Flencer lowered his crossbow and looked over his work, the Wendigo flailed and cried out, the terrible roar had faltered and was replaced with a high-pitched squeal that shook the eardrums of the party.

Kaleb had emerged from the Azure vault and let out a roar of his own when he pushed the mushroom from his beaten body, through the pain he clambered to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. He stumbled back from the lashing Wendigo, still deadly even when wounded. In his hand, he held the Conduit blade he had stored in the vault.

The bolt had pierced its heart, and Flencer called forth: “My shot was through the heart, but it lives!”

Gin-rith stumbled out, “I know no way of defeating such a beast, we should flee while it writhes!”

“Someone toss me a lantern!” Kaleb croaked.

Iridia stepped out from behind the stalk and hurled a lantern with her good arm towards Kaleb. He caught the wooden sap lantern deftly and pushed his blade through the fire, the oil coated it and set his blade aflame.

“Be careful, Kaleb, he’s flappin’ like a mad bugger!”

Kaleb approached carefully, waiting for his moment. The deadly Wendigo flailed with claws that threatened to eviscerate anyone who might approach. It let out another squeal of pain, behind the monstrous cry a voice of a mortal could be heard, singing a song of lament.

“I know these words!” Gin-rith called, “he begs for you to end his pain, Kaleb, show me you’re the Paladin worthy of this blade!”

Kaleb nodded and took his chance, he leapt onto the chest of the bucking beast and buried his feet into its ribs, The Wendigo raised its claws to bring them around him but inside a battle raged, the song rang out and the Wendigo did not strike Kaleb, whatever was trapped within was holding it back.

“May you rest with the Divine.” Kaleb drove the sword into the Wendigo’s frozen heart, holding the hilt firm and setting it ablaze with a fire that cleansed it from within.

The Wendigo cried out and raised its arms to strike Kaleb. Roots took its wrists and retrained its barbaric claws. Gin-rith chanted weakly, barely containing the trashing Wendigo as it clung to its cursed life. The screeching cry subsided and from it came a melancholy song. Its heart beat but once before it crisped into a black pulp, falling away as ash, then the Wendigo flopped and was silent.

Kaleb’s hold on the sword hilt failed and he fell off the rib cage to the side, gasping for breath and spitting up blood. Iridia limped towards her fallen master and slid to her knees. “Kaleb, are you well?”

“Just brilliant, Irida.”

Iridia tossed her shield to one side, her once broken arm allowing it for it as it had healed completely and she had forgotten the wound was ever there for a moment.

Kaleb sat up and wiped his face, the blood had stopped fleeing but the echo of the Wendigo’s fearsome claw remained as a scar.

“Your face, Kaleb.”

“I know, it’s very handsome.” He grumbled and stood up with relative ease. “Seems we are healing once again.”

“Remarkable,” Gin-rith said as he approached. “You come out unscathed but for the hideous claw mark upon your face.”

“What?” Kaleb trotted to Iridia’s shield and lifted it to look at himself. “Seems, being struck when unable to heal leaves a lasting impression.”

The shield burst into song.

Ugly and scarred his face be marked.

From a dear of bone and–

Kaleb tossed the shield and it hit a Mushroom.

“Ow!”

“That reminds me,” said Kaleb, “Where is our buck?”

Gin-rith called with a whistle and a click, the buck emerged from the shadows a moment later. “Loyal and brave are these bucks.”

“Bloody ‘ell, Kaleb, you look like the back end of a horse that sat on a brand,” Flencer said as he joined the party after clambering down.

Iridia smiled playfully and helped gather up the party's goods. “Seems like poor Zale didn’t make it out of this in one piece.” She pointed at the hammer that had been broken in two. “You will need repairs?”

“Indeed,”

“Broken me again?”

“It was for a good cause I suppose.” Kaleb inspected both halves of the hammer mournfully, “I’ll get you patched up in Farlow Port,”

The party continued packing, Kaleb ensured the sword was placed back in the vault and the vault was hung around his neck, the pendant was not heavy for the blade was made with such materials and skill that it felt like a feather in one's hand but cut through flesh and bone with ease.

“Why not use the sword in the meantime?” Asked Flencer as she checked his crossbow over.

“Tis best I not let anything, anyone or anywhere know of its existence.”

“Well, I reckon’ this place knows now, eh?”

Kaleb nodded to the Wendigo, “I killed the witness.”

“You killed the witness? You’re takin’ credit for the Wendithing are ya? Ridiculous! I shot it through the heart, mighty fine shot it was indeed.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Excuse me, but I am the one who blocked its first strike and bought time for the party to respond, it cost me a broken arm!” Iridia huffed, playfully mind you.

“Still counts as mine.”

Iridia pointed at Gin-rith, “What of Ginny’s efforts?”

“Ginny?” Gin-rith mouthed to himself as Iridia offered him plaudits.

“He held it down with those roots of his.” Iridia pointed at the upturned soil where dead roots coiled about the corpse of the Wendigo.

“I think it was a group effort,” Gin-rith said diplomatically, smiling at the triumphant team. “These valourous acts fill me with hope, you are all worthy bearers of this quest.”

“Still counts as mine.” Kaleb slapped Gin-rith on the shoulder.

Gin-rith went to respond but realised it was a joke, and let forth a little laugh, “You are a funny folk, and quite incredible, I have never seen a man or lady,” He nodded to Iridia, “Shake off such wounds so quickly.”

Iridia flexed her arms, “I now understand why I never hurt myself as a child, I fell out of so many trees, I was sure I’d done something at least once.”

“What was that creature, you called it a Wendigo?” Kaleb was packing the the broken end of his hammer into a satchel hanging from the buck as he stood beside Gin-rith who was himself leaning on the buck for support.

