Chapter 9.

did you miss Chapter 8? Find it here. 

Fella found them where she had left them, snarling and biting, well perhaps one was doing more of that than the other but they were both equally trying to kill the other. Vorcinerex was weary, she could tell by the heaving of his sides, the fury gave him strength but he was up against a champion of their enemy. The champion, to his credit did not seem tired or worried, he seemed as posed as if he was dancing around the fire with a mate rather than fighting for his life. There was a sudden flurry, and another of the massive trees was hewn, falling on itself as half its trunk was sliced. Vorcinerex reciprocated by tearing off the limbs of another and beating back the tall warrior at length.

Such was the trail that she had followed, misshaped tree after fallen tree. The light had sunk beneath the trees and now she walked in gloom. It was better for her that way, while she didn't doubt she could stop her enraged mate from striking at her, she did not trust the other fighter. The ridges of his skin glowed softly in the gloom and merely heightened her apprehension of the warrior. He was not of this plane, and he was not of their Mother.

There was a crack, followed at length by a deafening thud as the tree that Vorcinerex tossed the warrior into broke and fell. Trees taller than rivers were long, the ground threatened to tear itself open in protest of their weight. Still they went on, the warrior picking himself up as if he'd merely been tripped and stalking towards her mate. That sword of his dancing in front of him as if it were a short spear instead of a metal blade as large as her. Gashes sliced through trees, boughs fell, and crimson petals rained.

She lost sight of them behind a wide tree that they had not brought down and began to creep forward once more. There was little she could do to help her mate here, but she would tell him of the child's kidnapping once he was threw. He'd have no choice but to gather more tribes and strike out against the human kingdom for her. Of course, he'd have to finish with this warrior first, but Vorcinerex was Mother's favorite, she'd never let him fail yet.

There was movement up ahead, not the two fighting, but to the side a bit. Someone else had found them! Fella scrambled around the tree and towards another closer to the pair and their other guest. The two tumbled past, Vorcinerex landing on top and trying to tear at the throat of the warrior. The warrior glowed as they rolled and Vorcinerex's roar a short while after told her he'd failed in his attempt. There! There was someone else lurking, no not lurking striding purposefully towards the pair. A Minotaur, with dark brown hair and horns of black. She did not like the look in its eyes, or the jagged edge of its spear.

Fella sighed, she was hoping to avoid this but it wouldn't do well for her to watch her mate fall. Favored of Mother or not. Stepping around the tree she closed the distance between herself and the wrestling pair and across from the Minotaur building speed. It's eyes were red, a bad sign as far as eyes typically went.

Is it too much to ask that you didn't bless our enemies Mother.
She howled, her size doubling as she began loping towards the now charging bull. It bellowed a challenge as she continued to grow while the gap closed between them. She felt the air pressing against her as she sped towards the spear pointed at her heart, ten meters, five meters, now... She willed herself to the winds and became it. She passed around the barreling Minotaur, her claws formed as she passed and raked along its sides, it's hardened hide protecting it. She coalesced a meter behind it and immediately had to avoid a spear thrust. The Minotaur smiled a toothy smile at her.

"When did Trife favor the Vulk so! You're the second windwalker I've had the pleasure of killing this day," said the Minotaur.

So Hevhast had not survived, his tales would be missed but he had given his spirit for the tribe, no for his people. She reached for the red emblem hanging from her neck by a bit of cord. Gripping the cool metal and yanking, it fell away easily. Now that it was in her hand the metal shaped, the spirit within listening to hers and turning into a long double edge sword. We've work to do my son. 
The Minotaur's patience ran out and he barreled forward with a series of jabs, Fella parried two while giving ground then dove past the third strike turning to wind and passing around him the spirit sword remaining dancing in the wind and striking along the side of the beast. She formed and had to roll away from a fist. It was fast, and angry.

"Blasted wind! Stand still and fight me!" it bellowed.

She wasn't inclined to acquiesce.  She shied from another thrust catching the shaft and slicing down through the wood with her own blade. The minotaur pulled back and began to spin the shaft around his head and began using both sides to keep her back and from gaining ground towards him. She went to step into a lunge and ate an end to the snout, she tried to leap but took a hard strike to the side of the leg which dropped her. It smiled looming over her, its red eyes staring down at her.

"I hope Klanae appreciates my offering," it said.

Then it was gone, a flash of gray fur taking the creature bodily and planting it into the side of a tree. Vorcinerex huffed standing where the Minotaur once had been, his back to her as it watched the crumpled shape of her attacker.

She stood carefully her shin burning, she was already shrinking. She wasn't as experienced at holding her fury as Vor was. There was a sound like a wind catcher spun above her head. She felt the danger before she saw it, pushing Vor under the very tree he'd just sent the Minotaur sprawling. Arrows feathered the ground where they'd been standing. A new shadow loomed long over the gloomy cove where the champions fought.

Looking up Fella saw the belly of a great beast, it's wings spread wide allowing it to float above the forest. Archers lined it side, already aiming another shot at them under the cover of the tree. Even from here she could sense the power of the spirit on that abomination. Fate it seemed, was against them, it was time to change it.

The Minotaur stood with a groan. Fella noted with relief its red eyes had taken to black and it seemed slow to go on the attack. Vorcinerex moved towards it as if to finish the creature but Fella held him back. Her mate spun on her then, anger burning in his eye, she did not flinch before him she had mastered his anger and it held no sway over her. His eye cooled and he stayed his wrath, shrinking some as he recognized her.

"We must go," she said while pulling on his arm with her free hand, spirit sword held in the other.

He huffed once more, shaking his head roughly before finally allowing himself to be lead.

"What happened to the other?" Fella asked.

"I... I do not know. I saw that one attacking you and left it."

Fella searched the forest for signs of the other warrior but saw none, he had merely disappeared.

"Perhaps you scored a lethal blow."

"Yes, we should turn back and finish that other champion of there's. Our army could fight them with those two returned to the Fields."

"He is here, and they have Anae," Fella said stumbling. "They took her Vor! Stole her right from my arms. They've hunted us, slaughtered us, then on the day of our defeat they stole our child!"

Fella sobbed softly into the shoulder of Vor, she felt the loving embrace of her mate, and the tremors of his wrath.

"I had planned to give Bloodlust to Klanae when I'd finally met him on the field. Now I think it would be too great an honor for him. I will rip the throats from his people, feast on their spirits, and use their strength to break his kingdom and return Anae to our people."

He released her then, and began stalking deeper into the Eternal Wood. She had him then, he would unite them again, and lead them to war against these humans. They had been beaten, but all swords were tempered.

Chapter 8

Did you miss Chapter 7? Find it here. 

The battle had gone to plan, the Vulk forces lay splintered groups fleeing into the woods in different directions. It would make mopping them up all the more difficult but with the sunbelchers firmly under he control he could allow the Skyeels freedom of the forest. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't at least a little disappointed. He had spent years hunting these beasts across the realm and when they'd finally clashed in a decisive battle, well it had been almost too easy. The front lines had collapsed after nary a day of fighting, the flanks folded almost immediately after being joined, and the ferocity the enemy had garnered a reputation for seemed more myth than having any teeth to it.

Jhev surveyed the remnants of the fight from his hilltop vantage, he could see companies going through the moor of dead gathering their own or salvaging valuables. Marshall Hevsid was organizing a defensible camp on the high ground, and the Chaplains were reading the passages of Elysium. Not all things had gone smoothly today. He'd lost both of the immortals the Divinities had seen fit to bless him with, Vorcinerex still lived, and there was that minor complication with Minos' demands. How we he supposed to know which child the Divinity wanted, for all he knew the child was lying down there dead. Likely the child fled with the rest of the Vulk cur, he'd be tracked down like the rest of his Kin, then Minos would have his end of the bargain, and with Vorcinerex dead he'd have his.

There was also the small matter of Chaplain Oran, apparently she'd last been seen heading into the woods away from the frontline after leading a charge against the flank. Some of his knights had claimed she'd had the immortal with her, but that was hard to qualify now without the Chaplain here to answer. Perhaps she'd gone seeking the glory of killing Vorcinerex for herself, if so she was likely dead. The Immortal, Alaen the Glorious, no small part of this victory was due to him and the champion Minos had seen fit to send him, Kanis the Stained. He'd have to offer up sacrifices to each doubtlessly, but well worth it. He wondered if Betsol was aware of his treachery, how could she not as queen of the Divinities. Yet he still stood, he still commanded, perhaps the Divinities weren't as omniscience as the Priests would prefer you to believe. Or perhaps she knew, and understood. Minos wasn't her enemy, and the Vulk threatened her people! He'd been right to seek them out for destruction after what they'd done to Frosthaven, his home. Vorcinerex had come to his manor that night, it was that night he'd made his promise it was that night that Minos answered his prayers.

Vorcinerex.He was close . Jhev would not let him escape again, he would not let the gift of mercy extend the life of that monster.

A feeling climbed into his hear then, a dark one that worked against him. This was one of worry, of angst. It wouldn't let him be calm, it wouldn't let him be still. The days victories seemed small to the risk of losing Vorcinerex. So as it had been the past three years, so it would be that night. There would be no rest while Vorcinerex lived.

"Marshall Johanna," said Jhev, "Prepare your fastest Skyreels. We find Vorcinerex while Betsol still shines."

The woman with curling golden hair standing behind him away in a suit of leather nodded curtly, turning on her heals and leaping down the hill in her hurry.

"Marshall Derek, I'll need your finest company of Archers, we're hunting a particular beast we'd be best to avoid getting to close to," said Jhev.

"I'll send up the first then my Lord Marshall," said Derek.

"Very good, and Marshall, I'll need Bogan."

"Bogan, sire?"

"Yes, I may require his... particular blessing."

"Very well sire."

Jhev watched the second Marshall depart him, there were runners for such things of course but Jhev preferred to remind the Marshalls of their station below him. It was well that when he made orders they listened, not questioned, not advised, merely listened. It saved times and time saved lives, the lives of his soldiers who had sparsely few enough of these days. The three years had been a trying ordeal, but if the day ended as he hoped, it would have all been worth it.

***

They skimmed across an ocean of blood. The skyreel's belly grazing the top most flowers of the towering trees. They had left with mere hours left of daylight, the Glory hour bathing them as they set out on their quest.

With Chaplain Oran missing, he'd taken Chaplain Feyor with them. Rounding out their company of 24 a Divine Number. Marshall Johanna was currently steering them, while a few of the archers had their sharp eyes piercing the forest for signs of camp. Bogan sat in the center of the Skyreel near its mast. The slave was a large fellow with scars running up his arms and along his face, his black hair was missing patches where a particular scar struck through. Even to Jhev he was a disconcerting sight, which was why Jhev kept him with the baggage train. Good for digging latrine trenches and hefting supplies for the army, best to unnerve the slaves than the soldiers. Still it did not due to waste the blessings of the Divinities.

Bogan eyed him wearily and Jhev turned his attention to the passing treetops. It wasn't until they passed into a large clearing that he realized just how high up they were and felt his gorge rise. He backed away from the side and was caught by a firm hand. He turned to find Bogan.

"Get your hand off me Slave!" commanded Jhev.

Bogan did just that, shirking away from Jhev and back against the mast.

Jhev dusted his shoulder where the creature had touched him and straightened himself. The uncivility of it, why the Divinities had seen fit to bless such a simpleton was beyond Jhev's comprehension. He imagined they were a merciful sort, why else would they allow such creatures to continue living freely.

"We've found their camp Lord Marshal," said Johanna. "It appears deserted."

"Then send down the scouts," said Jhev.

