be ok.

She just had to wake up. Setna gently touched the flower bracelet tied to his wrist and his gaze drifted back to watching Serna’s face.

---

‘’Aaerynn… Whatever affliction you have, we’ll deal with it later… We need to get that wound cleaned and healed. I have something that can take care of it right away but you have to trust me.’’

Aaerynn slowly lifted her head at the voice. She looked up at the tall man, before her gaze shifted to his trembling knees and her hand went to her wound. It was still oozing, but the pain was overpowered by the rotting going on in her chest.

"I'm fine." Her voice was quiet, before her eyes slowly looked up to meet his.

She had put two and two together again. It had been him to throw the blue fire. She didn't know how he had done it, but he was expressing exhaustion just like the redhead. There was something more to him, just like the red head and the female twin and maybe more. "You should be resting. You're exhausted aren't you?"

She was tired, and shaky. But she was an elf, scribbler was pushing himself beyond his human limits.

--Fine? She thinks she is fine? She was afflicted by something stronger than a simple curse or even some unholy rot. She had something else taking away at her body, but she didn’t want to admit. He slowly approached as their gaze crossed… She was in serious pain. He came beside her as she had pointed his exhaustion. Well, it was true, but he had to make sure that everyone else could make it through. He could take more than what people thought.

“I should be resting, but not if I can help the others first. I have cures and items that can help things go away.”

Vordan reached to his belt, removing a little flask that had what seemed to be clear water. In fact, it was a mixture made to disinfect wounds and also acts as holy water. It was a painful process to clean wounds, but it cleared everything. He uncorked it and looked at her.

“This will probably be a painful few minutes to come, but I can close the wound completely. I got no idea how you know Daedhrogeth, but you are lucky to be alive…”

And so, he poured half of the flask right onto the wound, keeping a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.—

Aaerynn blinked and she opened her mouth as he opened the vile, to tell him to stop and get away and leave her alone, but then he poured it straight on the wound. The elf's whole body tensed up and her eyes widened in pain. Her wound made a disgusting sizzling sound, and she lost her breath from the pain.

The wood elf gasped, and her hand reached out with the intention to shove the man away from her, but instead Aaerynn clutched at his shirt, gripping it so tight that her knuckles turned a sickly white. Her head dropped as she grit her teeth, bearing the pain. "Daedhrogeth...she's the guardian...she protects the north elves...and the forest itself. She has ties with the ancestors... Now my mother..."

She was babbling, words falling out of her mouth like dribble. But it was better than being silent and taking the pain alone. "I'm really...not so...lucky."

--When he heard the sizzling sound, it was much more than the disinfection of the wound. Something had corrupted her blood, probably her body too. What was it? It was hard to tell for now. He would have to research it really. For the time being, he let the elf just suffer from the holy water. It would make her better, but the worst was yet to come. He looked down at her as she mentioned how she knew the Wolf Goddess. Well, he knew the story, but it meant that her mother had died. He sighed.

“I’m sorry for your family, but at least she became one of the ancestors and not just a cadaver from those who fell in battle… Still, if you have an affliction, she should have killed you.”

When he saw a possible chance of clearing the wound completely, he pulled out, from a little pouch, a cloth and his bandages… there was very little left. He could heal a few wounds but that would be the end of the roll. So, he unrolled part of the bandage and ripped a piece off, then placed himself behind her and had one arm go under both her arms and over her chest… It would seem odd, but he explained himself.

“This pain will be much worse than the holy water… I will hold you down. I know you will try to get away. Hopefully, you’ll forgive me for it. And trust me, maybe your lack of luck will help you one day.”

With that, he put the bandage on the wound, covering it completely… It took a few seconds, but a green glow emanated from the piece of tissue and the bones and flesh were melding back together.—

What could possibly be worse than whatever was in that vile?

She soon found out. She had wanted to question what he was doing, putting his arm across her chest like that. But then he pressed something against her wound...and the pain was like nothing she had ever felt before. Far worse than the grief in her soul and the rot that was consuming her.

