Thanara squirms and strains feebly as they men pin her down. Her breathing comes in a rapid, frantic pace as the blade is brought up to her skin. Her screams are muffled by Relisha’s still warm hand, the thought causing her to consider puking.
Ameiko vomits from the torture to her friends and lover. Her body trembles and he fights to control herself. Meanwhile, the oni studies Relisha closely, locking her gaze on the bleeding tiefling.
As she tries to figure out what to do, Ameiko calls out again "It's me! She's lying! I'm the only heir! Don't hurt her anymore! She's just trying to save me! Kill me and get it over with!" The oni ignores the pleading Ameio and looks down at the struggling sorceress.
Olaff is unable to control his rage anymore and rises to try and help. Prepared for this, the men collapse on him, pull off of Ahreni so that four of them can pull him back down.
While Olaff struggles and Thanara screams through the bloody hand in her mouth, the oni stares intently at Relisha and slowly slices upward through Thanara's left breast, tempting the tiefling to bite off her own tongue as she cuts the flesh free of the sorceress's body.
Chaos ensues.
"You are a fool," Relisha says. Turning to Ameiko, the last words that Relisha speaks are, "I love you." She tenses and a grimace of pain crosses her face. The pain isn't as bad as she expected it to be, muted by the searing agony from where her left hand used to be. A moment later she spits out a hunk of flesh onto the floor before collapsing to the floor.
Ahreni strains against the manacles but has no hope breaking through the manacles in exhausted condition. She doesn't watch the mutilations, although her nostrils flare at the scent of blood. Instead her eyes remain fixed on the oni as fur begins to sprout across her naked form.
Thanara’s shrieks of agony are evident even through the makeshift gag that is Relisha’s disembodied hand. Her body flails and spasms as her chest is mutilated before she falls limp, eyes fluttering closed from the pain and horror of it all.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Olaff screams and curses in Skald, his mind completely lost and possessed by a blind fury. He elbows his captors and wildly and once they get close to him he slams his head against them.
Olaff's elbow catches a men squarely in the nose, exploding blood all over his face and causing him to stumble backwards. Two more men dive on top of the Ulfen until no less than six are holding him down, restraining him.
Shalelu flails about as well, trying to enrage herself to bring out her curse to help, but failing to summon it when she needs it the most. She growls and tries to attack like Olaff, but only ends up injuring her arms against the manacles.
The woman laughs through it all and when she looks over at Relisha spitting out her tongue, she groans and rises to her feet, dropping Thanara's flesh on the ground next to her face so that she can stare at the severed part of her body.
She strides over to Relisha and picks up her unconscious head, pulling a vial from her belt and shoving the concoction down her throat. The magical liquid causes the tiefling's eyes to flutter open and the woman holding Relisha's chin lets go and steps back. "You don't get to miss the next part of the show. I've kept you alive long enough, I want you to witness the unmaking of-" she moves her hands over her heard and feigns happiness "your love."
She steps back and motions to one of the ninjas, "Bring everyone in for this." she commands. The female ninja dashes upstairs and a few minutes later returns with a dozen more black-clad figures who fill the room.
Relisha and Thanara are drug back to their original positions in line with the others, awaiting the show. Two ninjas stand behind each prisoners except for Olaff, who has six surrounding him.
Ahreni growls harshly but doesn't move, even as a huge number of ninja's pile onto Olaff. Anyone who knows her well however can see that she's even more tense than normally - thankfully with her body now almost entirely covered with fur it's hard to tell.
Olaff continues to thrash and curse, unable to control himself and with only blood and gore in his mind.
Even in her dazed state, Relisha reaches out to link her spirit to Ameiko's - determined for her to live as long as the tiefling is able to support her.
Relisha's link snaps on Ameiko, the tiefling who is barely clinging on to life herself doing what she can to protect her love. As she is drug back to the line with the others, one of the masked men along the wall moves to secure Relisha's previously left-hand managed to her leg. While he works, he whispers behind his mask to her "Hey kid. On my call, do something to help free Relisha or Olaff."
The voice is impossible to miss, it belongs to Sandru Vhiski, she's sure of it. He wiggles her chains, working on them but not actually attaching them to anything. He loosely wraps it around the other, making sure they are all completely unlocked. Standing, he nods once that everything is order just before he returns to the line of masked men waiting along the perimeter of the room.
"Excellent." the pale-skinned woman says, taking center stage. "It's time to begin then."
The woman at the front of the room reaches down to a stone table and draws Suishen into her hands, twisting in her hand back and forth. "The unmaking of the Amatatsu line has been something I've often dreamed of, never did I think it would come to be."
The beautiful human woman suddenly transforms, changing shapes and growing much larger. Her skins changes from pale white to a deep red. Her hair becomes black as night and huge fangs bust out of her lower lip, revealing her features to be that of ogre rather than human.
