The Legion still worked to make its way inside of West Lake. In the meantime, it was necessary to pick up some supplies and forge some relationships with some of the merchants that had united and set up camp outside the city gates.

The Ghost Owls had packed up some extra trading supplies, but they hadn’t left their weapons behind in this dangerous day and age. Melislav had been called up for the negotiations. He made his way to the front of the squad, nodded to Rainn and Emerald and started to move out on foot to make their way to the Merchant Guild command tent.

The journey was short lived however as after they started their march between all the refugee tents, the Horned One dropped down from out of sight and landed with ferocious grace.

She hissed, “Follow. Now.” The Horned Ones predatory eyes lingered a short time on each of the squad and then turned and headed West.

Melislav looked a little disgruntled at the change of plans, but he didn’t let it show for long, knowing that the Horned One often had wisdom that was beyond the sight of mortal men.

The team wasn’t outfitted for a scouting mission or really for a fight, but they had to make due. Fortunately, as they continued to travel West and into the setting sun, some of those supplies they carried were food stuffs. The Horned One haunted the edges of the camp as they set up for the night and Melislav reviewed all the supplies.

“If we’re going into a fight, I want the men to feast tonight. Lets get a good meal in everyone’s bellies.” He said to the cook of the squad that took the opportunity to make a fine meal for everyone to share around the fire. It seemed like it would be a quiet night and the unit was still far from the vanguard of the undead Broken forces. Laughing and merriment filled the air as the squad shared stories, everyone happy to have Taupe Runner Bear back in their fold.

Sverina, on the other hand still thought of her sister Freriya. She’d had vivid dreams of her sister surrounded by bolts of lightning, her sister’s face lighting up with a smile that showed off her well washed teeth.

Melislav slipped away from the story telling and reviewed all the trade goods they had with them. Bapsta noticed and approached and Melislav spoke up as he left the gathering. “We’ll stow all the extra supplies here. Mark the spot with a flag. We’ll gather all of this up and finish our original mission upon our return.”

Bapsta nodded and took it upon himself to do what needed to be done, leaving Sverina, the squad along with Emerald to blow off steam.

The next morning, long before the sun started to rise, each member of the unit was awakened by the Horned One, sniffing and so close to each of their faces in turn. “Time to run.” She said eerily. “Our time has almost come.”

There was hardly time for breakfast as the team all switched to chewing on dried meats and hard bread, heading away from the rising sun now. Hills and valleys divided the monotony of the fast-paced journey. Some of the trees would have made the trip even beautiful if it wasn’t for the foreboding sense that everyone felt.

The Western sky filled with storm clouds and eerie light of lightning flashing through the darkening sky. It would have been strange how much the clouds of dark sky concentrated. Melislav noticed that the Horned One disappeared into the trees ahead and Rainn motioned forward. Melislav nodded as she started off in the direction of the clouds and the disappearance of their guide.

Melislav had the feeling that things were about to get real. He nodded to all the members of the team that they needed to prepare their gear for a fight as weapons were unsheathed and travel gear was unfastened and stowed.

Rainn bounded from tree to tree, staying out of sight but unable to find the Horned One. She saw then the target of her explorations. There were two fronts of enemies heading through the wood, but that wasn’t all. In front of the head of the localized darkened storm was a lightly armored young woman with gritted teeth helping a man along. The man was no ordinary man. There was a spark to him that Rainn could see even from this distance. He held a crafting hammer and his beard was long and tightly braided. Something about that hammer sparkled and kept catching her eye. One last look at the woman, and she could tell, it was most certainly Freriya, left behind about a moon ago.

The other front was led by a massive wolf man. The scars he bared on his face and chest were that of the Horned One’s claws and antlers. This creature was from all those moons ago when they first fled Ettenmark Fields! Rainn gasped as she quickly bounded back to report what she’d seen to Melislav.

“Its Bhed, the twisted Wolf. And... I’m pretty sure it was Breaker herself. And Freriya.” Rainn panted as she looked over the squad and her eyes landed on Sverina.

Sverina took only a moment to register hearing her sister’s name and hearing that she was in danger. “I’ll get to her.” She stood up and clutched the handle of her great axe and turned and started to run through the woods at full tilt.

Melislav attempted to stop her with a hand of caution and then saw that now was not the time. He nodded and looked over the rest of them. “We’ll split up. I’ll go with Azure, Taupe, and XX, come with me. The rest of you, follow Sverina.”

Emerald and Rainn motioned to Bapsta and he unslung his rifle and bounded after the two most nimble members of the unit.