She screamed and struggled against him, and tried to pry his arm off of her as her body twisted and attempted to break away. But he didn't budge and Aaerynn became motionless, turning completely silent as her eyes clenched shut. She would just have to deal with it. Her teeth were grinding together though, and her fingers were digging into the dirt. The young wolf whined at her side, feeling his new master's pain.

--She was fighting back and Vordan was actually struggling to keep her in place. She would probably hate him for this, but again, he didn’t care. They could all hate him for what he cared. He would do what was right and that was it. He waited, used all his strength to retain her… Then, the green glow went away, leaving a black and blood soaked rag. He removed it, revealing exactly what he would expect; a long, thin line of a scar, barely visible. But it was clean, the wounds and internal injuries would be gone. Vordan released her and stood back up with difficulty.

“Don’t thank me. But you should get that affliction checked… Whatever it is. I would help you… But it seems that maybe my help is not what you need anyway. Good luck.”

With that, he slowly walked back towards the cart and laid down… Trying to get some rest.—

Aaerynn sat there, unable to speak or move as she closed her eyes. With the fading of the glow and the scribbler finally removing the bandages, the pain was gone and relief overwhelmed her system. It flooded across her body, sweat breaking out across her brow. For a moment she couldn’t feel the rotting going on inside her. It seemed to be swept away from her entirely. But as the relief faded, it was still there, deep in her chest.

Eventually the wood elf found the strength to stand, and she gently ran a hand through the wolf’s fur at her side. “Thank you…” She mumbled to the creature, since the scribbler had left her to rest.

---

Rudolf had kept to himself after the encounter. He had smiled lightly as Tirian came over and made mention of the secret coming out. Then he simply returned to his work, picking up the fallen cargo, deciding what could be saved and what had been ruined.

He could smell rain in the air, and he looked above at the dark sky before raising the canvas on one of the carts. It would be a tight fit, but would provide enough shelter from the rain for the moment. His hands worked diligently but his thoughts were focused on another subject entirely. He looked over at Aaerynn, as Vordan stood, having healed the wood elf’s shoulder. The dwarf watched as the mercenary retreated to the carts to rest. He wondered if the mercenary had seen how bad she was, and if the wolf god’s words rang true.

The dwarf remained silent though, continually checking on this and that but eventually his gaze would go back to the wood elf. She was up now, and making some rounds to make sure everyone else was all set. She finally approached him and Rudolf couldn’t help the words that left his lips. “When were you going to tell me?”

Aaerynn stilled, pausing as she looked at the dwarf with confusion. “Tell you what?”

The dwarf’s face turned red with anger for a moment, but he turned to her and spoke quietly. “That you’re dying?”

For the majority of the fight within the forest, Aaerynn had stepped out of her frigid walls. But Rudolf could practically see her retreating back into them, her face and eyes turning cold. “It’s none of your business.” Her tone was strict and clear cut.

But it only made the dwarf angrier. “None of my business!? How long have we known each other? I thought you were doing ok the last time…”

Aaerynn tensed, becoming just as angry as the dwarf. She had retreated completely behind the mental walls she had painstakingly raised over the years. “How long have we known each other!? Why don’t you tell me Rudolf. How long has it been since I’ve seen you last? 50 years? 75 years?”

Rudolf turned red. “That doesn’t mean I haven’t cared! I think I have the right to know! How did it get this bad!?”

The wood elf’s anger was breaking her down. She had gone through too many emotions today, and she was at her wit’s end. “How it got so bad?” She was rueful but it was twisted with rage. “Unlike you my memories don’t fade with a pint of ale!”

The insult stung the dwarf who puffed out his chest, his voice becoming louder with his anger. “And unlike me, you have the ability to change it! What the hell are you doing!? Is this what you want!? To die alone!? You push everyone away from you!! You isolate yourself and allow yourself this pain!”

“What in the gods name do you want me to do, Rudolf? You want me to make ‘friends’!? You want me to find love?” She was grinning with her malice, her eyes as cold and dark as black ice. “Is this why you invited me!? You feel sorry for me!? Well look around!”

She waved her hand around at the rest of the party. “You know what’s going to happen, huh? You stupid dwarf! They’re all going to die! Whether today, tomorrow or 50 years from now. I’m not allowed the company of elves and, tell me, what is 50 years to me!?”