She drags the blade down the floor, scraping it along as she approaches Ameiko from behind. She picks up the Tian woman's head from her hair, pulling it back tightly and exposing her neck. Ameiko struggles, but the days of torture, captivity and starvation have not been kind of her and there is little she can do other than squirm in the ogre's grasp.
Shalelu fights mighty against her bindings screaming something about a stupid dragon, almost as if she were trying cast a spell to summon one or call out for its help.
Olaff is pinned by many men, but that doesn't stop him from trying to break free as he roars numerous threats and fights with every ounce of strength he has.
Relisha and Thanara are both barely conscious, having recently suffered losses to their physical bodies.
Ahreni watches, unsure what "the signal" is, but knowing it must be coming soon if ever.
A trickle of blood runs down Ameiko's neck where Suishen cuts her. In Tien, the blade begins a torrent of threats and scripture quoting that just causes the oni to laugh. "You are done. Both of you! I will now unmake you both!"
Sandru shouts loudly so that there is no mistake.
Reaches her hand back behind Ameiko's neck, the oni prepares to swipe the blade across the Tien woman's throat when the shout rings out.
"No! You're too late!" the oni shouts, watching as Sandru dashes for her. "Traitors among us! Kill them all!"
Time slows down.
Watching Sandru run towards her, she screams as she rips Suishen across Ameiko's throat, opening the heir's throat ear to ear as blood gashes out from her wound at a tremendous volume. She raises the blade high into the air to bring to swipe it across the woman's body in an attempt to sever her head, but at that moment Shalelu's wish finally comes true. Relisha's link seals the wound on Ameiko's throat, but she's unsure if it's too late or not as the Tien woman collapses to the ground face first, motionless.
The rangers screams grow deeper and more cannibalistic as the curse within unleashes itself upon her, rapidly transforming the ranger into a larger green dragon.
The green dragon's tail swipes into Olaff and the four men, sending all five of them flying backwards into the rear of the room as she climbs to her feet, roaring loudly.
Pandemonium ensues as everyone begins to run in every direction.
Ahreni growls, a sound nowhere as loud as Shalelu's roars but chilling none-the-less as her bones crack, her skin tears and a new, much larger creature rips itself free of Ahreni's skin.
Standing fully seven feet long and nearly five feet tall at the shoulder the wolf lets out a growl and barrels forwards, intercepting Sandru with one mighty bound and crashing over Ameiko and into her would-be executioner. Oni and wolf slam into the floor, shaking Suishen free from the woman's grip as her mighty red arms try to keep blade-like fangs from her throat.
My fight! The wolf's fierce eyes communicate to Sandru in the brief moment their gazes meet. Mine!
The ogre snarls at the werewolf looking form that is Ahreni. She pushes herself back to her feet and takes up the ancestral weapon of Ameiko’s family again. The pair circle briefly before Ahreni lunges at the ogre-woman! She is prepared this time, however, and uses Ahreni’s momentum against her, bracing and hurling Ahreni back across the room!
Thanara weakly rolls over, tears rolling silently down her face in both physical agony as well as mental and emotional trauma. The whole situation was like something out of a campfire horror story. But it was her friends that were the victims. And in some cases, the monsters. She slowly rose to her hands and knees, her whole body trembling from the effort.
”ENOUGH OF THIS!” the woman bellows loudly as she steps over to Ameiko’s body, the paragon lieing on her back, arms and legs still in chains. She leers down at her and raises Suishen above her head, saying ”The Amatatsu’s end. NOW!”
Thanara lunged forward, throwing her body across that of her friends, hoping to stall the horrific creature a moment to force her away from its target...her best friend. She draped herself fully across Ameiko’s torso, and was about to cry out a plea for her to stop when suddenly, she found she was unable to take a breath...
Thanara’s attempt to protect Ameiko worked, but not as she intended. The ogre-warrior-woman did not stop her strike when Thanara landed in its path. Instead, the blade buried itself into her back, clearly having penetrated deep into her lungs and heart!
”Thanara!” Ameiko shrieked out helplessly beneath her friend. Thanara looked down at her, trying to mouth words to her, but nothing came out but blood filled gurgles. Deep red blood trickled from her lips and dripped down beside Ameiko’s head as Thanara’s eyes lost their luster.
With her last bit of strength, Thanara managed to force enough air through her throat to mutter some words. Her last words that only Ameiko could hear.
As her heart beat it’s last, her head sunk slowly down, falling to rest just beside that of her friend. Her sister.
The ogre-woman kicked Thanara’s corpse off of Ameiko forcefully. ”Stupid girl. It means nothing!” she growls as she raises the blade once again. ”You still will die.”