Two of the Skyreel's sailors were soon strapped into a harness and lowered to the ground where they released themselves and began stalking through the village of tents. The Skyreel hovered over them, floating lazily along the wind stream towards the center of the village where two large tents sat opposite one another. There had been a battle here, a number of Vulk bodies laid discarded, it was the work of an Immortal, one of the two had made it here. No sign of Vorcinerex or the immortal, but they had left a trail. Tents sliced down or broken in a line towards the north west.

A scout entered each of the largest tents, returning to the opening with a sign for clear. Archers hoisted the pair of scouts back to the Skyreel by their re-attached harnesses. Once they'd been raised off the ground the Skyreel began moving again, floating towards the path of broken tents and onward into the forest where a similar path of broken trees was found.

Vorcinerex was close, and they were on his trail.

Would you like to read the next chapter? Here's Chapter 9. 

Chapter 7 - Stains

In case you missed it, Chapter 6. 

Kanis counted the hours by the dead. It had been a very long day, yet finally the dying slowed. He wiped his blood soaked brow the grime merely smearing.

He stalked forward, a hoof crushing the skull of someone as he brought his spear up to deal with the next foe. It waved it's arms frantically, a novice style did they have no one left worth killing. It's pink face squealed as Kanis impaled it. 

Kanis watched it then, the last death of the day. Something seemed familiar of this foe, its eyes looking confused as they lost their light and the body went slack. 

The field was devoid of life, in the distance he could see foes retreating from him, into the woods he could see others running from him. Fear him! Kanis the Stained! 

He heard it then, or perhaps felt it, that sense of purpose in the back of his mind urging him forward. Urging him towards... Something, someone. He ignored it, there was still killing to be done. Perhaps someone would prove themselves, someone to end the killings.

He sniffed, the acrid tang of gore hung in the air like a fog but there was something underneath if one knew what they were searching for. Strength. 

He pulled the spear free from the boy, his body crumpling among the rest. His face watching as Kanis began towards the forest of red.


Want to read more? Here's Chapter 8.

Chapter 6: The Eternal Wood

If you missed Chapter 5, find it here. 

The weight of the forest could be measured in silence. It was the sort of quiet that was loud enough to disquiet thinking. Natal and company made a plodding pace west away from the clearing where the Chaplain had plucked the Vulk Pup from its mother. Their numbers had dwindled to a mere eleven, their lost scattered near where they entered this pressing forest. They had lost Alaen, the Chaplain had not made mention of him, but he no longer lead them. Instead Natal had her most experienced tracker finding their way west through the forest where they should make their way to it's edge.

The Chaplain stayed near the back of the company, walking with a hesitant pace and keeping a protective eye on the small white Vulk. There had been a commotion when the two had first rejoined the knights, The Chaplain quickly checking for wounds before ushering the child forward. Natal took up a rearguard position, keeping an eye on the unnatural darkness of the forest, but also on the pair. The child didn't seem like something divine, it hardly looked like a Vulk at all. The hostility replaced with an apathy, more like a Kych with her wide eyes as it peered at the passing trees broader than any of the tents from the clearing they'd come from.

Natal spun suddenly to the groups left, scanning the floor of the forest between colossal trunks. She shook her head resuming the trek. "Thought I heard something, probably a Behem."

"Are you sure it's not a Guardian," asked Jhal? The young knight looked at each trunk as he came near them.

"You wouldn't hear a Guardian," said Devlin,  "we'd be long dead before you even knew there were any in the forest."

"That's not true," said Gregg from up ahead.

"What, you think you could hear a Guardian old man," challenged Devlin.

"No, you would not hear them, but they leave signs in the forests they tend." The older knight nodded to himself as he walked underneath the bows of a particularly large tree without needing to hunch.

Devlin made a rude noise, shaking his head. "Ain't never heard of no keeper leaving no signs."

 "I. I have." said Jhal. "Priest Uban once said that all the living woods had Keepers and that if you saw a living tree then you knew you were in a protected place."

Natal smiled, it was good to hear them talking even if it was about something as nonsensical as Keepers of the Forest, a child's tale told to frighten children away from getting lost in the woods, just as they spoke of shadows in the night to bring them home before dark. They were an honest lot, even the cynical Devlin.

"That's not even a sign," he said as if in response to her.

Gregg shook his head while passing under another limb. "There are others for those who know to look, for example the moss always grows on the south side of a Guardian's wood."

"South side? Where does moss typically grow." posed Ben who had slowed to match Gregg's pace.

There was laughter from a nearby bush up along the general direction they were heading which caused the lot of them to start and hold hilts.

"The north side of course," said Halfast in response.

Halfast, the company's acting scout parted from the bushes starring at the group of them with their hands on weapons. He cocked an eyebrow before glancing towards Natal.

Natal shook her head. "They got themselves worked up over talk of Guardians, children the lot of them. Especially you Gregg,  I haven't heard a Priest whisper telling of Guardians since before I left for the Academy."

The wizened knight looked at the floor and kicked lazily at large deep blue domed mushroom. "My father, birth father that it were, was a woodsmen in the Keepers' eldest forest Captain. He was allowed to worship Mori as it where and he'd tell me about the Guardians and the Children of the Forrest, the living woods and the dead woods. That's all Captain, suppose I shouldn't have tried to pass them off as true to another, not my place to preach." He gestured divinity as he looked to the Chaplain's feet.

She frowned then, glancing at the Chaplain who was too preoccupied with the child to note Gregg's blasphemy. She shrugged at him. "Haven't heard you speak about your father before Gregg, didn't even know you still thought on him."

"Can't say I often do Cap'n, but we've never been in the Eternal Wood before either."

"Speaking of this forest," said Halfast, "I'm sure we're headed in the right direction but the tree's are growing larger not smaller as if we were headed deeper into it." He gestured apologies towards Gregg who merely shrugged.

Natal glanced up into the canopy of stark red leaves to glimpse the sun, but here they wove too tight to rely on Sol for guidance. "Perhaps we headed further in than we thought when tracking their camp, keep us pointed west and we'll arrive."

"You sure Halfast's our best guide?" asked Vik. "Betsol enlighten me I've seen that tree before."

Devlin sniggered. "Of course you've seen that tree before, there's hundreds of them in this wood. Each one a tower shrouded in blood red leaves! Foreboding if you asked me, no wonder no one lives here."

"It is not some other tree," Vik retorted, "It has the same bearded face pattern in it's bark."

Vik waved her hand towards a tree off to her right. Natal furrowed her brow and glanced to Halfast who merely shrugged gesturing apologies.

"We'll keep to the west, Halfast will guide us right." she said with more confidence than she felt.

The knights nodded and started following Halfast once he started forward again. She noticed they seemed to be watching the forest more intently than they had before which would be a boon worth the delay. She wasn't afraid of the forest, nor what might lurk within, but of coming across a group of fleeing Vulk.

"We've quite the journey ahead of us," said Chaplain Oran.

Natal's neck craned as Chaplain Oran spoke just behind her. She gestured divinity to the Chaplain, the true leader of the company. She spared a glance for the child trailing slightly behind her with silent strides.

"Betsol has yet to answer my prayers for enlightenment. I was sure once we'd found the pup she'd give further guidance to our quest," said Chaplain Oran while looking askance.

Natal had been a part of her fair share of this sort of conversations and kept quite, merely gesturing divinity as she watched the Chaplain and the child.

"We'll need to make haste to the Temple of Dawn. Once Jhev learns of our desertion, especially if he learns of our quest, he'll send what immortal's he still has sway over after us. Without Alaen we can only run," the Chaplain said. She looked away from the canvas of leaves above them and caught Natal glancing at the child. "No, no matter how powerful the pup might be, we cannot risk fighting around it. Betsol made it sound most pressing."

The child turned its head away from the two of them. Its shoulders slumped. The Chaplains speaking brought Natal's eyes back to her.

"Have you ever been in a living wood before? I had always thought they would feel different. More... well, alive."

Natal's breath caught, she stared hard at the Chaplain's face looking for a hint of humor from the woman. "You don't, this forest is a living wood?"

"Yes, well, of course," said the Chaplain. She took her eyes off the wood and looked at Natal for a moment. "The Eternal Wood is one of the oldest living woods on the material plane. Its why there was no real risk of it catching fire despite our Dawnbringers continuous singeing of its edges."

She glanced over her shoulder to the child and said, "I wonder if their plan was to lose us in its depths. It is said that you could spend a lifetime searching for the center of a living wood and never find it, as it's apt to avoid those seeking it."

Natal gaped, shaking her head at the Chaplain. "It's said? by who?"

"The priests of Mori, but of course," the Chaplain said as if the answer should have been obvious.

Natal looked at the forest slowly and breathed in. The air crisp and light, the ground was a blanket of fallen flowers in shades of red from pale pink to a rich crimson that was mirrored above. The trees, if they were really of the same family, had trunks as round as towers and limbs that began sprouting from it high above the floor and sloping up towards the hidden sky. Now she heard the insects droning underneath the silence.

"I imagine we're quiet safe," said the Chaplain, "The Mori taught that as long as you meant no harm to the wood the Guardian's would allow you on your way."

"The Guardians!" exclaimed Natal. "You're telling me you believe in the Guardians too?"

"Of course I do Captain, it is my position in life to believe. I listen to the Divinities and they give me truths. Who am I to question a divinity?" the Chaplain posed.

Natal gestured apologies then divinity. "I suppose I just... well they're feytales, begging your pardon Chaplain. One's families tell to children to keep them behaving."

"No, I'm afraid not Natal," the Chaplain said gently while cupping one of Natal's hands with her own. "There are a great many divinities in this world, lesser of the Divinities of course, but still sharing the mortal realm with us." The Chaplain looked behind her, at the Vulk child who had been listening to the two talk, eyes wide and head cocked.

"I fear the mortal realm is about to face a change it is not well prepared for, an echoing of sorts," said the Chaplain.

She began to walk in the direction the knights were making headway in, Vik just passing through a heady bit of underbrush, a blooming bush of white flowers with purple edges.

Natal started up again, finding herself in pace with the child. The child held her gaze then, its head down and tale tucked behind it. This wasn't something divine, this was something to be protected a child that needed a guardian.

"I'm Natal," she said putting on her biggest smile.

The child merely looked away, hurrying its steps to fall in behind the Chaplain.

Shrugging, Natal quickened her pace passing through the white flowered bush. She heard it then, the sound of creaking wood and rustled peddles, the one that had first caused her to peer out into the forest expectantly. The wind, perhaps, though there wasn't any wind that she could feel.

"They come." the child said.

Natal's had snapped around to find the child staring up at her with large ice blue eyes. She absently rubbed at the back of her neck.

"Who?" Natal asked.

"The ones who'd keep me from your mother."

"My mother?"

"Cap'n!" came the warning from Gregg up ahead.

Natal's blade was drawn before she'd found Gregg. He and the others had their rifles bared, each finding air to aim at beyond the trees. The Chaplain bounded up beside them, her own blade out and a firm hand on the back of the child's shoulders.

"It's the Guardians!" cried Jhal.

"I swear I saw it move Cap'n," said Gregg.

"It did, I saw it too Captain" said Sarah.

"You can relax my Knights," said the Chaplain in a voice that reminded Natal of prayers.

The rifles lowered, and they stood taller. The 9 of them looked to the Chaplain for enlightenment, her Solet shining brightly in the gloom as if the Radiance her self was with them.

"We travel through the Eternal Wood, you can expect a great deal of it's denizens to be spirits of. Though I do not know what you may have done to provoke them into spending the energy to move."

"They have done nothing child of the light, it is you who has forced us to action," said a voice that resonated like air through a reed. Sharp and shrill, but with hint of possible melody.

There was a crack, Jhal's rifle discharging into the drapes of flowers above them, causing a cascade of petals over their heads. The company of knights tightened, forming a ring against the pressing forest, the Chaplain in it's center shielding the child.

"Reveal yourself spirit!" Commanded the Chaplain.