Her emotions were honest and raw. Her face and body unable to contain any of it. “You ask me if I want to die alone, when it’s going to happen anyway! No matter what I do…no matter who is in my life or not…I will always…always die alone.”

The dwarf didn’t know what to say. “But surely, this isn’t the way to do it! You’re just wasting away!! If you could just let people in for your sake?”

“For my sake!?” She interrupted him. “For my fucking sake?”

She shook her head, her body trembling. “I’m dying because of my own stupid mistakes! Because of my stupid fucking decisions and their consequences. I’m dying because I can’t forget! Because I am forced to remember, forced to experience everything day after day…because I was pathetic and childish and naive.”

The dwarf was at a loss for words now, but he was angered. He just wanted to make her understand. “But if you would just try! Stop acting so detached, you never know what could happen! Things can always change, you just have to try it! Let people in again, for once more in your life!”

“Just fuck off Rudolf!” Aaerynn had had enough, she made a motion to Baineth and in one swift movement she was mounted and gone, the young wolf trailing behind.
Rudolf watched her go, and sank a bit in defeat. He looked over to the rest of the party, who had obviously heard the loud conversation. He sighed, stroking his beard as he returned to the cart, and of course that was when the skies opened up and began to pour.

---

Setna watched as the blonde elf disappeared into the tree line. He frowned a bit and looked at his sister. He felt bad for the wood elf. Sure, she was cold and could be quite nasty but if it wasn’t for her, his sister would have been in a hell of a lot worse shape.

His gaze drifted back to where she had disappeared. Aaerynn had also tried to protect them, and was even the first to get stupid Vordan to safety. She wasn’t as bad as she seemed, and perhaps she was suffering more than anyone.

Setna watched as Rudolf came into the cart and sat down. As the rain started most of the party cramped into the cart together, especially as it began to down pour.

Rudolf passed around things to eat and finally he cleared his throat. “I understand that today has been emotionally straining for all of us. Things happened tonight that you normally don’t see and secrets were let out that would normally stay hidden.”

The dwarf was solemn as he continued to speak. “But, I want to let it be clear that I do not care whether you have magic or not. I am from a time where magic was constantly flowing through the world. I do not discriminate. Thus, if the fact that we have magic users within the party makes anyone uncomfortable, please speak up now. We can part ways at the next town and I will reimburse you for your trouble.”

“Once we clear everything up, perhaps the two musicians would be willing to lighten our spirits.” The dwarf smiled slightly as he placed a hand on Caelis’ shoulder. “If you do not mind, my dear man.”

[Heyitsjiwon]

Caelis flinched as the dwarf touched him. There were small cuts and gashes all over his body. None of the were particularly serious, but it wasn't something that could be ignored. Caelis replied bluntly "Master Dwarf, I'm afraid that I'm not in a condition to perform." He then turned to his bag and retrieved some of his basic medical supplies. As Caelis slowly bandaged himself, his mind was in a flurry. Should he continue to travel with this group? It was obvious that many of the people here were not "normal" people. Yes, in fact, he would consider them to be extraordinary, but special people always attracted unwanted attention. Caelis was used to blending in with the normal, hardworking people. For years, he was just a wandering troubadour. Of course, he ran into trouble occasionally, but it was nothing of the sort that he was facing here. A horde of goblins and orcs? This was the first time that he had to fight against one. These people were attracting attention in a bad way, and to be frank, Caelis was questioning if he would survive to the end. He was more than willing to give his life for the sake of Faith, but the question was would Faith manage to make it to the end even if Caelis sacrificed himself during this journey.

In fact, it appeared that the first member to leave trotted away on her horse. No doubt, she was trying to run away from her own shadows... a pointless endeavor, but what person was immune to their own emotions? Still, this one act just showed how fragile this group was in the face of the shadows that followed each member. Each person was plagued by his/her own demon, their past. Caelis had no idea where each person came from, so the demons were veiled. He couldn't gauge what he was up against if he didn't know about everyone's past, and from the look of things... not many were willing to share. So, the question remained. Would the group be able to deal with the looming demons that no one could clearly see? Caelis was skeptical. The dwarf's offer to part ways in the next town was very tempting, and increasingly more reasonable. In the short time that Caelis traveled with this group, he had gained at least a dozen new scars all around his body. It was physically taxing. He was simply not capable of dealing with large numbers of foes despite his confidence with his sword and dueling.

