Leaf kept his distance from the two cubs, his steps light as he shied away from them. The black cub continued to growl, its fangs bared as it brought its head low and rear high. Its size was no bigger than Leaf’s forearm, but as he examined the small beasts he could sense something else to them.

Power.

The black cub’s fur fluttered as it growled, bristling in the opposite direction of the wind. The energy that flowed through the beast was slight, so much so that Leaf was unable to tell if it was Aether or Ether that radiated from its small frame, but its presence gave rise to another thought. One that carried the voice of his father.

Always be careful of the babies, their mother will never be far behind.

The Awoken scanned the surrounding forest, his Ether enhanced senses seeing only trees and hearing only the thuds of snow falling from their branches. He looked past the black cub to its white furred sibling. It was breathing fast, its whimpers loud enough to show the strength in its lungs. At least, to the average sense of hearing it would be.

Slowly but surely, the cub’s voice was growing weaker.

Leaf looked back to its sibling, who still growled and stood guard. Power surged through its fur, but it still didn’t move. Leaf looked at its legs, seeing them tremble even as it tried to hide its shaking behind its bared teeth. He looked back towards the white cub, seeing its breathing start to slow, and sighed.

“Shite.”

___

Aria peered at the party from the side of the stable, focusing on the small creature that they were huddled around. A white wolf cub, who lay still as Elly looked it over, the gold irises of her eyes now radiating a purple light as she examined the small beast at her feet. Helbram and Leaf stood further away, closer to the forest edge while Jahora was off to the side. Three rings of Aether orbited around the Mage’s head as she held her hands out, concentrating on the spell between her palms. One of green Aether forming a glyph in the air.

A black wolf cub at its center.

The beast struggled against its magical restraint, unable to find any leverage as its small body levitated within the glyph. It snarled and snapped its jaw at the Mage, who could only respond with a guilty expression as she maintained her spell.

“Can you treat her?” Leaf asked.

Elly placed her fingers against the wolf’s hind leg. Despite her gentle touch, the beast still winced and whined loudly, prompting a furious series of barks from her floating sibling. Elly brushed some of the cub’s fur aside, examining what she found with narrowed eyes.

“Luckily, the wound appears to be shallow,” she said. A ring of Aether formed around her wrist, “easily treatable with my meager skills.”

Leaf’s shoulders sagged as the Weaver spoke and he let out a sigh, “That’s good.”

Elly looked to the Awoken, “If anything we need to examine your wounds more.”

Leaf made a flippant gesture, “It’ll heal.”

Aria looked at the man’s forearms, which were ravaged by scratches and bites that could have only come from a beast of a smaller persuasion. Many of the wounds had drawn blood, which had already dried on Leaf’s skin in streaks of red, and the wounds themselves no longer appeared to be bleeding, which, from Aria understood, were from the natural boons of being an Awoken.

Helbram clicked his teeth as he examined his companion’s wounds, “The black one mauled you something fierce,” he looked to the white cub, “Also, her?”

Leaf tilted his head towards the wounded wolf, “Girl,” he then nodded towards the black cub, “Boy. In between gettin’ savaged I could tell that much, at least. Also weren’t you checkin’ on your armor?”

“I was,” Helbram said,” until I heard a storm of cursing that could rock a sailor off a boat. Very colorful imagery, by the way.”

Leaf shrugged, “Pain brings out the verbal artist in me.”

Jahora snorted, “Yes, your detailed diatribe of Aekinder’s left testicle was a thing of poetry.”

Elly smirked, “Really? I preferred the one about The Matron’s right arse cheek.”

The Awoken frowned, “Bollocks and arses aside, can we focus?”

A blue aura spread to two of the Weaver’s fingers, “That’s what I’ve been doing.” She ran her fingers across the white cub’s wound, prompting a whine from the beast.

Her sibling struggled against his restraints again, but Jahora maintained the spell.

“It’s alright little one,” the Mage said in a gentle tone, “She’ll be done soon.”

Elly continued her treatment, “By water shall thy blood be stilled,” she muttered as she ran her fingers over the wound again, the aura around them shifting to red, “By fire shall it be purified,” she passed over the wound once more, the aura turning yellow this time, “And by earth shall thy flesh be mended.”