Relisha coughs and gasps as the blood from Ameiko's wound gurgles up in her throat. Her hand, free from its binding, reaches up to clutch at the gash in her neck in an attempt to stem the tide of life-blood. She spits out more blood to clear her mouth.
With her mutilated tongue, she couldn't speak words even if she had any that would change the course of events. So her words remain inside as they have most of her life. Her prayers and praises to her goddess. One final prayer follows. In response, she sees a glimmer of divine steel. The welling of hope and joy at her goddess's response bubbles up inside her and she makes the only sound she's currently capable of. She laughs. It's a horrible choking sound, but unmistakable as laughter.
"So the little demon girl has finally realized that her fate is immutable and has lost her mind?" the oni says with a sneer as she turns from Ameiko and the lifeless form that was Thanara.
Relisha shakes her head and meets the creatures gaze with what she hopes is confidence. She smiles. A hideous and garish expression with blood running down from her mouth and slashed throat.
"Then what's so funny?!"
Relisha points a blood-covered finger and the oni turns to see a scimitar of shimmering divine essence behind her. She only gazes at it for an instant before the weapon lashes out and opens a deep wound along her sword arm. Its second strike she manages to parry, but only just.
The battle isn't over yet.
In his blind rage, thrashes at the ninjas holding him, doing whatever he can to get to the woman and make her pay for hurting Relisha and Thanara. One of his captors release his hand for a couple seconds and Olaff grabs the man's groins. And squeezes. The man yells in pain and Olaff could feel the man's testicles exploding... another one got to close to his head, but this time instead of headbutting the man Olaff bit his ear and tore it free.
"JEG DRÆBER FER ALLE!" He yells, rivalling Shalelu-Dragon's roars. Naked and covered in blood, both his own and the others, Olaff gets rid of the last man holding him just Thanara jumped to protect Ameiko. He saw the blade slowly being thrust at her and moved to grab the blade. Suishen but his palm has he desperately tried to stop it from piercing Thanara's chest. "THANARRA!"
As Ahreni jumps to attack the monster and Relish summons her magic blade, Olaff gets a hold on the creature's head, pressing his thumb on the creature's eye while still holding Suishen, wresting it of her hands and then thrusting it in her guts.
As the rest of the group pile into the oni Ahreni's rage burns cold inside her. The wolf stalks through the room with brutal power, lashing out with fang and claw to upend any ninja that gets within reach. Two were pressing Sandru hard until the wolf's jaws closed on one leg with a wet crunching sound. A second crunch marked the man's skull being crushed as Sandru parried a short blade and thrusts a dagger into the ninja's hooded face.
"We have to go!" The caravan master yells, "Cub, get Ameiko! We. Have. To. Go!"
The wolf turns in a sinuous blur and sprints for Ameiko, bowling aside another ninja who tries to aid his mistress. Her jaws close on Ameiko's shoulder, much more gently, and Ahreni begins to pull her towards the door even as the oni screams through a mouthful of thick black blood at the sight of her vengeance slipping away.
"Kill the wolf b&+~%! Kill the Amatatsu!"
While Olaf rages and Ahreni wreaks vengeance among the black-clad figures, Relisha crawls forward, slowly but surely, towards the besieged oni.
As she shouts at her minions to kill Ameiko, the hovering divine scimitar strikes in a brutal swing. The blade, Suishen, clatters across the floor, still clutched in the oni's severed hand.
The tiefling reaches out and plucks the blade from the now-lifeless fingers and gives the enraged woman a salute with the bloody weapon.
Try as he might, Olaff can't stop Thanara's sacrifice and her body falls lifelessly over Ameikos. The Tien woman is hysterical and shell-shocked from all of the trauma these last days. Losing Thanara is just too much and she clutches Thanara screaming "NO!NO!THANARA! NOOOOOOOOOO!", her body trembling and shaking.
The dozen black-clad men in the room engage in battle as what seems like a dozen more begin flooding in from above and below as the alarm is raised. You know the numbers are against you and staying here is ill advised. The sounds of battle fill the building and it's difficult to move about the great hall without getting bumped by someone else's body or weapon.
Shalelu the green was thrashing about the great hall, smashing columns of stone into men who tried to dance away and taking bites of others as her large body helped shield some of the reinforcements from entering the main battle.
The crux of the battle centered around a one-eyed, one-armed oni, a tremendous seven foot tall she-wolf, a one-handed-tongueless-tiefling and a raging testicle-smashing Ulfen. A dead sorceress lay among a dying heir to a far-away throne.
Sandru's scream of retreat are repeated as Holy Vindicator Helvinius and Uksahkka emerge from the rear steps escorting a battered human man between them. They make their way towards the exit as Spivey bursts from one of the side rooms alongside Helgarval, the cassisian angelic helm.