Caelis looked at Faith who anxiously looked at him. "She just wants to help..." Caelis thought. He sighed and said to her "Faith, can you take this end of the bandage and wrap it around my back?" Faith nodded and quickly began to wrap his back with the bandage. Caelis continued to talk as she worked "Faith, can you tell me what happened? I remember seeing a really bright flash while I was fighting. Did someone use magic to help me? If so, I should go and thank them." Faith replied "I... I don't know what happened. I saw you fighting. Then... they began to jump on you. All of a sudden there was a bright light. I don't know where it came from." Caelis nodded in response, and then asked Faith "Do you want to keep travelling with these people?" Faith pursed her lips for a few seconds as her face displayed her contemplating how to respond. She then said "There's some interesting people in this group, but I'll always follow where ever you go." Caelis frowned slightly as he continued to think. Was this journey ultimately worth it? As the night continued to wear on, Caelis became sleepier. He awkwardly adjusted himself in an attempt to make himself more comfortable, but to no avail. The wagon was simply too small. He resigned himself to the situation and closed his eyes. Only to have his head lifted and then softly placed on something soft. He opened his eyes to see Faith. He was laying his head on her lap. As he was about to protest, Faith shushed him, and closed his eyes. For the first time, he listened and allowed himself to give in to the comfort as Faith began to softly hum a lullaby.

[Rayn Night]

It was fortunate enough that Caelis had survived this ambush. Elrithos had wondered how they had gotten to them so quickly and with so many numbers without them ever knowing they were around. He knew how to track people and hunt down prey, yet he hadn’t noticed the steps of the creatures. Goblins were a little harder to decipher in the grass, but Orcs and Trolls should have been easy. And, as he heard earlier, this was a set up for the wood elf… For what? What did they need from her? The Aavikanian had turned to see if she was doing alright, just after Vordan had performed his work… The gashing wound had disappeared completely… How did they manage that? Magic, it had to be it. A few had magic around, although most were more obvious than others. Serna and Tirian had proven to be much more than they actually seemed to be.

Elrithos had given some help to the dwarf with the carts. Vordan, lying on the ground near the carts, was simply starting to take in information… Aaerynn was afflicted, Serna was doomed to be stuck with magic she couldn’t handle, Faith surely had hidden magical potential… It was quite a surprise really. So many secrets were coming out; so many lies were made… Yet, Vordan wasn’t in the least mad about it. They all had their right to hide their truths. Aaerynn was more of a concern right now, as whatever she had was killing her slowly… Serna, well, she could probably learn to control her magic eve if she has no training… Although her fate as a female Syndarean with magic… He knew about the sacrifice… And he didn’t dare think further of it. Setna would have to learn about what his sword could do… Tirian, well, he had magic. What kind? That was still to be known. He could produce flame and lightning, but that’s all he could tell for now. It was much more than simple element control.

As he started to try and put thing together with all this, his head started to pound and there was no point continuing to think about it. He would have to let it go until the next day… Well, would try to anyway. Not too far, he could hear the argument going on between the wood elf and he dwarf. Slowly, the story unfolded and Vordan was starting to understand a little more… He would have to remember it the next day, if he could. Then, she fled the scene and he could see that Elrithos was about to follow her.

‘’Fortget it Elrithos… Let her suffer a little. She’ll come back when she will have gotten her time to herself.’’

Elrithos, who had jumped on the horse, looked towards Vordan… He wasn’t sure of what he was saying, but Vordan actually did seem smarter than he looked. And so, with that done, Elrithos got back off, joining the rest of them under the makeshift shelter.