Melislav and Taupe had less gear to get ready and made their way ahead to the top of a hill. Looking down, they could see where the Horned One was already in a pitched battle with Bhed and a couple of the burned. Melislav went quickly into action, sword out and getting on the ledge right above Bhed. He signaled for Taupe to range around the ledge to strike at Bhed from behind.

Before he could get into position, however, Bhed managed to grab the nimble Chosen and hold her up in the air, grinning and growling and preparing to take a big bite out of her.

Melislav saw no time to waste. The most important thing to come out of this mission had to be the Horned One’s life. He raised his sword over his head and valiantly leaped down, sword driving towards the head of the wolf man. Just as the sword would strike, the beast turned an eye on Melislav. A last second moment of panic set in as Bhed’s free paw reached and snagged Melislav, now having two victims in his grasp.

Melislav tried to turn the blade down on the beast’s great fore arm, but before he could manage, he was squeezed mightily and bones snapped. Melislav’s eyes rolled back and the sword dropped helplessly to the ground as the big thing gutturally laughed at him. The wolf man tossed him aside like such a rag doll into the bushes nearby, leaving him for dead. He was face first in the mud, unable to move as his bones snapped with each twist of his body.

The Horned One tried to fight the taller creature when a shot rung out from behind him. Taupe stood valiantly there, attempting to help the Horned One. With the distraction, she managed a sharp and quick bite on the big paw that held her, dropping her to the ground to recover.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Bhed didn’t slow down though. He turned his attention to the new target and charged with great leaping bounds and as he landed, his jaws opened and surrounded Taupe’s head and shoulders. Before he could even respond, the jaw clenched and with an unceremonious rip, the head and parts of the shoulders came clean off. Blood splattered about and as he tossed the head with a twist of the neck, it flew and splatted right in the mud next to Melislav.

Azure climbed up to the top of the hill after prepping her gear with her squad mate. They looked down and could see the carnage that involved their friends. They had to act fast, but what could they do against such a creature with just the two of them. After a quick conference, they pulled up the sled that they’d used to carry their armor.

Azure immediately started to use her demolition supplies to rig the cart and turn it into a death trap with enough explosives to clear out a bridge or castle wall. She paired it with lamp oils and a few other substances from her native forests of Panyar.

The fight below the two began to rage again as the injured Horned One dueled against the beast, Bhed. They moved the sled out and whistled a call to the Horned One. She bounded up the ridge and moved away from the big Broken Beast. It howled and charged after as Azure pushed the camouflaged sled down the hill. There was a moment of fear and terror as the Horned One nearly landed on the sled. She skidded and jumped and cleared it as her opponent charged after her.

Bhed was not so lucky though as he stepped on the sled as it slid down the hill. The trigger tripped and an explosion like a fireball expanded from under the big monster, seen even by the Broken in the distant woods where the rest of the squad charged off to.

As the smoke started to clear, Azure could see her handywork’s results. There was no Bhed, not at least in the form of a full being. There was a splatter of blood and gore here and there while pieces of the once might beast littered the hill and some even hung down and dangled from the trees in the valley below. She looked to her compatriot and they both ran like the wind to check on Melislav and Taupe.

It was quite clear upon arrival in the valley that Taupe, their friend who had just rejoined the squad, was dead and gone, split in two. Melislav on the other hand was in a place where he could be tended to. They applied bandages to his wounds just as the Horned One dropped down by them She hissed, “We must move. The others will be fighting Breaker any moment now. They will need us.” She looked down at Melislav and motioned for the others to start to move.

The squad members hesitated and then Azure, fully trusting and believing in their Chosen, started to run to join their friends. The Horned One looked down at Melislav, his wounded form hardly able to move.

For a moment, Melislav believed that he was going to be gored to put himself out of his misery. She leaned down though and tucked her head between his heads and then lifted. He found himself flung into the air with his hands wrapped in her horns as she started to run to join the others.

The others, having split off much earlier and charged into the woods had made their way towards the focus of the storm. The closer they got, the more that they could see not several but actually dozens of Burned ambling their way through the forest on the periphery of what was a powerful focused series of lightning bolts.

Rainn knew there was no way that Sverina and Bapsta could survive such a battle, even with Emerald to follow behind and heal them. She separated off from the group and fired a few arrows into the mass of undead. They all turned and looked as she yelled to draw them. All of them started to charge off into the woods after her as she hopped up into a tree like a ghost and disappeared from all the horde’s view.

Sverina gritted her teeth and nodded a thank you silently, her heavy breathing and foot steps the only sounds around her as she focused on her sister. “Hold up Sverina. We can’t win this fight alone!” Bapsta called out from behind her but kept charging to try to keep up, losing some of his gear on the way.