With a final twirl of her finger, she formed a blue aura around her hand and swiped it across the white cub’s fur, cleaning it of the blood that had matted it. As the black cub saw what Elly was doing, its struggles ceased and it hung in the air, the ferocity in its expression vanishing, but with a clear air of caution as it still stared at its sibling. When Jahora noticed this shift in mood, she lowered the cub to the ground and released her spell, allowing him to run up to his sister. He stopped as Elly continued to examine where the wound was, pacing back and forth with an impatient whine.

“It’s nowhere near a Cleric’s magic, but it will do,” the Weaver said.

“Looks like brushing up on healing magic was a fruitful endeavor after all,” Helbram remarked.

“Yes, well a certain member of our group tends to get himself injured in all sorts of ways,” Elly said in a dry tone, “I figured a refresh of the basics was prudent, lest he put himself into an early grave.”

She did not look directly at Helbram, but he raised his hands defensively, “I am hardly the only one getting injured out of all of us.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“You’re the only one that’d been unconscious for days because of it,” Leaf said.

“And that is not intentional, I assure you.”

“Does not change that it’s happened more than once…” Elly muttered, “Strange.”

The black cub licked his sister’s head, but despite her healed wound, she remained on the ground, letting out a weak whine. The sound of it brought an aching to Aria’s heart, forcing her from her cover.

“Is she going to be alright?” she asked.

The purple glow in Elly’s eyes flared, “Hard to say… the wound is healed but something still ails her,” she said in an unsurprised tone, “Furthermore, I thought we told you to stay inside, young lady.”

Aria winced.

The Weaver smiled at her, “Next time, choose a better hiding spot.”

The girl nodded, and, after receiving knowing stares from the rest of the party, approached the white cub. The black wolf pressed his paws against his sister, whining as she did not respond to his provocation. Elly motioned Jahora over as she examined the cub.

“Tell me, what do you see?”

The same purple glow washed over Jahora’s eyes as she narrowed them, “Like you said, there is nothing physically wrong, but something is… off.”

“It is a corruption of the body.”

The voice rang out from the edge of the forest, close enough that Helbram and Leaf stepped between it and the rest of the group, holding their hands out. As they did, Jahora raised hers as well, triggering a swell of purple light in the palms of both men. The light pulsed, and in their place appeared a sword in Helbram’s hand and a bow with a quiver full of arrows in Leaf’s. The men readied their weapons, but held their positions.

“Or in more specific terms, a corruption of her Aether.”

The voice continued to speak, carrying with it a light, calm tone . Following it was the appearance of a figure through the trees. From the way that their cloak hung from their body, it was clear that they possessed a slight, smaller frame that was shorter than the crude wooden staff they carried, but there was an air of power to them that granted them a presence far larger than their size.

That, and the two wolves at her side.

They were large, around the same size of Bessie, a beast that matched Leaf in height. Like the cubs, one of the wolves possessed a coat of pure black fur, and the other pure white. Their eyes carried the same frosty blue of the children huddled around the party, but rather than holding the innocence of youth like the cubs, there was a piercing nature to their gaze that instinctively made Aria shrink further behind the stable. A quick glance from the white wolf told her that her efforts to hide were in vain, but, as inexperienced as the girl was at reading others, she could sense a curiosity to its gaze rather than the chilling stare of a predator. This was only further reinforced as it looked to the white cub on the ground, and instead of rushing to the child’s side, it held back, albeit with an impatient stomping of its paws - a gesture mirrored by its black furred companion.

The party appeared to sense the lack of threat the new arrivals had, and, while Leaf and Helbram kept their hands on their weapons, they lowered their guards. The cloaked figure stepped forward in response and dropped their hood, revealing the face of an elven woman. Though they shared similar ears, the woman’s skin was of a light olive shade compared to Elly’s own onyx tone. Where the Weaver’s features were more angular, carrying with them an air of inquisitiveness, hers were more slight, giving the woman an air of serenity. The small smile on her lips only lended to this, yet there was a sharpness to the woman’s hazel eyes; a wild, almost unkempt look to the singular loose braid of her dark blonde hair - decorated in feathers holding color that tinged that calmness with its opposite.