---

Eventually, seeing that it was a tight squeeze, Elrithos had decided to get out into the rain that would be starting very soon. He didn’t mind the water actually. He was very unlikely to get sick anyway. And so, he brought his things under the closest tree, just to not be too far from everyone. He rested his head on his rolled up ball of clothes and laid down to go into a slumber. This nights events didn’t weight heavy on his conscious, although he was worried for a few of these souls… Some were living things that no human should… Not even elves should live.

[LastCinder]

Aaerynn didn’t make it far from the camp. Eventually she dismounted and found shelter beneath a tree whose roots had been hollowed out. She sat and pulled her knees up to her chest, listening to the rain fall around her. Kai whined and laid down at her side, squirming his head into her lap. Aaerynn gently stroked his head but her eyes were focused on the tree’s roots and on her thoughts. Baineth whinnied and attempted to enter the small hollow, but ended up just sticking her head and neck in. A small smile cracked on her lips as she saw it. “Such fools, huh?” She spoke to the wolf as she grazed his ears and scratched his back.

That was when she felt it, Kai’s back tensing as his head picked up, and ears twitched. No later he was up on his paws, sniffing the air. That’s when her own ears twitched slightly, and Aaerynn shifted into a crouch. Her hand went to the hilt of her dagger, fingers curling around the leather. Baineth back stepped, looking over to something Aaerynn couldn’t see. Then she heard it.

“I cannot believe you are still a crybaby after all these years.”

It was a voice she hadn’t heard in over 180 years, and slowly Aaerynn stood and exited the hollow, coming face to face with her brother. He looked the exact same as in her memories. His long blonde hair fell to his shoulders, with his bangs braided along his hair line. His eyebrows were thick and dark, his jaw line sharp, with his nose prominent in the center of his face. His eyes were a mossy green as they looked down on her with a bemused look.

Kai stepped in front of her, his fur bristled and his teeth exposed but the elven man merely waved his hand and the young wolf retreated behind Aaerynn’s legs with a whine. Aaerynn merely stood there, a bit dumbfounded as she eventually responded. “I’m only passing through Lysander, I—.”

Lysander held up his hand again. “I am not Father nor am I a pesky wolf god. I do not care why you are here or what you are doing. I have my own matters to attend to.”

That was when she noticed his armor, gold plating and leather straps. His helmet was nestled under his arm and as Aaerynn looked around she caught sight of the other elven soldiers in the same get up. They paid her no attention though, as they continued their task of retrieving their arrows from the bodies of goblins, trolls and orcs. The elves had cleaned up the rest of the mess that had attacked them at the camp site.

Aaerynn’s light blue eyes finally returned to the sight of her brother as she murmured softly. “You haven’t changed at all.”

The elder wood elf quirked an eyebrow as he responded. “Neither have you. Except that you smell like a rotting old log. You are still so childish. Do you cry as often as you used to?”

Aaerynn frowned at the teasing, and was going to make a rebuttal but Lysander beat her to it. “You may lack the tears, little sister, but you are still as much of a coward as you were back then. Even now you are running away, are you not? Are you not leaving for the next continent?”

The female elf closed her mouth and looked at the ground. “How did you know?”

Lysander motioned to the wolf behind her. “You should not entrust your faith with the wolves. They are worse gossipers than the sparrows. You are merely lucky that Father has not caught a whiff of it.”

Aaerynn turned silent, feeling the grief and loneliness return in her chest. It beat against her rib cage, freezing up her insides. She had had enough emotional turmoil for the day. Her response came out as a whisper, “I’m not a coward.”

She watched as her brother’s nostril flared in disbelief, it was probably the closest thing to a snort that an elf like him could manage. He shifted his helmet to his other arm as he said, “Surely you must be jesting. Your entire life has been made up of taking rash decisions and not following through on them. All you do is run away sister. That is why you are suffering so dearly now, is it not? It is because you do not have the courage to face it, the courage to combat it. You want to suffer, and you hold onto your guilt and grief because you feel you deserve it and you are unwilling to change it. You are afraid of not suffering.”

Aaerynn shifted her weight from foot to foot in annoyance. Her fingers continuing to curl and uncurl into fists. “That isn’t true.”

