Streams of water poured down the valley walls as Tayla and her group took shelter under a protrusion of stone. The party was taking a well deserved break as the weather had finally turned. It was still only a gentle downpour, but the ever darkening clouds made it clear that they had no intention of letting up any time soon.
Things are going well. Tayla sent through the link. Though this weather could prove to be a problem. She let her eyes wander over to where the Serulian diplomat was inspecting their latest kill. The woman’s eyes glowed that eerie blue as she stood under the rainfall without getting wet. It was one thing to hear stories of their luck magic, it was another thing altogether to see it in action.
The woman looked pretty good for being over a century old; another of the perks of her kind.
Alnur grumbled about the weather as he seemed to trail off. Well, I should hurry back to my group. Best of luck, and tell Fel I say hi. He said as he severed the connection.
Tayla leaned against the wall as she sat down for a moment, taking a moment to remove the large case that hung from her back. She rubbed the spots where the straps had bit into her shoulders as she rested her head against the stone. Her eyes suddenly felt like they carried the weight of the world as she quickly found them closed without her noticing.
“Looks like a nasty cut.” She didn’t need to look to tell that the voice belonged to a certain Stormpriest. There was a thud as he sat beside her.
“It isn’t too bad.” Tayla said, hoping she sounded convincing.
“Want me to take a look at it?”
She shrugged as she tried to ignore her heart pounding in her chest.
Thoren clicked his tongue. “What did you do to the wound? This will leave one helluva scar.”
Tayla opened her eyes to look down, from the corner of her eye she saw Bynard and Fel staring from the far side of the shelter as they grinned like children. She gave them a dismissive gesture as she leaned forward to look at her thigh. The skin was a knotted mess of old and new flesh, beads of blood forming where the two met.
“Ah.” She said, “It’s a trick we use in combat to keep ourselves going until we can properly treat the wound. It isn’t pretty, but it works in a pinch.”
Thoren ran a finger along the raised tissue. “A brutal method, but I can’t argue with the results.” Tayla’s breath left as a thick fog; moments like this made her glad to have the Tranquility to hide her embarrassment.
The priest noticed the puff of chilled air. “What’s that about? You secretly part Invari? Maybe some ice in your veins?” He asked.
“No no.” Tayla said, trying to think of the best way to phrase her condition without sounding crazy. “Triplets are an odd thing for my people. While Alnur and I aren’t as special as Fel, we still have some quirks that make us stand out.”
Thoren turned back to the wound as he began wrapping it, he mumbled to himself under his breath. “I think you stand out plenty already.”
The two glanced at each other before turning away.
Tayla turned to find Fel’s face right before hers. “Hey.” They said, “Not to interrupt this beautiful moment, but we need to get moving.”
Looking around, Tayla noticed that the rest of the group had already left without her noticing. Her cheeks grew crimson as she hurried to her feet. A stab of pain shot through her leg as she winced. She would get proper medical attention at the Keel, for now she had to keep moving. Which meant she had to do something incredibly stupid.
Cold stretched through her body as she felt her body grow numb and distant, the embarrassment ebbed away, the pounding of her heart shrank from a thundering drumbeat to an echo of an echo. She saw a look on Thoren’s face, but she couldn’t make it out; her mind was too focused on the task at hand.
It was a dangerous game using the Tranquility like this, yet when the alternative was to simply grit her teeth in pain, it was hard to not use it for brief moments of rest.
Despite the many years of research, she never had been able to find any reference to the affliction Alnur and herself suffered from. It was true that among the many children of the gods there were any number of minor mutations that could occur; she liked to think what the ancient Lifeweaver would have to say if they could see what had happened to their brilliant nearly perfect designs. Altered by beings from a higher plane of existence, and left to drift from their original purposes. The tranquility and the fury were the results of such drifting. It was like something went out of control. Passion and logic grew and festered into something entirely different.
“Let’s catch up to the others.” She said, stopping to grab the heavy case once more.
The three made their way down the valley towards the group, who oddly had come to a stop around the next bend. Bynard jogged over as he thumbed over his shoulder. “We’ve spotted the next group.”
Tayla and the others quickened their pace.
For a few steps, before Tayla found her leg trying to give out on her suddenly. She could dull the pain, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t injured.
She cursed as she looked up to Fel, seeing a look she was all too familiar with.
“Bynard.” Fel said. “Do what you can for my sister’s leg. Thoren and I will go with the crabs.”
With a half-hearted salute, Bynard led Tayla to where she could sit and rest.
Once more she watched as her leg was unwrapped, the tissue was slowly pulling apart as the beads of blood had turned into gentle streams.
Bynard gave a withering stare. “Tay. How the hells did you think you could walk on this?” He was one of the only people that called Tayla by her real name without titles or the like.
“I thought it wasn’t that bad.” She said sheepishly.
“No. You wanted to act tough in front of the group, especially that blond lightning rod.”
She winced as Bynard pulled out a pouch and began rubbing cream on the wound to slow the blood loss.