Savah and the brothers emerge in the fray and are visible for only a moment before they are lost again. Savah has not yet noticed Thanara's state and works on the task that she was assigned, hefting the seal while the Varisian brothers in front of her protect her and make a way for her escape.
The oni mage screams in pain as her eye is smashed into her skull under Olaff's thumb. She throws herself into a column to dislodge the blade which clatters to the floor at her feet before taking the Ulfen and throw him on the floor, following up with a kick hard in the face which causes several of his teeth to break loose in his mouth.
Staggering backwards, she uses her only remaining good eye to search the chaos for the blade and spots it just as the one-handed tiefling takes it from her now-dead hands. "NO!" she screams and lunges forward to stop her just as Wolfhreni slams into her and both go tumbling to the floor, clearing the path ahead of the oracle.
Sandru drags Ameiko in one hand and Thanara in the other repeating
"RETREAT! NOW! WE-NEED-TO-GOOOOO!" He struggles against both of their weight, but he will not leave without them. "OLAFF! I NEED YOU HERE!" he screams as he struggles forward but is knocked to the ground by a ninja, dropping both women on the ground as a blade rams through his belly.
"NO!" cries Bevelek, leaving Savah and Vankor to rush towards Sandru. In his haste however, he didn't see the figure emerging from behind the pillar who separates the older brother's head from his body with one swipe of his katana. Vankor screams and dashes forward, leaping on top of his brothers killer and sending both men to the ground. Savah curses loudly, now unprotected as she carries the heavy seal in both arms. "THANARA! Help me!" she calls out, "I NEED YOU THANARA!"
The kick in his face makes Olaff loses focus for a couple seconds but it is enough to shake his blinded rage, allowing his to process what is going on. The monster had killed Thanara and a big part of him wanted nothing but to embrace the rage once more and rush forward... however, he could not help himself but to look around: Thanara was dead. Bevelek was dead. Sandro and Ameiko were either dead or dying and Relisha was probably die soon enough due to her bleeding hand.
Olaff looks at Savah and almost can't say the words. "She is gone Savah. Gone." Seeing she is struggling with the seal, Olaff looks around once more and notices a rather large bag lying around. He picks it up and gestures for Savah to drop the seal inside it and, once she does, he is surprised to see that the weight of the bag had not changed an ounce! He hands Savah the bag before shoving here towards the exit "Lets get out o' herre, Savah! Move!"
Olaff moves towards Vankor and kicks his opponent away from him before rushing for Sandru. Using all the remaining strength in him, he takes both Thanara's and Ameiko's body and throws over his shoulders after helping Sandru on his feet. He eyes the monster. "I'll come back forr ye!"
Wolfhreni savages the oni again and again, ripping at the red flesh until it is practically hidden under black blood. With a final howl the huge muzzle drives past one amputated stump and buries itself inside the oni's thick neck, before ripping backwards and tearing the screaming head nearly off the shoulders entirely.
The wide arc of blood splattering across the room and the howl of triumph and pain mingled attracts the attention of every black clad figure in the room. Although a few continue to strike at the fleeing adventurers most turn inwards with vengeance in their eyes.
The wolf glares back in defiance, standing astride the two corpses. In an eerily human gesture it raises one bloodstained paw and points to the man who felled Sandru - the gesture is unmistakable. You next!
Pressing the stump of her left arm to the wound in her neck, Relisha follows after Olaff with Ameiko's blade in her good hand.
Please tell me that she's alive! she sends to the blade, hoping against hope that it can sense her.
Shalelu The Green holds the rear, keeping the bulk of the enemy men at bay as so the others can escape. She is repeatedly stuck, stabbing, cut, prodded and burned by them however and after killing nearly eight of the men, she nearly succumbs to her wounds before Helgarval lands on her head to offer her enough protection to escape. Barely conscious, she staggers backwards and scoops something off the ground in her mouth as she stumbles out behind the others. She smashes herself into the building repeatedly again and again until the entrance crumbles behind her, buying some time for their escape.
Unfortunately for the party, simply making it out of the great hall is only half of the escape. The fortress stood nearly a hundred feet above the ground on the mountainside, with the treacherous winding stairs spiraling down to the ground below.
The dozen or so caravan members begin making their way down the steps as rapidly as they can, Shalelu holding up the rear to continue to buy more time. Two windows fly open on either side of the door and arrows and bolts burst forth slamming into Shalelu's hide and injuring her more than she can manage. The green dragon's form falters and then disappears entirely as the elven ranger shrinks back to her normal size. With a dozen projectiles embedded in her she twists and falls, rolling off the edge of the cliff. Her body lands roughly on a platform a few feet below before she rolls off of that. Looking up at you while hanging by her fingertips, she croaks in a bloodied whisper "Fly, you fools!" before losing her grip and dropping out of sight.