“Yes, it is.” Lysander scoffed. “Tell me a decision you have made where you took responsibility and where you followed it through with your actions. You cannot because you never have. Someday you have to face your life and the choices you make, you cannot continue living as if it is not worth it. I have no pity for you.”

Aaerynn turned silent. Her mind was frantically searching for one decision she had made and stuck with, one instance where she didn’t run…but she couldn’t. She had always been running. She had always changed her mind and was never able to follow through. That was always the point at which something bad happened, someone was hurt or left dead because of her. She had never faced anything in her life. Perhaps that was what she was, a coward.

She didn’t want to be a coward anymore.

Aaerynn didn’t notice that her brother had stepped towards her until he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up in surprise and he stepped back, his hand returning to his side. Lysander looked away as he said, “I apologize. I have wanted to say that to you for some time. I have heard things about you, you know. Having a chance to see you in a hundred or so years, I did not want to waste it. I hope you heed the advice, from one elder brother to his younger sister.”

Aaerynn remained silent, but she looked up at him, taking in his face. She wanted to remember this. He had risked a lot to talk to her, seeing him after so long was making her feel nostalgic as well. First Rudolf and now her own brother. Perhaps it was time for her to take the hint, and face everything. She didn’t want to run away anymore. She was tired of playing the coward.

Her thoughts were interrupted as another elf approached her brother, handing Lysander an arrow covered in orc’s blood. The elf whispered in a low voice, too low for Aaerynn to hear, and Lysander dismissed the elf as he held the arrow up to the rain to observe it.

The female elf finally found her voice as she changed the subject. “How long have they been appearing?”

Lysander’s eyes didn’t move from the arrow as he answered. “It has been about a decade now. They suddenly sprang up and have been causing havoc ever since. We get rid of one group and another pops up.”

Aaerynn frowned as she too looked at the arrow. “One of the goblins had been screeching about elven hearts and a ‘he’ that is coming back.”

Lysander gaze flicked to her face but he didn’t seem surprised. “They always mutter such nonsense. They grew powerful during the Dark time, now with any sniff of bad luck on the wind, they drool like starving dogs. Though, be wary sister, about your heart. We were cherished by the Dark Emperor because of it. It is said he took elven hearts, and grinded them up into a solution. He believed it increased his magic capability and strength. That the seed in our hearts has potency for strange and miraculous strength.” He paused, cleaning off the arrow’s tip as he continued, “Really it must have been a bluff, an excuse to murder our people. Do not believe the mutterings of goblins and trolls, they know nothing but to continue living in their pasts.”

The she elf frowned, not entirely sure if her brother was telling the whole story. But she watched as he decided to toss the arrow and said, “That reminds me. You have an Aavikkanian in your midst. He seemed to have dealt most of the damage of your party, and allowed us to clean up much quicker than usual.”

Lysander whistled and a canteen was tossed over to him. “Give this to him.” He handed the canteen to Aaerynn, who took it with a quirked eyebrow. Lysander smiled at the curiosity. “He has made many friends with the wood elves. This was originally from someone in the South, but tell him it comes with thanks from the North. We do not want to send him off without a reminder of his friends.”

Aaerynn just stared confused at the canteen, but then she looked up at Lysander. “How do you know I’m even going back?”

Lysander had already moved away from his sister, returning to his soldiers that were already disappearing into the wood. “Because it is your time, Aaerynn. Either change or die.” He gave her one last smile, but then fumbled into his pockets and suddenly tossed her a glass bottle. “Here, a gift from me. So that you also do not leave without a reminder of your family.”

By the time Aaerynn caught it, the elves were already gone, leaving her alone with Baineth, Kai and the rain.

---

As the rain seemed to lighten, and the clouds filled with white light from the hidden sun, Aaerynn returned to camp. She was drenched from the rain, her hair curling and wet as it stuck to her skin. She was silent as she walked into the clearing, leading her horse and the young wolf behind her.

Her eyes slowly looked up to see that Elrithos had spent the rest of the night outside, and she approached him slowly. He was already awake and Aaerynn unslung the canteen and handed it to him. “It is a thank you, from the North and South elves. It smells like the traditional sweet juice, so be careful when you open it.”