"Ahh, but we are so much more even if you children have forgotten," the voice almost whistled.

A long bough descended from among the drapery, landing lithely and being joined by a second that was attached to a torso of sorts from which extended eight arms and a representation of a face though it lacked any discernible features other than being a flat slant of wood extended away from the torso between appendages.

"A Kodoma," whispered Gregg.

"So you do not all walk blinded," said the Kodoma.

It loomed over them, head crowned by flowers, its six branch like arms extended to each side as if in a welcoming embrace. It bent along the long boughs that carried much of its height allowing its head to fall level with that of the Chaplains, it's body leaning easily over the ring of knights.

"We have come for the child," it said. "While we won't say we expect the rhythm of your kind to allow us to have her, we are prepared for your dance."

"What's it on about?" asked Devlin.

"The divinity is in my care! It has been divined and so it shall be done,"said the Chaplain while staring unblinkingly at it's flat face.

The creature rose some, giving ground the the ring of Knights. "So you have. Yet so have we, thus our roots entwine. We must say we expected for your dance to start in much more earnest. Perhaps you are a different beast than we first thought."

It's branch like arms folded around itself save the top most limb which reached up and plucked a flower from above it and brought I before its face. 

The Knights stood at alert, the Chaplain at its center still stared in silent challenge at the creature. 

"We will give you a fork, you may continue to flow freely, or we can guide you. One will bring you certain doom, the other shall be left to the divinity," said the Kodoma. 

The company looked to the chaplain, Natal was glad they hadn't looked to her. It wasn't her place in the world to mettle with the divine, she was a simple woman.

"Guide us, out of the forest you mean?" said the Chaplain. 

"We must follow the flow regardless, but it will be best to have a guide. Yes that much we are sure. We are not the only ones sent to find the child. She is the latest seed and the divinities squabble over who gets to watch it grow," said the Kodoma. 

The Chaplain looked out into the forest, it's expanse of flowering towers extended before them in foreboding. She then met eyes with Natal, her eyes searching for... Natal nodded and the Chaplain nodded firmly back to her. 

"We will allow you to guide us then, but I remain firm that the divinity is in our care," said the Chaplain. 

The Kodoma stopped holding the flower in front of them and leaned back over the group, it's own flat face a mere breath from the Chaplain's. "A keeper for the keepers, very well." 

The Kodoma stood straight, reaching into the lowest boughs above them. It then began to grow, or rather it did so in reverse. It seemed as if she was watching a trees life in reverse, as if a priest had drawn them out and then flipped the pages backwards. Soon the creature shared a height with them, it's body and limbs were lanky but very similar to their own. It's flat face had stayed much the same but now she could look at it evenly. It's six branch like limbs were now clearly arms and its trunk like body ended in two legs. It tilted it's head at the group and then proffered two arms in the direction from which they had come. 

"We must head west," said the Chaplain.

"Then you should follow us," said the Kodoma as it began walking the way it had directed. "The wood seeks to claim you, Mori's children no longer grow to his will. 

"Excuse me... Master Kodoma, but are you not a child of Mori?" asked Gregg. 

"No more than an apple is the child of the tree who bore it. Though, we have not fallen far from him." 

They walked in silence then passing back the way they had come but not seeing the tree with the face in its bark again. A running stream could be heard and the crashing of falls, they came along side it and followed its winding path through the forest. They followed the wooden creature without another word until they reached the edge of the falls and looked beyond them. The river fell before them, the land giving way to air in a large circular crevice into which the water poured. Inside were rings of terraces where the water collected into gentle pools where trees with flowers of bright colors gave bloom. Among them lumbered a great many Kodomo, some tended to trees, others to pools, some to behems or skyeels, fewer still seemed to be working on a giant weaving that cascaded down the terraces towards the pool at its very center where a cluster of Kodoma knelt silently. 

"This isn't the edge of the wood," said the Chaplain. 

"No it is the center, but fastest way out of a forest is to climb the nearest tree," said the Kodoma. 

"You shall not have the child," said the Chaplain her hand finding her hilt. 

"That has yet to be decided, we must follow the flow of the river. It is the decider of all things," said the Kodoma. "Come, we've been expecting you."

The Kodoma lead them down a path that traversed each terrace. It's fellows merely continued about as if they didn't notice the procession. The trees and ponds each bore fruit, dull in color compared to their leaves. Natal felt her stomach rumble and thought she heard another's, but they did not dare disturb the serenity of the crevice. When they reached the center, situated at the bottom they were forced to wade through ankle high water. Their passing causing ripples to cross its gentile surface. These wakes caused the gathered Kodoma to finally stir towards the company. Each standing and turning as if to regard the Knights with their flat faces. Their was a breeze that rippled across the surface of the water and caused the leaves to shake on their branches.

As one the Kodoma spoke. "We did not mean to bring them all, merely the divinity. We cannot tend for them all, we need not tend to any of them. We are not the keepers of the divine. We do not grow to the will of them. But we must follow the flow of the river, the flow of the river is the path. The path flows here, the eternal wood the eternal pool."

"Excuse me," said the Chaplain. "Who is it that I can address. I am here by the will of Betsol, I am charged with her quest. Do you seek to stop me?"

The Kodoma turned their flat faces towards the Chaplain, their innumerable limbs writhing in odd patterns. "They speak here in the sacred pool! We speak for the Kodoma, we are the Kodoma, we brought them here. We will let the flow of the river decide, we are not tenders of the divine. We do not grow to their will."

"The Flow of the River?" asked the Chaplain. 

"The speak of fate Chaplain," said Gregg.  "It is one of their tenets. They're suppose to be forbidden from changing fate, but to know how it will flow." 

"Then why have they brought us here?" asked Devlin who was keeping his spear leveled at the nearest Kodoma. 

"Fate," said Natal through a smile. 

Would you like to continue reading? Find chapter 7 here. 

Fantasy and Football - A bit of both, but not that kind of Fantasy Football.

"Today's game between the Felwood Larks and the Tumbledown Madmen is just about kickoff. It's been a hell of a week so far, with coach Tom Underwood laying into his former apprentice coach Leroy Harkins. It's certainly set the tone for the coming match up, these two teams hate each other more than the coaches do!"

"That's right Houghtavious, Tumbledown coach Underwood was quoted as saying the Larks didn't belong in the Primaries, even going so far as to imply Harkins had bought their spot."

"The League was awfully quiet about that, makes you wonder if there's any truth to it."

"Oh, let's stop that nonsense right now Hough, The League would never steep to that level their not the Federal Inquisitors Football Academy! The League pride's itself on it's reputation and integrity!"

"You're right there Barkevicious, plus we would never be caught spreading rumors here at Excellent Sounding People News!"

"Indeed, Oh look! The two teams are taking to the pitch, the Madmen being led out by their captain, Middle Linebacker Gregor Dragonbane, the seven foot, four hounded pound Minotaur from the DreadMountains has been leading the Madmen for near twenty years now!"

"Yes, and I'll tell you what Bark, I had the chance to talk to Gregor earlier in the week about this matchup and he told me he's had this game circled since their loss to the Lark's last season! He said he was out for blood and that we should be ready too see heads roll! This is an excellent Linebacker, he's everything you look for, he's got size, strength, speed, and he'll knock the heads off anyone who tries to run it his way. Back in my day we'd call him the Headsmen, and we'd be sure to gameplan away from him. Let's just see what the Larks have drawn up today."

"And here come the Larks now, being led to the field by their captain Enae's Flora, the team's Quarter Back from the Golden Forest. A long way from home now isn't she."

"Yes, and let me tell you what Bark, I got the chance to interview Enae when she was drafted by the Larks and she's real smart, she's got what we called football smarts. She's going to be real good in the league, a real bright spot for the Larks this season. She's not the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest, but she's got that it, she goes' those smarts. She's got a real chance to bring the Vulk populace into The League. As you know their own league, the Canine Football League, has been gaining in popularity among the Vulk Tribes and Enae is likely going to pull in some of that viewership to The League. If she does well in her transition it wouldn't surprise me to see more Vulk being drafted."

"We'll go to the field now to hear Referee Gohan Brown with the call, it appears the Madmen have won the toss and elected to receive the ball. the Larks choosing to kick into the wind this quarter. Returner Heruth back for the Madmen he's returned a league leading three kick-offs for touchdowns."

"I really like this Heruth guy, we talked to him after the Championship last season after his big game with two kick returns for TDs and he was humble and wanted to heap all the credit onto this special teams' coach and blockers. He reminds me of a young Lionheart, this Loen can run and when he gets into the open field there isn't anyone who can catch him!"

"Fedrik with the kick, it's a long boom kick but Heruth fields it in the endzone for the touchback."

"That Fedrick has a leg there Bark, That's why I call him The Leg."

"The Madmen's offense takes the field, Quarterback Timmy Longfingers under center, Two wide, two in the back field, tight end lined up on the left. It's a hand-off to star running back Velk Longtooth, his line opened a whole on the left and he's made the linebacker miss. Tackled by third year player Yohen."

"That was a real strong run there, that's what this offense is going to look to do. Tire out the Larks with my man Longtooth just pounding it to them all day long. Look at this first contact by Lark's End Killmen, He just plows through the four arms of that monstrous Haddi right there without losing any speed. Real strong runner there."

"2nd and less than one for the Madmen, Longfingers under center again, two split out to the right, tight end opposite, two in the backfield. It's a handoff right to Longtooth, this time he's smothered in the backfield."

"That's a great play right there, that's a veteran play. Look at Mountainson moving up in anticipation of the run and then just runs over the right guard! That Minotaur is hard to slow down when he starts moving. If your Longfingers, you've got to see this at the line and change the play."

"Third and a little over two for the Madmen, Longfingers back in the Longbow, Longtooth next to him, three wide two on the right one on the left with the Tight End. The snap and Longfingers fires a quick pass over to the right complete to Williams, the six foot human from Solace, before being planted by Mountainson. Williams is slow to get up but he's being subbed off for fullback Haverfest.

"Mountainson again with a great play, he's not as well known as Dragonbane, playing for a small county team like the Larks, but let me tell you he's a great player. That combination of size and strength is hard to come by and the Larks have set themselves up long term with this Haddi right here. Just look at him get three arms on Williams and then hurl him into the ground. I'm surprised Williams held on to the ball. Good play right there on back to back downs by Mountainson getting the Lark's defense off the field."

"The Madmen's Kicker Sounders is out there, it's a tall kick and it arcs out of bounds near the 30, Enae and the Lark's offense to take the field when we come back."

"Great defensive series by the Lark's right there, setting the tone for this game with two solid tackles by Mountainson,  I tell you, the Madmen are going to have to block him if they want to get any semblance of a running game going."

"The Lark's offense takes the field now at their own thirty one, Enae back in the Longbow, runner to each side, two wide receivers split even, tight end Daniels lined up on the right. The ball is snapped, Enae drops back, looks right and shoots the ball on a line over to the left. Caught by Feor Reddard for a first down and a gain of twenty three."

"That was a great throw right there, this is what Enae was doing during her time with the Canine League. Great arm, great accuracy, she might just be the most accurate passer in the league."

"The Lark's offense lines up on the Madmen's 46th yardline. Enae in the Longbow, runner to her left, tightend on the right, two receivers on the right, Reddard on the left. The Madmen's defense has arranged themselves in a fifty-two, three corners down, Safety Faithsworn lined up deep. Ball is snapped, Enae fakes to Goldbloom, looks right passes right, complete to Daniels for a gain of seven. Brought down by Dragonbane."

"Dragonbane just levels him on this route! I don't know how Daniels held on to the ball even with four hands! That Minotaur can run I tell you, Dragonbane starts dropping in to coverage and as soon as he sees Daniels breaking right he's flying over there for the tackle. Daniels' is lucky he kept his head."