“This won’t stop the bleeding, but it should slow it enough to give you some mobility.” He pulled a pebble out, the rune on its surface burning brightly as it was reduced to ash. Which he then rubbed into the cream. “We need to wait ten minutes, but after that you should be good.”
“I feel embarrassed.” Tayla said.
Bynard finished bandaging the wound as he smirked. “Why’s that? Afraid tall blond and sparky won’t be interested anymore?”
Tayla fidgeted with her gloved right hand. “We both know that even joking about me and Thoren is skirting heresy.”
“Yeah.” Bynard said, his eyes growing distant as he spoke. “But maybe that isn’t a bad thing.” Before Tayla could tell her friend the dangers of what he was saying, he continued. “At least you have the courage to say something.”
“Bynard! Do you have someone you fancy? What happened to ‘being above romance’?” Tayla paused. “What a second, you never volunteer for relay duty, unless you wanted to-”
Her friend tied the bandage a hair too tight as he pursed his lips. “I just wanted to do my part for the great hunt, as any son of the All Moth-”
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“Please, you are the least pious man I know.” Tayla leaned in. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll ask your sister.”
That got his attention.
“Fine! It’s Zo.” Bynard said, turning to look away.
Tayla reached for the link but her friend knew the look on her face too well and reached out to stop her. “Don’t tell Alnur! He’ll do that thing he does where he tries to fix the situation that doesn’t need fixing.”
“Okay okay.” Tayla said. “So what are you going to do?”
“Hm? Oh! I was planning on keeping it a secret and hoping to fawn over her from a distance for the next decade or so.” He put his head in his hands. “Or… I’ll try and ask her out. Eventually.”
Tayla stretched her leg, the pain was still there, but not as bad. “I’m sure you’ll find a chance, what made you fall for her anyways?”
“Well if you must know. It’s a pretty recent thing. Watching her fight was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen, her movements were beautiful-”
“You saw her fight, and that was all it took to fall head over heels for her?”
“Well, no. Maybe, I don’t know. It was like this feeling you know?” Bynard was waving his hands while explaining himself.
Tayla reached for some jerky that was wrapped in her jacket pocket. “Oh yeah, sounds like true love to me, just like in the fairy tales.”
Bynard deflated. “Come on Tay, I mean it. After I saw her fight today, I knew it was the real thing-”
“Wait! Today?!” Tayla dropped her jerky, looking up at Bynard with disbelief. “Bynard! Relay’s share their thoughts with other Twins, you know it can muddle with your emotions! You watched Zo fight while her brain was sending a flurry of chemicals and you probably got battle high by proxy!”
Growing quiet, Bynard’s face was filled with worry. “So is that a no to helping me get a date?” Bynard turned his head away while looking at her out of the corner of his eye, a coy look on his face.
Tayla groaned. “I’ll help you, and then when this doomed ship sinks, I’ll be there to pull you back aboard and remind you how stupid you’re being.”
Bynard pumped his arm in the air. “I knew I could count on you Tay. When I get married, maybe you can be my oathbearer?”
“Baby steps Bynard, let’s try and have you actually talk to her first, yeah?”
“Deal.”
It wasn’t long before the two managed to catch up with the group, to Tayla’s surprise they were still dealing with the latest Krak’un. Perhaps Fel was stretching it out so she wouldn’t have to walk as far to catch up. She would have to thank them later.
As they approached, Tayla heard frantic yelling. The two wasted hurrying to see the source of the commotion.
Tayla moved through the second born hunters as she tried to see what was happening. The adult Krak’un was torn to pieces, Fel standing atop its corpse without so much as a blemish on their armor. The runts were being dealt with by the book. Teams working together to topple and restrain the beasts.
The screaming was coming from further up the valley, as a stranger rode towards them on the back of a volburn. The ragged clothing was a dead giveaway that the man was a member of the clanless, those who called the highlands their home.
The man had a haunted look on his face as he waved wildly.
Bynard appeared without a sound, long rifle in hand from gods knew where. He aimed down the scope to get a better look. “Clanless for sure. Though…” He trailed off.
“What?” Tayla whispered.
“Dunno. His face didn’t look right for a second.” Bynard said with a shrug.
Before she could ask him to elaborate, the strange man got close enough to hear, he was screaming a single word. “Bloodstone.”
Tayla cursed as she raised her voice over the sounds of battle. “Fall back! They’re infected!”
As if on cue the adult’s body shook violently as the plates along its shell began bulging from within. Fel managed to leap from the hulking brute as pillars of red crystal shot upwards. Tayla looked on in horror as the spires of crimson reached high into the air, when they reached a sufficient height, the tip branched out into hundreds of wispy tendrils that quickly hardened into razor thin spines. A vile light began to shine from within the crystal, a screaming wail of high pitched squealing rang through the valley as it built to a crescendo.
Bynard turned and let loose a pot shot with his rifle at one of the pillars along its base, but the bullet didn’t even leave a scratch.