Her voice was softer, and she looked beaten down both physically and mentally. But there was something new inside her, not yet courage and not yet happiness, but it was something. Determination, perhaps.

The wood elf wasn’t able to hear the desert elf’s reply as Rudolf suddenly burst out of the canvas covered cart, puffing in surprise as he said, “Aaerynn!”

Aaerynn shifted her gaze away and felt Baineth nudge her in the back as encouragement. Eventually she said, “I’m….sorry.”

The words were dragged out as if she were pulling her own teeth. Her hands clenched into fists, but she finally looked at the dwarf. “I want to continue the journey. If it’s alright.”

She wasn’t expecting the dwarf’s arms to snake around her, nor for her to be lifted off her feet. He squeezed her and her eyes widened as the dwarf said, “Of course, of course! My you’re soft!”

That granted him a swift knee in the gut, and the dwarf let go with a laugh. “C’mon then! Let’s get ready! We should hit the next town soon!”

---

The camp filled with the bustle of everyone getting ready. It was faster than usual, the anticipation to reach a town with an inn, warm beds and warm baths was enough to get most of the party bustling.

Setna had adjusted his sister so that he could carry her on his back. There was no way he was going to leave her on a cart where he couldn’t hear her breathe. The thought terrified him, and he’d rather carry her the few miles than deal with her dying or waking up without him beside her.

The boy was surprised though as the wood elf drew near, and asked him, “How is she?”

Setna looked back at the unconscious face of his sister. “Better, I think.”

His gaze went back to Aaerynn and he smiled for her. “Mostly thanks to you. I’m sorry I didn’t thank you before, I honestly don’t think she would have survived as long as she has without your medicine. So…thank you. I don’t have anything to pay you with but…”

Aaerynn looked awkward, and her gaze shifted away as she continued walking past the boy. “Just tell me when she wakes up, and I’ll take a look at her.”

Setna looked back at the wood elf. There was still some ice in her words, but it seemed like she was trying to be more sociable.

The boy shifted his sister’s weight, feeling her limp body against his back. All he needed was for her to wake up and to keep pushing forward. After she would wake up, Tirian would train her, and Setna would take up the offer for training with Elrithos. They would both become strong, and things would get better.

The Syndarean lifted his head as he heard Rudolf whoop and the oxen began to trot. That’s right, things would get better. “They have to…” He mumbled to himself, as he began to walk forward, Deetri the horse following behind.

---

Aaerynn had moved on from the twins to Caelis. The man looked extremely battered and the wood elf had retrieved a pain relieving salve from her pack. She approached slowly, feeling awkward again. "How are you doing? It doesn't seem like you're suffering from anything lethal so..."

She paused and this time she turned to Faith. There was no longer a sense of disgust as Aaerynn put on a brave face and attempted to shove down the bile and grief that raged up into her throat. She handed the young girl the salve. "This will make his wounds hurt less. Make sure that he uses it."

Her words came out rushed and just as she had appeared, she was gone, quickly returning to her animals so she wouldn't have to hear them respond, or look at their faces.

---

It didn’t take as long as anyone thought for them to finally exit the forest and enter the bustling town of Cromerth.

The town had prospered into a city, its roads paved with cobble stones, and all sorts of shops had their doors open for customers. A market had even been set up to sell fresh produce from the local farms and fresh meat from the finest butchers, all in the courtyard of a large cathedral that stood stark white against the sky.

As they entered the bustling town, Rudolf turned to his companions with a large grin. “Welcome to Cromerth! I will be heading to the Bronze Lantern Inn to set up our rooms and accommodations. Feel free to follow me or to split up and explore! Everything should be ready in a few hours, so feel free to meet back up at the inn when you’ve had your fill of the town.”

[Ikari]

Cromerth, boy what a beautiful city it had become over the past years. Tirian did not see the beginnings of this wonderful destination but he had surely seen the end result. The smells of fresh delicacies brought forth with a gentle breeze set the mood just right. Tirian drew in a long breath of appetizing aromas and quickly found serenity in this place. Orcs and goblins quickly became a nightmare of the past and the only thing mattering in this very moment was that of peace. Blue eyes looked back towards the entourage of battered travelers with a warm smile. It was the first time since their departure that Tirian spoke with joy and a sign of humanity.