"It looks like ref Brown is cautioning Dragonbane against the aggressive hit, perhaps Brown heard Gregor's claim of head rolling and is looking to preemptively stop the headhunting."

"Ahh, Let them play Gohan! Back in my day you were hit in the head or you were hit in the knees! None of this body tackling. Why tackle a guy all day when you could take him out on the first play! Times have really changed, all these humans in the league forcing the league to soften its stance on violence. I say if they're too fragile to play, Don't Play Em!"

--Chuckles from Barkevicious--

"Lark's offense lining up on the Madmen's 39 yard line, second and three to go. Enae in the longbow, runner on the left, Daniels on the right with two receivers, Reddard on the left. The Madmen retain their patented 5-2 formation. The ball is snapped, Enae looks right, Dragonbane barely down on her on a charge! Looks left, passes left, way down field, Reddard catches it! Touch Down Larks! Enae is down on the field and she's not moving."

"She was hit hard by Dragonbane after the throw, Dragonbane came free through the center of the line on a charge, ran through runner Goldbloom whose got to do a better job there, and absolutely destroyed Enae while she was in her throwing motion. This is what he said he was going to do today, it may be a touchdown for the Larks but Enae is down and might be done for the day."

"Referee Brown is busy clearing a scuffle, looks like tackle Stoneson has taken exception to Dragonbane's hit on Enae."

"I tell you what, Stoneson is not someone I'd want to be in a fight against. That's near eight feet and five hundred pounds of muscle right there. Look at those four arms! Their near as thick as Enae! Dragonbane is still getting after it, yapping going back and forth between the two teams. They really hate each other and that's what great about these match ups!"

"It looks like they're bringing out the priests for Enae, see if they can't get her patched up. We'll be back with news for you on Enae's injury after a brief message from our sponsors."

Chapter 5: Complete

You haven't read Chapter 4 yet? 

Branches cracked underfoot as the company of knights trudged  through the underbrush away from the battle and into the Eternal Wood. Their numbers had shrunk despite Betsol's protection, but they marched on. Natal was creeping along to the left of their column urging their stragglers on. Oran stumbled on, hidden brambles catching her feet and forcing her to rip free every few steps, their progress had slowed significantly but Natal had reported that they were not being followed. The lines they had broken through had been too entangled with Jhev's army to be bothered chasing them. Alaen lead the way still humming an unfamiliar hymn, plowing through the ancient wood with little of the grace he'd displayed while fighting. Oran kept close behind him, the limbs of trees tended break on him and made it easier for her to keep up. Betsol had seen her through, seen most of them through, but they still had the rear guard ahead of them and no army to assist them.

She caught a glimpse of the sun peaking through the canopy, and drew her Divining Stones out her thumb finding the familiar groove in the Betsol stone. Radiance enlighten me. You've seen us through thus far, guide us on your quest and protect us from your foes. I fear Klanae's influence in this wood.
As if in response an unyielding bow snapped free of Alaen's advance and back into face of Oran, filling her mouth with needles and nostrils with pines. She sputtered as she advanced, her face flaring pain and came to a halt while wiping her face clean. She could hear the thudding steps of Alaen as he continued on leaving her behind, and the rustle of branches as other knights passed. She heard Natal chuckling before the Captain's feet came into her blurred view.

Seems this wood has delivered you a worse blow than the Vulk back there. You're covered in blood. She felt Natal's firm hands on her head again, one against the back lifting her up and another pressing some voluminous soft cloth to her nose. She opened her eyes to find Natal shaking her grin on her face. Oran couldn't understand how Natal could still be smiling, they'd lost knights, they'd each suffered wounds, and they faced a task that seemed increasingly insurmountable. Yet seeing the smile made her feel better, just a small bit of her, but it was enough to continue on. She wouldn't fail these knights, she wouldn't fail her Divinity.

Oran nodded then started walking again, picking up her pace to try and cover the distance their company had earned on them while they'd stopped. "We're falling behind" she said through bloody fabric.

Natal caught up in a few strides, she seemed to have no problem with the under brush, powerful strides ripping through weeds and vines threatening to catch feet. She went before the two of them and began to sweep branches out of there way with circular motions, behind widely more effective than simply following in Alaen's wake. It wasn't until they'd caught up to the rest of the knights that Oran placed the familiar movements, they were parts of the Rising Sol, ones Oran had used just previously in the battle. It seemed almost blasphemous, but it was it? She found herself repeating the motions herself, gently guiding the flexible arms of the Eternal Wood away and around her, and within a few minutes she'd found a rhythm and was making good headway through the forest catching up to Alaen at the head of the company once again. He had stopped and she almost passed him before realizing why he had stopped. Before her the trees thinned out and beyond that was a flurry of movement. Vulk dashed across a wide clearing in the forest among tall tents of hide, and quenched camp fires. Few among them had visible weapons and most of them had fur of gray.

Natal came up beside them and grunted, stalking back off towards the company and giving orders for stealth. A bit late she thought, how had they managed to reach her without coming across any scouts or at least a guard? She scanned the woods around them then the clearing for any sign that their approach had been noticed. There weren't many Vulk in the clearing, and even fewer seemed likely to put up much of a fight. Where were the rest of their soldiers, the rest of their civilians?

"There are not many warriors here Chaplain." The words vibrated in her chest as Alaen spoke. "Perhaps ten, and they're focused around that larger structure in the center of the village."

It took her a moment but she spotted the structure, a tent almost twice as big as the next largest. It did appear to be towards the center of the tents and placing it there she could imagine them being placed out in rings forming a small village in the midst of the Eternal Woods. Outside the front flap of the tent was a ring of Vulk with rich colored fur and bearing spears.

"Where are the rest of them?" She wondered aloud.

"Perhaps there are a number of similar villages, or perhaps Lord Marshall's Crusade as been more successful than we've thought." Alaen replied.

That was a comforting thought, but Betsol had quested them with retrieving a child and had guided them here. "If the Vulk of hinted at the child's value then she's likely the thing being defended. We'll make our way there."

Alaen nodded then lifted the sword off his shoulder, eyes growing dark as they settled on the ring of guards.

"Remember Alaen, the Bloodfurry, and that we cannot win the child by fighting. We'll have to try and secure her without violence." she questioned the words as soon as she'd spoke them. How were they to take hostage a child of import from the Vulk in the midst of their camp without using violence?

Alaen merely nodded again before begin to stalk into the clearing. Natal arrived just to see him go and looked into the camp. waving a hand for the knights to form ranks along the edge of the clearing with their rifles. "Nothing to do now but see it through, we'll keep your retreat open." Natal said as Oran started after Alaen.

The two of them stalked quietly through the near abandoned camp, the flurry of motion suddenly still. Had they been seen, was this an ambush? A howl seemed to confirm her suspicion, as they made ready to be attacked. Yet none came. Oran spotted a few of the gray haired Vulk walking in another direction towards a larger tent arrange in mirror to the one Alaen had spotted. This one had been hidden from them by other tents but stood even larger, nearly as massive as some of the barracks Oran had seen. It was held up with more wooden poles than the others, and smoke poured from holes in its roof. At its entrance gathered a group of armed Vulk at their head was death itself. Vrocinerex stood arguing with a gray haired Vulk, his stubbed arm and single red eye stood out clear in Oran's memory. They could finish the crusade just here, but the Quest said it couldn't be won fighting. Alaen waited, his blade resting against his shoulder looking to Oran for orders.

Oran looked down the row of tents to the gathered Vulk warriors, Vorcinerex at their head, some twenty paces from the tent being guarded. Alaen was humming again, a rousing tune which seemed familiar to her.

He caught her looking to him and smiled. "I will handle them, you handle the child."

He was off in smooth long strides before his words made sense to her. She caught her self before calling out, watching as the tall lanky figure picked up speed and entered a sprint headed straight towards Vorcinerex. He was noticed by the guards about halfway to Vorcinerex who howled in what sounded like a challenge, they left their posts around the tent and started loping after him. Vorcinerex had noticed Alaen as well, he roared a challenge and then tore loose the vestments he'd been wearing. The Vulk grew thrice, his body twisting and twitching in a bone breaking and grotesque way.  His muscles bulged and stretched, his snout widened and canines grew in length, his arms, legs, and torso elongated as he stretched towards the sky. He towered over his now cowering warriors as well as Alaen as the Pillar of the World dwarfed mountains.

The opening was made, the tent unguarded and she lurched to action sprinting through the empty tents towards it. Her plate rang in her ears as did the howls of Vulk as they fought. Alaen had reached them. She came to the clearing in the tents around the two large structures, the one that had been guarded and the one the warriors had come out of. She could see Alaen now, he was dancing around the frenzied blows of the hulking Vorcinerex, scattered around them were the remains of the warriors and guards dead, dying, or wounded. Alaen's sword seemed to find the flesh of Vorcinerex with every cut, but none of them slowed the monster. Bloodfury.

Oran returned to her task, finding the flap in the tent and parting it as she entered. The tent was brighter and larger than she had imagined. A large open circular space with throws and pillows arranged in spirals. Slits near the steepled top of the tent let in cascading light. At the center of the spiral was a small desk of sorts, ornamented with flowers, flasks, and boxes of metal, offerings to their goddess? It certainly did have an air of divinity, perhaps this was their place of worship. Sitting behind the desk was her quest. A pup with fur of snow and eyes of the deepest ice, it's features bearing none of the violence of its kind. It's youth lending it an abundance of fur that reminded Oran of plush blankets. The pup stared up at her with uncaring eyes, tilting its head as she approached its narrow snout ending in a black nose. This nose sniffed then, then again, before losing it's friendly demeanor and beginning to growl. She froze, raising her arms before her in a placating gesture.

The pup stood from its kneeling position and began to stalk around around the desk towards Oran, its soft growling coming from its throat. The softness of this creature had been replaced by the violence of its kind, its deep blue eyes running to purple its maw displaying teeth, its haunches raised. Still the nose sniffed between growls.

"I do not mean you harm... I've been sent from the Divinities." She said in what she hoped was her soothing voice she used when administrating the soldiers after battles.

The eyes! They changed, returning, cooling, to blue before deepening to purple once more. Was it her or was it taller than she had thought it to be. It approached her in determined steps, its eyes holding hers while it loomed over her. She could feel heat radiating from it, feel the air move from its tempered sniffs. She was going to die she was sure of it, what a fool she had been! What had she known of this child.

Just then there was movement behind her and she felt a sudden calmness. Alaen, come to save me, bless you Radiance.

"Anae!" A Vulk voice spoke sharply, causing Oran to spin.

A Vulk with fur of gray, its eyes a brilliant purple, stalked into the room. It paid no attention to her instead focusing on the hulking creature before her. The beast turned its attention to the speaker, visibly shrinking before them. She watched as the muscles of the white Vulk relaxed, it's shoulders lowering and its face soften. The pups ice blue eyes returned and it whimpered looking between the Gray Vulk and Oran.

The Gray motioned and the Snow knelt before her its tail curled up underneath it. Oran took a few cautionary steps away from the pair, hand hovering above the hilt of her blade before thinking better of it. The Grays stark eyes took her in, where typically Vulk were hostile from the moment of acquaintance this one appeared to be collected. Oran felt herself being regarded as a Lord Marshall might review her and stood taller, meeting the eyes of the Gray.

It patted the Snow on the top of its head between it's pointed ears, then moved to the table in the center of the room and took up a peace of white cloth before returning. Oran could hear Alaen still fighting just outside the tent, that must have meant Vorcinerex still stood. She regarded the flap but remembered her quest and stood her ground.

"I have come for the child." She said in a firm voice.

"I'm aware of who you came for, and why. I shall let you take her." The Gray's voice was gruff and there was an airiness too the way it pronounced its Ws, but it wasn't the fact that it spoke the language of the Divinities that concerned her, all races did, it was its calm demeanor that was offsetting.