The others in the group scrambled for cover as they tried to back away, but those first born that were dealing with the runts were still holding the beasts at bay, if they released their prey, they would be torn to shreds.
Everything happened so fast, most of the guests were watching in awe at the odd spectacle, unaware of their impending deaths.
A crack of a whip echoed as one of the pillars shattered into million pieces. Another crack signaled the end of yet another pillar.
While everyone else was frozen in place, Fel stood their ground.
Whip in hand they launched a flurry of blows with enough force to shake the very ground itself. Their face showed no fear, no concern. Just a grim determination.
Tayla watched the faces of the group, she had hoped to see awe or wonder at her siblings' power, but instead she saw the usual looks of fear and disgust. Even Thoren held that same look of contempt.
A sudden burst of movement caught Tayla’s eye as one of the runts exploded into a smaller pillar of the same red substance. Fel was busy, that meant it was up to Tayla to do something.
She ran in spite of the agony she felt in her leg, watching as the horrid crystal grew larger and larger. Desperately she leapt forward as she laid her gloved hand on the base of the crystal. There was no time for nuance, no gentle coaxing of her gift. She threw open the gates to the Tranquility as her jaw chattered at the sudden chill. The crystal seemed to resist her powers as it tried to continue growing, but Tayla dug deeper as she screamed.
Somewhere in the distance she heard the beating of a drum. A rhythmic sound that reverberated through her bones, through her very soul. A song danced along the back of her mind as she let out a gasping breath.
The piller stood still, frozen in place as the glow within began to fade into nothingness.
Tayla fell to her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Before she knew it, she felt Fel’s hand on her shoulder.
“Tayla, how did you- What did you do?” They asked.
Looking up, Tayla found the bloodstone was completely inert, a thick sheet of ice covering its whole surface. A lone shard hung from the top of the crystal, it looked like dull glass. The shard broke free as it fell to the ground with a soft thud.
“I don’t know.” Tayla said, “I just tried to stop it.”
The others were gathering themselves as they took in the spectacle, Fel had shattered a dozen of the growths from the adult Krak’un, a mountain of shards glowed ominously from where they laid on the ground. The hunters were quick to try and dispose of the crystals with the help of their gifts, the green flames burned the fragments away until nothing was left but dust.
As Fel turned to oversee the disposal, Tayla reached out and wrapped the dull shard at her feet in a cloth. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt the need to take it with her.
The stranger dismounted the volburn as he approached Tayla. “My lady, are you okay?” The man had a handsome face, framed with long black hair, the glove on his right hand marked him as a second born. Tayla didn’t find him attractive herself, but could see how others would find his features appealing.
She rose on shaking legs as she met the man's eyes, and found something amiss. She couldn’t place what exactly, but the more she looked the more the man seemed off.
Deep in her gut a primordial fear churned. Was the man a Faceless? The children of the Old God of Chaos?
Just as quickly as the fear had crossed her mind, so did she find herself shaking her head at the absurdity. She was obviously still reeling from the encounter with the bloodstone, she owed the man better than suspicion.
“I’m alright. I just need a moment to catch my breath.” Tayla said.
She reached for the link to let Alnur know about the situation, he answered a moment later as he shared his vision.
He was standing amongst a field of dead Krak’un, she could feel his heart pounding from the thrill of the hunt as he grinned from ear to ear.
That was until the nearby wall exploded.
Alnur and the others turned to see the source and found something that should not have existed on this plane of existence.
The link grew distorted and fractured, through the distortion she could make out the monolithic shape of the creature in front of her brother. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, a large spherical mass of barely contained flesh that was easily sixty feet in diameter suspended in mid air. Armored plates covered its entire outer form. Sixteen claws each the size of an adult Krak’un hung from the outer carapace of the creature. Thousands of blades of kelp danced over the nightmares shell, but worst of all were its victims. A dozen tendrils of flesh hovered around the monster, each one sporting a Twin that had been impaled through the skull, their cracked rotting lips moved in unnatural ways as they sang in the tongue of the void.
Alnur was screaming incoherent orders, garbled by the interference over the link. He was dragging Zo away from the beast, blood was running from her eyes and ears. He reached down and grabbed the flares she had in her bag, firing them into the sky to call for aid. When his gaze snapped back to the creature he could just make out the flash of blades, he tried to turn but was too slow to react. Through the link Tayla felt it all, a blade pierced the skin near the temple, severing the bone of the skull; she felt the odd pressure as Alnur’s eye was cut in half, warm liquid pooling down his cheek. The sensation was played out again in reverse order as the thin blade cut through the cartilage of his nose and tore through his other eye as it exited the other side of his face. The link went dark, a moment later Alnur lost consciousness.
Tayla heard a scream in the distance, a guttural thing that sounded like the death cries of a butchered animal. A ghastly wail of pain and misery that grew raw and bloody as the seconds stretched on and on.
It took her a long moment to realize that she was the source of the scream.