Sverina locked eyes then as she came up the next hill. It was her sister. And she dragged a strong but very injured looking man with long braided hair and a big beard.

“That’s... my... sister. You leave her alone!” Sverina screamed as she jumped forth between her sister and a woman in a great robe that played with lightning between her finger tips.

“Its good to see you sister. But come here and help me get him patched up so we can make a run for it.” Freriya insisted as screamed loudly. Sverina turned and pulled out her medical supplies and leaned over to try to help the man. Breaker walked calmly but closed the distance as the man growled and smashed his hammer down into the ground, causing it to shake and sending a wave of energy up at Breaker.

Breaker parried the energy as if it was an effortless move, one that cause Sverina’s ears to bleed from the force. His wounds were too much and her kit would not be enough, Emerald still charging and trailing the group. Breaker smiled and balled her fist and prepared to strike, Sverina getting in the way to fight her. She swing her fist of energy down and as it was about to nail Sverina in the chest, Bapsta rammed into the side of Breaker and threw off her aim just enough.

Bapsta called out, “Get your sister out of here. I’ll handle this.” He stepped then between the two forces and Sverina was about to object when her sister called out again. She went to help her sister and carried the strong but injured man even faster than just her sister could alone.

Bapsta smiled through bloody teeth. “So this is how I go then.”

Emerald rapidly approached the scene, leaving Rainn to handle all the multitude of minions. Though her medical kit could help the man with the hammer, she couldn’t watch Bapsta die. Now it was her turn to charge Breaker.

She danced about behind her and attempted to trip her as Breaker floated off of the ground, dodging the attack. Breaker spun like the wind to face Emerald, who was quick on her feet, but facing a force like this one was unlike anything she’d ever done. A ball of electrical energy flew forth and impacted Emerald. The energy burned her skin as she screamed. Her clothes melted away from the heat and her flesh started to warp beyond the impact point with a perverse corrupting energy.

Bapsta tried to call out to Emerald as she fell to her knees. Emerald rolled to her back, this could be it. But at least she’d saved everyone in the squad as she screamed but couldn’t hear her own voice as Breaker looked down at her, fiery hate and inhuman anger personified.

Bapsta rolled a small grenade over just as the Horned One charged onto the scene, still carrying Melislav. Her hooves kicked Breaker and the explosion caused her to duck and take a moment. Just enough time, Azure came to Emerald and helped her up.

“Run!” Bapsta called as he took a parting shot at Breaker, harmless to her but enough to give Emerald and Azure time to join the retreat.

All of them headed away, short Taupe Runner Bear, many of them tired, injured, and brutalized.

They finally rested at their hide site with all the extra supplies they’d stowed, their actual mission still needing to be completed. Emerald looked over the squad and then herself, running short on medical supplies as she bandaged them and applied salves.

Freriya stood up and helped the man to his feet. “This is the Chosen of the Builder. He was reborn at the very spot that I was charged to watch. The place was crawling with the Broken and we headed down from the mountain with haste to try to make West Lake. It’s a good thing you stumbled upon us when you did.

Azure, ever a fan of the Horned One, spoke up. “Yes, we had a guide that knew something was a foot. That’s how we got to you in time.”

Sverina stood up and came to hug her sister. “Screw the Chosen, I’m just glad I found you again.” She didn’t exactly mean it, but her sister was her only remaining family.

Builder cleared his throat. “I look forward to building something that can withstand the assault of the Broken, this time for real. I will not treat them lightly.”

Melislav brushed off the bandages over his chest. “We still need to speak to the Merchant Princes. Let us break camp and make all haste.”

And at first light, they did break forth to head to the expensive tents of the merchants who also waited outside the barred gates of West Lake.

Melislav walked in unceremoniously and without cleaning off the scars of war. He dropped down a bag with a sample of the goods and money they brought for trade. “You’ll deal with us.”

A group of exotic looking men of many backgrounds and styles and a single wealthy woman looked up from their fine chairs. “Is that so?” She said in response.

“We’ve fought and held the enemy at bay while at a severe disadvantage and now you’ll help to make that easier. That or we’ll step aside and have them trounce your pretty little camp here.” He said it tiredly and without mincing words.

The merchants all regarded each other silently and then finally one stood up with an heir of authority. “And you shall have our aid at a great discounted rate. We’ll see to helping you fight this war as best we can.”

He nodded, pivoted on one foot with precision and then, as soon as they returned to camp, he collapsed for days, not moving until forced to do so.