The Gray approached her calmly, offering the piece of cloth to Oran. "Your blood, it entices her. I'd suggest washing, but for now this should do."

Oran hesitated, this was against everything she had learned, it went against who she had built her self around. The Vulk were savages, they didn't talk they killed. However, traps were not a thing of their society so she accepted the cloth. Working at her lower face where her nose and lip had bled. The cloth was smooth in her hand unlike anything she'd felt before and the dried blood did not cake onto it like she'd expected. She held the cloth before her and wondered at it, feeling the the softness of it.

"We call it silk, we sometimes use it in bandages but it is often ornamental. It should suit that wound just fine. I assume you took it while cutting a path through our lines." The Gray's tone remained calm, collected, and there was a hint of something underneath it. Something that gave Oran pause, like how she felt under the Lord Marshall.

"A branch actually..." She murmured under the cloth and wondered why she'd shared it, she felt inclined to answer this Vulk, as if it was expected of her. That was it, it was the assuradness of this Vulk, it's command of the situation as if it knew exactly how it would play out.

Oran glanced to the tent flap again, then back to the Snow. Her left hand found the rope of the divining stones and fingered it absently.

"I will not leave without the child, It has been divined. The Immortal with me will finish with your leader and be with me soon. You should flee." She put effort into her voice, forcing the words out clear and sharp.

The Vulk's eyes took her in calming, as if she were a bird threatening to steal away lunch. "Then you shall have her. Though I suggest you keep the Immortal away from her unless you wish to see her fury."

The Snow started. "Fella you can't!"

"I will, Anae, and you must. You heard... her, it was Divined." The Gray, Fella, turned to regard the pup. It had shrunk entirely, returning to the harmless looking  presence it had first had when Oran found it.

"I won't! I don't care if it was divined our not! They have no sway over me mother!"
The Snows voice came in a whine that was distinctly familiar in tone.

"Hush child. You'll offend The Mother and no favor of hers will protect you then. You will go with this... one. They will not harm you for they would not have daughter you sought if they had intended to. You must be strong for our people Anae, perhaps you will learn to respect The Divinities while you're away." The Gray, Fella, spoke to the pup, but her eyes never left Oran.

"You will let me take her?" Oran asked cautiously.

"I don't see that you've left me a choice, besides it would be a shame for Anae to have to kill you. I fear that the beast may consume her. Perhaps with you... She will be free. Free from the death you mean us all." Fella glanced to the pup who stilled under its mother's gaze.

"You should go now, before Vorcinerex checks on her." Fella spoke as if it was aatyer of divining that Vorcinerex would be the victor outside which caused Oran pause.

"How..."

"He is the Favored of The Mother, your champion will fall to him. Now Go!" Fella spoke in a way that brokered no argument. She could feel the Gray guiding her out with a hand on her back.

There was a whimper but the child soon followed Oran out for tent, Fella did not. She looked for sign of Alaen but they had left the clearing between the structures. Oran glance at the child, so small and soft once again. The pup looked up at her with big blue eyes, it's head cocked as she waited. No hostility, none of the aggression it had displayed at first.

"You will follow me." Oran meant to phrase it as a statement but her tone was flat.

"Mother commands it, I will follow." Th pup said, it's head still looking back at her at an odd angle.

Oran nodded and set off through the empty tent village, making her way back to where she'd left Natal with the rest of the knights.

Would you like to read the next chapter? Find Chapter 6 here. 

Chapter 5: Ending

Find the start of Chapter 5 here. 

Oran looked down the row of tents to the gathered Vulk warriors, Vorcinerex at their head, some twenty paces from the tent being guarded. Alaen was humming again, a rousing tune which seemed familiar to her.

He caught her looking to him and smiled. "I will handle them, you handle the child."

He was off in smooth long strides before his words made sense to her. She caught her self before calling out, watching as the tall lanky figure picked up speed and entered a sprint headed straight towards Vorcinerex. He was noticed by the guards about halfway to Vorcinerex who howled in what sounded like a challenge, they left their posts around the tent and started loping after him. Vorcinerex had noticed Alaen as well, he roared a challenge and then tore loose the vestments he'd been wearing. The Vulk grew thrice, his body twisting and twitching in a bone breaking and grotesque way.  His muscles bulged and stretched, his snout widened and canines grew in length, his arms, legs, and torso elongated as he stretched towards the sky. He towered over his now cowering warriors as well as Alaen as the Pillar of the World dwarfed mountains.

The opening was made, the tent unguarded and she lurched to action sprinting through the empty tents towards it. Her plate rang in her ears as did the howls of Vulk as they fought. Alaen had reached them. She came to the clearing in the tents around the two large structures, the one that had been guarded and the one the warriors had come out of. She could see Alaen now, he was dancing around the frenzied blows of the hulking Vorcinerex, scattered around them were the remains of the warriors and guards dead, dying, or wounded. Alaen's sword seemed to find the flesh of Vorcinerex with every cut, but none of them slowed the monster. Bloodfury.

Oran returned to her task, finding the flap in the tent and parting it as she entered. The tent was brighter and larger than she had imagined. A large open circular space with throws and pillows arranged in spirals. Slits near the steepled top of the tent let in cascading light. At the center of the spiral was a small desk of sorts, ornamented with flowers, flasks, and boxes of metal, offerings to their goddess? It certainly did have an air of divinity, perhaps this was their place of worship. Sitting behind the desk was her quest. A pup with fur of snow and eyes of the deepest ice, it's features bearing none of the violence of its kind. It's youth lending it an abundance of fur that reminded Oran of plush blankets. The pup stared up at her with uncaring eyes, tilting its head as she approached its narrow snout ending in a black nose. This nose sniffed then, then again, before losing it's friendly demeanor and beginning to growl. She froze, raising her arms before her in a placating gesture.

The pup stood from its kneeling position and began to stalk around around the desk towards Oran, its soft growling coming from its throat. The softness of this creature had been replaced by the violence of its kind, its deep blue eyes running to purple its maw displaying teeth, its haunches raised. Still the nose sniffed between growls.

"I do not mean you harm... I've been sent from the Divinities." She said in what she hoped was her soothing voice she used when administrating the soldiers after battles.

The eyes! They changed, returning, cooling, to blue before deepening to purple once more. Was it her or was it taller than she had thought it to be. It approached her in determined steps, its eyes holding hers while it loomed over her. She could feel heat radiating from it, feel the air move from its tempered sniffs. She was going to die she was sure of it, what a fool she had been! What had she known of this child.

Just then there was movement behind her and she felt a sudden calmness. Alaen, come to save me, bless you Radiance.

"Anae!" A Vulk voice spoke sharply, causing Oran to spin.

A Vulk with fur of gray, its eyes a brilliant purple, stalked into the room. It paid no attention to her instead focusing on the hulking creature before her. The beast turned its attention to the speaker, visibly shrinking before them. She watched as the muscles of the white Vulk relaxed, it's shoulders lowering and its face soften. The pups ice blue eyes returned and it whimpered looking between the Gray Vulk and Oran.

The Gray motioned and the Snow knelt before her its tail curled up underneath it. Oran took a few cautionary steps away from the pair, hand hovering above the hilt of her blade before thinking better of it. The Grays stark eyes took her in, where typically Vulk were hostile from the moment of acquaintance this one appeared to be collected. Oran felt herself being regarded as a Lord Marshall might review her and stood taller, meeting the eyes of the Gray.

It patted the Snow on the top of its head between it's pointed ears, then moved to the table in the center of the room and took up a peace of white cloth before returning. Oran could hear Alaen still fighting just outside the tent, that must have meant Vorcinerex still stood. She regarded the flap but remembered her quest and stood her ground.

"I have come for the child." She said in a firm voice.

"I'm aware of who you came for, and why. I shall let you take her." The Gray's voice was gruff and there was an airiness too the way it pronounced its Ws, but it wasn't the fact that it spoke the language of the Divinities that concerned her, all races did, it was its calm demeanor that was offsetting.

The Gray approached her calmly, offering the piece of cloth to Oran. "Your blood, it entices her. I'd suggest washing, but for now this should do."

Oran hesitated, this was against everything she had learned, it went against who she had built her self around. The Vulk were savages, they didn't talk they killed. However, traps were not a thing of their society so she accepted the cloth. Working at her lower face where her nose and lip had bled. The cloth was smooth in her hand unlike anything she'd felt before and the dried blood did not cake onto it like she'd expected. She held the cloth before her and wondered at it, feeling the the softness of it.

"We call it silk, we sometimes use it in bandages but it is often ornamental. It should suit that wound just fine. I assume you took it while cutting a path through our lines." The Gray's tone remained calm, collected, and there was a hint of something underneath it. Something that gave Oran pause, like how she felt under the Lord Marshall.

"A branch actually..." She murmured under the cloth and wondered why she'd shared it, she felt inclined to answer this Vulk, as if it was expected of her. That was it, it was the assuradness of this Vulk, it's command of the situation as if it knew exactly how it would play out.

Oran glanced to the tent flap again, then back to the Snow. Her left hand found the rope of the divining stones and fingered it absently.

"I will not leave without the child, It has been divined. The Immortal with me will finish with your leader and be with me soon. You should flee." She put effort into her voice, forcing the words out clear and sharp.

The Vulk's eyes took her in calming, as if she were a bird threatening to steal away lunch. "Then you shall have her. Though I suggest you keep the Immortal away from her unless you wish to see her fury."

The Snow started. "Fella you can't!"

"I will, Anae, and you must. You heard... her, it was Divined." The Gray, Fella, turned to regard the pup. It had shrunk entirely, returning to the harmless looking  presence it had first had when Oran found it.

"I won't! I don't care if it was divined our not! They have no sway over me mother!"

The Snows voice came in a whine that was distinctly familiar in tone. 

"Hush child. You'll offend The Mother and no favor of hers will protect you then. You will go with this... one. They will not harm you for they would not have daughter you sought if they had intended to. You must be strong for our people Anae, perhaps you will learn to respect The Divinities while you're away." The Gray, Fella, spoke to the pup, but her eyes never left Oran. 

"You will let me take her?" Oran asked cautiously.

"I don't see that you've left me a choice, besides it would be a shame for Anae to have to kill you. I fear that the beast may consume her. Perhaps with you... She will be free. Free from the death you mean us all." Fella glanced to the pup who stilled under its mother's gaze. 

"You should go now, before Vorcinerex checks on her." Fella spoke as if it was aatyer of divining that Vorcinerex would be the victor outside which caused Oran pause. 

"How..." 

"He is the Favored of The Mother, your champion will fall to him. Now Go!" Fella spoke in a way that brokered no argument. She could feel the Gray guiding her out with a hand on her back.

There was a whimper but the child soon followed Oran out for tent, Fella did not. She looked for sign of Alaen but they had left the clearing between the structures. Oran glance at the child, so small and soft once again. The pup looked up at her with big blue eyes, it's head cocked as she waited. No hostility, none of the aggression it had displayed at first. 

"You will follow me." Oran meant to phrase it as a statement but her tone was flat. 

"Mother commands it, I will follow." Th pup said, it's head still looking back at her at an odd angle. 

Oran nodded and set off through the empty tent village, making her way back to where she'd left Natal with the rest of the knights. 

Chapter 5: - Incomplete.

Branches cracked underfoot as the company of knights trudged  through the underbrush away from the battle and into the Eternal Wood. Their numbers had shrunk despite Betsol's protection, but they marched on. Natal was creeping along to the left of their column urging their stragglers on. Oran stumbled on, hidden brambles catching her feet and forcing her to rip free every few steps, their progress had slowed significantly but Natal had reported that they were not being followed. The lines they had broken through had been too entangled with Jhev's army to be bothered chasing them. Alaen lead the way still humming an unfamiliar hymn, plowing through the ancient wood with little of the grace he'd displayed while fighting. Oran kept close behind him, the limbs of trees tended break on him and made it easier for her to keep up. Betsol had seen her through, seen most of them through, but they still had the rear guard ahead of them and no army to assist them.