“I can say without a doubt we’ve all earned the right to treat ourselves today. If you’ll excuse me I have somewhere I need to visit first!”

Tirian waved to the band of traveling companions and quickly disappeared into the bustling city. Cromerth was a center for warriors to gather and display their skills, especially with the tournaments that are held daily. Tirian made it a personal goal to never miss a tournament when he was in the beautiful city of Cromerth. This goal didn’t come from the want of money nor the arrogance of pride. This goal was more oriented towards finding the right philosophy of war and proper treatment of a worthy opponent. The soldier would never openly admit it, but even he felt anguish with the sheer brutality of his actions and the merciless way he slaughters anyone who opposes his blade.

“Tirian!”

The sound of a gruff male boomed in the distance from a gathered crowd that ultimately led to a coliseum. Tirian slowed his pace in anticipation of the massive orc that cleared the crowd. Tirian quickly held his hand out to meet that of a much respected orc, a quick and powerful handshake ensued for no more than five seconds.

“Broxigar, it’s good to see you again.”

The orc nodded and turned to walk with the red-haired human towards the registration. Tirian felt pride in his chest walking with the respected warrior Broxigar as he entered the arena’s waiting area.
“Going to win this time Tirian? Or am I going to have to beat you again!”

Tirian cracked a quick smile of smugness at the orc, opting to ignore the obvious taunting. Blue eyes scanned over the registry with a slight hint of amazement. The same person had won the last five tournaments in a row; a feat not accomplished by very many. Hearthstone, was all that the paper would give this red-haired warrior. And wouldn’t you know it, Tirian would be going against this very Hearthstone in no more than ten minutes time.

“Good luck Tirian, your first match is going to be tough. Lok’tar Ogar.”

Tirian nodded to the muscle-bound orc once and then disappeared into a room meant for gladiators to mentally prepare themselves. Time continued to tick away until Tirian heard his name bellowed out. The soldier felt prepared, without the single hint of nervousness. He was a warrior after all, a monster that had killed hundreds of men. The soldier broke free of the darkness into an open field of dust and packed dirt. Across the way was the champion named Hearthstone. The blinding light settled and what stood before Tirian’s blue eyes was a shocking revelation. A petite female, no more than twenty with long pinkish hair stood before Tirian.

“BEGIN!”

The crowd roared to life with incredible passion. This petite frame exploded forward much faster than Tirian had expected, making a rookie mistake of underestimating an opponent based on looks. Hearthstone drew a slender blade colored red as blood and quickly lashed out with a forward thrust. Tirian drew his own blade and parried the thrust with a quick step backwards. The female quickly adjusted and continue forward without slowing down. A slash here, followed by a precise thrust there. The opponent wasn’t strong, no she was fast. Just as fast as Tirian and even more precise with her meticulous movements.

Tirian slashed down fiercly, knocking the blade away and continuing with an assault of his own. Once Tirian had broken the pace, and made Hearthstone fight his battle it was all over from there. Tirian struck down with fast slices and quick moves with spinning velocity. Tirian stopped in his tracks, then jumped with a rising slash that knocked away the red colored blade. The fight was over and Tirian stood a victor, but only but a small margin. Tirian held out a hand to the girl with a smile on his face.

“I’m impressed. Not many women can fight with such intensity. Tirian Pherae.”

The petite female took the hand and quickly sighed to herself.

“Lucille Hearthstone. Call me Lucy.”

The handshake was quick and precise. Lucille stood before Tirian with a happy smile, but her eyes said something completely different. They held a fire of unhappiness. It was obvious this girl did not like to lose and maybe, just maybe this was going to present some sort of rivalry.

“I’m not one to usually ask this but, I’m traveling with a group of people to the new continent. Would you be inter-“

The pink-haired girl perked up faster than anything in the world.

“YES! Could I? How many people are there? What are they like? Are the fun? Or mean? OR sad? Do you have pets? What’s the reward? Oh my god!”

Tirian quickly stepped backwards with a complete look of disbelief. What had he just done…