With the ninjas and opposing forces temporarily stuck in the building, your flight down the steps is unopposed and you quickly make your exit from this place, running to horses stashed in the trees. Clambering aboard them, you all ride as fast as you can and as far as you can before you eventually take a break to rest after riding for nearly an hour.
Uksahkka explains that when you didn't come back that night, she got worried. The merchant you freed did come out however and explained that you most likely were killed and/or captured. Together they returned to town and recruited reinforcements in your fellow caravan companions. Sandru and Uksahkka managed to join a group of reinforcements that were joining Ravenscraeg and performed some reconnaissance.
They discovered Ulf was also being held prisoner alongside Ameiko, and that the five of you still were alive for now. Apparently Thorborg Silverskorr, the woman who was in charge, was preparing for some grand ritual that she wanted to perform, but the moon needed to be in the correct position in the sky which was a week away.
Sandru and Uksahkka formulated their plan and somehow managed to pull it off. Ameiko Amatatsu, the heir to the throne, still lives and is free to continue her journey over the Crown of the World. Additionally, you managed to maintain possession of both Suishen and the Seal, two amazing treasures that together represent tremendous power. The cost was great however, with Helvinius, Bevelek, Uksahkka, Thanara all dead during before escape could complete and Relisha a mutilated mess.
It turns out that Spivey flew alongside Shalelu as she fell, healing her as much as she could before she hit the ground. It barely saved the ranger's life, but her bones are so badly broken that it will take time to set properly.
Sandru insists they need to keep moving "They will come for us, we must keep going. I know no one wants to, but we must push on. We need to return to Kalsgard and get the caravan and set out for the Crown of the World and put as much space as possible between them and us. They will not stop until Ameiko is dead, and I will not allow that for as long as I live."
Lute Haggersly, the merchant you freed that helped organize our escape, says "I intend to reveal the truth about Thorborg Silverskorr we discovered in Ravenscraeg. This will cause a major shake up in Kalsgard. I'll ask Sveinn Blood-Eagle to suspend the Rimerunners Guild’s operations and seize all of its assets while investigations are conducted, and the Linnorm
King immediately and publicly distance himself from his formerly cordial relations with Thorborg Silverskorr. This will hopefully slow them down enough from pursuing you. Thank you again for saving me."
Saddened with the loss of Uksahkka, but happy to be alive, Ulf Gormundr says "I owe you my life. I will be your guide and I will take you across the Crown of the World as you wish."
Returning to Kalsgard, Lute explains the situation to Sveinn Blood-Eagle and with witness to your state, he agrees to do as Lute requests. Additionally, he offers reparations of 10,000 GP to you for your troubles and deaths. "Thank you for righting these wrongs of corruption hidden among us."
Later, Suishen explains to you "The seal has many powers of healing and protection. It can cast regeneration to heal Relisha's wounds. Or it has the ability of resurrection, should you wish to bring your dead sorceress back to life. It cannot do both at the same time however. Regeneration expends the powers of the Seal for an entire week and resurrection expends all the powers of the seal for five weeks. You must choose."
Once back at their camp, Relisha stays by Ameiko's side without fail. Her greatest desire at the moment is to be the first face her love sees when she finally wakes up.
The fact that she won't be able to talk to her doesn't even seem to enter her mind.
Ahreni carries Thanara's fallen body back to the caravan, disdaining horses in favor of simply running. Once back at the caravan she shakes vigorously and simply reappears in her human form.
For the next three days she is the Ahreni everyone knows, efficient and near tireless. The horses are groomed to perfection, the wagons packed with incredible precision. She even manages to rig long leading lines so that wagons can follow along without needing more than the most nominal presence in the driver's seat. But she doesn't speak, even once.
Sandru is carefully husbanded by his little sister, who wraps his torso tightly in bandages and keeps forcing a strong varisian tea that Koya brews on him, but even his gradual recovery doesn't prompt a smile from the dark haired shifter. In fact she's more like the starving wolf child that he rescued than he has ever seen since that day.
Ahreni stops sleeping with the caravan and the night sentry often hears the howling of a wolf through all hours of the night. It sounds like the wolf is crying, giving voice to a deep, deep pain. But Ahreni, when she appears in the morning, doesn't say a word.
Not even when Suishen explains what the seal can do, but someone looking closely would see something in Ahreni's dark eyes. Something that might just be hope.
On the way back to Kalsgard, Olaff is completely silent, certain of his utter failure in protecting Thanara and the others. As Savah raged against him and blamed him for her death, he did nothing but agree with her. It was his fault after all... he was too stubborn to surrender before.
Back at the camp when Suishen tells them that the Seal could be used to bring Thanara back, Olaff initially stands up, as if he was about to say something, but then he sits again for a couple minutes before voiving his concerns.