She caught a glimpse of the sun peaking through the canopy, and drew her Divining Stones out her thumb finding the familiar groove in the Betsol stone. Radiance enlighten me. You've seen us through thus far, guide us on your quest and protect us from your foes. I fear Klanae's influence in this wood.
As if in response an unyielding bow snapped free of Alaen's advance and back into face of Oran, filling her mouth with needles and nostrils with pines. She sputtered as she advanced, her face flaring pain and came to a halt while wiping her face clean. She could hear the thudding steps of Alaen as he continued on leaving her behind, and the rustle of branches as other knights passed. She heard Natal chuckling before the Captain's feet came into her blurred view.

Seems this wood has delivered you a worse blow than the Vulk back there. You're covered in blood. She felt Natal's firm hands on her head again, one against the back lifting her up and another pressing some voluminous soft cloth to her nose. She opened her eyes to find Natal shaking her grin on her face. Oran couldn't understand how Natal could still be smiling, they'd lost knights, they'd each suffered wounds, and they faced a task that seemed increasingly insurmountable. Yet seeing the smile made her feel better, just a small bit of her, but it was enough to continue on. She wouldn't fail these knights, she wouldn't fail her Divinity.

Oran nodded then started walking again, picking up her pace to try and cover the distance their company had earned on them while they'd stopped. "We're falling behind" she said through bloody fabric.

Natal caught up in a few strides, she seemed to have no problem with the under brush, powerful strides ripping through weeds and vines threatening to catch feet. She went before the two of them and began to sweep branches out of there way with circular motions, behind widely more effective than simply following in Alaen's wake. It wasn't until they'd caught up to the rest of the knights that Oran placed the familiar movements, they were parts of the Rising Sol, ones Oran had used just previously in the battle. It seemed almost blasphemous, but it was it? She found herself repeating the motions herself, gently guiding the flexible arms of the Eternal Wood away and around her, and within a few minutes she'd found a rhythm and was making good headway through the forest catching up to Alaen at the head of the company once again. He had stopped and she almost passed him before realizing why he had stopped. Before her the trees thinned out and beyond that was a flurry of movement. Vulk dashed across a wide clearing in the forest among tall tents of hide, and quenched camp fires. Few among them had visible weapons and most of them had fur of gray.

Natal came up beside them and grunted, stalking back off towards the company and giving orders for stealth. A bit late she thought, how had they managed to reach her without coming across any scouts or at least a guard? She scanned the woods around them then the clearing for any sign that their approach had been noticed. There weren't many Vulk in the clearing, and even fewer seemed likely to put up much of a fight. Where were the rest of their soldiers, the rest of their civilians?

"There are not many warriors here Chaplain." The words vibrated in her chest as Alaen spoke. "Perhaps ten, and they're focused around that larger structure in the center of the village."

It took her a moment but she spotted the structure, a tent almost twice as big as the next largest. It did appear to be towards the center of the tents and placing it there she could imagine them being placed out in rings forming a small village in the midst of the Eternal Woods. Outside the front flap of the tent was a ring of Vulk with rich colored fur and bearing spears.

"Where are the rest of them?" She wondered aloud.

"Perhaps there are a number of similar villages, or perhaps Lord Marshall's Crusade as been more successful than we've thought." Alaen replied.

That was a comforting thought, but Betsol had quested them with retrieving a child and had guided them here. "If the Vulk of hinted at the child's value then she's likely the thing being defended. We'll make our way there."

Alaen nodded then lifted the sword off his shoulder, eyes growing dark as they settled on the ring of guards.

"Remember Alaen, the Bloodfurry, and that we cannot win the child by fighting. We'll have to try and secure her without violence." she questioned the words as soon as she'd spoke them. How were they to take hostage a child of import from the Vulk in the midst of their camp without using violence?

Alaen merely nodded again before begin to stalk into the clearing. Natal arrived just to see him go and looked into the camp. waving a hand for the knights to form ranks along the edge of the clearing with their rifles. "Nothing to do now but see it through, we'll keep your retreat open." Natal said as Oran started after Alaen.

The two of them stalked quietly through the near abandoned camp, the flurry of motion suddenly still. Had they been seen, was this an ambush? A howl seemed to confirm her suspicion, as they made ready to be attacked. Yet none came. Oran spotted a few of the gray haired Vulk walking in another direction towards a larger tent arrange in mirror to the one Alaen had spotted. This one had been hidden from them by other tents but stood even larger, nearly as massive as some of the barracks Oran had seen. It was held up with more wooden poles than the others, and smoke poured from holes in its roof. At its entrance gathered a group of armed Vulk at their head was death itself. Vrocinerex stood arguing with a gray haired Vulk, his stubbed arm and single red eye stood out clear in Oran's memory. They could finish the crusade just here, but the Quest said it couldn't be won fighting. Alaen waited, his blade resting against his shoulder looking to Oran for orders.

Chapter 4:

If you missed Chapter 3 you can find the complete version here.

Vorcinerex paced atop the ridge of the knoll, looking down at their warriors as they attempted to fend off the scourge. He motioned wildly with his good arm and waved Elder Horak over to him, his red eye keeping watch of the lines. It was not going well for them, thought that was to be expected, they had not had a victory against the Humans in close to ten years. Still knowing this the tribes fought against the scourge. Horak reached the top of the knoll, his gray fur running to white  his tongue lolling the short trip exhausting him. The journey had been good for him, he'd shrunk to half his size since they started this migration, the humans dogged on their trail. They hadn't had appropriate time for gathering supplies or hunting, and so many had to do with far less to eat than they were accustomed too, the Elders more so than the rest.

"We're not going to be able to hold them at the edge of the woods much longer, have the Elders reconsidered letting the child fight them?" Vorcinerex growled.

Horak shied from Vorcinerex's wrath, when he spoke it was in a whine ."I'm sorry my Chief, the Elders have been clear on this, the child is too divine to be risked in confrontation."

"What good is the child divinity if the entire tribe is dead before she's matured!" the Chief loomed over the Elder and for a moment Fella thought he meant to strike Horak down.

Her mate steeled himself and dismissed the Elder with a snarl. She hunters positioned around her grew smaller, their tails growing stiff as they looked to escape the notice of Vorcinerex's wrath. He stalked down the hill to where she waited with their hunters a growl still sounding in his throat.

"Fools." He huffed as he took his place by her side.

"They merely seek to protect the child my Chief." Fella soothed.

He huffed in that tempered way of his, "I should send them to the front lines if its defending her they seek."

She eyed him coolly, Violet eyes piercing into the one good eye of his. He seemed himself then, the rage calming and he shook his head at her. "Hunters leave us."

They hesitated, knowing they were here to guard them, but unwilling to disobey. The sulked deeper into the woods just ahead of the pair, leaving them at the bottom of the hill alone. Well as alone as one could be while in the midst of a battle.

"These are our kin Fella, just as much as any pup. Why should her life mean more than all of theirs." He was hers again, the Vulk she'd joined herself too, not Vorcinerex the Vicious Chief of Chiefs. Their hunters, Vulk she'd known her entire life gave them room and pretended not to hear.

"You know why, even if we cannot understand it." she said in her gruff voice, the one that had won Vor to her. "She is a gift from our Mother, to lead our people to their rightful place."

His eye sought hers out, he spoke to her hushed then. "I fear that we may not have any people left to lead. I may have no choice but to send the Elders away with her, and try to lead Bloodlust away."

"The tribes will not be willing to leave her, you know this." They had discussed this very thing on several sleepless nights.

"There might not be many of them left after tonight, and regardless I don't plan on giving them a choice, too many of our kin have been lost already to their deliberations. You'll take the girl and the Elders by force with the hunters and steal into the Everwood. In such small numbers their Ships won't be able to seek you like they will this army. You'll be able to lose yourselves, and the tribes will lead them away." He sounded so sure, so sure of their defeat. This wasn't the Vor that had joined the tribes.

"The tribes will not stay together without the child Vor, they'll fracture just like they always have." She cautioned.

"Then that should help us further, forcing Bloodlust to chase several directions instead of one. He won't know that the child has slipped him until he's caught every one. Yes the more I speak of this the more I know it must be done. Tonight, tonight you steal the child and slip off into the dark." He stood taller now, the assured air returning to him. It would have been comforting to her if she did not find his plan so disastrous.

Just then a middling pup burst through the underbrush despite protestations from their ring of hunters. His longer fur and reddish tint placed him from tribe LongWood, which meant he was bringing information from their right flank.

"Chief of Chiefs! The RedMoons have been beaten back, they said there is an Immortal fighting with the Humans on that side. What's more Chief Hortavious says Bloodlust is with them."

Vorcinerex roared then, lost to his temper once more. Bloodlust, the Chief of the scourge, the man Vor blamed for the deaths of so many of their kin. He would seek Bloodlust out, try to end this war Chief to Chief. Hortavious was Chief RedMoon now, his brother had fallen then.

"Hunters, to me!" Vorcinenrex barked, while beginning in the direction the pup had come.

"My Chief, there was more. Chief Hortavious said that the Immortal and some humans broke through his warriors and continued on into the woods. He said they were headed towards the Elders." The Pup looked confused but it made too much sense, they knew, the Immortal knew exactly where to find the child. She looked to Vor but he was already loping up the hill, hunters gathered themselves and took off after him.

Would they be too late? Fella prayed to The Mother that they would not be, the child was their weapon even if she could not fight. She had unified the tribes the way no chief had been able to before. She would not let Vorcinerex break them, even if he was the Chief of Chiefs, even if he was her mate.

Chapter 3: Complete

Chaplain Oran watched him then, the man that couldn't die, casually walking to his death. Johanna was used to such scenes but never had she shared one with an immortal. His stoic form striding with purpose towards the front lines, towards the sound of battle, the sound of men dying, the sound of death. Around her men stood stiff in prayer each man hoping Betsol cared enough for them to see them through, she rarely did. It wasn't that she neglected her worshipers, but they were all apart of something bigger then themselves. It was hard on the small mortal mind to see the grand picture of the immortal expanse. So it was put upon her shoulders to show them, to soften their worry at being unanswered and to shepherded them towards Betsol's purpose. These knights had removed their flat topped helms, they rested in the crook of black plated arms and each man or woman stared at the crest of Betsol rising above her shoulders. They had a haunted look, their faces furrowed and even the brightest of eyes seemed dark. She knew them by name, they had been in service with her for many years but she had not seen this look upon their faces in some many years. Just beyond the ring of knights seeking out Betsol, were wounded gathering to be healed, a great many wounded, some being brought over by comrades, others making the way on their own. She wondered if Betsol would give her the strength to help them all, often she did not.

Radiance guide her. Lady Light, Radiance, Keeper of the Dawn, find me worthy of your guidance. How can I lead these knights of yours to your will? She prayed.

Ahh, child of the light, we have work to do and little light left to do it by.
Well, that was something. It had been growing harder and harder to reach The Dawnbringer. What would you have of me?
I send a champion to this blasphemous army of yours. There is one among the enemy that we must secure, a child who weighs the balance of Elysium.
Sending a champion My Radiance? What is wrong with the one who is here already, I tended to him he should be strong enough. Perhaps Betsol was not aware her champion had already arrived, but that hardly seemed likely. Maybe a second would be necessary?