As the woman held her hand up, the black wolf cub let out a bark and ran up to her, whining as it clung to her leg. She knelt down and stroked the small beast’s fur, “It’s going to be alright,” she looked over to Helbram and the others, “if you would allow us to approach, we will be able to take care of the child.”

The swordsman shared a look with the rest of the party and, with a knowing nod, stepped away from the white cub. The moment that they did, the woman closed in, the black cub and two larger wolves at her side as she knelt down and placed her hand on the fallen cub’s head. She spoke to the small beast in a language that Aria did not understand, but the melodic flow to her voice and gentle tone suggested words of comfort as the woman placed her hand on the cub’s recently healed wound. Three rings of Aether formed around her head and one around her wrist as she did so, gathering a pale white aura around her fingers as she pressed them against the cub’s hind leg.

As the woman cast her spell, curiosity overtook Aria. The girl squinted and, with a frustrating amount of will, focused Aether into her eyes. It was a simple spell taught to her by Jahora, one with the express purpose of visualizing the Aether around her. Aria’s mastery over it was meager, however, and rather than see all of the Aether around her, she was only able to see that which was actively being channeled. She focused back onto the woman as her own spell finished, seeing Aether particles of various colors - red, blue, yellow, green - drifting towards the rings around the woman’s head. As they touched the Circles, however, their colors faded, shifting to the same pale color as the aura around her hand as the particles started to flow through her arm and into her hand. The aura then flowed into the white cub, pulsing through its small body before shrinking back and gathering around the tips of the woman’s fingers. She brought them back, pulling a strand of sickly green energy from the cub’s leg. With a flick of her hand, the strand snapped, dissipating as a pulse of pale energy washed over it.

As soon as the woman’s spell was complete, the cub sprang to her feet, panting as if nothing had been wrong with her in the first place. Her sibling rushed at her, barking as he nearly knocked her over in excitement. They rubbed against each other affectionately, and Aria could not help but smile as they were joined by their larger counterparts, who prodded the white cub with their snouts and looked both the younger beasts over.

The woman sighed as she stood up, relief clear on her face, “Thankfully it was only shallow…” she looked towards Helbram and the others, “I suspect that you have many questions.”

“It would be better to start with one,” the swordsman said, “What is your name?”

“Ah yes, my apologies,” she gave a small bow, “Merida, and yours?”

“Helbram,” he said, “now with that formality out of the way I must thank you for your assistance.”

Merida shook her head, “Pay it no mind, most of the work was done for me already. Though I must confess, I didn’t think the cause of her ailment would have escaped your Warden’s notice.”

She looked at Leaf as she spoke.

The archer stared at her in confusion in response.

Merida’s eyes widened, then quickly narrowed, “Ah… that would explain why you did not know… and why you are in such a far away place.”

Leaf held his hand up, “Oi, you can’t just walk in and start speakin’ riddles.”

The Awoken’s voice widened the woman’s eyes once again, but she recovered and rubbed her lip “Yes, that confirms it.”

“The Hells is that supposed to mean?”

“Sorry,” Merida said, “I was just lost in thought for a moment. I can answer your questions, but I am afraid it will have to be at another time,” she turned towards Aria as she spoke.

Or rather, the man at her side.

The girl yelped as she saw him, unaware of when he had walked next to her. He was tall, but with a narrower frame compared to Helbram. This applied to his face as well, which still maintained a sharp, angular appearance even through the presence of a beard, one that matched the well kept and short look of his hair, which was a shade of deep black. The man’s pale skin was smooth, yet there was a knowing look to his gray eyes which suggested a wisdom beyond his years. A thick coat covered most of him and the rest was covered by a pair of black pants, thick boots, and gloves. In one of his hands was a spear, one that was made entirely of metal with a darkened haft and blade that swirled with a mix of black and silver. It was lowered, but the pressure exuded by the man’s presence told Aria that he was ready for anything that might force him to use it.

“Felix?” Helbram asked.

The man walked towards them, “I sensed something at the perimeter,” he said, his voice as deep as Helbram’s, but holding a more cutting tone, “It's a good thing I came to investigate. Magical beasts are not uncommon in the Freemarks, but those in the company of a Druid?” he peered at Merida, “One this far from the Glasswood, no less, it begs many questions, but there is only one I wish answered at this time.”

He stamped the ground with his spear, “Why are you here?”