"Vould Thanarra vant to rreturrn to us? I'm not surre about herr beliefs o' the afterrlife, but I believe she is vith herr motherr... She did a honored death by sacrrificing herrself to save Ameiko, so forr surre she's in a betterr place... Ve do vant herr back, but doin' so vould not be selfish o' us?" Olaff turns to Koya. "Aunt, is therre a vay forr us to know if Thanarra vants to rreturrn?"
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As everyone gathered around the seal, Suishen guided the proceeding and activation of the artifact to work the magic contained within. As the ritual concluded, the seal flashed with blinding white light. As the gathered members of the caravan recovered their sight and looked around, no sign of Thanara could be seen.
After several long moments of silence, the wind grew in strength, whistling through the trees and causing the canvas tops of the wagons to flap furiously. The clouds above darkened and began to circle ominously. Lightning danced across the sky from one cloud to the next, growing in intensity and frequency as the thunder rumbled from the heavens.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and struck the clearing in the circle of those gathered. Smoke rose from the scorch mark on the ground as another bolt struck the exact same spot. Again and again, bolts of lightning surged from the roiling black clouds above, striking unerringly the same place amongst you all. After about a minute of continuous lightning strikes, suddenly there was silence.
As the smoke cleared, the silhouette of a kneeling woman could be seen through the haze. It was soon clear that the form was that of Thanara, her body fully restored, her face hidden behind her hair cascading around her bowed head. Her chest and shoulders heaved for several moments before she slowly looked up, looking around at everyone surrounding her, studying them closely. She slowly stood to her full height, her posture guarded, before she began floating up into the sky and then off into the air! She briefly landed near her wagon and collected her things before taking to the sky once again.
__________
Thanara landed a short distance outside of the city, walking the rest of the way on foot. She was still weary from the ordeal of death and rebirth, but she was determined not to show her weakness. She made her way to the nearest temple and made an offering to the high priest to have her vitality fully restored before emerging back onto the street. She shifted her clothes to include a cloak and hood, folding the hood over her hair and face before heading into the city itself...
__________
The mood is solemn within the traditional Ulfen tavern. Several Ulfen men sit gathered at a table, sharing stories with one another over their meals and drinks. A few traveling bards play some music in the background near the hearth. A line of younger men sit in a line at the bar and at a couple other long tables, small groups sit and talk and laugh quietly. And in a corner table, sits Thanara in her hooded cloak, a small glass of wine sitting in front of her, untouched.
As the bards music pauses between songs, she rises and folds her hood back. She removes her cloak and makes her way to the small clearing in front of the hearth. As she passes by, several men’s eyes wander along her body, taking in the large swathes of exposed skin her outfit reveals.
Once at the hearth, she squats in front of the fire in silence a moment before she begins singing and rising to her feet:
”We stand before an ancient thing
The ocean boils at our feet
Breaching the lines of mortality
so powerfully weak
so to speak
It holds the truth that we seek”
The bards pick up the tune and pace of her song, and almost as if on cue, begin playing a tune to match her lyrics.
Thanara turns and faces the gathered room as she continues singing:
”The sky explodes in blinding light
The air sparks heat amidst the fight of our lives
Terrain erodes as we hold on to what love
so to speak
Our truth in reach”
Her body begins moving to the bards music before she begins her chorus:
”Skies splintering
Eyes opening
Lives fading
Truth revealing”
She pauses, letting the bards play their song as she closes her eyes and allows herself to move with the music, seeming not to care that all eyes and ears are on her. After several measures of music, she concludes with another round of the chorus, her voice now almost a whisper:
”Skies splintering
Eyes opening
Lives fading
Truth revealing”
The patrons all offered up polite applause before turning their attentions back to their groups, though some of the younger, more brash men let out some cat calls and lewd comments as she returned to her table, alone.
A large man rose from the bar and made his way over to her table as she returned her cloak to her shoulders and lifted the hood up over her hair. ”That vas some song,” he said as he turned the chair opposite her around backwards and had himself a seat, straddling the back of the chair. ”What is yer name, girl?”
Thanara narrowed her eyes at the man and sits down herself, saying nothing.
The man smiles. ”The silent type, eh? That’s fine. The name’s Rognar,” he says before looking at her drink. ”What ya havin’? Need yerself somethin’ stronger?”
Thanara, having not taken her eyes off the man, simply shakes her head in reply. She finally asks quietly ”What do you want?”
The bear of a man leans forward in his chair and replies ”Why, to get to know ya a bit more, and maybe you would like to get to know me...” he says insinuatingly, the corner of his lip curling up in a cocky smile.
Thanara clenched her teeth to refrain from sending a jolt of electricity through the man. Typical.
Sensing something off, and her disinterest, he shrugs and stands, saying ”Fine. It’s no matter ta me. I should be on my way anyway. Need to be lookin’ for myself a new band anyway. Coin purse from the last raiding party is gettin’ a bit light.”