Kanis does not belong to me, he is a soldier of Minos and works ... Separate from our goals. You shall know my champion when you see him, he may need your help in securing the child. This is not a fight that could be won, so do not try so. Your Lord Marshall marches to defeat.
Not this again, Are you sure you cannot try to speak reason to him?
He is not a child of the light, he is beyond my help.
Then why not label him as such and move this army to your will!
We do not know how far this treachery runs, no we shall let this blasphemy continue. Unless you would offer yourself for command... I thought not.
Her, in command? Preposterous, she was a simple Chaplain, she guided the spirits of the army and healed those Betsol overlooked in battle. I am no so great piece of your plans My Radiance.
So you keep telling me, yet you continue to find yourself in place to be useful. These knights will follow you, I have made it so. Do not let the Lord Marshall stop you from your task, find the child among the enemy and bring her to the Temple of Dawn.
It will be so My Radiance. She broke her gaze from the sun, her vision white and unable to make out her hands in front of her. She blinked, letting the grace of Betsol to restore her eyes. Betsol give me the strength you see in me. Her eyesight restored she looked at those gathered around her. They had a new look to them, heads high, eyes set upon her, backs straight and grips firm on their weapons. She caught the gaze of the Knight wearing the badge of captainship, a sun with triangular rays on three of four sides, on her tabard of white with gold trim. The girl was dark of skin and eyes, her hair closer to orange than brown, she was a familiar face.

"Natal, you are in command here?" She posed.

"No Chaplain Oran, you are?" Natal responded with a raised eyebrow.

I see. "Good, how many Knights do we have, we have a task of most importance to see to." Oran looked over the Knights ringing her and to were the wounded had been gathering.

They were collecting themselves and their weapons, Betsol's Radiance had healed them all, apparently her Radiance thought Oran would need them all. At least they had been spared for now another chance for reaching the fields.
Natal turned, following Oran's gaze and found the standing Knights. "It appears twenty Chaplain. Twently Black Knights and Dawnsinger, Radiance blind us if we're caught in a prolonged engagement."

"We'll be seeking something in the Eternal Forest, Betsol seeks a child and we're to secure her and steal her away to Betsol's temple in Solace. We'll have one more joining us, a Champion.". Oran said while searching Natal for signs that she too thought this task above them.

Natal smiled and nodded to Oran, chuckling to her self. "Radiance shines upon us. With a Champion we'd be able to take on that army, we'll see this quest through Chaplain."

"Radiance shine upon us." Oran said reverently while glancing up at the blazing sun, it certainly did at least feel brighter. "Then gather yourselves, we shall await the arrival of our Champion with the rest of that army. It appears Marshall Havsid is bringing up reinforcements now, Radiance enlighten him. We must be prepared to move at once, we are not alone in our quest."

Natal nodded then moved off, the Knights that had been ringed around joined her in step. Their plate's shine grimed by the soot of the powder from the discharge of their thunderstones. They gathered their now healed comrades and began to muster weapons for themselves, two runners sent back into the copse of trees where their former company still fought. Oran thought Natal was a good leader she was confident and skilled, the way she commanded others to action with simple looks or motions. She was no leader, she was a preacher and a healer. Radiance enlighten me, I will get them all killed.

No, I believe not. Not all.

That's not as comforting as she seems to think.

You're the right follower for the task.

But why me Betsol, why not a leader such as Natal, why not a soldier such as her?

Why do you question me so? Have I led you to darkness before?

No, Radiance, you have kept me in the light, Radiance shine on me. But why me?

You are the follower I have, as you always have been. You will see the next Dawn, my Champion approaches. You are stronger than you seem to believe you are. You are my light in a sea of darkness. I will see you through.
Radiance shine on me.

Yes, you said that child, now go.
Stronger. Who am I to question her? I am the light, and I will see this through. Oran stared at a field of white and realized she'd been staring at the sun again. Blinking away the blindness she found herself staring at a hulking man, skin dark as obsidian, hair brilliant as flame. He wore a suit of plate with pauldrons less exaggerated than that of the common soldier and without a tabard draped over the front. It was a dated look, one displayed on tapestries in temples but not scene by living eyes for some time. He looked out of history and indeed he was, this was the Champion Alaen. No wonder Betsol was confident in her, she'd sent one of her greatest champions to them. Alaen, before rising to the eternal fields, was known as the Singing Mountain for he was taller than even a Haddi and always humming. Indeed she could here a soft rumbling floating from him now. Behind him he dragged the longest blade she herself had witnessed, it scrapped against a buried rock and threw the tune Alaen had been humming. He sighed before flashing a bright smile at Orlan and inclining his head to the sun.

"It is a good day, I think" his voice stirred in her chest before reaching her ears, a sound like rocks underfoot.

"You think?" Oran inquired?

"Yes, it is hard to tell these days. My days are long with fighting when they should be filled with song. Today though, today we shall have plenty of song." His smile returned as he looked down upon her.

"I don't think that is right, we'll have plenty of fighting ahead of us for what Betsol's quest for us is."

Alaen seemed to think upon this for a moment, looking up into the sun before that disarming smile returned to him. His face was round, his nose broad, and his eyes gold and dancing in the sunlight. "Fighting yes, but the Vulk sing when they fight, yes I can hear it now." He howled then, an awful mimic of the horrifying battle cry of the Vulk.

"I do not think that is a song Alaen,"

"It is a beautiful song, one sang with passion and in defiance. I would not expect you to understand, for your life has been filled with the hymns of light and not the hymns of battle. Come, I shall show you." Without waiting for Oran's response the Singing Mountain passed her by, dragging the blade as thick as a man behind him.

The thudding of a thousand feet aligned in march heralded the arrival of the rest of the soldiers from the hill. Marshall Hevsid walked at the front with Lord Marshall Jhev. Where Jhev walked in powerful strides, Hevsid seemed to lounge as if he was on a stroll through his gardens. The soldiers behind them, levies pulled from across Jhev's provinces in Komak, wore yellow tabards on top of breastplates. Distinguishing them from the soldiers from the Keepers of Dawn, knights trained by the church as a part of their families duty to their goddess. Betsol was right, she could not trust the loyalty of these men, they were no more Keepers than she was a Marshall. As imposing a force as they presented, their spears tips gleaming in the brilliance of the day, she doubted that without the Keepers these levies would have managed to as win as many fights against this Vulk horde as they had. Jhev had spotted her and begun to head in her direction. What was he up to? What were his goals, who did he follow? It was possible he was simply taking Betsol's silence as acceptance of his plans, the Vulk had been raiding along Kamok territory after all. However, Betsol's insistence that he couldn't be reasoned with bespoke of him aligning with another god. Perhaps of their own pantheon, the Kamok were not so foolish as to ignore the rest of the gods despite having Betsol's patronage. However, to act against Betsol was blasphemous and punishable by incineration. Minos was likely involved, his champion was here after all and he was always one for starting war when there could be peace. Lunan was another possibility and one that wouldn't broker questioning from any Marshall, everyone knew that Lunan and Betsol were of single purpose these days and he had always looked less favorably upon the Vulk. Her line of thought was interrupted by the settling of feet around her as Lord Marshall Jhev and Masrshall Hevsid arrived.

She gestured respect, a grasping of the right forearm while the right hand clenched in a fist slightly out in front of her. The heralds said it showed solidarity and solidity, though the motions were rote by now she never felt comfortable with the martial gestures. Preferring the divine to the secular, such as the gesture Hevsid returned her now. An unveiling of an open hand before him while lowering his eyes. Jhev, helmetless returned no gesture instead he looked around at the empty expanse around her and then to the back of Alaen.

"I see there's already been a melee, likely testing out presence beyond that smoke before sending a stronger force. They won't be prepared for the levies just outside that bank of smoke. Marshall ready the spearmen, we'll need be set for their charge." Jhev's voice was smooth as silk and had the air of someone used to not being questioned.

"Right away Lord Marshall, Radiance shine on us." Hevsid was deeper with a richness to it that hinted at a warm laughter.

Hevsid slipped away from the pair and began barking orders as if he'd been born to it. His deep voice brokering no wavering dissent and sharp sets of orders by captains relayed down the lines.

"Now then, what was it that our Champion wished to urgently to speak with you about? Word from Betsol perhaps?" Jhev's amber eyes held her, he looked at her a crease upon his brow. What was that look, worry?

"No words of wisdom from Alaen, rather just a song and an invitation to join him. Betsol has been absent from our minds today. Perhaps she is busy nudging spears and arrows?" Oran spoke with her preaching tone, an air of the divine or power behind it. She sought to dissuade this man from the truth but did not want to bring about his suspicion.

"Perhaps..." Jhev eyed her coolly, then glanced to the sun. He blinked after mere moments before returning his gaze to her. "We won't have her radiance for much longer, pray for enlightenment Chaplain, we may need it before the day is dark. We have much work ahead of us if we're to seize those Sunbelchers from them so that our armada might be free to sail. See if you cannot corral that Champion and set him upon our enemies. The quicker we break their flank, the less blood we'll shed and warriors we'll lose."

"It will be done Lord Marshall" She said while holding his gaze, before looking to the sun herself and gesturing respect before turning to leave.

"One more thing Chaplain, they may have a Bloodfury among them. It would be best to make sure the Champion finds it before our soldiers do."

Oran nodded before continuing towards the copse, following the small trench that Alaen's sword had dug behind him. A Bloodfury, blessed of Klanae the goddess of carnage and rage. While Betsol had kept her from ever encountering one herself she had been there for a companies return from one. Fifty dead twice that number missing limbs or severely wounded half that had died anyways. The heralds said demi-gods no longer walked the mortal realm, but she imagined if they did even they would struggle with a Bloodfury. The soldiers from that day had described a beast larger than a Minotaur with four arms like a Haddi, each one wielding a different barbed weapon with skill finer than a champion. It's wounds were said to have closed around weapons, and what blood dripped burned through armor and skin. Faster than a Windwalker, stronger than a Stoneheart. She'd better warn Alaen,

She found the mountain of a man humming to himself in a small clearing in the midst of the copse. She realized with a start it wasn't a natural clearing, he had cut himself a circle with that monstrous sword of his. In the dim light under the sentinels a glow that she hadn't noticed before became apparent, as if his obsidian surface had been cracked and revealed a luminous interior. Natal sat on one of the fresh stumps cleaning out the barrel of her rifle with a patch of cloth, her helm on the ground near her foot. Looking past the clearing Oran saw the rest of her knights taking cover against trunks vigilant against another Vulk charge. Natal' smiled at her as she entered the clearing, nodding towards Alaen. He was standing stationary in the center of the clearing, sword hefted across his shoulders, he was looking up to the sun which was now visible above the trees. Oran found herself a suitably sized stump and settle down, glancing at the Alaen before turning her attention to Natal.

Oran's divining stones slid out from her plated sleeve. She found the familiar grain of the stone for Betsol. "Jhev expects another Vulk charge he'll order a counter charge after if he follows his usual stratagems, once we hit those woods we'll break for their backlines to find that child. Betsol says that they'll have a Bloodfury."

"Just advance through their charge, slay their Bloodfury and then continue to their rearguard. with twenty odd knights and an Immortal, should be easy enough" Natal leered, still working the barrel over despite it looking clean.

"Indeed it should, with Alaen and Betsol's protection. Though I'm not sure I have your confidence on the matter." Oran glanced to Alaen after mentioning the man, he continued on as if he could not hear them.

Natal frowned at her, "I was... Never mind Chaplain. If it need be done, we'll see it through. After all we do have him" she thumbed in the direction of the Immortal.

"I am not so great a tool that I could defeat that army by myself. If that is our task then I will do it, but there will be losses." His voice resonated in her adding weight to his words that added to their grimness.

Losses, she looked to Natal who had replaced her smile with a determined scowl. Betsol would protect them wouldn't she? These knights who've given themselves to her task. Oran would see them through, she was a Dawnsinger and Alaen was an Immortal. This was not too great a task, it was just the sort of task you gave an Immortal.

"Betsol will see us through, this is the quest she's given us and our failure would be hers." Oran said with more confidence then she felt while gesturing divinity.