“Well, it seems there was truth to an old myth, and that creature is how it was described in that myth, I thought it was perhaps a fairytale that kept our people from civil war.” He rubbed his chin and looked back at its corpse.

“What was the myth?” Iridia called, gathering up her shield that Kaleb had tossed.

Gin-rith closed his eyes, “Well, legend has it; a civil war erupted, one group was driven out and sent to live away, they hid in great hollows out of sight and mind,”

In unison they began the trek towards the great flame which still burned, hoping it would lead to freedom from this place, Gin-rith continued the story of the Wendigo. “The people in the hollows became recluses and lost culture and degenerated into creatures with no morals or principles.”

“Interesting, it is the same story told about your people and beginnings, away from the Elves,” Kaleb noted.

“Indeed, those are falsehoods from your people's ignorance mind you,” Gin-rith cleared his throat and continued, “As they became more beastlike they forgot how to hunt and gather, how to commune and build a society, in desperation, they began to eat each other when hunger struck…”

“Ugh, can’t imagine doin’ that, eatin’ me own kind?” Flencer shook his head as he followed up from the rear.

“Indeed, times must have been grim for these outcasts,” Gin-rith gave a moment of pause, “When the last one remained, he had consumed the flesh of many of his kin, his heart froze for it did not have the will to beat, and over centuries it preyed on the flesh of wandering or foolish Sinley, each time plummeting into a deeper layer of its beastly form, until it was no longer recognisable.”

Kaleb grunted as spun his hammer in his hand, already missing the steel haft that helped keep it well counterbalanced, “Perhaps these myths could include ways to kill things, no?”

Flencer huffed, “The fun is figurin’ it out, aye?”

“We’ll use your face to do it next time then.”

“And your arm,” Iridia waved her arm out at Flencer.

Gin-rith continued, “When you were destroying the creature, it called out in our language, it sang to you, Kaleb.”

“What did it sing?” Asked Iridia.

“A song of thanks.”

“Halt.” Kaleb stopped and the party followed the instruction, Gin-rith caught up to Kaleb's side and gasped.

“What’s the matter?” Iridia leaned out to one side.

“The light of this place has dimmed, we are entering into darkness,” Kaleb whispered to his hammer and raised it, It shone with a glorious brightness, now able to maintain the light which was once crushed as the connection to the Divine heart had been re-established. Before them was a sheer drop into an unseeable abyss, deeper than the light could reach.

“What is this?”

Gin-rith looked over, “This is one of the great aqueducts I believe, trenches that run beneath forest and carry the lifeblood of Irin-Mirith, but it is so close to the surface, I see these when I commune with the forest,”

“It’s in our way.”

“Indeed, I will–”

A terrible rumbling deep from the trench bubbled up and the party stepped back, Kaleb kept his hammer held up to see what might spill forth from the cursed scar in the land. Another rumble brewed and the earth shifted beneath their feet, it felt like an earthquake and sounded like the low growl of ensuing thunder. From the depths the trench pushed up an alabaster pile, filling it like water would a river, but deathly still.

Gin-rith’s eyes widened in horror as a skull rolled from the lip of the trench and stopped by his feet, looking up at him with empty eyes. “These-these are my people, the forest mocks us with its genocide.” Gin-rith fell to his knees and took up the skull, he felt the pain of a thousand daggers and cried out.

“There must be thousands upon thousands of bones here,” Kaleb stepped forward, Iridia and Flencer helped Gin-rith to his feet.

“We should cross before it breathes again and the bones fall back into the blackness.” Kaleb beckoned them. “I am sorry Gil-rith, I know this is a hard sight for you, but even in death your people serve, perhaps they close the holes that evil has dug for us.”

Gin-rith wiped his eyes and stepped in front of Kaleb, “I will go first,” he looked over the path of skeletons and placed his front foot upon the bony bridge, applying pressure and lifting his other foot upon them, “Forgive me, my people, I walk upon your bones not to disrespect.”

The party tentatively walked, bone snapped and skulls cracked as they carefully navigated the mercurial terrain. Flencer tried to avoid a skull out of respect and his foot found a pocket of space, half his body fell in and he was held in place, “Help, here!”

Kaleb and Iridia made their way to him to try and help.

Gin-rith called, “What is the delay?” as he couldn’t quite see,

“Take the stag, Gin-rith, Flencer has made clumsy once more,”

“It ain’t me fault, bad luck is all.”

Gin-rith called out and then was silenced. Then the stag grunted and was gone.

“What–” Kaleb held his hammer up and took a step, the skull below gave way and then he was sliding down, he could hear Iridia and Flencer screaming after him. He landed in a pile of soft mud and clambered to his feet, his hammer the only source of light now. “Iridia…Flencer, Gin-rith!” he turned around looking for his party in the deep darkness.

From the shadows each one of them appeared, drawn to his light. “Here,” panted Iridia.

“Here, with the stag…” Gin-rith said softly.

“Where is Flencer?”

Flencer approached from the darkness, “Am ‘ere–AH!” With that Flencer was suddenly flipped onto his front and dragged down and away back into the darkness where the light of Kaleb's hammer could not touch.

“Flencer!”

“We must go after him.”

“I fear he may have been taken to the great tree, Irin-Mirith, I do not know if we can save him from the fate that awaits those who meet it.”

“We must go after him, he’d go after us.” Iridia had her shield and spear raised, keeping her eyes on the ground for roots that prowled.

Kaleb took a moment of pause, the quest held priority over all, especially a Dwarf and his seed, this could be the end of his party and this decision might be the most costly.

“What do we do, Kaleb?” Gin-rith whispered.