Thanara’s eyebrow raises a bit as the man starts to walk away, an idea coming to her as she sizes him up.
”Thanara,” she says, causing the man to pause and turn back her way a bit. ”Thanara Stormborn. You are looking for a job? Or a cause?”
Rognar looks at her curiously, turning back and sitting in the chair opposite Thanara again. ”What you got in mind?”
__________
There is no sign of Thanara until the next day, when she and a small entourage of Ulfen warriors make their way back to the caravan’s camp.
As Thanara marches back to the caravan a figure sprints out of the wagons, as it runs the figure drops to the ground, seamlessly switching from two legs to four as a wolf bears down on Thanara.
The creature takes a flying leap and bowls Thanara over completely, coming to rest with great paws either side of the sorceresses blond head. The two stare at each other for a moment, completely oblivious to the warriors reaching for their weapons before Wolfreni starts licking Thanara like an excitable puppy, clearly delighted to see her again.
Ahreni gets a sense that something is off about Thanara. The air about her feels different. Thanara’s hands begin pushing Ahreni back as she snarls ”Get off of me...”
Suddenly a large pair of strong hands are on Ahreni’s shoulders and physically heave the girl away from Thanara. ”That’s enough you mangy mongrel!” his voice booms as he pulls the wolf away, reaching down to help Thanara to her feet before turning back towards Ahreni and cracking his knuckles, a smirk painting itself across his face. ”This a pet of yours?”
Standing between the two is a massive man of pure muscle.
Thanara dusts herself off and folds her hood back on her cloak. She walks forward to the man’s side and places a hand on his bicep to signal him to relax. ”I...I don’t know...” she mutters as she tries to figure out what this canine was and where it had come from...
The wolf droops in every muscle and then turns on its axis and races off into the woods, followed by a call from Sandru.
"Cub, wait!"
The wolf doesn't wait.
”Well...that was f~#+in’ weird,” the man mumbles to Thanara.
Thanara’s eyes narrow after the wolf, and Sandru hot on it’s heels. Realization sets in, but her only response is a narrowing of her eyes before muttering back to Rognar ”Let’s go,” as she continues walking onward deeper into the camp.
She makes her way past a bevy of onlookers as she unclasps her cloak and hands it off to the massive man beside her. She points at her own wagon and tells Rognar ”That one is mine. You and your men can settle in there.”
The group of nine individuals in her company includes the mountain of a man carrying her cloak, 5 more battle-ready-appearing Ulfen warriors, 2 Shield Maidens, and another woman who carries a menacing air about her, but appears to be some sort of caster.
She then heads straight for Ameiko’s wagon and knocks on the frame.
Olaff eyes the newcomers with suspicion at first and obvious relief as he sees Thanara is fine, even if different. He approaches the ulfen warriors and suddenly he recognizes the man in charge of the group. "Rrognarr Stillborrn!" Olaff exclaims, misspronunciating his name on purpose, a joke he always made since they were younger. He opens his arms and gives the man a hug.
"Have ye tirred of rraidin' the southerrn lands and decided to do somthin' useful? Haha" He looks around the group, recognizing some of those around him. "I know some o' ye... Rrhada, Strrygyrr, Big Ivarr... vherre is Small Ivarr?"
In response to Thanara's knock, Relisha's face appears. "Ameiko's resting. What is it?" she asks brusquely.
The tiefling has changed as well. Where before she would hide behind her mouse-brown hair, she's now pulled it back to tie on the top of her head in a type of top-knot, exposing her single horn and golden right eye for all to see.
"Thanara!" she exclaims, her face brightening considerably. She drops out of the wagon and throws her arms around the woman thought lost. "We were so worried!" she whispers.
Rognar’s smile broadens as he chuckles at Olaff’s greeting. ”Why, is if it isn’t little Olaff Selfson! You ever been able to make a name for yourself, or you still living on yer father’s name?” he asks in retort as he tussles the slightly shorter Ulfen’s hair.
He chuckles at his line of questions before replying ”Tired? Naw, but I would like to find someone worth fighting for once. Those southerners know nothing about a good scrap!” He reaches over and taps Olaff’s weapon and adds ”You still having to rely on steel to get your work done?”
When Olaff starts asking about the others, the pair of shield maidens smile back in greeting, and Ivarr nods in return. Rognar speaks up when Olaff asks about Small Ivarr ”There’s just Ivarr now. His brother was killed by a cowards arrow while raiding. After Ivarr ran the bowman down and ripped his throat out, he cut out his own tongue in mourning his brother’s death.”. On cue, Ivarr opened his mouth and revealed his mangled stub of a tongue.
As Olaff and Rognar greet each other outside the wagon, Thanara simply says in greeting ”Olaff.”