Natal snorted in reply, before returning the gesture. "I've been in many battles for Betsol before, and it's never stopped Knights from dying before."

"So far she has seen you through safe this far, perhaps for this very moment." Oran glanced up through the clearing to the sky hoping to the see the sun but it was hidden by other trees.

"Betsol is not Alumas, she's not all seeing." Natal said in a tone that was more questioning than accusing.

Oran sighed, shaking her head as she returned the divining stones to her sleeve. "You are right Natal, but that just means Betsol didn't know what she was protecting us for yet, merely that we could better serve her alive than dead."

There was a rumbling and Betsol realized Alaen was laughing. "Better for you that way I think, but I'd prefer to think Betsol did not let me die simply because I was more useful to her this way."

She blushed then, Immortal as he was, Alaen had probably died several times for Betsol's purpose. She gestured apologies to his back, the mountainous man still gazing at the sky. "Forgiveness Alaen, I"

"There is no need child, I have long come to peace with my Immortality. You are right though, I think. We are being guided by Betsol directly this day."

Natal's smile returned as she laid the rifle across her lap and drew her falchion from it's sheath. It was a crude thing, a heavy chunk of metal weighted to the tip to add force to her swing. A Useful weapon for cutting through the hide of many enemies, or limbs from a Vulk. While the Rising Sol taught a graceful style with the weapon, most soldier's she knew simply used a violent style of brutal blows as if butchering their opponent for the nights meal. Natal began cleaning this weapon of her too, despite the cloth being black with grime and the sword looking fresh polished. There was a quiet calmness to the woods, the birds and critters fled or hid. She felt a weight pressing down on her, the giant disk of Sol pressing down more than usual. Her Knights were fidgeting in their own positions, some had water and tack out, another was carving the tree he leaned against, others maintained their air of vigilance by keeping their eyes out in the billowing clouds of smoke the Black Knights continued to belch out from their position further ahead in the copse of woods.

You will see these knights through won't you? she prayed while sighting Sol through the canopy of pines. I know you believe I have the strength to do this, but I have yet to find it. I fear for these lives you've placed in my hands. How am I to protect your followers if you give them to me to send to their deaths?

Betsol did not answer, but that wasn't an unusual occurrence. She was after all, Queen of the Divinities. There was also a battle of some importance being waged in her name that she should have been preoccupied with. Oran wondered for the first time that day how the battle was going, it was easy to forget that this was merely the flank, the front had been exchanging skirmishers when she had last had a chance to look down on them. They were likely now a mass of dying bodies.

A howl pierced the serenity of the clearing, startling Oran from her thoughts. Natal stopped her polishing and looked out towards the billowing smoke at the front of the copse. The lone howl was then joined in chorus, a shiver ran down her spine as she listened to the eerie call through the smoke. She gathered herself and stood preparing for what would come next.

There was a warm hum from Alaen, as he stopped looking to the sky and smiled at the two in the clearing. "Yes, they have a wonderful song. One should not fight without song."

Natal grinned but shook her head at the mountainous man, hefting her self off her own stump and sheathing her sword. She gathered her rifle and withdrew a thunderstone from her pouch and used the latch on the side of her rifle to load it into the rifle. She then thundered up to a thick tree at the edge of the clearing and hunkered down behind it taking site at the smoke.

"Get those rifles up! Don't shoot at any shadows until I tell you too!" Natal barked the orders in a near snarl.

Alaen lifted the man sized sword off his shoulders and held it straight before him with one hand, the light seeping through the cracks in his skin growing brighter. His humming grew louder as he began taking steps forward. "Hmmmmm... They come, we should go and meet them."

Did you tell an Immortal what to do? Oran wasn't sure, but she didn't think this the time to test it. "Those are our allies up there, lets not let them face this foe alone. Natal we move up."

The Captain nodded her agreement to Oran, then moved from her tree out into the copse and headed towards the smoke. "You heard the Chaplain, advance! Hold your fire until you can make out your target."

Like a shadow the company of Knights detached themselves from their trees and grew into the copse. Oran could hear the cracks of rifles being fired just mere meters in front of them in the smoke. The howling had grown in volume and Oran could feel her heart thumping in her chest, anxiety rising in her.There was a vibration urging her to action, a rumble in the pit of her chest that spurred her forward into the smoke and to battle. The first forms took shape in the smoke, trees with incongruous bulges near their base where Knights took cover from absent volleys. Their own rifles continued to put out smoke after each crack, what they were firing at Oran did not know, perhaps the presumed horde that sounded as if it was already upon them. Alaen stood in between trees unhindered by their branches and the threat of being seen by an enemy.

Natal took up a spot behind a tree near Oran's and leveled her rifle before barking at the Knights around her "Hold your fire! Wait until you can make your target out in the smoke!"

Her challenge was met by the crack of a nearby rifle, yet this one was answered by a yelp. Shadows in the smoke, streaming towards them the howling replaced by snarling. Oran could make out the Vulk simply by their size. Tall figures with elongated limbs and snouts loping towards them, a few fell in response to thunderstones but more and more poured forward. There were too many, they'd be overrun before Jhev commanded the counter charge! The rising in her crescendod then stopped suddenly, a moment of stillness before a booming voice resounded through the woods.

"I am the Lightbringer! I am the Dawnbreaker! I am the Rising Sol! Radiance Illuminates Me! You should not have chosen this day! For this day the light shines upon the blessed of Sol! Come forth you shades, come in to the light, and let Radiance shine on you!" Alaen's sang in a deep tenor the opening lines to Lightbringer.
The Vulk poured forth from the smoke, black fur adding to the illusion of shadows being belched forth from Shadesmere. Many carried spears, others had wielded axes with wicked looking spikes others heavy headed maces. Their yellow eyes searching out the voice challenging them. The lead Vulk fell to a crack from Natal's rifle, but three more replaced him, approaching Alaen in a wide arc. The middle Vulk feinted advancing while the two flankers attacked. Alaen was mid chorus of Lightbringer and seemed to have no intention of stopping. His sword was still held out in front of him, but with a grace that seemed profane from one his size the blade sliced through a tree to its right and then through the flanking Vulk on that side, in the motion he twisted with the attack his left foot connected with the skull of the other flanking Vulk. He continued in the spin bringing his monstrous blade up above him and then back down into a point facing the central Vulk who hadn't had time to react. It's died snarling, the massive blade splitting it in two, each half spilling gore as it slumped to the ground. Oran felt her gorge rise, but was forced to pay heed to the Vulk that continued to charge them. Her company's position was full of them as Knights stood from their positions and entered armed combat with the beasts surrounding them. Natal roared as she barreled out from behind he tree and planted her falchion into the back of a Vulk who was sparing with another, she spun and heaved the point off a spear with her blade before head butting that aggressor in the snout resulting in whimper as it fell away from her.

Oran then lost her, forced to focus on the two Vulk who advanced towards her, she drew her own blade, a slender piece with more curve than bulk to it meant for slashing rather than hacking. She felt it's weight suited her better in the Rising Sol and she instinctively entered the first pose holding the sword with two hands above her, left palm resting on the dull edge. A Vulk with gray fur approached first, thrusting a spear at her exposed stomach, she swept the sword in a smooth motion deflecting the spear to its side while spinning towards it's holder and continuing the circle of her sweep into a down stroke across its chest. Before it fell she was spinning back away in a retrace of her motion, coming to the first stance again in front of the remaining Vulk. It bore yellow fangs in a snarl then charged her with an Axe, a chop angled at her side forced her to sweep the swords in an opposite motion and block the strike, before redirecting her swing into a swipe across the front of the Vulk. It back stepped the strike and then brought down its Axe overhead forcing her to use assuming Rising Sol to catch the blow and hold under the beasts strength. Struggling under its weight she spun underneath it and towards the beast, slipping the block and sweeping the blade around her and to the front of the Vulk. This time it was forced to block, it roared a challenge to hear, yellow eyes searching her fangs bared. She reversed her sweep as the Vulk looked to power through its block, looking to bring the sword down across it, however before she could the beast tackled her. So much for grace, she rolled on her back, large Disk of Sol keeper her flat on her back. The Beast knelt atop her, one arm keeping her sword arm to the ground while raising its own axe above him. It's eyes taunted her, it's snarl looking oddly like a grin as a bit of of the froth sitting around its gums dripped onto her visor. She tried to pry her arm free but the beasts weight lent it strength.

Now would be a good time for this strength of mine Betsol. She prayed.

The Vulk spun the axe in it's hand, the wicked spike now being brought down to her face. She turned to avoid looking at her impending death and heard the screech of metal as the spike raked across her fullhelm, Betsol's protection pushing the blow just across the front of her helm. She heard the thud as the spike impaled the sod next to her face. Her visor was a ruin of metal and she could hardly see her attacker but she felt the violence of him pulling the axe out of the ground for another blow. There was a crack and then a sudden weight pressed down on her.

"Chaplain!" Natal's voice said.

The weight was lifted off her, and Oran fumbled with her helm eventually prying the wreckage off. She still couldn't see too well, but she could make out Natal looming above her and feel her hands aggressively working at Oran's face. She blinked against the assault but could suddenly see after doing so.

"That'll leave a nasty scar, but you'll be fine. We'll have to bandage that or that blood will get in your eyes again." Natal said while fumbling with her pack and pulling out a strip of white cloth barely discolored with smudges.

"Radiance shine on me." Oran mumbled while gesturing Divinity.

Natal looked at her then, grinning. "That's one way of looking at it I suppose, I guess her keeping me alive all this time did work out for her." She wrapped the bandage around Oran's head, the cloth being pulled tight and causing a noticeable throbbing.

"Betsol is watching us, she won't let us fall before we accomplish our quest." Oran said while retrieving her sword. The Vulk's yellow eyes were still glinting at her, despite the back of its head leaking black ichor.

"Well that's comforting." Natal said her grin growing into a broad smile.

"Yes, yes it is."

Natal wrinkled her brow "No... Never mind." Her face setting into a serious look as she returned her attention to the battle raging around them.

Oran started towards a pair of knights dealing with a handful of Vulk"I had not known you to be of such faith, Captain."

She merely grinned, setting into a run as she barreled into the side of one Vulk and carried him into another, bringing down her sword onto each in turn. Oran swept her blade across another the group being dispatched.

"That's me, favored of Betsol, who am I to question her Divinity" Natal said while accepting a hand up from one of the knights.

"Who are we indeed, Radiance Enlighten us." Oran sought out a new quarry but it found her instead. A frothing hulk of a beast barreling down on her with a cluster of axe wielders.

The hulk's spear sped forward with divine speed, yet Betsol guided it aside while Oran spun along its shaft and up to the beast, sweeping her blade across its chest. It merely snarled at her before bringing its wrapping the spear around her back and pressing her into him pinning her to him. Its fangs inches from her naked face, its foul breath hot on her cheeks. Betsol willed the spear to break and it did, freeing Oran from the Hulks grasp and allowing her sword arm free to sweep across its throat. Its yellow eyes widened while it clawed at its throat before falling. One down, three, no two to go. Natal had just dispatched one of the axe wielders and was now turning on another. Her own Vulk howled before moving to help his kin by flanking Natal. Oran cursed inwardly then moved to intercept, her tired legs moved too slowly so instead she lept at the beast. She fell flat on her stomach, air knocked out of her, but her sword nicked the heal of her Vulk. It stumbled and by Betsol's grace caught the back swing of Natal's stroke to it's head. The final Vulk died with Natal's blade embedded halfway through it's shoulder. Oran let herself lay for a moment, closing her eyes to the pain in her stomach. She heard it then, a soft deep voice like snow falling from a roof.

"The Sun is set, the day is won, her Radiance shines on me. The light is low, the battle wages on, her Radiance shines on me."