Then Relisha pops out of the wagon and wraps her up in an embrace. Relisha can tell something has changed in Thanara, her body feels...strong? Determined. She returns the hug half-heartedly as she asks ”So...she’s alright then? Alive?”
"Yes, she's alive," Relisha replies with a nod, stepping back to get a better look at her friend. "Have you talked to Ahreni? She hasn't been the same since you ... well ... I'm sure she'll be over the moon now that you're back."
Koya warns Olaff that there is no clear answer to this question. "That one is a tempest, one could never say. I think that the only way to be sure would be to ask if she would wish to rejoin us. But that is a costly procedure that I can perform. I would advise you to follow your heart and do what it would tell you to do."
- - -
Ameiko had been unconscious since leaving Ravenscraeg. Suishen assured the others that she was still alive and that her body was recovering from the neglect, torture and abuse she endured this last week and a half. After Thanara's resurrection but before her return, she stirs awake in her wagon.
Groaning, she slowly pushes herself to a seated position. Rubbing her eyes and looking around to find Relisha at her side, she asks for water with a dry, cracking voice. After gulping down nearly half of the waterskin, she asks "Tell me it was all a dream."
She "We're alive, somehow? I don't understand." She looks to the tiefling for an explanation, but suddenly remembers that Relisha had bitten off her own tongue. She gasps and puts her hand to her mouth. "Oh... Oh no..No-no! Tell me it's not true!?"
She fumbles desperately to find Relisha's hand to see if it's still attached.
Relisha reaches out with both hands - one slightly paler than the other - to take Ameiko's hands in her own. "Shh," she says quietly. "I'm fine. You're fine. We're back at camp. It wasn't a dream, but we've ... survived." She releases a hand enough to reach out and brush the dark hair back from her love's face. "Rest for now. You need it." She leans in and presses a soft kiss to the woman's forehead before pressing her gently back down into her blanket.
She considers telling her about the lives lost, but that will wait.
Thanara shook her head. ”I...I think she tried to greet me, but...is she a full blown wolf now?”
Relisha frowns a bit. "She can be if she wants, but she's still Ahreni. What happened? Where is she?" The tiefling looks past the sorceress expecting to see the brusque woman around somewhere.
”She basically tackled me out of nowhere, then while I was still confused she ran off into the woods. It wasn’t until Sandru chased after her that I put it together,” Thanara replies coldly.
”So, what else happened? After...well, after I gave my life to save my best friend?”
Relisha takes a half-step back. Her friend wasn't acting like her friend.
"Yes, you gave your life, but you weren't the only one and you have been given a second chance." She leaves 'They weren't' unspoken.
The tiefling gives a summary of everything that happened after Thanara's death. Some of the details she's a little fuzzy on, considering the state that she, herself, was in at the time.
Olaff laughs. "I have no need forr anotherr name... differrently than ye, I know who my fatherr vas. Have yerr motherr figurred yerrs alrready?"
He nods in agreement about the soft warriors from the south, but shakes his head once he discovers Rognar is still stupid enough to keep fighting with his hands alone. "Ye, I like to live, and, as farr as I rrememberr, last time ve fought side by side ye verre actually grrateful my shield stopped that axe frrom hitting yerr head!"
He then offers Ivarr his sentiments before turning to Rhada. "Hey Rrhada, have to ask ye somthing... I know ye did not like Asta, but ye arre cousins, so... it is trrue she vas prregnant vith my child? Asta is dead, as vell as the rraiding parrty she vas vith."
Rognar laughs heartily. ”Who knows. Who cares? I’m my own man, making my own name!”
At his comment on not using weapons, he just scoffs ”So you say. I had it all under control little bear.”
Rrhada, never one to mince words, simply shrugs and says ”Yup. You were the only one she had shared her bed with around then. And he has your eyes,” as she continues setting up her things, not even looking up.
Ahreni returns to the caravan at nightfall and sets about her usual tasks - brushing down the horses, checking tack and ensuring all the horses are fed and watered. This has the additional benefit of keeping all the horses accustomed to her smell even after her full scale transformation.
She does not, however, make any effort to socialise. Especially not with Thanara.
As Ahreni is brushing down one of the horses, Relisha approaches from the other side. She picks up another brush and begins working opposite the shifter.
"Are you ok? I heard that it didn't go well when you greeted Thanara. What happened?" she asks.
Ahreni just shakes her head and keeps brushing. A minute or two later the shifter walks two fingers along the horses back before miming someone bouncing up and down. The fingers run back across the horse, four of them now, before being met by Ahreni's other hand closed into a fist. Ahreni smiles widely, then clenches the fingers in her fist and then points off in an angry gesture.
She looks sad for a few moments, then shrugs and returns to her grooming.